Way of the Knights

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"Shall we eat, young friend?"

This question was asked in a very friendly manner, no malice or any hidden intents, just a pure invitation from a kind old man.

"If only I knew that there will be a feast prepared before me, then I shouldn\'t have had breakfast earlier. A pity that I made sure to be full too."

Raven declined the invitation in a polite manner, he even faked an apologetic smile just to make sure this old man bought. At the same time, he didn\'t really try too much to convince him, there\'s use for that anyway.

"Oh? Is that so? What a pity indeed." Raul chuckled as he made his way to the table, "But you could at least join me in table right?"

"I can do that." Raven nodded and joined Raul as he sat down in front of luxurious feast.

Their conversation was done in a normal manner, therefore the people around them heard it. Inwardly, the maids were panicking but didn\'t dare to show it. They started thinking that Raven must\'ve hated their boldness or they didn\'t do a proper job of creating a scrumptious feast like they were asked to.

Raven didn\'t bother himself to consider their feelings, he could care less about it to be honest.

Raven calmly waited as Raul helped himself with the feast. He himself drank some juice on the side and the two never spoke a single sentence all throughout that time.

The people around them could sense the awkwardness of the situation but none said a thing nor shown any signs of it. They just waited on the side and endure the uncomfortable situation.

Eventually, Raul wiped his mouth with a cloth after eating, he smiled towards Raven and said: "Thank you for joining me, young friend. We can now move towards a separate location so that we could discuss the reason why you came here for."

"We can take our time, Your Holiness. I am in no rush." Raven replied with a slight smile in his face.

Raul laughed and shook his head. He then said: "You aren\'t, but I am. I can\'t wait to retire and be freed from all of this."

"Careful, Your Holiness." Raven said in a chuckle. "Others might not be happy to hear that from you."

As Raven said this Raul raised his brow and looked at the servants around him, a wild laughter escaped from his mouth as he waved his hand and said: "Kidding, I\'m kidding. I\'m still as energetic as a bull, why would I retire?"

Raul then stood up and gesture Raven to follow him. The latter maintained a respectable distance behind him as they enter a door that lead them to a separate room. As they entered, the people who were left in the main room sighed deeply. They started moving and clearing up the table, making sure to leave everything spotless and shiny.

The maids wanted nothing more but to gossip right now but they are scared of Raul and Raven hearing them. For an old man, Raul had a wicked sense of hearing. This was established by the fact that sometimes, he would even join in with their gossiping and their managers would scold them afterwards. Since then, they never discussed openly specially when near Raul.

Raul and Raven entered the room. This room was located at the top of the Astral Observatory. There is a single yet enormous stained-glass window that was closed for now. The room has several couches, a large bed, a set of tables, cabinets and chairs. All in all, a somewhat humble room for someone of his status.

"This is my personal quarters." Raul introduced, "He then sat down in front of the table and looked kindly at Raven. "Make yourself comfortable."

Raven nodded and complied, he sat down on a couch not too far away from Raul and waited for him to speak. After a comfortable silence, the old man started speaking.

"I thought I\'m going to grow old as a pastor." Raul started, "All I knew during that time was to take care of sheep and trim their furs, I could also raise some cows and pigs which enabled us to have a humble living conditions."

"With how long the Thorn City had existed, I never knew about the dangers of the outside. I never even knew about the existence of the shape shifters. I thought I could just live a peaceful and quiet life." Raul\'s voice were filled with reminisce as he told his story.

"Well, it was like that until I heard the Whispers of God." Raul said with outmost fanaticism. "He reached out to me and embraced me, allowing me to live an exciting life and guide me to the peak, I\'m pretty sure you\'ve heard some of my stories, all of them were true. And it\'s precisely because of that, I became the 12th Leader of Thorn City."

"But even though I went under a metamorphosis, time still caught onto me, even God is powerless to stop it\'s erosion. In the end, I\'ll have to groom a successor which could maintain the safety of Thorn City and it\'s citizens."

As Raul continued his story, Raven calmly listened to him, neither absorbed into the story nor ignoring it.

"I don\'t see you as an ignorant junior, young friend. I know that you could already tell what I\'m trying to say here. But before we move on, can you tell me more about yourself? As this city\'s leader, I have to make sure that I know who will replace me so that I could make sure that the city\'s in safe hands, correct?"

"I agree." Raven nodded and smiled despite himself, "My name\'s Raven, fourteen years old."

"I am born and raised in the Final Haven Kingdom, a place that is a shelter for at least hundred thousands of humans. Our Kingdom is situated in a world called Grand Ancestral Plane, and unfortunately, Final Haven Kingdom is the last remaining place where humans could suitably settle down, our brethren that didn\'t make it are under a constant dire states because of Demonic Beast threats."

At first, Raven\'s introduction didn\'t shock Raul. But when he started telling him about his origins, Raul couldn\'t help but raise his brows and inspect Raven even closer. He didn\'t see any signs of him lying at all but he also couldn\'t bring himself to believe him.

Raven of course could tell what Raul was thinking based from his reaction. In the end, he just wanted this farce to be over.

"Quite a shocker isn\'t it?" Raven laughed, "For some reason, you can tell that I\'m not lying at all but you also couldn\'t convince yourself to believe me. All throughout your life, you\'ve been here in this small city and it\'s everything that you\'ve known. From you and your people\'s point of view, there\'s only Thorn City, nothing more."

Raul find himself slightly speechless from Raven\'s attitude, nevertheless he was truly curious about the origins of the young man.

"What you said is the truth, young friend. Your story is really unbelievable since I\'ve read some records about ancestors reaching the end of this world. It\'s recorded that there is nothing by a thick fog that swallow everything in there so how could I believe your claim?"

"True." Raven nodded, "But if I told you that I\'m born and raised in Thorn City, then your \'God\' will tell you that I\'m lying. Correct?"

Hearing this non-chalant comment of Raven made Raul\'s face grave. He stared at the smiling young man in front of him with utter seriousness.

"And because your \'God\' told you that I\'m lying, then you would believe it. But never mind that, what I want is for you to answer one of my question."

After saying this, Raven\'s face transformed and became incredibly cold. His piercing gaze met Raul, making him feel like he was being stared down by an entity with an unquestionable authority.

"Why don\'t we drop the pretenses already?" Raven uttered in a chilling tone. "I really don\'t like wasting time and I have matters to attend to. Show me your true form pest."

Hearing his words, Raul\'s pupils constricted fiercely. He abruptly stood up in shock while looking incredously at Raven.

Raven on the other hand didn\'t anything reckless just yet. He stood up and stared fearlessly at \'Raul\'s eyes and said:

"I know what you are. We both know what you did." Raven stepped forward with a incredible momentum that brought a deep and existential fear in old man in front of him. "Your appetite sure is big for a mere pest. You took your sweet time, corrupting humans to make them your host. Then you make your way in, pollenating other humans to corrupt them as well."

"Your older victims are now nothing but a bunch of walking corpses since you sucked their vitalities empty. You used this chance to evolve and thus gaining more abilities that allow you to corrupt even more humans without them knowing."

"Unfortunately, they are not me.. It\'s time to end this farce! Come out, Phantasm. Fight me!"