Way of the Knights

---

It's like his brain stopped working for a good minute.

Raven slumped on the floor, sweating coldly and panting while looking blankly at the sky with his mouth slightly agape. 

He could still feel his legs wobbling. It didn't help that Venus was similarly shaking in her scarf form as well. 

It might've been short and his surroundings might've been chaotic, but for the briefest moment of clarity he saw the one responsible for that storm and the why the corpse of the Queen Arachne and her eggs were missing.

It was winged creature with eyes seemingly composed of pure lightning. It was at least 30 meters tall, completely dwarfing Raven with how large it was. It has two pairs of wings where strong winds and sparks of thunder danced. Its feathers looked more like scales due to how dense they looked, it has a long yellow-colored beak, razor sharp talons and a mane on its neck which looks like a thundercloud. 

"There's no mistaking it." Raven whispered, "A King Stormbird. I didn't know something like that exist in this land. And how come it ended up going all the way here?"

Stormbirds are one of the Kings of the Skies. The stronger ones of their kind are like natural disasters with wings. They got their name because it doesn't only represent how they came to being, its also the very power they wield - conjuring storms with a few flaps of their wings. 

The strong winds, which almost resembled a hurricane, earlier was caused by the King Stormbird dropping from the sky. 

Raven was extremely lucky to still be standing, specially after being seen by not just any Stormbird, a King Stormbird of all things. That bird was a solid Tier 7 in strength, not even Alexander at his peak would be its match. It made sense why Raven felt a deep seated fear, that was something that he absolutely cannot handle even if he use everything in his arsenal. 

He also couldn't believe that the King Stormbird left him alone. It only looked at him with curiosity and disappeared like a ghost, carrying the carcass of the Queen Arachne and its eggs. Raven didn't even see how exactly it appeared and disappeared, he only knew that it looked at him and it disappeared. 

"Hush, hush…" Raven said as he coaxed the shaking Venus on his neck. "It's gone now, it won't be returning again. Calm down, girl."

Raven could only sigh. Since Venus is a beast, she feels the suppression even more that Raven. She was so afraid that she couldn't even maintain her scarf transformation. She was shivering very bad as she unconsciously tightened her grip on Raven's neck. If it weren't for her connection with Raven, Venus wouldn't even be dreaming of recovering from this fear. Though she was growing fast and not small in any way, shape or form. She was no less than a worm in front of that thing. 

After Venus calmed down and returned to sleep, Raven got up and took a deep breath. He stared at the aftermath of the events that happened to this place and muttered to himself.

"Some of this destruction were caused by me after a great effort, and the rest were due to a very large electric bird flapping its wings. This disparity makes me want to cry." 

He then looked at the general direction of the kingdom and said: "I really hope that it won't lay waste to the Kingdom while I'm away."

Raven sincerely hoped that the King Stormbird won't find out the location of the Kingdom. Even though he told Richard and Jacob to inform him about any drastic developments inside the Kingdom, the King Stormbird might be able to destroy the Kingdom faster that the two could send a message to him. 

That being said, it was very unlikely that it will do so anyway. 

From what Raven could tell, the bird flew back to the depths of the Red Zone, probably returning to its nest. It might have some hatchlings that are hungry, which might be why it stole the carcass of the spider and its eggs. 

"Mister!!"

*Smack!*

Raven nearly fell down as he felt something hit his face. His hand grabbed what hit him and saw that it was Aina with a worried face. 

"Are you okay, Mister Raven? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Raven chuckled and said: "I'm fine."

"Where's the big spider?" She asked while looking around.

"It's dead." Raven replied, making the pixie gasp. "A huge bird flew down and pecked it to death. The bird then left with its corpse and the spider eggs."

"Wow~!"

"How about your twin sister? Is she feeling well?" Raven asked. 

"I'm here, good sir." 

A voice then echoed behind Raven. He turned around and saw another pixie that wearing a pink sleeveless shirt and a long purple skirt. Her pink colored pair of wings were similarly transparent just like Aina's.

"My sister told me that you saved us." Aisha said, "Thank you, good sir."

"Don't mention it." Raven waved his hand as the flew side by side. "I'll escort you on your way home. You're parents might be looking for you already. Lead the way."

"Thank you, Mister Raven." Aina said as she held Aisha's hand and flew forward. 

As the twin pixies flew forward, Raven followed them around while maintaining vigilance at their surroundings. As the three walked forwards, Raven couldn't help but ask. 

"How were you captured by that spider anyway?" He asked Aisha, who hung her head low as she answered his question. 

"All I could remember is that I was in the middle of communing with the Great Earth." Aisha replied, "Then, when I woke up, I was already trapped in that spider's webs. I thought I was going to be eaten by the big spider." 

Raven could hear the fear behind Aisha's voice. He smiled and said: "No need to be afraid anymore. You are safe."

Aisha looked back at him and smiled, she then nodded and said: "Yes. Yes, thank you."

"Mm! You're safe now! We'll go back home and then we won't be in danger anymore." Aina told her while gripping her hands even tighter. 

Looking at the twins makes Raven miss his twin sisters. He wondered if they would ever be like this when they grow up. When he left, the two could already say a few words. Depending on the length of his journey, he might miss the chance of seeing them grow up. 

He sighed and isolated the sadness in his heart. He kept following the two until he realized that they were going on to a place where he could feel some sort of barrier. 

Raven remained silent and alert as he followed the twins. As they got closer and closer to the barrier, Raven activated his ocular technique and immediately, his vision was clouded by colorful Pixie Dusts. He shook his head and deactivated his ocular technique since having it active somehow makes it hard for him to accurately see the twins.

"Halt!" 

A strong feminine voice sounded in front of them. They stopped on their tracks and saw someone fly down. 

"Madam Jenny!" The twins called out as they flew closer to the adult pixie who just flew down. 

"Oh dear! You two troublemakers finally returned!" Jenny said as she ruffled the hair of the twins. "You guys don't know how worried Mother is!"

"Wuu~." Aina teared up, she then said: "We were nearly eaten by a big and gross spider!"

Jenny's eyes widened as she heard that, Aisha then followed by saying: "It's my fault for being careless, Madam Jenny. But thankfully, Sir Raven saved both of us and chased away the spider."

As Aisha introduced Raven, Jenny looked at him and inspected him for a bit. Raven blinked as he saw Jenny fly around him while occasionally sniffing him. 

"Mm. You stink, Human." Jenny said, placing her delicate hand on her nose. This caused the twins to giggle and Raven to lift a piece of his shirt and smell it. And yes, he agrees to what she said. 

"But I am most certain that you truly defeated the Queen Arachne, it's her blood that I can smell on you." Jenny added, "On behalf of my race. I thank you for saving my kind."

"You're welcome. I merely did what I could." Raven nodded towards her, expressing his goodwill. He then looked at the twins and said: "Alright you guys are safe now so I'll be leaving. Make sure to not wander too far from home, okay?"

After saying his piece, he then waved them goodbye, turned around and planned to leave. 

The twins were about to say something but Jenny looked at them sharply and shook her head. Signifying that they shouldn't say anything nor do anything carelessly. Of course, Raven wasn't aware of this. All he had in mind is to continue on his journey so that he could return as early as he could. 

All of a sudden, an unexpected scene occurred. 

Raven was shocked, even more so the Pixies. But after seeing the miraculous scene, Jenny recovered her stupor and flew towards Raven. She then said:

"Human, our Mother seeks audience with you."