Ch. 421..430

Chapter 421

Orthar and Silva charged at each other aggressively. Yet, they both knew the fighting style of the other perfectly. Silva wanted to use his venom-beam to quickly end the fight, but Orthar never gave him any chance.

Silva knew that Orthar could morph his body into different shapes. Shooting a venom-beam wasted a lot of his power, which meant that he needed a good opportunity to hit Orthar. Yet, Orthar never gave him that opportunity.

On the other side, Orthar tried his best to dig into Silva's body, but Silva never gave him an opening. Silva knew that he would die if Orthar managed to dig into his body, while Orthar knew that he would die if he were hit by Silva's venom-beam.

Like this, the fight continued for several minutes.

The beasts looking on were incredibly nervous and scared. They were all scared of the possibility that both Orthar and Silva died. If that happened, they had no one to protect themselves anymore. If Orthar survived, they could stay. If Silva survived, they could leave. Both of these options were fine, but what if both of them died?

Everyone knew that the chances of both of them dying was high. The reason for that was Silva's venom. Orthar was better in a melee fight, but Silva only needed to land one hit to win. The beasts knew that Silva wouldn't give Orthar the edge to attack him. If Silva were backed into a corner, he might sacrifice himself to take down Orthar with him.

Orthar had no reason to die, but Silva had. If Orthar died, his path would come to an end, but if Silva died, he could, at least, take solace in the fact that his companions lived on. Of course, that would only be the last option.

Slowly, the beasts started looking at Orthar with some hints of battle-intent. If Orthar gained the upper hand, they would probably both die, but if Silva gained the upper hand, only Orthar would die. Because of this, some beasts decided to follow Silva.

BOOM!

One beast jumped forward in a bit to distract Orthar. It only needed to give Silva a slight edge for him to win!

BOOM!

Yet, a powerful blizzard appeared that stopped the beast. Then, a powerful body threw the beast to the side.

Liza got involved.

"I won't allow any interference!" she said with her usual smile. "They have decided to fight each other, and even though Silva has left the Tribe, I still consider him as part of it. Because of that, I won't allow any interference in this fight!" she shouted.

The beast that Liza had thrown away stood up with rage. Why did this useless good-for-nothing that never fought others get involved!? Enraged, that beast charged at Liza.

Liza laughed and engaged that beast. "It's been a while since I last tempered myself! Come on!" she shouted with battle-intent.

The beast and Liza traveled away from the ongoing fight between Orthar and Silva. Liza didn't want their fight to interfere between Orthar's and Silva's fight, while the beast didn't want to distract Silva. The beast knew that Silva cared for them, and if Silva saw the beast losing, he might try to save it. Then, Orthar would get an opportunity.

Silva had noticed that fight and grew frustrated. "Don't involve yourselves in my fight!" he shouted while defending against Orthar. "I am fighting so that you all can survive. If you get involved, my fight is meaningless!"

Yet, that small distraction gave Orthar an opportunity. Orthar used this opportunity to tear one of Silva's arms off. Luckily, that didn't hinder Silva too much. After all, he depended on his venom, not his arms.

Even though Silva had told them to stay out of it, another beast charged forward. Silva's mindset didn't matter! They got involved not because of him but because they didn't want both of them to die! Silva's words changed nothing.

BOOM!

Another beast attacked the attacking beast. "This is a duel! We are all members of the River Tribe, and I won't allow anyone to involve themselves in this!" the second beast shouted.

Then, these two beasts also started fighting.

As the fight between Orthar and Silva dragged on, more and more beasts got involved. After several minutes, more than ten fights raged across the lands.

"I said that this is not a duel but a war!" Orthar shouted at Silva. "Ideologies clash, and the more powerful one will emerge victorious!"

"My followers fight for me while your followers fight for nothing!" Silva shouted back. "We have a bond that keeps us together, while your ideology keeps us apart! What use is supreme power when you're alone!?" Silva proclaimed.

Meanwhile, up in the sky, Gravis felt terrible. He had made his decision, but that didn't mean that he wasn't hurting inside. He didn't want his friends to kill each other, but he couldn't get involved. After all,

such a decision would encroach on his friends' freedom.

As Gravis heard Silva's words, he fell into thought. 'What is the sense of supreme power if you're alone, huh? Didn't mom say the same thing?' he thought as he remembered his talk with his mother.

'Is it really the right decision to allow my friends to kill each other?' Gravis thought but then shook his head. 'Yet, if I forced them to stop fighting, would they still be my friends? At that point, they would only be followers. That's not what I want.'

Like this, Gravis continued watching and thinking.

The fights became increasingly more vicious as time passed. Whenever Orthar or Silva received an injury, Gravis felt himself hesitate.

'What sense is there in supreme power if you're alone? Isn't this also true for freedom? What sense is total freedom if you're alone?' Gravis thought. 'Yet, is companionship worth the sacrifice of freedom? Could I even live with myself if I forced my friends to follow my every command?'

By now, Silva and Orthar were both injured. Some beasts had gotten involved, but Silva wanted to protect them while Orthar wanted to kill them. Because of this, the opportunities that these beasts opened up for Silva vanished without Silva using them. Several beasts died to Orthar, but Silva had been busy trying to defend them from him instead of dealing a fatal strike.

'Silva is trying to keep his companions alive but also win,' Gravis thought. 'He doesn't realize that this will result in him having neither of the two outcomes.'

Suddenly, Gravis' body seized up. 'Isn't that just like me right now?'

After another minute, Silva readied himself to deliver a fatal strike to Orthar, even if it meant his own death. He couldn't allow more of his companions to sacrifice themselves!

WHOOOOOM!

Yet, before he could commit to the attack, an incredible pressure appeared around him that stopped him from moving. The same thing was true for Orthar.

"Stop!" Gravis shouted at every beast. "Every beast that continues to fight will be killed by me right now!"

And like this, complete silence fell over the River Tribe. No one dared to defy the Leader.

"What is the meaning of this, Gravis!?" Silva transmitted in anger. "You said you allowed me the freedom to pursue my own path! Have you lied to me!?"

Gravis shook his head. "No, I haven't lied. You will get your freedom."

"Then, why did you interfere in our fight!?" Silva asked angrily.

Gravis only sighed. "Because I have been mistaken. I realized that I couldn't keep my friends alive if things continued like this. I have realized several things during that fight, and I will rectify these things! Today, none of you will die!"

Silva and Orthar remained quiet while the beasts also listened to Gravis.

"Silva, your mindset is not made for achieving supreme power. By following me, you have been forced onto a path that you don't want. You have realized this today and want to leave. That is your freedom, and I will grant it. Yet, I also realize that you require help in order to achieve your goal. Today, I will grant you that help."

Silva was unsure what Gravis meant.

"Orthar," Gravis continued as he looked at Orthar. "You have forgotten your original mindset. When we met, I told you that only your own power is important and that this Tribe is only there to create pressure for ourselves. Yet, today, you have put the power of the Tribe above your own growth."

Orthar remained silent and started thinking.

"A Tribe is external power. By sacrificing our own potential to keep the Tribe alive, we are sacrificing the very thing that the Tribe is meant to give us. You always had the correct mindset to achieve supreme power, but you have lost your way." Then, Gravis smiled bitterly. "Just like me."

Orthar remained silent for some seconds and then relaxed his body. "You're right," he said slowly and calmly. "I was ready to sacrifice a tempering opportunity to keep the Tribe alive. I have forgotten my true motivation."

The pressure vanished from everyone as Orthar, and Silva just continued hovering there in the sky.

"Silva," Gravis said. "You value companionship over true power. I want you to realize that you can't have supreme power and perfect companionship. This is something that I have realized today. If you want your companions to follow you on your path to power, you must allow them to die. You, obviously, can't make that choice."

"Therefore, please, don't expand your future Tribe recklessly. Sacrifice your own power to keep them alive. I realized that it was wrong of me to force you onto the path of supreme power. So, please forget every rule and policy of the River Tribe."

Then, Gravis turned to the beasts.

"Starting today, the River Tribe will be dissolved. The surrounding 500 kilometers will be my personal territory, and I will ruthlessly kill any beast that remains in this territory."

"You have six hours to leave. If you haven't left by then, I will kill you!"

 

Chapter 422

The beasts were shocked when they heard Gravis' words. What did he mean by dissolving the River Tribe? Could he do that? What about them?

"Why?" Silva asked. "Why are you dissolving the River Tribe?" he asked in shock.

Gravis only sighed. "I have realized that my feeling of companionship has blinded me. I wanted for everyone to stay until the end. Yet, this desire has blinded me to the truth, and the truth is that the end is not far off."

The beasts were shocked again when they heard that. What did the Leader mean by that the end wasn't far away?

"Silva is right. We have angered not only Tribes but Kingdoms too. They won't just send some level three Lords. They will also probably send several level four Lords. I can fight against one of them, but not against two. So, as soon as the enemy arrives, everyone will die."

Suddenly, the beasts felt like they were dropped into hell. Their Leader had said that they were about to die. As soon as Gravis said that, it felt like they woke up from their dream. They had been blinded by their ridiculous growth and had ignored the reality. The insane expansion of their Tribe couldn't remain secret forever.

"Silva, you can lead the beasts that want it safe to a different land," Gravis said.

"Orthar, you can lead the more extreme beasts to a less dangerous land."

"The River Tribe is no more. The beasts that want to temper themselves can leave with Orthar while the other members can join Silva. It's your decision. I will remain here and wait for the enemy. If the enemy finds nothing here, they will search for you. If they find me, they probably won't look for you."

"I wish you all the best," Gravis finished and then flew to the Spire, leaving the beasts alone.

