Ch. 521..530

Chapter 521 - 521 – Purity

Commander Rime’s intervention was dangerous to Gravis’ path. Gravis’ Will-Aura had already grown from the battle, but it hadn’t grown nearly as much as normal. The fight had been difficult enough to give him a significant boost to his Will-Aura. The fact that he had been under enough pressure to understand another Law proved that fact.

Yet, Commander Rime’s intervention had nearly killed the feeling of danger. If Commander Rime had been ready to interfere with words, it wouldn’t be illogical to assume that he would have also been prepared to intervene physically. This fact took away a large chunk of the feeling of danger.

It didn’t matter if Commander Rime had been willing to interfere physically or not. The feeling of the situation was all that counted when it concerned tempering. After Gravis had finished the fight, he almost felt like the danger he had been feeling just now was fake, even though it wasn’t. This was the damage that someone could inflict by interfering in a fight.

If such interventions happened more, the perceived feeling of danger would vanish and, along with it, the pressure. With no feeling of pressure or danger, Gravis wouldn’t be able to temper his Will-Aura anymore. This meant that his path to power would be destroyed. Because of these reasons, it was absolutely imperative that Gravis could never allow anyone to interfere.

"Commander Rime," Gravis said with icy killing intent, "by interfering in my fight, you have endangered my path to power. In order to keep my path to power as pure as possible, I’m required to kill you now as an example to everyone else and myself. I can’t allow anyone to interfere!"

The squad was shocked and confused as they heard Gravis’ words. Yes, tempering was important, but the fight had made Gravis understand another Law. Wasn’t that the only thing that counted? Additionally, Gravis would have won either way. In their mind, Commander Rime’s intervention appeared pointless and harmless. It was completely inconsequential!

The badger could understand Gravis’ reason and mindset, but he also believed that Gravis was taking this situation way too seriously. If Commander Rime had actually saved Gravis’ life, this would be a different story, but he hadn’t accomplished anything with his intervention. Just like the squad, the badger thought of the intervention as inconsequential.

Commander Rime shivered when he heard those words. "What are you saying?" Commander Rime asked calmly but in confusion. "I only wanted to save your life since you are such a valuable asset to us. I acknowledge that I shouldn’t have interfered, but nothing happened in the end. I only wanted to save your life!"

"I know that," Gravis said coldly, surprising everyone. If Gravis understood, then why was he so filled with hatred? Why was he so hellbent on killing Commander Rime? The Commander only wanted to help Gravis!

"I know that you only wanted to protect me, but with your well-meant actions, you have taken a lot of the feeling of danger out of my fight," Gravis said with narrowed eyes. "My path to power must remain as pure as possible, and if I don’t wipe away this stain on its purity with all my power, it will forever remain there."

"If I don’t kill you now, the next time something like this happens, I might also decide not to kill the intervening beast, and I can’t allow that to happen. This is a slippery slope, and as soon as I allow the first stain to remain, the next ones will follow and will become even harder to remove."

"Your intentions had been kind, but you are still responsible for the actions you have done. This is an unfortunate situation, but my path to power is the most important thing in my life together with my family," Gravis said coldly as he summoned his saber.

Gravis’ lightning agreed with his words. Commander Rime had stepped too close to it without its permission, which made it furious. After all, lightning lashed out at everything that came too close.

WHOOOM!

The surroundings turned grey again as Gravis’ Will-Aura had become even more powerful than before. It was not only more powerful, but a full level of the level suppression had vanished. Right now, Gravis’ Will-Aura was powerful enough to suppress a level four King to a powerful degree. Even the badger felt himself get suppressed, but not nearly as much as Commander Rime.

"Gravis," the badger said with a threatening tone, "I understand your feelings, but I can’t allow you to fight Commander Rime for only this reason!"

BZZZZZ!

A Lightning Bomb appeared and was absorbed by the saber. Then, Gravis looked at the badger. "My path to power is more important than anything," Gravis said coldly. "I don’t like killing or mindless slaughter, but if something stands between me and my goal, I will eradicate it."

"Gravis!" the badger shouted again with anger in his voice. "If you attack Commander Rime right now, you will be a traitor to the land beasts! There are rules that you need to follow!"

"My path is more important than any camp or any rules. Commander Rime will die today, and if I am fated to be branded as a traitor to the land beasts, then so be it!" Gravis said with a powerful voice that showed his conviction.

The badger couldn’t believe what he had heard right now. Did Gravis just say that he would turn traitor? Hadn’t he just killed several traitors and unmasked even more? Was Gravis insane!? These were not the thoughts of a rational beast!

Commander Rime’s emotions and mind were going crazy. He had never seen Gravis as his enemy. He even went as far as to bend the rules to interfere in one of his fights. Commander Rime had been prepared for any kind of punishment if that meant keeping such a valuable asset as Gravis safe. Yet, exactly this beast was about to kill him? What was happening? Was this a nightmare?

BRRRR!

The earth moved, and the badger appeared between Gravis and Commander Rime. "I won’t allow this!" he shouted with power. "If you decide to attack, I will declare you a traitor to the land beasts and will execute you right here!"

Gravis didn’t want to become a traitor. His children’s mother was the Empress of the Icy Pride Empire, who was part of the land beasts. Additionally, the Empress and the Grand Elder were beasts that Gravis considered as good friends. On top of that, the badger, the Empress, and the Grand Elder had helped him a lot.

Yet, Gravis’ path was more important than all the beasts in this world, except his children. Gravis’ heart pained as he thought about having to kill the Empress, the Grand Elder, the badger, and many other beasts he knew in the future. If there were any other way, Gravis would take it.

But if there were no other way, then Gravis would kill the Empress, the Grand Elder, the badger, and every other beast. His heart would tear apart, but he would do it regardless. This wouldn’t be the first time he would kill someone that he didn’t want to kill.

Gravis had killed the squads from the Lightning Guild in the lower world after Gorn’s death. He never wanted to kill them, but he had done it regardless.

Gravis had also killed Wendy, even though he didn’t want to. Another example was the group of wind disciples in the Heaven’s Trial.

Gravis never wanted to kill any one of these people, but to continue on his path to power, he had done so regardless.

Gravis readied himself to charge forward with cold eyes as the badger gritted his teeth due to the ridiculousness of the situation. Would he really need to kill one of their most valuable assets!?

As the fight was about to start, the tension and frustration in the air became thicker and thicker.

There was no way out.

 

Chapter 522 - 522 – Morality

The atmosphere became heavier and heavier. The squad was becoming increasingly nervous as beasts beyond their power were about to clash. Commander Rime obviously wasn’t a traitor, and neither was Gravis. Yet, those two loyal beasts were about to kill each other, and Gravis would also be treated as a traitor.

Wouldn’t this be even worse than if the plans of the two dead traitors had succeeded? If the plan had succeeded, Gravis would be dead, but if Gravis won against the badger and Commander Rime, this powerful asset would join the sea beasts.

"I accept the duel," Commander Rime suddenly said quietly, eliciting shocked gazes from everyone.

"What are you saying, Commander!?" the badger asked with anger. "You have only committed a small mistake. Yes, some kind of punishment should be issued, but that is not enough to execute you. Gravis is the irrational one here!"

"Just because you don’t understand my reasoning doesn’t make it irrational, badger," Gravis commented icily. "My path to power is more important than anything, and if you shared a similar sentiment, maybe you would have already become an Emperor."

"How dare you!" the badger shouted angrily at Gravis. "I’m giving everything for our Icy Pride Empire! I’m not as fragile and immature as someone who immediately kills a beast that wanted to save their life, like you!"

"That’s exactly what I meant," Gravis said. "If you put more importance on your own power instead of your contributions, you would already be an Emperor. Don’t stamp something as irrational just because you don’t have the willpower to do the same."

"Stop!" Commander Rime shouted. "I’ve already accepted the duel. With this, Gravis will not be a traitor, even if he kills me."

The badger gnashed his teeth in frustration. "And you expect me to just watch as you’re being goaded into a fight you can’t win!? If you really wanted to take this fight, sure, I have no issues there, but you have been forced into this fight! How can I be happy with myself when I let a comrade willingly kill themselves for such a stupid reason?"

Gravis only looked coldly at Commander Rime. Gravis understood very well that Commander Rime had only wanted the best. Commander Rime was so fiercely loyal to the land beasts that he had been willing to receive punishment for saving a powerful asset. Additionally, now, Commander Rime was even willing to lay down his life to allow Gravis to remain inside the ranks of the land beasts.

Gravis hated the current situation.

He didn’t enjoy killing, and he also didn’t want to kill Commander Rime at all. Commander Rime had only had good intentions by helping Gravis, so much so that the goodness in his intentions even became self-sacrificing. Such a powerful conviction to sacrifice one’s life for a bigger purpose was something Gravis could respect deeply.

Yet, even though Gravis didn’t want this at all, sometimes it’s necessary to do something that went against one’s heart when trying to achieve a goal. Becoming powerful was inherently a very selfish act, even if the person or beast might have a selfless goal.

In order to become powerful, the being in question needed to kill others and trample upon their dreams and desires. Gravis hated this part about becoming powerful, but he had long realized that doing such things was necessary to make his path to power as secure as possible.

Were there other ways to supreme power? Of course! The badger and Commander Rime had become powerful Kings without having to do such things. Yet, how long would that work? At some point, selfish beings would triumph over selfless beings. Gravis didn’t like this reality, but that didn’t change it.

