Morus' mind recovered instantly as his old personality returned. Gone was his reverence towards Gravis. Now, he was able to see Gravis for what he was.
The over 700 years of being a servant appeared inside his mind. The 700 years of having no freedom felt terrifying to him. He had wasted 700 years under someone else!
Gravis had already fully prepared himself for the inevitable battle. Every single beast that had been freed from Gravis' Life Ring previously had wanted nothing but his death. Being stripped of one's own will was not something that someone could take easily.
Morus' eyes narrowed as killing intent radiated from him. Then, he looked with cold eyes at the distant Gravis.
Yet, instead of speaking or attacking, Morus remained silent for several seconds. He was only glaring coldly at Gravis.
But then, he relaxed and looked evenly at Gravis. "You have not thought this through, Gravis," Morus said coldly.
Gravis only smirked. "I have had this plan for several centuries now, Morus," Gravis said. "I know that you have a high chance of killing me, but if you didn't have this chance, I wouldn't have freed you. You should know that I require genuine tempering since you should also know me pretty well by now."
Morus harrumphed. "That is not what I have meant."
"Enlighten me," Gravis said slowly.
"Being under someone else's suppression and control for so long truly makes me hate you. Yet, I know your power. If I were to attack you out of rage, I have a possibility of death without any potential reward. What do I get out of our fight?" Morus said.
Gravis raised an eyebrow. "There is something to that, yes, but are you just willing to walk away like that?"
Morus slowly shook his head. "These are the two use-cases you had come up with when you decided to release me, right? Either I had to fight you or avoid a fight with you."
"What else is there for you to choose?" Gravis asked.
Morus sneered as he lifted his right claw. "You have forgotten something. I have a bellyful of anger and hatred towards you bottled up deep inside of me. Yet, if I fight you, I might very well die. Then, wouldn't I die filled with regrets?"
Then, Morus lifted his left claw. "Yet, if I simply flee like this, I won't ever be able to get rid of this hatred. I want to hurt you, but I might not have the power to hurt you, but I also can't let you go."
"So," Morus said with a smirk. "What method do I have to hurt you immensely without battling you?"
First, Gravis had no idea what Morus meant, but then his eyes widened in horror.
Gravis had committed a horrible mistake!
Morus knew nearly everything about him. This meant that he also knew of Gravis' weakness.
Morus noticed Gravis' change of expression and smirked. "You are powerful enough to resist me, but what about your offspring?" Morus asked with a voice of superiority. "What if I just went to the southern territories and killed your offspring? What then?"
Gravis' insides churned as his mind filled with fear, panic, rage, hatred, and helplessness. Morus was faster than Gravis. If Morus wanted to flee, Gravis had no way to stop him!
Additionally, the last news he had heard from Orthar about his children was that they had been level one Emperors. Becoming level two Emperors would already be amazing in such a short time, but they couldn't possibly be level three Emperors. Additionally, Morus was above-average for a level three Emperor. His children would have no chance against him.
Yet, Gravis only narrowed his eyes as he looked with killing intent at Morus. "If you do that, you will forfeit your life, and you know that," Gravis said. "As soon as I see you trying to flee, I will search for the next level two Emperor and become an Emperor myself. At that point, only death awaits you."
"What if I have already accepted my death?" Morus asked. "I have been under your control for 700 years, and that hatred is so powerful that I want to resolve it, even if I die. Not everyone is as rational as you, Gravis. Sometimes, beasts do something that is damaging to themselves out of emotional reasons."
Gravis gnashed his teeth. He knew that was a possibility, but he had banked on the fact that Morus was still rational. After all, Morus was still talking to him.
"Then why are you not doing it, Morus?" Gravis asked coldly.
"To show you that you are not in control, Gravis," Morus answered with a smirk. "You believe yourself to be in control far more often than you actually are. This is a weakness of yours. You believe yourself to be safe in the core of the continent since no one would get anything out of a fight with you."
Morus gestured to his surroundings. "Yet, what about emotions? What if a beast wants to make a name for themselves and kill the legendary Gravis? Maybe there is a fanatic group among the sea beasts that believe you to still be part of the land beasts' camp, even though you have left it?"
"One level three Emperor is a challenge, but two are your death. You think very logically and rationally, but not everyone thinks logically and rationally. Some beasts just follow their feelings, and if they feel threatened by your mere existence, they might act against you."
"By remaining this openly in the middle of the world, are you not banking on your own luck? Are you not banking on the fact that no beast has any interest in killing you even though there are countless beasts? Are you saying that there isn't, at least, one idiot among millions of beasts? Are you that naïve?" Morus asked.
"And what about your background?" Morus continued. "Not everyone shares the same mindset as that one white ape in the old Icy Pride Empire. He has the wise mindset of looking at the long-term benefits when making decisions. Yet, sometimes, someone doesn't have the time to consider the long-term benefits. Sometimes, you need short-term benefits to even stay alive."
"You tell everyone of your background and your extraordinary powers and bank on the fact that they wouldn't want to risk fighting you. Isn't that also relying on luck?"
"In the end," Morus said slowly with a smirk, "You are not in control but are relying on everyone else being as rational as you, which is naïve."
Gravis hated what he was hearing, but he had to concede the fact that Morus was right. People and beasts often thought of others to be more like themselves. Deceiving people saw traitors and deceptive intent in everyone around them, while naïve people saw only friendliness and good around them.
Yet, there were still apathetic people and people who didn't consider their own gain. Gravis had bet too much on the fact that everyone was able to remain rational in an emotional and stressful situation.
"Why are you telling me this, Morus?" Gravis asked coldly. "You should know that your words are only benefiting me since you are highlighting one of my weaknesses. If you wanted to hurt me, you would have immediately acted without telling me anything."
Morus had to laugh at Gravis' words. "Do you see this?" Morus said. "Even now, you believe that you know how I think. You believe that just because I teach you something now, that I don't want to hurt you. For a beast similar to you, that might be true."
"But as for the reason…" Morus said as he trailed off with a smirk.
"I only wanted to give you hope before I dash it."
BANG!
And Morus shot towards the south with full speed.