Right now, the beasts were helpless and indecisive. Should they follow Silva or Orthar?

Silva only sighed. "Thank you, Gravis," he said silently. Silva knew that Gravis was protecting them by staying here. It was unknown what army awaited him. Death was not only a possibility but a certainty in Silva's mind. To him, it felt like Gravis was sacrificing himself so that they could live.

"I will allow tempering, but we won't make enemies with any Tribes that are too powerful for us. Yet, I won't allow the mindless killing amongst each other. Every beast that wants to follow my path can follow me," Silva declared.

Meanwhile, Orthar sighed. "Even until the end, I have still considered you a companion, Silva," Orthar said.

Silva only smiled. "Thank you. I also didn't want to fight you. Yet, if our paths clash, there is no other way. But, of course, if there is a way to resolve this peacefully, I will always take it."

"Thank you," Orthar answered. Then, he also turned to the beasts. "Silva might have forgotten something. Since we are no longer enemies, I don't want you to die. So, I will tell you."

Silva looked annoyed again. Had Orthar's words been empty?

"A mix of land and sea beasts is an abomination in the eyes of other Tribes. If the sea beasts follow Silva, the future Tribe will only attract more enemies. This is not what Silva wants. Therefore, I will follow this path and will create a Tribe for all willing sea beasts," Orthar said.

Silva's eyes widened in realization. Yes, he had completely forgotten that fact. By taking as many of his companions with him as he could, he would have doomed all of them to die. Nearly all beasts outside the River Tribe wanted their line to remain pure. By having both kinds of beasts inside their Tribe, they would become the enemy of everyone.

Silva only sighed. "Orthar is right. I'm sorry, companions from the Sea Camp, but I can only take the Land Camp with me. Otherwise, I risk the death of all my companions."

Many of the sea beasts felt sad when they heard that, but they understood Silva's point.

"My Tribe will temper themselves more aggressively than Silva's Tribe," Orthar said. "Of course, all the beasts that want to live peacefully can establish their own Tribe. With your Battle-Strength, nearly no beast will be able to kill you," Orthar said.

With that said, the beasts all went their separate ways. Nearly every land beast decided to follow Silva, while less than half of the sea beasts decided to follow Orthar. Yet, that was still plenty. After all, all beasts that stayed here were level two Lords.

After every beast decided their future path, Silva looked at Orthar one last time. "Goodbye, friend. It has been a blast with you."

"Goodbye, friend," Orthar answered. "I wish you peace and quiet."

Silva smiled. "Thank you." Then, he looked at the lone Spire. "Goodbye, Gravis," he said quietly.

Then, Silva left with his new Tribe.

Meanwhile, Orthar flew closer to Gravis. "I'm expecting that you don't want me by your side anymore?" he asked.

Gravis felt awful when he heard that. "That's not it. You're my closest friend in this world, and I want to stay with you. Yet, the enemies I will face are beyond your current power. If you follow me, you will only die. Instead, I wish for you to temper yourself against enemies that you can actually win against."

Orthar remained silent for a while. Then, he flew to Gravis' side and looked into the distance. "You have opened my eyes to a new path forward. I am no longer content with remaining inside my own enclosed

space. I want to become powerful and dominate this world."

Then, Orthar hesitated. "Yet, if that path is cut short by staying with you, I will leave. I'm sorry, but my path is more important to me than your companionship or life, Gravis."

Gravis only laughed bitterly. "Don't be sorry. Isn't it the same thing for me? If I were more important than your path, then we couldn't be friends anymore. At that point, you would only become a follower, and that's not what I want."

Orthar remained silent for a bit. "If there ever comes a day when my strength can reach yours, I will accompany you. Right now, I am too weak for your opponents. I only need to become powerful enough so that we need the same enemies for tempering."

Gravis smiled. "That sounds good to me, Orthar," Gravis said.

Then, Orthar turned around to leave. "I'll keep an eye out for any appearance of you. I refuse to believe that you will die to the coming enemies. My power will increase, just like yours, and at some point, we will meet again. After all, there is only one beast in this world that can be considered the most powerful. If we both reach the top, we will meet each other again."

Gravis looked at the sky. "Yes, we will. Goodbye, Orthar."

"Goodbye, Gravis. Until we meet again!"

And with that, Orthar left the Spire. A couple of minutes later, he left Gravis' territory with his new following. Some stragglers that still weren't sure what to do also started leaving. After all, Gravis had said that he would kill them if they remained.

Nearly every beast shot one last, sad look at the lone Spire. They had become incredibly powerful inside the River Tribe, but not all good things would last. It was time for them to leave the Tribe and

make their own legacy. Yet, they would always remember the River Tribe and their mysterious and powerful Leader.

Some hours later, Gravis was completely alone.

As soon as he saw no more beasts, he sighed again. Goodbyes were painful, and Gravis didn't want his companions and friends to leave. Yet, he also realized that they needed appropriate enemies. Nearly no beast could keep up with Gravis' growth. By pulling them along forcefully, he would sooner or later kill everyone.

Day turned to night as Gravis only looked at the sky. "The hardest decisions are often the right ones, huh?" Gravis muttered to himself.

A silent and cold wind blew over the lonely Spire. Nothing else could reach the Spire's height or power as far as the eye could see. Yet, that made the Spire appear solitary and isolated.

"My enemies will arrive soon," Gravis said to himself. "Father, there is a high chance that I will die. I hope you can understand my decision to remain here."

As time passed, Gravis felt cold and uneasy. Yet, he remained.

"I haven't been in such a situation before," Gravis said silently. "I know that the enemy won't send only one level four Lord. Such a fight seems completely hopeless. It doesn't feel like I am waiting for a fight, but waiting for my death."

"Yet," Gravis said, "isn't this the same feeling that Orthar, Morn, and Silva had felt when they fought their first level three Lord? They thought that they would die, but they still won."

Whoop!

A couple of pictures appeared in front of Gravis. These were the pictures of his friends from the lower world, and he wanted to look at them.

"They probably went through something similar. Yet, they have all survived such things. I have taught them to take risks, and I'm sure that they followed that philosophy," Gravis said with a smile as he looked at the pictures.

Whoop!

The pictures vanished, and Gravis stood up with a fiery sparkle in his eyes. "Even if my enemy is many times more powerful than me, I will persevere! Even if I am meant to die, I will die while giving it my all!"

Then, he looked into the horizon with narrowed eyes.

"Whoever comes will die!" Gravis said with a deep and powerful voice.

 

Chapter 423

"That's him, right?" a 500-meter-tall ape with powerful muscles asked the beast beside him.

The other beast was a skinny and long lizard, just a bit longer than the ape.

"According to the description, yes," the lizard answered.

Right now, they both looked down at Gravis, who was still sitting on top of the Spire. The two beasts were outside of Gravis' Spirit's range. Luckily, since they were level four Lords, their awareness reached further than Gravis'. Because of that, they could see him, while Gravis couldn't see them.

The ape looked around with furrowed brows. "I see no other beasts. Wasn't he supposed to be the Leader of some River Tribe or something?" the ape asked.

The lizard sneered. "According to intel, yes, but we received that intel several weeks ago. Some things might have changed. We can just ask him before we kill him."

The ape furrowed his brows further. "Don't forget what the Commander has ordered. According to what the two-headed snake has said, this beast has the ability to fight two levels higher than itself. I don't believe that shit, but our Commander wanted us to test it out."

"Sure, sure," the lizard commented nonchalantly. "We just need to test it and then kill him. After all, that's why both of us have been sent to this shitty backwater place."

The ape sneered and huffed. "Yeah, we're so far away from our home that the beasts here don't even know about our Kingdom. It's been a long while since some weaklings dared to question me. If our Commander hadn't said that we shouldn't waste food, I would have annihilated these weaklings."

The lizard only rolled his eyes. "Why do you care what some ants think about you? That's exactly what the Commander meant when she said that this is your biggest weakness. We stand above them. After all, only power matters."

The ape huffed again and crossed his arms. Yet, he seemed to have accepted the lizard's words. This showed that they respected their Commander quite a bit.

"Anyway, let's greet him," the lizard said with a bloodthirsty smirk.

The ape nodded.

Then, they both shot at the Spire with quite some speed. Soon, Gravis noticed them too and narrowed his eyes. Several things surprised and impressed him.

The first thing was that both beasts were relatively small for being level four Lords. This meant that they knew the advantage of having a small body, which showed that they weren't inexperienced. On top of that, they would have needed to decide on their size as soon as they became Lords.

According to his calculations, the beasts should have been only about ten-meters-tall when they became level one Lords, quite small in comparison to other beasts. This showed that they knew the importance of size even before becoming Lords.

Most Spirit Beasts didn't know about the advantage of having a small size. This also means that they have been guided in their past. They probably came from a power that had established itself for a long time and had a lot of experience.

The other thing that surprised Gravis was the ape. It wasn't his body that impressed him, but what he carried in his hands. The ape carried a thick and powerful tree-trunk in his hands, which was quite impressive for a beast. After all, this showed that the ape realized that he could use weapons.

Only very few beasts realized that they could use something other than their body to fight. Using something external like ore or a tree-trunk was basically a completely unknown concept to these beasts.

The tree-trunk was a hundred-meters-long and quite hard. Gravis felt the power of the tree and guessed that it was the trunk of a Late Unity Plant. This meant that the trunk was probably even harder than all the saber's that Gravis had crafted. Gravis had a lot of sabers, but none of them would be able to withstand or damage that tree-trunk.

