Way of the Knights

Chapter 439 - Smelting Trial 1.2

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"Your what now?" Raven asked in a baffled manner.

The golem looked at him with enthusiasm evident on its gaze, saying:

"Our Lord and Savior!" The golem repeated using a respectful tone. "Our Lord is of course the most respected and the most powerful divine being in our Sacred Mountain. He is the one who stands above all and is the rightful lord of all things!"

'Woah, that's some dedication and declaration right there.' Raven thought inwardly as he heard how respectful and pious this golem was. In fact, he was even more surprised that such a simple minded creature was capable of spouting such words of devotion and faith. 

It was as if he wasn't talking to a golem but a pious believer of some cult.

Raven sighed and thought that this might be a chance for him to investigate the matter closely. Initially, he just wanted to get a higher vantage point but this is just an obvious sign for him so he thought he might as well go for it. 

'I have to be careful though. Someone who has a follower of this caliber shouldn't be someone that I could easily mess with. I should be prepared at the first sign of trouble.'

"I would love to meet your Lord and Savior." Raven replied while wearing a fake smile on his face, "Would it be possible for me to do so?"

He could've sworn that he saw the golem's eyes shone just now as it replied: "Of course! It is no problem at all! I'm sure that you might still be skeptical about My Lord's existence but I can assure you that once you meet him, you will change your mind. I wouldn't even be surprised if you become a fellow believer the next time we meet!"

The golem then moved its towering body, allowing Raven to see the road towards the summit once more. The golem was smiling at him as he said: 

"Please go on ahead. I would've loved to escort you up but My Lord has trusted me to guard the path to the summit so I'm afraid I can't go with you."

"You simply have to follow this path and you'll eventually reach the summit. Once you reach that place, you'll naturally know where to go." The golem stated while gesturing Raven to go on. 

Raven nodded to the golem and started traversing towards the summit. He felt the golem sinking back to the ground but its presence was still there, guarding the path towards the summit. 

The random attacks of the mountain has stopped altogether, Raven still didn't know whether it was caused by the golem or something else entirely. 

As he continued on his way, Raven remained vigilant. His ocular technique remained active and he was prepared to attack at the first sign of trouble. Still, he didn't face any kind of obstruction at all. He also didn't encounter any sort of threats or anything. Overall, his journey was smooth and peaceful, something that he didn't expect at all. 

He closed in at the summit in no time. Upon taking his first step in there, he briefly glanced around him and saw the view from the top. He paused for a bit to take in the sights and formed a vague map of the first floor on his mind. 

Well, it turns out that getting a higher vantage point wasn't bound to help him that much. 

From above, all he could see were the seemingly endless expanse of wilderness and numerous mountains. He could see no civilizations near him nor any other landmasses. The whole first floor of Devil Emperor's Pagoda is just like a one massive forest with a few mountains here and there. 

Instead of giving him answers or providing him a direction, going to this mountain peak only gave him more questions instead. In fact, he wasn't even sure where to find a lucky chance due to how much trees were blocking off his sights. 

A helpless sigh escaped Raven's lips. He took one more look around just to see if he missed something but everything remained the same. All he could see was trees and mountains, nothing else. 

His attention was then brought back the rest of the road. He was close to the peak of the mountain. According to the golem, once he reached that place, he would naturally know where to go from there. It would've been fine if the golem was referring to the lucky chance or the irregularity. 

Raven continued on his way and eventually arrived at the mountain peak. As soon as he stepped his foot in there, a vague feeling suddenly alarmed him. 

The feeling he got gave him chills. It was as if someone just now, was watching him closely and saw everything that he's hiding. That certainly made Raven very uncomfortable. 

It had to be known that Raven hasn't dropped his guard at all, yet the sensation just now still caught him completely off-guard. 

A solemn expression appeared on Raven's face. He silently raised his vigilance even more. He kept looking around him as he walked, trying to search for the source of that feeling earlier but it didn't appear anymore. 

Still, what surprised him was that, the golem was actually telling the truth earlier. Of course he's journey was bound to end at the peak of this mountain but as soon as the sensation appeared earlier, he could vaguely feel that he knew where he was going. 

This information was as vague as it could get. It wasn't like how the pagoda informs someone how to advance to the next floor. This feeling was more of a 'calling' for Raven, not a deliberate instruction. 

Raven continued on his way, still following the calling that he's receiving just now. 

It made him follow a certain route, which is somehow circling around the peak of the mountain. Eventually, he found himself standing in a flat piece of ground which seems to be attached at the slope near the mountain peak. 

He looked around him and saw that there's no other living being around. Instead, he could only see a lone platform near the edge of the flat ground. 

The platform was made out of black crystals which contained twinkling sparks of light. It wasn't giving off any kind of energy fluctuations but its surface is filled with strange carvings which Raven was completely unfamiliar of. 

The calling became stronger as soon as he laid eyes on the platform, yet it also raised Raven's conflicting feeling. He didn't feel any threat or whatnot on this calling. But the calling was too strong that he's almost mistaking it as a cry for help…

…which caused him to feel very uncertain...

'According to the golem, I should be able to meet with its so called Lord and Savior, however I have yet to see any lifeforms here. It said that I would know where to go once I reach the summit, and that's right but all I see here is a platform, no Lord and Savior or whatsoever.'

As time went on, the calling was becoming stronger and stronger but Raven could still resist it and remain composed. His gaze landed on the strange markings on the platform's surface. He took a couple of steps closer to the altar and felt the calling practically roaring on his ears, urging him to step onto the platform with outmost haste. 

This caused his frown to deepen but Raven's mental fortitude could still resist it. Instead of standing on top of the platform, Raven studied the carvings on its surface to see if he could make some sense off of it. Unfortunately, the carvings were too strange and mysterious that nothing comes to mind. It was as if those markings were those of child's random drawings, but Raven knew better that these markings contained specific rules that he's not aware off, causing him to not understand anything from them. 

This caused him to click his tongue in annoyance. Now, he's off to decide whether it was a good idea to answer the calling and stand on the platform or resist it and get out of this mountain as soon as possible. 

After deliberating for a bit, Raven gnashed his teeth and said:

"Screw it! I'll just handle whatever comes next!" 

Raven threw caution off the window and planted his foot onto the altar. As soon as he stabilized his footing and stood and the center of the platform. The world suddenly turned quiet. 

Time seemingly stopped and a surprising fluctuation of energy suddenly appeared out of nowhere. 

Below him, Raven could see a certain part of the forest, which also nearby the mountain, trembling fiercely as if it was experiencing some kind of an earthquake. 

As if triggering a chain reaction, even the trees from further away started trembling as well. And under Raven's dumbfounded gaze, everything within his vision started rising. Additionally, he was bound into some sort of technique which completely paralyzed him. All he could do is to watch at the forest rose before his very eyes. 

Shortly after that, a massive expanse of brown color filled his vision. Some sort of landmass started forming in front of him. 

It rose several miles up in the air and curved down, seemingly looking down at him. What surprised him is when the landmass suddenly split and revealed two orbs that emitted light, which triggered some resonance on Raven's memories of his previous life. And to his surprise, he found out that these orbs, weren't actually miniature suns…

…but eyes instead.