Way of the Knights

Chapter 334 - Bearded Ladies

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Having a statue of a Kraken Priestess here is a sign that she holds a considerable status in this castle. While Raven cannot say whether she owns this castle or not, he's sure of one things. And that is, the statue of the Kraken Priestess who's preventing the Nagas from completely taking over this castle. 

The Kraken Priestess came from a race known as the Bearded Ladies. 

They worshipped Krakens as their almighty God Ancestor since they believed that it was the Krakens who created them. All of them having lower bodies of a squid is their best proof of that. 

As a marine lifeform, they of course took the sea depths as their home. They have an innate ability to control bodies of water and the likes, but what really sets them apart from other marine beasts is their ability to judge someone's soul. 

As Raven stared at the statue of the Kraken Priestess, the statue gazed back at him.

All of a sudden, the statue's eyes gleam with a brilliant gleam of green light and caused Raven's focus to slightly falter. The castle suddenly shook and Raven heard the statue speak.

"Welcome to the Sunken Ivory Castle, stranger." The voice of the statue sounded on his ears. Her voice sounds like there are three people speaking at the same time, saying the same words. She's also using the Elven Language.

"Whether you came here on your own accord or by accident. It matters not. You may never leave unless you prove yourself worthy." 

After saying that, the statue of the Kraken Priestess suddenly disappeared and the scenario in front of him changed. A wide and long staircase showed itself. Space warped and then green phantom tentacles of different size and shapes suddenly appeared all around him. Raven felt a stir on the depths of his body yet he ignored it since he already knew what that was.

Even if the Kraken Priestess is nowhere to be seen, Raven could still hear her voice. 

"If you want to leave, then look for my totem once again." She said, "That is, if you can."

Everything went silent after she said that, meaning that Raven's task of finding her statue or totem according to her, begins now. 

Raven merely smiled and spoke softly, "This is easier than dealing with the Nagas."

He then placed the hammer on his shoulders and walked calmly towards the stairs. 

As soon as he placed a foot on the stairs, a nearby tentacle suddenly moved and smashed down at him. Raven didn't anything to defend himself nor was there any need to do so since it would be useless anyway. He just allowed the transparent tentacle to strike him down. 

The tentacle went through his body but even if it looked hollow, it still struck something. It's target is Raven's soul. 

This will be the most dangerous obstacle in conquering this castle, at the same time this is also the unique ability of the Bearded Ladies that sets them apart from the rest of the marine beasts. 

Bearded Ladies could see through the souls of living beings and also directly attack it. Those that are chosen as the Kraken Priestess could rip out someone's soul or use their ancestral treasure: The Stone of the Kraken God, to summon tentacles and directly consume the souls that it touches or simply attack it.

The tentacles that are surrounding Raven right now are the same tentacles that comes out of the stone. 

These tentacles could completely ignore any kind of material defense. Energy barriers, talismans, formations, ancient arts, anything so long as it exists in a material form means nothing to this tentacles. It targets the soul, which is often the weakest link on one's existence. 

Soul is the most sensitive and the most mysterious sector of one's existence. Even after millions of years even since the creation of humanity, only a few dared to delve into its mysteries, causing it to become one of humanity's weaknesses. Even the tiniest damage to the Soul could prove to be extremely lethal, specially here in the lower realms where ingredients that could heal damages to one's soul are extremely sparse. 

That being said, it doesn't mean that Raven is in a very dangerous spot. 

Like he said earlier, this to him is more easier compared to dealing with the Nagas. How so? Simple.

Soul Rebirth. 

Others might be in grave danger facing these soul punishing tentacles but not him. Forget about these tentacles, even if the Kraken Priestess herself was here, he could ignore all her attempts on hurting his soul since it will never happen. 

Even at it's weakest, Raven soul is something that these pathetic tentacles could never dream to touch. Raven had faced Heavenly Tribulation directed at his soul during his previous life and came out on top, how could these tiny tentacles hurt him? 

And even if he didn't have a powerful soul, Raven is still sure that he will live since the Ancestral Divine Crown would not allow these tentacles to kill him. While it won't ward off every single attack, it will at least ensure that he will leave since that's what happened during his visit here in his previous life. 

This is why Raven wasn't even remotely worried about this at all. The only challenges here to him are the Kraken that's carrying the castle itself, the Nagas and the potential traps that are waiting for him. So long as he could deal with those, he'll be able to get what he wanted from here and leave in one piece. 

As if he was walking through his yard, Raven ascended the stairs while completely ignoring the tentacles that are smashing down at him. His soul was so strong that he can't even feel any kind of discomfort going through all of this. To him, this felt more of a nice breeze. This caused Raven to be completely immune from this painful trial.

Of course, Raven's case is extremely unique to him. Who could expect that his soul experienced rebirth? Not to mention expecting it, no one might even believe him if he told them that he experienced Soul Rebirth anyway. Therefore, it is not the creator nor the Kraken Priestess' fault that their attempts failed to stop him. 

Reaching the top of the staircase lead him to a large open room that has branching pathways and several doors that leads to different rooms. The tentacles are still omnipresent around him, and if he moved just an inch closer to them, they would instantly come smashing down. He did nothing to evade nor escape, he ignored them and allowed them to do their thing.

He couldn't exactly remember where the ingredient was, which forced him to check every single room around him in order to find it. 

Raven then entered one of rooms, as soon as he stepped inside the room, the door leading out disappeared, trapping him inside. Raven ignored it and studies his surroundings first. Even though his ocular technique is sealed, he's still aware that there are some hidden mechanisms behind the walls of this room. 

He took measured steps and avoided triggering the traps that he sensed. He was still being assaulted by the tentacles but it never slowed him down even for a second. It took him barely a minute to reach the end of the room where the door leading out showed itself. 

Raven pushed the door open and he arrived in another room. Ignoring the recurring motif of each rooms being littered with tentacles, what caught his attention in this room is the cistern filled with clear water that has an aromatic scent and two bookshelves filled with scrolls and books which looked a bit old. 

"I've never been here before." He murmured as he walked towards the cistern. He crouched down and saw that there is a carving of Elven letters on its edges. It reads:

"Soul Purifying Water!?" Raven blurted out as he made sure if he read those words correctly. 

Seeing that he hadn't read it wrong, he gulped audibly and scooped up a handful of the water from the cistern and consumed it. 

The water slid down on his throat easily and was absorbed by his body like melting snow. His eyes snapped open as he felt a sudden surge on his soul. 

It was very faint, so much so that he almost ignored it, yet it still there. This water caused his soul to recover, the effect is not that great but there's a lot of water here so he might as well help himself out. 

Without further ado, he dunked his head on the cistern and issued a vacuum on his mouth. He drank mouthfuls of this water in one go and could feel his soul dancing in joy as the water worked it's magic. His elation caused him to siphon the water even stronger, he didn't know where this water was coming from but he sure hope there is a lot of them. 

Unfortunately, there seems to be a limit of how much this cistern could hold since he completely bottomed it up. He pouted in disappointment but he still on a jubilant mood.. Drinking everything from that cistern allowed his soul to recover about 10% of its original power.