Way of the Knights

Chapter 267: Trance

“Well, that was unpleasant.” Raven uttered as soon as he revived inside the crown space. He just came back from his 30th defeat from that guy, and his mood was very unpleasant.

The final attack of his enemy was always that Petrifying Sun, Raven’s defenses was rendered useless even after bolstering it. He will always end up petrified and shattered into pieces. 

Now he was feeling dilemma. How was he supposed to defeat an enemy like that? His brute force could only take him so far against that person and they were evenly matched. Sure, he could suppress that guy by unleashing move after move but it’s not like his reserves were unlimited, the same could be said about his stamina as well. 

“How annoying.” Raven mumbled, “This is just the 11th pocket dimension and it’s already this difficult. And I’m supposed to clear a total of 100 before reaching the doors of the Palace? How long is it going to take me?”

Raven rarely complained about something, yet he also knows that complaining is useless since nothing will change anyways. 

“Alright, I’ve got to stop complaining.” Raven slapped his face and continued by saying, “Don’t rush, there’s time. I’ll eventually figure this out. Compared to that guy, I’m far luckier. They didn’t experience a Soul Rebirth unlike me. And considering that I could put up a decent fight against him even though he’s centuries older than me is already an amazing feat by itself. I shouldn’t beat up myself like this, it’s not good for my mental health.”

Raven smiled and decided to let go of his negativity, he calculated time and saw that his time inside the crown space is nearly over. He sat down and decided to meditate for the remaining time, focusing in emptying his thoughts and allowing himself to be completely relaxed.

Eventually, his time inside ended and he felt himself transported out of the Crown Space. He appeared back at his home, he was feeling particularly tired cultivation wise, it was more of a physical exhaustion which something that a simple sleep or long meditation could completely cure. 

Raven ate a light meal, he gazed out of the window and checked the time. He noticed that it was already midnight, so he sat on his bed and entered meditation yet again.

However, due to some reason he was feeling a little jittery. He felt like there was something that’s gnawing at his heart but he couldn’t tell what it was. It was due to this reason that he couldn’t enter a meditative state.

Raven tried searching for that feeling. He paced back in forth inside his room, wracking brains out while trying to figure where this feeling was coming from. But it seems that this would a sleepless night since he can’t recall anything at all.

He eventually gave up, but when he did the feeling only got stronger. So much to the point where it’s starting to test his patience. 

Raven felt so irritated for some reason. He didn’t understand why this was happening to him, he clearly couldn’t remember anything that he die nor someone did to him that would garner such a reaction from him. While that guy from the pocket dimension was annoying, that was all that he is. That person would be completely incapable of making him feel this much irritation just because he defeated Raven in a straight up confrontation.

So why was he this irritated then?

Raven wondered why as well. He was in such a deep thought that he didn’t even notice that it has been an hour since he stared feeling this kind of irritation. That being said, he can’t even say if what he’s feeling right now is just an irritation or an urge.

His hands felt itchy, it felt like there were an army of ants marching on them. His heartbeat was fast and frankly enough, it was taking him no small amount of effort to keep himself still and seated. At the deepest recesses of his heart, there is an urge-nay, a desire…

This desire was too strong and perhaps…too familiar to him. This feeling was something that he carried with him at the same time when he vowed revenge towards the Black Curtain Guild.

It was the desire to destroy…

“Damn…” Raven gnashed his teeth and cursed. “What is happening to me!?”

Raven’s mind was being corroded by this sudden desire to destroy everything he touches. The desire was too strong, so much so that his Chaos Force was acting up on him. This never happened before, Raven was always in control of not only his emotions but his Chaos Force. Sure, during the past few days his control over his emotions was being unstable but he just blamed that on the stress of handling students, and it never went into this stage anyway.

“This is bad…” Raven muttered with so much difficulty. His face was crumpling and he was biting his lip to prevent himself from roaring on top of his lungs. He had this feeling that if he let go of what remains of his sanity, he might really destroy everything around him. And he absolutely couldn’t allow that to happen. 

But Raven was losing control over his sanity as time goes on. So before he slipped into madness, he did what he could to prevent himself from rampaging. 

He touched the mark of the Resistance Seal on his chest and cranked it up so high until he couldn’t even lift a finger. His body dropped to his bed, fiercely shivering as it did so. 

Next, he gathered his consciousness and initially planned to flee towards the Crown Space. Unfortunately, his allotted time inside was already consumed which caused him to panic. 

It was then that he remembered that there is another place for where he could flee to, that would be his core. 

And so, without hesitations, he sank his consciousness on his core and entered the vast empty space, arriving at the sun-like orb which was the only existence in there. And because his consciousness left his it’s original place, his actual body recovered it’s calm. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for his consciousness inside his core.

“ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!”

A long and loud primal roar escaped his lips. His echoed and eventually disappeared inside the space of his core. Raven’s eyes were ferocious, at this current moment he was no different from a mindless beast.

He ran everywhere, punched everywhere, kicked, clawed and some more. He lost his usual calm and neutral expression and was replaced by a deep ferocity that seems to stem from the very depths of his soul. 

It took him a while but eventually he calmed down. His breathing was stagnant, hair dishelved, and was totally exhausted. He eventually fell down, feeling his back make contact with a solid membrane which kept him afloat in this space. His ferocious expression was gone, it was replaced by a profound calm, his eyes were dull and lifeless but there’s something more in them.

Raven’s mind was in a mess. It was like he’s treading in a fine line between being conscious and unconsciousness. He would like to think that he knows what’s going on by now but that would be a lie since he will only regain clarity in short bursts before slipping into an empty trance yet again. 

This is not the first time that Raven entered this kind of trance. For some reason he could recall something but at the same time, he’s not completely sure what he remembered at all. This scenario was exactly the same as when he switched his cultivation technique into the Book of Chaos. He was experiencing his First Transformation back then, this time it was different.

Flashes of images went past in his mind like a vanishing smoke. They would linger long enough for Raven to start being mesmerized but will immediately disappear once Raven unconsciously tried focusing on them. It happened multiple times until something resonated with Raven. 

A word kept echoing inside Raven’s mind. It was like a hypnotic tune that sent profound waves inside his brain.

Destruction. 

It was this word that hypnotized Raven like a maniac. 

Raven won’t be able to tell why due to his state. What he felt right now is something extremely strange but for some reason, he wanted more. 

Unknowingly, Raven’s consciousness who’s laying in front of the sun-like orb, started being lifted by a mysterious force. He started releasing some sort of a tune that resonated with his current surroundings. As this tune touched the orbits of the sun-like orb, it created some sort of a magical reaction that caused the ‘seals’ to loosen even more. 

Raven’s actual body started showing some changes as well. His body was seemingly carried by the air, causing him to float on top of his bed. Around his body, cracks mysteriously disappeared. It appeared like he was being encased by a shattered glass. 

The cracks started spreading outwards. Everything that is touched by the cracks will mysteriously shatter. It started from his bed, then the small desk beside his bed, his table, drawers and stuff. The cracks eventually spread so wide that it eventually covered the whole house, causing it to shatter in pieces. 

This event startled many people, causing them to report it to the officials. Eventually, several faces appeared on the scene with worried expressions on their faces.