Ch. 431..440

Chapter 431

Gravis had to find a solution to this beam, fast! His shield could only block regular attacks of level five Lords, which would be a little bit stronger than the full-power attack of a level four Lord. Yet, this beam was about as powerful as the trump card of a level five Lord! As soon as he felt the power of the beam, Gravis knew that his shield wouldn't be able to survive that.

Gravis also couldn't evade to the side since the beam was barreling towards him with insane speeds. It was also rather wide, which surprised him even more. The beam's power was spread over such a wide area, yet, it still was so powerful. Usually, no level four Lord should be able to unleash such a powerful attack.

Nevertheless, Gravis had to find a way out.

CRRRR! BANG!

Gravis transformed into lightning and shot backward while leaving his shield there. It would buy him, at least, some time. After the blink of an eye, the beam destroyed the shield and closed in on Gravis.

CRRRRRRRRRRR!

When Gravis saw that the shield was about to collapse, he transformed back into his body and immediately summoned all the ore inside his Spirit Space to block the beam. He needed to exhaust the beam's power as much as possible.

The beam rapidly ate through the ore like it didn't even exist. Yet, the ore weakened the beam even further. If Gravis had the time, he would have forged the ore into shields. Sadly, he didn't have such a luxury.

WHOOOOOM!

The beam hit Gravis' feet since Gravis had angled his body so that his feet pointed towards the beam. The beam ate quickly through the boots, but…

BOOOOM!

A Lightning Blast came out of his boots, which pushed the middle of the beam back. Gravis couldn't evade to the side since most of the beam's power was shooting past him.

CRK!

Yet, the Lightning Blast wasn't enough to stop the beam entirely, and it quickly attacked his boots again. After another blink of an eye, his boots broke apart, and the beam started destroying his legs. It quickly traveled up towards Gravis' torso, but Gravis quickly curled his tail so that it was between the beam and his torso.

Then, the beam started destroying the tail, but before the tail was completely incinerated, the beam weakened and eventually stopped. Gravis took a deep breath of relief. He managed to survive. That had been close.

Yet, he was still shocked about the power of the beam. It had destroyed his shield, all his ore, his boots, his legs, and half his tail. This power was incredible. On top of that, Gravis had wasted around 50% of his regenerated power in the Lightning Blast.

Sadly, Gravis couldn't transform into lightning right now to heal his body. If he did, all his wasted power would throw him back into the Initial Unity Realm. Then, he wouldn't even be able to put up a fight anymore.

All of these thoughts shot through Gravis' head in less than a second, and he quickly narrowed his eyes and looked back at the Golden Dragon. Yet, he was shocked by what he saw.

The Golden Dragon looked incredibly weak. It took deep and rapid breaths, and the golden luster of its scales had dimmed severely. On top of that, Gravis saw something that made him release another sigh of relief.

The Golden Dragon had fallen to the Middle Unity Realm, also called a level three Lord.

'No wonder this attack was so powerful. The Golden Dragon literally unleashed all its power and even Realm to kill me,' Gravis thought. 'Well, I would have done the same thing, only earlier.'

If Gravis were the Golden Dragon, he would have used that beam after seeing that his attacks weren't as effective anymore with the new addition of the shield. At that point, his enemy still hadn't recovered at all. The Golden Dragon had committed a mistake by waiting this long.

Yet, this was the Golden Dragon's weakness. It had disregarded Gravis from the beginning, and that disregard only became stronger as Gravis helplessly evaded the onslaught of spears. Even when Gravis hit it with his Lightning Crescent, the Golden Dragon still viewed that as a last-ditch effort of an ant.

So, when this ant suddenly became able to block its physical attack, the Golden Dragon became increasingly angry, which clouded its judgment. It refused to believe that this ant could hold out in front of it! That's why it hadn't even thought about using this attack until the moment when it saw Gravis slowly gaining the upper hand.

The Golden Dragon was incredibly shocked when it saw that Gravis had survived. Yes, he lost his equipment and legs, but something like that wasn't life-threatening to Lords. Even a normal Lord would be able to regrow their legs in a day or so.

The Golden Dragon couldn't believe that this ant had managed to survive its most powerful attack. How was this possible!? How did such an easy fight suddenly become so hard!?

"RAAAAAAHHH!" the Golden Dragon screamed in rage as it shot at Gravis. Yet, it had fallen by an entire level, which reduced its speed by a huge margin. On top of that…

WHOOOOOM!

Gravis had continuously used his Will-Aura, and the Golden Dragon had grown used to this kind of pressure. After all, this pressure had only lowered its speed by about 10% previously. But now, this pressure felt many times more powerful.

One shouldn't forget that by falling an entire level, the level suppression towards Gravis' Will-Aura had also become way weaker. Right now, the Golden Dragon was only a single level higher than him. Usually, Gravis didn't even consider beasts at that level as food.

The Will-Aura's suppression increased immensely. Earlier, the Golden Dragon was only slowed by 10%, but now, its speed got reduced by 70%! This meant its already lowered speed got lowered even more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Golden Dragon unleashed multiple attacks, but Gravis easily evaded them by moving his body with his Spirit. Now, Gravis was faster than the Golden Dragon. This was no longer a fight.

The Golden Dragon kept on attacking, but Gravis easily evaded every single attack. Comparing its current speed to its old speed only showed how laughably slow it was now.

If one assigned a value of 100 points to the unsuppressed peak speed of the earlier Golden Dragon, it would have fallen to 90 points with Gravis' Will-Aura. Yet, by falling an entire level, the 100 unsuppressed points became 25. Then, if one factored in Gravis' stronger Will-Aura, it would fall to about seven points.

Seven points compared to 100 points, that was the ridiculous difference in speed. Yet, the Golden Dragon never stopped attacking. It refused to believe that it had lost!

BZZZZZZ!

They had fought all over the place, and Gravis found more ore with his Spirit. He quickly summoned that ore into his Spirit Space and then resummoned it before him. After that, he created a new saber with a hardened edge. Gravis had used up all his sabers while defending from the beam, so he needed a new one.

Gravis evaded the attacks while he finished the saber in around two seconds. After that, he charged at the Golden Dragon while easily evading the attacks.

SHING!

A deep and long wound appeared at the Golden Dragon's neck, but the Golden Dragon was just too big. Even with Gravis' ten-meter-long saber, he could barely reach the muscles beneath. That was the advantage of having a colossal body. Getting to the vital points was difficult.

Yet, the disadvantage was also there. By having its whole power spread over such a gigantic body, it wasn't nearly as hard as it could be. Gravis actually had no problems in injuring the Golden Dragon like this.

"RAAHHH!" the Golden Dragon shouted in rage as it continued attacking.

SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

Meanwhile, Gravis just evaded the attacks and created wound after wound. After some seconds, Gravis managed to create a circular cut, going all around the Golden Dragon's neck.

"It was a good fight. Thank you," Gravis said.

Suddenly, the rationality of the Golden Dragon reappeared, and it realized its situation.

"Wait!"

BOOOOOOM!

It wanted to say something, but Gravis didn't care. He pushed the meat to the side with his Spirit and unleashed a Lightning Crescent with about half his power into the cut. It easily hit its target, and the violent explosion severed the Golden Dragon's head from its body.

BANG! BANG!

The head and the body fell to the ground, and their weight created several craters. The Golden Dragon still managed to live for a couple of seconds, but that was it. After these seconds, the Golden Dragon died.

The fight was over.

 

Chapter 432

Gravis didn't immediately consume the corpse since that would waste some of its power. After all, he wasn't at his peak. He first needed to regenerate to his current peak so that he could transform into lightning without his Realm falling further. That would only take around two hours.

Whoooop!

Yet, Gravis also didn't want to just let the corpse lay there. Because of that, he summoned it into his Spirit Space. His Spirit Space was quite massive by now, but he still needed to fold the corpse so that it actually fit inside. His Spirit Space had a width of two kilometers, enough for the corpse to fit but not enough for it to lay stretched out.

"Where did the corpse go?" the Red King asked as he flew over to Gravis.

Gravis furrowed his brows. He hadn't forgotten about the Red King, but he was still angry that the Red King looked at him like he was a commodity.

"I have a separate space where I can store dead stuff," Gravis explained curtly and vaguely. He didn't want to tell the Red King more than was necessary.

The Red King had a shocked expression on his face. "Have you comprehended a Law regarding space?" he asked.

Gravis shook his head. "No, it's just something unique to me in this world. You have seen the extent of my power, so you also know which Laws I know," Gravis said with an unfriendly voice.

The Red King didn't seem to mind Gravis' disrespectful tone, but he still released a sigh of relief. "I have never heard of such an ability, but it's more believable than you knowing Laws regarding space. After all, these Laws have only appeared in legend."

Gravis remained silent.

When the Red King saw that Gravis didn't answer, he only laughed and circled him a bit. "You have many peculiar abilities. You can transform into lightning, make stuff vanish and reappear, increase and weaken your body, heal yourself instantly, make objects levitate, and you even have this weird force- field around you that slows your opponents. You're the most bizarre beast I have ever seen."

"Every advantage has a disadvantage," Gravis simply said.

