Aris, Cera, and Yersi looked at Gravis with cold eyes. Gravis noticed these cold eyes and could already take several guesses at what these meant.
"You don't seem as impressive as everyone makes you out to be," Aris said coldly.
'So, it's that, huh? Sometimes, I simply can't get beasts,' Gravis thought. Saying that he didn't feel anything when he heard these words would be a lie. To humans, as long as a family member didn't prove to be a dick, feeling familial love would be natural. Yet, to beasts, even familial love needed to be earned.
To Gravis, it didn't feel very pleasant that his children would only care about him as long as he proved himself to be powerful. This kind of felt impure to him. Yet, what could he do? They were beasts at heart, and that was just how beasts were.
"Does it really matter if I'm impressive or not? If I were the weakest level three King, would you simply despise me?" Gravis asked.
Gravis watched his kids to see their reactions. Aris didn't show any reaction, just like Cera. Yet, Yersi appeared to be a bit unsure. 'So, they are not pure beasts. At least, Yersi still seems to hesitate. Interesting.'
"If you were so pathetic, you wouldn't have any right to be our father," Aris said coldly. Cera also agreed with that. Yersi kept silent.
'Ouch, that stings,' Gravis thought. 'Well, it doesn't matter much. They are still my kids. If every parent immediately stopped loving their kids just because their kids said once that they hated them, no one would have any parents left. It's not great, but that's just how it is.'
"So," Gravis said, "You're saying that I need to beat some sense into you?"
Aris narrowed his eyes as he looked at Gravis. "No one jumps levels against me. Instead, I'm the one jumping the levels. I haven't fought an Emperor yet, but I'm sure that I can fight one."
Gravis believed Aris' first statement, but the second one was just pure nonsense. Starting at the Law Comprehension Realm, every beast was a Divine Beast. This meant that a level one Emperor had a body 16 times more powerful than Aris. This wasn't impossible to beat, but the true power of an Emperor was their Laws, not their body or Realm.
Even Gravis doubted that he could take down an Emperor, even if that Emperor was one that would be countered by one of his Composition Laws. As for Aris? Aris wasn't even a bit dangerous to Gravis right now.
"Have you fought anyone yet that managed to comprehend a level two Law?" Gravis asked.
"No, but I want to," Aris said.
"Do you want to feel the power of a level two Law?" Gravis asked with a smirk.
WHOOOOOM!
Gravis released his Will-Aura, as well as his Law of Suppression. Their three bodies seized when they felt the incomparably domineering pressure. Moving their bodies became incredibly difficult under Gravis' Will-Aura.
Aris looked at Gravis with narrowed eyes. He had definitely underestimated his father. Yet, this suppression wasn't enough to stop him. He was still several times faster than his father.
"This is the power of a level two Law," Gravis explained. "Yet, the power of this level two Law, on average, is a bit weaker than an average level two Law. Of course, that weakness is being canceled out by its other advantage. Keeping this Law going costs me absolutely nothing. I can keep this suppression up for years."
Aris' eyes glowed coldly. "It's powerful, I have to give you that, but it's not enough to overpower me."
Gravis only chuckled a bit. "Don't forget that I'm a level three King. Now, imagine if I were a level five King. Do you think you would still be able to move?"
Aris was no longer an inexperienced child. Due to that, he could judge very well how powerful this Law would be if Gravis were a level five King.
In the beginning, it didn't seem like Aris had changed at all. Yet, that wasn't true. Instead of doubting Gravis' words, he accepted them. Aris had accepted that he had been mistaken and that if Gravis were a level five King, Aris would be helpless against him.
Back then, Aris would have denied this fact, but now, he accepted that he had been wrong.
"It seems like fighting a level five King that has comprehended a level two Law is still too difficult for me," Aris admitted. "I concede the fact that I would be helpless against you if you were a level five King."
"Yet, you're not a level five King," Aris said.
Gravis smiled. "I'm happy to hear these words. You're finally able to accept when you're wrong. In the beginning, I had thought that you fell back into your mindlessly arrogant self, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm proud of you, Aris." Gravis said.
Aris didn't want to admit it, but he felt something when Gravis said that he was proud of him. Something deep inside of him felt happy when Gravis said these words. Yet, his mindset as a beast still took priority.
Father and son were not two equal positions. If Gravis were only Aris' brother or companion, Aris would have no issue with accepting Gravis. Yet, by Gravis being his father, Gravis needed to prove that he was more powerful than Aris, and not just on his same level.
Suddenly, the pressure disappeared.
"Actually," Gravis said with a smile. "I've never had the opportunity to truly show you my power. Back then, you all were still too weak. So, this time, let me show the true difference between us both."
