Morus smirked. "Good," he said. "Then you can go visit your offspring. I can't understand why you are hanging onto them so tightly, but that's your thing. You can simply contact me when it's time to go."
Gravis was not comfortable with the situation. Obviously, Morus hated him deeply. Yet, Morus had put benefits above his emotions and even called emotions a weakness. Sadly, that mindset was one that Gravis could empathize with.
Back in the lower world, when he had still not confronted his feelings, he had thought the same thing. Emotional decisions would mostly end with a bad outcome, which was why he hated and suppressed his emotions back then.
Yet, after talking to his mother, he realized that suppressing his emotions to have a greater shot at achieving his goal would invalidate his entire goal. Sure, he would be free in the end, but what then? Everything after that would be hollow.
Gravis still didn't make decisions on an emotional basis, but he also didn't need to completely suppress and kill them. Gravis saw the danger in what such a mindset could bring in the end, but he didn't tell Morus.
After all, the two of them were definitely not companions. Telling someone about their flaws would help them, and Gravis surely didn't want to help Morus more than necessary. After they returned to the highest world, their paths would split. The chances were high that Morus would be far out of his element in the highest world and would find a quick death.
"When it is time, I will contact you," Gravis said evenly. Then, he turned around and shot towards the south. It had been over 700 years since he had seen his children, and he wanted to know how everything was going for them.
Morus only smirked. "I wish you luck," he said with a weird tone.
Gravis furrowed his brows as he heard Morus. 'I'm pretty sure that he doesn't know something I don't know about my kids, but his way of speaking just sounds ominous. Is this another way for him to rile me up emotionally?' Gravis thought.
Ironically, Morus had learned a lot about control while he had been Gravis' servant. Because of that, when Gravis talked to Morus, it felt challenging for him to gain control of the conversation. Gravis enjoyed being in control, and he was pretty good at gaining control over a situation, but it felt very difficult when he talked to Morus.
'There's one thing I know for sure now,' Gravis thought with narrowed eyes. 'Morus is not stupid, and he is very dangerous. I guess most of my problems when dealing with him come from the fact that Morus knows a ton about me while I know nearly nothing about him. Our powers are comparable, but Morus is able to take most of the control for himself.'
'Yet, I wonder, is my feeling of having control really factual, or have my opponents just not shown their hands? Morus is openly demonstrating his control of the situation, while others might keep it a secret.'
Gravis sneered. 'Morus might not have realized it, but his conduct is very humanlike. I shouldn't forget that I'm currently in a world filled with beasts, which normally are not the biggest fans of scheming. When I return home or go to the next world, I will come into contact with humans again, and humans like scheming. I must not relax and think of myself to be the intellectually superior one. Otherwise, I might die to my own arrogance.'
Gravis thought more about his mindset and how it might affect him in an environment filled with humans while he flew towards the south. He didn't want to admit it, but Morus' lesson had been incredibly helpful to Gravis and might even save his life in the future.
'You hate me, and you probably want nothing more than my death. Yet, you have taught me a valuable lesson, knowing that it might ensure my survival in the future. I have no idea if I should be thankful or not. It's like I'm a beggar, and you throw a ton of money at me with disdain. Should I be thankful or not?' Gravis thought.
Gravis reached the southern territories pretty quickly. Surprisingly, no beast stopped him when he simply entered it. Usually, in such a time of crisis, everyone entering the region should be thoroughly questioned. After all, what if he was a spy?
Gravis had expected to be questioned, but when he saw that no one came to question him, he stopped of his own volition. His Spirit Sense quickly found a level two Emperor.
"Hello, I am Gravis. Do you know of the whereabouts of my three children, Aris, Cera, and Yersi?" Gravis asked.
First, the level two Emperor felt rage and disdain that a mere King dared to contact him, but when he heard Gravis' name, he remembered him. Back then, Gravis had been known by everyone in power. After all, he was the most powerful King in the world by a huge margin.
