Way of the Knights

---

Roughly three months passed and one morning, a news was released that shocked the entirety of the Divine Realm...

"Hey, have you heard the news?" 

"What news - Ah! You mean that! Yeah, I've heard. Crazy isn't it?"

"Yeah, I agree. What are they thinking?"

"Why would they make such a decision?"

"Uh...I'm confused. What's this news that you guys are talking about?"

"Oh, so you're no aware of it. Well, it's kind of shocking so, hold onto you pants alright?"

"Mn! I'm ready, bring it."

"Have you heard about the Ancient Elysium Sect?" 

"Am I living under a rock? Of course I know! Heck, I even participated in their recruitment, sadly I fell a little too short. Why? Is this news related to them?" 

"Yes. Apparently, it was confirmed that starting today until an indefinite period of time. The Ancient Elysium Sect would cease all contact from the outside."

"...what?"

"I know." The man nodded, completely sympathizing with the guy's dumbfounded expression. "It shocked us too but it was confirmed. The current Sect Master made a public appearance and made the announcement himself."

That's right. This is the news that had shocked the entirety of the Divine Realm. The Ancient Elysium Sect - one of the most reputable sects there is in this realm, just announced it's indefinite seclusion. The sect will cease all disciple recruitment activities. Gaining audience would be more difficult or even close to impossible and getting news about what's happening within the sect would be just as difficult. 

The Divine Realm was caught off-guard by this sudden decision. In fact even the Dawn Council - the real rulers of the Divine Realm, were similarly shocked by this news. They tried to ask what's the reason for all of this but the Sect Master kept his lips tight. Not a single word was said to them and nobody could change his mind. 

Not even people from the Dawn Council could stop his decision. In fact, it's not like the Sect Master was asking for their permission anyways, he just came out to make the announcement and that's it. 

"But that doesn't make sense though."

"Yep, I agree. It's no secret that the people of that sect are righteous. I mean, they wage an unending war against devils who threatened to swallow our home and we never heard them complain even once. That being said, the mortality rate is high so they could only hope to replenish their man power through recruiting disciples. However, they announced that they're not accepting any disciples anymore. It's truly strange."

"Exactly. I wonder what happened?"

"We're wondering about that too. Unfortunately, the big boss of the sect doesn't seem to be interested on telling the reason behind it. Heck, not even the Dawn Council could make him talk at all."

"Woah, that is badass and rude at the same time." 

"Nope, just badass. Period. You see, the Ancient Elysium Sect is one of the oldest sect in the Divine Realm. Simply put, it has been there even before the establishment of the Dawn Council. The Dawn Council seeks to retain balance for the sake of Divine Realm's peace. The Ancient Elysium Sect was specifically established to protect the Divine Realm itself."

"Considering this, the Ancient Elysium Sect stands at the same level, if not higher than the Dawn Council itself. Therefore, the sect doesn't have an obligation to be candid with the Dawn Council because what the Ancient Elysium Sect does, will always right. There's just no questioning that. So it's plain badass."

"You're right. But I'm still curious though. I wonder what happened?"

"Well, we can only wait for further news I guess..."

---

The decision to cut-off connections from the outside world wasn't an easy one. 

Raven who proposed this idea, had to revise the plan multiple times since it was way too risky and dangerous. In fact, even after finishing the revisions and everything, he's still skeptical about whether he should bring this up or not. 

This was a bold move. Had this been any other time, Raven wouldn't have had any qualms about bringing the idea up. However they are at the cusp of war and in a very precarious situation. 

Simply put, just by making the announcement itself, they are already provoking The Exiles. This is no different from announcing that the sect knew about the Exiles plans and this move was made to simultaneously provoke them and protect themselves since shortly after the announcement was made, the moles planted by The Exiles were all executed, thereby cutting off any means of information gathering for the Exiles. 

Why enter seclusion? Well, Raven's reasoning behind this is quite simple really. He just felt extremely uncomfortable that The Exiles are effectively restraining their movements. 

Just through the existence of the moles, Raven had given himself immense headache and exhausted himself to the brink of passing out randomly because every plan he needed to make, has to be carried with utmost secrecy. Each time they make active plans of bolstering their offense and defense, they have to hide this fact away from the prying eyes of the moles or else they'd report it to their superiors and the war will come sooner than they're expecting. 

Not to mention, The Exiles are the only one's profiting in this exchange. While Sect stresses out to raise it's strength, all the enemy has to do is watch and react accordingly. Heck they could even kick back and relax while still making sure that they will remain on top. Raven didn't like that situation even one bit. 

Raven has no problems supplying the sect with methods to strengthen itself. He has gotten to the point where his mere existence can chance the flow of the war itself. However, his help will always be limited if they have to constantly be wary of the spies and the prospect of initiating the war. 

With the plans they've made so far, the sect will only barely be able to stand-up against the combined assault of the Devils and The Exiles. Even if they win, the sect doesn't have the confidence that they'll be able to take down the Devil Emperor itself and that Allfather. The casualties will be too severe and the sect can't afford than to happen. 

Even if, say the sect managed to still win after all of this, it would be by the skin of their teeth. What happens after that? Well, nothing. There's no telling that there would even be an 'Ancient Elysium Sect' after that, so why bother? 

Still, all of the aforementioned outcomes are still acceptable in anyone's book. But see, this is only 'if' the sect wins. 

What happens if they can't win? That's the biggest issue here...

At this point, nobody could even say if they were qualified to stand up against the freed Devil Emperor except from the sect. So if the sect can't do it, then Divine Realm is over. 

This is all the risks that Raven has to consider if they're going to follow the old plan. But as Raven realized that blind faith alone won't really change anything, he understood that he needed something more drastic...and this is what he came up with. 

Out of all the plans that Raven revealed to him before, this one was something that truly made the Sect Master at a loss. In fact, it took him weeks before he made the decision, which is unprecedented knowing how much he trusted Raven's judgements. 

Raven's plan didn't reveal the idea of seclusion. It was more detailed than that. He gave him numerous blueprints indicating his intentions clearly and also explained the pros and cons of this plan with a hundred percent honesty. 

The Sect Master isn't dumb, at a glance he immediately understood the potential risks of this plan but he also saw its charm. He would be lying if he said that it didn't look attractive to him because he's also aware of the things that's weighing down Raven's mind. 

Although putting the sect under seclusion sounds as if they're hiding, in reality this will give them more freedom and opportunities to grow stronger. It might look like they are restricting their movements but in reality, this change is hardly noticeable since the disciples doesn't go out of the sect anyways. Also, they have more than enough resources to sustain themselves, even if they ran out, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to secure some more since that's their privilege. 

The most important thing is that, Raven and some of his chosen people, created a massive protective rune that would give Divinity ranked experts a massive headache to deal with. Therefore, everybody is secured and could focus their attention into strengthening themselves for the upcoming confrontation. 

As for the problems with the devils, considering how fast Raven was improving, their threat would be minimized, so all in all everything was accounted for. 

That's why, even after a week of thinking whether to follow the plan or not, the Sect Master has in fact, already decided the moment he looked at the blueprints. 

The only thing that's worrying them now, is how their enemies are going to react to this.