Chapter 432 - 432 – Frustration
Gravis didn’t immediately consume the corpse since that would waste some of its power. After all, he wasn’t at his peak. He first needed to regenerate to his current peak so that he could transform into lightning without his Realm falling further. That would only take around two hours.
Whoooop!
Yet, Gravis also didn’t want to just let the corpse lay there. Because of that, he summoned it into his Spirit Space. His Spirit Space was quite massive by now, but he still needed to fold the corpse so that it actually fit inside. His Spirit Space had a width of two kilometers, enough for the corpse to fit but not enough for it to lay stretched out.
"Where did the corpse go?" the Red King asked as he flew over to Gravis.
Gravis furrowed his brows. He hadn’t forgotten about the Red King, but he was still angry that the Red King looked at him like he was a commodity.
"I have a separate space where I can store dead stuff," Gravis explained curtly and vaguely. He didn’t want to tell the Red King more than was necessary.
The Red King had a shocked expression on his face. "Have you comprehended a Law regarding space?" he asked.
Gravis shook his head. "No, it’s just something unique to me in this world. You have seen the extent of my power, so you also know which Laws I know," Gravis said with an unfriendly voice.
The Red King didn’t seem to mind Gravis’ disrespectful tone, but he still released a sigh of relief. "I have never heard of such an ability, but it’s more believable than you knowing Laws regarding space. After all, these Laws have only appeared in legend."
Gravis remained silent.
When the Red King saw that Gravis didn’t answer, he only laughed and circled him a bit. "You have many peculiar abilities. You can transform into lightning, make stuff vanish and reappear, increase and weaken your body, heal yourself instantly, make objects levitate, and you even have this weird force-field around you that slows your opponents. You’re the most bizarre beast I have ever seen."
"Every advantage has a disadvantage," Gravis simply said.
The Red King laughed some more. "Yes, I know. All these peculiar powers probably have a cost. Tell me more," the Red King said.
"I don’t want to," Gravis answered.
The Red King furrowed his brows. "You do know that your life is in my talons, right?" the Red King asked.
"Yes, but you’re suppressing me, and that’s the thing I hate the most," Gravis answered evenly.
The Red King narrowed his eyes. "Do you hate it more than losing your life?" he asked threateningly.
"I don’t think so, but you won’t kill me," Gravis answered as he looked into the Red King’s eyes.
"What makes you so sure?" the Red King asked as he landed before Gravis. In comparison to Gravis, he looked incredibly tiny and unthreatening. Yet, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
"You just said that I’m the most bizarre beast you have ever seen, and you were even willing to sacrifice the Golden Dragon to make me even more powerful. If you kill me, all of this will go to waste," Gravis answered.
CRRRRR!
An unreal amount of fire came out of the Red King, which quickly burned Gravis’ scales. Any beast would have screamed in pain, but Gravis had gone through worse pain before. Gravis didn’t even flinch.
"Go ahead, kill me," Gravis said evenly. "At least, then, I wouldn’t be suppressed anymore."
For the first time, the Red King actually looked angry. As a beast with a fire affinity, the Red King already had quite the intense temperament. He was honestly thinking about killing Gravis.
Yet, after some time passed, the Red King calmed down somewhat. The fire vanished while the Red King looked at Gravis with a malicious smirk. Seeing a bird smirk was quite unique. "You really hate being suppressed, huh?" he asked sarcastically. "You are even willing to bet with your life to give you an illusion of choice."
"By provoking me, you want to prove to yourself that you still have control over your own life." The Red King’s smirk intensified. "Yet, if you were really ready to bet with your life, you would have attacked me already. You only want this small victory so that you feel better about yourself."
"Yes, so?" Gravis answered simply.
The Red King was taken aback by Gravis’ direct confirmation. The Red King had wanted Gravis to doubt himself and convince him that he wasn’t ready to sacrifice his life.
For some seconds, the Red King had no idea how to follow up. Then, he shook his head to regain his bearings. "Good that you know. Then tell me more about how your powers work."
"No," Gravis answered curtly.
The Red King waited for some seconds, but Gravis didn’t say more. If the Red King had teeth, he would be gritting them right now out of frustration. "But you just confirmed that you aren’t ready to risk your life for that!"
