Lightning Is the Only Way

CRACK!

Suddenly, something inside Stella's mind broke. Boundless comprehension filled her mind as she realized something.

'Teacher?' she thought in shock as her life was about to end. 

'I would have died?'

Gravis' saber was still swinging at her head.

BRRRRRRRRRR!

Suddenly, an apocalyptic storm of fire exploded out of Stella's body. Gravis' entire body started burning violently as he felt like he was touching the sun itself.

The knockback from the firestorm was so powerful that Gravis couldn't move his saber forward anymore. His entire body was violently pushed back with an unreal amount of heat as he barely clung to Stella's body. If this heat had been in the form of an attack, Gravis would have long been incinerated. The only reason why Gravis was still alive was that Stella had to release this fire as an aura.

Gravis barely held on, but he felt his body starting to burn into nothingness.

'Level five Law!?' Gravis thought in shock. 'This is the Law of Inferno, but it can unleash the power of a level five Law!?'

'Does this mean that she knows the Major Law of the Elements and has it as her Avatar? Why? Why hasn't she unleashed this Law beforehand!?' Gravis thought in terror.

The only way to increase the power of the Law of Inferno to the power of a level five Law was with the Major Law of the Elements and having it as an Avatar. This was the same power that Heaven had shown.

Gravis felt himself being burned to a crisp.

'It's now or never!' Gravis thought.

PSH! PSH! PSH!

Gravis' three arms that grabbed Stella transformed into beast arms, and his claws dug into Stella's skin. If he couldn't kill her with his saber, he had to kill her another way!

An entire second passed as Gravis' body was starting to vanish slowly. His Law of Energy Healing was regenerating with as much power as it could muster, violently burning Gravis' Energy storage.

'Why do you keep holding on!?' Stella thought in frustration. 

A second passed with Gravis starting to burn violently until…

Stella's arms started to become black.

Stella felt like she was losing her Life Energy, and she quickly realized what was happening.

'The Law of Darkness Poisoning!?' she thought in shock.

Yes, the seemingly useless Law that Gravis had learned back in the Ultimate's Meet, the Law of Darkness Poisoning. Gravis was using his darkness element and the Law of Darkness Poisoning to destroy Stella's Life Energy!

As long as the darkness element managed to enter the bloodstream of a being, it killed every last bit of Life Energy it could find. 

Gravis was being burned to a crisp as Stella's body started dying, starting with her four limbs. 

'Are you insane!?' Stella thought in shock and terror. 'Do you want both of us to die!?'

Meanwhile, Gravis' eyes shone with an insane light as his mind moved as fast as never before.

'I need to comprehend the Major Law of the Elements, now!' he thought. 'If I can't comprehend it, both of us will die! Only when I comprehend this level four Law will I be able to survive!'

The Formation Array started to warp as it had to contain Stella's violently powerful fire. Gravis was only feeling a small part of Stella's force since she unleashed it across her entire surroundings, but the Formation Array had to withstand the full brunt. 

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A violent explosion of fire came from the outside as Stella's brother attacked the Formation Array in panic.

"Don't die!" he shouted as he unleashed all his power on the Formation Array. He couldn't let his sister die! She was the last family he had left!

"Teacher, where are you!?" he shouted. "Teacher, save sis!"

Gravis was barely clinging onto life as he micro-managed his Law of Energy Healing to an insane degree. He had to keep his limbs and head in one piece! If Stella managed to break away from him, he wouldn't get such a chance again!

Stella had shown that she knew the Major Law of the Elements! Gravis would be absolutely helpless against her if she managed to retreat to a safe distance!

This was a level four Law!

How many Immortals knew level four Laws!?

'If she escapes, I die! It's now or never!' Gravis thought as his face contorted into a violent grimace of concentration and rage.

'I can't die! I need more power!' Gravis thought violently, his thoughts barely making any sense.

Seconds passed. 

Stella's limbs were fully black now as the black color already started consuming her torso. Stella felt weaker and weaker like she was about to lose consciousness and die.

Meanwhile, Only the bare minimum of muscles and bones were left of Gravis to keep Stella hooked down. His face had long since transformed into a burned skull as only the bare minimum of organic matter remained to protect his mind from the fire.

Stella looked into the skull right in front of her, which terrified her very soul. 'Is this still a human!?' she thought. 

'I don't want to die!' she thought as her emotions went wild. 

The illusion of control had long since been broken and had been transformed into the opposite by Gravis. Now, Gravis used his Law of Control to make her feel like she had no control at all, making it harder for her to unleash her power.

Stella's brother had spent all his Energy as he broke down at the wall of the Formation Array. His head was lowered. "Don't die, please," he whimpered. "Sis, please don't die. I don't want to lose you too."

In a world of cultivation and power, Cultivators died, and their families suffered. This was an unchangeable truth of the world. Gravis was not about to lay down his life because Stella had a loved one. 

How many beings had Gravis killed?

How many of these beings had loved ones that grieved over their death?

What made this one different from all the others?

If Stella escaped now, Gravis would definitely die. He couldn't allow that! She must die, now!

'I need the Major Law of the Elements!' Gravis thought violently.

Gravis was running out of Energy as his Law of Energy Healing started to become slower and slower.

Stella was running out of Life Energy as nearly her entire body transformed into a black husk. 

One last second passed.

Gravis was out of Energy, and his boney limbs burned away.

Stella barely clung to life as her mind started vanishing.

Gravis' husk stood in the fire as his bones started vanishing too. He had no Energy left, and he couldn't retreat from the fire anymore.

Stella's fire violently shook as it started to vanish and weakly reappear. She was out of Life Energy, and her Spirit was vanishing, slowly killing her consciousness.

Meanwhile, Gravis felt calm.

'I didn't achieve it,' he thought calmly.

'I couldn't comprehend the Major Law of the Elements.'

'I'm sorry, Arc. It seems like our fight won't happen.'

Gravis' emotions were calm as he knew that he was going to die. He couldn't even transform his body into Divine Lightning since he simply had no lightning or Energy left. 

'Aris, Cera, Yersi, I hope you all live a happy life.'

CRACK!

And then, the Formation Array broke as someone appeared between the two of them.