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."

that Gravis wasn't allowed to kill a

nervously. She felt like it would be easier if she just directly apologized. Maybe her King wanted to test

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

Why did her King act like she hadn't failed? "I don't mean any disrespect, my King, but haven't you said that he isn't allowed to kill a

"I already knew that he would kill some beasts. I don't care about some weak beasts dying. I only

in shock by her King's dismissive response to her

beast and didn't even eat it is better than even the best-case scenario I had in my

the current situation. "I… did a good

gathered everything he needs, and only killed a single

fully accept the reality of the situation. "But he has gone against your commands

any fear for his life. It's frustrating me to no end, but he's not stupid. He has a lot of guts to gamble with his life like that, and that's a quality I admire, even

Of course he's going to fight back. Powerful beasts have their own

her King's words. After some seconds, she finally came to terms with the situation.

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

on their body language. There were very few things that Gravis hated more than hypocrisy, and Cynthia's conduct

she could deal with it, maybe her mindset would change. If she

wants to

away to get back to her duties when she heard Gravis' voice from behind her. "I will destroy the Red Kingdom in the future,"

halted and almost couldn't believe what she had just heard. Did

forcing Gravis into doing something he didn't want, and the whole Kingdom was complicit in it. Who wouldn't want to destroy their captors? To him, this sentence had no relevancy at

to pull off something like that. It was just that this sentence changed nothing

want to avenge this enmity in the future. On top of that, the Red King believed that

care about that, do you?" Gravis asked the Red King. "You don't care about the destruction of your Kingdom. You are probably sure

that we both know that we will become enemies in the future. What's the point of saying this? In truth, I'm looking forward to

would want to use me to put pressure on you. You are already very powerful, and someone like you should know that pressure is the best way to become powerful. So, by suppressing me, you not only get a reward from the Empress but also get a powerful, future

King also smirked. "To be honest, I stole that idea from you. I've heard about the snake that you invited into your River Tribe. I thought this was a great idea, but why use just any beast if I can use the beast that originally came up with that

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