"There is no one willing to battle with you anymore, Gravis," the Empress transmitted with some annoyance. "Last time, only the wolf was ready to battle you, and I doubt that anyone wants to fight with you now."
Gravis grimaced when he heard that. "Okay, but are there maybe some other outstanding level five Lords around? I really need some tempering," he asked.
The Empress sighed again as she massaged the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "Why do you want to temper yourself so badly? I don't get it. You are not ready to learn a new Law, but you still want to gamble with your life. What's the reason?" she asked.
"Well," Gravis answered. "You saw that aura that made my first opponent slow down?" he asked.
The Empress nodded.
"This aura only grows by putting my life on the line. The only reason why it even has such a strong suppressive effect on a beast a whole level higher than me is that I have tempered myself a lot already. If I don't keep tempering myself, eventually, it will become less useful."
The Empress remained silent for a bit as she thought about what Gravis just told her. "I've never heard of something like this, but your powers are strange to begin with. What's your plan? Why do you want to temper yourself now?"
"Well, as long as I manage to increase it some more, I might be able to win against a King while I'm a level four Lord," Gravis admitted. "If I don't increase it now, I'll have to wait until I'm a level five Lord to fight a level one King."
For some reason, the Empress sighed again. Gravis had no idea why she reacted like this.
"Gravis," she transmitted, "even if your strange aura becomes more powerful, you will still have no chance against a level one King. Think about it. The most outstanding level five Lords in this event can fight two levels above themselves. Yet, not even one of them says they can fight a level one King, even though, theoretically, a level one King is two levels above them. Why is that?"
Gravis didn't know why. He had seen the talent of the level five Lords. They all knew Laws that increased their Battle-Strength significantly. Why weren't they able to battle level one Kings?
"I don't know, actually," Gravis transmitted. "I don't have much knowledge about the higher Realms since the Red King is the first King I've ever met. Obviously, due to our relationship, he didn't tell me anything."
The Empress was a little taken aback when she heard that. "You have had no guidance from any Empire or Kingdom?" she asked.
She was so surprised about this fact because Gravis' Battle-Strength and experience in battle were too powerful for some beast that hadn't received any guidance. Had Gravis achieved all of this power without a more powerful beast guiding him? This almost seemed impossible.
Gravis shook his head. "No, I have only had Lords around me, and all these Lords had been either my friends or underlings," Gravis explained.
Now, a lot more things made sense to the Empress. Gravis' weird behavior and trust issues also made some sense now. After all, he only had had underlings and enemies. "Have you ever been part of a Tribe or Kingdom of someone else?"
Gravis shook his head. "No. The only Tribe I had been a part of was one that I have created myself. Of course, that Tribe doesn't exist anymore."
The Empress had no questions regarding Gravis' destroyed Tribe. Tribes came and went daily. An enemy invading a Tribe and eradicating it with only the Tribe Leader surviving happened all the time.
Instead of continuing the conversation, the Empress looked at the other beasts. Hundreds of Kings and Lords were still waiting for her to do anything. They had watched the Empress, the white ape, and Gravis just standing around and looking at each other.
Of course, the beasts knew that they were talking, but they didn't know what they were talking about. As long as the Empress didn't order anything else, they just continued standing and waiting there.
"I'll explain some things to you later. First of all, I need to end this whole matter," the Empress told Gravis.
Then, she turned to the present Kings and Lords. "The competition is over," she announced. "Gravis will be my mate."
None of the present beasts were surprised about that. Gravis had proven his power, and it was only natural that he would be chosen. Feelings like entitlement were incredibly rare among beasts, and they simply accepted this matter. Their candidates just hadn't been powerful enough.
"All candidates will join my Empire. The Kings will all receive the standard reward. The Grand Elder has taken note of your contributions and will remember you," the Empress proclaimed.
The Grand Elder nodded and stepped forward. "Tell me what kind of rewards you want," the white ape said.
After that, everything became silent again. The Kings were probably all talking with the Grand Elder via voice transmission. After some seconds, one King after the other left the Mountain of Pride, all flying off in different directions.
After around half a minute, nearly no Kings remained anymore. Now, only the Empress, the white ape, the Red King, Gravis, and the other candidates remained.
"Candidates," the Empress announced to the gathered crowd. "To the north of the Mountain of Pride, you will find my army Commanders. They have gone through many such meetings and know what to do. Fly to the north, and my Commanders will contact you."
"Follow their orders. Starting today, you are part of the Icy Pride Empire," the Empress proclaimed.
'Icy Pride Empire?' Gravis thought. 'Is that the name of the Empire? I mean, the Empress does have the water element, which can transform into ice. She also has comprehended the Law of Pride. So, I guess calling the Empire Icy Pride makes sense.'
The Lords all lowered their heads to show their subservience. Then, they flew towards the north. Gravis thought that seeing so many several-kilometer-long beasts flying into one direction looked quite imposing. A human Sect would probably be quite intimidated if they saw such an endless cloud of massive beasts flying towards them. Gravis wondered if non-natural middle worlds also had such beast Empires.
After all the Lords left, only four beasts remained on top of the Mountain of Pride: The Empress, the white ape, the Red King, and Gravis. Right now, Gravis was, by far, the largest beast present, towering over all other present beasts.
Of course, that was only because the other three beasts had control over their size. Gravis had already seen the true size of the Red King, which was gigantic. He also wondered if the white ape and the Empress were bigger or smaller if they revealed their actual size.
"Red King," the Empress said as she turned to him. "You have brought an outstanding mate for me. Tell me, what reward do you want?"
"I want time in the Infernal Depths," the Red King answered immediately.
The Empress wasn't surprised. "I've thought as much. As you know, normally, only Emperors that are part of my Empire are allowed to enter the Infernal Depths, but since you brought me such an excellent mate, I will allow it. You can enter the Infernal Depths and stay there for ten years," the Empress said.
The Red King's body shook out of excitement. He had wanted to enter the Infernal Depths for an incredibly long time. Ten years should easily be enough for him to comprehend a more powerful Law.
The Infernal Depths was one of the highest-graded Law Comprehension Areas in the entire world. The fire inside the Infernal Depths was on the same level as Punishment Lightning. If one managed to comprehend all the secrets of the Infernal Depths, they would gain access to this powerful fire.
Of course, the Red King knew that he wouldn't be able to understand everything with his current Realm and with only being allowed to stay for ten years. Yet, even comprehending the weaker Laws inside the Infernal Depths would increase his power by a lot.
Theoretically, the Red King could have already become an Emperor. Yet, as soon as he would become one, he would only be able to temper himself against other level one Emperors. However, all Emperors were incredibly outstanding. The Red King might be very powerful for his Realm, but he would only be slightly above average if he became an Emperor right now. That was not what he wanted.
The Red King wanted to be outstanding, and to become outstanding, he needed to increase his Battle-Strength as much as possible. Right now, he didn't appear interesting to other level one Emperors, which gave him the security and time to comprehend more Laws.
"Grand Elder," the Empress said. "Bring the Red King to the Infernal Depths and explain everything important to him."
"Yes, Empress," the white ape said. Then, he looked at the Red King and motioned with his head to follow him. "Follow me," he said.
The Red King threw one more glance at Gravis with a smirk. "This is where we part ways. I won't miss you for even a second," he transmitted.
"Same goes for me," Gravis answered. "Who knows, maybe I will already be powerful enough to kill you when you return?"
The Red King snorted. "Sure, good luck," he said sarcastically. Then, he left with the white ape without saying another word.
And with that, only Gravis and the Empress remained on top of the Mountain of Pride.
