Way of the Knights

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"...what's wrong with him?" Logan leaned over to Henry as he pointed towards Theo using his lips. 

"Beats me..." Henry shrugged. "He's been like that for a week now. I tried asking him but he only replies with 'I was cheated' I don't know what the hell he's talking about but he's depressed as fuck." 

The War Gods are gathered at Raven's pocket dimension once more. It was Henry, Logan, Theo and Charles. The other three was fine but Theo was looking so lost as if his soul was taken away from him. 

"Could this have something to do with the event recently?" Charles wondered.

"Probably..." Henry shrugged again, "I mean, he wasn't like that before so it's most likely the case."

"Oh, here's Raven. Maybe we can ask him instead." Logan said. 

Henry could've sworn that he saw Theo flinching in his slumping position but he didn't comment about it. Instead, he just paid attention to Raven since if there's anyone who could tell them what's going, it's this dude. 

Raven walked towards them, walking loose white robes. He looked as if he was in middle of a vacation. He didn't have his usual 'professional' and 'noble' aura, instead everyone could feel that he was relaxed and pampered...along with that fiendishly handsome face, it truly makes one envious...

"Yo, what's up with you? It looks like you spent the whole night making love with a gorgeous babe." Logan exclaimed while looking at Raven suspiciously.

"I didn't..." Raven chuckled, "I'm just vibing and relaxing. I don't have any work anymore so I can afford to laze around like this."

"Mm-hmm, from what I can remember, Kyrie's not that bad..." Henry lecherously added.

"What do you mean 'she's not bad'? If she's way more than that dude! If I was this guy I'd be...hehehe." 

"Stop it you two." Raven shook his head and sat down. "Our relationship is strictly professional." 

*Gasp!* "Could it be!..."

"I don't swing that way either, shut your trap!" Raven glared at Logan, making him shut-up. 

"Okay, that's enough you two." Charles smiled at their antics. He then looked at Raven and asked: "I trust that you've rested well?"

"Yeah. Very well actually." Raven chuckled. "All I did during these past few days was to eat and sleep all the time. I didn't even bother meditating." 

"Gosh, how envious. I wish I could the same but I can't..." Henry pursed his lips in envy. 

"By the way..." Logan interjected, "What happened? The Fire Keepers had been relatively silent and the Sect Master hasn't given us any clues either. Additionally..."

Logan pointed at the sulking Theo and continued: "What's up with him? He's been like that for a week now you know?" 

"Ah..." Raven suddenly burst out laughing, causing everyone to be confused. "Must've been hard for you huh?" 

Theo flinched and glared dramatically at Raven. He then pounced at him, grabbing the hem of Raven's robes as he started shaking him back and forth. 

"I was cheated...why!? Why!? I was - no! We were betrayed!! We worshipped him for a long time you know!? A long time I say!? He acted all high and mighty and we tried out best please him! For what purpose exactly? A rock! We worshipped a rock!! Why!?"

Theo wailed like a madman as he shook Raven who was laughing at his plight. The scene caused the other three to raise their brows in confusion. 

Once Theo had enough shaking Raven, he broke down on his chair, looking lost and empty once again. Raven was still laughing as he looked at the other three who's faces demanded explanation. 

"It's Elder Flame's true identity." Raven explained once he's done laughing. "That mighty and eccentric Elder is nothing more than a Sun Rock. A lucky Sun Rock at that." 

"Eh!?" Henry, Logan and Charles were dumbfounded, they all collectively looked at Theo and saw  single tear running down his face as he remained expressionless looking at the fake sky. 

Raven laughed out loud once more and said: "It happened when I visited the Temple where the Flames of Olympus were stationed. I met with Elder Flame and he began pushing his luck, you know? Annoying me with his eccentricity."

He then snorted and said: "Well, he succeeded. I was pissed so I revealed his true identity. He was a piece of Sun Rock that came from the Sun obviously. I don't know what kind of luck he had but he managed to condense a consciousness. He also managed to cultivate 100 kinds of Flames which is why the Flames of Olympus has numerous colors."

