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."

failed her duties? Her King had said that Gravis wasn't allowed to kill a beast, but he had killed one under her watch! Was this

would be easier if she just directly apologized. Maybe her King wanted to test her loyalty towards

something. "Oh, you mean that beast he killed? Forget it. I've already expected that something like this would happen. He got all

like she hadn't failed? "I don't mean any disrespect, my King, but haven't you said that

knew that he would kill some beasts. I don't care about some weak beasts dying. I only care about him not eating

her King's dismissive response to

eat it is

current situation. "I… did a good job?" she

everything he needs, and only killed a single

has gone against your commands by killing

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

authority? I'm forcing him to do something he doesn't want. Of

After some seconds, she finally came to terms with the situation. "Then,

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

they talked about based on their body language. There were very few things that Gravis hated

own hypocrisy by unveiling the truth of the current situation. If she could deal with it, maybe her mindset would change. If she couldn't,

not everyone wants to

get back to her duties when she heard Gravis' voice from behind her. "I will

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

expected them. He was forcing Gravis into doing something he didn't want, and the whole

was too weak to pull off something like that.

this enmity in the future. On top of that, the Red King believed that Gravis had the potential to actually succeed. So,

the destruction of your Kingdom. You are probably sure that you would soon become an Emperor. As long as you're still alive, you

talking nonsense?" the Red King asked with a bit of annoyance. "You know that we both know that we will become enemies in the future. What's the point of saying this? In truth,

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

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

her