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 some kind of elaborate punishment from her

like it would

killed? Forget it. I've already expected that something like this would happen. He got all the ore

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

knew that he would kill some beasts. I don't care about some weak beasts dying. I only care about him not eating himself into becoming a level five Lord. That would be

shock by her King's dismissive response to

eat it is better than even the best-case scenario I had in my mind. So, I could say

current situation.

territory, gathered everything he needs, and only killed a single beast during that time.

reality of the situation. "But he has gone against your commands by killing that beast. He has shown no respect for your

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

something he doesn't want. Of course he's going to

while and thought about her King's words. After some seconds, she finally came to terms with the situation. "Then, thank you for your

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

talked about based on their body language. There were very few things that Gravis hated more than hypocrisy, and Cynthia's conduct had been extremely hypocritical in

of the current situation. If she could deal with it, maybe her mindset would change. If she couldn't, she would go through hell. This

not everyone wants to

back to her duties when she heard Gravis'

believe what she had just heard.

to mind his words. In actuality, he had completely expected them. He was forcing Gravis into doing something he didn't want, and the whole

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

future. On top of that, the Red King believed that Gravis had the potential to actually succeed. So, why was he even commenting on

do you?" Gravis asked the Red King. "You don't care about the destruction of your Kingdom. You are probably sure that you would soon become an Emperor. As long as you're still

a bit of annoyance. "You know that we both know that we will become enemies in the future. What's the point of

you. You are already very powerful, and someone like you should know that pressure is the best way to become powerful. So, by suppressing me, you not only get a reward from the Empress but also get a powerful, future enemy. That's quite smart, in

was a great idea, but why use

her King plan on putting her home, the entire Red Kingdom, into mortal danger just so that he had a chance of becoming