The more powerful one became, the more necessary it was to sacrifice things for power. If Gravis only had the goal to become an Emperor, he wouldn’t need to kill Commander Rime. Yet, what of the higher world? What of the highest world? One had to remember the cruel fact that Gravis’ power was still in the first half of all the available Realms. He hadn’t even reached the halfway point!

"Inquisitor," Commander Rime said slowly with a bitter smile, "I have dedicated my whole life to the land beasts. Yet, my goal is not to make the land beasts powerful but to kill all the sea beasts. If, by sacrificing my life, I manage to keep a more powerful enemy of the sea beasts than me alive, I’m willing to do it."

"Inquisitor," Commander Rime said again as he looked at the badger with conviction. "Gravis will be able to kill more powerful sea beasts than me. If you really cared so much about the land beasts, you should be able to judge Gravis’ worth in comparison to mine."

The badger gritted his teeth violently. The badger was also fiercely loyal to the land beasts, and the main reason why he became an Inquisitor was to protect his comrades from traitors. Falling at the hands of your companion was the most bitter death the badger could imagine.

Because of that mindset, the badger became so incredibly furious with Gravis. Gravis was their comrade! Yet, he would kill one of his companions without the companion agreeing to it. Yes, Commander Rime had accepted the duel with his words, but he obviously had been forced into the decision. If no one forced him, he would never give his life like this. How was Gravis any different from a traitor!?

This was where the morals of beasts clashed. Both of them had the same goal but different ways and mindsets to achieve it. Commander Rime thought about the cold reality and facts. Mathematically, Gravis was worth more to the land beasts than him. With his fierce loyalty and mindset, Commander Rime could accept giving his life for that.

In comparison, the badger thought more about the emotional impact that such a decision would have. One of their most outstanding and hard-working companions, an idol that every beast should aspire to be, would die to one of his comrades without having done anything with malicious intent.

Who was right? Who was wrong?

The answer was: no one.

Morality and goals were all subjective. There was no objective morality that everyone could agree upon. Because of that, right and wrong, good and bad, didn’t exist. The worlds were only a conglomerate of different ideologies mixing and crashing together. It was impossible to discern any kind of objective morality from that chaotic swirl.

"You don’t need to do this," the badger said with compassion to Commander Rime. "You are not the responsible one for this situation, and you should also not be the one to pay for it."

"I know," Commander Rime said, "but I have made my choice. If I refused, we two would have a very high chance of defeating and killing Gravis. In a weird sense, instead of my life being in his hands, his life is actually in my control. I am the weaker one, but my decision can decide if he dies or lives. You should realize that I’m not the one without any power, but the one with all the power right now."

"And I decide to lay down my life for the land beasts," Commander Rime said.

The badger’s frustration broke through the roof. He had the power to prevent such injustice from happening, but he just couldn’t do it! His morality said that what Gravis was doing was wrong, but his morality also said that it was up to Commander Rime to do with his life whatever he wanted. No matter what the badger chose, he would have to break part of his own morality!

"Gravis," Commander Rime said as he turned to Gravis. "Today, I give my life for your path of power. Yet, I implore you to stay with the land beasts and fight the sea beasts. Otherwise, I won’t be able to rest easy."

Gravis closed his eyes for a bit, but his Spirit still kept watch over his surroundings. Then, he took a deep breath and opened them again. "If there is a time in the future when the land beasts do something that would normally make me abandon them, I will give them a second chance. This is all I can do," Gravis said.

Commander Rime sighed. It was not as much as he wanted, but it was something. At least, with his death, he would keep Gravis from defecting now and once again in the future.

"That’s enough for me," Commander Rime said as he readied himself for a fight. "You can come whenever you want."

The badger wrung with himself but moved out of the way regardless.

"Goodbye, Commander Rime. I regret doing this," Gravis said as he readied his saber.

"I’m not that weak that I would simply fall over and die. You have to earn your victory!" Commander Rime shouted.

Gravis landed on the ground. The present beasts weren’t sure what he was doing. Why did he suddenly land?

BANG!

Gravis used his pulse to increase his body’s power while he moved all his remaining power into his lightning. This was the fastest Gravis could go. With him being a level two King now, his speed was even faster than a level five King. Commander Rime couldn’t even react to such a ridiculous instantaneous acceleration. Gravis closed in and swung his saber.

BOOOOOOM!

The fully powered Lightning Crescent hit Commander Rime on the head. In the end, Commander Rime had been able to react and evade, but Gravis’ Will-Aura suppressed his speed to such a degree that it didn’t matter.

The explosion shook the surroundings and bolts of lightning flew into the distance uncontrollably. It was pure destruction.

Commander Rime had died in one strike.

Meanwhile, Gravis gritted his teeth in frustration. "I didn’t want to do this," he muttered angrily as all the lightning gathered and transformed back to himself.

 

Chapter 523 - 523 – Rules Are Dead

BANG!

The surroundings exploded as earth shot throughout the horizons.

"How dare you!" the badger shouted in uncontrollable fury.

"You say that you didn’t want to do this!? You kill one of my companions and say that you didn’t want to do this? You had a choice! If you genuinely didn’t want to do this, you would have decided against doing it!"

Gravis remained calm as he turned his gaze to the Inquisitor. "You are right," Gravis said. "I had a choice. Some beasts might blame the circumstances and say that they were forced to do this, but that is not the case. I had a choice."

The Inquisitor gritted his teeth as his frustration became so powerful that he even injured his gums by gritting them so hard. "Then how dare you say that you didn’t want to do this!?"

"Because I had to," Gravis said. "I could have let him live and let bygones be bygones. In my opinion, Commander Rime didn’t deserve to die for this."

"Usually, I judge situations based on the beast’s intentions rather than their actions. If they intend to hurt me, it doesn’t matter if they actually managed to hurt me or not. They are an enemy in my mind. Yet, I haven’t done that in this case," Gravis explained.

"Because it suits your selfish goal?" the badger asked with disdain.

"Yes," Gravis said, surprising the Inquisitor. "The goal to reach supreme power is inherently selfish. We kill others to become more powerful. Yet, this goal is more important to me than my morality. In order to achieve this goal, millions of innocents have died under my hand," Gravis said as he thought back to the apocalypse he had wrought when he had fought the lower Heaven.

"I don’t want to kill beings that have done nothing to me, but if that is necessary to become powerful, I will do so regardless. I avoid killing friendly and innocent beings, but to keep my path to power alive, I need to do so regardless."

"I have a choice," Gravis said, "and the choice is to choose between killing no one and remaining weak or kill everyone that is a danger to my path. I have chosen power, and I am fully committed to this path. If it is necessary, I am even ready to kill my companions. My goal is more important than nearly everything else."

"Nearly?" the Inquisitor asked with a cold voice.

"Yes, if I had to choose between my close family and supreme power, I wouldn’t know what I would choose," Gravis said.

"You value your family more than your companions?" the Inquisitor asked with confusion and disdain. To beasts, family was irrelevant. So what if they shared their blood? They hadn’t fought together with them, and they had no feelings for each other. Companions have proven their loyalty by fighting alongside one for the same goal. That was why companions were more important to beasts than family.

"To me, my close family is just as important as my goal," Gravis said. "Our values do not match, and we won’t find a middle-ground, Inquisitor. Instead of continuing this discussion, we should return to the Empress. She will judge this situation," Gravis said.

The Inquisitor furrowed his brows. "You do realize that, even though Commander Rime has accepted the duel, you have still committed an act of betrayal? If you return to the Empress, you will be executed as a traitor. Though, you don’t have a choice. I will drag you to the Empress regardless."

Gravis closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. "Inquisitor, you don’t realize the way the world of leaders works."

These words made the Inquisitor angry again. "And what, pray tell, is the way of the leaders?" he asked with disdain.

"Sentient beings have created rules to serve the greater collective and their goal," Gravis said. "The Empress has made the rules for our Icy Pride Empire. Yet, in front of her, the rules don’t matter. She has decided the rules based on her own mindset and goals, and if breaking the rules helps her to achieve that goal, she won’t have an issue in breaking them."

The badger refused to believe something like that, but before he could answer, Gravis continued. "Commander Rime has realized this truth. As his title says, Commander Rime was a Commander, which is a position of leadership. He has realized this truth and knew that I wouldn’t be executed."

"If he hadn’t realized this truth, he wouldn’t have sacrificed himself. After all, if the Empress executed me, his sacrifice would become meaningless to the land beasts. You are not a leader, Inquisitor, so you can’t see the world from the viewpoint of a leader," Gravis explained.

"That is wrong!" the Inquisitor shouted. "In the end, Commander Rime has sacrificed his life to uphold the rules. If he didn’t accept the duel, you would be breaking the rules and would become a traitor."

"Breaking the rules is not what makes a traitor, Inquisitor," Gravis said. "The intentions of the beast and its loyalty decide if someone is a traitor or not. I have no intention of betraying the land beasts, and I will continue to help them."

"There is a famous saying, Inquisitor. Rules are dead, and beasts are alive. Even if Commander Rime hadn’t accepted the duel, I would still not be branded as a traitor by the Empress. My reasoning is understandable, and she will be willing to accommodate it to keep me as an asset to the Empire. Of course, I will still receive some sort of punishment in the end, but it will not be anything like execution."

"As for your claim that Commander Rime wanted to keep up the rules, that is also incorrect. Don’t forget that Commander Rime has broken the rules first by interfering in my fight. He knew fully well that he broke the rules and would be punished, but for the greater good in his mind, he decided to do this regardless."

"As a leader, he has seen that breaking the rules would do more good than bad for the land beasts if he managed to save my life by doing so. Sadly, in the end, his interference had been unnecessary, which made the gains void while making the consequences heavier. Yet, instead of backpedaling on his choice, he doubled down and gained something out of it regardless."

