Shira had already known Gravis' plan. That's why she wasn't even a bit surprised when he said that. Instead, she grew angry and frustrated. 'I tried to kill this viper because he's going to be a powerful opponent. This will be troublesome,' she thought.
Meanwhile, the viper wasn't sure what it should think. It wasn't going to die? Also, what did that beast just say?
"Are you kidding me?" the viper transmitted to Gravis with an angry voice.
"No, I'm not," Gravis answered.
"Are you not fine with killing us now? Do you want to kill us all later? What's your goal in this?" the viper answered.
Gravis only smirked. "Oh, I know about your so-called established laws," Gravis said. "Let's go to the Spire. We can discuss all of this in public so that all beasts in the River Tribe will see that I'm serious."
Whoosh!
Gravis swam towards the Spire, and the viper watched. Meanwhile, Shira glared at the viper. "Don't get in my way, or you won't know how you died," she said before following Gravis.
The viper was still angry. What Gravis had proposed was akin to suicide! Yet, he followed the two of them.
Splash!
All three of them left the water. Gravis went to the Spire to climb it to a sufficient height where every beast could see him. Shira and the viper went to each of their camps and stood at the forefront of their groups.
The sea horde didn't show much respect for Shira. To them, she had only shown that she was intelligent. On top of that, they didn't know her for long. Lastly, she hadn't proven her strength. After all, nearly all survivors managed to kill a beast at their level, while Shira didn't win.
Meanwhile, the land beasts stood respectfully behind the viper, showing everyone that they acknowledged it as their leader. No beast dared to stand close to the viper.
When Shira saw that, her eyes narrowed further. 'Just you wait,' she thought with spite.
By now, all beasts had gathered in front of the Spire, and Gravis looked at them.
"Every survivor will stay alive and join my Tribe, the River Tribe," Gravis announced.
The land beasts looked with skeptical eyes at Gravis and then at the sea beasts with disdain. They weren't sure if Gravis actually meant that, and even if he did, they wouldn't join hands with some shrimps.
The sea beasts knew that Gravis was serious, but they also weren't the biggest fans of that development. They had only taken part in the battle to get some food, which, by the way, was still lying dead in the water. They'd rather go get their food instead of listening to Gravis.
"You do know that it's against the laws for sea and land beasts to unite?" the viper transmitted with an angry voice to everyone around them. This was a public discussion.
"I do," Gravis said. He had spoken at length with Shira about this topic when they were readying their plan.
The viper waited for Gravis to continue, but apparently, he was done speaking. This made the viper only angrier. "This will make everyone here the enemy of every sea and land Tribe out there. This is suicide! If you want to kill us, why don't you do it now!?"
Gravis only smirked. "I know. So?" he asked.
The viper was taken aback. "What do you mean with so? This will kill all of us!" it shouted with anger and frustration.
"And if we kept to the laws, the other Tribes wouldn't attempt to kill us?" Gravis asked.
"Yes, they would still attempt to kill us, but we wouldn't be the prime target for every Tribe in the surroundings," the viper shot back immediately. "This will give the surrounding Tribes a reason to band together and attack us as a united force!"
Gravis laughed a bit. "In the end, it's all about becoming more powerful. You say the laws are just a means to an end to find an arbitrary reason to attack us. Is that it?"
The viper remained silent for some seconds, thinking about Gravis' words. "Yes, it is," it said. "Yet, that doesn't change the reality of the situation. We will be the enemies of the whole world."
"Let me give you some hypothetical situations," Gravis said.
"Sure," the viper said with annoyance.
"When we are weaker than an adjacent Tribe, will they attack us? Would breaking the laws make a difference in this situation?" Gravis asked.
"No, it wouldn't," the viper answered quickly. "When a resource of power is too weak to defend itself, it will be swallowed by the stronger beasts."
Gravis nodded. "When we are stronger than an adjacent Tribe, will they attack us?"
