Lightning Is the Only Way

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."

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!

failed my duties," Cynthia said nervously. She felt like it would be easier if she just directly apologized. Maybe her King wanted to

that something like this would happen. He got all the ore he needs now. A death in exchange for that

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 transmitted to her nonchalantly. "I already knew that he would kill some beasts. I don't

her King's dismissive response to her

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

head around the current situation. "I… did a

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

gone against your commands

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

the Red King continued. "Why would he respect my authority? I'm forcing him to do something he doesn't want. Of course

finally came to terms with

King said in annoyance. "Go back to your duties. I'll call for you if I require you

the conversation, but he could guess what they talked about based on their body language. There

current situation. If she could deal with it,

not everyone wants

duties when she heard Gravis' voice from behind her. "I will destroy the Red

almost couldn't believe what she had just heard. Did Gravis just say that

he had completely expected them. He was forcing Gravis into doing something he didn't want, and the whole Kingdom was complicit in

Red King thought that Gravis was too weak to pull off something like

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

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 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

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

the snake that you invited into your River Tribe. I thought this was a great idea, but

shock. Was this really the truth? Did her King plan on putting her home, the entire Red Kingdom, into mortal danger just so that