'Interesting,' Gravis thought with narrowed eyes. Then, he slowly stood up and readied himself. Two level four Lords had arrived, and both of them seemed to be quite experienced and skilled.

"Weren't you supposed to have a Tribe?" the lizard directly asked Gravis. "According to our intel, you should be the Leader of some abomination called the River Tribe."

"I disbanded the River Tribe a couple of weeks ago," Gravis said slowly. "I knew that I had offended enemies above our ability to withstand. So, to protect my beasts, I disbanded the River Tribe and let them scatter all over the world."

The two beasts looked at each other in uncertainty. Then, the lizard turned back to Gravis. "Have they created another River Tribe somewhere else?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

Gravis bitterly laughed a bit. "They aren't as reckless as me," Gravis said. "The sea beasts and Land beasts have split into several camps."

The ape looked at the lizard again with a questioning look. In answer, the lizard only waved one of his claws dismissively. "I think we can consider the first part of our mission complete then. After all, our mission was to destroy the River Tribe. As far as I see, the River Tribe doesn't exist anymore. So, less work for us, I guess," the lizard transmitted to the ape.

The ape huffed a bit. In comparison to the lizard, the ape had actually looked forward to showing his power to a Tribe of weak beasts. Sadly, the Commander had said that the lizard would make the calls during their mission. It wasn't that the lizard was stronger, but that he was smarter. The lizard had a cooler head than the ape.

"Anyway," the lizard said as he turned to Gravis with a grin. "That only leaves the second and third part. I'm guessing you want to take the honors?" he asked.

The ape grinned maliciously as he also looked at Gravis with bloodlust. "Gladly!"

Gravis felt the ape's battle-intent and knew that it was about to attack him. He only hoped that they took him lightly and that he could kill the ape before the lizard got involved. If they both attacked together, Gravis would likely die today.

BOOOOOM!

In an instant, the ape shot forward and slammed the tree into the Spire, right onto Gravis. The Spire completely broke apart with a mighty explosion since it couldn't withstand such a powerful attack from the ape.

Whooosh!

Suddenly, the lizard moved to the side of the ape and opened his mouth. A second later, the lightning bolt that had been there a second ago transformed into Gravis. Gravis only narrowed his eyes at the lizard, but inside, he was nervous.

Gravis wanted to kill the ape with an attack from the side when it didn't pay attention, but the lizard had been too careful. His best chance at winning the fight was gone.

"You've been careless," the lizard said to the ape as he looked at Gravis. "You didn't take your opponent seriously."

The ape grew angry when he heard that. "No one would believe that a beast can jump two levels," the ape said in his defense.

The lizard only smirked as he didn't let Gravis leave his eyes. "I know, but the Commander said that the intel was rather reliable. You should trust the Commander more."

"Anyway," the lizard said as he stretched his body, "this concludes the second part of our mission. The fact that this beast managed to nearly sneak-attack you shows that it can threaten you. So, this proves that the intel had been true."

The ape narrowed his eyes but then only grinned maliciously again. "So that leaves only the third part, right?" he asked.

The lizard also grinned. "Correct."

"Good!" the ape shouted.

"Then, let's kill this abomination!" the ape transmitted.

After that, the lizard and ape flanked Gravis on both sides.

Gravis only looked at them with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry," the ape said in a sarcastic tone, "our Commander doesn't like gambling. So, we're supposed to use everything in our power to kill you, even if we believe that one of us can take you on alone."

"So, just lay down and die, okay?" the ape said as he lifted the tree trunk.

The lizard on the other side opened his mouth, and some green mist escaped it. Both of them were readying powerful attacks.

Gravis only summoned his saber.

 

Chapter 424

Gravis immediately transformed into lightning as the tree-trunk shot at him with incredible speed. The speed of the ape was incredible, and Gravis needed to anticipate the attack to dodge. Otherwise, his speed wouldn't be fast enough to evade the wide trunk.

SSSSSSSS!

A sizzling and powerful cloud of something green shot at Gravis from the lizard's mouth. The lizard had waited to see where Gravis would evade to and shot his attack at that position. Gravis immediately transformed back and summoned a lot of ore between himself and that green cloud.

The ore immediately started sizzling as it was quickly corroded into nothing. In less than a second, the 100 meters of ore completely vanished into nothing. Luckily, this gave Gravis enough time to flee the area of the breath.

'Acid,' Gravis concluded. Gravis knew a lot about materials, and the fact that this breath had been so effective against Mid Unity Rank materials showed that it wasn't poison. This was actually acid. Poison and venom were more effective on living matter, while acid was more effective on dead matter.

'Yet, acid is also quite effective against natural armor, like scales, for example,' Gravis thought with narrowed eyes. 'My scales won't help me at all if I get hit by that.'

BZZZ!

Gravis barely dodged another hit from the trunk, but the ape wasn't stupid. A punch came from the ape's other hand immediately after the trunk had missed.

BANG!

Gravis transformed back and moved all his power into his body to block the attack. He held his massive saber in front of him to block. Of course, he wasn't blocking with its flat side, but with its edge. Blocking with the flat side would only destroy the saber.

CRCK! Psh!

Yet, the saber still broke under the ape's overwhelming power. The saber was made of Middle Unity Rank material, but Gravis couldn't utilize its full potential. Because of that, the saber could only be considered as an Early Unity Rank weapon.

At least Gravis' saber managed to leave a deep cut inside the ape's fist.

Several pieces of the broken saber shot at Gravis, but his scales were powerful enough to block these fragments. Then, he turned to his right.

BANG!

Gravis summoned another saber to block an attack from the lizard. Yet, this time, his saber managed to hold. Instead of feeling relieved, Gravis felt more nervous now. The lizard should also be able to destroy his saber. The fact that the attack wasn't powerful enough showed that the lizard had something else planned.

BANG!

Gravis saw the tail coming too late. He could have transformed into lightning, but he wouldn't have been able to evade. If the tail hit him while Gravis was inside his Lightning Form, he would use up most of his power. That's why he didn't transform into lightning. The tail hit Gravis and destroyed a lot of his scales. On top of that, the tail shot him into the distance with incredible power.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis shot through several mountains until he hit the earth. The sudden stop made him spit out some blood. His scales had done incredible work, but the power difference between him and his enemies was just too great. Because of that, several of his organs had been damaged from the impact. Luckily, his bones didn't break, thanks to his scales.

BOOOOM!

The ape smashed the tree-trunk at Gravis, burying him beneath it. A huge crater appeared around them as the shockwave from the hit destroyed everything in their surroundings. Yet, the ape didn't grin victoriously.

Inside his awareness, he saw Gravis digging through the dirt at rapid speeds. Gravis had used the earth as a shield from this powerful attack. This attack couldn't be compared to the earlier attack from the lizard. If that tree-trunk hit him, Gravis would become a pile of scattered meat.

While fleeing, Gravis grit his teeth. 'I'm completely outclassed. They keep coming at me, giving me no time to act. I can only defend and dodge!' Gravis thought in frustration. 'On top of that, I don't have my Life Lightning anymore! Every injury I take will reduce my Battle-Strength!'

CRRRRRR!

Gravis quickly came out of the earth and summoned more ore in front of him. The acid-cloud had returned, and Gravis had to sacrifice an incredible amount of ore to protect himself. Yet, instead of running away, he shot directly at the lizard in front of him. Then, he summoned another saber and slashed towards the lizard.

BZZZZ!

A fully-powered Lightning Crescent shot at the lizard. It hadn't been ready for such a sudden attack. Usually, the lizard's enemies were too busy dealing with the acid to attack him during it. This left him

completely open.

BOOOOOM!

Yet, the Lightning Crescent didn't hit the lizard, but the tree-trunk. The lizard wasn't alone, and the ape had noticed Gravis' peculiar actions. The ape wasn't stupid and knew that Gravis wouldn't have sacrificed so much stuff for some random attack that wouldn't make a difference. This was probably one of Gravis' most powerful attacks.

Because of that, the ape had slammed the lizard away with his tree-trunk. The Lightning Crescent exploded on the tree-trunk and destroyed nearly half of it. Meanwhile, the ape received some burns on his skin, but that was it. The Lightning Crescent hadn't directly hit him, and the tree used up a lot of the Lightning Crescent's power.

At the same time, the lizard hit some distant mountain, destroying it in the process. The ape's hit hadn't been weak. After all, he needed to throw the lizard as far away as possible. This gave the lizard some broken ribs and decimated some scales, but, at least, it was still alive.

If that Lightning Crescent hit the lizard, it would most likely be dead right now.

Gravis grew frustrated when he saw that. This Lightning Crescent had had 100% of his power saved up. It had failed, and now he didn't have anything else to rely on. He only had his own power remaining.

Yet, he also saw the opportunity that this created. The lizard was currently far away. This gave him some seconds alone with the ape. 'I need to kill it immediately!' Gravis thought and then directly shot at the ape.

Whoosh!

The ape attacked Gravis with the trunk, but he wasn't used to the trunk's new shape, which made him barely miss Gravis. Gravis passed the trunk but was immediately greeted by a powerful fist flying at him. The ape had a lot of battle-experience and always had a backup plan ready.

BANG!

The speed difference between them was too significant, and Gravis couldn't evade that fist. Gravis barely blocked the fist with his saber. Sadly, the power behind the fist destroyed the saber and shot Gravis into the distance. On top of that, the ape was smart enough not to shoot him towards the lizard.

Gravis smashed through some mountains but managed to stop himself before he hit the ground. Yet, this attack broke some bones in his body. 'Fuck! My body is too injured. If I transform into lightning, I might fall back into the Initial Unity Realm!'

