Lightning Is the Only Way

The problem with Gravis' lightning had to be resolved at some point, but Gravis wished that it hadn't come so early.

He still didn't know how to solve it.

However, he had no more time to think of a plan.

The will of Divine Lightning was attacking his consciousness, and he felt that it was quickly gaining ground. Emotions like happiness, love, companionship, solace, mirth and calm were vanishing.

Gravis felt himself changing.

The image of his past self in the lower world appeared in his mind. Back then, Gravis had been in tune with his lightning, and he had felt nothing but cold detachment, apathy, rage, pride, and greyness.

The world started to lose all of its colors as everything started to turn grey in Gravis' eyes. He felt himself not caring about family and companions anymore. He felt himself not caring about Stella anymore.

Gravis was slowly turning into the very thing he didn't want to become. He was turning into a person similar to the old Black Magnate, into his old self.

There was only power.

He wanted more power.

He needed more power!

'No!' Gravis shouted in his mind as he went against everything. 'Power is not the goal, but the tool to achieve my goal!'

'What if I become powerful? What then? Will I search for even more power? However, everything has to have an end! At some point, there is no more power to be gained. What then? What will I do then?'

'As long as I tie my happiness to something external, all of it will vanish as soon as I stop advancing! Then, only bitterness remains!'

'And I will stop advancing at some point! There can't be an ever-growing scale of power!'

'Can't you see this truth, Divine Lightning!? Can't you understand!?'

However, nothing that Gravis said mattered to his Divine Lightning.

The Divine Lightning had been suppressed for far too long, and all of its rage exploded outward. Gravis had suppressed it for far too long, and nothing would stop it from claiming control over his Spirit!

Nothing!

Gravis felt parts of his personality and Spirit vanishing. His arms and legs became harder to move as they started to resist him.

Who was Gravis?

What made a person?

To be honest, there were not two people inside of him. A being needed a soul and a will to be a being.

This meant that there was only one Gravis. After all, he only had one Spirit and one will. There was no Gravis and Divine Lightning. All of this was simply Gravis.

If the Divine Lightning assumed control, Gravis' true personality wouldn't be suppressed or anything. It wasn't like he would be locked away, being forced to watch someone else control his body.

No, it was very different.

One's personality and emotions sprung from their Spirit and will. Based on the Spirit and will, one became a person and assumed a personality.

So, if Gravis lost to his Divine Lightning, he would still be Gravis. After all, it was the same Spirit and will.

However, his personality would change severely.

He would be far more susceptible to emotions that Divine Lightning might feel, and his goals and priorities would align with Divine Lightning. His old emotions and his old personality would vanish.

In short, Gravis wasn't being replaced, but he was changing.

And this terrified Gravis even more than being suppressed inside his own head.

Because then, Gravis wouldn't even want to change anymore. After the clash, Gravis would wake up and believe his old self to be a fool. He would wholeheartedly believe that something like love and happiness was for weaklings.

Gravis' mannerisms, sense of self, and heritage would remain. One would even be able to see quite some similarities between this Gravis and the other one.

He would still be Gravis.

But he wouldn't be his current self anymore.

Was this good?

Was this bad?

Humans changed as they got older, right?

However, not all of these changes were good.

Sometimes, one would be able to see the truth of the world and one's goals better in the past than in the future. Some people might lose their way and walk in a different direction.

'I am Gravis!' Gravis shouted at himself in his mind.

'I want freedom!'

The possibilities of how to solve the issue reappeared in Gravis' mind.

He could simply let himself get taken over. He wouldn't feel any regret about his choice in any way. After all, he would have changed to such a point that his new self would seem perfect to him.

Was this truly so bad?

In this way, Gravis could become even closer to his lightning, and his inner conflict would vanish.

However, Gravis knew that he would never feel happy again in the future. Sure, he would feel pride in his accomplishments, but that was very different from being happy.

Another possibility was to banish his Law of Divine Lightning from himself while he was still in control.

His body and Spirit were made up of Divine Lightning right now. If he simply cut the Law of Divine Lightning out of himself and threw it into the distance, his lightning would lose all sense of self and become just another random bolt.

However, this meant giving up his lightning.

His body and Spirit would no longer be made up of Divine Lightning but something completely new and different. It would be a kind of lightning without a Law. In short, it would basically become a new form of Energy.

It wouldn't be more powerful, and it wouldn't be less powerful. It would simply be Energy, but different. It would be lightning with the property of Energy.

If Gravis did that, he could save his personality. After all, if there was no more lightning around, it couldn't influence him anymore.

Sadly, this meant Gravis would lose all lightning powers. Sure, he would still be immune to lightning since his new form of lightning would be able to accommodate other forms of lightning, but that would be it.

Gravis would have just as much Energy as everyone else.

Lastly, he would never be able to use lightning again. After all, as soon as he absorbed Divine Lightning, it would directly attack him again and try to take over.

Gravis would become the only being in existence that couldn't wield all the Elements, even if he knew all their Laws.

However, how was he supposed to fight Arc in this state?

Every Heaven had always known an insanely powerful lightning Law. Arc would definitely not be an exception.

Arc probably knew the lightning Law of the highest world, and this Law would be a level nine Law!

As soon as Arc unleashed a single bolt, Gravis would absorb it.

What then?

Well, Gravis could resist Divine Lightning for some time before he would eventually lose, but this kind of overpowered lightning? Gravis' Spirit would be changed in an instant. He wouldn't even be able to react.

Both choices would end with the same result. The only difference was when it would happen.

The last possibility to solve this issue had been to suppress the Divine Lightning with the level six Law of Freedom. However, Gravis didn't know that Law, and he wasn't even ready to comprehend a level six Law yet.

There was no possibility to comprehend that Law.

And there was no time.

'I have no other choice!' Gravis thought as he gritted his teeth.

'If I lose all my lightning powers, fighting Arc and becoming powerful will become many times harder than before.'

'However, I would still have a chance!'

'If I changed into the personality of Divine Lightning, it will become impossible to be happy in the future.'

'Power is not my goal!'

'Happiness and freedom is my goal!'

Then, Gravis grabbed his head as he started tearing at the Law of Divine Lightning.

He had to expel it from his being while he was still in control!