Lightning Is the Only Way

The watching elders weren't sure what they should feel right now. On one hand, they felt betrayed by such a close companion being a traitor the entire time, but on the other hand, the Grand Elder had just killed the elder ruthlessly. Yes, logically, it was the correct decision, but the simple way that the snake died just left a bitter aftertaste in their mouths.

The Grand Elder remained silent after saying his piece and sighed again. He hated that he had to act like this for the interest of the Empire. If it were up to him, he wouldn't care about the snake being a traitor. They had been comrades for many years, and the affiliation of a comrade wasn't very important to the Grand Elder. He valued the beast, not their belonging.

Yet, since the Grand Elder was the Grand Elder, he had a responsibility he had to uphold. He had the responsibility to protect the Empire, and that forced him to kill the snake. He was the Grand Elder, and he needed to fulfill his duty.

Gravis watched the Grand Elder and could empathize with his emotions. Holding a position of power also came with responsibilities. These responsibilities could also be seen as suppressions or shackles that someone had to deal with.

Gravis had also been confronted with these things when he had been the Leader of the River Tribe. A good example had been Liza joining the Tribe. Back then, she had asked if she was allowed to kill Orthar. Gravis, obviously, didn't like that one bit, but he had established the rules, and he had been forced to uphold them. Because of that, he had given Liza permission to kill his best friend in this world.

As Gravis fell back into memories, he thought about his surviving friends in this world: Orthar, Silva, maybe also Liza, but he wasn't that close to her.

Was Orthar still alive? If so, how powerful had he become already? Was Silva able to live peacefully, or had he been forced onto the path of power again due to how the world worked? Gravis had no idea what had happened to them. It had already been over five years by now.

Yet, Gravis quickly shook his head to regain his bearings. Right now, he needed to focus on himself. The rule was still weighing heavily on his mind, and he was about to find his answer soon.

A small part of Gravis didn't want to know the answer due to the possibility of it being a no, but he wouldn't hesitate because of something like that. A mortal might be afraid to take such a step, but Gravis had gone through worse. Yet, if the answer was truly a no, Gravis wasn't sure what he should do.

'The pain I have felt in the past has made me grow and become more powerful than everyone else in my Stage. This pain I'm feeling right now is only temporary, and when everything is over, this will increase my power too,' Gravis thought with determined eyes.

'I need clarity!'

Gravis flew towards one of the mountain peaks and sat down. "I will be sitting here for the foreseeable future," Gravis transmitted to the Grand Elder.

Gravis' voice transmission brought the Grand Elder out of his thoughts, and he nodded. "Alright. If you need to leave, tell me. I will send an elder from here back to the Empress to inform her of what has transpired."

Gravis answered. Then, he closed his eyes and took a deep

BZZZ!

thin strand of lightning left the dark clouds and hit Gravis. It quickly got absorbed without any issue, and Gravis felt his Realm become more powerful instantly. This small strand of lightning was already more than enough for

his lightning was siphoned into his body and Spirit. In less than a second, Gravis'

remained sitting there for a couple of minutes, just feeling his body, but nothing happened. Gravis

BZZZZ!

increased even more. Even though this strand was just as powerful as the last one, this one increased the

and Spirit had reached the threshold, which left all the Energy to his lightning since his

jump to conclusions immediately,' Gravis thought as he

BZZZZ!

now, it was at 480%

BZZZ!

strand came, and Gravis' lightning

BZZZ!

525%, Gravis felt some kind of resistance. Gravis felt a strange feeling. It felt like he carried

the difference between this analogy and Gravis' situation was that in the analogy, he might simply drop the things, while in reality, Gravis' self might

his own body with a frown. "Is this your decision, Heaven?" Gravis spoke silently to

do realize that the rules have only been created to create as many powerful humans as possible, right? I'm not some beast, Heaven. You might think that forcing me to adhere to the rule is fair because everyone

voice. "I have had no problems with you up to now. Everything was going fine. Yet, you decide to go against me

to now, the highest Heaven probably left the choice to you. Both outcomes are acceptable to the highest Heaven. One outcome would be following the rules, while the other one would

course, no answer

become a King. Such a situation was posing a real danger to his

had done. Because of that, Gravis was also sure that this middle Heaven knew precisely what kind of danger Gravis could pose to it. Did it really not fear for its

powerful humans as possible,' Gravis