The lightning entered Gravis quickly as his body started to shake. Since Gravis hadn't transformed into lightning yet, his foundation hadn't become liquified. He was still a full-blown level two King. Of course, there was still an issue Gravis had to deal with before he could evolve.
SHING! SHING!
Gravis summoned a saber and cut off both of his arms with his Spirit. His arms were so weak that it wasn't hard for him to do that. His arms had fallen multiple Realms since he had regrown them with his lightning, and if he didn't fix that, they would remain weak and eat up way too much of his power. It was better to cut them off and just regrow them. That wouldn't take more than two days.
Now, Gravis was only a hovering head with half a chest attached to him. Gravis involuntarily remembered the time when he had arrived at the lower Realm and acted as an Earth Spirit. Back then, he had only shown a single head that had been above some obsidian. Now, Gravis had actually become just a head.
Gravis felt his Realm increase as his head started to grow bigger. After some minutes, his head became quite big. 'Judging by the size of my head, I should have a body size of 50 meters. That means that my size will probably continue to quintuple after every level increase.'
After the evolution was finished, Gravis sighed, which felt weird since the air was coming from the back of his neck. Now that Gravis also had a calm moment to rest, his Will-Aura became much more powerful.
'Sure enough, the battle has done wonders for my Will-Aura. By now, my Will-Aura should be around the middle Law Comprehension Realm, which would be equal to a level three Emperor.'
Gravis thought some more about his situation. 'How ironic,' Gravis thought. 'I have promised Commander Rime that I would consider giving the land beasts a second chance in the future, and that chance had come right now.'
That meant that if he hadn't made that promise to Commander Rime, he would have defected to the sea beasts right now.
Why?
The main reason for that was the position and power an Inquisitor had. Inquisitors had the ability to declare any beast a traitor and execute them. They were representatives of the land beasts.
That power sounded like it was very abusable, and it was, but this was also the main reason why Inquisitors went through such intense checks regarding loyalty and morals.
One of these methods was to allow a beast that had some understanding of the functions of the mind to read theirs. Of course, without the soon-to-be Inquisitor's consent, such a task would prove to be nearly impossible.
Having long legal procedures would allow potential traitors to deal more damage or escape. That was why Inquisitors had the power to declare anyone a traitor instantly. Ever since the land beasts had decided on the requirements and powers of Inquisitors, the problems with spies and traitors had become way more manageable.
The badger had been an Inquisitor and therefore had also been a representant of the land beasts. Legally speaking, right now, Gravis was considered a traitor to the entire land beast faction, and this wouldn't change unless a leader of a level three Empire or higher declared him innocent. Even Elders weren't able to revoke a traitor's status. After all, there had been precedent cases of Elders also being spies.
Since Gravis was now officially a traitor to the land beasts, he would have left right now. Every member of the land beasts had the authority to kill a traitor without asking anyone for permission. This meant that Gravis' travel back to the Icy Pride Empire could prove fatal.
Yet, since Gravis gave the dead Commander Rime his promise, he would keep to his word and give the land beasts a second chance.
'Well, I shouldn't get ahead of myself,' Gravis thought, self-satisfied with his joke as he laughed. 'First, I should get to the squad and leave for the Icy Pride Empire. There's no reason to wait.'
Then, Gravis floated over to the distant squad, which looked at him with horror. It wasn't his power that they were afraid of, but the fact that he was only a floating head. By all intents and purposes, he should be dead! How was it possible that a beast survived with only a head!?
"Let's return to the Icy Pride Empire," Gravis transmitted to them.
They were taken aback as they heard him. Gravis was considered a traitor now. The squad had expected to die or for Gravis to flee, but apparently, he wanted to return to their Empire.
Seeing their reactions, Gravis only rolled his eyes. "I have made the promise to Commander Rime that I would give the land beasts another chance, and I will keep to my word."
"So, don't hang your heads in despair!" Gravis said with a smirk.
Yet, instead of laughing as Gravis had expected, the squad only continued to look at him in uncertainty. Gravis felt a bit embarrassed when he didn't see anyone react to his joke. He decided to simply play it off like he had never said a joke in the first place. It was their loss for missing out on his amazing joke!
"Let's just go. Follow me," Gravis said, "We're going to the closest Empire to get an escort to the Icy Pride Empire. You all have seen with your own eyes what has transpired. Just tell the first Empire we pass with honesty what you have seen. I'm sure it will be okay."
