Shock.
The onlookers were shocked.
Ryan was shocked.
Everyone had believed that Gravis was only putting on an empty show to get some more advantages from Ryan. After all, if Gravis could paint a picture of being entirely in the right, Ryan would have to pay so much more to save his daughter. This was how leaders often dealt with these situations. The more righteous their cause appeared, the more the enemy would have to give them.
Instead, Gravis had just killed Samantha.
Was he tired of living!?
SHING!
Ryan was so shocked and distracted that he didn't stop Gravis from teleporting. In an instant, Gravis had already arrived at the Formation Array and touched it.
'This has been created with a level four Law, which means I only need my normal Law of Freedom. I don't even need to use the power of my Avatar,' Gravis thought with a smirk.
FWOOOMP!
With that, Gravis simply stepped through the Formation Array like it didn't even exist.
The eyes of the onlookers nearly fell out of their heads as they saw Gravis leaving. This was possible? How was this possible!?
Even more, the onlookers' minds started to race with the new dynamic that now existed. Nothing stood between them and Gravis now, which meant that they couldn't find a reason to not intervene anymore. They could bend the rules, but they couldn't directly break them.
The rules stated that every battle in the Formation Arrays was final, but when someone offered others enough resources, they could look away for a bit.
This was also what had happened when Ryan had heard about Gravis' new opponent. The two other Sect Masters beside him stopped him.
Why?
So that Ryan was required to bribe them. If he didn't pay them enough resources, they would have stopped him. The same was true for the ten other Sect Masters looking on. Ryan promised them some resources so that they might look away this time.
However, everything changed now. Gravis was outside the Formation Array, and Liran immediately appeared beside Gravis. Now, a Sect Master was protecting Gravis, and if Ryan wanted to kill Gravis, he would need to fight Liran first.
"Well done, Gravis," Liran transmitted to Gravis with an excited smile. "I knew you could do it! Don't worry about anything else. I'm here now, and no one will touch you this day!"
Gravis was unimpressed by Liran's words. Instead of directly protecting his disciple, the same one he had sent on this mission, he relied on the power of this soldier to escape from someone much more powerful than them. It was like Liran's actions were dictated by the actions of weaker beings.
However, as a Sect Master, he should be the one that dictated all the actions. He was the most powerful one.
Gravis stood behind Liran, but he already despised Liran. Liran was a kind person, but his indecisiveness and mental weakness were unfit for his position. If he were only a normal Cultivator or a disciple of the Sect, Gravis wouldn't care about him, but since Liran was officially Gravis' superior, Gravis despised Liran's weakness.
Liran's weakness was endangering Gravis and the remainder of the Sect.
A pig-like teammate was more fearsome than a godlike enemy.
Gravis hadn't been afraid of Ryan for even a second. The entire situation was in his control.
"RAAAAAAH!" Ryan shouted in absolute rage as he shot out of the Formation Array, directly at Gravis, who only looked at him unamused.
The other Sect Masters looked at each other covertly, narrowed their eyes, and nodded.
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
Nearly all ten Sect Masters arrived between Ryan and Gravis. The façade had broken down, forcing them to either directly break the rules or keep them up, and they couldn't possibly break the rules this openly.
However, it wouldn't stay like this. After all of this was over, the Sect Masters would sit together with Ryan and create a plan that would result in Gravis' death without anyone knowing that all of this originated from Ryan. The Sect Masters had been paid by Ryan, and they would feel bad if they didn't help Ryan now.
But now was not the time! They still had to keep up the façade of the rules being unbreakable! Ryan had to wait now!
Ryan stopped as he realized that over ten Sect Masters stood between him and his target. Ryan was powerful, but he couldn't fight so many Sect Masters at once. He might be able to fight two at once, but not ten!
Right now, the Sect Masters showed that they were Gravis' allies and that they would protect Gravis with their lives, but in reality, they were Ryan's allies.
Gravis knew all of this and scoffed silently. 'All this hypocrisy is so disgusting.'
"Move! He killed my daughter!" Ryan shouted aggressively.