Nevertheless, Gravis stood up again and charged at the ape. The ape was closing the distance quickly as it also charged at him. On top of that, the lizard also started returning to them.

Gravis summoned a new saber. In the last couple of weeks, he had created a lot of these sabers. After all, he knew that the sabers were too weak to withstand the power of level four Lords.

And like this, Gravis and the ape charged at each other while the lizard would soon return.

 

Chapter 425

Gravis used one trump card after another. Yet, the fight was still going on. On top of that, his body had also already been injured with several broken bones, destroyed scales, and damaged organs. In comparison, both of his opponents were still quite healthy. The lizard had some broken bones, but it could still fight. Meanwhile, the ape remained nearly uninjured.

Gravis had to find a solution to this, or he would die. His Lightning Form was too slow to flee from these beasts. On top of that, with his injured body, he would probably fall back into the Initial Unity Realm if he transformed into lightning now. Then, his death would be inevitable.

Right now, the lizard was still far away, but it would reach them in no time. Gravis needed to gain as big of an advantage as possible during that timeframe. He had been on the defensive the whole fight, and he needed to change the flow of the battle into his favor.

Gravis charged forward directly and slammed his saber forward at the ape's incoming fist.

CRRK!

The saber broke, but it managed to cut off an already injured finger. Gravis had been prepared for the punch and had slashed at the fist while it was above him. Like this, he didn't need to retreat. Yet, the ape was also ready. The trunk quickly slammed down on Gravis.

Whoosh!

Since about half of the trunk was missing, Gravis was able to evade the attack. Right now, the ape was completely open, and Gravis summoned another saber. Then, he summoned a powerful Lightning Bomb and infused it into the saber. Without waiting another second, he slashed forward.

BANG!

The lizard returned at just the right time and slapped the ape away with its tail. The lizard had seen the power of Gravis' last attack, and he couldn't risk losing his companion to that attack. The ape flew away while its arm broke from the tail-slam.

Yet, no explosion came. Instead, Gravis only grinned. He had only fainted using an attack since he knew that the lizard would save his companion. Instead, Gravis summoned some kind of sphere. Then, Gravis infused some of his remaining lightning into it.

BANG!

The sphere exploded. Yet, this wasn't an explosion that dealt damage, but an explosion that converted nearly all power into light and shockwaves. Gravis had been ready for the explosion, but the lizard hadn't been. Because of that, the incredibly bright ball of light completely blinded it.

Luckily, the beasts still had their awareness. Yet, for some reason, the surroundings felt distorted to the lizard. This was the second use of the device. Gravis had created it so that it shook the surrounding space and distorted it while blinding the receiver. Gravis wouldn't forget something as fundamental as a beast's awareness.

Like this, the lizard had been completely blinded. Gravis had waited for the lizard to return precisely for this reason. They would surely drop their guard when they thought that they blocked Gravis' most powerful attack. If they were prepared, the beasts would have been able to deal with this explosion.

Gravis used the perfect moment, which was why this explosion was so effective. Right now, Gravis couldn't use his Spirit to see the surroundings, but he could use his eyes. Eyes were generally seen as an inferior version of a beast's awareness, but if the awareness failed, the eyes would become their primary sense again.

Sadly, the explosion had also blinded the lizard. Because of that, it lost the use of both of its primary senses.

The lizard knew that something was about to happen, so it released some of its acid-breath in front of it while retreating. It had to get away from Gravis until the surroundings calmed down again.

BOOOOOM!

Suddenly, the lizard felt an incredible power hit its back. A gigantic explosion made of lightning tore half of its back off. Gravis had decided to immediately fly upward and then shot his Lightning Crescent at the lizard from above.

The explosion quickly vanished, and a lot of singed bones were exposed on the lizard's back. Gravis hadn't been able to put all of his power into the Lightning Crescent since he still needed to keep some of it.

The lizard realized that it was still alive and wanted to retreat further in panic, but it quickly felt something cutting into its back again.

Gravis knew that this Lightning Crescent wasn't enough, so he immediately charged at the lizard while it was still recovering from the Lightning Crescent. Then, he started summoning another saber and wildly cut into the lizard's back with two sabers.

SSSSHHHH!

A storm of blood and meat flew away from the lizard's back. Gravis had basically become a living meat- grinder as he spun wildly with his sabers inside the lizard's body. Its scales had been its most powerful defense, but the Lightning Crescent had completely decimated that defense. Now, only the relatively weak meat remained.

The lizard screamed in panic, fear, and pain as it felt Gravis dig through its entire body. Meanwhile, Gravis' eyes were bloodshot, and he also screamed in fury. He only had 10% of all of his power remaining. He needed to kill the lizard now, or he wouldn't be able to survive.

The ape immediately came back and saw what was going on. With determined eyes, he looked at the lizard. "Sorry, friend," he said.

BOOOOM!

Then, the mighty tree-trunk slammed down onto the lizard's back. Its back broke, and a lot of its organs exploded. Yet, the lizard was still alive, barely.

The lizard screamed in pain, but the ape only stared at it. "Is he dead?" he asked.

The lizard still screamed, but the ape felt no more movement coming from inside the lizard. On top of that, no more blood and meat shot out of the lizard. The attack with the tree trunk must have squashed Gravis.

Some more minutes passed, and the lizard became increasingly weaker. By now, it had calmed down a little and only waited for its death. "I don't want to die," it said weakly.

"I know," the ape answered. "No one wants to die. I'm sorry, it was my fault. I shouldn't have taken him lightly in the beginning." Then, the ape gnashed his teeth. "The Commander was right. This is really my biggest weakness."

The ape waited until the lizard took its last breath. When the lizard died, the ape released a bitter sigh. "This is my fault," he said to himself in a quiet voice.

BZZZ!

A bit of lightning appeared at the lizard's back. The ape was surprised for a second, but in nearly no time at all, the lightning violently expanded until it engulfed the entire lizard. The ape saw how the body of his companion quickly dissolved.

The eyes of the ape burned in rage as he lifted the tree again. Then, he slammed down with all his power, right into the lightning.

BZZZZZZZZZ!

The lightning completely ate up the tree, but it also seemed to become weaker. Then, a small metal sphere flew out of the corpse. As soon as the ape saw that, it closed its eyes and only watched with its awareness.

BANG!

Another bright explosion appeared, but it vanished just as quickly. As soon as the bright explosion vanished, the ape opened its eyes again. The surrounding space was distorted, and it couldn't use its awareness anymore. Without waiting, the ape jumped forward and slammed both of his fists down into the lightning.

BZZZZZZZZ!

The ape's fists vanished as the hair and skin burned away. After that, even the muscles started disappearing. Yet, the lightning was also visibly becoming weaker. After some seconds, the lightning completely vanished while only bones remained of the ape's arms.

The ape took some deep breaths. It was exhausted and in incredible pain. Not everyone had the privilege of feeling their entire arms burn away. After some seconds, the ape took a deep breath and exhaled. The fight was over.

FWHOOMP!

The ape's eyes widened in shock as it felt something horrifying. Something had just parted its ass- cheeks to enter, and then, an incredible pain shot throughout its entire body.

What had Gravis done during all of this?

As soon as Gravis noticed that the ape had returned, he quickly fled to the lizard's behind. The attack completely missed him, but Gravis knew that the lizard would die. So, he simply waited until the lizard ultimately died.

Then, he used his last remaining power to absorb the lizard's body. The next attack with the trunk ate up nearly 20% of his new absorbed power. If the ape attacked again after that, Gravis would vanish before the ape died.

So, he threw another bomb out. Creating a blinding light didn't cost much Energy, but distorting the space took an incredible amount. One of these bombs cost Gravis an entire 20% of all his power. While the ape closed his eyes, Gravis split his lightning. Enough of the lightning left the lizard to make a body that could harness all of Gravis' physical power.

The power of his Spirit and lightning was left behind to make it appear like he had never left. The lightning continued raging while the body kept itself hidden behind the ape. The ape wouldn't be able to notice him as long as the surrounding space remained disturbed.

Then, when Gravis saw the ape relax, he saw his opportunity. He didn't like it, but it was his last chance. He jumped and directly entered the ape's body from its behind.

As soon as he entered, he summoned more of his sabers and started destroying everything he saw. As soon as he hit a bone, he moved away and cut into a different direction.

"AAARRGGHH!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

By now, the space wasn't distorted anymore, and the ape jumped at different mountains in an effort to kill Gravis. Since its arms were destroyed, the ape couldn't use them to hit Gravis. Sadly, its own body was a powerful shield against these impacts, and Gravis only received some light injuries.

After around a minute of destruction and panic, the ape became weaker. Then, it fell over and remained motionless as something beneath its skin moved violently around.

Some seconds later, the ape also died.

BOOOOM!

An incredible amount of lightning appeared from the ape's corpse. Then, the lightning dissolved its corpse in a matter of seconds.

As soon as the ape had completely vanished, Gravis appeared again.

'I survived,' he thought in relief. This fight had been pretty close. Initially, he had expected to die, but he managed to survive.

Gravis closed his eyes, and he felt his Will-Aura become more powerful. The shark from a couple of months back had also tempered him, but not as much as this fight.

Then, Gravis closed his eyes and thought about the fight.

"You survived," a new voice suddenly commented from the side.

Gravis was shocked since he hadn't felt anyone else being present.

He immediately became alarmed and looked over.

 

Chapter 426

Gravis immediately noticed a beast standing just a couple of meters away from him. He hadn't noticed that beast at all with his Spirit, but he managed to see it just fine.

