Way of the Knights

Chapter 371 - Kicking Out

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Vit'hum could hardly believe it, so much to the point that he didn't even know how to react at all. (AN: I'll use the pronoun 'he' for Vit'hum from now.)

The Bloodline Pact, a skill that stemmed from his impure but strong bloodline, was defeated just like that. He wouldn't have been surprised if someone like a King or like an Emperor did this to him, but this kid is none of those things. 

Still in denial that the skill he got from his impure dragon bloodline, he tried casting it again. Sadly, the pain inflicted by the seal said everything that needs to be said.

"Impossible!" Vit'hum still didn't give up even after experiencing all the signs. He tried again and again but the more he tried, the more painful the backlash from the seal gets. 

The pain that the seal inflicted was directly tied to his soul. Due to his age, his soul was plenty strong yet the repeated attempts he did to cast the Bloodline Pact caused him to suffer more and more, and this kind of pain is not something that his hardened but wrinkled skin could defend against. 

"You!" For the first time in ages, Vit'hum raised his voice in fury as he gazed at the young man walking away from him as if he did nothing. To add salt to the injury, Raven completely ignored his furious bellow. 

"You damn mortal!" Vit'hum screamed in agony as the seal administered another seal. He could feel his strength being sapped away from his body. "What the hell did you do to me! Answer me!"

But instead of answering his question, Raven didn't even bother to turn around. He looked at the core and then old man, sighing in relief while thanking his instincts.

'Good thing my instincts warned me about this. If I didn't rush here, then that bastard might've already devoured the core.'

"How do you feel?"

The old man gave him a polite salute and said: "Relieved, my Lord. Thanks to you, that pest no longer has the ability to siphon the Plane's Vitality."

Both of them could still hear the furious roars of Vit'hum but decided to ignore them. The Old Man gloated at his fate. Vit'hum had seriously underestimated Raven. One would've think that wisdom comes with age but not necessarily true. This poor deformed lizard must've realized that Raven was anything but simple. 

The clues were there. He managed to arrive at the Center perfectly fine despite the place being completely inhabitable. He also didn't express any surprise them, and what's more he is aware about Vit'hum's moniker. It wasn't as if he deliberately hid his intentions nor pretended at all, in fact he did none of those, and he still managed to get deliver a painful lesson to the poor idiot. 

The poor hybrid underestimated Raven so much that's he paying dearly for it. Vit'hum must've ignored his presence since he knew that he could devour the human at any given moment like a snack.

Raven wasn't as 'merciful' as Vit'hum though. The old man recognized the seal he placed on the poor hybrid and it was a lethal one. 

The seal he placed was derived from a very old Ancient Art called [Book of Forbidden Seals]. Each of the seals depicted in there were not only extremely powerful but also profound as well. Aside from having the necessary amount of Energy Reserves to cast each seal, and understanding how to perform it, there are no other requirements at all, which makes it accessible for everyone. Yet even if that was the case, few had ever learned it due to its profundity, plus knowing and doing are two different things. 

[5th Forbidden Seal: Bloodline] doesn't just cancel or prevent any art of skill tied to the target's bloodline, the pain it administers also ignores all kind of defenses and goes straight for one's soul. The pain it inflicts depends on the quality of the bloodline not it's purity. Since Vit'hum had the bloodline of Dragons the seal would cause him pain more frequently, making this a torturous experience.

Nonetheless, it was fortunate that this lizard hybrid was dumb, else Raven's plan would've been foiled. 

"Tsk." Raven clicked his tongue in irritation as soon he saw the Plane's Core. "This is worse that I initially expected. Curing this will take time." 

Hearing Raven's remark made the old man lower his head in shame. He's still bent on blaming himself for what happened. If he hadn't been too relaxed on his duties, then all of this could've been prevented. 

"Cheer up." Raven said, "Staying depressed won't solve anything. It's not like we can't cure this."

He then turned around and saw the writhing idiot behind them. He sneered and said: "Kick this pest out. I don't want him interfering with what will happen here."

The old man was surprised, he couldn't help but ask:

"Are you sure it's wise? He'll regain freedom once he surfaced. I'm afraid that he'll go on a killing spree once we did that."

"Drop him in front of his home then." Raven said, referring to the headquarters of the Black Curtain Guild. "If really goes on a killing spree, then it would be his subordinates who will feel his wrath, maybe killing some of them in the process. Two birds, one stone."

The old man agreed to the idea and wasted to no time to open up a transfer portal beneath Vit'hum's feet. 

Despite knowing what's happening, Vit'hum was powerless to stop it. He couldn't even muster any kind of resistance due to the pain he's experiencing. All he could do is to throw some curses and malicious words towards the two as he slowly disappeared. 

The peace and quiet returned as soon as he was gone. The old man sighed in relief, now the nuisance was gone and they could move on with the cure. He also made sure to drop Vit'hum from a high altitude on top of his home, hoping to at least inflict some damages to him by doing so. Whether it did something or not, was not something he cared about for now. There are more pressing matters to pay attention to. 

After handing out the order, Raven didn't remain idle. He needed to fix the problem as soon as possible. 

"The restoration will take some time." Raven informed the old man, who was already listening to him. "I'll be needing your assistance but not until later. For now you have to ensure that no one will interrupt this process. One wrong move and everything will fall apart. Prevent anyone from discovering this place and erect some defensive barriers. Remember, Vit'hum got here once, there's no saying that he couldn't do so again even in that state. We can't afford to fail."

The old man nodded, completely understanding the severity of the situation. Raven didn't say anything anymore and instead he placed both of his hands on the Plane's Core to start the treatment. 

Meanwhile, the old man did his part and began changing the terrain. 

He abruptly arrived at the surface and started manipulating the laws according to how he sees fit. He isolated the entirety of the Center using Space Laws and changed the flow of time. He erected multiple defensive formations made out of pure laws to prevent anyone from even stepping foot near the Center. 

And just like everyone says, one can never be too careful. Just in case someone managed to bypass all the defenses he created, which is nigh impossible already, he also took A'nu, the Guardian Yeti of the North, away from its home and instructed it to guard the place. 

Its task is to simply drive everyone it sees out of this place, not to kill them, except Vit'hum. Just its aura alone was already enough to cause every beast nearby to run away from fear, and due to its strength, no human could take it down so its the perfect guard for this important event. 

The Guardian Yeti was more than happy to obey, it even transformed its surroundings to a field of snow and hail, just to add another layer of defense. 

The old man then went back to where the core was. He saw that Raven is still probing it with his senses, being very careful to not miss a single detail that might cause any kind of failure on his part. 

Once he was finished. He took a deep breath and swallowed some pills from his spatial ring. Performing the forbidden seal shave a decent chunk of his longevity, it wasn't a huge loss but it left him quite drained. And due to the circumstances, he couldn't afford to waste time to so he had to hasten his recovery using medicines. 

Once his complexion got stronger, he flared his majestic aura along with his powerful soul. He stepped forward and embraced the Plane's Core, sinking his perception within it. 

The old man watched, the anxiety was making this experience seem longer than it actually was. 

In the middle of his anxiety something incredible happened. Myriad lights came flying out of the Plane's Core. It formed images depicting auras and faces he thought he would never see again. 

"Heavens! This is...."