"You have broken the rules, Sect Master of the Frost Rapier Sect!" Liran shouted as he stepped forward. "Right now, you have not committed an unforgivable mistake since my disciple is still alive, so, step back! If you release another attack, you will be going openly against the Sect Alliance!"
Liran might be weak mentally, but he still knew how humans acted and what to say in the right situation. His words pitted the entire Sect Alliance against Ryan, and his words and cause were righteous in the eyes of every rational onlooker.
"Liran is right!" Another Sect Master shouted. "We can understand your emotional turmoil, but the rules must be upheld! Pay a fine for intervening in a fight, and the matter will be resolved. However, if you continue attacking, the wrath of the entire Sect Alliance will rain down upon you and your Sect!"
Several other Sect Masters echoed this sentiment, and by the end of it, all of them stood in front of Gravis with their weapons drawn.
'Even though I despise such conduct, I have to admit that they are pretty good actors,' Gravis thought. 'Without all the context clues from the earlier situation, I might've even believed them.'
Gravis sighed as he looked to the side. 'Are all Immortal human Sects like this?' Gravis thought. 'Durian and Lazar hadn't been like this. Those two have never relied on my power to save the Sect's face. Lazar had been incredibly powerful and dealt with everything himself, which was also a major reason why the Lightning Sect had been so powerful in the lower world.'
Gravis looked at Liran. 'But Liran, as the Sect Master, relies on the power of his disciples while he is the most powerful. It's not the disciple's job to protect the Sect Master's face. The Sect Master is supposed to protect the disciple from unjust actions. Otherwise, if my superiors don't even protect me from something more powerful than me, what would even be the point of joining a Sect?'
Ryan saw the opposition in his way and gritted his teeth and fists. He wanted to kill Gravis so badly, but he couldn't! If he attacked now, all of his hidden allies would turn on him. The Sect Alliance might be morally flexible in secret but only in secret.
However, Ryan wanted to kill Gravis so very bad! The murderer of his daughter stood right in front of him!
Several seconds passed as the Sect Masters threw one righteous sermon after the other at Ryan, dissuading him from attacking.
After a while, Ryan seemed to calm down a bit.
Gravis noticed this, and his mind quickly started planning. 'All of these Sect Masters have been bought by him. Several assassination squads will probably come for me soon, while every other Sect Master will just happen to look away. They will probably even be able to keep Liran busy or something.'
Gravis scratched his chin in thought. 'Is there a way for me to deal with Ryan right now?'
After some seconds, Gravis got an idea, but he had no idea if this would work. However, even if it didn't work, it wouldn't backfire on him.
Might as well try.
"You know," Gravis transmitted to Ryan. "I killed my opponent while someone nearly an entire Realm above me threatened me. Yet, here you are, not even being courageous enough to do the same thing against people on your Realm."
"I did what I wanted," Gravis transmitted. "So, why can't you do what you want?"
"This is the difference between you and me."
Gravis had to make it sound like a provocation to make his plan work.
Would a mere provocation be able to convince someone as experienced as Ryan to jump into danger?
No.
Ryan looked with hate-filled eyes at Gravis. He didn't want to admit it, but the contrast that Gravis had just established made Ryan feel pathetic and enraged. Gravis was right. Gravis had killed his daughter right in front of him, someone an entire Realm higher than him.
Yet, here he was, not daring to attack some Cultivators on his level.
However, he couldn't just attack. His life would end, and his Sect would be torn apart. He had too many responsibilities. If he broke these responsibilities, he would lose everything he held dear.
And then, his daughter's face went through his mind. Lose everything dear to him? Hadn't he already lost everything dear to him?
"I do what I want, but you can't do what you want," Gravis transmitted after a second.
Ryan clenched his fists. The person that took away his most important person stood in front of him, but he didn't dare to attack him because of some Sect Masters and some rules?
How pathetic was he!?
'Today, I will be unreasonable. Forget responsibility! If I can't even protect my daughter's honor, I might as well not live!'
BOOOOM!
A provocation might not convince someone as experienced as Ryan to seek death…
But the Law of Freedom could!
Meanwhile, Gravis smirked.
