Gravis was in a place that he didn't know, but he was pretty sure that he was pretty close to the defensive line. The fire beam had pushed him for a considerable distance, maybe 500 kilometers or something, but such a distance wasn't that far for his speed. Additionally, he felt some distant shockwaves, which proved that the battle was still relatively close to him.
BZZZZ!
Gravis transformed into lightning immediately and charged towards the west. Right now, by killing and eating the crab, Gravis was back in his peak condition, which meant that he could use his Lightning Transformation without any fear of his Realm dropping.
Some seconds passed in which Gravis only traveled to the west.
CRRRRR!
Suddenly, a thick column of earth rose out of the earth and blocked his way. Gravis simply moved around the column and flew further to the west.
CRRR! CRRR! CRRR!
More walls of earth blocked his path, confusing him a little bit. If attackers had summoned those walls, they wouldn't just block his path. After all, the enemy's goal was to kill him, not to stop him from fleeing.
BZZZ!
Gravis tried to move around the walls of earth, but new ones popped up to block his path forward. When Gravis saw that, he realized that the earth element beast blocking him wasn't from the enemy camp. This beast had no idea about Gravis' powers and simply thought that he was some elemental attack.
Gravis transformed back into his body. "I'm not a sea beast!" Gravis shouted.
Some seconds passed in silence.
"Who are you?" a deep voice said as a hog rose from below the earth.
Gravis was a bit surprised since he hadn't noticed that hog at all. It had been hidden perfectly within the earth with not even his Spirit Sense being able to see it. This had to be the workings of a Law!
"I was part of the invading force, and I'm the reason why this whole battle is taking place. The sea beasts want to eliminate me at all cost," Gravis explained.
The hog looked towards the north-east for a bit. "The northern defensive line has become active, but I refuse to believe that it has anything to do with you. You're only a level five Lord. Why would the sea beasts be ready to sacrifice a big part of their defensive line for you?"
"Because I have the most powerful Battle-Strength they have ever seen," Gravis explained coldly. He was beginning to get frustrated by this hog. A new ambusher of the sea beasts could arrive at any second, and Gravis might not survive the next attack. He had no time for this whole explaining shit!
Meanwhile, the hog looked at him with disdain. It was one thing to boast about one's powers, but Gravis was taking it too far. The most powerful Battle-Strength they had ever seen? The hog wouldn't believe such a blatant lie.
"Stop lying," the hog demanded.
"I don't have time!" Gravis shouted back. "The enemy might appear here at any second! How about this? I attack you with a lot of power, and you can judge for yourself. As long as you don't take this attack lightly, you won't get injured too much."
The hog huffed. "You're a level five Lord while I'm a level two King. How would you-"
BZZZZZZ!
Gravis created a Lightning Bomb with 70% of his power and absorbed it into his saber. "No time!" he shouted. "Take this attack and use all your power to defend! I need to get away from here!"
Gravis slashed down and shot the Lightning Crescent forward at the hog. First, the hog was shocked by Gravis suddenly attacking him, but then he grew disdainful again. Yet, at the last second, due to a gut feeling of his, he decided to also use his earth element to block.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The Lightning Crescent exploded onto the hog and destroyed the earth armor on it. Then, the lightning burned an incredible amount of the hog's skin while some of its flesh even received some burns. The hog was in incredible pain as it felt like it had been submerged in searing lava.
"There! Do you believe me now!?" Gravis shouted.
The hog was nervous, angry, and shocked as he tried to process what had just happened. Yet, the pain awakened his battle-instincts, and he looked at Gravis with fiery eyes.
"You wanted this!" Gravis shouted back. "This is the fastest method to prove my allegiance! If we don't retreat now, the sea beasts-"
"Die!" the hog shouted.
The hog immediately shot forward at Gravis while gathering all its earth essence.
Gravis gritted his teeth in rage and frustration. 'Fuck! Now I'm supposed to kill my own companions too!? I can't waste my time like that!' Gravis thought.