It was a harmless-looking red hawk. It wasn't even a meter tall and looked like the pet of someone. It simply didn't look dangerous at all. On top of that, Gravis felt no danger and no power radiating from the hawk. Yet, this made him nervous.

Usually, Gravis only wouldn't be able to feel the power of someone else if they were either much weaker than him or way more powerful than him. Sadly, the fact that Gravis hadn't noticed the hawk showed that the second case was true this time.

When Gravis had been back in his homeworld, he had been able to feel the power of someone at the Early Nascent Nourishing Realm. By now, he had risen by one Stage, and his Will-Aura had also become more powerful. Yet, he felt absolutely nothing from this red hawk. This meant that this hawk was, at least, in the Late Nascent Nourishing Realm. That Realm would also be called a level four King in this world.

"Why is someone as powerful as you interested in me?" Gravis asked directly.

The hawk only smirked and gently flew closer to Gravis. "You reacted very quickly and noticed my power. Tell me, how powerful do you think I am?" the hawk asked with interest.

"You're probably a level four or level five King," Gravis said with narrowed eyes.

The hawk was a bit surprised. "Not bad. Yes, I am a level five King. Quite impressive that you can place my power with such accuracy. Tell me, how did you manage that?"

"When I was weaker, I was able to feel the power of a level two King once. By now, I have become more powerful, and I guess that I would be able to feel a level three King too. Yet, I can't feel your

power. I don't think that an Emperor would come to this place just for me, so you had to be a level four or five King," Gravis explained.

The hawk laughed a bit. "Impressive, really," it said. "I am the Red King, Leader of the Red Kingdom. The two beasts you just killed were part of my Kingdom," it said.

Gravis had a sinking feeling. He had just killed this hawk's underlings. Would it want revenge? Yet, Gravis realized that it could have saved them if it wanted. Right now, Battle-Strength wouldn't help him to survive.

"You wanted to test me, right?" Gravis asked.

The hawk smirked as it circled him slowly. "Yes," it said. "One of our associated Tribes has received some news from a two-headed snake around two months ago. It said that there is a beast leading a Tribe made up of sea and land beasts."

"Originally, I didn't care about that. Let the weaker Kingdoms deal with that. Yet, I was interested in the news about your Battle-Strength. Apparently, you are able to jump two whole levels. Something like that is only possible for some very rare Divine Beasts."

"So, I sent an agent to keep watch over you. The agent noticed a very one-sided fight between you and a wolf. After that, the agent returned to me and informed me of what was going on," the hawk explained.

Gravis narrowed his eyes as he listened. The wolf that the hawk was talking about was the second level three Lord that Gravis had killed. He had fought against that wolf a couple of weeks after he had fought the shark.

Also, in the couple of months that Shira had been away, she had, apparently, not only tempered herself. 'My constant suppression of her probably annoyed her to no end. She also couldn't be sure

that she could kill me. So, as a backup plan, she spread some news about me. Like this, I would die even if she failed to kill me,' Gravis thought.

"What are Divine Beasts?" Gravis asked. One of the sharks he had killed had said something about some Divine Beasts too, but the shark hadn't bothered to answer.

The hawk landed in front of Gravis. "Divine Beasts are beasts with an incredible affinity for battle. Additionally, their bodies are around double as powerful as usual. Only the powerful bloodline of an Emperor can create Divine Beasts."

Gravis' eyes shone as he realized several things. "So, Divine Beasts could be considered as powerful, young geniuses. Yet, as soon as they become Emperors, all their advantages would vanish. After all, if their progenitor was an Emperor, they probably already had these qualities in the first place."

The hawk smirked. "Right. Being a Divine Beast is like having a shortcut to the Emperor Realm. Of course, there are still a lot of Divine Beasts out there that will never reach the Emperor Realm."

Gravis listened to the hawk's words and nodded. Then, he looked at it. "I presume you don't want to kill me right now?" he asked.

The hawk only continued smirking. Then, it hummed for a bit. "It depends on how you define 'right now' and how you define 'kill'," it said with a grin.

Gravis sighed when he heard that. He had expected that this situation wouldn't resolve itself that easily. The fact that such a powerful King arrived in front of him showed that it was interested in him.

Right now, Gravis was so incredibly weak in front of this hawk that he could probably only act as a toy for the King. Gravis gritted his teeth in frustration. He had no control over his life right now. This meant that he was being suppressed, and he hated being suppressed more than anything else.

"What do you want?" Gravis asked with annoyance. He knew that it wasn't the smartest choice to sound rude, but the lightning inside of him was angry, and it didn't care about the power of the other party.

The hawk only grinned. "I like that aggressive tone of yours. Maybe you can entertain me some more." Then, the hawk leisurely flew to a big stone and stood on it. "You're probably interested in the reason why I've come so far just to watch you fight, right?"

Gravis only nodded.

"Well, you see, my associated Empress is very interested in peculiar and powerful beasts. You could say that's one of her hobbies. If I bring such beasts to her, I will be rewarded. So, as soon as I heard about you, I grew interested. The Empress would love to have you."

Gravis gritted his teeth again. The Red King was looking at him like he was some slave or commodity, and he absolutely hated this feeling.

Meanwhile, the hawk continued speaking. "So, I sent two of my soldiers to test you out. Of course, they didn't know what the reason for their mission was. As far as they knew, they only needed to kill you."

"And what if I died?" Gravis asked.

The hawk laughed a bit. "Then you would have died, but I was pretty sure that you would survive," he said.

Gravis narrowed his eyes in skepticism. "How?" he asked. He wasn't even sure if he would win, so how could this hawk, which didn't even know him, be so sure that he would survive?

"Because you search for fights against Lords that are two levels higher than you. This means you see a good chance of victory in such fights. So, I wanted to see how powerful you would be under genuine

pressure."

Gravis remained silent as he listened to these words. Had he truly grown complacent? He had managed to kill two level four Lords, but he had only wanted to fight one of them. Yet, hadn't he managed to survive against two of them anyway?

Gravis released a sigh. Then, he turned to the hawk and slightly bowed. "Thank you. You have made me realize that I have unconsciously grown complacent. I have searched for a beast that was two levels higher than me but have tried to avoid fighting anything more dangerous. I think, deep inside, my fear of losing my life has taken priority over my desire for power. Thank you for showing me this weakness," Gravis said.

Gravis wasn't acting. He actually meant everything he said. He still remembered how he had pushed Morn, Silva, and Orpheus into an incredibly dangerous fight. Yet, he had avoided fighting such a dangerous fight himself. Gravis felt like a hypocrite right now.

The hawk was quite surprised when it saw Gravis' actions. Then, it started laughing loudly.

"Great!" it shouted. "Then, it seems like we have similar goals right now," it said with a smirk.

Gravis frowned again when he heard that. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The hawk laughed some more. "Simple. I said I came here to see how you would fight under genuine pressure, but I haven't seen that yet. When you fought my underlings, there was a certain absence of despair and fear. In the beginning, the fight had been good, but later, you seemed to take control of the fight."

The hawk shook its head. "A fight that's under your control isn't what I would call genuine pressure. So, I still need to see such a fight."

Gravis took a deep breath. "This fight wasn't dangerous enough for you?" he asked.

The hawk grinned. "No, it wasn't. As I said, it depends on how you define 'right now' and 'kill'. So, let's see if this meets your definition."

GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

An absolutely apocalyptic amount of fire came out of the bird and shot into the sky. The clouds immediately got vaporized, and as far as the eye could see, no clouds remained. Even from a hundred- meters-away, Gravis still had to protect himself from the heat.

The gigantic pillar of fire raged on for around ten seconds. After that, it vanished like nothing had happened. Gravis had been protecting his face with his arms, and as the fire disappeared, he put them down.

Nothing had changed. The bird was still sitting atop the stone, which, surprisingly, wasn't burned in the slightest. Now, Gravis was confused, but that confusion quickly cleared up.

On the horizon, Gravis could see a beast coming closer. It was a five-kilometer-long snake-like thing with arms, legs, and horns. It was completely golden and had impressive spines. Additionally, long whiskers danced in the wind as it came closer.

Meanwhile, the hawk grinned excitedly. "Meet your opponent. How fitting for you to ask about Divine Beasts earlier because that will be your opponent now. This is a Divine Beast called the Golden Dragon! He's a level four Lord that can take on level five Lords."

Gravis gulped.

The hawk smirked.

"As I said, it depends on how you define 'right now' and 'kill'."

 

Chapter 427

Gravis took a deep breath when he heard the red hawk's words. Fighting one level four Lord was already difficult, but fighting a level four Lord Divine Beast? The red hawk had also said that this Golden Dragon could fight level five Lords. Right now, Gravis felt like his death was about to arrive.

Yet, hadn't he just said that he had realized his complacency? So, even though he felt like he was about to die, he didn't lose hope. Even if the fight seemed unwinnable, Gravis would try absolutely everything he had. If he died, so what?

The Golden Dragon quickly arrived and landed. His massive body shook the earth as he coiled into a sitting position. "Master," it said deferentially.

The hawk flew over and landed on the Golden Dragon's head. The Golden Dragon didn't react and just stayed as it was. Apparently, it was used to this blatant display of dominance from the Red King.

"This beast has managed to kill two of our soldiers. They were both level four Lords, but he managed to win either way. His Battle-Strength is definitely more powerful than yours," it said with a grin.

The Golden Dragon looked at Gravis, and Gravis felt its indignance and disregard. It was indignant about what the hawk had said while it disregarded Gravis. In its eyes, Gravis was only some weak level two Lord.

The Golden Dragon never fought beasts equal to its level. It always fought beasts at higher levels than it, but this time, it was supposed to fight a weaker beast? On top of that, this beast wasn't only one level weaker, but two. What kind of joke was this?

