Way of the Knights

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"The Four Extremes, huh…"

Alexander repeated, forcing himself to calm down as much as he could.

"Four Extremes? What's that?" Balmung asked curiously.

"It refers to areas at the four cardinal directions. The Sun Temple of the East, Withered Forest of the West, Frozen Tomb of the North and the Sunken Ivory Castle of the South. It'll be a long journey to go there but it has to be done."

"I see…wait!" Balmung just realized something, his eyes widened a bit as he looked at Raven in disbelief. "Wouldn't those places be located at the depths of the Red Zone?"

Seeing Raven nod his head to answer his question, everyone's expression suddenly changed. In his shock, Balmung couldn't help but ask: "Why would you go there?"

"Because the ingredients we need to completely cure Aunt are located at those places." Raven answered. Making them speechless for a good while. 

"Can you tell me what those ingredients are?" Alexander asked him. 

Raven shook his head and said: "Not a chance, Uncle. You need to stay here. I will go alone."

The King was speechless and could only sigh in defeat. Raven beat him to it. He thought that he will tell him what are the ingredients they needed so that he could be the one to go instead of him. 

"Please understand me, Uncle." Raven stated, "You absolutely can't go. You are still not completely cured. For now, the remaining poison on your body is still active. We don't know when it's going to flare up or not, we need you to be here."

"Brother Balmung also cannot go with me, I'm afraid that he has to replace you in the office until you're completely cured."

Raven then looked at Luna, who had her head hung low, obviously displeased with the situation. 

"I would like to take you along with the team with me but you guys have to remain here." Raven coaxed, "Specially you, Princess."

"Why?" Luna asked, trying hard to suppress her stubbornness from erupting. "Why does it have to be always you? Why do you have to face all the hardships alone? You told me I'm strong right?"

Raven smiled and held her hand tightly, "Yes, you are incredibly strong. I'm stating the truth. But you need to remain here since you are essential for the Queen's maintenance."

"Maintenance?" Luna asked, wanting clarification from him. 

"Yes, maintenance." Raven nodded, "You need to supply Aunt's current vessel with your blood at least twice a week. The Soul Anchor I made cannot hold her soul for too long, like I said it's only a temporary cure for the situation."

"That's easy then!" Luna looked up to him and continued: "I'll just store my blood in containers for her to use! I'll store up as much as I could, then when I'm fully recovered I'll go with you!"

"Clever. But no, Princess." Raven smiled, "The Soul Anchor needs fresh blood. You have to personally smear your blood at the core of the vessel in order for it to work. Again, it has to be you. You inherited most of the Queen's genes, not Brother Balmung and not Uncle. She needs you here, Princess."

"B-but…"

"Even if we say that your method was plausible, we still have no idea how long our journey will take. It might take us years before we could return, if you're not here then Aunt has to go back to the seal again and be lonely."

None had any reply for what he said. It was very clear that Raven had already decided upon this matter and cannot be swayed. Even then, what can they really say to sway him? 

If he didn't go, then the Queen's state would remain as is. Do they want that? Obviously no. 

Do they want to send him away towards danger? Absolutely not. Just like how Raven treated them as his family, they feel the same. Though he didn't say it nor implied it, King Alexander had long since accepted Raven as his son-in-law. Balmung had been calling him brother-in-law for a long time already. Raven had integrated on to their family as soon as he started caring for their well being. 

But at the same time, they also want the Queen to be completely cured. And who else has the ability to cure her other than Raven? In fact, it weren't for him, they could only dream about this reunion. 

If there's anyone who's qualified to venture the depths of the Red Zone other than the King himself, it would be him. And since the King needs constant medical attention, who else has to go to gather the ingredients and make it back here alive? 

What they feel about this whole situation is complicated yet the answer is simple. Raven has to go. It's as easy as that. 

"Child, I…" Queen Elizabeth spoke but hesitated to continue. After taking a deep breath she said: "At least take someone with you. Just in case. I am really glad that you're willing to do this much for me - for our family, but I also don't want you to recklessly send yourself in danger just for my sake. Just so you know, I am completely fine to remain like this, if it means that you will live."

"We can't have that Aunt." Raven answered, "I appreciate the sentiments but I can't let you live like this for the rest of time. You've suffered greatly and had been away from your family for far too long. It's time for you to be free of suffering."

"And you guys please, stop looking at me like I'm sending myself to my death. I'm like super strong, super smart and super handsome. I'll just make a trip in there to gather some ingredients. Don't worry too much." Raven joked around to ease up the atmosphere. 

"That's right, that's right!" Balmung nodded and completely agreed, "Brother-in-law is awesome! He'll come back in one piece! It's just the Red Zone, it's just the Four Extremes! He could conquer that place like it's nothing if he wants to, so there's no need to worry at all!"

Of course, Balmung was completely aware that Raven just wanted to lighten up the mood so he played along, inwardly though his feelings are just as complicated as how the rest of them felt. 

Out of nowhere, Luna stood up and made a swift exit from the room, closing the door a little too strong for that matter. Raven smiled and shook his head, thinking 'She's upset alright.'

"Well, that's not a good sign." Balmung smiled wryly, obviously Luna didn't buy the fake atmosphere that the two of them were trying to set. 

"It's fine, Brother." Raven waved his hand and smiled. "She just hates feeling helpless. I'll talk to her later."

"Have you informed your parents about this?" Balmung asked, facing him with a serious expression.

"I did before coming here. Dad said we'll talk about this after I come home. Well, I'm prepared for an earful of sermons but I know they'll understand me."

"Is there anything that we can do at all?" Balmung asked, "I mean, I don't like this. You doing all the hard work. You've done so much for us - for the Kingdom too, but it feels like no matter how much improvement we make, we will never be of help to you. That sucks you know…"

"Oh come on, don't say it like that." Raven laughed, after which his expression dampened as he continued to say: "Everything just happens too fast, you guys just need time. We're already making great steps toward our end goal. All of our blood, sweat and tears will soon bear fruit and the Golden Era shall come."

"But, of course I also need you to take care of the matters here in the Kingdom." Raven stated, "With me leaving, some people need to replace my spot as an instructor at the academy, I already have an assistant for that matter, I just need to fill him in. But the more pressing matter is about the Black Curtain Guild."

There was a brief silence before Raven continued: "There's no telling what they have in mind, specially now that we retrieved the Queen from them. I'm not aware how desperate Vit'hum is about claiming the Fountain of Youth but since he's currently slumbering, I'm pretty sure he would want to get his hands on it."

"And because of Lucy's existence, we have no way of telling just how many hidden aces they still have. In this, all I could do is to rely in the slaves I planted inside their base for insider information and to focus on making the troops stronger."

In his mumbling, he didn't even notice that Balmung already got up on his seat and was already beside him. He was surprised when he felt a hand smacking his back, harshly returning him to reality. 

"We'll take care of that for you." Balmung said with a serious face, "Be at ease and share your burdens with us. Don't take it all, you're starting to sound like an old man like that guy over there." He chided while pointing at Alexander. 

Raven smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Brother."

He then stood up and said: "I'll go ahead and talk to Luna.." After saying this, he bowed towards them and exited the room. 

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