Way of the Knights

Chapter 864: Healed

—

Raven spent several days reading the memories of the abyssals he abducted. He was optimistic about it first but it turns out to be a disappointment. 

In hindsight, he shouldn't have had high hopes. After all, these group were cannon fodder at best. He's already lucky enough to get some intel from the diary. 

Their memories weren't that impressive. If anything, it just confirmed that the main force of Abyssals are really strong and their ship is big. Most of what he got from it were mundane things such as the daily lives of the abyssals – something that he had no interest of.

If there's anything valuable here, it would be the fact that the main ship is far from the Divine Realm. Like really far. Even at the speed of light, it would take decades before he could reach it. Which was a good news for Raven, at least for now. 

That being said though, this distance doesn't guarantee their safety. After all, the ship can warp anywhere it pleases. It would take days for the main ship to arrive next to the Divine Realm should the order be given.

These group of Abyssals are weak. Cannon fodders like what was mentioned earlier. It made sense given how easily he apprehended them even though it was from an ambush. In addition, their numbers were that great to begin with. Their group won't even amount to a drop compared to the true main force of the abyssals. 

"Well, this isn't the worst scenario." Raven murmured to himself, "At least we still have time to prepare for their arrival."

"The confrontation between us and them will eventually happen. It's just a matter of time. Even so, the longer we can stall for time and raise the quality of the soldiers we have, the better our chances will be." 

Raven got silent for a bit. He searched the ship for more things that he can hopefully use to gain more clues but he found nothing of great importance, which means that he's pretty much done here. 

"I already got what I needed." Raven mused to himself, "I managed to find my master and set up the Outposts."

"Thankfully. It didn't take me too long, roughly two years passed since I left? There wouldn't be too much changes in the realm within that time period but it's fine. It's about time for me to return anyways. I'm sure Master misses his home too." 

"…hopefully his previous enemies won't go after him. Well, it's in their best interest to not do that since I wouldn't hesitate to harm them if they pushed their luck. They should know who I am. I pray that they're sensible enough to know the disparity between us. I don't want to kill them since we could seriously use more people to defend against the eventual confrontation with the Abyssals." 

Raven then looked at the ship and mused to himself once again. 

"Right, I should take this with me" Raven whispered, "I don't like the Abyssals but I can't deny their craftsmanship. This thing is good. It's pretty much the same as my personal shuttle, just without the additional functions."

"But I should check first if this thing is being tracked. I don't want to lead the enemy right to our doors after all." 

Raven then scanned the whole ship with his sense, covering every inch there is. His senses permeated at every corner and detail there is at the ship, inspecting it closely and creating a mental image in his head. 

He checked the entirety of the ship, trying to see if it there's any sort of tracking device attached to it. Raven didn't see any at his first scan but just to make sure, he scanned three more times after that, the result was the same. Only then he heaved a sigh of relief. 

For his final check, he went to the database of the ship. Using the knowledge he plundered from the memories of the Abyssals, he check every single file the database has and made sure that there's nothing in there that's tracking the ship's movements, after finding none, Raven was satisfied. 

He exited the ship. No he wasn't planning on driving the entire thing go back home, he would be treated as an enemy by the Wall Guardians if he did that. 

Raven decided to seal the ship. Because, even though he didn't find anything that's being used to track the course of the ship down. He would still feel better if he eliminated all sorts of variables. Therefore, he chose to seal the ship along with abyssals inside, he made sure that any kind of tracking device won't be able to check the location of this ship. 

If the main force truly had something they could use to track this ship down, they won't see anything because of Raven seal. If things go swimmingly, the main force would treat this group as missing or simply worthless and won't pay attention to them anymore just like how it was for the Devil Emperor.

That's probably the best case scenario for Raven and the Divine Realm.

—

Consciousness returned to Geezer piece by piece. 

It was a long process, he himself was aware of that. 

There were times where he would remember things then blank out. It became a cycle of that for quite sometime but the more it happened, the longer he stayed conscious. 

Everything was blurry at first but eventually, it all made sense to him. 

Right now, he still feels a bit exhausted but he knows he's recovering well. In fact, he felt better compared to when he was being tortured by the Abyssals. 

His recent memories started getting clear to him. 

Before he blacked out, he remembered seeing his Heir – the one that showed the most promise. Along with the slightly blurred image of his Heir's face, he could also remember what his aura felt like. 

Benevolent yet uncontested. Gentle but domineering. That's now he would describe it. It's absurd now that he thought about it but it also makes sense. Even though his aura felt contradicting for the most part, it seems to be in harmony as well. It was truly strange but it brought immense comfort and satisfaction for Geezer. 

Why? He has no idea. He didn't know why he was happy. His memories are still blurred for the most part and he's still exhausted so he rested as much as he could just so that he can return to his peak state sooner. 

After a few weeks of recovery, Geezer felt the best he has ever been. By now, he's fully conscious and energetic. 

He didn't feel the gnawing of the Evil Will anymore. That will dissipated thanks to his Heir's efforts. 

When he opened his eyes for the first time after his long recovery, he found himself lying at the foot of a massive tree set ablaze with pure white flames. 

Geezer was momentarily awed by the sight. He has never seen such a thing before. He could feel the essence of Spacetime vividly around him as well as the existence of Singularity. In addition to that, he could also feel the gentle warmth and purest breath filling his lungs. 

His mind felt unprecedentedly at peace. 

He took a moment to glance at his surroundings and found himself surrounded with constellations. Their milky radiance added a sparkle of mystery around this cosmos. Their very existence seems to be a miracle, a spectacle in itself. 

And beneath all of this, lies a trace of something familiar.  action

It's a sensation that scratched the back of Geezer's mind but he just can't put a finger on it. It felt so familiar yet also foreign at the same time that it's slowly driving him crazy. 

Right before he could even ask himself where he is, he felt someone approaching him from behind. 

When he turned around, he saw his Heir manifesting out of nowhere with a relieved smile of his face, this made Geezer involuntarily smile and gratitude and pride. 

"I'm glad you're finally recovered and awake, Master." 

"So it turns out that I wasn't dreaming." Geezer chuckled, "It's truly you who found and saved me from the nasty hands of those abominations." 

Raven pursed his lips and walked towards him, saying: "I could've saved you earlier if you just left a lead for me to follow. I can't believe that you even hid our Karmic Connection just so that none of us can follow you." 

"…in hindsight, I really didn't want you to search for me you know?" Geezer snorted. "You were meant to be in the Divine Realm. Your fate is there and I shouldn't be of concern to you. After all, my era already passed and you still have much to do." 

"I know but that's that Master." Raven sighed, "This is different…besides, I made a promise didn't I?"

"That, you did. And I still can't believe you actually managed to save me from their hands." 

"It wasn't too hard, after all those who caught you were just cannon fodders. They don't amount to much." 

"Be careful there…don't be too confident. They're strong you know?".

"I know but…I do have the capital to be confident." Raven smiled, "After all, I am your heir and also the first one to condense the Divinity of Chaos. If I can't be confident, then nobody could." 

It was Geezer's turn to be stunned after hearing that.