Lightning Is the Only Way

Aion's whole world had been shaken. In any other circumstance, he would have attacked the speaker. This was insulting their father, their creator, their God! Yet, Aion had seen and felt those two beings. He had seen the Opposer and had felt the highest Heaven. Such an insane claim needed equally insane evidence to support it. Sadly, or fortunately, Aion had seen this insane evidence.

Aion looked up into the sky, unsure of what he should even think. His fundamental belief, reason, and everything that he thought he understood about life and the rules of the world, had been shaken. The Heaven, he always believed in, was one of the weakest Heavens in existence.

"If that is true, what have I been doing for the last 70 years?" Aion asked himself.

Gravis heard that and smirked. "Who cares?" he asked simply. "If you are mistaken, just change your belief. How about believing in your own strength instead of the generosity of some bullshit Heaven?"

Aion would have exploded in rage if Gravis had referred to Heaven as bullshit before, yet now, he couldn't get angry anymore. In reality, he felt a little betrayed by Heaven. It always acted like the ruler of the world, which, granted, it was, but there were so many more worlds out there. Changing his beliefs? Was that so easy?

After a while, Aion only sighed. "What does it matter? As a Heavenborn, I can't ascend anyway, so why do I care if there are stronger Heavens or worlds out there? I won't see them."

Instead of sympathizing with Aion, Gravis only smirked. "Yes, as long as this lower Heaven exists, you won't be able to ascend."

Aion agreed. Heaven existed, therefore, he couldn't ascend.

"So, someone just has to kill it, right?" Gravis asked.

Aion's eyes widened, and he looked at Gravis with shock. "Kill Heaven? Is that even possible?"

Gravis continued grinning. "If it is alive, it can die. My father can fart this lower Heaven into oblivion, so why can't I? My goal was never this lower Heaven, but the highest Heaven. The whole reason why I even started cultivating lightning is that lightning is the strongest weapon of every Heaven. Ever since I started cultivating, I have forged my path to be the nemesis of Heaven. This lower Heaven is only a stepping stone to me."

Aion thought that this sounded incredibly arrogant, but for some reason, he believed that Gravis might actually succeed. Gravis had done multiple things that were considered impossible. He had killed an elder of an Elemental Guild while still being in the sixth level of Energy Gathering. He had condensed a Unity Will in the Energy Gathering Realm. Lastly, he had also formed his Spirit with pure lightning. If it were Gravis, he might actually pull this off.

Yet, Aion sighed. "Is killing Heaven truly right?" he asked quietly. "There are a lot of opportunities to become stronger, and many people ascend. Happy families are thriving under Heaven. I don't think that the people would accept your decision."

Gravis smirked with disdain. "Their compliance is not a factor," he answered directly. "If they want it or not, Heaven will die!" Then, he turned to Aion and looked into his eyes. "So, you should prepare yourself. All Heavenborn will probably lose their Heaven-granted abilities when that happens. Yet, that also opens an opportunity for you. If you manage to condense a Will-Aura, you can strive for resources, and then, you can strive for ascension."

Aion sighed while trembling. It felt like he was talking about something forbidden. It felt like what he was doing right now was wrong. Yet, in Aion's mind, the definition of what was right and wrong slowly shifted. Hadn't it always been the rule that the bigger fist was right? If Gravis had the bigger fist, wouldn't right become wrong, and wrong become right? What would this world turn into if there was no one overseeing it?

"Anyway," Gravis said. By now, they were standing close to each other. They had moved closer to each other during their talk. "Will you stop me?" Gravis asked with a smirk.

Aion bitterly laughed. "Your battle-strength is unprecedented. As long as anyone is at the same level as you, they have no chance. I know my strength, and even though I am an above-average Heavenborn, I know that I can't stop you."

Gravis nodded with a grin and put a hand on Aion's shoulder. "I said that I would spare your life once, and I will keep my word. I like you, and I consider you a friend. You have helped me more than necessary, and I enjoyed our time together. Like this, let our debts be settled."

Aion felt some warmth inside his chest. Not even an hour earlier, he had sent Gravis to his death, yet Gravis let him go now. Would Heaven have done this if it were in Gravis' shoes? Aion doubted that. "Thank you, Gravis. I'll wait for you to succeed."

Gravis nodded with a motivated expression. "Don't worry! I will."

Aion then took out a jade token. "The High Priest has said that, when I can't stop you, I should crush this token and a priest at the peak of Spirit Forming will appear in a couple of hours. I still want to remain in the Heaven Sect since it is my home, so I will crush it now. However, I won't stop you from leaving."

Gravis understood Aion's concern. Hadn't he done the same thing with Wendy? In order to keep his identity a secret, he had been forced to kill her, even though he hadn't wanted that. "Just wait for the good news!" Gravis said and then jumped into the Wind Wall.

Aion smiled and then crushed the token.

----

Meanwhile, this lower Heaven was anything but happy. Actually, it was terrified beyond belief. Something inside of its world had nearly killed the highest Heaven. It had really screwed up this time. After dodging this bullet, the highest Heaven went through the memories of this lower Heaven to find out what the fuck just happened.

What the highest Heaven saw made it nearly annihilate this lower Heaven on the spot out of rage. This stupid, worthless, useless lower Heaven had broken the rules that it had established, multiple times. This stupid lower Heaven had repeatedly tried to suppress and kill Gravis, yet what did that accomplish?

Would Gravis have decided to go through with this suicidal act if this lower Heaven hadn't completely suppressed him into a corner over a full year? No, he wouldn't have!

When Gravis appeared in this world, he had wanted strength to be free. His goal hadn't been to destroy Heaven. Yet, this shitty lower Heaven had suppressed Gravis so heavily that he snapped. Without all this bullshit, Gravis would have just reached the Spirit Forming Realm in the usual way.

On top of that, this constant suppression only strengthened Gravis' will to unprecedented heights compared to his realm. Would Gravis have condensed a Unity Will in the Energy Gathering Realm if this useless lower Heaven had just let him be? Of course not!

This lower Heaven had sent one enemy after another to Gravis, yet only managed to temper his power! Was this useless lower Heaven actually Gravis' friend and ally? If it weren't, then this fuck-up would be one of the biggest ones the highest Heaven had ever seen.

Yet, the highest Heaven decided to keep this useless lower Heaven alive. It wasn't that this lower Heaven didn't deserve death, but the highest Heaven left it alive for a particular reason. This lower Heaven had wronged Gravis too much, so it deserved to reap what it had sown.

The highest Heaven explained its thoughts and rage to the lower Heaven, and everything basically boiled down to one phrase.

Wash your neck and wait for Gravis to claim your stupid, metaphorical head!