Lightning Is the Only Way

The Tornado Emperor became panicked as he realized that a ton of powerful metal had appeared around him. He quickly transformed into a thin string again as he violently moved around.

Gravis did his best as he tried to use the force of his Spirit to keep the metal pieces moving so that the Tornado Emperor couldn't move. Yet, this task burned his Spirit crazily.

The Tornado Emperor saw that just trying to get out didn't work.

CRK!

So, he used his bone claws to tear at the armor pieces with great effect. The armor was not nearly powerful enough to resist the physical attacks from a level three Emperor.

Gravis realized that this was not enough, so he threw something else into the mix.

BANG!

Suddenly, when the Tornado Emperor wanted to transform into a bigger form, he felt incredible pain. It was like something unbreakable was constricting his body. He quickly turned back into a string and looked at the offending object.

It was an obsidian ring, which had appeared around his body.

Yes, this was the obsidian ring that Gravis' father had given to him. Its size was nearly perfect for constricting the string-form of the Tornado Emperor. The Tornado Emperor could wiggle out of it, but Gravis held it in place around the Tornado Emperor's body with his Spirit. As long as the Tornado Emperor couldn't shoot out in a straight line, the ring would stay on.

Yet, this didn't stop the Tornado Emperor from attacking the armor around him. With every passing moment, more of the armor was torn to shreds.

'I need something harder!' Gravis thought with gnashed teeth. With panic, he searched around in his Spirit Space until he found something that could help him.

CRACK!

The Tornado Emperor unleashed another attack, but instead of destroying more armor, his bone claw broke into pieces. He had just hit something incredibly hard!

What had he hit?

A small, weird device had appeared. This was something that Gravis had totally forgotten he even had. Initially, he had bought this device to discern the types of materials he came across in a Natural World. Yet, it had become obsolete after his father had taught him forging.

This was the small scanner, which Gravis had bought from the scammer along with the Life Ring. It might not have any actual uses thanks to Gravis' knowledge, but it was still something that had been created in the highest world. This meant it was very hard.

Gravis saw how effective the small scanner was and looked at it. Surprisingly, it didn't have a single scratch.

By now, Gravis knew a lot more about materials. This meant that he also recognized most of the materials inside the scanner and could see its properties. If the scanner was only hard, it would have been broken. Yet, the scanner was also flexible like a Medium-Complex Material.

This scanner exhibited all properties of all the materials Gravis knew, and his eyes shone when he saw it. This was what he was aiming for!

'Move!' Gravis ordered with his will as he tore at the scanner. Slowly, a ton of knowledge appeared inside Gravis' mind as he realized how he could make the scanner's form change.

BOOOOM!

And with this, Gravis had comprehended his first level three Law by himself.

Gravis' eyes shone with light as all matter in the world suddenly made sense.

"I know matter!" Gravis proclaimed as the armor pieces and scanner started to warp. The materials of the scanner were too powerful to be manipulated by Gravis normally, but that was no longer the case. He couldn't forge the scanner's materials, but he could warp and change them.

The scanner slowly turned into two cups that tried to press the Tornado Emperor together.

The Tornado Emperor attacked the cups, but the only results were broken bones for him. So, he quickly decided to change his tactic.

He let the part of his body encased by the ring remain small as everything else turned humongous. The force of the expanding body pushing against the armor put a huge strain on Gravis' Spirit.

CRRRRR!

A ton of new materials appeared as Gravis summoned them with his Spirit Space. Then, he manipulated them so that they also started encasing the Tornado Emperor.

Sadly, the Tornado Emperor was still too powerful and fast. Whenever Gravis nearly managed to encase him, the Tornado Emperor would slip out at the last moment.

BZZZZZ!

A new Lightning Net appeared around the Tornado Emperor as it took ahold of the different materials, moving them around with magnetism. This cost Gravis a lot of lightning, but it gave him the edge he needed.

The Tornado Emperor saw that it became harder for him to break the armor, so he changed his tactics again.

"Die!"

BANG!

Out of nowhere, the Tornado Emperor suddenly unleashed an impossibly powerful wind blade. This probably had over half his remaining Energy inside it as it shot at Gravis.

This wind blade was too fast.

Gravis had no way to evade.

Gravis would die.

Time slowed to a crawl as Gravis felt like nothing was moving. It was like this moment would keep going forever.

As Gravis saw his doom approaching, he only smirked.

"Interesting," he said.

SHING!

Gravis turned into lightning as the wind blade shot through him. 90% of his being was destroyed by the wind blade, barely leaving him alive. This was not just Energy or lightning that had been destroyed. This was Gravis' foundation and being that had been destroyed.