Then, Gravis engulfed the corpse of the manta ray inside his Spirit Space in lightning.
"Halt!" a female voice thundered throughout the surroundings.
Gravis aborted his absorption, but the boar continued charging at him. By now, the boar was so close that Gravis wouldn't be able to react anymore.
SHINGSHINGSHINGSHING!
An incredible amount of sharp wind blades passed between the space of Gravis and the boar. Gravis wasn't hit by them, but the boar lost his tusks and front half of his face.
"I said halt!" the same voice from earlier shouted.
Right now, the boar only felt pain and terror. What had he done? Had he just ignored an order from his commander?
Whoooom!
A ten-kilometer-tall mantis appeared suddenly beside the boar and Gravis. Her speed had been unreal, and Gravis also felt her power. 'Level four King!' Gravis thought in surprise.
Not only was Gravis surprised by the mantis' power, but he was also surprised by her relatively small body. Obviously, she had reverted to the true size of her body, but as a level four King, she still was only ten-kilometers-long. This was the smallest level four King Gravis had ever seen.
"Commander," the boar stammered in fear. "I've lost control of-"
"Shut up!" the mantis shouted at the boar. "I'll deal with you later!" Then, she turned to Gravis and looked at him coldly. "You have attacked one of my soldiers. What is your explanation for that?"
"My explanation is that I don't have any fucking time!" Gravis shouted aggressively at the mantis. "The sea beasts are chasing me like I'm some sort of holy food that will give them supreme power and eternal potency! This was the best way to convince this stupid fucking boar to let me pass!"
The boar took a deep breath as he saw Gravis talking to his commander like that. Did he have a death wish?
Meanwhile, the mantis looked at Gravis more closely. Gravis wasn't sure what she was feeling right now since her insect-eyes made it hard for him to discern any of her emotions.
"I sense no falsehood from you," the mantis said coldly, but Gravis also felt rage hidden beneath her voice. "You will come with us to our defensive line, and you won't be able to leave until everything has been cleared up. If you have lied about anything, I will have you digested."
"Sure," Gravis said with an aggressive tone back. "I agree," he said.
Why was Gravis so aggressive?
The reason for that was that he, again, had no control over his life. He had to wait for the other defensive line to return victoriously and explain everything to them. This was another form of suppression and powerlessness, and Gravis hated feeling like that!
"Your agreement is not of importance," the mantis said coldly, demonstrating her authority and power over Gravis, which he hated with all his being. "You will follow me!" she ordered.
Gravis narrowed his eyes but didn't answer. The mantis turned around, and Gravis flew behind her without saying anything. He had just become many times more powerful, and his Will-Aura has risen by an incredible degree, but he wasn't happy right now, not even a little bit.
He was so close to knowing the answer from Heaven, but now he was being suppressed by something else. This whole thing made him feel like the growth of his power hadn't changed anything. He had been suppressed before, and now he was suppressed again.
After some minutes, they all arrived. In front of them was a massive wall of earth that seemingly blocked the entire horizon. On top of these walls, Gravis saw a lot of small beasts. Of course, all of these small beasts were Kings, which had shrunk their bodies.
The mantis flew upwards, towards the top of the wall, and Gravis followed. When they reached the top, all the beasts slightly bowed to the mantis.
"Take him into custody. He is not allowed to leave until I say so," the mantis ordered to one of her assistants, who was a small badger.
"Yes, commander," the badger said. Then, it looked at Gravis evenly. "Follow me," it ordered.
Gravis didn't like this one bit, but he followed anyway. Surprisingly, this badger was a level three King. The commander had probably acknowledged Gravis' power and had sent one of her valuable level three Kings to keep him in check.
They landed behind the wall and stopped at its foot. "We will wait here," the badger said.
When Gravis heard that, he sat down and closed his eyes. Right now, he was helpless to change anything, but at least he was behind the defensive line now.
After some seconds, Gravis took a deep breath in an effort to calm down. 'Only one more King to go. Then, I will know my answer,' he thought.
'Just a bit more!'