Then, Gravis turned around and flew towards the west. The squad looked with uncertainty at each other, but after a while, they decided to follow him. Right now, their current position would have been the best place to kill them. If Gravis wanted to kill them, he could have done so here.
The squad decided to believe in Gravis since he had saved their lives previously by unmasking their traitorous squad leader.
After traveling for a couple of minutes, they arrived at the borders of the closest Empire, and, sure enough, a level five King appeared in front of them.
"Halt! What is your business?" he asked with aggression.
The squad was unsure if they should speak up now, but Gravis took that choice from them.
"I have been declared a traitor by an Inquisitor and want to speak to my Empress about getting that status revoked since it has been placed upon me unjustified," Gravis said directly.
The level five King looked at Gravis with shock. He had just noticed that Gravis was only a head, which he hadn't noticed before. After all, in comparison to the average beast, Gravis was way too small.
Additionally, what did he just say? Did Gravis just say that he was a traitor?
The level five King needed some seconds to comprehend the entire situation. He had never come across a traitor that just announced that they were a traitor. What should he do?
"Wait a second," the level five King said as he quickly contacted his Emperor. This was a level one Empire, which meant that they only had a single Emperor. This level five King was already one of the most powerful beasts inside this Empire, and he could only ask his Emperor for guidance regarding this matter.
Gravis nodded, which was very weird to look at.
Some seconds later, a small, green lizard appeared in front of them. Judging by the power the lizard exuded, he was most definitely an Emperor.
"You say you are a traitor?" the Emperor asked Gravis imposingly.
Gravis nodded again, eliciting a weird look from the Emperor. "Yes, an Inquisitor has deemed me a traitor when I'm not. I request an escort back to my Empress so that she may make a decision on the matter."
"How are you still alive?" the Emperor asked. All Inquisitors were powerful level five Kings, and a level three King, such as Gravis, shouldn't be able to escape from one of them.
"I killed him," Gravis stated.
"Killed him!?" the Emperor asked in shock but quickly noticed that he let his mask of royalty slip. "Explain your situation!" the Emperor demanded as his imposing tone returned.
Gravis didn't mind the Emperor's straight-forward and direct words and simply told him what had happened.
After Gravis was finished, the Emperor still looked at him with uncertainty. Then, he called the squad behind Gravis to come over to him. He did that so that if Gravis threatened their lives, that threat would lose its effect. After all, while they stood beside an Emperor, Gravis couldn't possibly kill them.
After that, the Emperor asked the squad about what had happened, and the squad told him honestly what had transpired. Their testimony was nearly identical to Gravis'. Only some details that they couldn't possibly know about were omitted.
Yet, the Emperor was still not fully convinced. After all, what if all of them were traitors? It could very well be that they wanted to claim an escort and kill the escort to weaken the Empire. An escort had to be powerful enough to escort them, which would require a level five King, at least, to escort them. Such a beast was valuable.
After hearing the description of the fight, the Emperor remembered something. "What is your name?" the Emperor asked Gravis.
"Gravis," Gravis answered.
The eyes of the Emperor sparkled in recognition. Then, he turned around and rubbed his chin in thought. He had heard of Gravis and had also heard about what he had done. Of course, his unreal Battle-Strength was the main focus that all beasts talked about.
Yet, Gravis' Battle-Strength was so powerful that he could kill an Inquisitor as a level two King? This really felt unreal. But hadn't the descriptions said that his Battle-Strength was unreal?
After half a minute, the Emperor looked at Gravis again. "You want to go to the Empress of the Icy Pride Empire, correct?" he asked.
Gravis nodded.
The Emperor thought some more about the situation, and a deep desire awakened inside him.
It was greed!
The Empress was one of the most eligible mates in the entire world. If he managed to make a good impression on her, he might be able to meet her again and then offer himself up to her.
Yet, on the outside, the Emperor seemed to think about the situation with seriousness. After another half a minute, he nodded and turned to Gravis.
"Replace the dead Commander of the eastern defensive line with one of our Commanders until we find a suitable replacement," the Emperor said to the level five King beside him, who quickly nodded and flew into the distance.
Then, the Emperor turned to Gravis and looked him in the eyes with severity. "I will agree to your request for an escort to the Icy Pride Empire, but due to your power, I can't trust a level five King to keep an eye on you."
"Therefore, I will escort you personally."