Gravis looked evenly into the Inquisitor’s eyes. "He was willing to break the rules for the greater good, and that’s what made him an outstanding leader."

The Inquisitor was furious as he listened to Gravis. He saw sense in what Gravis was saying, but it was frustrating to acknowledge. Had his loyalty been incorrect? He had always followed the rules in the past and believed them to be the correct path.

Yet, when Gravis said that the Empress made the rules, his conviction was shaken. The Empress had made the rules, and if she decided to, she could also change them.

Surprisingly, after some seconds, the Inquisitor’s mindset changed. Yes, he shouldn’t follow the rules, but act like Commander Rime. Commander Rime had broken the rules for the greater good.

In the end, the rules only served the greater good, and this greater good was the survival of the Icy Pride Empire. Doing what is right for the Empire was more important than upholding the rules.

"You are correct," the Inquisitor said with a cold voice. "I shouldn’t follow the rules but do what I think would be best for the greater good of the Empire."

Gravis remained silent.

BANG! SHING! SHING! SHING!

An unreal amount of spikes came from behind Gravis and penetrated his entire body, making him spit out blood.

"With your mindset, you will be a danger to the Empire in the future. Because of that, I will break the rules today and kill you!" the Inquisitor shouted.

Gravis only looked evenly at the Inquisitor as over ten earth spears came out of his body. Instead of seeing the fear or shock that the Inquisitor had expected to see in Gravis’ eyes, he only saw calm. This was not the look of someone that was about to die. This was the look of someone that was in control of the situation!

"So that is your choice," Gravis transmitted calmly, "but it doesn’t matter. I don’t leave things open to chance. Just stay here. In four hours, I will return and kill you."

BANG!

Then, Gravis’ body exploded into a bit of lightning. Yet, this wasn’t nearly as much lightning as he should have had. This was only as much lightning as a level one King would have.

 

Chapter 524 - 524 – The Law Of Danger

The Inquisitor immediately exploded with anger.

"GRAVIS!" he shouted into the horizons with fury.

The Inquisitor had just made a difficult choice. He had decided to break the rules for the first time in his life for the greater good. Yet, just like Commander Rime’s initial intervention, his gains had become void. However, he had already committed to his choice, and he couldn’t back out now. Gravis must die!

The Inquisitor hadn’t intended to fight Gravis directly. Fighting him directly gave Gravis a chance to survive and become even more powerful. The Inquisitor was sure that he was more powerful than Gravis, but he couldn’t leave anything up to chance. He had to kill Gravis no matter what! It was for the greater good of the Icy Pride Empire!

Yet, Gravis seemed to have already anticipated that the Inquisitor would attack him. The control of the situation had escaped the Inquisitor’s grasp, and now, he either had to find Gravis or wait for him here. Then, they would fight under Gravis’ conditions, not his.

"How!?" the Inquisitor said to himself in rage, making the watching squad fearful of the future. They had no idea what they should do. On the one hand, Gravis had been willing to go to the Empress and confess to his actions. This didn’t make him a traitor.

On the other hand, the Inquisitor had only wanted to protect the Icy Pride Empire from danger. Gravis’ conduct and mindset didn’t fit the usual beast and left a lot of room for uncertainty. The beasts weren’t able to judge his personality based on their own experiences since Gravis simply didn’t act like a beast.

What were they supposed to do? None of the two beasts were in the wrong here. Without a leader among the squad, they couldn’t decide on a course of action. Should they help the Inquisitor and inform the defensive line? If they did that and Gravis managed to kill the Inquisitor, they would be next.

Should they help Gravis and report this to an Emperor in one of the close Empires so that they could intervene? If the Inquisitor saw them doing that, he might double-down on his actions and kill them so that no one could stop him from eradicating the danger to the Icy Pride Empire.

It didn’t matter what they chose. Both choices could lead to their deaths. So, in the end, they made the only correct choice, which was to not choose at all. They would simply stay here and do absolutely nothing. This was the only way they could guarantee their survival.

The Inquisitor looked with anger at the squad, making them fear for their lives. Yet, the Inquisitor quickly looked away, closed his eyes, and shook his head violently.

’What have I just done?’ the Inquisitor thought with shock and pain. ’I have just considered killing these members of our Empire to secure my opportunity to kill the traitor. They have done nothing wrong and have only been pulled into this situation. Killing them wouldn’t make me any better than the traitor.’

The Inquisitor thought back to his interactions with Gravis over the past minutes. When had Gravis managed to escape? The Inquisitor had kept a close watch on him, so when had Gravis replaced himself with a copy of himself?

The Inquisitor couldn’t be faulted for not noticing how and when Gravis had left. The Inquisitor had seen that Gravis could transform into lightning, but he hadn’t known about Gravis’ ability to split into multiple versions of his. He couldn’t have possibly anticipated something like that.

’The lightning bolts after the explosion!’ the Inquisitor realized with widened eyes. ’Back then, I only thought that this was part of his attack, but most of his power must have been gathered into one of the lightning bolts that shot into the distance! I don’t have an affinity for lightning, so I can’t judge the power of the lightning accurately. So that’s how he managed to flee!’

The Inquisitor felt incredible frustration as he realized that he had never been in control of the situation. It didn’t matter what he chose. Gravis would have survived anyway. Additionally, they had talked for so long that Gravis had easily escaped the range of his senses. Now, it was all up to Gravis.

’He said that he would return in about four hours. Even though I despise him, I am certain that he wouldn’t lie about something like this,’ the Inquisitor thought.

Then, the Inquisitor’s eyes narrowed as a cold gleam could be seen in them.

’Fine, I’ll wait,’ he thought with battle intent.

Meanwhile, Gravis was many kilometers away. Had Gravis known that the Inquisitor would attack him?

No.

According to Gravis’s guesses about the Inquisitor’s personality, he had judged that he probably wouldn’t attack him. Yet, Gravis had felt a feeling of danger from the Inquisitor ever since Gravis had said that he would kill Commander Rime.

In the minutes after killing Jessy but before confronting Commander Rime, Gravis had felt no such feeling from the Inquisitor. Yet, as soon as Gravis announced his decision, the Inquisitor started radiating an intense feeling of danger.

Gravis had just understood the Law of Danger, and by understanding it, he also knew what it did. The Law of Danger would inform Gravis of any potential danger to his life, just like its name suggested. In order to judge something as dangerous or not dangerous, the Law of Danger took two criteria into account.

One first one was the power of the being or force. If someone weren’t powerful enough to be a threat to Gravis’ life, they wouldn’t be a danger.

The other one was the intent of the being or force. If someone had no malicious intentions towards Gravis, they also wouldn’t be a danger.

Only when the being or force was powerful enough to be a threat to Gravis and had malicious intentions would the Law of Danger inform Gravis. In his fight against Jessy, her copies had not been a danger to him since they were too weak. Because of that, the Law of Danger had only been triggered by her true body.

In terms of combat-usage, the Law of Danger would help Gravis locate his enemies and see through any feints. If an attack looked powerful but was only there to force Gravis to move in a different direction, Gravis would be able to know that now. Additionally, if the enemy appeared helpless but had a powerful trump card, Gravis would also know that.

However, in comparison to the Law of Suppression, Gravis was sure that the Law of Danger wasn’t nearly as rare. A Law was the understanding of a concept, and to understand such a concept, one needed to have a lot of experience with it.

Every being at Gravis’ level had had a plethora of encounters with danger. Gravis guessed that, besides elemental Laws, the Law of Danger was probably one of the most common ones.

’For some time, this Law will help me immensely in fights, but as my Realm increases, more and more beasts will have knowledge about this Law,’ Gravis thought. ’If they know how it works, they can probably also use my own Law of Danger against me. They could unleash an attack just barely powerful enough to injure me to make me evade and then use an even more powerful attack. I need to be careful.’

’Found it!’ Gravis suddenly thought as his train of thought had been interrupted by something he noticed with his Spirit Sense.

A large vein of High-Rank Nascent Nourishing ore.

Gravis had already decided that he would fight the Inquisitor. This fight would probably be just as hard or even harder than his fight against Jessy, but it was still winnable, in his opinion. Yet, he needed a powerful set of armor and weapons first. That was why he had left. He wanted to find some powerful ore and upgrade his arsenal.

Additionally, smelting and forging such powerful ore took up a large amount of Energy from him. If he did that during the fight, he would undoubtedly die. To have a chance against the Inquisitor, he needed to forge his armor and weapons before the fight.

After summoning the ore into his Spirit Space, Gravis quickly went to forging his equipment.

There was no reason to waste any time.

 

Chapter 525 - 525 – Law Rank

After nearly four hours, Gravis was finished with his preparations and back in his peak condition. He had used up all the ore that he had found and transformed it all into equipment. Gravis knew that this fight would be different from his fight with Jessy.

Jessy had been a beast with a darkness affinity, which meant that she mainly used evasion, stealth, and hidden attacks as her weapons. Meanwhile, the Inquisitor was a beast with the earth affinity. Gravis’ fight with Jessy had been a battle of detection, strategy, and evasion, while this battle would be a direct clash.

Beasts with the earth affinity were one of the slowest ones, and together with Gravis’ Law of Suppression, the Inquisitor’s speed would be even further lowered. Gravis definitely had the speed advantage in this fight. Normally, such an advantage would guarantee victory for Gravis, but the Inquisitor surely had an incredible defense.

