Lightning Is the Only Way

The Judge looked at Gravis with solemn eyes. "Every time," he said slowly. "Why is it you, every time? We have more traitors than before, but there are still not that many. So, why is it that it's always you stumbling into them?"

Gravis smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "I just didn't want my children to be under potential traitors. It's not my fault that there actually was one," he said.

The Judge sighed. "I know," he said helplessly. "Tell me how all of this happened."

Who the Judge was should be obvious by now. It was the Grand Elder of the Icy Pride Empire, the white ape.

This explained several things. The traitorous Emperor had said that only a Judge would be able to punish Gravis for his offense of killing an Inquisitor. However, no Judge had arrived to punish Gravis in the last century. Why was that?

That was because the Grand Elder had been present when the Empress gave him his punishment. The two of them had probably decided on the punishment together. Like this, Gravis had already been punished by a Judge.

Additionally, only Judges could order Inquisitors around. Hadn't the Grand Elder said that he had sent the badger to the southern defensive line to check for traitors when Gravis had been part of the invasion force? On top of that, it had also been the Grand Elder that had sent the Inquisitor with him when Gravis had his brief run-in with the traitorous Squad Leader of the Elite Striking Squad.

Everything had pointed to the Grand Elder. Sadly, Gravis hadn't been able to make the connection since the Grand Elder always took a backseat to the Empress.

Yet, something else also interested Gravis. Based on how powerful a Judge had to be, the Grand Elder would need to have the ability to fight a level three Emperor. Was he truly so powerful? So, Gravis checked the Grand Elder out again, and what he found shocked him.

"You've comprehended Punishment Lightning?" Gravis asked in shock.

The Grand Elder huffed. "You've finally noticed, huh? I've already comprehended it when you returned from the Plant Ultimate. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed when you didn't notice the Punishment Lightning inside me."

"I mean," Gravis said awkwardly, "I have no reason to keep inspecting you every time we meet. You're not an enemy."

The Grand Elder sighed again as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Just tell me what happened," he said helplessly.

Gravis told the Grand Elder everything that had happened as soon as he had left the Icy Pride Empire. He told him that he had found it quite suspicious that this defensive line hadn't moved in forever and that he had also suspected the Commander of being a traitor, which had turned out not to be true.

he had started to suspect the Emperor and how he had prepared himself for the fight. After telling the Grand Elder everything about the fight, he finally arrived at

he stroked his beard in thought. "I presume that this Life

Gravis nodded.

I see it?"

said as

Life Ring, but he just couldn't make any sense of it. Things like Artifacts and Formation Arrays didn't exist in this world. To the Grand Elder, something like this appeared way too magical to be real. How could someone use this tiny ring to

Gravis hadn't already proven to be anything but normal, the Grand Elder would have had immense doubts. Yet, if it was Gravis, everything he said was most

had no hope of survival, which was why he had been able to remain calm, but

validity," the Grand Elder said as he threw the Life Ring back to

to do

simply act like he was under Gravis' control if the Life Ring didn't work. True loyalty couldn't be

is also my responsibility to find new Inquisitors, and for

an invasive investigation of their minds to see if they were spies. Initially, Gravis had thought that there were some

start. Then, the Grand

you have no other option but to consent to a

about someone digging around in his mind, the lizard felt relieved. It looked like he would be able to survive. "Yes, Judge,"

Then, the Grand Elder put his hand on the lizard's head and instructed him to not resist. The mind was the most intimate and most protected place of a living being.

some minuscule strings of lightning came out of the Grand Elder and entered the lizard's head. After around five minutes, the Grand Elder retrieved his hand and stroked his beard

thoughts," the Grand Elder muttered. "We

have not only found a traitor but also allowed the land beasts' camp to learn a lot about the sea beasts. You will probably

his neck. "To be honest, there are a lot of

the Life Ring. After that, I will take another look at the mind of

the lizard. "You will feel something enter your mind. If you resist,

waited for the Judge. By now, he had already accepted the fact that, in the future, his

ahead," the lizard

nothing happening for several seconds. Yet, as they were watching, an incredibly complex Formation Array

seconds later, the lizard opened his eyes again. Then, he bowed before Gravis. "Morus greets Master," he said