The Red King laughed some more. "Yes, I know. All these peculiar powers probably have a cost. Tell me more," the Red King said.

"I don't want to," Gravis answered.

The Red King furrowed his brows. "You do know that your life is in my talons, right?" the Red King asked.

"Yes, but you're suppressing me, and that's the thing I hate the most," Gravis answered evenly.

The Red King narrowed his eyes. "Do you hate it more than losing your life?" he asked threateningly.

"I don't think so, but you won't kill me," Gravis answered as he looked into the Red King's eyes.

"What makes you so sure?" the Red King asked as he landed before Gravis. In comparison to Gravis, he looked incredibly tiny and unthreatening. Yet, that couldn't be further from the truth.

"You just said that I'm the most bizarre beast you have ever seen, and you were even willing to sacrifice the Golden Dragon to make me even more powerful. If you kill me, all of this will go to waste," Gravis answered.

CRRRRR!

An unreal amount of fire came out of the Red King, which quickly burned Gravis' scales. Any beast would have screamed in pain, but Gravis had gone through worse pain before. Gravis didn't even flinch.

"Go ahead, kill me," Gravis said evenly. "At least, then, I wouldn't be suppressed anymore."

For the first time, the Red King actually looked angry. As a beast with a fire affinity, the Red King already had quite the intense temperament. He was honestly thinking about killing Gravis.

Yet, after some time passed, the Red King calmed down somewhat. The fire vanished while the Red King looked at Gravis with a malicious smirk. Seeing a bird smirk was quite unique. "You really hate being suppressed, huh?" he asked sarcastically. "You are even willing to bet with your life to give you an illusion of choice."

"By provoking me, you want to prove to yourself that you still have control over your own life." The Red King's smirk intensified. "Yet, if you were really ready to bet with your life, you would have attacked me already. You only want this small victory so that you feel better about yourself."

"Yes, so?" Gravis answered simply.

The Red King was taken aback by Gravis' direct confirmation. The Red King had wanted Gravis to doubt himself and convince him that he wasn't ready to sacrifice his life.

For some seconds, the Red King had no idea how to follow up. Then, he shook his head to regain his bearings. "Good that you know. Then tell me more about how your powers work."

"No," Gravis answered curtly.

The Red King waited for some seconds, but Gravis didn't say more. If the Red King had teeth, he would be gritting them right now out of frustration. "But you just confirmed that you aren't ready to risk

your life for that!"

"I'm not risking my life," Gravis said.

The Red King's right eyelid started twitching. It was blatantly obvious that this didn't conform to reality. It was like the Red King said that water was wet, but the other beast just disagreed without giving a reason. This whole situation was surreal.

"But you are!" the Red King shouted.

"No, I'm not," Gravis answered.

The Red King felt his fury return as he realized that this was Gravis' whole answer. "But I'm stronger than you, and I can end your life whenever I want!" the Red King shouted.

"Yes," Gravis answered.

BANG!

The ground below the Red King exploded as he stomped his foot in anger. The hard stone shot into the distance while some stones bounced off of Gravis' body. "Then you're risking your life right now!" he shouted.

"No, I'm not," Gravis said.

Fire appeared inside the Red King's eyes. "How are you not risking your life right now?" he asked with a threatening voice.

"Because you won't kill me," Gravis answered.

"How are you so sure!?" the Red King shouted again.

"You've already asked that question, and I've already answered it," Gravis said evenly.

The Red King nearly exploded with anger as he remembered that he had really asked that question before.

BOOOOM!

A fire beam shot into the distance and destroyed a whole mountain range. The Red King needed to vent his anger.

"I'm over here," Gravis commented.

The Red King's whole body shook in rage as he glared at Gravis.

Several seconds passed in which the Red King only glared at Gravis with fury. For some reason, he felt like it was losing control of the situation. Yet, how was that possible? He could kill Gravis with a wave of his wing. The whole situation was in his grasp, but why did he feel like it wasn't!?

After several more seconds passed in silence, the Red King took a deep breath to calm down. "Even if you don't accept it, you have really gambled with your life just now," he commented.

"Yes, I have," Gravis answered.

And like that, the Red King's fury returned. "What?" he asked in rage.

"I just agreed with your opinion. Is that so weird to you?" Gravis asked evenly.

Gravis' even voice infuriated the Red King immensely. He felt like Gravis was completely disregarding him. "And why has your opinion changed so suddenly?" he asked slowly.

"I wasn't gambling when you asked me earlier, but when you became angry, it became a gamble. The situation has changed," Gravis answered.

The answer made sense, but it still angered the Red King. "And, pray tell, do you think you're gambling with your life right now or not?" he asked.

"That's a paradoxical question," Gravis answered.

The Red King remained still for some seconds. He hadn't expected that answer. "What?" he asked.

"If I say yes, I wouldn't be gambling with my life since you wouldn't get angrier. Yet, if I said no, you would get angrier, and I would be gambling with my life. Because of that, my answer will always be wrong, and therefore, it is a paradoxical question," Gravis explained calmly.

As the Red King listened to Gravis, he grew angry again. Yet, after some seconds, he took another deep breath to calm down. "This is too troublesome," he commented. "From now on-"

"No, it isn't," Gravis interjected.

The Red King's anger exploded again, but he quickly calmed down. 'Just ignore his comments,' the Red King thought.

"From now on, you will follow me and do whatever I tell you," the Red King explained like Gravis had never answered.

"No," Gravis answered.

Now, the Red King narrowed his eyes. "You have no choice in the matter. If necessary, I will just drag you to my Empress," he said.

"I will go to your Empress," Gravis said.

"Then why did you say that you wouldn't do that?" the Red King asked in frustration.

"I didn't say that," Gravis said.

"But then," the Red King said but stopped as he realized where this conversation would go. He could already hear Gravis saying that he wouldn't do everything the Red King said but would go to the Empress. After all, as long as he went to the Empress, there wouldn't be any reason for the Red King to kill him.

The Red King took another deep breath. "Follow me," he ordered.

"Okay," Gravis answered.

Like this, the Red King started flying into the distance while Gravis flew leisurely behind him.

Outside, Gravis retained his neutral expression, but inside, he was sneering. 'You don't realize it, but by forcing you to choose between your anger and profits, you have given me a free pass of angering and frustrating you as much as I want.'

'If I can't kill you, I will just frustrate you to no end. That's the next best thing.'

 

Chapter 433

Gravis and the Red King traveled for a grand total of around ten minutes before the Red King turned to Gravis with annoyance. "Move faster," he commanded. Gravis had only used his Spirit to move forward until now, which was way slower than his Lightning Form.

"I can't move faster right now," Gravis said.

The Red King became angry again as he heard that. "Stop lying! I saw you move faster in your fight," he said with anger.

"I first need to heal my body. Then, I can move faster," Gravis answered evenly.

"Then just go heal yourself! You've done it before," the Red King grumbled.

"You said that you knew about the disadvantages that some advantages bring. Have you lied about that?" Gravis asked.

"Of course I know such a basic concept!" The Red King snapped back. "So, what's stopping you from simply healing yourself?"

"The disadvantage of healing myself," Gravis answered.

The Red King waited for an explanation, but no explanation came. Yet, after his earlier experience, he decided against arguing with Gravis. It was just not worth the frustration. Instead, he just groaned. "This is going to take forever like this."

WHOOOOOM!

Suddenly, the Red King's body seemed to explode. Yet, this was not an explosion but just a rapid expansion of his body. In less than a second, all the light vanished as the gigantic body of the Red King took up all of Gravis' surroundings.

Gravis had to admit that he was a bit shocked by the Red King's size. His body was bigger than Gravis' Spirit Sense, and his Spirit Sense could reach up to 20 kilometers into the distance. Yet, with Gravis' Spirit Sense, he was only able to perceive the Red King's legs and parts of his actual body. Gravis guessed that the Red King was probably 40 kilometers big. Such a size seemed absolutely ridiculous in Gravis' mind. He had never seen a beast even remotely this big.

"How did you suddenly grow so much?" Gravis involuntarily asked.

The Red King only snorted, his snort booming throughout the surroundings. "I'm not telling you," he said spitefully.

"Okay," Gravis answered evenly.

When the Red King heard Gravis' answer, he grew annoyed again. He wanted to give Gravis a taste of his own medicine by not telling him anything, but Gravis' calm answer showed that he had failed.

PACK!

Gravis was grabbed by one of the Red King's talons. "We're going," the Red King declared after grabbing Gravis. Grabbing Gravis like this gave the Red King a sense of victory. He was more powerful than Gravis, and Gravis should finally realize that!

"Okay," Gravis answered simply from between the talons.

The Red King only growled a bit when he heard Gravis but flew into the distance anyway. He only had to deal with this annoying beast until he could deliver it to his Empress. After that, all of his struggles will be rewarded.

Gravis could only describe the speed of the Red King as absolutely insane. He was many, many times faster than Gravis. Even with his Spirit, Gravis wasn't able to keep track of his surroundings. As soon

as they appeared, they were already gone.

Yet, Gravis was able to feel the Energy density in the air increase as time passed. The Energy density had already doubled after only traveling for two minutes.

After traveling for around two hours, the Red King finally stopped. Now, Gravis could also actually take a look at his surroundings, and what he saw surprised him a little bit.