"Not alone. Yet, they might find allies in other Tribes to take us down. After all, we would be a threat to them," the viper answered.
Gravis smirked. "Doesn't that sound like the same situation as when we broke the laws?"
"Yes, but…" the viper answered but stopped. It wanted to counter that argument, but it couldn't. It wasn't some stupid beast that always believed it was right. The viper was this smart because it always analyzed its own thinking and looked for mistakes.
After some more seconds, the viper's eyes narrowed further in thinking. Now, it started thinking of this situation from a point of view that honestly compared the relationships with other Tribes in both situations. Yet, even after half a minute, it saw no difference. Everything would end in the same fight. Just the way to that fight was different.
The eyes of the viper were still narrowed but for an entirely different reason. Now, they were narrowed because it was planning and going through all possible advantages and problems that such a merger would bring. It was no longer against the idea.
"In the end, it doesn't really matter," Gravis said as he didn't see the viper reacting in a while. He would have let it think some more if this were a private conversation, but it felt awkward waiting for it in this public setting. "If you're too weak, you will die. If you're strong, the weak will fear for their lives and band together."
The viper was taken out of its thoughts and looked at Gravis, paying more attention now.
"Think about it," Gravis said as he slithered down from the Spire. "If we break the laws, and the enemy is stronger than us, they won't search for help. They will just attack us immediately. If we break the laws, and the enemy is weaker than us, they will search for help. Yet, the exact same scenario would happen if we didn't break the laws. It makes no difference."
By now, Gravis stood in front of the viper. The viper was 200-meters-long but didn't use its full height to stand up. So, the viper and Gravis looked at each other's eyes from the same height.
Gravis hadn't been so close to the viper before, and it felt Gravis' power for the first time. It was rather shocked, not by how strong Gravis was, but by how weak Gravis was. This was obviously the sea Horde's leader. Yet, he wasn't even a Lord.
This shocked the viper to no end. How did this creature manage to kill their Lord? No normal beast had the power to kill a Lord. It was impossible!
Gravis noticed the subtle changes in the viper's eyes and knew what it was thinking about. "You doubt my strength," Gravis commented. "If you want, you can try to kill me right now. I swear that I won't kill you in return. I'll also not use the power that allowed me to kill your Lord. You only need to face my body, nothing more."
The viper hesitated for some seconds while looking at Gravis. Then, its face relaxed.
"No, I don't doubt-"
Whoosh!
The viper's head shot forward out of nowhere, trying to bite Gravis. This was the perfect opportunity. Their bodies were very close, and the viper's strike was fast. If it managed to bite Gravis, he would die to the venom.
Yet, Gravis easily rotated his upper body to the side to dodge the attack. The viper's eyes widened in shock when it saw that. At one point, Gravis' broad chest was just before it, but now, it had moved to the side. The viper had never seen a technique like that before.
A human's upper body was very flexible and broad. Yet, it was also rather thin compared to other beasts. Together with the flexible waist, a seemingly massive and wide chest in front of someone could evade an attack without moving the lower body much. The human just had to rotate their upper body a little bit. Of course, Gravis' body was similarly designed to a human's.
PACK!
Before the viper could ready itself for another strike, Gravis' hand grabbed its throat. The viper felt an incredible pressure at its throat, creating panic inside its mind. Its most vulnerable body part was in the enemy's hands.
PACK!
It used its newly regrown tail to strike Gravis from the right side. Gravis was using his right hand to hold the viper's neck. So, he wouldn't be able to block this attack since his hand was busy.
Yet, Gravis simply rotated his upper body by 180°. Like this, his left hand grabbed the tail. Its body was going crazy, trying to get out of Gravis' grip, but it just didn't work. If it were a human's hand, the viper might manage to get out. Yet, Gravis' hands were bigger, more powerful, and with longer claws that extended his grip.
Gravis pulled the head forward so that it looked into Gravis' eyes. "Convinced?" he asked.
"Yes," it answered in fear and defeat.
"Good," Gravis said with a smirk.
