Way of the Knights

Augustus didn’t know what to do.

Nothing works. Not a single thing he did hurt Raven. Not even with the help of his beloved core.

Raven was invincible. Looking as fresh as the moment he stepped in Paradise. Not even once did he suffer a loss. Everything seems to always turn in his favor.

Augustus was confused. How is this possible? How come someone like Raven exist? Why is he so strong? He truly doesn’t get it? They’ve never met before yet why does Raven seem to know everything about him and his race?

Could it be that he’s truly omnipotent?

…no. That can’t be.

He doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t dare to.

God Emperor knows that omnipotence wasn’t something that is easily achieved. Especially, not by Humanity.

If there’s race that had come close to that, it should be his race. It should be him. He has the highest chance of being omnipotent.

He was the one who’s the closest to being Absolute.

…yet, how does he explain what’s happening here?

Why is Raven such a difficult opponent for him? Why doesn’t he go down when others easily did? What makes him so unique?

God Emperor immersed on his own thoughts.

In the end, he dissipated his own attack. Which was mirrored by Raven too. Their actions ultimately prevented Paradise from being wiped away completely from the face of existence.

God Emperor Augustus didn’t mind the loss he suffered. Draining 10% of the core’s power for the attack that he himself cancelled was something he couldn’t cry about. It was a painful loss admittedly, but at this moment, he couldn’t care less.

As the God Emperor’s mind whirred with all sorts of thoughts, gradually an idea started to form within him.

At first it sounded very unlikely, but considering what happened to him the moment he decided to invade Humanity – which ultimately failed anyway, the idea he had gradually turned more and more plausible.

As some point, he was convinced. His eyes glowed with enlightenment. He looked at Raven with solemnity in his eyes as he whispered:

“…I see it now. You’re the gatekeeper.”

Raven tilted his head; “Excuse me? I’m the what now?”

“The Gatekeeper.” The God Emperor said out loud, this time it seems like he too was telling it to himself. “Hah. Everything makes sense now.”

“Yeah, no it doesn’t.” Raven shook his head. “Well, not to me at least.”

“Don’t try to deny it, Scum.” God Emperor spat. “Leader of Humanity my ass, you’re a fake! You’re existence itself is fake. I can see through you now!” Google search 𝑓𝘳𝚎𝘦𝚠e𝚋𝘯o𝘃el. 𝒄om

“Does that mean I’m naked in your eyes? My, how scandalous.” Raven crossed his arms.

“Everything is clear to me now.” The God Emperor completely ignored Raven’s attempts of mocking him. “The reason why you exist, the reason why you seem invincible. The reason why you stand against me and the reason why it is so difficult to take you down.”

“This world created you to be it’s champion. They must’ve known that I am this close to being Absolute and feared of that day coming that’s why they created you.”

“…” Raven was speechless.

“Hah! Imagine that! To think that my very existence cause everything to tremble in fear! How flattering! I knew it! I am destined to greatness! Why else would I have to walk down a thorny path filled with sorrow and hardships if I’m not meant for it?”

The God Emperor looked at Raven and said: “Pathetic.”

“You’re a fake. Nothing but a mere agent sent to prevent me from reaching the throne. How does it feel to be a mere tool? Ah, I truly can’t relate.”

“Your entire existence is a lie. You think that you have what it takes to stand before me but in truth you don’t. I am superior. The very fundamentals that forms reality itself trembles before me. You are worthless.”

“You being a human? Fake. Your name? Doesn’t matter. Your strength? That is not something you gained but passed on to you for the purpose of stopping me. Everything you love and held dear? Lies. They’re just there to make you believe your existence but all of it are lies. Lies!”

“In truth, you’re just a mere tool. You exist for the sole purpose of making me believe that I failed. To stop me from my reaching my goal. The strip away my destiny.”

“As glorious as that may seem, in reality that’s incredible pathetic. Your whole existence is a lie. You’re nothing more than a tool in the grand scheme of things. After you served your purpose, you’re just going to be tossed away. I can already see it. And that’s precisely why you are pathetic.”

“You’re just a sorry excuse of flesh. I pity you, really. But I have to admit, you nearly fooled me. Not anymore though. I have awakened to reality.”