Gravis couldn't see a Spire, but he saw a lot of tall mountains. Yet, that wasn't the surprising part. Gravis was quite surprised by the shapes of some of the mountains. Most of them seemed to be flat on top while some cave systems ran through the mountain range.

Gravis checked the caves out and found that they were rather complex. Some big, central corridors ran through the mountains, while some small caves even worked as rooms.

If one ignored the fact that all of this was carved into a mountain, they would believe that this was the inside of a castle. The caves and corridors were not as straight and angular as the ones that humans made, but one could see the resemblance.

Gravis was so surprised about that because this reminded him a bit of a city. Gravis had thought that the beasts didn't know the concept of a city, but, apparently, he had been wrong. Even though the mountains weren't in the shape of houses, they still acted as a kind of isolated living space for the beasts.

These mountains were at the core of the territory, and the terrain quickly changed when one flew away from them. Gravis could see a lot of tall and towering trees on the horizon. Some of these trees were even taller than the mountains. Sadly, Gravis could only see them with his eyes but not touch them with his Spirit. Right now, his vision reached further than his Spirit Sense.

Another surprise was the incredible density of Energy. It was many times denser than his previous location. Apparently, they had traveled rather far into the continent.

When Gravis felt this Energy, he grew interested. He probably wouldn't be able to achieve much tempering in the future since he would be under someone else's heel. So, because of that, Gravis no longer intended to stay at his current Realm.

Hunting and eating was the best way to become more powerful for Gravis, but it wasn't the only one. By staying in such an Energy-rich environment, Gravis could temper his body the old-fashioned way. He could just unload his lightning into his Spirit and then refill his lightning via the Energy.

BANG!

The Red King landed on top of the tallest mountain and threw Gravis to the side. Gravis easily recovered and just hovered in the sky to look around. The Red King saw Gravis' interest and felt a bit smug. "This is my Kingdom," he declared.

"Okay," Gravis answered.

The Red King took a hidden, deep breath. "Aren't you impressed?" he asked, almost helpless. He had never met such an infuriating beast.

"Is your Kingdom more impressive than your strength?" Gravis asked back.

The Red King snorted and transformed into his small form again. "Of course not," he said.

"Then why would I be impressed when I have already seen your power?" Gravis asked back.

For once, the Red King didn't get angry. Yes, why would this beast be impressed when it had already seen the Red King's true form? Of course the Red King was more impressive than his Kingdom.

"I will bring you to the Empress in around five years. That's the time for the gathering," the Red King said.

When Gravis heard that, his brows furrowed. "Five years?" he asked, but quickly realized that if he continued like this, the Red King might find something that could anger Gravis. Gravis had angered the Red King to no end, and if the Red King realized that Gravis didn't want to waste so much time, he might actually postpone it even more.

The Red King looked at Gravis.

"That isn't such a long time," Gravis said with furrowed brows. Gravis couldn't lie without getting a backlash from his lightning, but he could say half-truths. Five years really couldn't be considered long when compared to his father's age.

The Red King snorted. "The sooner I'm rid of you, the better," the Red King commented. "The mountain below you is my residence. For the next five years, you will stay atop this mountain and wait."

"No," Gravis said.

Chapter 434

The Red King's rage returned as he heard Gravis' words. "What do you mean with no?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

"I won't remain on top of this mountain," Gravis answered.

The Red King looked with burning eyes at Gravis. "Are you saying that you intend to flee!?" he asked with a threatening voice.

"No, but I will wander around. I want to look around and gather some ore," Gravis said.

The Red King wanted to just say no, but a word caught his attention. "What's ore?" he asked.

"Very hard stones in the earth," Gravis answered. "You've seen how I have used the Golden Dragon's body to make weapons and armor. Having a full set of these things will make my Battle-Strength even more powerful. Isn't that what you want?" Gravis asked.

The Red King thought about this for a bit. His Kingdom used these powerful stones as fortifications, but that was it. They never made these things into weapons or armor. To beasts, using something that wasn't their own body kind of felt a bit dirty. Some beasts, like the ape with the tree-trunk from earlier, had no such reservations, but most others did.

Yet, Gravis was right. The Red King had seen what difference the shield had made in the battle. Having more of that stuff would surely make Gravis more powerful.

"Fine," the Red King said after some seconds, "but a King of my choosing will follow you to keep you from escaping. Additionally, to keep your Battle-Strength as strong as possible in relation to your level, you are not allowed to kill or eat any other beasts."

"I have no problem with someone following me, but I still need to eat the corpse of the Golden Dragon," Gravis said.

"Eating the Golden Dragon is fine, but I don't want you to eat any other beasts. Having you on the level of a level three Lord is perfect," the Red King said.

"Then I have to disappoint you," Gravis answered.

The Red King grew annoyed again. "What? You're not fine with that either?" the Red King asked.

Gravis shook his head. "That's not it. The point is that I won't be able to reach the level of a level three Lord like this."

The Red King furrowed his brows. "What do you mean? Yes, the Golden Dragon has fallen a level, but the corpse of a Divine Beast gives double the power."

"Yes, but that still won't be enough for me to become a level three Lord. I need more food than that," Gravis said.

The Red King was taken aback. "Are you serious?" he asked.

Gravis nodded. "Yes. I need around five times the food that normal beasts need."

"Fi-Five times?" the Red King asked in shock. "Why do you need so much food?"

"As I said, advantages often bring disadvantages with them. In exchange for my powers, I need more food," Gravis said.

The Red King thought about these words for a while. Then, he nodded. "Alright. You're allowed to kill and eat beasts until you become a level three Lord."

Gravis shook his head. "I have a better idea," he said.

The Red King furrowed his brows. "What?"

"You have seen my fight, and you have seen that I have comprehended a new Law during that fight," Gravis said. "Comprehending a new Law increases my Battle-Strength. Yet, in the last fight, I wasn't able to fully make use of this Law. Give me some time to gather some ore, and I will create a full set of armor and a weapon."

The Red King's eyes shone. "And by doing that, your Battle-Strength will be even more powerful than before, right?" the Red King asked in some excitement. The more powerful Gravis was, the better.

Gravis nodded. "As soon as everything is ready, I can fight, kill, and eat a level five Lord. Like this, I won't waste an opportunity to temper myself."

The Red King laughed loudly. "Good, good! I agree," he shouted with a smirk. "Tell me when you're ready, and I will choose an opponent for you."

"My King," a new voice suddenly said.

Gravis hadn't even noticed the new arrival. It was almost like this new beast had been here all this time without him noticing. Gravis looked over and saw a small, black cat standing in front of the Red King. He was sure that cat hadn't been there before.

"Kara, keep watch over this beast," the Red King said to the black cat. "He is not allowed to kill, fight, or eat any beasts. He is my present to the Empress in the meeting five years from now. You should know what that means."

"Yes, my King," Kara said obediently. "I won't let any harm come to him," she said.

The Red King nodded. "He can be very annoying and infuriating. Try to keep him from running into trouble. As far as I see, he will probably infuriate more than one beast while he's here."

"Yes, my King," Kara said.

The Red King nodded again. "Good. You," the Red King said as he turned to Gravis, "go get the ore you need. I'm looking forward to your performance."

Gravis didn't answer at all.

SHING!

Suddenly, one of Gravis' arms was cut off. His legs had only started to regrow, but he had already lost another limb. "Insolence! Your King has spoken to you!" Kara said with rage.

Gravis didn't react when his arm got cut off. Instead, he simply looked at his bare shoulder now. "Now I need to wait even longer to fight," he commented.

Kara was taken aback by how well Gravis took the situation. She had just cut off his arm. How was it possible that he didn't even react to that?

Meanwhile, the Red King simply sighed. "This is what I meant. He knows that his life is important. That's why he dares to do anything. Just try to keep him in check," the Red King said.

Meanwhile, Kara regained her bearings and glared at Gravis with icy eyes. "You better behave," she threatened.

Gravis slowly turned his head to her. "Or what?" he asked.

Kara only grinned maliciously. "Or your other arm will be next," she said.

"Okay, go ahead," Gravis said.

SHING!

And the second arm was gone. "Do you think I make empty threats?" she asked coldly.

Now, Gravis was only a hovering head on a torso with a tail. It looked kind of strange. "Hm," Gravis commented. "I'm losing quite some blood, and my Life Force is draining away. Would be a shame if I died right now," he said.

The Red King sighed again. Meanwhile, Kara was taken aback again. Gravis appeared like he didn't care about his life at all.

While Kara just looked on, Gravis slowly floated higher into the sky. After he reached a height of around 200 meters, he simply put all his power into his body and started plummeting towards the mountain, head first.

One had to know that these mountains were made of incredibly tough ore. Gravis' body wasn't nearly as hard as this ore. Kara looked on in shock while the Red King frowned.

Whooop!

A split second before Gravis hit the mountain, the Red King enlarged one of his wings and caught him. If he hadn't, Gravis would have died.

Meanwhile, Kara was incredibly shocked. She had expected that Gravis was bluffing, but he had actually gone through with it. If her King hadn't caught him, he would be dead right now.

The Red King looked at Kara with disregard. "Leave. You are obviously not suitable for this task," the Red King commanded.