"I’m not risking my life," Gravis said.
The Red King’s right eyelid started twitching. It was blatantly obvious that this didn’t conform to reality. It was like the Red King said that water was wet, but the other beast just disagreed without giving a reason. This whole situation was surreal.
"But you are!" the Red King shouted.
"No, I’m not," Gravis answered.
The Red King felt his fury return as he realized that this was Gravis’ whole answer. "But I’m stronger than you, and I can end your life whenever I want!" the Red King shouted.
"Yes," Gravis answered.
BANG!
The ground below the Red King exploded as he stomped his foot in anger. The hard stone shot into the distance while some stones bounced off of Gravis’ body. "Then you’re risking your life right now!" he shouted.
"No, I’m not," Gravis said.
Fire appeared inside the Red King’s eyes. "How are you not risking your life right now?" he asked with a threatening voice.
"Because you won’t kill me," Gravis answered.
"How are you so sure!?" the Red King shouted again.
"You’ve already asked that question, and I’ve already answered it," Gravis said evenly.
The Red King nearly exploded with anger as he remembered that he had really asked that question before.
BOOOOM!
A fire beam shot into the distance and destroyed a whole mountain range. The Red King needed to vent his anger.
"I’m over here," Gravis commented.
The Red King’s whole body shook in rage as he glared at Gravis.
Several seconds passed in which the Red King only glared at Gravis with fury. For some reason, he felt like it was losing control of the situation. Yet, how was that possible? He could kill Gravis with a wave of his wing. The whole situation was in his grasp, but why did he feel like it wasn’t!?
After several more seconds passed in silence, the Red King took a deep breath to calm down. "Even if you don’t accept it, you have really gambled with your life just now," he commented.
"Yes, I have," Gravis answered.
And like that, the Red King’s fury returned. "What?" he asked in rage.
"I just agreed with your opinion. Is that so weird to you?" Gravis asked evenly.
Gravis’ even voice infuriated the Red King immensely. He felt like Gravis was completely disregarding him. "And why has your opinion changed so suddenly?" he asked slowly.
"I wasn’t gambling when you asked me earlier, but when you became angry, it became a gamble. The situation has changed," Gravis answered.
The answer made sense, but it still angered the Red King. "And, pray tell, do you think you’re gambling with your life right now or not?" he asked.
"That’s a paradoxical question," Gravis answered.
The Red King remained still for some seconds. He hadn’t expected that answer. "What?" he asked.
"If I say yes, I wouldn’t be gambling with my life since you wouldn’t get angrier. Yet, if I said no, you would get angrier, and I would be gambling with my life. Because of that, my answer will always be wrong, and therefore, it is a paradoxical question," Gravis explained calmly.
As the Red King listened to Gravis, he grew angry again. Yet, after some seconds, he took another deep breath to calm down. "This is too troublesome," he commented. "From now on-"
"No, it isn’t," Gravis interjected.
The Red King’s anger exploded again, but he quickly calmed down. ’Just ignore his comments,’ the Red King thought.
"From now on, you will follow me and do whatever I tell you," the Red King explained like Gravis had never answered.
"No," Gravis answered.
Now, the Red King narrowed his eyes. "You have no choice in the matter. If necessary, I will just drag you to my Empress," he said.
"I will go to your Empress," Gravis said.
"Then why did you say that you wouldn’t do that?" the Red King asked in frustration.
"I didn’t say that," Gravis said.
"But then," the Red King said but stopped as he realized where this conversation would go. He could already hear Gravis saying that he wouldn’t do everything the Red King said but would go to the Empress. After all, as long as he went to the Empress, there wouldn’t be any reason for the Red King to kill him.
The Red King took another deep breath. "Follow me," he ordered.
"Okay," Gravis answered.
Like this, the Red King started flying into the distance while Gravis flew leisurely behind him.
Outside, Gravis retained his neutral expression, but inside, he was sneering. ’You don’t realize it, but by forcing you to choose between your anger and profits, you have given me a free pass of angering and frustrating you as much as I want.’
’If I can’t kill you, I will just frustrate you to no end. That’s the next best thing.’