Way of the Knights

---

"By the way, who's that impressive Young Lad at the Western Area?"

Everyone was confused when they heard King Alexander's question. Everyone tried looking towards the same direction but seen nothing worth to notice.

"You won't see him by looking." King Alexander said as he saw them looking towards the western direction. "My senses are better that yours so I'm able to see him."

Luna who was in his embrace was struck with a sudden idea. She quickly looked up and said: "What does he look like, Father?"

Alexander squinted his eyes and said: "Hmm, I'll show you instead."

Suddenly, the King's eyes glowed with golden light. In front of him, a screen of light formed and showed an overhead view of the situation at the Western Area.

There was a young man wearing an all black attire. He had a waist length hair that has turquoise tips and gathered by a rubber band in a high ponytail. His face was definitely handsome even when it was exuding a chilling expression. He held a massive hammer which he swing like some stick. 

As soon as they saw this, the crowd's eyes bulged and exclaimed: "Avi/Raven/Young Hero!?"

"Hm? Avi? Raven? Young Hero? What's this all about?" Alexander asked in a curious tone. 

"He is my boy, Your Majesty." Luis stepped forward and saluted, "His name is Vendrick, but we call him either Avi or Raven."

The King wanted to ask more questions but they were interrupted by the sudden change in the feed. 

Raven's energy spiked as held his enormous hammer using both arms and did a powerful swing. As the hammer made contact with the ground, a large chunk of the land rose. Sharp rocks pierced through the bodies of the people he was facing, yet he still wasn't done. 

He jumped high and spun vertically, he smashed the ground once again with a force even greater than the rest. Suddenly, an arm-shaped pillar forming a closed fist, descended from the sky and smashed his enemies into a meat pastes.

"Impressive." The King praised, "He's facing against 300 people from Black Curtain Guild alone but he isn't fazed. He even overwhelmed them with nothing but brute strength."

"300 people!?" The crowd exclaimed to themselves. They looked incredously at the screen and checked if the King's estimations were correct. It might not have been clear but there's clearly more than a hundred people in there. Some were shaking in their boots as they witness how he was demolishing their ranks with ease, some were out cold and some were smashed into meat pastes.

"W-who are you?" One of the men from the Black Curtain Guild asked while trembling.

"Obviously someone who's stopping you from invading our home." Raven non-chalantly replied as he swung his hammer on his shoulder.

"Y-you! Don't get in our way! Or else there would be consequences!!"

"Oh please." Raven sneered, "Try not to at least stutter or tremble in fear while you say those words. You're convincing no one, you know?"

The invading forces went silent after hearing that. They didn't speak any further, instead their eyes are watching him closely, fearing that he might move once again. 

"It was really a good thing that I decided to check the other areas aside from the southern part. If I didn't do so, then you guys might've been able to successfully infiltrate our home and build a base inside. It'll be another Mort Family all over again if that happens. It had been a pain in the ass to eradicate them so I wouldn't want another one to show up."

Raven said, but it was like he was talking to himself instead.

The King's eyes narrowed as he heard this. He looked at his subordinates and saw them fidgeting, it seems that many things happened while he was gone. He decided to have a long and nice chat with them later.

"Y-you!!"

"Hm? Oh! You're wondering I found out?" Raven sneered coldly and said: "I've killed one of your spies and read his memories. Seriously, you're Emissaries are dumb. Why would they let some lackeys know about all of their plan? Don't they know that we could read memories too?" He said while shaking his head.

"Tch. That Pale Bastard. Spreading its corruption to form a beast horde. It even corrupted the souls of five Little Stone Giants to do some serious damages to the kingdom. If that wasn't enough, its emissaries even sent some imbeciles to invade and build a base to weaken the kingdom even further. What a grand plan! Pwe!" Raven spat harshly, again he was mostly talking to himself.

His analogy sent shivers to anyone who heard it. Even Alexander's face crumpled as he heard a familiar nickname from Raven's mouth. Just as he was starting to wonder how in the world did this kid knew about Vit'hum, Raven spoke once more.

"The Pale Bastard is now scared. It knows that Alastair's body won't hold out much longer and it's hibernation would last for a decade so it wanted some sort of insurance. It thinks that we are ignorant about its existence! Hmph! What a fool. A decade is enough for me to march down to their base and trample him to death." Raven continued, his voice getting more and more aggressive as he spoke. 

The King's eyes constricted, he sharply looked at the Golden Knights as asked: "Alastair!?"

Old Lee was about to explain, but the King waved his hand and said: "We'll talk later."

Everyone's attention was glued to Raven once again. They saw him sigh and gripped his hammer tightly.

"Your plan is flawed." Raven said in a chilling voice. "The Mort Family failed, and they have the support of massive wealth. What makes you think that the likes of you will succeed?"

"Sure, infiltrating our defenses is a good move, but what makes you think that we won't be able to spot you? I exposed the Mort Family's plot, what makes you think I couldn't do that again? Even then, building a base would take time. It will take you at least a year or two at most before you could start establishing contact with your headquarters. Which means, that for one or two years, there will be no other movements from you nor any beast horde since the Pale Bastard is hibernating."

"Peace for a year or two. That's nice, we can make a lot of developments in that period of time. And since you won't be making contact with the headquarters for that long, you might as well not make report at all. This time, you will be the one in the dark not us. This time, they'll be the one's anxious, not us. This time, it'll be us taking the lead. Isn't that sweet?" Raven flashed a chilling smile.

"And to make sure that happens." Raven's aura soared to the maximum, creating a suffocating pressure to everyone who's facing him. "None of you will leave here alive!"

With a ferocious swing of his hammer, two fist-like pillars descended and turned at least fifty people into meat pastes. The invading forces started running but Raven's onslaught was just starting. His eyes tracked every single one of them, making sure to intercept those who were trying to run away. He flared his Hammer Intent to the maximum, creating a wide suppression that left them breathless and unable to move. 

It was somewhat unbelievable that even with their numbers, Raven was having an easy time tearing through their ranks. It had to be known that most of these people stepped into Knight Stage, this is evident by the Energy Armament adorning their bodies. But in front of Raven's brute strength, these armors are nothing but joke. None of them could receive a blow from him, those who tried would be blasted into pieces of flesh. action

His onslaught continued for at least ten minutes until there's no one left. Raven's piercing eyes scoured the field and counted his victims, there are 312 corpses around him, adding the spy he killed earlier there are 313 in total. Raven sighed in relief.

"Got them. That buys us at least a year or two of peace. What should I do? Should I ask to Richard to release some new pills? Clearing out the Danger Zones inside the kingdom would be a good idea as well. Ah! There's also the expansion on the North, should I help out? Ugh…"

While Raven was thinking about what to do next, he suddenly felt his head throb, causing him to nearly fall down. Thankfully, he managed to support himself using the weight of his hammer.

"Shit! Not now! Don't faint now!" Raven muttered, "She'll get worried if I don't show up."

Raven gritted his teeth in frustration. Unbeknownst to everyone, Raven was just supressing the fatigue, he was pushing himself hard since there is an emergecy. He heaved some deep breaths in and touched the link between him and Richard.

"Richard, how's everything on your side? How many beasts are left?" He asked.

He was expecting a solemn report from Richard but he was stunned when he received a different response. Unbeknownst to him, all of them were watching him and heard everything he said. The King was with them as well.

Raven collapsed, he plopped on his butt with a wonderful expression on his face. In the end, he could only smile wryly and scratch his head.

"Well… that's embarrassing."