Kara's insides shook as she realized her blunder. Right, if the Red King hadn't intervened, she would have failed at her task. She knew how highly the Red King valued his meeting with the Empress, and she knew that he would probably kill her out of rage if she failed to protect his present for her.

She wanted to protest and say that no one would have expected something like this. This beast was as abnormal as it got. Which beast would try to kill themselves just to spite someone!? Yet, Kara knew that her King would only get angrier.

"Yes, my King," Kara said weakly as she left dejectedly. She had failed one of her tasks, and she was about to become a joke among her peers.

Meanwhile, Gravis hovered in place again with his usual, even expression. When the Red King saw that, he sighed again.

'I swear, this beast is going to be the death of me,' he thought.

 

Chapter 435

The Red King quickly found a replacement for Kara. The new beast was also a King, and Gravis felt its level. 'Level three King,' he concluded. It would be incredibly easy for this beast to keep watch over him.

Ironically, this beast was another cat, but white instead of black. She also looked kind of similar to Kara, but with a different aura. This new cat radiated a rather peaceful and tranquil aura instead of Kara's malicious one. Gravis guessed that these two probably had some kind of rivalry going on.

"Hello, I'm Cynthia, and I will remain by your side for the next five years. Nice to meet you," the white cat said with a polite tone.

Gravis was quite surprised by the friendly tone of Cynthia. This was completely different than nearly every other beast Gravis had met. This Cynthia probably wasn't simple. But hey, as long as she didn't act like a stuck-up prick, why not?

Gravis nodded. "Hello, Cynthia. My name is Gravis," he said.

The Red King was still present but perked up at these words. He realized that he had never heard Gravis' name before. Though, he wondered if Gravis would have even told him his name if he asked.

Cynthia nodded with a smile. "What do you want to do first, Gravis?" she asked. "Of course, the restrictions that my King has put in place still apply. So, please, don't make things hard on me, okay?"

Gravis shook his head a bit. "It's okay. As long as no one flaunts their power in front of me in order to intimidate me or force me into something I don't want, I have no problems," Gravis looked at the Red King with a cold gaze.

The Red King huffed. "Cynthia, try to keep him in check," he said.

"Yes, my King," Cynthia said.

The Red King nodded and flew back into his mountain. Meanwhile, Gravis looked all around the Red Kingdom. "First, I need to regenerate my limbs. After that, I need to search for ore."

Cynthia looked a bit surprised. "Oh, so this isn't your normal form?" she asked.

Gravis laughed bitterly. "No. Have you ever seen a beast that only consists of a head, a torso, and a tail?" he asked.

Cynthia's tail was lifted the entire time to show friendliness. Gravis wasn't sure if that were her genuine feelings, but it was fine as long as she didn't antagonize him. At least, he didn't need to spend his entire time alone.

"Well, my King said that you are a special beast. So, having no limbs sounds more reasonable, I think," she said with a slight laugh.

Gravis shook his head a bit. "I lost my legs in my last fight, and your colleague, the black cat, cut off my arms in order to intimidate me," Gravis said.

Cynthia huffed a bit as her tail lowered and moved from side to side. "That sure sounds like her. She believes that everyone needs to pay her ample respect for her power. That might be true in some cases, but when dealing with something delicate, it isn't helpful."

Cynthia laughed a bit as her tail raised again. "Though, I must thank you for teaching her a lesson. She and I don't get along very well. Seeing her so dejected felt very refreshing."

Gravis nodded. He had expected something like this. "Do whatever you want. I will remain here for the next 24 hours until my body has fully healed. I won't leave during that time," Gravis said.

Cynthia smiled a bit sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I need to keep watch over you. This means that I need to remain close to you for your entire stay," she said.

Gravis nodded. "That's fine. Though, it will be boring," he said.

"No problem. I'm used to boredom," Cynthia said.

With that, the conversation ended as Gravis "sat" down. While he waited for his body to regenerate, he simply thought about what he should do for the next five years. Five years was a long time for him, and waiting such a long time felt like an incredible waste.

Yet, he had no other choice. He was surrounded by Kings many times more powerful than him. Even if he gave his best, he wouldn't be able to flee. Though, not all the surrounding beasts were powerful Kings. There were also a lot of Lords running around.

The higher the power of the individual beasts got, the rarer they became. There were some Kings, but the majority of the Red Kingdom were still Lords. Yet, this was still quite impressive.

A level five Lord would probably have a ton of Lords under them, but a level five King didn't have as many Kings under them. One shouldn't forget that the Red Kingdom was probably one of the most powerful Kingdoms out there. After all, the Leader of the Red Kingdom was a level five King. If the Red King achieved a breakthrough, he would already count as an Emperor.

When Gravis was finished thinking about his future plans, he started watching the CMO again. After all, he had nothing better to do. Additionally, he really hated the fact that he couldn't heal himself effectively in a fight. His current method of healing reduced his Realm, which weakened his Battle-Strength.

The opponents that Gravis fought were so powerful that it was basically impossible to win against them cleanly. He would always receive some injuries in these fights, and he needed a good method of dealing with these situations.

Gravis had already watched the CMO for several months back when he had been the Leader of the River Tribe. Yet, the more time passed, the more he saw the vastness of life. He learned something

new constantly, but the more he learned, the more he felt like his knowledge was inadequate.

By now, Gravis was pretty sure that he wouldn't learn any kind of Life Law in the next several years. The knowledge seemed just too vast. It felt even more complex and grand than all his knowledge regarding forging and materials. Gravis guessed that he wasn't only gaining insight into one specific Law, but gained many small insights into many different Laws regarding life.

'I think that's what father meant when he said that knowing the roadmap of the Laws would only damage me. If I knew the classifications of the different Laws of life, I would probably focus on only one aspect. I might learn that Law sooner, but I might miss some clues regarding the other Laws,' Gravis thought.

'Speaking of, what was the name of the Law I have comprehended again? I think father called it Middle Hard Pure or something. I don't remember the full name, but it was rather long,' Gravis thought and snorted a bit, eliciting a confused glance from Cynthia. What was he doing?

'He said I would be able to make a hardened edge as soon as I can smelt every material on the first try. Yet, being able to smelt every material on the first try means that I need to understand the Law. What a smartass. Why didn't he just say that I need to comprehend the Law?' Gravis thought to himself.

Then, he shook his head a bit. 'Actually, it doesn't matter. An armor wouldn't have been useful to me previously, but that has changed now. By understanding the Law, I can make full use of the materials. Like this, my weapons and armor won't be directly destroyed after a single clash.'

'Additionally, my new weapons will even be able to injure level five Lords. The biggest issue with my enemies has always been their defense. In order to kill them, I always needed to unload a ridiculous amount of lightning into them. After all, their defenses were just too powerful.'

Gravis' eyes shone a bit. 'But with this new Law, I can make weapons that can injure my enemies even without using a Lightning Crescent. This gives me a lot more options. Thanks to this Law, my Battle- Strength has increased by a whole level.'

'Except for these few Divine Beasts that can fight two levels above themselves, I should be the most powerful Lord in existence as soon as I reach the Middle Unity Realm. Yet, this would make tempering really difficult,' Gravis thought as he tried to scratch his chin. Sadly, he didn't have any arms right now.

Cynthia saw the slowly regrowing stump of Gravis' right arm wiggle a bit and giggled. In comparison to Gravis' wide chest, the tiny wiggling stump looked comical.

'I would either need Divine Beasts to temper myself when I become a level three Lord or directly become a level four Lord. At that time, I could try tempering myself against level one Kings,' Gravis thought.

Gravis continued thinking for multiple hours. Day turned to night, and night turned to day.

And, finally, Gravis' body had fully regenerated.

BANG!

Gravis stomped on the ground with his new feet and stretched his arms. Additionally, now that he had some time to cool down and think, he also realized that his Will-Aura had become much more powerful than before.

He fought against two level four Lords where he had nearly died, and he had fought against an overpowering opponent directly after that. Gravis guessed that his Will-Aura nearly reached the Middle Nascent Nourishing Realm.

When he felt his Will-Aura, Gravis realized that some of his motivation, which he had lost when he arrived in this awful situation, returned.

With burning eyes, he looked over into Cynthia's eyes.

"Let's go," he said.

 

Chapter 436

Cynthia looked at the regenerated Gravis with a slightly opened mouth. She seemed rather shocked by what she saw. "You look incredible," she commented.

Gravis blinked a couple of times out of confusion. Then, he pointed at himself with a questioning look. "Me? How do I look incredible?" he asked in genuine confusion. Where did that comment suddenly come from?

Cynthia looked back at Gravis with an annoyed expression. "Don't act like you don't know," she said.

Gravis shook his head in surprise again. "But I genuinely don't know. I really don't get it. No one has ever said something like that to me," Gravis said.

Cynthia was a bit taken aback. "No one?" she asked.

Gravis nodded. "Yes, no one. I really don't get it. You're some kind of cat, and I'm some kind of lizard thing. My body doesn't even conform to any general look of any other beast. How could something like this be incredible or attractive?" he asked.

Cynthia lifted one of her eyebrows in confusion. "So, you really don't know?"

