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."
"Alright," Gravis answered. Then, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
BZZZ!
A very 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 him to become a King.
His lightning strengthened but quickly weakened again as the power from his lightning was siphoned into his body and Spirit. In less than a second, Gravis' lightning had gone past the threshold for becoming a King.
Gravis remained sitting there for a couple of minutes, just feeling his body, but nothing happened. Gravis grew more nervous as the mutation for becoming a King didn't appear.
BZZZZ!
Another strand entered Gravis, and his lightning increased even more. Even though this strand was just as powerful as the last one, this one increased the power of his lightning three times as much as the one before.
Gravis quickly realized the reason, and his heart started beating faster. His body and Spirit had reached the threshold, which left all the Energy to his lightning since his other centers of power couldn't absorb anything anymore. He had never been in this kind of situation before.
'Let's try some more. I shouldn't jump to conclusions immediately,' Gravis thought as he tried to remain calm.
BZZZZ!
Another strand entered his body, and his lightning started growing again. By now, it was at 480% in relation to its initial power when he had become a level five Lord.
BZZZ!
Another strand came, and Gravis' lightning jumped to 510%.
BZZZ!
Another one, but this time, it was different. It entered his body, but as soon as his lightning reached around 525%, Gravis felt some kind of resistance. Gravis felt a strange feeling. It felt like he carried too much in his hands and couldn't hold all of these things.
Yet, 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 dissipate into nature. If that happened, Gravis' will would vanish, and his self would just become normal will-less lightning.
Gravis' insides shook as he realized all these things. He opened his eyes and looked at his own body with a frown. "Is this your decision, Heaven?" Gravis spoke silently to the surroundings.
"You 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 else also follows them, but my situation is entirely different."
"You might think it's fair to put me through this, but I don't believe so," Gravis said with a cold voice. "I have had no problems with you up to now. Everything was going fine. Yet, you decide to go against me now?"
"I know that the highest Heaven is watching and judging by what I have experienced up 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 be an acceptable exception. I know that this decision lies on your shoulders," Gravis said.
Of course, no answer came.
Gravis was honestly a bit confused. It was honestly a better decision for this Heaven to allow Gravis to simply become a King. Such a situation was posing a real danger to his path to power. Additionally, Gravis had already stated very clearly that this would make him this Heaven's enemy.
Gravis was sure that this middle Heaven knew about what Gravis 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 own life? Gravis couldn't believe that.
'The rules are there to create as many powerful humans as possible,' Gravis thought as he trailed off.
'Wait!' Gravis suddenly realized something. 'I think I know what's going on,' Gravis thought as his eyes became colder.
"I see," Gravis said to his surroundings. "I think I understand you better now."
The elders in the surroundings didn't pay attention to Gravis and simply focused on their own comprehension. None of them knew that Gravis was about to unveil the true personality of this middle Heaven right in front of them.
"The rules are there to make as many powerful humans as possible," Gravis repeated again, "and I have also said that this pain will increase my power in the future. Therefore, by forcing me to follow this rule, the rule has fulfilled its purpose."
Gravis laughed bitterly for a bit. "You're quite selfless, right?" Gravis asked.
No answer came.
"You see an opportunity to increase the power of a human by following the rules. The cost isn't important to you. The fact that you know my potential makes it even better since I have a very high chance of becoming truly powerful in the future. I would become a supreme Energy magnet then."
Gravis looked with unamused eyes at the sky. "In your mind, you're sacrificing yourself for the greater good. You think your own life as unimportant in front of the goal of the highest Heaven. In order to make me become even more powerful, you are willing to throw your life away."
"Do you think yourself to be noble? Do you think this makes you a martyr? Do you think yourself better as all the other, selfish Heavens?" Gravis asked rhetorically.
"While sacrificing oneself for a greater cause is seen as noble, it breaks down when the greater cause is not actually a greater cause. A fanatic cultivator of an evil Sect sacrificing their life for the benefit of the evil Sect is not something that people or beasts would consider noble."
Gravis' eyes became colder as he looked at the sky.
"The highest Heaven's goal is about as selfless and noble as a marauding rapist," Gravis said coldly.
And for the first time, the middle Heaven answered.