Lightning Is the Only Way

Azure groaned when she heard that question. Gravis always asked about his children whenever they met, which started to become annoying.

"They are still alive, but the world is chaotic, so I have no idea how long that will keep going," Azure said.

Gravis felt neutral about Azure's word. On one hand, she said they were still alive, but on the other hand, she said that they could very well die soon.

"How is the world?" Gravis asked.

"Chaotic," Azure said. "The sea beasts are gaining more and more ground as the years pass. Their total territory has increased by 50%. Right now, the sea is covering a third of the continent."

Yet, suddenly, Azure smirked. "But they won't increase their territory anymore now."

Gravis knew what Azure was referring to. "You mean because of you two?" he asked.

Azure nodded. "We ate quite a lot of their powerful Emperors. The number of their level four Emperors is far lower than the number of our level four Emperors. Just keeping their territories stable is requiring them to use all their power."

Yet, Gravis didn't share Azure's opinion. She clearly didn't know Orthar and his talent for strategy. As long as the land beasts didn't attack the sea beasts with a full-on assault, the war would continue. Even if Orthar only had a third of the enemy's forces, he would still be able to order them to such a degree that they would still emerge victoriously.

But Gravis didn't want to tell Azure and Styr that. After all, if they realized that they underestimated Orthar, they might feel bad for the land beast camp. Killing Orthar would be impossible for them since they were level five Emperors now, and Meadow said that level five Emperors were not to involve themselves in the war.

Azure and Styr didn't know of Gravis' thoughts, so Azure continued telling Gravis about the state of the world. "The western territories have already become involved in the war, but just as expected, they didn't make much of a difference."

"Because of their relatively peaceful lifestyle?" Gravis asked with a raised brow. Of course, in comparison to human standards, the western territory would count as a war-torn land, but for beast standards, it was basically a paradise. The western territory only fought itself when one Emperor wanted more territory. Yet, there was a big difference to such a gigantic, long-fought war.

Azure nodded. "Most of them only become fodder to the sea beasts, making them even powerful. Including them in the war has not only not helped us but made it even harder. Because of that, only level three and four Emperors are allowed to help us. Additionally, they are under severe restrictions and can only fight when the council allows them to."

"The council?" Gravis asked with a raised brow.

"The leadership of the land beast camp," Styr commented from the side. "Now that the Ultimates are no longer allowed to interfere in the war, the level four Emperors created a council that decides the war strategies."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "What Ultimates?" he asked.

Now, it was Styr's time to furrow his brows. "The Lightning Ultimate," he said.

"The Lightning Ultimate is dead," Gravis said, shocking both Azure and Styr.

When Gravis saw their reaction, he knew that the news of the Lightning Ultimate's demise had not reached the outside world yet, even after 95 years. That was quite surprising to him. "You didn't know?" he asked.

Styr looked at Azure as she looked back. Then, Styr turned to Gravis. "Did you kill him?" he asked.

Gravis shook his head. "No, it was Ferris."

Styr, and surprisingly even Azure, sighed in relief. "That's good," Styr said.

"What's with that reaction?" Gravis asked.

"The Lightning Ultimate has a lot of followers," Azure answered. "If you were the one that killed him, some level four Emperors might decide to kill you. Right now, you don't have the power to resist a level four Emperor."

Gravis looked like he had just heard something ridiculous. "That guy had followers?" he asked.

When Styr saw Gravis' expression, he had to chuckle a bit. "Yes. He might not conform to your or my mindset, but many beasts search for powerful leadership. The Lightning Ultimate was powerful, and his arrogance demonstrated his power to the beasts, which made a lot of them follow him."

Gravis huffed but kept silent. He didn't get how some beasts could think like that, but there was no sense in getting angry over it. Stupidity was just stupidity.

"So, our children are now fighting on the frontlines?" Gravis asked Azure.

"Probably," Azure said. "I didn't check."

Gravis still couldn't get used to Azure's disregard for their children, but he didn't comment on it.

"What about the Icy Pride Empire?" he asked.

"It's now the Metal Mountain Empire," Azure answered. "As soon as Styr and I left the land beast camp, the council sent a new level three Emperor to rule the Empire. Of course, a beast with metal affinity was chosen due to my Mountain of Pride. The metal affinity beasts had always desired to stay on a huge mountain made of metal."

"Makes sense," Gravis said. However, he didn't feel particularly great about that fact. His home, the Icy Pride Empire, had completely changed with the departure of Azure and Styr. This basically meant that the Icy Pride Empire had completely vanished in Gravis' absence.

Gravis, Styr, and Azure talked for a couple more hours, but then it was time for them to leave. They wanted to reach the next world as soon as possible. Their Battle-Strength was not as powerful as Ferris' Battle-Strength, but the next world shouldn't be as dangerous as this one. After all, this world was meant to create powerful beasts for the highest world.

Styr and Azure quickly killed their Striders and became Immortals. Styr turned into an old man with white hair, while Azure surprisingly turned into a young woman with icy-blue hair. According to human standards, she looked to be in her twenties.

Gravis had expected Azure's human form to appear older since she always acted so taciturn and distant, but, apparently, he was mistaken. It seemed like Azure considered herself to be rather young.

"I can feel it," Azure said as she took a deep breath. "This form makes it even easier to understand Laws."

This confirmed Gravis' suspicion that humans had a closer connection to the Laws. However, he was unsure if he had that connection. After all, his soul was human, but his body was that of a beast.

"Don't take too long, Gravis," Styr said with a smile. "Otherwise, we will reach your home before you, and when that happens, it would be awkward to visit you when you're not currently home."

Gravis chuckled. "I'll try my best, but I can't promise anything," he said. "I wish you the best on your journey."

Styr smiled as he wished Gravis the same and left the world. Azure also turned to Gravis.

Surprisingly, she smiled at him. "See you soon, Gravis," she said.

Then, she also left.

Gravis was a bit surprised and scratched his chin. 'I wonder, have I ever seen Azure smile before? I only saw her smirk or smile in disdain. Huh, apparently, she can also smile. Who knew?'

Silence returned, and after some minutes, Gravis sighed.

'Ferris is gone. Styr is gone. Azure is gone. The Icy Pride Empire is gone. This world is slowly becoming lonely. Only 95 years of my seclusion have passed, but one friend after the other is leaving the world. Now, there's only Meadow, Orthar, and my three little kids. Meadow won't leave in quite a while, and Orthar will leave with me. As for my three children, I don't know. Anything could happen.'

"Meadow, are you there?" Gravis suddenly asked.

"Bitch, I'm everywhere," Meadow immediately answered.

Gravis had to chuckle when he heard her again. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Why should I?" Meadow answered. "You're cultivating. Interrupting others in their cultivation is shitty."

Gravis chuckled some more. "Like I'm doing now?"

"Yeh," Meadow said like it was obvious. "Like you're doing now. So, could you do me a solid and shut the fuck up?"

"Sorry," Gravis said with a smile.

"Also, you have your accessory to talk to if you feel lonely," Meadow said.

"Accessory?" Gravis asked in confusion.

"Yeah, that guy at the edge of your clearing," Meadow said.

Gravis turned around and looked behind him.

There, he saw Morus in the distance.

Gravis blinked a couple of times.

"Huh, I forgot he existed."