Way of the Knights

Chapter 24 - Mournful Nether Flame

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Raven was streaking.

Mark and Paul was trying their best to hide his bare body from the view of the ladies.

"Damn, I didn't know that this could happen! He didn't even warn us!" Paul cursed.

"Right! He should've warned us if he's going to be naked from cultivating." Ellen cursed as well.

"No that's not it. He didn't warn us that he's going to call that flame!" Mark corrected her.

"Flame? Isn't that his aura?" Anne asked confused. Though she and the girls couldn't see anything, they caught a brief glance of the flame that they were talking about before it melted his clothes.

"No it's not." Paul said. "The technique he's cultivating is rather…dangerous. That flame was called. Norfor-Mort-god damn it! What was it again Mark?"

"It's Mournful Nether Flame idiot!" Mark lashed out. "It's a fabled flame that was said to be so cold that it burns. This flame is present in hell and was used to burn the souls of those whose sins are either slavery, ****, child abuse and abduction for eternity." He explained.

The girls let out an audible gasps, Luna then chimed in and said: "Mournful Nether Flame! Hell! Aren't those places just myths? And even if they weren't how could he call the flames that burn in that place?"

"We don't know…" Mark shook his head and admitted. He could only stare at his brother and pray for his safety.

"From what you said, then this flame should be extremely dangerous then!" Anne exclaimed, "Is he going to be fine?"

"He should be." Paul said unsure, "He pulled off tons of crazy shit before so he should be fine." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well. Ellen could feel Paul's hands trembling since he was covering her eyes. She bit her lip and couldn't help but to pray for her cousin's safety as well.

Since they have their eyes covered whatever's happening to Raven is completely oblivious to them. If they could see it however, they would probably be scared to look further. Raven's skin had already turned completely red from the heat, they could even see some of his being burnt from the heat of the flame, the only reason why they haven't moved yet is because they could still feel Raven's aura, in fact instead of weakening, it's actually getting even fiercer.

As the momentum of his aura peaked, the flames were extinguished. Paul and Mark breathed a sigh of relief when he started absorbing Qi from his surroundings, this signified that the difficult times were over.

Raven's skin started regenerating, the redness of his body gradually lessened and even his body hairs started growing back as well. His skin was still had that healthy wheat color, the way it hugged his muscles gave the illusion of him being buffed. The toughness of his skin is akin to a mature tree, if his opponents doesn't have the strength to snap a tree in half then they could dream about hurting him. This is the frightening power of the Demon Chapter that focuses on his body.

Raven exited his cultivation, he noticed that his clothes turned to ashes which annoyed him, his gravity suit actually got burned with the rest his clothes as well. He could only sigh and thought that it was such a waste while summoning new clothes from his spatial ring. Good thing that the flame only targeted his body not his items, or else he would've been devastated. After changing into a new set of clothes, he turned around walked back with the rest.

By now, Paul and Mark had already released their hands from the girls' eyes. Paul berated him as he sat down.

"Can't you warn us next time when something like that is gonna happen? Specially if we have visitors!"

"Hahahaha!" Raven laughed and scratched his head. "My bad, my bad. I didn't expect that the Mournful Nether Flame would descend either."

"Why can't you just use a different cultivation technique instead? The method you choose is just way too dangerous." Mark frowned and spoke his mind.

"Don't sweat it. I'm already at this stage anyway." Raven waved his hand and laughed some more.

"Can you summon those flames at will?" Paul asked warily.

"Nope! That just appeared because my skin needs to be refined by it." Raven explained briefly. Paul breathed a sigh of relief, he thought: 'At least he couldn't use it to his future creations.'

"From what I know, Hell is just a mythical place right? None had ever confirmed their existence before. So how…" Luna couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore and started asking him. But before she could continue, Raven cut her off and began with his explanation.

"Just because none had ever confirmed it, does not mean it doesn't exist. Take Jubileus for example, she is an angel, an 8-winged Angel at that, her existence should be mythical too but aren't you her descendant?"

"Jubileus?" Mark raised his brow and repeated.

"Descendant?" Anne did so as well.

"Oh right you guys didn't know about it yet. So she is…" Raven then started using his 'story-telling technique' to everyone. He explained who is Jubileus, her adventures, the story of her fall, when she met her husband, her return and all the way until the part when the Supreme Angel sealed her.

By the time that he finished explaining, the girls felt a little bit emotional, even the boys were the same as well.

"But everything's fine now. She already departed with a smile in her face and became a Spirit Entity. Remember the constellation that appeared when I checked the hairpin? That's her. She's already been remembered by the starry skies of the Spirit World."

"Hold on…" Anne paused and asked: "Spirit Entity? Starry skies of the Spirit World? What are those now?"

"Humans had a long history but a the world that we lived had even longer one. Somewhere along this universe, there exist a world called the Spirit World. It is said that it's starry skies remembers every formidable beings that had ever existed, or those that had many stories to tell. Upon their departure the Spirit World will remember them in the form of a constellation."

"Upon our birth, one of those constellations will shine and when we turn ten, the blessing of those constellations will manifest. For some reasons, people call this nowadays as 'Talent'."

The girls were dumbfounded by this information bomb, while the boys aren't too much, after all they had already heard this from him. The girls had no reason to doubt him anymore. Raven had already shown them enough proof earlier that he wasn't lying when it comes to this things.

"What about the colors then? Me and Anne had Green-grade talents while Luna has Blue. What does that signifies then?" Ellen asked.

"Nothing." Raven flatly said. "If you're thinking that those colors will signify the cultivation speed of a person then you are wrong. Utterly mistaken. Those colors doesn't represent that."

"What? How can that be?"

"How? Aren't us the best proof of that? You girls shouldn't be ignorant about what others call us behind are backs no?" Raven raised his brows and asked back.

"The Disappointment Triplets." Ellen said reluctantly.

"Exactly." Raven nodded, "They call us that because we have 'Red-grade Talents' right? But how could you explain our cultivation being higher that you do when you have better 'talents'?" The girls couldn't say anything.

"So that means that the way our elders measure talent is wrong?" Anne probed.

"Exactly. I don't know what happened why it was changed but one things for sure. If this continues, then the kingdom is in grave danger. Sooner or later, it will ultimately face destruction." Raven declared solemnly.

Everyone shuddered from his words. They could tell that Raven wasn't saying this just to scare them, his words had basis behind it and the scenario that he was describing will most likely happen.

"Then we should inform them about this right? If the adults know this then we could change the destiny of the kingdom! We could become stronger!" Ellen asked with passion. But she was met with a cold snort from Raven.

"Do you even understand what you're saying?" Raven raised his brows and asked: "Okay let's say that we tell them. Would the adults believe the ramblings of thirteen year olds? And even if they believe us, do you honestly think that they will spread the word after confirming it? How could you assure me that they won't use this new found knowledge to groom themselves and overthrow the Royal Family? If you tell me that they won't do that, then I could only say that you are as naive as a newborn!"

Ellen and the rest paled from his words. They couldn't be blamed, their minds might be more matured compared from their peers, it does not change the fact that they are still kids. The world of adults are far more complicated than what they could imagine. Only Raven could let them realise this.

"Taking a step back and say that the adults from your clans really did spread the word and enlightened the masses. Don't you think you are forgetting a more serious threat?" Raven's voice became even more solemn when it reached this point.

"Black Curtain Guild."

These words made the rest of them shiver in fear.