Gravis groaned. "No, I don't," he said.

Cynthia looked at Gravis again and scanned his entire body. "The more powerful we beasts become, the more we realize the combat potential of different bodies. At the beginning of our journey, we mainly look at beasts that look similar to us, but at some point, we can only see the inadequacies of other bodies. This completely changes our tastes for a mate."

Gravis was still confused. "But you have fur, while I have scales. You walk on four legs, while I walk on two. You have paws, while I have hands. We both are nearly as far away from each other in terms of looks as it gets."

"That's why you look incredible," Cynthia said. "When you didn't have any arms and legs, you looked weak and vulnerable, something we powerful beasts despise. After all, we all want to reach supreme power, and mating with someone like that would produce weak offspring."

"But as soon as your limbs have regenerated, all these weaknesses left. Yes, you look entirely different to me, but that is why you are so attractive, and I'm definitely not alone in that opinion," Cynthia explained.

Gravis closed his eyes a bit to get the mental image of mating with a cat out of his mind. He was a human, and he really didn't have any romantic interest in a cat. He hadn't felt any attraction for any beast. It felt disgusting to him.

"Could you explain it in more detail, because I still don't get it," Gravis said.

Cynthia scoffed. "If I weren't so sure that you're not lying, I would suspect that you're fishing for compliments," Cynthia said but then sighed.

"It's like, by looking at you, I can see the weaknesses in my own body," Cynthia slowly said as she scanned Gravis, which made him really uncomfortable. "Your scales are superior to my fur, which means your defense is better than mine."

"Your tail is longer and more powerful, and I can see that even if you lost that tail, you would still have no issues with your balance. You can use that tail more effectively than I can use mine. Your legs have claws and have a form that gives you optimal acceleration."

"Your waist is thin and flexible, but the defensive weakness of your waist only exists in theory. Your claws, chest, and forward-leaning position keep your waist protected. Like this, your waist has no disadvantage while simultaneously granting you great flexibility."

"Your chest is wide, which allows you to use more power with your arms. Your arms are long, powerful and allow you to grab stuff. Additionally, you can injure your enemy with them. Your mouth has strong teeth and a powerful jaw, but your head isn't big enough to become an obvious target for the enemy."

Cynthia sighed again. "All in all, you have the most effective body for combat I have ever seen. I see no weaknesses at all. The only thing I could criticize is that you only have two arms. A second pair of arms could make you even more powerful," Cynthia said.

Gravis scratched his chin with his right claw. "Hm, so it's all about the power of the eventual offspring, right?" Gravis asked.

Cynthia looked at Gravis like he asked a dumb question. "Of course. Power is everything. No powerful beast wants to have weak offspring. The more powerful our offspring, the better. Don't you feel that?" she asked skeptically.

Gravis still felt uncomfortable with this whole topic. Talking about the sexual attractiveness of his weird lizard-body with a cat really wasn't something he had expected he would ever do. This whole situation felt bizarre.

Gravis shook his head wildly to get his bearings back. "How could you even consider me as a mate? We are so different. I doubt we would even be able to produce offspring. How would such offspring even look like?" Gravis asked.

Cynthia looked again like Gravis had asked a stupid question. "Of course we can mate," she said. "As soon as we become Lords, there is no restriction regarding species anymore. Our bodies are powerful enough to force the conception of a new life," she said.

Gravis was taken aback. "What?" he simply asked.

Cynthia huffed. "Now you're just messing with me. Every beast knows that. After all, we all feel the change in attraction. It's instinct. You're a beast, so you should have felt that too," Cynthia said with an annoyed tone.

Meanwhile, Gravis remained silent. After some seconds, his right claw went back to his face to scratch his chin. 'I've never heard about that before. Is this some kind of rule or Law that the highest Heaven put into place? I mean, it would probably increase the quality of the beasts without needing to increase their Energy consumption. This would force humans to become more powerful.'

Gravis continued thinking with narrowed eyes. 'I mean, something like this would make sense. Beasts would also act as more powerful tempering. Yet, if every beast can mate with every other beast, how come I haven't seen a single really weird-looking beast before? All of the beasts I have seen previously could fit into a specific category.'

"If that's true, how come I've never seen some weird looking beast? If beasts can just mate with anything, the beasts would start looking really weird after some point," Gravis asked Cynthia.

By now, Cynthia realized that Gravis honestly didn't know about these things, which felt unreal to her. "Because the offspring looks identical to the parent with the higher combat potential," she said like it was something obvious.

Gravis' eyes widened. 'So that's it,' he thought. 'This would explain why I didn't find weird amalgamations of meat running around. So, in comparison to humans, the offspring of beasts don't take on a mix of both parents' looks but copy one of them.'

Gravis looked at the horizon. 'And since every beast can modify their body as much as they theoretically want, their appearances all still make sense. After all, beasts wouldn't just make their bodies half and half.'

Gravis had been thinking for quite a long time, while Cynthia just looked at him in confusion. Why wasn't he saying anything? He just had this awkward and painful expression on his face while he looked at the horizon.

Suddenly, Gravis shook his head wildly. Then, he turned to Cynthia. "Thank you for telling me these things. I honestly didn't know about them."

Cynthia was a bit surprised by Gravis shaking his head like that, but she giggled a little. "You're weird," she said. "But no problem. You can ask me anything," she said.

Gravis nodded. "I will. Anyway, I should get going. It's time for me to gather some ore and forge some armor and weapons."

Now, Cynthia looked confused again. "How can you forge armor and weapons? Your body is full of weapons, and your scales are powerful armor. Also, what's ore?" she asked.

Gravis sighed. "Since you've shared some knowledge with me, I see no issue with sharing some knowledge with you. After all, it's your King that's forcing me to stay here, not you," Gravis said. "I'll tell you on the way."

Cynthia nodded with interest.

Then, Gravis and Cynthia started hovering. After a second, Gravis flew in a random direction, and Cynthia followed.

It was time to search for some ore.

Chapter 437

Gravis and Cynthia flew around for a bit. Gravis always kept his Spirit up and searched through the ground. The ground was just littered with incredible ore that Gravis wanted. He was way closer to the core of the continent, which meant that the quality of ore increased significantly.

In less than 30 minutes, Gravis had gathered a plethora of ore. All of the ore was of different levels in the Nascent Nourishing Rank, which was quite impressive. Sadly, Gravis wasn't powerful enough to smelt such ore yet. With his lightning, he was barely able to make use of Late Unity Rank materials.

It required incredible power and Spirit to manipulate and forge with such ore. One shouldn't forget that Gravis had barely molten some of the Golden Dragon's body with a Lightning Crescent, which was his most powerful attack. With his current lightning and Spirit, he wouldn't be able to forge anything with Peak Unity Rank materials.

Because of that, most of the ore remained unused inside his Spirit Space. Yet, Gravis had gathered a lot of that ore and could already see that his future equipment was basically taken care of. The biggest issue right now was to find weaker ore.

While collecting all this ore, Gravis found out more about the Red Kingdom. Apparently, most of the beasts had claimed their own territories inside the Red Kingdom, and they weren't exactly happy when some weaker beast came to their territory.

Yet, as soon as they saw Cynthia, they remained quiet. They only carefully asked some questions about why those two were in their territories. Gravis had explained a lot of things about ore and forging to Cynthia while they flew, so she had no problems in answering the question.

After they heard that Gravis was after the hard stone in the earth, nearly all of the beasts stopped caring. This hard stone had no use to them, and they didn't really care about it. It literally made no difference to them.

Yet, some beasts weren't exactly happy about that. Beasts with a metal and earth affinity felt drawn to powerful ore. When they remained near such ore, they felt themselves become more in tune with nature and their element. They really didn't want to give any of that ore away. They owned the ore, and they had a use for it.

After thinking for a while, Gravis decided to exchange. Gravis had an incredible amount of powerful ore since so many beasts didn't care about it. So, Gravis offered them ore with a higher Rank than what they currently possessed. Of course, he only did that if he lacked this particular level of ore.

Basically all the beasts were quite delighted by that offer. The more powerful the ore, the better. After all, most of the places with stronger ore were occupied by more powerful beasts. These beasts, obviously, wouldn't give parts of their territory to weaker beasts. Because of that, it was quite challenging for these beasts to get their claws on better ore.

Gravis also wouldn't have gotten any of this powerful ore if Cynthia hadn't followed him. Every beast knew Cynthia, and they respected her. Even Kings on the same level as her didn't seem to mind the matter too much.

After gathering ore for over two hours, Gravis furrowed his brows. "I need weaker ore," he said to Cynthia. "I'm fully loaded with powerful ore, but I can't use it yet. Do you know of a place where I can find weaker ore, Cynthia?" Gravis asked.

"We're currently in the core of the Red Kingdom," Cynthia explained. "You might have noticed that most beasts we have met were Kings. That's because the closer we get to our King's mountain, the more powerful the beasts get. I don't exactly know where to find weaker ore, but I guess you can find it in the weaker territories."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "That sounds reasonable," he commented. "Where can I find these fringe territories?"

Cynthia pointed to the south with one of her paws. "We just need to travel in that direction for a while. The further we travel, the weaker the beasts become. As long as you don't leave the borders of our Kingdom, you can go wherever you want. I will tell you when we reach the borders of our Kingdom."

