Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis had listened to everything Orthar had to say. All of these things were far beyond his current capabilities, but he had gone through enough worlds to get the gist of what Orthar was saying.

Essentially, Orthar had only explained all of this to show how terrifying the Opposer was and why he wanted Gravis to act as a stabilizer between them. 

Of course, Gravis knew Orthar well enough to notice the hidden things behind what he was saying.

Orthar definitely wasn't some poor victim.

If Orthar were certain of his victory, he would have long since killed the Opposer and everyone that could have posed a danger to him.

Orthar had obviously also attacked the Opposer in the past when he had first shown how dangerous he could be.

Gravis was pretty sure that this attack from Orthar was also the reason why the Opposer hated him so much. After all, the Opposer had always killed his enemies without fail. Everyone that had attacked him had died by his hand.

One was an emotionless schemer, while the other one was a brutal and vengeful monster.

In a sense, Gravis was a mixture of both. Gravis was pretty good at scheming, but his Emotions kept him from using schemes to needlessly hurt others. Gravis was also willing to be brutal to himself and his enemies, but he wouldn't go so far that he would forsake every last shred of emotion to seek unsurpassed power.

'I actually seem to be perfectly suited for this role,' Gravis thought. 'If I assume this role, both parties get what they want. Father can escape this Cosmos, and Orthar can finally relax again.'

However, exactly because Gravis knew Orthar so well, Gravis didn't believe everything that Orthar had told him. 

Gravis believed the things Orthar had said that the Opposer could confirm, but he wouldn't immediately believe everything.

And the most important thing Gravis didn't fully believe was Orthar's plan for him.

Currently, Orthar's words appeared very truthful. Gravis wouldn't see any negative consequences for either side if he were to act as a stabilizer.

Yet, some situations could have more than one path that had no consequences.

So, Gravis didn't fully believe Orthar.

He would remain skeptical and see how it would go in the future.

"I'm fine with working as a kind of stabilizer," Gravis said, "but I will obviously remain skeptical, precisely because I know you, Orthar."

Orthar simply looked at Gravis. "As long as I treat you with genuine kindness, you have no reason to go against me," Orthar said. "You have already realized this truth. In a sense, this is a scheme, but it doesn't bring you any harm."

"I don't need to plan on how to hurt you if there is no way that you will hurt me. Cooperation can bring better results than suppression," Orthar said.

"However, I also know that, no matter what I say, you will remain skeptical. Attempting to persuade you to believe me will only make you more suspicious, so I will let you see everything with your own eyes, Gravis," Orthar said.

Orthar was openly showing his hand by explaining all of this, but this was also the best way to deal with Gravis.

"Fine," Gravis said. "So, with that out of the way, what about Arc, Mortis, and I?"

Gravis glanced at Mortis and Arc.

However, when Gravis noticed Arc, one of his eyebrows lifted.

Arc was looking at the sky with a hopeful expression, and he didn't move at all.

It took a second for Gravis to realize that Arc had been frozen in time. 

This was probably Orthar's doing since he had unveiled a lot of secrets before Gravis and Mortis.

As Gravis thought that, he also realized something peculiar.

'He froze Arc in time, but he didn't freeze Mortis,' Gravis thought. 'Does he consider Mortis as a part of myself, or is he simply allowing him to hear these things as well?'

"Since your goodwill is the basis of our future cooperation, it makes no sense for me to not grant you something so simple," Orthar explained. 

Gravis released a sigh.

He had been pretty sure that Orthar would accept his proposal, but he had still been nervous about the answer.

"Thanks, Orthar," Gravis said.

Surprisingly, Orthar smiled lightly.

This Orthar was truly different from the one Gravis knew.

However, it also made sense.

The Orthar Gravis knew had been created as a beast, and beasts generally didn't have such mannerisms due to their different emotions. 

Yet, this Orthar had been born in an entirely different Cosmos. He probably wasn't a beast, but he probably also wasn't a human.

He was probably something entirely different.

However, one thing was certain. Orthar probably had emotions just as complex as humans. After all, if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been able to create such emotional creatures as humans. 

In a sense, this was a far more experienced version of Orthar with human emotions.

This gave a lot of complexity to his character, but it also made his thoughts way harder to anticipate.

One could say that Gravis knew Orthar, but he also didn't know him.

It could also be that the Orthar that had been born in the middle world had been created in an optimized image. Maybe the highest Heaven had created Orthar with a personality he would like to have himself. 

When Gravis was young, he had also wanted to basically have no emotions. 

He wanted to be completely logical and make all the correct decisions all the time. It would have also been easier to come to terms with his rapidly growing ability to kill random innocent bystanders just by existing. Dealing with emotions was difficult.

It could be that Orthar actually had emotions that he wanted to discard but couldn't since that wouldn't be him anymore.

Maybe the Orthar from the middle world was how Orthar actually wanted to be?

Gravis couldn't be sure.

Gravis didn't know enough about this version of Orthar to make any kind of concrete judgment.

'However, it could also be that Orthar foresaw that I would think like this. Creating a perceived perfect version of oneself shows that one thought that oneself wasn't perfect, showing vulnerability. This could make me see him in a more positive light when, in reality, he has only shown me what he wants me to see.'

Gravis sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

'Guesses upon guesses with no clear answer. I hate that.'

"What about the Brand?" Mortis asked from the side. He had seen that Gravis was distracted and took the initiative.

Orthar looked at Mortis.

He didn't look at Mortis any differently than when he looked at Gravis.

"It is my decision if I imbue you with the Brand or not. There is no sense for you to remain in this world just to gather enough Energy. If I infuse this world with enough Energy, your breakthrough might unnecessarily damage this world, and I don't want to waste my Energy to stop something like that. Go to the highest world. You can reach the Star God Realm there," Orthar said.

Mortis looked evenly into Orthar's eyes.

"You're not going to pull back and say that we broke the agreement after we breakthrough in the highest world, right?" Mortis asked.

Orthar blinked once in boredom.

"It wouldn't be worth the cost," Orthar said, glancing at the Opposer.

The last time Orthar had tried to play the political game, all the Star Gods had died.

The Opposer didn't care about rules and politics.