Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis appeared inside his father's room in his human form. The fight against Heaven had ended, and Gravis no longer needed to remain in his beast form.

Right now, Gravis had the appearance of a young adult, maybe in his middle twenties. He was clean-shaven with short black hair. Yet, the color of his clothing had changed. Gravis felt that being dressed entirely in black was no longer that fitting for his person. He preferred a light blue shirt with black pants.

Gravis noticed his father and also immediately noticed the Life Ring lying in front of him. After a short sigh of relief, Gravis only grinned at his father.

His father grinned back.

"Sorry that you had to see that, father," Gravis said as he sat down in front of him.

"No problem, son," the Opposer said as he summoned some coffee. "I have to be honest. I felt some pain when the Old Bastard demonstrated his control over you, but you brought it back beautifully."

Gravis sighed again. "What could I have done? Just let my family stay isolated inside the Life Ring for hundreds or thousands of years? Some people would argue that this is worse than death. Heaven has proven that it doesn't want to hurt me."

Gravis laid back. "However, forcing me to first hand over my Life Ring to the middle Heaven and then transporting it was what brought me to the edge. If the highest Heaven had just taken the Life Ring after a verbal consent from my side, I would have never seen the suppression."

Gravis sneered. "But, come on, forcing me to hand over my Life Ring first? That was just a dick move."

Gravis looked out of the window and saw Opposer City. "But I have to thank the highest Heaven for that. Without this forced showing of control, I would not have realized what true freedom meant."

Gravis chuckled a bit. "Of course, I won't just feel indebted to the highest Heaven. I think it would be fair to just call it quits. As long as it doesn't try something like this again, I won't mind."

"Gravis," the Opposer said with a severe tone. "I think there is something that you might not fully understand."

Gravis noticed the serious tone of his father. "Yes?" he asked.

"Would you want one of your three kids to fight against your middle Heaven because you had an enmity with it?" the Opposer asked.

"Of course not," Gravis said. "This is my fight, and my-"

And then, Gravis fell into silence.

He looked at his father and then back at the Life Ring. After that, Gravis began frowning.

"Is this also how you look at me?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer nodded as he pushed a cup of coffee over to Gravis. "You are your own person, Gravis. If you have no enmity with the Old Bastard, you don't have to get involved in my fight. So, don't feel like a traitor when you decide to not act against the Old Bastard."

"The only thing I wish for is that you don't directly go against your mother or me," the Opposer said. "But I don't need to say that."

Gravis took a deep breath and looked out of the window again.

Gravis wasn't specifically targeting the highest Heaven because of his father, but it would be a lie to say that being the Opposer's child didn't influence the decision. Gravis always felt like he should help his family against their enemy. After all, wasn't this how family worked?

Gravis had also known that his father probably wouldn't force him to fight the highest Heaven, but there had always been a feeling in the back of Gravis' mind that it was his duty to help.

Yet, when his father related his feelings towards Gravis to Gravis' feelings towards his children, Gravis truly understood. If one of Gravis' three kids wanted to fight against the same enemy as him, he wouldn't stop them, but he would also never force them. It was entirely their own decision.

"When I saw the Life Ring in front of me," the Opposer said, "I felt pained, but that was not because I felt like you betrayed me. I felt pity for your situation. Back then, you had been fully under the Old Bastard's control without even noticing it. I felt sad for your situation, not my own."

Gravis sighed again and took a swig from his coffee.

"Urgh!" Gravis suddenly coughed. "Holy shit, what is in there!?" he asked as he stared at the cup like it had just offended him.

The Opposer sighed. "Nicely done, Gravis," he commented. "Now, you destroyed the entire mood of the conversation with your antics."

"Hey!" Gravis shouted. "That's not my fault! It's you that made this weird coffee. You could have just-"

Then, Gravis stopped as he looked at the Opposer's serious face.

Then, Gravis narrowed his eyes.

"Is this a prank?" he asked.

The Opposer narrowed his eyes.

"Yes."

Gravis blinked a couple of times, but then he had to laugh.

"Seriously, how do you always get me with these deadpan deliveries?" he asked with a smile.

The Opposer smiled. "I decided to make this coffee more bitter than usual. After all, weren't you the one that said you were a middle-aged man or something? We old people like bitter tastes."

Gravis smirked. "Do I look middle-aged to you, old man?" Gravis asked. "That was past Gravis. The current Gravis realizes that he had overestimated himself. There is so much more to learn about this world and myself. When there is so much more to learn about myself, how can I have the guts to see myself as someone middle-aged? I think a young adult is more fitting."

"Well," the Opposer said. "Age may be relevant for mortals, but for us Cultivators, age is only a feeling. Someone at the end of their lifespan can appear and act like a child, and someone that is only 80 can act and look like an old man. Age is only a feeling."

"Yeah, great. Now that that's out of the way," Gravis said as he waved his coffee cup from side to side. "Can you give me some actually good coffee?"

The Opposer had to smile when he heard Gravis. After the lower world, Gravis had shown some more individuality, but he still wouldn't have sounded so "demanding" in front of him. Of course, the Opposer knew that Gravis was only speaking like this because he felt comfortable enough with his father to talk without a filter.

If the Opposer would actually get offended over Gravis' "disrespect", Gravis would probably apologize and say that he hadn't meant it that way, which was true. After all, Gravis didn't want to hurt his father. One could liken this kind of conversing to how Gravis and Meadow talked. The fact that they could openly insult each other without the other getting angry showed how much they understood and trusted each other.

The Opposer summoned some new coffee and gave it to Gravis, who quickly drank it.

After drinking it, Gravis released a content sigh.

"Man, that's the stuff," Gravis said. "It's just as good as I remembered. Hey, can I create that stuff myself?"

"Not entirely," the Opposer said, "but before we get to that, don't you want to introduce my grandchildren to me first?"

Gravis smiled as he glanced at the Life Ring.

"They have been inside this Life Ring for 57 years. They are probably quite confused by now."

Gravis sighed again. "It's so weird that only 57 years passed for them while 750 years passed for me."

"Time is weird."