Gravis thought back to his fight with the Golden Dragon and realized that the fight would probably go similarly. Back then, Gravis had had huge issues with trying to injure the Golden Dragon, even with his Lightning Crescent. This time, it wouldn’t be any different. Gravis’ biggest issue would be to penetrate the Inquisitor’s powerful defense.

Right now, Gravis was a bit uncertain deep inside. He had barely won against an average beast three levels higher than him, but the Inquisitor was not an average beast. He was definitely one of the more powerful ones.

Gravis quickly shook his head to regain his bearings. "If I die, so be it. Not everyone reaches the peak. If I pull back from a winnable fight, I might decide to pull back from the next fights as well. If I do that, my path to power might come to an end, and I will remain forever in this world," Gravis said to himself with battle-intent.

"Let’s see how this goes."

With that said, Gravis flew in the direction of the Inquisitor. Gravis was as prepared as he could be, and there was no reason to waste any more time.

After a couple of minutes, Gravis entered the range of the Inquisitor’s senses, who narrowed his eyes. ’Sure enough, he has kept to his word. Today, you will die, traitor!’ the Inquisitor thought coldly.

Instead of flying towards Gravis, the Inquisitor simply waited at his spot. Currently, the Inquisitor stood upon a mighty mountain that hadn’t been there before. Obviously, the Inquisitor had prepared that mountain beforehand. Gravis was not the only one who could prepare for an upcoming fight.

After some seconds, Gravis stopped a couple of kilometers in front of the Inquisitor and watched him with a severe gaze. This was no longer a companion but a powerful enemy.

"So you have arrived to- "

BANG!

Gravis shot forward with his full speed and attacked the Inquisitor immediately with his saber, forcing the Inquisitor to abort his speech. There was no reason to waste any time talking. Due to the speed difference, Gravis arrived at the Inquisitor’s side so fast that he nearly couldn’t react.

Yet, the Inquisitor was not some greenhouse flower. He had been through his fair share of life and death situations, and he would never let his guard down.

BANG! Whoom!

The Inquisitor immediately transformed into his true size, which was an incredible 50 kilometers long. This was the biggest beast Gravis had ever fought. After that, without any pause, some earth from the mountain below the Inquisitor rose into the air to surround him. In almost an instant, his whole body was encased inside a ball of hardened earth.

Whooom!

Gravis’ Will-Aura destroyed the will upon the earth, making it unable to do anything else than defend. The Inquisitor became shocked when he realized that he had lost control over the earth-shield.

CRRRRR!

Gravis’ saber dug deep into the earth shield, creating an ear-grating sound that shook the surroundings. Even with using all his powers, Gravis only barely managed to get the tip of his saber through the earth shield, but that was all that he needed.

The saber’s tip inside the earth shield exploded with lightning as a Lightning Crescent shot out of it. The eyes of the Inquisitor widened as he felt the power of the approaching attack.

BOOOOOOOM!

The earth-sphere exploded as chunks of it shot into the distance, breaking mountains, trees, and ground. Some chunks barely missed the watching squad, who immediately realized that they were still too close to the fight. The watching squad immediately retreated several more kilometers for safety reasons.

BANG!

Another explosion of lightning appeared immediately below Gravis as he shot towards the Inquisitor again. The shockwave of the Lightning Crescent had thrown him away, but he immediately closed the distance again. In no time at all, Gravis closed in on the Inquisitor.

The Inquisitor had barely managed to turn his side towards the approaching Lightning Crescent. Thanks to his powerful defense, he managed to survive. This had been a fully powered Lightning Crescent that included Gravis’ pulse. Only beasts with an earth affinity or metal affinity could survive such a direct hit.

Yet, the Inquisitor had not escaped the situation without some major injuries. From his right front-leg, only a bone and some shreds of flesh remained. His right back-leg had a major part of it burned off, and parts of his bones showed there. The right half of his torso was also exposed as the skin, and huge areas of flesh had been burned away.

Gravis didn’t want to give the Inquisitor any chances to recover. Gravis had been able to get him by surprise, and that tactic wouldn’t work a second time. This was his best chance to win the fight!

BANG!

Suddenly, Gravis jumped to the side without warning. The dodge had been so abrupt that it couldn’t possibly have been planned.

WHOOOM! SHING!

A powerful force pulled Gravis to the ground, and at his old position, a thin spire of earth shot into the sky. This spire had appeared so incredibly quickly that Gravis hadn’t even been able to keep track of its rise. To him, it looked like the spire had just appeared out of nowhere. Its speed had been absolutely terrifying!

Gravis had aborted his attack and decided to dodge due to his Law of Danger warning him. It had told him that if he continued his attack, he would die. Due to the feeling of danger, Gravis dodged without even thinking about it, and that action had saved his life.

The Inquisitor gritted his teeth as he realized that Gravis had managed to dodge his most powerful attack against all odds. ’The Law of Danger!’ he thought with anger. ’So that’s how he managed to find Jessy’s true body! This will be troublesome.’

Meanwhile, Gravis was circling the Inquisitor. ’The force of attraction has vanished,’ Gravis thought as he remembered the force that pulled him to the ground just now. ’It felt similar to gravity, but it didn’t feel quite the same. I also doubt that a King would be able to gain insights into the Laws of Gravity. Such a thing is way too advanced for our Realm.’

’This means that this is some kind of Law of Attraction or Connection or something like that. If it were a Law of Gravity, I would still feel the force now. This force probably only works as long as I don’t touch the ground,’ Gravis quickly thought as he analyzed his opponent’s powers.

’Additionally, that earth spire had been too fast to be just a regular Law. Such an insane speed and power couldn’t come from just one Law,’ Gravis thought.

Gravis was right.

What made the Inquisitor such an outstanding level five King? Was it the number of Laws that he understood?

No, the Inquisitor had comprehended five Laws, which was a slight bit above average for a level five King. So, why was he so powerful?

The reason for that was which Laws he had understood.

The Opposer had told Gravis that Laws could be categorized, and one needed to understand several smaller Laws to combine them into a bigger Law.

The Inquisitor was so powerful because he had comprehended a Low-Rank Law, which required one to comprehend several Initial Laws first.

His Law of Earth Movement, Earth Spire, and Earth Vibration combined into one single Law, which was the Law of the Spire. This Law increased his attacking power and attack speed to an insane degree. Additionally, using the Law didn’t use up as much Energy as one would believe.

This Law was the Inquisitor’s most powerful weapon, but he could use it several times, making it even more dangerous.

BANG!

Gravis immediately stopped and turned around as another spire shot out in front of him with ridiculous speed.

’He might be slower than me, but his attack speed is definitely much faster,’ Gravis thought.

CRRRR!

Earth rose again as it created another shield around the Inquisitor. Additionally, the shield blocked Gravis’ Spirit Sense and made him unable to observe the Inquisitor.

BANG!

Gravis dodged to the side as another Spire shot out of the Inquisitor’s shield. The Inquisitor had taken Gravis’ Law of Danger into account and wanted to unleash an attack from somewhere else. If Gravis had only paid attention to the ground, he would be dead right now.

Gravis circled the earth shield as he tried to think of a strategy. ’Now I can’t even get close to him. If I get too close to the earth shield, I won’t have enough time to evade such a Spire.’

’Fuck, this really is like the Golden Dragon back then!’

 

Chapter 526 - 526 – Backlash

Gravis continued to circle the earth shield with his superior speed. Acceleration took way more Energy than stopping or keeping the speed going, which was why he didn’t stop. Yet, Gravis was still continually using up some Energy to keep the Law of Lightning Speed going.

He wasn’t using it to its full effect, but he needed to use it to uphold his speed advantage. Additionally, he used the pulse to give his body a boost for every step.

Time passed, and fewer and fewer attacks came from the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor saw that Gravis was using a Law to keep his speed going, and he was sure that Gravis would run out of Energy first. After all, there was a difference of three levels between them.

Of course, the Inquisitor didn’t know that Gravis was a human, which meant that his Energy storage was way larger than a beast’s. Yet, even this advantage couldn’t fully close the gap of three levels. The Inquisitor also didn’t know that Gravis’ pulse wasn’t using up nearly as much Energy as one thought.

Yet, according to Gravis’ calculations, he would still run out of Energy first if this situation continued. The Inquisitor was only keeping his shield going, which was obviously also a Law, while Gravis had to keep moving at high speed. Gravis was sure that he was using more Energy than the Inquisitor.

’I need to change my approach,’ Gravis thought with a cold look in his eyes. ’If this continues, I will be a sitting duck!’

BANG!

Suddenly, Gravis turned and shot directly at the earth shield.

BANG!

A spire shot out of the shield, directly towards Gravis. Luckily, Gravis’ Law of Danger didn’t disappoint him, and he managed to dodge. Yet, due to that, the distance between him and the earth shield increased again.

CRRRR!

Even though Gravis had to dodge diagonally backward, the Spire was still there, and Gravis immediately cut it off with his saber. Then, he started circling the earth shield again.

’You’re growing desperate,’ the Inquisitor thought coldly.

Why else would Gravis want to make such a risky maneuver? Did he want to waste the Inquisitor’s Energy? He was welcome to try that! There was a gap of three levels between them, and no matter what Gravis did, he wouldn’t be able to close the distance with such a major disadvantage.

BANG!

Gravis did the same thing again, and everything repeated itself.

Then, it happened another time.

CRRRRRR!

More earth rose from the ground to supplement the earth shield. As long as the Inquisitor kept using the earth on his earth shield, he would need to refill it regularly. Otherwise, his earth shield would become too weak to resist another all-out attack from Gravis.

