Way of the Knights

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"You've worked hard… Henry nodded as him and the other War Gods joined him. Now the War Gods and Raven were sitting at a round table.

"It's what I ought to do..." Raven said, his tone were plain and calm. 

"Still, we didn't know that your skills when it comes to Runesmithing and formations are extremely high. You can even do something like this." Theo said as he gestured at the formation covering them. 

"I'm just lucky, that's all. An accidental discovery." He replied as he calmed down him breathing. 

"Are you good? Do need to rest?" Henry asked.

"I'm fine. A bit spent but I can manage." Raven said. He lifted his arm to remove his mask and his hood reveal his face to the War Gods. 

There was a period of silence when Raven removed his mask and hood. The War Gods inwardly clicked their tongues as they saw his stunning appearance, even the girls were momentarily stunned, much less to say about Anastasia who ogled at him for a bit. 

Nevertheless, what really attracted their attention the most was the faintly glowing thunderbolt mark resting on his forehead. The War Gods themselves felt a faint connection between them and this mark. This can't be helped as inheritors of the titles are closely related to each other. This reaction was normal.

Raven doesn't seem to be bothered by the silence. Instead he lifted his palms and stared at his work once again. 

"Are those…Immortal-ranked Rune, right?" Someone asked. 

Raven looked at the woman who asked this question and tilted his head for a bit. Everyone seemed to have realized what he was wondering and it was Henry who did the honors. 

"Theo and Logan you've met before. As for her, she's Julia the 'Swan War Goddess' and this is Jessamine the 'Zither War Goddess'." 

"Nice to meet you." Raven nodded to them and the girls nodded in return. "To answer the question, hmm, yeah it should be considered as one."

"Should be?" Julia frowned.

"Mm-hmm!" Raven nodded. "Immortal-ranked runes are impossible to be destroyed unless one is an Empyrean ranked powerhouse, or at least anyone who could release the might of one. However, this is the first time that I created this rune. In fact, it might even be the first of it's kind."

"I know, it's a bit risky and bold to just outright create a rune out of the blue the situation calls for it. As for how tough this seal is, I can't say for sure. I used some expensive materials to create it but…well, I can only say that it should hold out for a long time." 

"Unbelievable." Julia muttered, "So that's why I'm not familiar with the structure of the rune itself." She said as she stared at the seals on Raven's hands.

Theo leaned over to Raven and whispered: "She's knowledgeable in seals too."

"What are its uses?" Julia continued to ask.

"Filtering is it's main purpose." Raven answered. "This seal will only allow devils from lower floors and 12th Floor to pass easily. I used samples of the devils I killed on the way here to set the parameter. I thought by doing that, Asphodel would be a bit more forgiving."

"As for devils who doesn't fit the parameters, they could still pass but not without a price. The stronger they are the higher the price they have to pay for descending, the seal was made to siphon their strength in order to use it as a fuel of some sorts. That way, it could sustain itself for a while. As a back up, the seal could also absorb the heat of asphodel and convert it to energy it could consume as well."

"This will cause the stronger devils to face a choice. If they want to freely roam Asphodel, then they'll be forced to pay the price. If they don't plan on descending, then that's fine too. Hopefully, those who will invade the Pagoda in the future will be warned about this, that way the prepare themselves."

"Are there any downsides?" Julia asked, Raven could see that she has a weird expression on her face. In fact it's not just her, everyone who listened to him had weird expressions as well. 

"Hmm, there are some." Raven thought for a bit. "One, I don't have much information about the Sin's Children nor the Sins themselves prior to it's creation. As I said before, I'm not sure if the seal is an Immortal-ranked Seal so I'm similarly not sure if it could withstand the force of obscenely strong devils. For this, time can only tell hence I'm not particularly sure on how long the seal could last, for all we know as soon as I place this seal, those things will immediately device a plan to destroy it."

"Additionally, even though I say that stronger devils would be suppressed by this seal upon their descent, there might be some devils who could bypass this rule. I'm not omnipotent and neither the seal is, so there might still be accidents."

"For now, this is all I could do. At least with the seal, I can buy some time for the kids-I mean, the disciples to grow stronger." Raven finished his explanation and a long period of silence descended upon them. 

The War Gods were looking at each other, their faces had a strange expression as if they were trying their best to calm down after hearing a miracle. 

"What do we do? He's just better…" Theo was the one who broke the silence and laughed mirthlessly. Raven blinked and was confused as to what he meant by that. 

"Yup, much, much better." Jessamine added. "In this area at least…those kids can't match up to him."

"Really, we have to thank god that he's on our side." Julia rested her back on the chair and smiled wryly. 

"I must've spent at least 10 years worth of luck to recruit him." Henry whispered, "Who would've thought…god I'm the best."

"Shut yer trap!" Logan sneered at him. "You didn't do a damn thing to help him achieve this state to stop blowing your own horn."

He and Henry then started bickering against each other as the other War Gods watched in amusement. 

Raven on the other hand was confused as to what's going on. Nevertheless, he can't really find a good timing to ask. 

'Hmm?' 

Raven suddenly felt a sharp spike on his senses causing his expression to harden. His head sharply turned and gazed at the tainted seal above them. His pupils abruptly shone, gleaming with a rainbow-colored light. His vision suddenly expanded and penetrated portal itself, allowing him to see what's on the other side. 

"Shit!" Raven suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone around him. They say his grim expression as he glared above. 

Without any warnings, Raven's body suddenly buzzed and released a strange fluctuations that affected everyone near him. 

The War Gods including Kyrie and Anastasia suddenly felt their vision expanding and transforming without their permission. Thankfully their quick witted and didn't fight the sensation, instead they followed it since it's clear that Raven wanted to show them something. 

Once they could see what he sees, everyone couldn't help but feeling greatly alarmed. 

What Raven said was right. Beyond the portal on the 12th floor, were armies of Devils as far as the eye could see. The sheer numbers gave them chills. 

Rows upon rows of organized, red-eyed creatures with charred skin and baleful auras were reflected on their vision. They vary in shapes and sizes but it doesn't change the fact that they are devils. 

Everyone felt the scene stretching which was clearly Raven's doing. His vision extended all the way to other end of the army where several figures stood. 

From a simple glance alone, one will realize that this things are a different breed of devils. 

Their sizes might differ but the shroud of evil aura surrounding their bodies cannot be mistaken. Each of this figures wore some form of armor which comes in different kinds. Some of them were tending to their weapons, some were sharpening their claws, some were having a human snack which provoked the ire of the humans. 

At this point, nobody asked a question since it was already obvious who these figures were.  action

The Sin's Children. The Commanders of their own armies, prepared to flood the entirety of Asphodel and plunge it to chaos.

It didn't stop there...

Raven's vision expanded even more. Focusing on to a lone figure who were at the very back. It was sitting on a throne made out of bones, legs crossed and a hand resting on its chin. It gazed at the army with a dismissive glance. 

As if feeling their gaze, the figure suddenly raised its head but before it could do so, the War Gods shook as the transmission was cut-off. Everyone was startled beyond belief as they saw that figure sitting on the throne. Just a simple glance caused their hairs to stand on each end. 

"Young Lord! Are you alright?" 

Everyone was startled as they heard Kyrie's voice.. All of them looked at Raven and gasped.