Way of the Knights

Chapter 266 - Petrification

Chapter 266:

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The orchestrated event of the Academy in collaboration with the Beast Domesticating Center went off without a hitch. 

The students got their field experience and no one got hurt severely. Raven along with the Instructors managed to see the fruit of their labors due to the display of the kids. According to Raven, their performance was acceptable, but it also had to be known that his standards are quite high. 

It was decided to not allow any student to know that this is an orchestrated event. As soon as they managed to apprehend all beasts that rampaged inside the old center, they were sent back to the academy and was rewarded according to their performance.

Of course, the Ranking List also saw a changes in them. Many students were shocked to see some teams pull ahead of them. When they realized that there was an Emergency Mission that was only offered to the top performers, they regretted taking it easy on their missions, making them unable to participate. They could only stare in envy as some team exchanged many stuff from their rewards.

Due to this, the teams who were unable to participate decided to kick it in full gear and cleared missions as best as they could. When the instructors heard this report later in the day, they were glad as this is one of their goals on setting up this event. Everything was worth it.

***

"Chakram: Twisting Murder."

"Ten Arms: Defense!"

Inside a battlefield filled with piles of corpses, two silhouettes clashed with an earth-shaking ferocity. 

Both of them looked young. One was wearing an all white robes while the other wore an all black attire which looked like a uniform. They held different weapons too. One held a Chakram which formed by joining two curved blades together while the other held an impractical sized hammer.

Of course, the hammer wielding person was Raven himself. He found himself yet again facing some unknown person inside pocket dimensions of the Crown Place's Palace Grounds. 

This is the first time Raven faced this person, he didn't know who he was since aside from the grunts and groans of the battle, the two never had a proper conversation. Upon Raven's materialization inside the pocket space, he had to be on guard because it's almost certain that whoever will face him would attack immediately.

Due to this being the first time, Raven didn't really have high hopes on killing this dude. He was here to feel out his enemy first and see what he could do. Of course, he could finish the battle in his first try then that would ne great, but what's more important right now is learn as much as he could.

This current enemy of his was particularly formidable. Of course that doesn't mean that his previous enemies inside the pocket dimensions weren't, but this one in particular is something else.

Raven never faced a Chakram user before. Not during his past life nor the current one. Before, he believed that Chakram is a very unreliable weapon, and Raven would rather fight bare handed rather than use an unreliable weapon. But of course, he had changed his opinions since then, he's even using what he previously thought as an unreliable weapon as well; the hammer.

Anyway, this Chakram user surely is a master of his weapon. He initially thought that the weight of his hammer alone could shatter the Chakram but it turns out that each of his attack would just be parried or redirected. 

This enemy of his is also nimble, even faster than his regular speed. Of he deactivated his Resistance Seal, then he's sure that he would be faster than him but now's not the time yet.

'This guy is swift and his attacks are precise.' Raven said inwardly, 'I'm pretty sure that he's feeling me out as well since none of his attacks contained any traces of Laws yet, but they were already scary enough. Each of his attacks are tracking me for some reason. I don't know how he was able to do that, but the tracking is somewhat weak. He also is an control expert, he could even redirect his attacks after he threw them out, just like how I was able to change the striking angle of the fist pillars I summoned.'

'He has a cultivation advantage over me. He's a Silver Knight while I'm just a regular mid-stage Knight. His techniques are refined to their highest degree and he's incredibly sensitive as well. How do I deal with him?'

Raven's thoughts accelerated as he was also paying attention in the fight, he wanted to at least put up a decent fight before this guy eventually strike him down, but he also want to force him to release more of his arsenal. 

Eventually, Raven grew tired of testing the limits of his enemy's patience. He decided to force his enemy to reveal what he's hiding by exposing some of his. 

Fist-sized pillars rained down from the sky. Each of them caused the land to shatter or be thrown everywhere. Due to Raven's constant training, he was improving at a decent pace which in turn made his enemies suffer even more. 

Due to the pressure, his enemy finally revealed some of his hidden arsenal and Raven managed to squeeze out even more from him.

His enemy gained enlightenment on Light Laws, but there was a catch. When he uses his techniques powered by Laws, it will cause a mysterious sensation of being slowed down. It was as if something heavy was shackling him down. This is what Raven felt but it seems that it was more than that. 

Raven's thoughts accelerated, he analyzed this feeling and traced it to his old memories since he felt some nostalgia with it. And when he finally found a match, his eyes constricted and annoyance quickly rose up in his chest.

'Damn this sucks.' He inwardly complained, 'What a lucky blonde. He could use a fusion of Earth and Light Laws, the Petrification Light. This is going to be annoying.'

Law Fusion. Something which is incredibly rare to see. As if gaining enlightenment towards a certain Law wasn't already hard enough, there just has to be those lucky ones who got enlightenment over two kinds of Laws and even combined it. What kind of bullshit luck is that?

Petrification Light, something that could cause someone to be petrified just through exposure which travels at the speed of light. If it weren't for Raven's constant training, he might've not been able to resist the might of this technique.

'He doesn't look like a Gorgon, nor I felt any kind of Gorgon Bloodline within him.' Raven thought as he performed evasive maneuvers during the fight. 'Neither he is a Stone Golem, an Ancient Golden Scarab, an Earth Dragon, nor he possessed any of these bloodlines.'

The reason why Raven started guessing out his enemy's identity is because being one of the beasts he mentioned or having their bloodline will enable an individual to inherit the talents of using the Petrification Light. 

Raven could already confirm that whoever this was, he is a human through and through. He could tell due to his Crystal Sky Eyes. If this guy had a bloodline, there would be an unnatural flow inside his blood streams but Raven didn't see anything. Which eventually lead him to believe that…

'It must be his Spirit Entity then.' Raven though inwardly, 'I'm guessing a Gorgon. Thankfully, he doesn't look as creepy as the real one.'

'Anyway, let's see how well he could use this talent of his.' Raven thought as he decided to release his resistance seal and go to town with this guy.

With his speed unleashed. He exposed everything in his arsenal and threw them at his enemy. Even more fist sized pillar descended, some of them were even more solid than the regular one's. His enemy was surprised by the sudden outburst and got hurt a couple of times but managed to adapt. 

The fierce clash continued, it took a while since their stamina were greater than normal and their reserves were greater as well. The whole battlefield shook, bodies and shards of earth flew everywhere. 

Eventually, the Chakram user roared, Raven felt an ominous feeling which was too familiar with him. His face became dignified and prepared for the absolute worst. 

The Chakram on his enemy's hands flew onto the air. Raven the blonde mobilized almost of all his energies onto the Chakram itself. He tried stopping it but the distance between then was great so he tried defending himself instead.

At the hollowed center of the Chakram, a dirty brown light blossomed. It crept towards the edges of the Chakram as it illuminated the entire battlefield. Raven's eyes constricted as he felt himself slowing down, it seems like his defenses are too weak for this attack. 

Under Raven's dumbstruck gaze, the Chakram rose up into the air similar to a rising sun with the blonde looking at it like it was his most treasured thing. His lips formed a gentle smile as he uttered the words:

"Petrifying Sun!"