Gravis nodded and flew to the south, followed by Cynthia. While flying in the sky, Gravis still kept on checking the ground with his Spirit. He was sure that, at some point, he would find some ore that was actually in the Unity Rank.

Yet, Gravis hadn't expected that the Red Kingdom was so big. He and Cynthia traveled for over six hours until Gravis finally found some Unity Ore. It was a Peak Unity Rank material, and he couldn't use it yet, but it would become useful as soon as he became a level three Lord.

After some talking and negotiations, Gravis received enough Peak Unity Rank material. Now, he only needed some Late Unity Rank materials. With that, he would be able to forge his new weapon and equipment.

Before Gravis understood the Law regarding the materials, he hadn't been able to make full use of them. In general, a material in its raw form was about as hard as the hardest part of a beast's body at the equivalent level.

This meant that, for example, raw ore of the Late Unity Rank was about as hard as the claws or teeth of a level four Lord. This seemed weak at first glance, but one shouldn't forget the hidden advantages of having a body made of ore. The Golden Dragon was a good example.

When it fully transformed into metal, it became many times heavier without becoming slower, which increased the power of its attacks. Additionally, its whole body became as hard as its hardest part. That's why beasts with a metal affinity became more powerful when they transformed into metal.

Forging would change the properties of these materials. Before Gravis understood the Law regarding the materials, he could have created a weapon or armor that was just as powerful as the raw ore.

If, for example, Gravis didn't understand the Law and made a shield of the Golden Dragon's body, an attack from the Golden Dragon would have destroyed the shield and parts of its claws. After all, they had the same hardness.

Yet, by understanding this new Law, Gravis was able to compress and elevate the material. With this new method of forging, Gravis could increase the power of the ore by one level. So, by creating the shield with this new smithing technique, the Golden Dragon lost the ability to destroy it. After all, the shield had been as powerful as raw ore from a Peak Unity Rank material.

Yet, peculiarly, such a powerful weapon that was a level harder than its base form would only count as a weapon one level weaker. Example: By forging a weapon with a Late Unity Rank material with the newer and better method, one would still create a Late Unity Weapon instead of a Peak Unity Weapon.

At first glance, this didn't seem to make much sense. Yet, if one thought about it more, one would see the logic behind that. A Peak Unity Weapon should be able to fight against a Peak Unity Beast, right? Yet, if the weapon got severely damaged by such a beast in one attack, one couldn't really consider it as a Peak Unity Weapon, could they?

Because of that, the classifications for weapons were always one level lower than the actual hardness of it. So, all in all, Gravis could now create a Late Unity Weapon with his current power. Theoretically, he could also create one with Peak Unity Rank materials and the old smithing technique, but he couldn't manipulate such powerful materials.

All of these explanations boiled down to one point: Gravis could now forge weapons and armor two levels higher than himself instead of one.

Now, Gravis only needed some Late Unity Rank materials to fully equip himself. After that, he wouldn't need to search for any new ore for a long while.

Yet, finding such a relatively weak material wasn't easy. It took Gravis another couple of hours until he finally found it. He went over to the beast and asked for the ore.

"Scram, weakling," the beast shouted with disdain.

Gravis was a bit surprised since that was the first time that anyone had talked to him like this after he went ore-gathering. Cynthia was always directly behind him, and she never hid herself. The beasts immediately saw her and never acted as arrogantly as this one.

Gravis looked behind him, and, sure enough, Cynthia was just standing there. Then, Gravis looked back at the beast. It was some kind of bronze-colored bear and was a level three Lord.

"I'm willing to trade some higher-grade stone for your stone," Gravis explained.

"I don't care! You're weak, and you should quickly leave before I tear you to pieces," the bear said aggressively. "The only reason why you're still alive is because of the powerful cat behind you."

Gravis blinked a couple of times out of confusion. So, the bear actually did notice Cynthia. Yet, he just didn't give a shit about her. That was quite surprising to Gravis since even level two and level three Kings seemed to give quite a lot of shits about Cynthia.

Gravis looked at Cynthia and saw that she had quite an uncomfortable expression on her face. Apparently, the background of this bear wasn't so simple.

 

Chapter 438

"Why do you look so troubled, Cynthia?" Gravis asked with a voice transmission so that the bear didn't hear their conversation.

"You should search somewhere else for your ore, Gravis," Cynthia answered.

When Gravis heard that, he furrowed his brows. "But you said we are already reaching the borders. I might not find the ore I require somewhere else."

"I understand that, but this beast is troublesome," she answered.

"How is he troublesome? He's only a level three Lord," Gravis answered.

Cynthia sighed. "It's not about his power, but about his background. He is a follower of one of my King's most outstanding disciples. You can still find some ore somewhere else, but if you force this bear to comply with you, the disciple of my King will go after you. You have no chance against that disciple."

Gravis scratched his chin with his right claw. "I mean, I don't like to rely on others, but the Red King said that he doesn't want me to die."

"It's different when it involves his disciple," Cynthia answered. "He values the freedom and choice of his disciples greatly. If that disciple is hellbent on killing you, my King might allow it. After all, you are only a present to his Empress for him, while his disciple is the beast he's most proud of."

Gravis continued scratching his chin in thought. "Would the Red King show favoritism if that disciple and I were to fight?" Gravis asked.

"No. My King believes that everyone should bear the consequences of their own actions. He wouldn't involve himself in that fight," Cynthia explained.

Gravis just continued thinking for a couple of seconds as the bear started to become annoyed. Those two were obviously talking, but their presence was still annoying him. Yet, he didn't interrupt them. He knew that he didn't need to do anything. At some point, those two would leave.

"Then, how powerful is this disciple?" Gravis asked.

"In regards to absolute power, he's many times weaker than I, but that's not why he's my King's disciple," Cynthia explained. "He is a Divine Beast and incredibly talented. Very few Lords manage to understand a Law, but he's one of them. A Divine Beast that has comprehended a Law is mighty and talented."

Gravis hummed a bit. "So, that disciple is still a Lord, right?"

When Cynthia heard that, she sighed helplessly. "Gravis, I know that your Battle-Strength must be incredible. After all, you have become the present to the Empress. This means that my King thinks your Battle-Strength is superior to his disciple. Yet, you're still too weak to fight him."

Gravis hummed a bit more. "What's the power of this disciple?"

Cynthia sighed again. Gravis was just not giving up. "He's currently a level four Lord, but he might soon become a level five Lord. Additionally, he is already able to win against level five Lords."

Gravis continued scratching his chin. In actuality, if he managed to create his new equipment, such a fight would become manageable. It might also serve as some good tempering. Yet, Gravis still wanted to remain careful.

"What's the affinity of this disciple, and how do they look like?" Gravis asked.

Cynthia realized that Gravis planned to fight that disciple and grew a bit worried. Gravis' health was her responsibility, and if he managed to infuriate the Red King's disciple and died, she would have failed

her task.

"He has the metal affinity and has comprehended a Law in regards to metal as well. This Law allows him to control that stuff you call ore and shape it into powerful projectiles," Cynthia explained.

When Gravis heard that, his eyes widened in surprise. "What?" he asked.

Cynthia continued her explanation. "He's five-kilometers-long and has a long and slender body. He is very powerful, and his species is called the Golden Dragon."

Gravis had a weird look on his face when he heard that. That sounded quite familiar. This also reminded him of the fact that he hadn't eaten the Golden Dragon yet. Gravis found this turn of events quite funny and ironic.

Gravis snickered a bit, confusing Cynthia. Nothing she said could've been considered funny. Didn't Gravis realize how dangerous the Golden Dragon was?

"Hey, bear," Gravis suddenly shouted, eliciting a disgusted side-eye from the bear. "I just remembered that I haven't eaten my food yet. You might want to watch."

Whoooop! BANG!

"Why would I-"the bear started saying, but stopped talking as he realized that a colossal corpse had appeared in front of him. A pristine, golden body appeared in front of him, and he quickly noticed that he was very familiar with this corpse.

"Ma-master?" he asked in shock.

Cynthia's eyes widened in immense shock as she saw the corpse. Wasn't this the disciple she just talked about? How did he suddenly appear? Also, was he dead? What was going on!?

When Gravis saw their shocked expressions, he broke into laughter.

After some seconds of laughing, Cynthia looked with shock at Gravis. She remembered that he had said that his legs had been cut-off due to his last battle. Did this mean that his last battle had been against the Golden Dragon?

"Are you trying to intimidate me!?" the bear shouted aggressively. "This is a level three Lord! This beast might look similar to my master, but it's way weaker!"

Now, Cynthia also noticed that this corpse was of a level three Lord. The Golden Dragon had been a level four Lord. So, this meant that this couldn't possibly be the Golden Dragon. Yet, she didn't remember a second Golden Dragon. She had only ever seen one.

Gravis continued laughing. "No, that is your master. He unleashed some kind of powerful beam, which made him drop to the third level."

Cynthia remembered that Divine Beasts really had the ability to unleash their Realm in an all-or-nothing attack. This could actually be possible. Though, having an identical-looking, second Golden Dragon corpse had a higher chance of being true than a level two Lord killing a level four Lord Divine Beast. It was just too unbelievable.