Gravis’ eyes glimmered when he saw that. ’Sure enough, he refilled his earth shield. Yet, this uses even more Energy than simply keeping it going in a passive state. If this continues, I might be able to make him exhaust his Energy first.’

This act of aggression happened again and again over the next hour. During that hour, Gravis managed to involuntarily increase his dodging-capability even further. Every spire was incredibly fast and lethal, and he couldn’t allow himself to get hit even once.

Luckily for Gravis, his concentration was able to keep up with the stressful situation. If he hadn’t trained his concentration with his father back then, he would feel incredibly exhausted right now.

’The Battle-Strength of Kings is definitely much higher than the Battle-Strength of Lords,’ Gravis thought. ’Without my powerful Law of Suppression, the Spires would be too fast for me to react to. Additionally, without my Law of Danger, I also wouldn’t be able to dodge.’

’Sure enough, if I hadn’t fought against Jessy, I wouldn’t even have a chance in this fight. It was the correct decision to not waste a tempering opportunity.’

Gravis closed in again.

BANG!

A spire shot out of the shield, and Gravis dodged backwards, but suddenly, his Law of Danger screamed at him. Several spots around and below him radiated incredible danger at the same time. He was in the middle of a field of Spires that were about to explode out of the ground, and Gravis knew that his speed wasn’t fast enough to evade.

CRRRRRRRRR!

The ground exploded with spires, but Gravis had been prepared for this situation. Right now, he no longer stood on the ground, but he was also not flying in the sky. Gravis stood upon a stacked pillar of shields, which he had summoned beneath him.

The ear-grating sound of a spire rapidly tearing through the shields could be heard. The shields were powerful enough to withstand a powerful attack from a level five King, but the attacking power of the spires was just unreal.

The spire destroyed a total of 13 shields, which was an incredible number. Gravis only had 21 of them prepared. This meant that this single spire had destroyed over half of his shields.

BANG!

The fragments of the destroyed shields shot into the distance, punching through mountains on the horizon as the pillar of unharmed shields shot violently into the sky. The Formation Arrays on them, which increased the backlash, stacked and shot Gravis into the sky faster than he had ever moved before.

Gravis’ insides shook, and his mind blanked with pain. The acceleration was so rapid and intense that some of his organs ruptured. Right now, Gravis was only alive because of his modified torso.

After mere seconds, Gravis had reached a height of over 1,000 kilometers, which demonstrated the backlash’s intensity. Gravis had never been so high in the sky before, but he couldn’t waste his time watching his surroundings.

’The force of attraction has not acted upon me yet,’ Gravis thought in a rare moment of calm. ’This means that I have escaped the domain of the Law. If I directly go down, the force of the Law will pull me in with a ridiculous amount of force.’

Gravis quickly moved in an arc and shot diagonally to the ground so that he didn’t enter the domain of the mountain.

Whooom!

Yet, as soon as Gravis was 500 kilometers above the ground, he felt the force of attraction pulling him down. Gravis was shocked since he shouldn’t be closer to the mountain than initially. Yet, this distance was barely enough for him to see what was going on below him.

Gravis’ eyes widened as he accelerated towards the ground.

The Inquisitor had moved the mountain!

Gravis had been sure that the Inquisitor had prepared that mountain beforehand, and moving such a huge manifestation of a Law should cost an unreal amount of Energy!

Yet, the Inquisitor had decided to do that regardless. Apparently, he was no longer content with remaining passive. The Inquisitor probably realized that Gravis wasn’t using as much Energy as he had expected, which made him decide to commit to this attack.

The force of attraction made Gravis accelerate to the ground rapidly. Luckily, the acceleration wasn’t as abrupt as the backlash from his pillar of shields. Because of that, his body was able to adapt to the new speed.

This force of attraction was generated by the Law of Earth Connection, which forced the user and others to keep a constant connection with the ground. As long as someone was in the air above the mountain, the Law of Earth Connection would pull them downwards with incredible force. Of course, there was a range limit.

This Law was the bane of beasts that felt most comfortable in the air.

Gravis quickly came closer and felt his Law of Danger ringing.

BANG!

Sure enough, more pillars shot at him.

Whoosh!

Gravis barely managed to evade the Spire, but it had been difficult. Changing directions while moving at such insane speeds cost a lot of power and Energy.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

More earth spires shot at Gravis, and the closer he got, the harder it was to evade.

BANG!

Suddenly, Gravis summoned one of his shields beside him and kicked it. The backlash from the shield allowed Gravis to dodge all the earth spires.

BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!

Yet, a lot more earth spires shot at him, and Gravis was forced to summon more and more shields in an effort to dodge the avalanche of attacks. Of course, after kicking every shield, he retrieved them back into his Spirit Space.

Right now, Gravis was shooting towards the ground like an asteroid as he barely managed to change directions with his kicks.

BANG!

Suddenly, one of the spires created another spire that shot at Gravis horizontally. The Law of Danger warned Gravis, but this sudden change of attack had still caught him by surprise.

CRR!

The spire penetrated Gravis’ right abdomen, easily punching through his armor and scales. Luckily, the initial spire hadn’t offered enough space for another huge spire to form. Yet, this one was still a meter wide. If Gravis’ body had been as big as a human’s, he would have died. For once, the bigger size of his body had been an advantage.

CRRRR!

Yet, the spire was not powerful enough to stop Gravis, and Gravis felt his abdomen tear as his speed forced the spire to leave his body by tearing open a huge gash.

Gravis gritted his teeth and used more shields to change his direction.

More spires shot at him, and he barely managed to dodge as he closed in on the ground.

’Fuck! I wanted to use this to finish the fight!’ Gravis thought with frustration, ’but there is no other way for me to survive!’

His Law of Danger told him that the ground below him was about to shoot out a ridiculous amount of spires, and Gravis wouldn’t be able to dodge them. So, he was forced to use the weapon he had planned on using later to finish the fight.

Whooom!

The will in the ground below him was destroyed as Gravis summoned the spire-filled clump of earth into his Spirit Space. He had planned on using that to absorb the Inquisitor’s shield for a finishing blow.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BOOOOM

Gravis summoned several shields below him and kicked them all downwards with all his force to reduce his speed. Yet, in the end, he still created a huge crater as he hit the ground.

The Inquisitor was shocked that Gravis had made his spires vanish, but he only hesitated for a moment. After that, he summoned more spires in the ground where Gravis should be right now. Due to the impact, his senses couldn’t perceive Gravis’ exact location, so he simply summoned the spires in a wide spread.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Over ten spires shot out of the ground where Gravis should be, but the Inquisitor didn’t become careless.

He wouldn’t become careless until he saw Gravis’ corpse!

 

Chapter 527 - 527 – Shrapnel

The Inquisitor looked at the crater with all his concentration. He was 90% sure that Gravis was dead, but he couldn’t become careless now. His Energy was running very low since he had unleashed so many spires in an effort to kill him. He only had the Energy for a couple more, but that would be it.

After some seconds, space stabilized again, and the Inquisitor could finally see what was going on inside the crater with his senses. He couldn’t use his eyes due to all the dust flying in the air. When the Inquisitor looked into the crater, he smirked.

’Finally dead, are you?’ the Inquisitor thought. Yet, he still wouldn’t become careless.

What did the Inquisitor see?

Inside the crater, the Inquisitor saw Gravis’ body, or, at least, what was left of it. Multiple spires had penetrated him at multiple parts. His arms were completely destroyed. One of his legs was destroyed, and 80% of his torso had been transformed into holes.

Gravis was bleeding furiously as parts of destroyed organs were strewn all around him and hanging off the spires. No beast would be able to survive such an attack. Additionally, the Inquisitor was absolutely certain that Gravis hadn’t replaced his body with another copy of himself. After all, his body exuded the correct amount of Energy and had an appropriate hardness for his Realm.

Even if that were a powerful copy, it would have had over 80% of his power inside it. Obviously, Gravis couldn’t have an infinite amount of Energy, which meant that, if this were a copy, the real Gravis would be even weaker than a level one king. A level one King wouldn’t be powerful enough to penetrate the Inquisitor’s earth shield.

The Inquisitor smirked victoriously, but he still didn’t become careless. "I should make sure," he muttered to himself.

BANG! BANG!

Two spires shot out from below Gravis’ head and shot at him, but before they could reach him, something happened.

BZZ! BZZ! BANG!

Gravis’ destroyed leg and his arms transformed into lightning and then transformed back again, healing them fully. Without wasting any time, some lightning below Gravis exploded as he charged forward.

The Inquisitor’s eyes widened in shock. ’Impossible! No beast can survive such injuries!’ he thought.

Even though Gravis’ legs and arms were healed, all his organs were still completely destroyed, proven by the fact that they all laid around him in pieces. No beast would be able to survive such an attack!

Gravis charged at the Inquisitor, allowing the Inquisitor to observe the world behind Gravis through the enormous holes. The part where the beast core should have been was replaced by a hole. His heart and lungs lay behind him. Additionally, a ridiculous amount of blood had seeped into the earth. All important organs of Gravis were entirely annihilated! He couldn’t be alive!

On top of that, Gravis had just healed his arms and legs, so why hadn’t he also healed his torso with that technique? The Inquisitor felt like he was in a nightmare, as a beast that clearly couldn’t be alive anymore charged at him with cold killing intent visible in its eyes.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

But the Inquisitor quickly recovered and shot more Spires at Gravis. Gravis exploded with more lightning than usual, but his speed was the same. The Inquisitor noticed that and narrowed his eyes. ’His arms and legs are no longer as powerful as before. They probably only have the power of a level one King. He’s using more Energy to compensate for his slower speed.’