"I don't know what exactly transpired but when our Forefathers forged the Last Seal, he was chosen as well. Elder Flame serves as the core component of the Last Seal, the Chains of Orders were bound to him and he could borrow the chain links as passage for his flames to reach the prisoner downstairs."

"Well, realizing that the Elder that you have been worshipping for decades...centuries even, were nothing but a piece of rock that's just a little too lucky, surely is heartbreaking. It's no wonder why him and the other Fire Keepers kept telling you that they were cheated. This is a heavy secret so don't go telling everybody." 

Raven laughed once again due to the sheer hilarity of the situation. The three were dumbfounded and looked at Theo with pity. The poor guy just sat there, still looking as if he lost his soul. His worships and blind respect for the Elder turned out to be a big joke. No wonder he's acting like this...

"Man, I was fooled as well." Henry smiled wryly. "The worst part is that we can't have our respects back. Hurting Elder Flame means hurting the Last Seal as well so we can't even lay a finger on him." 

"Yeah..." Theo hoarsely replied, "Only him could terrorize the damned rock..." 

"You bet!" Raven laughed out loud once again. Ignoring the fact that Theo's really brokenhearted by this, "He knows what I can do and how fast I cultivate." 

"I may not be able to touch him right now but as soon as I could, I'd peel him out of the Last Seal and throw him back to the Sun. Let's see if he dares to let out a fart in my presence." 

The rest were speechless at Raven's domineering words. But it's not without basis though, even if they fought Raven in a one versus four, it's not certain who's going to win. Despite them being Empyrean's and all, Raven's Runic Inscriptions are nothing to scoff at. Just a few strokes of his brush would all it takes for their cultivation bases to be sealed entirely.

"Okay so, he called you there, pissed you off and you revealed his identity. Is that all that happened?" Henry asked, feeling doubtful that that's the entire story. 

"Of course not, there's more." Raven was about to say more but they were interrupted by Kyrie who brought them some refreshments. Raven smiled at her and said: "Thanks."

Kyrie flinched and felt heat rushing up to her face, she shook her head and said: "Y-you're welcome, Young Lord. Excuse me..." 

She then left in flustered and hurried manner, causing the War Gods to feel surprised. 

"Anyways, as I was saying..." 

But Raven doesn't seem to have noticed anything, he recounted what happened at the temple to them. Unbeknownst to him, that War Gods paid attention not to his story but to what just transpired before he started recounting what happened at the temple. 

"...I was out for a couple of days after that. I recovered now but I still feel like lazing around so I'm like this." Raven finished his story and looked at the War God's expression. He felt strange looking at them so he asked: "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh uh...nothing." Logan replied, shaking his head, the others shook theirs as well. 

"Yeah, that reminds me..." Henry suddenly interjected, "I recall you telling us that you're married right?" 

Raven was surprised by that sudden question but he still replied: "Yes, I am married." 

"To one wife?" Logan added.

"Yes, to one wife?" Raven replied once more. "Why are you guys asking this all of a sudden?" 

"Nothing much really." Henry playfully replied, he then asked: "Hey, you never showed us what your wife looks like before. Can show her to us now? You can like, draw a sketch or something."

"Hmm." Raven was suspicious but he didn't really know why. He shrugged and summoned a sigil on his left hand. Once the War Gods saw this, they all smiled wryly. They knew what that sigil was. 

From the sigil, an image of two people emerged. One was Raven and the other one was Luna. This was the image of their Grand Wedding back at the lower plane. It was them sharing their vows with kiss. 

Raven looked fondly at the image, it was as if he could see nothing else aside from this. The War Gods saw his expression and sighed...

'A perfect married couple indeed...' That's what they all thought. A fiendishly handsome man and a kingdom-toppling beauty. Indeed, they were perfect for each other. 

All sorts of emotions crept to the other War Gods' hearts, envy, admiration, and so on. But right now, as they saw Raven's expression, all they could think of is...

'Poor Kyrie....'