Way of the Knights

Chapter 367 - Control

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Raven didn't allow his annoyance to ruin his focus. The last thing that he wanted is to act purely out of rage and go into a berserk mode like some kind of a madman. That is not how he fight his battles. 

Due to his abnormal physique, these wounds weren't that lethal for him. In fact, his wounds earlier was already closing up and if he wanted to, he could even speed up their healing by spending a little bit of his Chaos Force. He didn't do that yet since he had a plan. 

*Phew!*

"Shit, here it goes again." Raven grumbled as he felt beams of light flying towards him. 

It goes without saying that he had to remain on defensive once more since if one of these beams hit him in vital parts, he will without a doubt die. 

Even though these beams are completely invisible, Raven was sensitive enough to know where they and how many there is. With his budding pre-cognitive abilities, if allowed him to understand where the beams will hit and his calculative mind allowed him to know how to accurately dodge these beams of light without getting injured. 

But the onslaught of Carl didn't end there. He continued to prove why he became Raven's bane of existence for quite some time. In addition to the light beams which are deadly enough, Carl can also manipulate their trajectory since they're within his territory. This caused Raven even more headache since he had to pay attention to all of the beams of light at the same time, this pressure was enough to completely prevent him from launching a counterattack. 

Needless to say, it's not like this was the first time this happened. And if Raven despised this Carl's battle tactics, he is incredibly impressed by his skills since this clearly isn't easy. 

Unfortunately, Raven's no ordinary character as well. Since he had seen this a lot of times, he already developed a counterattack to Carl's strategy. 

*Boom!*

Using his sheer physical strength, Raven stomped the ground and caused another crater to appear, this one's smaller compared to the previous one but this wasn't the focus. His action just now caused some rubble to fly up in the air. He was still dodging Carl's onslaught but he was also paying attention to the rubble around them. 

Once they started falling down, that's when he made a move. With his incredible control of his Chaos Force, he sent out strings of his own energy towards the falling rubble and pulled them close to him. 

As the rubble was getting pulled, they got in the way so the beams of light went through them, but just as they went through each rubble, each beam of light became significantly weaker and slower. The reason behind this is due to Raven's Chaos Force. Yes, these beams of light could pierce through his defenses but there is a limit to that. By not only attaching strings to the falling rubble but also covering them with his own Chaos Force, it was sufficient to weaken the power of Carl's attack. 

And since the beams of light passed through multiple rubble, they got weaker and weaker until they weren't strong enough to even dent Raven's protective barrier. The beams of light that hit his barrier completely dissipated, preventing Carl from changing their trajectory to harass Raven even further. 

Additionally, due to the barrage of Raven's destructive attacks earlier, there is a lot of rubble that he could use for this fight. In fact, these aren't the only use for them. 

Raven sent more strings of his Chaos Force to virtually anything that he could pull. Trees, boulders, rocks, flowers, insects, it didn't matter at all. He pulled them all using one hand to hold every string. Once he did that, he started spinning and so did everything that he pulled. 

As Carl tried to send more beams of light, none of them even managed to touch Raven at all before they dissipated. Now, Raven is in the middle of what seems to be a hurricane of rubble. 

Well since he doesn't have a territory, who said that he couldn't make one? Improvisation is a thing. 

And now, Carl was forced to defend since some of the rubbles that are hitting doesn't only have Raven's Chaos Force but also, his Destruction Laws. To top this all off, Raven started weaving his own attacks in between, forcing Carl to always be on his toes. 

There was no doubt about his speed, but when there are too many things to avoid, injuries are bound to happen. And unlike Raven, Carl didn't have an outstanding physique. Which means that even though he looks fine, the damages he suffered from Raven's rampage earlier is still there. 

Actually, after receiving Raven's full force attack, it's already a miracle that this guy could even move. 

His bones mended back together but it doesn't mean that he's no longer in pain. And due to this, his movement is more strenuous. 

Raven's also aware of this fact, this is why he went ballistic at the first chance that he got because it was a necessary step for his plan. And now, with his incredible plan, the damage that Carl is suffering is just stacking higher and higher. And even though he's at Hero Realm, he still has limitations. 

Knowing that his enemy is trying to chip away at his stamina, Carl opted for a desperate attack. His aura flared and caused his territory to become even more stable. His body emitted a divine brilliance that once again, almost blinded Raven. 

Raven closed his eyes to prevent blindness, he strengthened his connection with every rubble that he held by supplying them with more Chaos Force. 

Seeing that Raven had his eyes closed, Carl decided to make a move. While the flare he released was still active, he moved at the speed of light again and immediately closed the distance between them. Carl wanted to end the battle by separating Raven's head from his shoulders but he forgot one thing. 

Raven was expecting Carl to do this trick. 

"5th Step!" 

*BOOM!*

The whole forest quaked under the sheer force behind Raven's attack. Normally the 5th Step of 9 Destruction Steps should've destroyed everything within 5 kilometer radius, but thanks to Carl's territory, this was reduced to a mere kilometer. 

Even so, this area was big enough to absolutely decimate the unsuspecting Carl, who suffered the full force of Raven's Destruction Laws due to how close he was. 

Blood squirted out from Carl's body, his majestic and holy looking armor was destroyed into pieces. His rapier and buckler weren't spared as well. He even lost a good portion of his chest due to the impact of Raven's attack. 

Carl was in a delirious state from the pain he's feeling. His Territory had now disappeared as well so no more invisible beams of deadly light. 

Seeing his miserable appearance brought a slight relief to Raven. From start to finish, the plan was relatively simple, but making it happen was incredibly challenging. Needless to say, out of respect, Raven wanted to end this battle as quickly as he could.

"To send you off, I'll offer you the strongest attack in my skill set." Raven muttered. 

He then channeled all of his remaining Chaos Force in to his hammer, he even used the 'Bounty' he's saving up for emergencies. 

The amount of energy that he's releasing caused the air to be stifled. Rocks started floating around him and his hair wildly flapped due to the force he's emitting. 

The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer released a resplendent glare and above Raven, a massive Golden Fist started materializing. The ground started quaking, the whole forest was trembling. Just the sight of that massive Golden Fist would send shivers to anyone who gazed at it. 

Additionally, a coating of white energy that gives off an aggressive feel, coated the entirety of the Golden Fist. This is Raven's Destruction Laws, which will be working in tandem with the horrifying power of the Golden Fist. 

Raven's arm which holds the hammer was raised at this point. In front of him, he saw Carl staring blankly at the phenomenon occurring at the sky. He had no desire to evade nor defend himself against it since it's just impossible, and even if wanted to, his badly damaged body won't allow him to do so, he can't even move a single muscle. 

Seeing this reaction from Carl, Raven felt a greater admiration and respect to this guy. 

Their gazes met for one last time, Raven offered a serene smile and said: "That was a good fight, I've learned a lot from you. Farewell, Carl."

*Woosh!*

Raven brought the hammer down and the giant Golden Fist descended like a gigantic meteor that rocked the entire forest. 

A large explosion occurred which also covered the entire forest. Raven stood tall and protected himself using the last bits of his Chaos Force. The chaos lasted for a couple a minutes before everything started settling down. 

When the clouds of dust dissipated, the whole forest was no where to been, there were no rubbles nor any signs of Carl. In this massive crater of destruction, only Raven alone could be seen. 

Raven gazed at the sky and heaved a sigh of relief, he didn't need any confirmation from anyone that he won this fight since he was confident that Carl would not survive that at all. 

He felt his knees go weak which caused him to slump on the floor, a satisfied smile appeared on his face as he lay down while panting.

"Yay, I won…"