Way of the Knights

Chapter 824: Explode

—

Another year passed by quickly with Raven hardly noticing it. 

So absorbed in his own work, he rarely took breaks nowadays. At least, not as much as before. 

He's close to completing this project. Admittedly, he's feeling a little bit anxious and impatient since he just wanted this to be over already. It's been a long time and he misses his dear wife already. 

Nevertheless, he remained focused on his job. Even when he's feeling impatient, he never allowed that to affect his work at all. 

If one would see the what the Eternal Division Wall looked like right now, their eyes would probably fall out of its sockets. 

Before, the wall was bleak and ancient looking. It is not visible to anybody's eyes, even Divine Knights hardly saw it unless their senses are sharper than most or they have an aid of a technique or a treasure. 

Now however, the wall looked like it was re-modelled down to the very last brick. A mixture of patterns and runes were etched onto it, painting a grand and marvelous seal – one that's unique and has never been done before. 

It's hardly believable that this isn't done yet. Raven did a fantastic job already, one that nobody will be able to replicate at all. It's truly one of a kind. 

Of course, doing this project also has its advantages for Raven. 

For one, just the sheer scale of this project truly benefitted his Runic/Sealing Arts. He refined his skills over and over again by repeatedly drawing the same arrays and formations on each brick, sharpening his basics and strengthening his foundations when he thought it couldn't go on any more. 

It was an enlightening experience. The amount of times he had to draw a seal and rune ever since starting this project might exceed the amount of times he drew them before this event started. 

Raven never got bored by this repetition. In fact, he enjoyed the monotonous routine. If anything though, he just misses his wife and his child.

Another advantage this large scale project brought to him was the progress on his accumulations. 

Raven still hadn't discovered this because he was too focused on his work but the Last Fragment of Chaos within his heart has already loosened up the shackles preventing him from breaking through the next stage – which is a Divine Knight Stage. 

The effects were subtle and faint, which is why Raven still hasn't noticed it, but it's definitely there. This is something that won't go away. 

It is mysterious now the Last Fragment of Chaos reacted to his work. All Raven did was to draw seals and runes all day long. The same thing over and over again. Yet for some reason, the fragment was dancing and humming in joy. 

What's even more surprising is the fact that it's growing. 

That's right. The Last Fragment of Chaos was growing inside Raven's heart. If somebody were to hear this, especially those people who are obsessed about reaching the realm beyond Divinity, they'd probably go mad with envy. 

There are still many mysteries waiting to unfold about the mythical realm. All of which cannot be answered without Chaos itself.

Raven's out here, not only possessing the thing that everybody wants to have, but also cultivating it? How could they calm down after knowing this? 

It's a good thing nobody knows…

—

"Uh…should I rest?"

"Maybe I should…"

"I definitely should…but like."

"I'm nearly done."

"No. I should rest. Yeah, I'm gonna rest." 

Raven sighed at his own indecisiveness. Sometimes, he just really can't help it. He could be a little bit of a workaholic. 

It's been…9? 10 months? Since he last rested. He's definitely overworking. 

Raven could feel fatigue coursing through his veins. His muscles are aching and he hasn't eaten  nor drunk anything at all. He just kept going with sheer willpower alone and it's taking a toll on his body already. 

Don't be mistaken, Raven could last more than this. He doesn't need to eat nor drink anymore. He just really needs to rest. But see, eating and drinking are the simple pleasures of life that fills the heart. There's no way to completely abandon that. 

…also sleeping his lovely wife, but that's besides the point. He really needs to rest for now. 

The reason why Raven keeps on postponing his rest is because he's so close to finishing this project. He planned on pushing through the last march without any rest since he could rest all he wanted after its done but it's obvious that he can't. 

Thus, without any surprises, he took a rest. 

"It's fine." Raven told himself, "It's a few bricks left. I should get done without any problems after I rest. A month is all it should take and I'm done here, I'll return to the headquarters, take it easy for a while and then work once more."

Raven sighed as he returned to his temporary camp. He took out some left over food and a barrel of wine. He heated the food for bit, feeling his eyelids heavy from all the fatigue that's accumulated from all the times he postponed his rests. 

Once the food's heated thoroughly, he devoured it and took large swigs of wine straight from the barrel. 

Raven likes tea, don't get him wrong, but wine helps him sleep better and in turn, helps him recover from fatigue faster. 

Once he devoured his food and drank all his wine, Raven prepared his next set of food for when he wakes up. After doing that, he went inside his tent, took off all his clothes and passed out in between the sheets. 

It didn't take long before he was lulled to sleep, which proves that he is indeed exhausted deep to his bones. 

What he didn't know is that his exhaustion was slightly different this time around. 

While its true that most of it came from postponing his scheduled rests for a while now, a small part of it was because another change has yet to happen to him. 

The first couple of days since Raven feel asleep, nothing really happened. On the seventh day though, something did…

The Last Fragment of Chaos in his heart was bouncing in an agitated manner. It was shivering as if it was cold. It repeatedly send fluctuations over Raven's body which provoked numerous reactions. 

Raven looked uncomfortable in his sleep. His brows were furrowed and he was sweating a bit. His body's temperature was rising and his breath turned hurried. 

Inside his heart, the shivering of the fragment became stronger. It looks like it was about to explode at any second now. 

…and it actually did. 

Thank god Raven's tents were made out of top-notch materials and it was rooted deep into the comet he's one or else, it would've been blown away or reduced to shreds. 

The impact cause by the explosion of the Last Fragment of Chaos was strong. 

Strong enough to destroy Raven's heart…and almost blow away his tent.

That being said though, Raven isn't dead. Yes, his heart might've been destroyed but Raven is no longer a mortal by any means. He'll recover from the destruction of his heart within minutes even though he's unconscious, that's just how ridiculous his vitality is. 

Additionally, it's not like he needed a heart anymore. He's totally fine without. Especially when the Last Fragment of Chaos decided to replace it. 

Yes, this is what happened just now. 

The Last Fragment of Chaos decided to replace Raven's heart…permanently. 

It's another mystery that Raven had to unfold at some other time. After all, he doesn't have much knowledge about chaos since it's been missing for eons now. 

That being said, now that the Last Fragment of Chaos replaced his heart, great changes were bound to happen to Raven once more. 

Right now, there's literally nothing that's stopping him from breaking through the Divine Knight stage, the bottleneck completely disappeared thanks to the influence of the fragment. If Raven wants to, he could breakthrough as soon as he wakes up from his slumber. 

In addition to this, the profound mysteries of Chaos were now unfolding itself in front of Raven's gaze. It playing on his dreams right now which somehow makes him feel bizarre, he still doesn't know what happened after all. 

To top this all off, the Ancestral Divine Galaxy, his personal Inner Cosmos and the Scepter of Wisdom were reacting to the presence of Chaos within Raven's body. 

Sufficed to say, Raven's undergoing yet another metamorphosis. It hasn't been long since the last one but it's happening again. Still, this is good thing. These changes will bring forth pleasant surprises and would take him closer to his overall goal. 

The changes were subtle, it happens within Raven's body and it was silent. At a glance, Raven looks like he's still sleeping soundly – and he kind of is, but when he wakes up, he'll totally be surprised and confused about what happened to him. 

Thankfully, nobody's here to interrupt him. The changes will occur for quite sometime.. There's no guarantee that Raven would wake up as soon as it's over though but for now at least, everything's good.