Silence.
For several seconds, no one said a thing.
Gravis' friends kept themselves out of this since this had nothing to do with them.
Mortis looked at Orpheus coldly.
Orpheus had betrayed him, and it hurt Mortis deeply.
"Worthless."
As soon as these words were spoken, it was like the entire atmosphere had changed.
These words were spoken coldly and with hate.
Mortis had completely cut off Orpheus from his life.
This betrayal had hurt him deeply, and he had to repay Orpheus for that pain.
One should never forget that, while Mortis' personality had changed a lot, he was still one with lightning.
A betrayal from one of his family members was unforgivable to him.
However, Orpheus was quite clever while apologizing.
He had specifically lowered himself and had shown that keeping the Emotional connection between him and Gravis was important to him.
Severing this connection was enough for Mortis.
If Orpheus hadn't put much value on their emotional connection, Mortis would have found a different way to repay Orpheus for this pain.
One should never forget that Mortis was nice to his friends but absolutely ruthless to his enemies.
If Orpheus didn't feel sufficient pain by severing their emotional bond, Mortis would have grown more powerful until…
He would kill Orpheus.
Mortis was very similar to Gravis but very different in some regards.
However, Orpheus wasn't stupid.
He knew everything about Gravis' and Mortis' lives in the higher world, and he had planned accordingly. He knew that he had to get emotionally invested in Mortis.
Orpheus knew that he had to feel sufficient pain.
Otherwise, he would die.
Could Orpheus kill Mortis?
Yes, he was more than powerful enough.
However, that would bring problems upon problems.
Gravis would forget the Law of Sentience when Mortis died.
Heaven wanted Gravis to become powerful.
The Opposer wanted Gravis to become powerful.
Essentially, it was impossible for Orpheus to kill Mortis, and even if he managed it, this would make Gravis hate him.
Orpheus knew that if he offended Mortis, he would die.
However, this didn't mean that it hurt any less.
Orpheus had seen Mortis like another brother, just like Gravis. In essence, Mortis was a younger version of Gravis.
Orpheus grimaced as he heard Mortis' cold words.
The Opposer didn't say anything.
This was between the three of them, and it was their decision to make.
Gravis also didn't say anything.
Mortis was his own being, and Gravis would let him make his decisions.
As long as Mortis didn't try to kill Orpheus, everything would be fine.
However, Gravis also noticed how deliberate Orpheus had apologized.
In essence, this took away quite a bit from the purity and honesty of the apology. After all, Orpheus went in with a plan that increased the chances of success.
Depending on the viewpoint, one could even argue that this counted as a form of emotional manipulation.
Orpheus looked at Mortis with pain. "I'm sorry, Mo-"
"Shut up!" Mortis snapped with hate. "Don't play this stupid game with me. You know exactly why you haven't drawn my killing intent. You planned for everything, and I see that you are just as shrewd and scheming as all these hypocritical Sect Masters I met."
"Don't talk to me ever again. From this day forth, you are nothing more than a random person with a personality I despise."
Orpheus took another shaky breath.
He had expected this, but it was still difficult for him.
Orpheus wanted to apologize more to Mortis to regain their emotional bond, but he knew that it was too late.
Mortis was not a forgiving person.
This was also the reason why Orpheus had been so afraid of telling Gravis the truth in the past.
When Gravis had returned from the lower world, he had just gone over an emotional hurdle, which made him emotionally fragile. On top of that, Gravis had also been influenced by the temperament of lightning.
If Orpheus had told the truth back then, Gravis would have reacted very similarly to how Mortis had acted just now.
Gravis probably wouldn't have wanted to kill him, but Gravis would have hated Orpheus.
Orpheus looked away from Mortis with regret and concentrated on Gravis.
Gravis hadn't said anything yet.
Gravis was rubbing the bridge of his nose in stress.
Gravis would have had no issues in forgiving Orpheus if he hadn't apologized in such a planned and deliberate manner.
This took away a lot of the sincerity.
It felt less like an emotional apology and more like a scheme.
Gravis hated schemes.
"You planned this very thoroughly," Gravis commented after a while of silence.
"Yes, because I don't want to lose you," Orpheus said.
"It's like you don't want to come clean but want to keep our emotional bond alive," Gravis said.
"I know, and I'm sorry for that. This is too important to me, and I can't give up on our connection. Our connection is more important to me than coming clean," Orpheus said.
Gravis sighed with frustration.
"If you had told me after I returned from the lower world, we wouldn't have met another time in our life," Gravis said. "You knew that, which was why you didn't do so. In essence, you could even say that you took advantage of my naivety."
Orpheus didn't say anything.
"If you had told me after I returned from the middle world, I would have been forced to abandon you due to the issue with my lightning. I wouldn't have wanted to anger my lightning even more."
"However, this wasn't the reason why you didn't tell me. The main reason was that you wanted to flee from the pain of seeing our connection severed."
"In essence, you have acted like a weakling that flees from any form of justified retribution," Gravis said.
"Yes," Orpheus said. "I ran away from the pain because you are too important to me as a brother and friend."
Gravis sighed again in frustration.
"However, now, none of these dangers apply. I'm a true adult now, and I'm not influenced by the temperament of lightning. This gives you the best shot at success."
Gravis rubbed his temple as he tried to make a decision.
It wasn't easy.
He knew how Orpheus felt, but one shouldn't forget that Gravis also had emotions.
Orpheus' actions had hurt him deeply.
Gravis thought long and hard about what he should do.
Gravis specifically thought about the Emotional Laws and his goal of being happy.
Right now, Gravis definitely wasn't happy at all, but did it always have to be this way?
Accepting Orpheus' apology would still sour Gravis' feelings towards him but denying Orpheus' apology also wouldn't be easy since Gravis still saw him as his brother.
Both decisions had their advantages and disadvantages.
In the end, Gravis sighed.
"I'll accept it for now," Gravis said. "However, I would ask you to not look for me again. I need some time to get over this whole thing."
"When I'm ready to talk things over, I will contact you," Gravis said.
Orpheus' body shook slightly, and a sad smile appeared on his face.
"I know that it isn't easy, and thank you, Gravis. You don't know how much this means to me," Orpheus said.
In a way, Orpheus was looking at Gravis more like he was his son instead of his brother. After all, Orpheus had seen how Gravis had grown up from being a kid to being a powerful and mature Cultivator.
This was also one of the reasons why Gravis meant so much to Orpheus.
"Go," Gravis said, not looking at Orpheus.
"Yes, thank you, Gravis," Orpheus said.
SHING!
And then, Orpheus teleported away.
Mortis looked at Gravis with a raised brow.
He had expected Gravis to simply accept Orpheus' apology outright.
However, Gravis hadn't done so.
Instead, Gravis had gone a middle-way.
Sure, he had still somewhat accepted Orpheus' apology, but it wouldn't be so easy.
In essence, Orpheus and Gravis would have to start over from scratch, slowly mending their relationship over time.
Subconsciously, Mortis often saw Gravis as a bit of an emotional pushover. He was not nearly ruthless enough to his liking, which made Gravis appear a bit weak.
Mortis knew why Gravis had acted like this, and he knew that he was doing the right thing.
However, his subconscious feelings were still hard to eradicate.
After all, feelings often didn't follow logic.
When Orpheus was gone, Gravis only sighed.
Then, he looked back at his group of friends.
"Where was I?"
Gravis tried to not let this issue sour the mood.