“Step back, Gatekeeper. I’ll excuse this transgression of yours. I’ll even be merciful enough to spare you and your kind if you stop getting in my way. You have no way of stopping me anyway.”

“My Destiny is Absolute.”

“I cannot be defied. Kneel and I shall spare you from torment.”

Silence followed the end of God Emperor’s speech.

Raven looked wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the God Emperor – which obviously stroke his bloated ego. He took that as a sign that what he concluded was indeed the truth. He saw through Raven and finally, this farce shall end here.

Unfortunately…

“Pfft…”

“AHAHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Raven bursts into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. It was unrestrained. It echoed throughout Paradise.

He was laughing so hard that he had lost control over himself and parts of his strength leaked out along with his laughter, enough to cause the ground to shake fiercely and the air to thrum dangerously.

And for the nth time, God Emperor was once again confused. He doesn’t know why Raven’s laughing. He couldn’t remember saying anything to make him laugh this much.

“…holy shit…this is the best.” Raven collapsed on the spot, clutching his stomach as laughter escaped from him. He was kicking and had tears flowing down his face.

“Oh, god…fuck…” he uttered in between giggles, “Shit! I’ve never laughed this much…ooh, my tummy hurts ow…hahah, wait no! Hahahaha…stop!”

“Wait hold on…whew…wait…ahahahaha! Fuck this…hahahaha! Oh my god…oh my god I can’t…”

“STOP LAUGHING!!”

“BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“I DEMAND YOU TO STOP!”

” ‘I deMwanD YeW tWo SthAph nyeh nyeh..’ AhahAhahaAhahAh!”

Augustus wanted to choke Raven so bad, so he did. He flew towards Raven and grabbed him by the throat.

Yet even with his tight grip, Raven’s laughter didn’t cease. In fact it became even louder.

Raven’s laughter threatened to burst God Emperor’s ear off with how loud it was. Even when the God Emperor slammed him to the ground numerous times, enough to punch through the world they’re on, Raven didn’t stop laughing.

“…ah shit, that tickles…” he said while giggling.

Raven was completely unbothered by the fact that another world was ruined because of them. He just slapped God Emperor’s arm away which was enough not just to loosen the hold but to completely detach it from God Emperor’s body.

“Whew…whew…” Raven took deep breaths, some giggled are still escaping him but he’s recovering at least. He wiped away the tears from his face as he completely ignored God Emperor’s venomous glare.

“Holy shit…I haven’t laughed like that in my entire life. As expected, you truly are the best. I might just change my mind and keep you around as a jester instead of killing you.”

“Hoh…” Raven released a steady breath, he’s not laughing anymore but there’s still that shit-eating grin on his face which irritated God Emperor to oblivion. “Geez, how unsightly of me. I’m a grown ass man yet I still rolled in the ground like that. Oh dear. I hope nobody saw that.”

He patted his clothes clean, a reminder that this was the first time he got dirtied ever since this ‘fight’ started.

He placed his hands on his hips and said: “Alright, I’m good. I should probably play along given that I totally ruined your monologue.”

Raven cleared his throat and collapsed on his feet. He placed a hand on his head and looked at the God Emperor with a bland look on his face.

” ‘Oh no. Whatever shall I do? My existence is fake, you say. Oh no. Boo Hoo. How can this be. Why must the world be so cruel to me. What have I done wrong. I don’t deserve this. Boo Hoo. Boo Hoo.’ “

His voice was completely flat throughout his speech.

” ‘I-I’m not real. Why. I’m unconvinced, argh. I’m unwilling. I don’t believe I’m just a stepping stone for you. I won’t accept it. I’m unwilling. Argh.’ “

” ‘I am real. I exist. You won’t fool me. I don’t believe you. Killing you should prove that and so much more. Prepare yourself, God Emperor Augustus. I will be your end.’ “

The two of them stared at each other. Raven blinked several times in a row but nothing happened. He then threw his hands up and looked so done.

“Man! Come on! I was signaling you! Didn’t you see me blinking? It was a sign that it’s your turn! Why didn’t you say anything? Did you forget your lines?”