"Master, this beast might be talented in combat, but it's still just a level two Lord. In front of absolute power, it can't do anything," the Golden Dragon said.

The hawk smiled slyly. "I know, but I want to see him become truly powerful or die while showing all of his power. That's why I called for you. I want you to fight this beast and kill it. If you win, you will be my choice for the Empress."

The Golden Dragon looked with boredom at Gravis.

"If you can't," the hawk said with a smirk, "you will die. I don't care what it takes. I want you to kill this beast. Even if you have to chase him to the end of the continent, I don't care. Only when you've killed him, will you be eligible for my Empress."

The Golden Dragon still looked with disregard at Gravis.

"No problem, Master," he said calmly.

CRRRRRRR!

The earth shook and broke apart. Gravis was unsure what the Golden Dragon was doing, but he knew that it couldn't be something good. Gravis immediately summoned his saber and readied himself for a battle.

As more and more earth broke apart, a gigantic pile of ore flew out of the earth. It was massive and several kilometers wide. Gravis immediately recognized the ore and knew that it was a Mid Unity Rank material.

Then, the ore floated above the Golden Dragon while it only sneered. "This trash-land doesn't even have proper stone," he said as he looked at the mountain of ore floating above him. "But I guess this will do against you," he said.

CRRRRRR!

The ore split apart until an uncountable amount of two-meter-wide pieces remained.

SHING!

Immediately, all pieces transformed into long and pointy spears. When Gravis saw that, his eyes widened. Now he knew what the Golden Dragon had planned.

"Goodbye," the Golden Dragon said.

WHOOSH!

Over half of the spears shot forward at Gravis. Avoiding them was impossible for him since they were shot in a wide spread. Yet, Gravis only smirked. This was an incredible weapon against beasts, but Gravis wasn't really a beast. Gravis was a human.

One shouldn't forget two things. First of all, when humans fought, they were never able to summon their element directly beside an opponent. The Will-Aura of the opponent could deal with that easily.

The other thing was that these spears didn't come from the Golden Dragon's power, but by shaping a natural ore into the shape of a spear. Gravis was sure that the Golden Dragon had the metal element. Yet, if that were all, the Golden Dragon wouldn't be able to control external materials like this. There was something else going on.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

The metal spears all stabbed into the earth surrounding Gravis, but the spears that had been aiming directly at him suddenly stopped in the air. Gravis' Will-Aura had destroyed the will lingering on the spears while his Spirit simply stopped the spears.

The Red King was quite surprised when he saw that. He had never seen anything like it, and his interest in Gravis grew. Meanwhile, the Golden Dragon was incredibly shocked. How had this ant blocked his attack this easily?

But then, the Golden Dragon only sneered. "Interesting ability, but something like this surely uses up your resources. I am two whole levels higher than you. So, as long as I keep doing this, I will outlast you, ant," the Golden Dragon said arrogantly.

Gravis narrowed his eyes as he heard that. The Golden Dragon had been right with his words. Stopping so many heavy and fast spears used up some of his Spirit. He wanted to make it seem like he could do this without end, but the Golden Dragon had seen through his plan.

BZZZ!

Gravis transformed into lightning and shot at the Golden Dragon with all his speed. Even though he had consumed two level four Lords previously, his lightning was only about double as powerful as before. That was because of all the power he had used up when he fought the ape.

Yet, he was still fast enough to only be slightly slower than the Golden Dragon. Right now, the Golden Dragon was underestimating him, and this was Gravis' best opportunity to end the fight.

Gravis quickly reached the Golden Dragon, who was shocked by Gravis' speed. He had never expected that a level two Lord was this fast.

Gravis transformed back into his body and loaded his saber with a Lightning Crescent. The fights had been back to back, so he hadn't been able to save up an additional Lightning Crescent. Right now, he could only depend on his own power. Gravis' saber quickly started exhibiting an incredible amount of lightning, and Gravis slashed forward.

Clank!

Yet, Gravis decided against unleashing his Lightning Crescent. That was because some spears shot at him from beside the Golden Dragon. It hadn't shot all the spears at him, and there were still a lot left

over. If Gravis unleashed his Lightning Crescent, it would only hit a spear. So, the spear hit the saber and shot Gravis back a bit.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

More and more spears shot at Gravis, and he blocked all of them with his saber. He didn't want to use his Spirit since that would waste more of his power. As he blocked, he also retrieved his power from the saber so that he was at his peak again.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

More and more spears shot at Gravis. Yet, they nearly all came one at a time. It wasn't like earlier where all of them shot at him simultaneously. However, Gravis wished that they all came simultaneously.

Gravis had to use all his power to block the spears one by one, and he barely managed it. The spears were incredibly powerful and fast. If Gravis hadn't trained his evasion so much, he would have many more holes inside his body now.

Meanwhile, the Golden Dragon only smirked.

Gravis had realized the Golden Dragon's goal, and he gritted his teeth. Gravis was being pushed back by these spears and was too far away to attack reliably.

"I see," the Golden Dragon commented as he continued shooting spears. "You don't want to waste resources, so you decide to block. On top of that, you can destroy the connection between me and my metal without a problem, but that doesn't stop its movement."

The Golden Dragon laughed. "As long as I just throw stone at you, you're forced to either block or evade. Something simple as that doesn't even require much power from me. I wonder what you will

do," the Golden Dragon said with a smile.

One spear after the other shot at Gravis, and he had to block them continually. By now, he was far enough away to dodge the spears reliably, but he also couldn't attack the Golden Dragon from this range.

He didn't need to block anymore at this distance, but such rapid movement used up a lot of stamina. Gravis could fight for a full day like this, but the Golden Dragon could probably keep going for much longer.

Several hours passed in which Gravis was only dodging the spears without a way to get closer. He had tried to surprise the Golden Dragon by transforming into lightning again, but the Golden Dragon never lowered his guard again.

As soon as Gravis did anything other than dodging, the Golden Dragon would just shoot even more spears at him. On top of that, the Golden Dragon kept a lot of ore lying around his body too. If Gravis decided to use any sneak attack, he would just use this ore to defend himself.

Gravis was constantly dodging under high pressure. The attacks were avoidable, but he couldn't allow himself to lose concentration. A single one of these spears would create a hole inside his body.

The contrast between Gravis and the Golden Dragon was striking. Gravis was constantly dodging to keep his life while the Golden Dragon only sat on the ground, playing with Gravis.

They were not at the same level at all.

 

Chapter 428

Gravis had been continuously dodging for over three hours now. He slowly started to feel the drain while the Golden Dragon seemed to be as relaxed as ever.

Originally, Gravis had intended to wait for an opportunity when the Golden Dragon became careless, but that opportunity never came. Even though the Golden Dragon looked relaxed, Gravis felt that he never took his guard down.

Gravis had already gotten an idea some hours ago, but he wanted to use that opportunity to kill the Golden Dragon. If he didn't manage to kill it, he would have committed too many resources into the attack and would be disadvantaged for the remaining fight.

The longer this fight dragged on, the harder it would be for Gravis to make a comeback.

At least, that's what Gravis wanted the Golden Dragon to think.

In actuality, Gravis was simply moving the power of his lightning into his body as soon as it lost stamina. Because of that, the used-up lightning would quickly regenerate. The body's stamina didn't regenerate as quickly as it was used up, but his lightning would completely regenerate in a couple of hours. Like this, he had basically infinite stamina.

Additionally, Gravis could also use his Spirit and regenerate that at the same time. This meant that as long Gravis had enough concentration, he could go on forever. Of course, the drain of concentration couldn't be ignored. This was something that he couldn't easily fix.

Gravis had enough experience to know that the drain of his concentration was more significant than the drain of the Golden Dragon's power. Gravis knew that it was usually impossible for a beast to manipulate something outside their body, even if it conformed to their element.

Beasts with an affinity towards metal normally only were able to transform their own bodies into metal. The manipulation of external metal wasn't part of their power.

So, how did the Golden Dragon do that?

There was only one answer that Gravis came up with, and he didn't like it one bit.

The Golden Dragon had comprehended a Law related to metal. Otherwise, it would be completely impossible for the Golden Dragon to manipulate the metal this easily.

On top of that, even though the Golden Dragon only used external metal to attack him, Gravis never forgot the actual ability that a beast with metal affinity had. Gravis knew that if he managed to get close to the Golden Dragon and attack, his opponent would simply transform his body into metal.

At that point, his opponent's body would transform into a Late Unity Rank material. Even if Gravis used a fully powered Lightning Crescent, he would still not be able to injure the Golden Dragon in any significant way. At most, he could create a flesh wound. Yet, what then? Gravis would have nothing left after that.

Gravis was thinking all these things, but it didn't matter what he came up with. He never found a way of dealing with the eventual transformation of the Golden Dragon's body. Its defense would just be too powerful at that point.

Fleeing also wasn't an option. The Golden Dragon was faster than Gravis in his Lightning Transformation. Another option would be to quickly find other beasts while evading the Golden Dragon until Gravis had enough food to become a level three Lord.

Yet, that option was also thrown out. The issue was not the Golden Dragon but the Red King. The Red King wanted to see him under some real pressure, and if Gravis just fled until his Realm became

higher, the Red King would probably just find a new opponent. That one might actually be even more powerful than this one.

Even after hours of thinking, Gravis found no other way. He was truly out of options and could only bet his life on a gamble. For the first time in a long while, Gravis felt like he had no control over the battle. Continuing like this would only spell doom for Gravis. Sooner or later, he would make a mistake and get hit.

