Lightning Is the Only Way

SLAP!

Gravis got slapped away, and many of his teeth left his mouth. He spun a couple of times and landed on the floor.

"Oh, Gravis, Gravis," Byron said with a mocking tone. "You feel yourself superior by knowing about the worlds and thinking that you know Heaven better than anyone else. Yet, precisely that made you a perfect target."

Byron walked closer to Gravis. "People from a different world? Who could possibly believe that?" he mocked as he walked closer. "Heaven telling me all your secrets? No one would believe me if I said that Heaven spoke to me."

Byron kneeled down and lifted Gravis by his hair. "You thought yourself so knowledgeable and wise, yet you believed shit that no one with a rational mind would believe."

Gravis suddenly punched since he had no weapon anymore.

THUMP!

Gravis' fist hit Byron's chest, destroying parts of his robes, but otherwise, Byron didn't move. Gravis had no more lightning, so he wasn't able to load his punch. Byron's body was way more powerful than Gravis, and he ignored the punch. Byron continued smirking, grabbed Gravis' arm, and then slapped him with the other one.

SLAP!

Gravis was shot into the distance again, his arm getting ripped off as it still remained in Byron's grip. Parts of Gravis' face caved in as he started spitting blood.

Clank! SLAP!

Manuel's sword was stopped by Byron's hand, and he also got slapped into the distance. "Keep yourself out of this, boy. You're next," Byron said mockingly.

"How did you know that I was from a higher world?" Gravis asked with his Spirit since his mouth couldn't form any more words. This was the only open question for which Gravis had no answer.

Byron laughed again. "Heh, that's the interesting part, isn't it?" Byron said as he walked over to Gravis. "The Guild Master of our Proxy-Darkness Guild found out that you have a Will-Aura instead of Heavenly Pressure. He reported it to the Guild Master of the Darkness Guild in the Middle-Continent."

Byron continued approaching. "The Guild Master didn't mind since he knew that the Heaven Sect would kill you, but imagine his surprise when he found out that you joined the Heaven Sect. After that happened, he reported this development to me, and I got interested."

Byron stopped before Gravis and gestured widely to the surroundings with his open arms. "I was really interested in that development. Heaven allowed someone that wasn't its child to join the Heaven Sect and profit from its resources? How could that be possible? There was no precedence for this development. At that point, I started thinking."

Byron put his hands in his pocket and snickered. "Why would Heaven allow such disrespect towards it? Heaven has struck people down before, so why hasn't it killed you? On top of that, I also found out about the Basin of Nature incident. Heaven was angry and struck all the surroundings, but it didn't dare strike you. What could possibly stop Heaven from killing someone that insulted it?"

"Power is everything! The only thing that could stop Heaven was someone more powerful. Someone like that could only exist in a higher world. You might ask yourself, if I knew about your background, why I still decided to use you."

Gravis didn't say anything. There was nothing he could do right now. He was completely spent, and Byron's power completely eclipsed his own.

Byron continued explaining. "Two incidents gave me all the clues I needed." Byron lifted one finger. "The first one was that Jaimy incident. If your backer from the higher world were allowed to interfere, they would have never allowed for anything like this to happen."

Byron lifted a second finger. "The second one was your fight with that elder from the Fire Guild. That was basically suicide, yet no one interfered. People from a higher world know more about cultivation than us nobodies, so they would also know that saving you would prevent you from further tempering your will. After all, you would always think that you wouldn't die anyway since your backer could always interfere. So, all in all, you are by yourself."

Byron laughed slightly. "Of course, that's all conjecture. I wouldn't base my plan on just that. The most important clue was your talk with that girl from the Wind Guild."

'Wendy?' shot through Gravis' mind.

Byron saw the look on Gravis and knew that he knew which girl he meant. "After you joined the Heaven Sect, I was informed by the Guild Master of the Darkness Guild. Starting at that point, I have sent one of my most trusted elders to keep watch over you. Of course, he couldn't watch you while you were inside the Heaven Sect, so he always remained outside."

Byron kneeled on one knee beside the laying Gravis. "We from the Darkness Sect pride ourselves in our supreme stealth. On top of that, who in the Middle-Continent was able to feel the Spirit of someone at the Sapling Stage? No one."

Byron snickered again and lifted Gravis by his hair. "You talked so affectionately with that girl and told her everything, not thinking about anyone listening. After I heard about that, I started planning. A powerful lightning cultivator not affiliated with any power and with no knowledge about the Core-Continent? You were perfect!"

"You had no idea about battle-techniques, and I knew that. How do you think the people without an element cultivate? Do you honestly believe that there had never been a power that used battle-techniques instead of elements? There were plenty, so our stock of battle-techniques is big. I just randomly grabbed a fitting one for you and said it was from a different world. Again, no one else in the Core-Continent would believe that."

Gravis limply hang down by his hair. He had no lightning, nearly no Spirit, and his body couldn't injure Byron. He was helpless.

"By the way," Byron said as his head neared Gravis'. "If you didn't fall for my claims, I would have directly killed you. So, in some weird way, you should be thankful for your naïve arrogance."

Splash!

A mixture of blood and spit hit Byron's face. Even though Gravis was helpless, he still wanted to show his hatred and disrespect towards Byron. Byron wiped his face with one hand.

SLAP!

Gravis was slapped away again and then lost consciousness. The continued slaps had been too powerful.

"Anyway," he said as he walked over to Gravis' unconscious body. "You have outlived your usefulness. Time for you to die."

BANG!

An incredibly powerful lightning strike hit the area between Gravis and Byron, but this lightning bolt didn't originate from Gravis.

Out of the crater walked an incredibly old man with long silver hair. His back was severely bent, and he used a long staff for support when walking.

"How about you don't kill him? I have taken a liking to this boy," the old man said with a weak voice.

Byron's eyes narrowed.