"Anyway, time to eat," Gravis said.

BZZZZZ!

Suddenly, Gravis transformed into lightning, and his lightning quickly engulfed the whole corpse. Since the corpse was only a single level higher than Gravis, it didn't take him more than two seconds to fully consume it. So, in about two seconds, the whole corpse vanished.

BANG!

Gravis transformed back and stood in the same position as before. "Yummy," he commented with a smirk.

Cynthia received one shock after another. Did Gravis just transform into lightning? Also, did he just eat this massive corpse in two seconds?

The bear also had no idea what to say. What was going on? Yet, the bear would never believe that this weak beast, which even he could kill, would be able to kill his master. This whole thing had to be some kind of elaborate ruse.

The bear looked at Gravis with cold and bloodthirsty eyes. Then, he turned to Cynthia. "This beast has violated my master's honor. I will kill it now, so keep yourself out of this," he said.

Cynthia had no idea how to react right now. If Gravis had really killed the Golden Dragon, killing this bear would be nothing difficult. Yet, did he really kill the Golden Dragon? If he didn't, this bear could be a fatal threat to Gravis.

Luckily, Cynthia wasn't some naïve girl. She had been a powerful commander for a long time, and she was able to make a decision quickly. She decided to let Gravis fight the bear. Her King said that Gravis wasn't allowed to kill other beasts, but with her speed, Gravis wouldn't be able to kill the bear under her watch. As soon as a winner was apparent, she would intervene.

"Imma kill it," Gravis transmitted to Cynthia.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes in seriousness. "You can't, not under my watch," she said.

"Imma do it," Gravis transmitted with a smirk.

"You can't," she answered.

The bear saw that Cynthia didn't react and took it as a go-ahead.

BOOOM!

The earth under the bear exploded as he jumped forward with his full speed. Gravis only grinned and pulled his fist back. Then, for some reason, his body seemed to become way weaker. Cynthia was shocked when she felt Gravis' body becoming weaker. What was going on?

Whoop!

Two gauntlets appeared on Gravis' hands. He had lost the shield and the boots to the beam, but he still had his gauntlets.

"Lightning Punch!" Gravis shouted as he punched forward.

The bear only sneered as it saw Gravis' slow and easily avoidable punch. Also, why did he shout Lightning Punch? The bear saw nothing threatening in the punch, and he also saw no lightning.

The bear aggressively swiped Gravis' hand away with his paw…

BOOOOOOOOOM!

And promptly exploded.

Gravis had loaded the gauntlets with a Lightning Crescent, which erupted as soon as they hit something. Sadly, since the gauntlets didn't have any fitting Formation Arrays on them, they also got destroyed in the explosion.

The huge explosion vanished quickly, while Cynthia watched with an opened mouth. Fragments of the bear's body had been scattered into the surroundings since Gravis had no interest in eating the bear. If he had, his lightning would have consumed the corpse.

"Man, I always wanted to use that attack," Gravis said with satisfaction. Ever since he had seen the fight between the priest and Old Man Lightning, Gravis wanted to try that. Shouting the name of his attack kind of felt exhilarating. It was like some hot-bloodedness from his youth had returned.

Then, he turned around and looked at Cynthia with a shit-eating grin.

"What was that about not being able to kill it while you were around? Could you repeat that?" Gravis asked with a mocking voice.

 

Chapter 439

Cynthia couldn't believe what she had just seen. She had been incredibly sure that she had the ability to stop any of the two beasts from dying. After all, she was many levels higher than both of them. Cynthia had also looked at the attack and saw the same thing as the bear. It just looked like a weak and unassuming punch.

In actuality, she was even ready to intervene on behalf of Gravis as soon as the bear attacked him. She knew that he probably had some incredible Battle-Strength, which was also the reason why he was the Empress' present. So, the fight should have been either even or slightly in favor of Gravis.

But she hadn't expected such a one-sided slaughter. This hadn't even been a fight. It was basically just a weak slap, and the bear exploded. This whole fight had caught her completely off-guard.

Yet, her reasoning quickly returned, and she felt incredibly nervous and fearful. Her King had said that Gravis wasn't allowed to kill any beast. This meant that she had failed in her duty!

Gravis saw her mood go from surprised to fearful and laughed a bit. "Calm down, Cynthia," Gravis said. "The Red King has said that you should TRY to keep me from killing beasts. He has dealt with me for a while, and he knows that you can't do much."

Cynthia was still nervous, and her nervousness transformed into anger. "Shut up!" she snapped. "You were not supposed to kill anyone!"

Gravis furrowed his brows. "Oh? I'm not supposed to do something?" he asked with a cold voice. "You're nice, but don't forget our relationship. You're a temporary guard, and I'm just some commodity to you."

Cynthia was still overwhelmed with anger and nervousness. She hadn't failed a task yet, and she feared that this could have dire consequences. "Shut up! We will return to the Red King right now!" she ordered.

Gravis huffed. "So, that's your true face, huh? The whole being nice thing was only an act to siphon information from me."

Cynthia felt slightly hurt when she heard that, but her anger overwhelmed this slight bit of guilt. "It doesn't matter. We return right now!" she ordered.

Gravis snickered a bit. He had already gathered the ore beneath the ground and was fine with returning. Now, only forging it into equipment was left. He could do that wherever he wanted. So, returning to the Red King literally made no difference to him.

"Sure, but you'll have to drag me," Gravis said evenly.

Cynthia grew angrier when she heard that. "Don't act like a child!" she said.

Gravis huffed again. "You blind yourself with being nice and try to look at me like we're friends or equals, but you're only ignoring the reality. I'm your commodity, your slave, your toy, your present. So, go force me to do something against my will," Gravis said evenly.

Cynthia grew more frustrated as she heard that. She could be considered as a friendly beast, and she wasn't a fan of this whole thing. If it were up to her, she wouldn't want to force any beast into doing anything. She quite liked her freedom.

Because of that, she had completely ignored Gravis' and her status. In order to deal with the situation, she just looked at him like he was her client, and she was some bodyguard. It could also be likened to being a babysitter.

So, when Gravis confronted her with reality, she felt like he was attacking and insulting her. She wanted to keep this illusion up, so she didn't have to think about forcing someone to do something. Yet, Gravis had torn that illusion down.

"Stop being stubborn! This won't help you in any way! If you continue being this stubborn, I am just forced to drag you there. So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Cynthia commanded.

"The hard way, please," Gravis commented evenly.

Cynthia gritted her teeth. "You will need to go to the Red King either way, so why are you making this so difficult!?" she shouted.

Gravis snickered a bit. "So that you're forced to recognize reality. You try to be nice, but that doesn't change my current circumstance. You, giving me some emotional solace, might be appreciated by some slaves, but that only means that those slaves have already accepted their position."

Gravis laughed a bit again. "You are complicit and supportive in suppressing me and forcing me to do things against my will. Giving me some respect only grants you some sort of moral justification to keep doing it. After all, you're better than everyone else, right? After all, you, at least, treat me with respect, right?" Gravis sarcastically asked with a sneer.

Cynthia's body shook. It wasn't in shock or realization but anger. To her, it felt like Gravis was attacking and insulting her while she had been nothing but pleasant to him. She had talked to him with respect, even though he was over a whole Realm lower than her. She had followed him and allowed him to go through the Red Kingdom unhindered.

So, how dare he insult her like this!? After all she had done for him, he dared to insult her!? Cynthia's eyes became colder as all respect for Gravis left her. This was an ungrateful and stupid beast that didn't know its place. She tried to be nice, but he wasn't able to appreciate what had been given to him.

WHOOOM!

Cynthia suddenly became bigger and transformed into a powerful and shining panther. Her ethereal shine gave her some angelic qualities that would elicit worship from weaker beasts. She also emitted a holy and benevolent aura. Yet, her eyes currently were only cold as they looked down upon Gravis.

When Gravis saw that, he snickered a bit. 'Huh, it's really true,' Gravis thought. 'In the lower world, I never had the luck to come into contact with the Light Sect. Everyone always called them hypocrites that act all benevolent but are greedy and selfish deep down. Guess they were right.'

The current scene right now perfectly depicted the duality of light. When everything went their way, their holy light healed and helped everyone. Yet, if something didn't go their way, they would suppress it with force.

The holy, benevolent, and angelic cat looked with righteous indignation and disdain at the slave that dared to defy its orders. Why was the benevolent cat so angry? The cat was angry because the slave didn't accept the cat's benevolence. This could only mean that the slave was a depraved and evil being that couldn't comprehend her benevolence and empathy.

PACK!

Her right arm extended, and her claws took ahold of Gravis, injuring him in the process. Then, she flew up and shot back to the core of the Red Kingdom. While doing this, she didn't feel bad at all. After all, Gravis was a lost cause and a depraved beast. He was unworthy of her feeling any kind of emotion but disdain towards him.

After a couple of minutes, Cynthia had dragged Gravis back to the Red King. She landed on top of the Red King's mountain and threw Gravis forward. Then, she contacted the Red King and informed him about what had transpired.

In a couple of seconds, the Red King flew out of his mountain and landed before Gravis.