Gravis turned back into himself, but he had changed.

Right now, Gravis was no longer a level five King.

Right now, he was a level four King.

The Tornado Emperor was enraged and shocked when he saw that Gravis had survived, but he also felt that Gravis had become much weaker. This was his chance.

"It's over," Gravis said slowly and weakly.

The Tornado Emperor wasn't sure if Gravis was giving up, but his question got answered quickly.

BZZZZZZZZ!

Suddenly, something appeared.

"I know your Laws and your movement. You can't survive," Gravis said slowly.

Beside him, several gigantic circles of metal appeared, which aligned in a row. Behind them, a majestic and powerful spear floated in the air, filled to the brim with lightning.

Gravis had had this attack prepared since the beginning of the battle but couldn't unleash it unless he was able to restrain his enemy. After all, this attack took a while to wind up.

Seemingly in slow motion, Gravis took ahold of the spear as the saved up lightning in the rings started to break out violently.

"Goodbye," Gravis said.

BANG!

Then, he threw the spear into the rings. The lightning inside the rings hit the spear as they all shot it forward with increasing speed.

Yet, the onlookers and the Tornado Emperor were confused. This spear was moving so slowly. It moved with the speed of a level five King, and even after it left the last ring, it was only moving with the speed of an average level two Emperor. Sure, that was pretty fast for an attack from a level five King, but nothing that the Tornado Emperor couldn't evade, even in his current circumstance.

"The weakness of my attack has been solved," Gravis said with a smirk.

Then, he snapped his fingers.

BANG! CRK!

The Tornado Emperor couldn't comprehend his current situation. He looked down at his body, at the spear sticking out of his chest. What? Hadn't this spear been many kilometers away just now? How had it entered his-

BOOOOOOOOM!

And the Tornado Emperor exploded into lightning.

How had all of this happened?

This was Gravis' new attack, which he had developed at the Ultimate's Meet, and it required Gravis to save up 100% of his lightning in different objects. The rings had a collective 10% of lightning inside them. The spearhead had 20% of lightning inside it, and the hidden spike beneath the spearhead had 70%.

Gravis would throw this spear into the rings, using different Lightning Laws to accelerate it to a ridiculous speed. This speed was equivalent to a fast level three Emperor.

Yet, hadn't Gravis' spear only moved at the speed of a level two Emperor? Where did that additional acceleration come from?

The answer to that was Gravis' new Law.

Gravis smirked as he absorbed the lightning of the dead Tornado Emperor.

"I know Time," Gravis whispered to himself.

Yes, Gravis had comprehended the level three Law of Time.

When he had been close to death, he had felt time slow to a crawl, which had given him his last push. The vicissitudes of perceived time had been a huge part of Gravis' life.

Because of time, he had forgotten the faces and voices of his family.

Because of time, he had made a new family.

Because of time, he had found a new home.

Because of time, he no longer felt young.

Because of time, he had made many friends.

Because of time, his old friends had vanished.

Because of time, his mindset had changed.

Time was a primal force, and it affected everyone and everything. Gravis had always thought about time and its effect on his life, which allowed him to subconsciously gain insights into it.

With this new Law, Gravis had slowed down the time of the spear by half. Because of that, it appeared to move slower than it actually was.

Then, when the Tornado Emperor thought that he could evade the attack, Gravis switched the time manipulation. Instead of slowing it, he was doubling it. This made the spear seemingly teleport.

From the speed of a level two Emperor, the spear suddenly accelerated to the speed of a level four Emperor.

As soon as the spear hit the chest of the Tornado Emperor, a minuscule Lightning Crescent exploded, which destroyed the defenses of that spot along with the spearhead. Thanks to this, the hidden spike inside the spear could penetrate the Tornado Emperor's body.

When the spear was inside the Tornado Emperor, the actual attack would be unleashed.

70% of Gravis' lightning, a fully powered Lightning Crescent, exploded from inside the Tornado Emperor's chest.

The Law of Time had allowed Gravis to boost the speed of his attack to such a degree that it was almost impossible to evade. Yet, without the materials keeping the Tornado Emperor occupied, he might have been able to use his Law of Wind Speed to escape. Both of Gravis' new Laws were integral to his victory.

This attack had been designed by Gravis to kill people and beasts that thought of themselves as immortal thanks to their defenses.

This was an attack specifically made to instantly kill any slow and defensive opponent.

These "immortals" felt their defenses to be infallible, but this attack would show them that they were definitely not immortal.

This attack demonstrated mortality with a single strike.

Because of that, Gravis gave this attack the appropriate name:

Mortality.