The Inquisitor was right. Gravis had used up so much of his Energy in the battle that if he transformed his entire body into lightning, he would fall to become a level one King.

The Inquisitor realized that his Energy was running very low, and he had to kill Gravis very quickly. Due to that, he used nearly all of his Energy to fire one last attack. With this attack, he would only have enough Energy left to keep his shield going. If this attack also failed, he could, at least, win enough time to regenerate his Energy.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Several spires rose from the earth, while others shot at Gravis from the shield. Additionally, the Inquisitor used one spire to shoot at Gravis from behind. With this, he would be forced to meet the attacks head-on!

SHING!

Gravis evaded the spires that came from below, but to deal with the spires coming from his front, he used something else. The spires coming from his front easily penetrated Gravis’ body, destroying even more of it. Gravis’ body had been bisected horizontally at his chest due to the width of the spire. Any beast would long be dead. Yet, Gravis’ eyes were shining with a crazy gleam.

CRRRRRR!

An ear-grating sound came from behind Gravis as the last spire destroyed the remaining shields. Yet, there were not enough shields to halt the spire, so it still continued and penetrated Gravis’ lower abdomen, but that didn’t matter. That part had been cut off anyway.

Whoop! BOOOOOM!

A pile of armor appeared in front of Gravis’ lower body just in time. The backlash from the shields gathered and exploded with incredible power. Gravis’ lower body was turned into mush as it exploded forward, taking the pile of armors with it.

Like they were being shot out of a cannon, the destroyed armor’s shrapnel shot towards the earth shield. The force behind them was incredible, and they destroyed the entire front of the earth shield. Due to the Inquisitor’s large size, nearly all pieces hit his earth shield.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Many pieces hit the Inquisitor’s body, making him spit out blood. The force behind this "attack" was even stronger than if Gravis had used his entire power. Many of the Inquisitor’s bones broke, and pieces of destroyed armor had been buried deep into his body.

The "sitting" upper third of Gravis raised one of his arms and pointed at the Inquisitor with two fingers, a smirk on his face.

"Boom!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

One of the fragments of a destroyed piece of leg armor that had buried into the Inquisitor’s torso shone violently with lightning and exploded with a powerful Lightning Crescent. When Gravis had designed his armor, he had created the same Formation Arrays on his legs as he was using for his sabers. This meant that he could also use them as a medium to unleash a Lightning Crescent.

When had Gravis loaded his boots with a Lightning Crescent?

He had done that after the Inquisitor "killed" him in the crater. Space had still been shaking at that time, allowing Gravis to gather all his power into one last attack.

As for his healed arms and legs? They were only as powerful as a level three Lord’s and were basically useless. They were only there to confuse the Inquisitor. All of his speed had been created by his Law of Lightning Speed.

The explosion of the Lightning Crescent vanished quickly after it had engulfed the surrounding kilometers.

Splosh!

What was left of Gravis’ body landed on the ground that had been lowered a considerable amount by the Lightning Crescent’s power.

Pack! Pack! Pack!

Then, Gravis simply lifted his "body" with his arms and walked forward. His arms were easily long enough that they could be comfortably used as legs now. As a matter of fact, Gravis wasn’t even acting like he was missing some internal organs.

Normally, beasts that had a significant chunk of their organs destroyed would become weak and exhausted, but Gravis was walking forward like he was a pair of healthy arms and head that wanted to take a casual stroll.

So, how had Gravis managed to survive?

When he had hit the ground after his fall, he felt nearly all his organs shatter on impact. Additionally, his Law of Danger warned him that danger was approaching from below. He had known that he wouldn’t be able to survive this.

Yet, why was Gravis so intent on fighting such powerful opponents? Wasn’t it to understand a new Law?

Sure enough, when Gravis was confronted with his death, he finally managed to comprehend a Law, and this Law was part of a category that Gravis had wanted to understand for a long time.

Finally, Gravis had comprehended a Law associated with Life. Watching the CMO for so many years and watching the creation of his children had finally paid off!

Which specific Law had Gravis comprehended?

Gravis had comprehended the Law of Organ Growth.

With that Law, Gravis had received the ability to sacrifice the power of his body to regrow organs instantly. Additionally, he could grow them wherever he wanted.

So, Gravis regrew all his important organs at the same place, the back of his neck. If one looked closely, one would notice that Gravis’ neck looked way bulkier than before, but that was only thanks to his reptile-like body.

If Gravis had a human’s body, his thin neck would seemingly burst at the seams. Luckily, since he had a longer and wider neck than a human, he had enough space to not make it immediately obvious that all his important organs were there now.

Due to that, he also didn’t care about his lower body being cut off. As long as he produced enough blood, that wouldn’t be an issue. Gravis didn’t know the Law of Blood Growth, but he had pushed most of his blood into his neck anyway. He wouldn’t run out any time soon.

After walking for a bit, the lightning finally fully consumed the Inquisitor’s powerful and hard body.

Then, it entered Gravis’ body.

 

 

Chapter 528 - 528 – Escort

The lightning entered Gravis quickly as his body started to shake. Since Gravis hadn’t transformed into lightning yet, his foundation hadn’t become liquified. He was still a full-blown level two King. Of course, there was still an issue Gravis had to deal with before he could evolve.

SHING! SHING!

Gravis summoned a saber and cut off both of his arms with his Spirit. His arms were so weak that it wasn’t hard for him to do that. His arms had fallen multiple Realms since he had regrown them with his lightning, and if he didn’t fix that, they would remain weak and eat up way too much of his power. It was better to cut them off and just regrow them. That wouldn’t take more than two days.

Now, Gravis was only a hovering head with half a chest attached to him. Gravis involuntarily remembered the time when he had arrived at the lower Realm and acted as an Earth Spirit. Back then, he had only shown a single head that had been above some obsidian. Now, Gravis had actually become just a head.

Gravis felt his Realm increase as his head started to grow bigger. After some minutes, his head became quite big. ’Judging by the size of my head, I should have a body size of 50 meters. That means that my size will probably continue to quintuple after every level increase.’

After the evolution was finished, Gravis sighed, which felt weird since the air was coming from the back of his neck. Now that Gravis also had a calm moment to rest, his Will-Aura became much more powerful.

’Sure enough, the battle has done wonders for my Will-Aura. By now, my Will-Aura should be around the middle Law Comprehension Realm, which would be equal to a level three Emperor.’

Gravis thought some more about his situation. ’How ironic,’ Gravis thought. ’I have promised Commander Rime that I would consider giving the land beasts a second chance in the future, and that chance had come right now.’

That meant that if he hadn’t made that promise to Commander Rime, he would have defected to the sea beasts right now.

Why?

The main reason for that was the position and power an Inquisitor had. Inquisitors had the ability to declare any beast a traitor and execute them. They were representatives of the land beasts.

That power sounded like it was very abusable, and it was, but this was also the main reason why Inquisitors went through such intense checks regarding loyalty and morals.

One of these methods was to allow a beast that had some understanding of the functions of the mind to read theirs. Of course, without the soon-to-be Inquisitor’s consent, such a task would prove to be nearly impossible.

Having long legal procedures would allow potential traitors to deal more damage or escape. That was why Inquisitors had the power to declare anyone a traitor instantly. Ever since the land beasts had decided on the requirements and powers of Inquisitors, the problems with spies and traitors had become way more manageable.

The badger had been an Inquisitor and therefore had also been a representant of the land beasts. Legally speaking, right now, Gravis was considered a traitor to the entire land beast faction, and this wouldn’t change unless a leader of a level three Empire or higher declared him innocent. Even Elders weren’t able to revoke a traitor’s status. After all, there had been precedent cases of Elders also being spies.

Since Gravis was now officially a traitor to the land beasts, he would have left right now. Every member of the land beasts had the authority to kill a traitor without asking anyone for permission. This meant that Gravis’ travel back to the Icy Pride Empire could prove fatal.

Yet, since Gravis gave the dead Commander Rime his promise, he would keep to his word and give the land beasts a second chance.

’Well, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself,’ Gravis thought, self-satisfied with his joke as he laughed. ’First, I should get to the squad and leave for the Icy Pride Empire. There’s no reason to wait.’

Then, Gravis floated over to the distant squad, which looked at him with horror. It wasn’t his power that they were afraid of, but the fact that he was only a floating head. By all intents and purposes, he should be dead! How was it possible that a beast survived with only a head!?

"Let’s return to the Icy Pride Empire," Gravis transmitted to them.

They were taken aback as they heard him. Gravis was considered a traitor now. The squad had expected to die or for Gravis to flee, but apparently, he wanted to return to their Empire.

Seeing their reactions, Gravis only rolled his eyes. "I have made the promise to Commander Rime that I would give the land beasts another chance, and I will keep to my word."

"So, don’t hang your heads in despair!" Gravis said with a smirk.

Yet, instead of laughing as Gravis had expected, the squad only continued to look at him in uncertainty. Gravis felt a bit embarrassed when he didn’t see anyone react to his joke. He decided to simply play it off like he had never said a joke in the first place. It was their loss for missing out on his amazing joke!

"Let’s just go. Follow me," Gravis said, "We’re going to the closest Empire to get an escort to the Icy Pride Empire. You all have seen with your own eyes what has transpired. Just tell the first Empire we pass with honesty what you have seen. I’m sure it will be okay."

Then, Gravis turned around and flew towards the west. The squad looked with uncertainty at each other, but after a while, they decided to follow him. Right now, their current position would have been the best place to kill them. If Gravis wanted to kill them, he could have done so here.

The squad decided to believe in Gravis since he had saved their lives previously by unmasking their traitorous squad leader.