 

Chapter 440

The Red King looked at Gravis intently. Gravis, meanwhile, only looked back with his usual, even expression.

"Did you gather all the necessary ore?" the Red King asked.

"Yes," Gravis answered.

Then, the Red King smirked. "Great! When will you be ready for a fight?" he asked.

"I should be done in about a month or so, but I don't want to fight yet. Since you're forcing me to stay here for over five years, I want to keep my sense of danger sharp. I want a fight three years from now," Gravis said.

The Red King hummed for a bit. "It's a bit later than I'd like, but I can see your point. It would be horrible if you wouldn't be able to perform in front of the Empress. I've heard from my commander that you have eaten the Golden Dragon, but you're still a level two Lord. Apparently, you told the truth, and you actually really need much more food."

"If the Golden Dragon hadn't fallen to the third level, he might have been enough for me to reach the third level," Gravis said.

The Red King only smirked. "It's better this way. Like this, you can test your new Battle-Strength more effectively."

Gravis shrugged. "I guess. Though, the fight against my future opponent will probably not be as devastating as my fight with the Golden Dragon," Gravis answered.

The Red King nodded. "That's alright. The fight with my disciple was to force you to become even stronger. The next fight is only for you to keep and test that strength. I've already risked and sacrificed enough for you to become this powerful. I don't want to risk even more."

Gravis sat down on the mountain. "I will remain here for the next three years. I see no point in going anywhere else."

The Red King felt relieved when he heard that. The less Gravis moved around, the better. When he had told Cynthia to keep watch over him, he had already accepted the fact that Gravis would maybe kill several beasts. After all, the Red King knew that Gravis knew that his life was way too valuable. So, since only one beast died, the Red King saw that as a positive surprise.

Then, the Red King turned to Cynthia. Cynthia had heard their entire conversation, and she had been incredibly shocked. She wasn't shocked about the topic that they were talking about, but about the absence of even a mention of the beast that Gravis had killed. It was almost like the Red King didn't even care that one of his beasts died.

"You can return to your duties now," the Red King said. "As long as I'm inside my abode, no one needs to watch him. I'll call you to watch him when I'm going somewhere else."

It was challenging for Cynthia to process the current situation. Hadn't she failed her duties? Her King had said that Gravis wasn't allowed to kill a beast, but he had killed one under her watch! Was this some kind of elaborate punishment from her King?

"My King… I-I'm sorry that I failed my duties," Cynthia said nervously. She felt like it would be easier if she just directly apologized. Maybe her King wanted to test her loyalty towards him?

The Red King was a bit confused for a couple of seconds but then remembered something. "Oh, you mean that beast he killed? Forget it. I've already expected that something like this would happen. He got all the ore he needs now. A death in exchange for that is a good trade," the Red King said with a smile.

Cynthia was still in shock. Why did her King act like she hadn't failed? "I don't mean any disrespect, my King, but haven't you said that he isn't allowed to kill a beast? Haven't I failed in my duty?" she asked

nervously.

The Red King waved one of his wings dismissively. "You're too uptight, commander," he transmitted to her nonchalantly. "I already knew that he would kill some beasts. I don't care about some weak beasts dying. I only care about him not eating himself into becoming a level five Lord. That would be horrible for his Battle-Strength."

Cynthia was still in shock by her King's dismissive response to her failure.

"Actually," the Red King transmitted after some seconds. "The fact that he only killed a single beast and didn't even eat it is better than even the best-case scenario I had in my mind. So, I could say that you actually did quite a good job."

Cynthia just couldn't wrap her head around the current situation. "I… did a good job?" she asked in confusion.

"Yes," the Red King answered. "He has gone through a large amount of my territory, gathered everything he needs, and only killed a single beast during that time. That's a good job, in my opinion."

Cynthia still couldn't fully accept the reality of the situation. "But he has gone against your commands by killing that beast. He has shown no respect for your authority," she argued.

"Of course not, why would he?" the Red King answered like it was obvious. "He's constantly taunting me directly without any fear for his life. It's frustrating me to no end, but he's not stupid. He has a lot of guts to gamble with his life like that, and that's a quality I admire, even if he's angering me by doing that."

"Also," the Red King continued. "Why would he respect my authority? I'm forcing him to do something he doesn't want. Of course he's going to fight back. Powerful beasts have their own pride, and they hate it when someone suppresses them."

Cynthia remained silent for a while and thought about her King's words. After some seconds, she finally came to terms with the situation. "Then, thank you for your praise, my King," she said with a slight bow.

"Yes, yes," the Red King said in annoyance. "Go back to your duties. I'll call for you if I require you to watch him."

Gravis hadn't heard the majority of the conversation, but he could guess what they talked about based on their body language. There were very few things that Gravis hated more than hypocrisy, and Cynthia's conduct had been extremely hypocritical in his eyes.

So, Gravis wanted to confront her with more of her own hypocrisy by unveiling the truth of the current situation. If she could deal with it, maybe her mindset would change. If she couldn't, she would go through hell. This was also a kind of tempering.

Yet, not everyone wants to temper themselves.

Cynthia just turned around and wanted to fly away to get back to her duties when she heard Gravis' voice from behind her. "I will destroy the Red Kingdom in the future," Gravis commented evenly.

Cynthia halted and almost couldn't believe what she had just heard. Did Gravis just say that he would kill all of them?

The Red King didn't seem to mind his words. In actuality, he had completely expected them. He was forcing Gravis into doing something he didn't want, and the whole Kingdom was complicit in it. Who wouldn't want to destroy their captors? To him, this sentence had no relevancy at all.

It wasn't that the Red King thought that Gravis was too weak to pull off something like that. It was just that this sentence changed nothing about the situation and was basically meaningless.

Both the Red King and Gravis knew that Gravis would want to avenge this enmity in the future. On top of that, the Red King believed that Gravis had the potential to actually succeed. So, why was he even commenting on it?

"But you don't care about that, do you?" Gravis asked the Red King. "You don't care about the destruction of your Kingdom. You are probably sure that you would soon become an Emperor. As long as you're still alive, you can always make a new one."

"Why are you talking nonsense?" the Red King asked with a bit of annoyance. "You know that we both know that we will become enemies in the future. What's the point of saying this? In truth, I'm looking forward to our fight in the future. My life has been too easy and calm for the past hundred years."

Gravis smirked. "I thought that you would want to use me to put pressure on you. You are already very powerful, and someone like you should know that pressure is the best way to become powerful. So, by suppressing me, you not only get a reward from the Empress but also get a powerful, future enemy. That's quite smart, in my opinion," Gravis said with a mocking tone.

The Red King also smirked. "To be honest, I stole that idea from you. I've heard about the snake that you invited into your River Tribe. I thought this was a great idea, but why use just any beast if I can use the beast that originally came up with that idea? This makes your situation just that much more ironic and entertaining, wouldn't you agree?"

Cynthia listened to this conversation with incredible shock. Was this really the truth? Did her King plan on putting her home, the entire Red Kingdom, into mortal danger just so that he had a chance of becoming more powerful?

In her mind, the Red King had always been incredibly wise. The Red Kingdom had flourished under his leadership, and he had given the members of the Red Kingdom power, freedom, and relative peace. Cynthia had seen what the Red King had accomplished, and she had looked up to him with worship.

Yet, this kind and benevolent King had invited mortal danger into her home willingly? This didn't conform with her impression of her King at all.

"What are you still doing here? Leave," the Red King said with annoyance as he noticed that Cynthia was still there.

Cynthia quickly regained her bearings. "I-I'm sorry, my King," she stuttered and then fled into the distance.

The Red King was a bit annoyed by her and flew back into his abode. He had more important things to do than talk about such useless stuff.

Meanwhile, Gravis only smirked. Gravis had a lot of experience with people and beasts, and he knew that the Red King was incredibly proud and only respected power. This was an outstanding mindset for becoming powerful and was probably one of the main reasons why the Red King had become so powerful.

Gravis knew that people and beasts often judged others by their own mindsets and standards. The Red King was proud of his Kingdom and trusted in his followers' thirst and greed for power. He trusted in the fact that his beasts would also be ready to risk their lives for power.

Yet, this implicit trust and pride in his beasts made him subconsciously think that his powerful followers had a similarly powerful mindset to him. Sadly, by being so prideful in his own mindset, the Red King didn't even realize that many beasts in his Kingdom didn't share his mindset.

He had talked with Gravis openly in front of Cynthia because he believed that she also had this mindset. To him, this was no secret.

Yet, how we perceive people and beasts and how they truly are can be frighteningly different.

Gravis had only stated and talked about the things that he and the Red King thought as evident. To both of them, this whole dynamic seemed so obvious that it even felt like a waste of time to talk about it.

But only Gravis realized that it wasn't as obvious.

The image of the Red King in Cynthia's mind was utterly upturned and destroyed. With her mindset and loyalty, she would go through an astronomical amount of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety in the coming future.

'Cynthia,' Gravis thought coldly. 'You also suppressed me like the Red King. Yet, you spoke to me like I should be thankful for that. This makes you even worse than the Red King in my books. I can respect the Red King's power and mindset, but I despise yours.'

'So, if I can't kill you physically, I will kill you mentally and emotionally!'