....
[Twenty hours ago]
Raven sat in the prison cell, his head buried in his hands. His entire body was filled with pain, yet the pain he felt in his heart was the worst.
The Knights had just left after tormenting him for hours, some of his wounds still bleeding.
The scary silence in the prison cell was soon broken as a mysterious voice fell in Raven's ears.
"After so long, I finally found you. This time, I'm not late..."
Hearing the voice, Raven raised his head. His eyes searched for the source of the voice, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find anyone. He was all alone in this cell.
"I know you will not recognise my voice. It's all because of that damn curse. If only that day..." The person didn't finish his sentence as if controlling himself.
"No matter what happened in the past, this time I won't fail. I have been preparing for his moment. I'm not alone either. The others have also started gathering. Soon, you shall return to your true glory."
Raven frowned, wondering if he had started hallucinating because of blood loss.
"Oh right, how could I not even reveal myself when talking to the Lord. I'm truly foolish."
Realizing Raven's confusion, a person came out of the shadows, revealing his true self. Raven finally saw the person who had been talking to him.
Before him, there was a silver haired man, a few years older than him. The man sat on one knee, like a loyal servant before an Emperor.
Raven raised his right hand, making a gesture, pointing towards the outside before pointing at the young man.
"I'm not one of them," the silver haired man shook his head, understanding the meaning behind Raven's gesture. "I would rather die than betray you!"
"How can I betray the man who..." The man once again went silent, not finishing his sentence. He simply gazed at the young boy, who looked much younger in this reincarnation. However, he could still see some familiar facial features.
The only thing that hadn't changed at all were those deep blue eyes of Raven. Looking in those eyes, he felt as if he was back in the past.
The silver haired man went completely silent, remembering the moment when he had first met Raven.
His own people called him a plague while his mother looked at him with disgust, all because he was born different from them. He was called the devil, even a monster as he was born with abilities that his family didn't understand.
He was called someone who had been born possessed by an evil spirit. He was only ten years old when his family took him to a cliff, performing some strange rituals before pushing him off the cliff.
At that time, he thought that he was truly going to die. He fell off the cliff, closing his eyes in fear, expecting death.
However, the death he expected never came, as his body stopped merely a few inches above the ground. He opened his eyes in confusion, looking at the ground that was mere inches away from him.
It was only then that he fell again. Fortunately, it was only a small fall now. Let alone dying, he wasn't even harmed.
Confused, he looked around, noticing a man in the distance, sitting atop the lifeless body of a Six-Winged Lion. Even after killing such a scary mythical beast, the man appeared perfectly relaxed. He got down the lion's body, walking on air as if he was some divine being.
The man stopped before him, reaching out his hand to help him up.
At that time, he saw those beautiful blue eyes that he could never forget. It was that man who saved his life. It was the man who gave his life a purpose. It was this man who taught him how to control himself. It was because of this man that the child abandoned by his family was able to stand amidst the mighty gods.
And in this moment, that same person was before him, not even remembering his glorious past. The silver haired man clenched his fist, promising himself that this time, even if he had to die, he wasn't going to fail Raven.
Looking at the wounds on Raven's body, he felt his heart ache. He felt like burning this entire prison down. But he controlled his urges.
He stepped forward, using his abilities to stop the bleeding. As for the wounds, he didn't heal them for certain reasons.
"My Lord, I have something to tell you."
....
[Present Time]
Enchantress stepped inside the hall, only to realize that she was late. The moment she stepped inside, Raven clasped the earring in place.
He had retrieved one of the many items that belonged to him. And with the return of the earring, he also retrieved something else.
"I'll handle her," the silver-haired man spoke, taking a step forward.
He hadn't forgotten how the woman threatened Raven on the rooftop. At that time, he was hiding in Raven's shadows yet he felt his blood boil. However, for the plan, he wasn't able to reveal himself.
Hiding in Raven's shadow, he entered the Sky Fortress without the woman's realization.
It was only after entering the Sky Fortress that he separated from Raven and went to retrieve the Earring as per the plan that he had already informed Raven.
Usually, it was impossible to take anything from the Sky Fortress as no one could even enter. But this time, everything had fallen into place since he had located Raven before the Sky Fortress could take him.
Although it took him time to search the Fortress, he didn't fail. And now that he had done his part, he could freely reveal himself and teach the woman a lesson for touching his Master.
He stepped forward, only to stop as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked at Raven, halting.
In this moment, he truly felt that the person next to him was his same old Lord. In his eyes, there was that same old sense of familiarity.
Raven stopped the silver haired man and stepped forward personally. With each of his steps, the pressure on the sky fortress increased, making it hard for it to even maintain its altitude in the sky.
With each step he took, the sky fortress kept getting dragged closer to the ground.
Enchantress was momentarily frozen, remembering how she had died in the past. That same old fear crept in her heart again as she subconsciously took a step back.
"It's impossible! You were cursed by Godmother at the cost of her life! You can't recover that easily! It's impossible!" she exclaimed, taking another step backwards.
Raven raised his hand. The woman had played with his body, controlling it as her will. This time, she was on the receiving end of the same.
She couldn't control her body which rose a few inches above the ground. Her body uncontrollably flew closer to Raven until her throat was in his grasp.
As Raven's grip around Enchantress' throat tightened, he looked towards the wall on the left, horrifying the people on the other side. This time, everyone was certain that he could see them.