After traveling for a couple of minutes, they arrived at the borders of the closest Empire, and, sure enough, a level five King appeared in front of them.

"Halt! What is your business?" he asked with aggression.

The squad was unsure if they should speak up now, but Gravis took that choice from them.

"I have been declared a traitor by an Inquisitor and want to speak to my Empress about getting that status revoked since it has been placed upon me unjustified," Gravis said directly.

The level five King looked at Gravis with shock. He had just noticed that Gravis was only a head, which he hadn’t noticed before. After all, in comparison to the average beast, Gravis was way too small.

Additionally, what did he just say? Did Gravis just say that he was a traitor?

The level five King needed some seconds to comprehend the entire situation. He had never come across a traitor that just announced that they were a traitor. What should he do?

"Wait a second," the level five King said as he quickly contacted his Emperor. This was a level one Empire, which meant that they only had a single Emperor. This level five King was already one of the most powerful beasts inside this Empire, and he could only ask his Emperor for guidance regarding this matter.

Gravis nodded, which was very weird to look at.

Some seconds later, a small, green lizard appeared in front of them. Judging by the power the lizard exuded, he was most definitely an Emperor.

"You say you are a traitor?" the Emperor asked Gravis imposingly.

Gravis nodded again, eliciting a weird look from the Emperor. "Yes, an Inquisitor has deemed me a traitor when I’m not. I request an escort back to my Empress so that she may make a decision on the matter."

"How are you still alive?" the Emperor asked. All Inquisitors were powerful level five Kings, and a level three King, such as Gravis, shouldn’t be able to escape from one of them.

"I killed him," Gravis stated.

"Killed him!?" the Emperor asked in shock but quickly noticed that he let his mask of royalty slip. "Explain your situation!" the Emperor demanded as his imposing tone returned.

Gravis didn’t mind the Emperor’s straight-forward and direct words and simply told him what had happened.

After Gravis was finished, the Emperor still looked at him with uncertainty. Then, he called the squad behind Gravis to come over to him. He did that so that if Gravis threatened their lives, that threat would lose its effect. After all, while they stood beside an Emperor, Gravis couldn’t possibly kill them.

After that, the Emperor asked the squad about what had happened, and the squad told him honestly what had transpired. Their testimony was nearly identical to Gravis’. Only some details that they couldn’t possibly know about were omitted.

Yet, the Emperor was still not fully convinced. After all, what if all of them were traitors? It could very well be that they wanted to claim an escort and kill the escort to weaken the Empire. An escort had to be powerful enough to escort them, which would require a level five King, at least, to escort them. Such a beast was valuable.

After hearing the description of the fight, the Emperor remembered something. "What is your name?" the Emperor asked Gravis.

"Gravis," Gravis answered.

The eyes of the Emperor sparkled in recognition. Then, he turned around and rubbed his chin in thought. He had heard of Gravis and had also heard about what he had done. Of course, his unreal Battle-Strength was the main focus that all beasts talked about.

Yet, Gravis’ Battle-Strength was so powerful that he could kill an Inquisitor as a level two King? This really felt unreal. But hadn’t the descriptions said that his Battle-Strength was unreal?

After half a minute, the Emperor looked at Gravis again. "You want to go to the Empress of the Icy Pride Empire, correct?" he asked.

Gravis nodded.

The Emperor thought some more about the situation, and a deep desire awakened inside him.

It was greed!

The Empress was one of the most eligible mates in the entire world. If he managed to make a good impression on her, he might be able to meet her again and then offer himself up to her.

Yet, on the outside, the Emperor seemed to think about the situation with seriousness. After another half a minute, he nodded and turned to Gravis.

"Replace the dead Commander of the eastern defensive line with one of our Commanders until we find a suitable replacement," the Emperor said to the level five King beside him, who quickly nodded and flew into the distance.

Then, the Emperor turned to Gravis and looked him in the eyes with severity. "I will agree to your request for an escort to the Icy Pride Empire, but due to your power, I can’t trust a level five King to keep an eye on you."

"Therefore, I will escort you personally."

 

 

Chapter 529 - 529 – Ultimates

Gravis was a bit surprised that the Emperor personally escorted him to the Icy Pride Empire. Yet, his reasoning was rather solid. After all, Gravis had just killed an Inquisitor, and no average level five King would be able to keep him at bay if he decided to betray the land beasts.

Gravis didn’t have anything against the Emperor escorting them since he didn’t decide to betray the land beasts anyway. He had already made his promise, and he would go through with it.

After everything had been dealt with, the Emperor led the squad towards the Icy Pride Empire. Due to the squad’s relatively slow speed, they took just as much time to return as they took to get here. Gravis and the Emperor could have finished the journey in a single day, but due to the others, the journey took several days.

While they were traveling, the Emperor noticed Gravis’ body healing. When he noticed that, the Emperor released a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he was worried about Gravis, but that it would have been too weird if Gravis’ body was actually just a head. How would he even fight? Would he simply float over to someone and bite them?

While Gravis had still been a head, he tried to land several more of his jokes, but the other beasts never seemed to react. That was, until a fateful day when one member of the squad informed Gravis of something important.

They all understood his jokes, but they just didn’t react to them since the jokes were so bad. Gravis was thoroughly shocked when he heard that. Yet, Gravis decided to accommodate their poor sense of humor and didn’t try to land more jokes. This whole situation was like playing the flute for a herd of swine. They just couldn’t appreciate the talent and beauty of his jokes!

On their travels, Gravis also snagged an ore vein that had appeared along their path. This ore vein was, of course, a vein of peak Nascent Nourishing Rank materials. By forging this ore into weapons and armor, no level five King should be able to destroy it.

Yet, when Gravis thought that, he started to become uncertain. ’By hardening this ore, it should be a whole level higher than a level five King. Only something like the all-out attack of a Divine Beast should be able to destroy it.’

’At least, that’s how it’s supposed to be,’ Gravis thought with furrowed brows. ’The attacks of the Inquisitor had been so powerful that one of his spires would probably still destroy around two of my new shields. Just one of these spires had been as powerful as an all-out attack by a level five Divine Beast King. He really had been a terrifying foe.’

Gravis decided to reevaluate the actual strength of his equipment. Such insanely powerful beasts as the Inquisitor surely would become more prominent as Gravis became more powerful.

Yet, if that were truly the case, why would such a classification for equipment still be prevalent in the highest world? The highest world had beings many, many times more powerful than the most powerful being in this world, but the classification still held up.

’Maybe it’s the Law Comprehension materials?’ Gravis thought. ’It could be that their quality rises explosively when the material reaches that Realm. Eh, who cares? I need to be a level five King either way to forge such equipment.’

As they continued their journey, Gravis transformed all of the ore into more equipment for himself. Sadly, since he had become much bigger, he couldn’t create as many sets as he wanted.

’How much ore would I even need when I’m a level five King? I would be over a kilometer tall then! What when I become an Emperor?’ Gravis thought but then shook his head again, confusing the squad as they noticed his weird actions. ’Let’s deal with it when the time comes.’

The journey was uneventful. No Empire they passed through along the way stopped them. After all, a Leader of an Empire was leading the group.

Yet, the group still had to make some turns to evade some territories. Gravis remembered that they were not always flying in a straight line, and he actually didn’t know why they did that. So, he decided to ask the Emperor.

"Those are private territories," the Emperor answered.

"What’s that?" Gravis asked.

The Emperor was a bit confused that Gravis didn’t know about that. How was it possible that a level three King didn’t know something as basic as that?

"Not every beast wants to create an Empire or become part of the war. Some outstanding Emperors decide that they would rather not involve themselves with the Empires and simply live in their private territories. The territories are not very large since only these Emperors live in them, but they are still there. If we pass over their territory, they might very well decide to kill us," the Emperor explained.

This all made a lot of sense to Gravis. "And since they have the power to claim such territories while surrounded by Empires means that they are powerful, right?" Gravis asked.

The Emperor nodded. "Yes. Even the weakest has the power of a level two Emperor. These private territories also exist for Kings and Lords, but obviously, they don’t have the power to claim a private territory that close to the core of the continent."

"How do these Emperors become more powerful?" Gravis asked. "After all, since no one dares to invade them, they wouldn’t have any other beasts to kill."

"They submit an application for tempering," the Emperor explained. "All Emperors want food very badly since it’s difficult to find an enemy Emperor in battle. As soon as such an Emperor submits an application for tempering, the Emperors in the surrounding Empires get asked if they are interested in fighting them."

"After every Emperor has been asked, a list with the interested ones will be sent to the Emperor in the private territory. That Emperor then chooses one of the Emperors, and they fight to the death," the Emperor explained.

"Interesting," Gravis commented. "I’m guessing that the sea beasts don’t have such Emperors with private territories?" he asked.

The eyebrows of the Emperor lifted in surprise as he looked at Gravis. "How did you know?"

"Well, their territory is way smaller than ours. Due to the size of their territories, they have probably a lower number of powerful beasts, which requires them to use all powerful beasts more efficiently," Gravis explained.

The Emperor nodded. "Yes, that’s exactly the case, but that only counts for Emperors."

"Only for Emperors?" Gravis asked.

"Yes. The number of sea beasts varies greatly with every increase in Realm," the Emperor explained.

Gravis thought about this for a bit and realized what the Emperor was getting at. "I think I get it," Gravis said. "The ocean is vast, and the sea beasts probably have many times more beasts below the Lord Realm than the land beasts."

"Not only that," the Emperor interjected. "They also have many more Lords than us. In regards to Kings, they have about as many as us, but when it comes to Emperors, we have around double their number."