Gravis took a deep breath as he evaded another spear. Then, he made up his mind and started putting his plan into motion. The only way how Gravis could win was if the Golden Dragon became careless. This would be a lengthy and time-consuming plan, but it was his only option.

Like this, several more hours passed in which Gravis tried to get closer to the Golden Dragon from time to time. He was using these opportunities so that the Golden Dragon thought that Gravis still had an ace hidden away. After all, no experienced fighter would continue charging in mindlessly like that. Experienced fighters would only do this if they wanted to achieve something.

So, ironically, even though Gravis was doing the same useless thing, again and again, the Golden Dragon only became warier. The Golden Dragon knew that Gravis was planning something. Even though the Golden Dragon looked down on Gravis, he didn't believe that Gravis was that stupid.

And sure enough, after several more minutes, Gravis did something new. He transformed into lightning and split himself into multiple bolts. After that, the bolts scattered into different directions but still charged at the Golden Dragon.

The Red King and the Golden Dragon were surprised by that. Gravis had surprised them multiple times by now, but being able to split his body like this was on a whole different level. Yet, the Golden Dragon noticed something and smirked.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Since the lightning scattered into multiple bolts, the power also got scattered. Because of that, the lightning bolts slowed down somewhat. The Golden Dragon noticed this and shot a whole spread of spears again. While fighting, it had summoned a lot more ore, and it wouldn't run out of ore anytime soon.

As soon as the spread of spears arrived, the lightning bolts transformed into multiple Gravises again. Then, they blocked the spears with their Spirit.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

But not before the Golden Dragon shot more spears. The Gravises quickly switched into lightning and back into their bodies successively. It seemed like they wanted to take advantage of the higher speed of the Lightning Form. Yet, some lone spears managed to penetrate several Gravises. A lot of holes were created in their bodies during that.

The Gravises gathered together and fused again as they saw that their plan had failed. Yet, Gravis' new body had several holes scattered across his entire body with blood flowing out of them. Apparently, all the injuries of the spears had gathered in one body.

Gravis seemed to sway as his body became weaker. Every onlooker would believe that he was heavily injured.

Yet, that wasn't the case. In actuality, Gravis wasn't injured in the slightest.

The reason why he continually transformed into lightning and back wasn't because of the speed advantage. Every time he created a new body, he could make some small alterations. As long as they weren't too big, the feeling of estrangement with his body wouldn't appear.

So, he acted like the spears had hit him. Yet, whenever a spear "penetrated" him, it merely flew through an already created hole inside Gravis' bodies. These small holes were the little changes that Gravis

had made to his body. He had not been injured in the slightest.

As soon as he fused together again, he acted like the injuries were transferred to his new body. After all, the enemies didn't know how his Lightning Form worked. As far as they knew, an injury was an injury and wouldn't just vanish. Making the holes bleed also wasn't difficult for Gravis.

Yet, the hard part would start now. Now, he needed to actually get injured. The Golden Dragon wouldn't believe that these fake injuries were enough to kill him. It would make sure and injure Gravis more.

So, as more minutes passed, Gravis seemed to slow down and become sluggish. From time to time, he was hit by some spears that remained stuck inside his body. To make his act realistic, Gravis couldn't consciously decide where the spears hit him. After all, he would need to take some injuries to his vital areas to make it convincing.

Gravis slowly collapsed as his body filled with more spears. These injuries were serious, but Gravis could still fight. As long as the Golden Dragon came closer, he could surprise it with an instantaneous Lightning Crescent. By now, Gravis had gathered nearly all his power into his saber. This had the effect of making his act even more convincing since the Golden Dragon felt Gravis' power weakening.

Gravis' body hit the ground, and blood flowed out of his entire being. When the Golden Dragon saw that, he stopped attacking. Gravis was definitely at death's door.

"How truly pathetic," the Golden Dragon said with disdain. "You didn't even manage to make me move from my spot. I knew that I was more powerful than you, but your display hasn't even managed to fulfill my already low expectations."

Gravis just continued lying on the floor and didn't answer.

When the Golden Dragon saw that Gravis didn't answer, it simply huffed. Then, it readied several more spears from a distance.

Meanwhile, Gravis was becoming nervous. He had invested so much in this plan. If the Golden Dragon remained at its current position, everything would be for nothing!

"Go die," the Golden Dragon commented as it shot a spread of spears again.

When Gravis saw that, he became genuinely fearful for his life. His plan had failed!

BZZZZZ!

Gravis immediately transformed into lightning and dodged the spears. Then, he materialized at a different position with a fully healed body. Yet, the injuries had taken their toll, and Gravis' foundation had fallen. By now, his lightning was no longer double as powerful, but only one and a half times more powerful than when he had reached the Early Unity Realm. Nearly all the Energy of the previous level four Lords had gone to waste.

The Golden Dragon looked a bit surprised. "I was kind of suspicious about your sudden weakness, but I wouldn't have thought that you could directly heal yourself like this. Truly impressive," it commented.

Meanwhile, Gravis' mind was going insane.

He had no idea what he could do now.

Now, he was truly out of options!

 

Chapter 429

Gravis had no more plans that could guarantee his success. This fight felt similar to his battles with Red and the priest in the Heaven's Trial. Back then, he also had no idea how to win. Only through finding an opening or a new path had he been able to prevail.

Yet, Gravis really had no idea what he could do now. His Battle-Strength was just too low. The biggest issue was the opponent's defense since he could shrug off even Gravis' most powerful attack. As soon as he transformed into metal, Gravis' Lightning Crescent would only be able to melt off some parts of his body.

Yet, the Golden Dragon had a length of over five kilometers. Even if Gravis managed to melt off a hundred meters, he would have only given the Golden Dragon a flesh wound. In order to damage the Golden Dragon's organs, Gravis would need to melt off way more than that.

As soon as the Golden Dragon received a flesh wound, Gravis would have committed way too many resources. After that Lightning Crescent, Gravis wouldn't even be able to transform into lightning without falling out of the Unity Realm completely.

Yes, he could maybe evade the Golden Dragon's attacks until he refilled his power storages, but that was only considering the Golden Dragon's current approach to combat. One shouldn't forget that the Golden Dragon hadn't even moved.

If it saw that it was injured and that Gravis was regenerating his power, it would immediately attack with its full force. Then, Gravis would have to deal with the Golden Dragon's overwhelmingly powerful body too.

Some more hours passed in which Gravis only dodged. The Golden Dragon was still playing with him, but this was not what Gravis felt. The spears just never stopped. On top of that, Gravis' Realm had already dropped when he had been injured previously. This meant that he was weaker than when the battle had started, while the Golden Dragon was just as powerful.

The pressure started mounting on Gravis as evading the spears became harder and harder. Sure, the constant avoiding of spears had given him great training in evading enemy attacks, but this was not training. If he failed, he would die.

The fear and frustration grew stronger inside Gravis. He couldn't increase his attack any further. He couldn't increase his defense any further. He wasn't even as fast as in the beginning. His current Battle- Strength just wasn't enough.

Gravis gritted his teeth as he realized that the whole situation completely glided out of his control. He had always felt some kind of control in his fights, even if the opponent was way stronger than him, but now, Gravis could only hope for a miracle. His own power just wasn't enough to win.

"I won't help you," the Red King transmitted to Gravis as he saw how distressed he became. "If you die, you die. This is what I wanted to see. All control escapes your grasp, and you have no idea how to win. You have given it your all, but it's not enough."

The Red King still stood on top of the Golden Dragon's head. He had never needed to move since the Golden Dragon also hadn't moved much in the fight.

While the Red King was talking, Gravis found it increasingly more difficult to evade. By now, some of the spears even started grazing him. His stamina was still at full thanks to his lightning, but his concentration was failing.

"This is what we call true tempering," the Red King transmitted. "You can temper yourself against opponents that are about as strong as you, but what does that accomplish? This allows you to keep your current Battle-Strength in relevance to your level."

"You are able to fight two levels above you, and if you keep going like this, it will just stay the same. By fighting against normal beasts two levels higher than you, you will always only remain on that level," the Red King transmitted with a smirk.

"You are forever stuck at this level like this. Yet, do you not want to become even stronger? Are two levels enough for you? Two levels are already unprecedented in regards to normal beasts, but not in regards to Divine Beasts. There are some that can fight two levels higher than themselves."

"I don't want to give my Empress something like this. After all, she has enough Divine Beasts around her. No, I want to give her something truly unique. I want you to become even more powerful. I am betting everything on you! I don't know if it's possible, but I want to try it anyway!"

Gravis could hear the Red King's craziness. Gravis knew that if he couldn't kill the Golden Dragon, the Red King wouldn't save him. The only way out of this was to raise his Battle-Strength.

Yet, was that so easy? He couldn't just make himself stronger.

Blood started flowing out of Gravis' mouth as he gnashed his teeth violently. He was making a decision, but he hated making this decision so much. He had decided to rely on pure chance. There was no other path left.

Gravis had to bet everything on one card, and that card was incredibly weak.

'If I fail, I die. I need to succeed! There is no other way left!' Gravis thought in craziness.

BOOOM!

Gravis shot forward and started blocking the spears with his Spirit. This used up his resources, but he needed to get closer!

The Golden Dragon saw that and narrowed his eyes. He wasn't so inexperienced that he would take Gravis lightly now. This was probably Gravis' last-ditch effort, and he might explode with more power than he had previously shown. So, the Golden Dragon grew even more careful.

BZZZZ!

Nearly all of Gravis' power concentrated into his saber, which made it crackle with powerful lightning. Then, he lifted it and slashed forward. A Lightning Crescent filled with nearly all his power shot at the Golden Dragon.