Yet, hearing something and feeling something was an entirely different concept. The level two Emperor was very experienced in feeling danger. After all, one had to be experienced to become so powerful in such an environment.
Because of that, the level two Emperor used his instinct and feelings to get a feel of Gravis' power, and what he saw was terrifying.
On the outside, the level two Emperor showed no change in expression, but inside, he was shocked beyond belief. He felt an incredibly terrifying feeling of danger radiating off of Gravis. This feeling even told him that if he were to anger Gravis, only death would await him.
Such a feeling didn't rely on a Law. After all, the Law of Danger only activated when someone had the power to threaten the user and had malicious intent. Gravis had no malicious intent, which was why the Law of Danger of the level two Emperor didn't get triggered.
What he was using was simply a feeling he had developed after fighting many, many life and death battles. After all, there was a reason why he was the leader of one of the most important defensive lines of their region.
"Greetings, Gravis," the level two Emperor transmitted back. "I know of the three beasts you're searching for. I will show you where they are."
Gravis smiled and nodded to the level two Emperor. Normally, he would have said thank you, but Gravis didn't want to make the level two Emperor feel uncomfortable.
An image appeared in Gravis' mind, showing the general layout of the southern region and where he could find his children. Yet, Gravis had to lift an eyebrow when he saw that image. His three children were far away from each other.
'I mean, they can't always remain together, I presume,' Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. 'After all, they are three different individuals with their own beliefs. The closest one is Aris. Let's check up on him first.'
With that said, Gravis shot further towards the south. Yet, surprisingly, after only some minutes, Gravis was stopped by someone.
"Aris, are you crazy!?" a nervous and scared voice contacted Gravis. "If the Tornado Emperor finds out that you have left your confinement, he will kill you!"
Gravis' mind immediately went wild. Confinement? What was going on?
Gravis looked over at the origin of the voice transmission and saw a black snake, a level one Emperor. By the looks of the snake, it felt very concerned and nervous right now.
When the snake saw Gravis' eyes, it became surprised. "Oh, you're not Aris," the snake said with a sigh.
Gravis quickly came closer. "No, I'm not Aris," Gravis said evenly. "I'm Gravis, and Aris is my son."
Now, the snake was taken aback again. "You're Gravis?" he asked in shock.
"I am," Gravis said. "So, what was that about confinement?" he asked with a cold tone.
The black snake sighed again. "Your offspring is not allowed to communicate with each other or leave. If they try to do any of that, they will be killed."
Gravis' eyes narrowed. "Oh? How did that happen?" he asked. "As far as I know, confining someone is very rare for beasts. Normally, we just kill anyone that acts against our camp. So, where did all this confinement business come from?"
The black snake looked like it wanted to say something, but it kept silent. "Talking to you is already a risk. If word gets out that I'm giving you insider information, I will be ruthlessly killed. Don't put me into a dangerous spot," it said.
Gravis' emotions were worked up, but he didn't want to make the snake's life difficult. Instead, he asked a simple question. "How powerful is the Tornado Emperor? You should be able to tell me that, at least."
"Level three Emperor," the snake answered.
Gravis narrowed his eyes. "That's enough for me," he said.
BANG!
Then, Gravis shot towards the south with even more speed. Gravis thought that something smelled very fishy here. If one of his three children had betrayed the land beasts' camp, they would have been killed, and if they had done something not as devastating, they would be sent to the frontlines. Keeping them confined like this would not help the land beasts' camp at all.
This meant that this confinement couldn't be for the greater good of the land beasts' camp.
So, the only other reason was personal gain. This Tornado Emperor wanted to gain something out of confining them.
Yet, Gravis wouldn't jump to conclusions. He had just learned from Morus that his expectations and knowledge about the mindset of others might not be as accurate as he believed. Because of that, the first thing he would do is to find out the reason behind why all of this was going on.
Then, he would act accordingly.