Gravis' smile transformed into a smirk. "I'll show you that I don't even need this Law to completely suppress you. I also won't use my special affinity towards lightning. I won't even use my Will-Aura."
"I'm not using my three most powerful weapons against you. Yet, I'll also show you that I don't need them to suppress you, someone who is two levels above me."
Aris' eyes sparkled coldly. If he still were back in his youth, he would have thought that Gravis was disrespecting him, but now, Aris knew that Gravis was just very confident in his power.
Cera and Yersi moved to the side to let the two fight.
Aris immediately returned to his true size, which was over a kilometer tall. Meanwhile, Gravis only became 50 meters tall.
BANG! BANG!
Lightning exploded behind Aris as he shot forward with incredible speed. Then, he punched Gravis with his full power. Yet, he didn't hit Gravis, but something hard.
Gravis had summoned his shield and armor. These were created with Peak Nascent Nourishing Rank Materials and crafted with the Hard Pure Material Law. As long as Aris wasn't able to release the power of a level two Law, they wouldn't break.
Gravis got shot to the distance, but he quickly righted himself again. Meanwhile, Aris was shocked that Gravis didn't even receive an injury. Additionally, he hadn't seen the armor before. He almost couldn't recognize his father anymore.
"Quite fast, Aris," Gravis said from a distance. "Do you want to see true speed?" he asked.
BANG!
Gravis used his full speed.
He put all his power into his body to kick himself forward. At the same time, he also used his Pulse to increase his lightning to the maximum and made it explode behind him. Shortly after that, he took all the power out of his body and shoved it into his lightning. This made his body incredibly light. Then, he used the Law of Lightning Speed to its full effect.
Aris' eyes widened when he saw Gravis. If Gravis hadn't been so far away, Aris would have barely been able to react. One had to remember that Gravis was only a level three King. Yet, Gravis had shown that he was just as fast as Aris, a level five King Divine Beast that was very proud of his speed.
BZZZZ!
Aris released a tremendous amount of lightning, which quickly created some kind of net around him. Gravis knew that this was a Law, but he hadn't seen that one yet. Was this some kind of Law regarding Lightning's defense or something?
Nevertheless, Gravis moved in.
SSSHHHH!
The lightning net was reduced to Energy, which simply vanished into the surroundings. Gravis had used his Composition Law of Lightning. His will was many times stronger than Aris', which allowed him to not only weaken his lightning but make it disappear entirely.
Aris' eyes widened in shock as he saw his lightning net vanish. How did his lightning suddenly vanish!?
Aris had expected that his lightning net would, at least, slow Gravis down. Yet, for Gravis, it didn't even exist. He didn't even need his special control over lightning to do this. This was just the suppression that the Composition Law of Lightning had over lightning.
Aris readied himself for a counterattack. There was no way for him to dodge or block Gravis' attack since it was already too close. So, he decided to just take the hit and deliver a powerful counterattack. His powerful scales would protect him.
SHING!
Gravis' saber entered deeply into Aris' torso, which was to be expected. What could these scales do against such a powerful and sharp saber? This saber was basically a Realm higher than Aris.
Aris gritted his teeth but punched downward at Gravis' head.
BZZZ!
Gravis simply summoned a shield on his back and quickly fused it to his armor. Now, it was like he was wearing a turtle shell. On top of that, Aris' fist was too big to only target Gravis' head. This meant that Gravis only needed to lower his head, and the fist would hit his back first.
BANG!
Gravis was hit on the back, and he felt his insides shake. Yet, his body was specifically designed to resist blunt force attacks. Due to that, he only got some minor bleeding, which would be healed in a matter of minutes.
SHIIIIIIIING!
Gravis kept his hands at his saber and used the downward force from the strike to slice up Aris' entire side. This created a gigantic gash, and the resistance of the cut also made Gravis slow down before he hit the ground.
Aris felt incredible pain as his organs nearly started falling out. Yet, he wouldn't drop his guard.
BZZZZZ!
Except that he had dropped it for just a minuscule moment when he tried to deal with the pain. Gravis immediately used his acceleration again and shot at Aris. In that short time, Gravis arrived at the previous cut and entered it. Aris was many times bigger than Gravis, and this allowed Gravis to enter the cut.
Aris felt horrified when Gravis entered his body through the cut. Aris had never had an opponent enter his body! Yet, that was only natural. After all, if someone managed to enter his body, Aris would undoubtedly die.
Aris felt a burning pain going through his body as Gravis shot upwards through it. His organs and muscles were not powerful enough to resist him.
"Did you know that we humans associate love with the heart?" Gravis transmitted to Aris.
"I'm currently touching your heart. Does that mean that I now also have your love?" he asked smugly.