Gravis thought some more about this situation and realized something. "So, even though the sea beasts have shown incredible progress and countless victories in the last ten years, all in all, the powerful elite of us land beasts don’t care about their victories, right?"

The Emperor smirked. "Exactly. Lords and Kings might die and have their territories consumed by the sea, but the core of the world is safe. If the sea beasts ever manage to threaten the core of the world, the five Ultimates will get involved," the Emperor explained.

Gravis hadn’t heard that word before. "Ultimates? Judging by the name, the Ultimates are probably level five Emperors, right?"

The Emperor chuckled a bit. "Exactly. We have five Ultimates, while the sea beasts only have two. To be quite frank, us Emperors are actually happy about the recent victories of the sea beasts."

Gravis’ eyes shone with recognition. "Because if the sea beasts get more territory, they can make more Kings, and with more Kings come more Emperors. With that, there will be more food available for you."

The Emperor chuckled some more. "Exactly."

"That also explains why our Ultimates don’t attack their Ultimates," Gravis said while scratching his chin in thought. "If we kill the Ultimates right now, the area of the sea beasts might shrink considerably, making it harder for more Ultimates to rise."

The Emperor only nodded with a smirk.

’It’s like rearing pigs,’ Gravis thought.

After this conversation, Gravis had no more questions, and everyone returned to fly in silence. Nothing else happened along the journey, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the border of the Icy Pride Empire.

 

Chapter 530 - 530 – Judgment

The group passed the borders of the Icy Pride Empire without anything happening. Just like any other Empire they had passed through on the way, no one bothered to stop a leader of an Empire.

Some hours later, everyone arrived at the base of the Mountain of Pride. The squad and Gravis were used to the mountain’s imposing appearance, but the Emperor felt intrigued. After all, he hadn’t seen the Mountain of Pride yet.

"Truly impressive," the Emperor said with a sigh after a minute. "No wonder the Empress is one of the most powerful level three Emperors," he said.

Gravis’ ears perked up when he heard that. He hadn’t known the specific power of the Empress in relation to her Realm. Yet, somehow, it didn’t surprise him that she was one of the most powerful level three Emperors.

Gravis had already guessed that the Law of Pride wasn’t as simple as the normal Laws. One could observe matter and elements, but it was difficult to observe Pride. Just like Gravis’ Law of Suppression, the Law of Pride was also a Law that couldn’t be easily observed.

Gravis had already realized that his Law of Suppression wasn’t simple. This Law alone allowed him to jump an entire level in the Nascent Nourishing Realm. If Gravis had understood no other Law and had basically no fighting experience, this Law alone would let him triumph over a King a full level above himself.

One had to remember that a level four King knew around four Laws. Yet, with only one Law, Gravis would be able to jump an entire level. Using only one Law to defeat someone that understood four Laws one entire level higher than oneself seemed ridiculous.

Gravis guessed that his Law of Suppression was about as powerful as the Law that had allowed the Inquisitor to summon these powerful Spires. It was simply on another level than the Initial Laws.

Gravis was right in that regard. He didn’t know much about the classifications of Laws, but emotional Laws and Laws that didn’t really physically exist, like the Law of Suppression, were generally considered Low-Rank Laws. This was an entire Rank higher than Initial Laws. One had to remember that one needed to understand at least three Initial Laws to understand a Low-Rank Law.

"Follow me," the Grand Elder said as he suddenly appeared in front of them with serious eyes. For the first time, the Grand Elder was looking at Gravis with a judging and severe look. Obviously, he had already been informed about what had happened by the Emperor.

The Emperor and the squad lowered their head in a show of respect, while Gravis only raised a questioning eyebrow at the Grand Elder. When the Grand Elder saw that, he huffed and went upward. Even in this situation, Gravis didn’t follow basic protocol.

Some seconds later, everyone arrived at the peak of the Mountain of Pride. The squad immediately lowered their heads and didn’t dare to look at the Empress. In comparison, the Emperor looked at the Empress with an intense stare. Since he was an Emperor, he didn’t need to show subservience to such a degree. A basic show of respect was enough.

The Empress opened her closed eyes as she looked into the Emperor’s eyes, who immediately started shivering. The pressure he was experiencing was unreal. It was almost like a God was looking at him that could kill him with just a thought.

’I want her!’ he thought intensely but didn’t show any of that on the outside. On the outside, he simply lowered his head slightly in a nodding gesture, which was the basic show of respect.

"Hi!"

Gravis’ words made every other beast become nervous and fearful. Did Gravis have a death wish?

The Empress didn’t seem to react to his words. It was like he had said absolutely nothing just now. The Grand Elder stepped forward and took his place beside the Empress as he looked neutrally at the gathered beasts.

"Elite Striking Squad, come forward," the Empress commanded with an imposing and cold voice.

The squad didn’t dare to make the Empress repeat her order and took several steps forward.

"In front of me, no one will be able to threaten your lives," the Empress said. "Tell us honestly what has transpired ever since the traitor joined your squad."

Gravis rolled his eyes in exasperation as he heard the Empress refer to him as a traitor.

Then, the squad told the Empress the entire story honestly. They wouldn’t dare to lie in front of the Empress. When one of them said a vague statement that could be interpreted in multiple ways, the Empress commanded them to rephrase the statement.

In order to feel the lie, the statements had to be direct. Half-truths were a known way to lie to a more powerful beast.

The squad didn’t intend to lie, but they were simply too nervous, which made them refer to things vaguely in fear of saying something that wasn’t true.

The squad told the Empress everything. They told her about their first meeting with Gravis and about what they had all talked about. Then, they told her about how they arrived at the defensive line and how their dead squad leader had lured them into an ambush.

After that, it became a bit harder for them to explain everything. They didn’t hear all the conversations, and they also didn’t know how Jessy, Gravis, or the Inquisitor performed their attacks. Their power was simply too high for them to judge accurately.

After over an hour, the squad was finally finished with explaining everything. The Empress allowed them to leave the mountain and go back to their homes. When a new squad leader was chosen, they would be informed.

With that, the squad left the Mountain of Pride. Now, only the Emperor, Gravis, the Grand Elder, and the Empress remained on the peak.

"Traitor," the Empress said.

"Excuse me, it’s Gravis," Gravis interjected, making the present Emperor sweat in nervousness.

The Empress didn’t seem to react to his words. "Which Laws have you comprehended in the battles?"

"Against Jessy, I comprehended the Law of Danger. Against the Inquisitor, I comprehended the Law of Organ Growth," Gravis replied directly.

This confirmed the Empress’ suspicions. She had heard the description of the fights, and those two Laws fit the abilities that Gravis had used. This also explained how he had managed to survive as only a flying head.

"Fill in the missing gaps of the earlier testimony," the Empress commanded.

Gravis shrugged, seemingly not realizing the difficult situation he was in and simply filled in the missing gaps. Those gaps were the conversations that the squad couldn’t hear and a more detailed description of his fights.

Gravis was very straightforward and just told it as directly as possible. Even if he could lie, there was no reason to. After all, Gravis believed that he was honestly innocent and not a traitor. It was just a streak of unfortunate events.

After Gravis was finished, the Empress took half a minute to consider her options. By now, she had a very clear picture of what had happened, and she also knew that all of these things were just a series of unfortunate events. Yet, Gravis had still not acted correctly.

Gravis had forced Commander Rime, who had only intended on helping him, into a life and death fight. Additionally, an Inquisitor had a very special status for all land beasts.

Only a leader of a level three Empire or higher was allowed to kill an Inquisitor. Otherwise, traitors might use a one-sided testimony that said that they only defended themselves. After all, the dead Inquisitor wouldn’t be able to tell their side of the story.

This meant that Gravis had to be punished. There was no way around that, even if Gravis had the best of reasons to kill the gone-rogue Inquisitor.

"Coast Emperor," the Empress said as she looked at the present Emperor.

"Yes, Empress?" the Coast Emperor answered.

"We thank you for escorting the squad back to our Empire. You can leave the mountain. An Elder of mine will contact you shortly and will give you your just reward. One of my level five Kings will be under your command for the next ten years. That is all," the Empress said.

The Coast Emperor smiled and lowered his head again. "Thank you, Empress," he said. Then, he left the mountain without another word.

The Coast Emperor was smart. He was only here to make a good impression. He wouldn’t immediately burst through the door and offer to fuck. Today would only be the first step of his eleven-step plan to get the Empress to mate with him. He was playing the long game.

Now, only the Empress, the Grand Elder, and Gravis were left on top of the mountain.

"You realize that you could very well be executed for what you have done?" the Empress asked.

"Yes, but I won’t," Gravis said.

The Empress narrowed her eyes. "What makes you so sure?" she asked.

Gravis pointed at the Grand Elder. "Because he’s still here," he said.

The Grand Elder rubbed his temples in annoyance while the Empress looked at the Grand Elder. Yes, if she decided to execute Gravis, he might very well make the Grand Elder explode immediately. If she honestly wanted to execute him, she would have sent the Grand Elder away.

"Fair point," the Empress said as she turned to Gravis. "No, you won’t be executed. I know you, and I can see the whole situation from your point of view. You’re obviously not a traitor and don’t deserve death."

"Yet," the Empress said with more power, "even though I understand your reasons and wouldn’t have acted any differently from you, you have still coerced Commander Rime into a life and death fight and killed an Inquisitor. This can’t go unpunished."

"I know," Gravis said. "I can understand your position."

The Empress nodded.

"Gravis," the Empress declared imposingly.

"You are hereby sentenced to a Realm Stop for 100 years!"