When Gravis heard the name of the mountain, he felt his insides shake. For some reason, he felt a resonance coming from the mountain when he heard that name, which was something he hadn't felt before. For some seconds, Gravis remained silent as he took in this feeling.
The Red King noticed Gravis' reaction and smirked. Yet, he didn't say anything to bring Gravis out of his thoughts. Some beasts had this sort of reaction when they saw the mountain and heard its name.
Gravis felt like the mountain became even more powerful in his vision. To him, the mountain felt like it was sending out an aura of absolute hegemony. It was like this mountain was showing him that no one would ever be able to suppress it. It felt like the mountain would stay here forever.
"Some beasts feel this resonance," the Red King said after some minutes. He had already seen that Gravis had somewhat recovered, which was why he continued speaking now.
Gravis looked to the Red King. "What does this mean?" he asked.
The Red King smirked a bit. "It means you have a chance of comprehending the Law of Pride in the future."
Gravis narrowed his eyes. "Law of Pride? Something like that exists?" he asked.
The Red King nodded. "Emotions are part of the world, and therefore, have their own rules. So, you can also understand them and use the Laws associated with them."
Gravis thought about this for a bit. The fact that emotions could also take the form of a Law was something he hadn't expected. He had thought Laws were more like the natural workings of the world. He didn't think that something as elusive and personal as emotions could also have Laws associated with them.
Of course, Gravis noticed something else. "This mountain is not natural, is it?" he asked.
The Red King nodded. "The Empress has spent countless years and countless resources to create this mountain. She knew that she was close to understanding pride but was just missing the last realization to understand it. So, she decided to create the most powerful and most imposing mountain in the world."
"It took countless years to complete it, but when she managed it, she also felt this feeling. Yet, her viewpoint is vastly different from ours. We can only look at the mountain from here and witness its magnificence. Yet, the Empress is the owner of this mountain. It belongs to her, and she has created it."
"Witnessing such a display of pride and power is different from realizing that this incredible display of power belongs to you and is, therefore, below you. When the Empress witnessed the power of her mountain, she finally realized the full Law of Pride. After all, her pride must be grander than the pride of this mountain," the Red King finished explaining.
"So you don't need to fight someone to the death to understand a Law," Gravis commented.
"Of course not," the Red King said. "It's all about your personal understanding. A life and death fight puts you under immense pressure and forces your mind to work as hard as never before. Yet, that is not necessary to understand a Law. After all, if your mind is already powerful enough to understand the Law, it doesn't need the help of a fight."
"All in all, you could say that a real fight is an extraordinary stimulus, but it's not necessary. It's just a tremendous help," the Red King explained.
Gravis remained silent as he looked at the mountain some more.
"We still have a couple of days until the meeting," the Red King said from the side. "We will remain at the foot of the mountain for now. Without the explicit consent of the Empress, no one is allowed to step foot on this mountain. It symbolizes her pride, and therefore, herself."
Gravis remained silent as he simply stared at the mountain. The Red King didn't mind since he had already expected something like this. Most beasts would fall into a trance when witnessing the mountain for the first time. So, the Red King simply flew to the ground and waited for the time of the meeting,
Some days passed, and Gravis noticed more beasts appearing in his surroundings. He was able to feel the power of most of them, but some were still too powerful for him to sense. The ones whose power he was able to sense were all level four Kings, which allowed Gravis to confirm that he could feel the power of level four Kings but not level five Kings.
"Hello, Red King. Weren't you supposed to bring some Golden Dragon or something to this meeting?" a voice appeared from the side suddenly.
Gravis looked over and saw two beasts. One of them was a water buffalo, just a bit taller than the Red King's current, small body. Gravis wasn't able to feel the buffalo's power, but he was pretty sure that this was a level five King.
Behind the water buffalo was some kind of lizard, which looked different from the usual lizards that Gravis had met. Gravis had learned a lot about beasts, and he was sure that this kind of lizard was called a monitor lizard.
In comparison to the water buffalo, this brown monitor lizard was much bigger. It was probably around 800-meters-long. Yet, in comparison to beasts of its same power, it was still relatively small. This monitor lizard was a level four Lord. Gravis was pretty sure that the water buffalo was another affiliated King of the Empress and that the monitor lizard was his candidate.
"What's it to you, buffalo?" the Red King answered neutrally.
"Well, I'm just interested in your candidate. I want to know why you decided to replace your previous one," the water buffalo said with a calm voice. In comparison to the Red King, the water buffalo sounded completely different.
When the Red King talked, his voice directly showed his emotions. His voice radiated the pride of his power and showed his disdain towards others clearly. Many humans would think of the Red King as an arrogant asshole when they heard his voice just once, but beasts were different.
Beasts were straightforward and weren't the biggest fans of schemes. Of course, there were some exceptions to that rule. Shira was a good example of an exception. So, when the Red King talked, they only felt it natural that he was showing his superiority. After all, he was stronger than most beasts.
Yet, in comparison to the Red King, the water buffalo sounded calm and reticent. He sounded like some kind of hermit elder that kept himself away from the ongoings of the world. Of course, Gravis noticed that there was a flaw in this logic. After all, if the water buffalo were some hermit, he wouldn't be here with a candidate of his own.
"My old candidate died," the Red King answered evenly, his voice showing his disregard for the water buffalo.
"Oh, my condolences," the water buffalo said with his calm voice. "So you had to find the next best thing. Seems like you won't get the reward this time," he said with compassion.
Gravis guessed that the water buffalo didn't mean these words. Yet, for some reason, Gravis couldn't be entirely sure.
"You sound like you're sure of your victory, buffalo," the Red King said in disregard.
The water buffalo grinned in a sheepish manner, making Gravis lift an eyebrow. This didn't seem like how a level five King would typically act. "I think I have a pretty good shot this time," he said with a smile.
If other Kings heard these words, they might become interested in the monitor lizard and investigate it, but the Red King simply didn't care. There was no way that a more outstanding beast than Gravis was present here.
The water buffalo saw the Red King's disinterest in the monitor lizard and misinterpreted it. In his mind, the Red King's disregard showed that he had already given up. He was simply here to make up the numbers. Why else would he not care about a powerful enemy of his candidate?
Due to the Red King's conduct, the water buffalo never paid any attention to Gravis. The Red King was showing the weakness of his candidate with his conduct.
"Well, it was nice talking to you. I'm going to say hello to the others. Wish you luck anyway," the water buffalo said with a smile. Then, he flew away without waiting for a goodbye from the Red King because he knew that no goodbye would come out from his mouth.
Some seconds after the water buffalo left, Gravis looked at the Red King. "I guess you two are not on the best of terms?" Gravis asked.
The Red King snorted. "You're lucky that you're my candidate. If any other beast pushed their nose into my affairs, I would kill them directly."
Gravis just looked evenly at the Red King. "What's with this pointless show of strength?" Gravis asked.
The Red King took a deep breath to calm down. He hated it when Gravis directly called him out whenever he just wanted to feel superior due to his power. The Red King simply wanted to release some steam by threatening someone and showing his power. Yet, Gravis didn't even allow him that small solace.
The Red King released a sigh. "No, it's not like that," he answered. "The buffalo meant everything he said. He genuinely feels bad for the death of my disciple. You could call him a genuinely nice guy, and that wouldn't be wrong."
"And that's why I hate him," the Red King said.