The Golden Dragon quickly noticed that this attack was quite powerful and shot nearly all his remaining spears at it.

Whoooosh!

Yet, the spears vanished into thin air before they could reach the Lightning Crescent. The eyes of the Golden Dragon and Red King widened in shock. Where did the spears go?

This was Gravis' last trump card, his Spirit Space. They had seen him summon a saber, but they hadn't seen him absorb something into his Spirit Space. His Will-Aura destroyed the will on the metal while his Spirit simply collected all the ore. With this, his Lightning Crescent would be able to hit the Golden Dragon.

BOOOOOOOOM!

A mighty explosion appeared as nearly the whole Golden Dragon was engulfed in lightning. It was incredibly bright and destroyed kilometers of land.

The explosion vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, and the Golden Dragon was finally visible again. True to its namesake, the Golden Dragon had transformed into a fully golden material. It had a ferocious expression on its face as it felt incredible pain. It managed to withstand the attack, but it still hurt immensely.

Plop! Plop!

Its body had become incredibly hot, and a lot of its outer layer became liquid and slid off. All of these droplets had been part of its body before.

The Golden Dragon became enraged from the pain and looked at Gravis.

 

Chapter 430

The Golden Dragon looked at Gravis, but it quickly grew confused. What was he doing?

All the liquified ore of the Golden Dragon's body was gathered above Gravis' hand as he concentrated on it fully. Some lightning encased the liquid metal, and Gravis stared at it intently.

'I need to successfully forge this metal on my first try! I don't have enough Energy to try it another time! I must succeed now!' Gravis thought crazily as the metal started changing shape.

CRK!

Yet, it started breaking apart. Gravis grew panicked as he saw that. This was a sign of failure! Why? Why wasn't he able to smith new materials on his first try!?

Fueled by the pressure, Gravis' mind went into overdrive. His concentration reached a peak it had never reached before. Gravis remembered all the diagrams about the different materials' makeup, and, slowly, he realized several patterns between them.

He remembered what had happened with all the materials he had tested previously and instantly recognized some patterns, which he hadn't seen before.

BANG!

As if struck by lightning, Gravis suddenly realized why the materials all acted in such unforeseen ways when he had tried to forge them previously. The whole makeup of the different materials fused together into a single concept in his head.

The ore stopped cracking as it quickly morphed into the shape that Gravis envisioned.

By now, the Golden Dragon realized that Gravis was using its own body to create something abominable. The Golden Dragon was able to shape the metals in the earth into whatever shape it

wanted, but this weak ant was now doing this to the Golden Dragon's body.

Rage exploded inside the Golden Dragon. This was the most disrespectful thing that had ever been done to it! It wasn't some material that some weak ant could manipulate however it wanted!

The Golden Dragon shot forward with unreal speed and attacked Gravis with one of its claws.

BANG! BANG!

A loud noise erupted, but that wasn't the noise of the attack. This was made by the metal that had been compressed together into a new form. This was what the Opposer had shown Gravis. This was the second way of tempering a weapon, something that Gravis would only be able to learn later.

The second loud sound was the attack of the Golden Dragon. Its claws hit something incredibly hard, and Gravis was shot into the distance by this attack. Gravis' body smashed through more mountains until he finally managed to stabilize himself.

The attack injured his body, but the injuries were only minor. Most of the damage had been absorbed by the thing Gravis currently carried in his right hand.

Was it a saber?

No!

Gravis carried a massive, golden shield in his right hand. He knew that if he made a saber, he would only be helplessly suppressed. He would have never gotten a chance to regenerate his power like that. Instead, he decided to make a shield.

As soon as the droplets of the Golden Dragon's body left it, they became their own entity. They still had the Golden Dragon's will on them, but as long as they didn't touch the Golden Dragon's body, Gravis could easily wipe that will away with his Will-Aura.

Like this, these droplets had truly transformed into Late Unity Rank materials. As soon as Gravis understood the Law about these materials, he also immediately realized how he could compress them. He simply needed to move the Energy that made up the materials in a peculiar way to press it together.

Thanks to that understanding, Gravis managed to create a shield with a hardened layer. If Gravis hadn't hardened that shield, it would break apart with a powerful attack from the Golden Dragon. Only by being hardened would it be able to resist the Golden Dragon's attacks indefinitely.

When the Golden Dragon saw that Gravis wasn't even that injured, it grew furious.

BOOOM!

It charged at Gravis with all its power, destroying the earth under it in the process. Then, it summoned more spears, which it quickly threw at Gravis.

Whooop!

All the spears vanished immediately, infuriating the Golden Dragon even more.

BANG!

Gravis got shot into the distance again, but the shield absorbed most of the damage. Yet, Gravis still got injured by this hit. Gravis also quickly realized that his injuries accumulated even faster than the regeneration of his power. This meant that he would still die.

BANG!

The Golden Dragon attacked again, but this time, Gravis evaded the attack. The Golden Dragon had been too straightforward with this attack, allowing Gravis to evade it. When the Golden Dragon saw that, it grew even angrier.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

It started going absolutely crazy as it used its claws, legs, teeth, and even its tail to crazily attack Gravis. Gravis only managed to evade some of the attacks, which was already a miracle in and of itself. Sadly, several attacks still hit him.

Luckily, these attacks didn't have the earlier power since the Golden Dragon distributed its power among multiple attacks instead of concentrating it into one. This attack didn't even injure Gravis at all.

"RAAAAAAHHH!" The Golden Dragon released a primal roar as it charged crazily at Gravis. Then, it transformed parts of its body into metal to make its attacks stronger. This would increase the power of the attacks again, allowing it to continue its onslaught.

Gravis started becoming injured again as these attacks rained down on him. He had only regenerated a minuscule amount of lightning during this onslaught. This couldn't continue!

Gravis narrowed his eyes as he infused his shield with some of the Spirit and lightning that he had managed to regenerate.

BOOM!

Lightning exploded out of his shield as an attack from the Golden Dragon hit it. Yet, this explosion was enough to liquify more of the Golden Dragon's body. It wasn't nearly as much as when the Lightning Crescent had hit it, but it was still a good amount.

Gravis retrieved the droplets into his Spirit Space as his body smashed through more mountains. Then, he immediately resummoned them and started forging again. His knowledge about the material had allowed him to release just enough lightning to heat the material to its optimal temperature.

The Golden Dragon had lost nearly all its rationality in its fury. The fact that Gravis still managed to hold on infuriated it to no end. Why wouldn't this weak ant just die!?

BANG!

Another hit, but Gravis only received some very minor injuries. The reason for that was the new pair of shoes he had just created. Gravis knew all the basic Formation Arrays for forging, which included Formation Arrays for armor.

Gravis hadn't fought someone with a real set of armor yet, but that didn't mean that those didn't exist. Gravis had made shoes filled with Formation Arrays that absorbed shock. As long as he managed to land on his feet, he wouldn't get injured as much.

Many more attacks rained down on Gravis.

BANG!

But after some minutes, Gravis had regenerated enough of his power to release another Lightning Blast from his shield. On top of that, this blast was even more powerful than the one before.

More droplets fell from the Golden Dragon's body as Gravis used them to create gauntlets. He filled these with Formation Arrays that allowed the gauntlets to connect with the shield. With this, he would have more control over his body's position.

It had happened a couple of times that Gravis hadn't been able to stop his fall with his feet due to the Golden Dragon's power. Whenever that happened, he had received heavier injuries than usual. Gravis saw this as the biggest issue and quickly rectified that.

Yet, since Gravis was using all of his power to injure the Golden Dragon and smith, his body was quickly becoming increasingly injured.

Some of the Golden Dragon's rationality returned, and it stopped transforming its body into metal. It couldn't allow Gravis to accumulate more of its body.

Sadly, this decreased its attack power again, and with the new gauntlets and boots, Gravis didn't even get injured in the slightest. Now, Gravis simply saved up his power without using it.

The fight dragged on for another two hours. The Golden Dragon was absolutely sure that Gravis couldn't keep going! Being tossed around like this would reduce his stamina crazily!

Sadly, the Golden Dragon didn't know that Gravis' stamina was basically endless. Yet, that wasn't the Golden Dragon's fault. It simply had no idea about how Gravis' Spirit and lightning worked. On top of that, Gravis was losing control over his body more frequently. This could only come from exhaustion, right?

Wrong! Gravis wasn't in full focus anymore and used this time to exchange some injuries to allow his concentration to regenerate. He had been running on fumes in that department for a while now. His eyes lost some of his focus as he now reacted mostly on instinct.

The Golden Dragon interpreted that as exhaustion, but Gravis simply became more relaxed. As long as this kept going, everything would be fine.

After some more minutes…

BANG! BANG!

Gravis transformed into lightning and then transformed back. His body was now fully healed again, but his Realm dropped slightly. Luckily, he had managed to regenerate all his lightning and Spirit during that time, so his Realm only dropped a little bit.

Yet, since Gravis' lightning was still more powerful than his Spirit or body, only his lightning decreased. This was the concept of balance, and only the most powerful aspect became weaker. This meant that his body was just as powerful as before.

When the Golden Dragon saw that Gravis was fully healed again, it exploded with anger. It wanted this ant to die, no matter what!

BOOOOOM!

Suddenly, an incredibly powerful beam of golden light shot out of the Golden Dragon, right towards Gravis.

Gravis saw this beam and nearly felt his heart stop.

This beam was way beyond everything that the Golden Dragon had used previously. This attack wasn't even on the same level as all its previous attacks!

Gravis knew that, even with his shield, if that beam hit him, he would die!