Way of the Knights

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*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Sounds of compressed explosions could be heard at the Inner Depths of Asphodel. Looking carefully at the scene, one would see faint blurs of figures moving at incredibly speeds, clashing against each other. 

Muffled groans soon followed every clash, black blood splattered on the ground. The moment this blood made contact with the ground, they would sizzle and dry up almost instantly due to the incredible heat of the surroundings. 

Though it's quite difficult to see, the blurred silhouettes were actually different. Most of this silhouettes were surrounded by black aura turning them into sharp black arrows as they moved at incredible speeds. The one constantly clashed with these black silhouettes was covered by  a dark golden aura. 

The clash stopped briefly, allowing the scene to calm down for a bit, it was then that the participants of this clash were revealed. 

It turns out that this fight was between a human and five devils. 

The five devils were humanoids with animalistic parts. Some had sharp ears, a lower body or upper body of an animal, some were covered in fur. Nevertheless, all of them were fueled by a strong desire to rip the human apart and eat his flesh. Their bodies were covered with a think blanket of evil aura, their skin's were pitch black as if roasted, their eyes were red and there's drool escaping their lips. These creatures had no sense of intelligence, acting only by instincts alone. 

On the other hand, there was the human. A human male who's facial features covered by mask and a dark colored hood. His body was covered with a thick dark golden aura that radiates an undeniable majesty and dignity. His pair of deeply golden colored pupils radiated coldness and indifference. His back was straight, his chest puffed and his stance strong. 

This man was none other than Raven. 

As Raven continued his way towards the Devil Emperor's Pagoda, he inevitably countered strong devils that lurked at the Inner Depths of Asphodel. 

Raven never retreated from any battles. Whenever he encountered a devil, he will face it and make sure to kill it before moving on. He wasn't afraid of being mobbed, actually he'd be more afraid if he didn't encounter any. 

His refusal to stay low and stealthy was intentional. He wasn't aggressive because he's careless, he's aggressive caused he wanted to fight. 

Raven never truly lacked battles, what he lacked was challenging ones. Ever since he experienced Soul Rebirth, his journey was paved with broken bones but not as much blood. Thanks to his accumulations, Raven always cinched victory. Normally, no one would be upset about this but Raven wasn't happy. 

There isn't enough stimulant. 

He had always enjoyed a good fight, but sadly his opponents would always ended up realizing that he's too strong for them so they'd either be defeated or avoid him. Even tough he didn't like that, there's nothing he could do about it. 

However, now that he's in Asphodel, it seems that he'll be able to enjoy a really good fight. These devils were merciless and won't hesitate kill him. Fight's like this are hectic but beneficial since he'd be able to release all of his potential at once, making him advance by leaps and bounds. 

*Boom!*

A large hand appeared out of nowhere, it blotted out the skies and trampled the five devils that he was fighting. Raven felt some resistance but he merely snorted and added more force to the technique. The five devils didn't last long as they instantly turned into bloody mists without in seconds. After that, he flicked a plume of white flames at their corpse and watch them turn into ashes.

Seeing that he was successful in killing them, Raven released a sigh of relief. He briefly checked his reserves and saw that they were still on the acceptable level for him to continue, and that's what he precisely did. 

Raven flew forwards like an arrow, looking for the next batch of devil to kill. Even though he didn't go out here with the mission to kill them, wiping them out still grants him Merit Points and he didn't need to confirm the kill by harvesting any of their body parts.  action

As Raven flew fast, a silhouette followed him closely. This was none other than Kyrie, who's tasked to silently watch over him and only allowed to interfere once he's in dire need. 

Over the course of days she followed him, Kyrie was already convinced that her Young Lord would most likely be fine on his own. 

Even though he's just a Saint Knight right now, his strength could easily match-up with a Lord Knight. In fact, she could feel that if he truly went all out, he'd be able to temporarily clash against an Empyrean Knight. 

This was already a shocking result, nevertheless the miracles that she saw her Young Lord doing before was enough to numb her. Him possessing this kind of strength felt natural compared to the shocking things she witnessed before. 

They have been in Asphodel for seven days in total. During this past three days, Raven limited the amount of rest they took and focused on arriving at the Devil Emperor's Pagoda as soon as he could. 

Raven couldn't help it. He felt that as he came closer and closer to their destination, the jitters he felt were becoming stronger. He had no idea why though so he could only hasten his steps and arrive there as soon as he could. 

As he flew past the darkened soil coupled with the ever rising temperature of the surroundings, Raven was feeling more and more agitated. He had checked himself before and knew that this isn't because of the Curse of Wrath. It was due to something else. 

As he entered a specific distance within the Inner Depths, Raven saw a thick black fog ahead of him. 

Seeing this fog caused Raven's heart to jolt. This fog wasn't any simple fog. It's called the Fog of Ruin. 

Fog of Ruin is something was released by the Devil Emperor's Pagoda. Seeing the Fog of Ruin is a sign that the pagoda is close by since this fog won't extend very far from it. 

The Fog of Ruin could be said as a natural defense line of the pagoda, it isn't something that came with the creation of the pagoda but was released by the creatures who were imprisoned inside. What makes this fog dangerous is that, every human being who's killed nearby will have their souls sucked and fused with the fog. 

The fog erodes their spiritual intelligence and turn them into Lesser Wraiths that hungers for the warmth of human soul but isn't fated to satiate themselves with it, cursing them into an eternal hunger. It is said that the Fog of Ruin was something was created by the 'Sin of Gluttony'.

Throughout the many years since the sect was built, many disciples had perished and turned into wandering wraiths within the Fog of Ruin. Many people thought about ways to purge the Fog of Ruin and free the tormented souls of the fallen disciples but alas…all attempts failed. 

Raven saw the Fog of Ruin and inwardly sighed. Seeing the fog means that he's close to his destination. 

He paused just before they entered the fog, he waved his hand and Kyrie naturally appeared beside him. 

"Let me reconfirm this, just in case I remember it wrong." Raven stated, "Entering the Fog of Ruin means stepping inside the den of hungry wolves, am I right?"

Kyrie simply nodded at him. 

"Anyone will be attacked by the wraiths roaming inside, and unlike regular devils, they are mostly intangible. Killing them isn't going to work since they don't have corporeal forms, they can attack you but you can't hurt them, which means that we just have to endure it and charge forward as quickly as possible in order to not be tainted. Did I get that right?"

"Yes, Young Lord." Kyrie nodded, smiling as she felt rather impressed. 

"What the hell..." Raven groaned in displeasure, "Isn't this somewhat similar to how our stomachs digests food? We humans, are food and the wraiths inside is our gastric acids. It really is, the Sin of Gluttony's work."

Kyrie wanted to laugh as she heard Raven's analogy but at the same time, it kind of makes sense. This description is quite apt for this situation. 

"This Fog of Ruin is just a fancy term for Gastric Acids. Cool, I guess." Raven snorted as he walked forward with Kyrie in tow. Kyrie remained silent but she's inwardly laughing. 

Right before the two were swallowed by the Fog of Ruin, they already hear a piercing shriek of a wraith charging at them. Kyrie was prepared to act but Raven stopped her and simply waved his hand. 

The two of them were instantly covered with pure white flames, creating a stack contrast between them and their surroundings. The wraith who's flying straight at them showed a horrified expression but it was too late for it to stop. 

In the end, the wraith crashed into them and was burned by the Cleansing Flames of Raven, causing it to completely disappeared. 

This development surprised both of them, Kyrie was astounded and Raven was amused, saying:

"Huh? Would look at that…"

"No matter how strong your intestines are, there's no way you can digest a flame.. Hahaha."