Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis looked at the hall as all the people watched him with serious eyes. Gravis was not sure, but he felt like the people inside the room looked at him strangely. They all looked like they hated him, which was expected, of course, but Gravis felt like something was not right with their expressions.

"Show me the proof of mission," said the middle-aged man in the central throne, his deep voice echoing through the hall. Gravis took out the shining dossiers and held them up. Shortly after Gravis took out the dossiers, they started floating over to the man, who looked through them.

After some seconds, the man furrowed his brows, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. This was an official document from the branch manager of the south-eastern Heaven Sect. He knew the branch manager, and he realized that this came directly from him.

The dossiers floated to a sitting old man on a normal throne. "Bring them here," said the Guild Master of the Lightning Guild. The old man bowed slightly and left the hall. The Lightning Sect couldn't fight the Heaven Sect, so the even smaller Lightning Guild could not even hope to change anything.

They didn't even need to think about the central Heaven Sect. Aion was one of the two strongest people in the Middle-Continent, the other being the branch manager of the north-western Heaven Sect. Aion could tear down this Lightning Guild just by himself.

Everyone waited in silence for several minutes. The Lightning Guild was massive, and the elder would probably take some time to return. Gravis planned to say several things, but he decided to wait until the official business was over. On the other hand, the elders didn't want to discuss official business while an enemy was in their hall. No one talked, and one could cut the thick tension in the air with a knife.

They waited for an entire hour in this silence. After the hour was up, the doors opened, and five people entered the hall. One was the elder from earlier, while the other four were the crestfallen disciples that Gravis had already met at Earth Town and the tree.

Judging by their expression, they were probably already told what would happen. Gravis guessed that it took an entire hour for them to get here so that they could get their affairs in order. When the four disciples spotted Gravis, their expression turned to hatred. The elder walked back to his throne while the four disciples looked at Gravis.

Gravis looked at them with narrowed eyes. Even if they were way weaker than Gravis, they had still tried to kill him. The concept of enmity ignored the concept of strength. Gravis was the perfect example since he was still very weak in the grand scheme of things, while his enemy was the highest Heaven.

BOOM!

Gravis shot his lightning at them, and they couldn't evade all of it in this small hall. The lightning hit them, and only a short shrill scream echoed throughout the hall as the disciples got reduced to ashes. Gravis didn't care about what they wanted to say. There was no point in talking.

Gravis turned back to the Guild Master, who violently tried to crush the steel balls in his hand to calm down. The death of the disciples was a slap to his face, and he was frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it. The Guild Master of the Lightning Guild was obviously in a bad mood.

"The official business is over," said Gravis to the Guild Master. The people inside the hall only looked at Gravis with hate, wanting him out of their sights. Yet, contrary to expectation, Gravis didn't leave. Instead, he did something inconceivable to them.

PLOMP!

Gravis sat down on his knees like the martial artists in the Martial Hall, back in Body City. All the elders in this hall knew etiquette, and they knew that this pose symbolized respect. That Gravis sat down in this position meant that he showed respect for the Lightning Guild.

"How dare you!" shouted the Guild Master angrily as he stood up. "How dare you show respect after you have killed four of my disciples right in front of my eyes!? Leave!" his voice echoed throughout the whole hall.

Gravis' hair got blown back by the imposing voice, but his demeanor didn't change. "I will now tell you about my situation and about what I have done in the Proxy-Lightning Guild," proclaimed Gravis in a neutral tone.

"Who cares about what you want to say! You have killed our disciples, so we don't care about what you want to say!" shouted another elder angrily at Gravis. The others followed suit and shouted aggressively at him to leave.

It was incredibly challenging for Gravis to keep his cool when an entire room of people stronger than him shouted at him to leave. If Gravis hadn't had a very powerful will, he probably would have faltered. Yet, even with all these aggressive shouts coming his way, he still remained upright in his kneeling position.

"I have met Gorn at the yearly entrance exams of the elemental guilds…" Gravis started narrating. The other voices overwhelmed him and shouted at him to shut up and leave, but who were these people? Those people were all expert cultivators in this world, and even if the whole hall shouted at him to leave, they could still understand everything he was saying beneath the avalanche of shouts.

Gravis told them about everything that had transpired in all his time in the Proxy-Lightning Guild, except for the arrival of Aion or about his Destruction Lightning. If he told them about how Gorn helped him against Aion, they would learn that he was not a Heavenborn. Gravis was not so naïve that he would trust the Lightning Guild with his life.

Gravis was also unsure how they would react if he told them about his Destruction Lightning. They looked at him as their enemy, and if Gravis told them that he had reached the never-before-seen 100% Destruction Lightning, they might sacrifice their whole guild to the Heaven Sect just to protect the Lightning Sect.

Slowly, the shouts started to subside as Gravis told them more about what Gorn had done for him. About how Gorn had given him the Lightning Codex without any payment. About how Gorn had given Gravis the best house to keep an eye on him. About how Gorn had saved him from the cesspool. About how Gorn increased the output of the Lightning Tower to satiate Gravis' mad thirst for power.

Before Gravis had arrived, they had thought that he was a cold, traitorous killer. When Gravis told them about some things that Gorn had done for him, they only grew angrier since they knew that Gravis had killed him.

Yet, as time progressed and more of Gorn's good deeds appeared, they started thinking. If Gravis wanted to defend his character, he would have said that Gorn had abused him, but Gravis only sincerely told them about what Gorn had done for him.

The people in the hall fell completely silent when the tale reached the part where Gravis ran amok in the Proxy-Lightning Guild. Gravis told them about how everything seemed to be an enemy in his eyes and that he could only see Jaimy everywhere he looked.

The people in the hall were all experienced, and they had already realized by now that Gravis had been under the influence of lightning. They could empathize with him since they were all linked with the lightning element. They also had to battle with the temperament of lightning.

Did it excuse what Gravis had done in the Proxy-Lightning Guild? No, definitely not! When someone was drunk and killed another person, they were still responsible for their actions.

When Gravis reached the point where Gorn died, Gravis breathed heavily. He always tried his very best to ignore this memory, but he needed to tell his story to the people. He wanted them to understand him.

Gravis knew that this would not solve their enmity, and the Lightning Guild would still hunt him. Gravis only wanted them to understand his pain and to show that he had never seen the Lightning Sect as his enemy.

Gravis finished his story at the point when he fled out of the Proxy-Lightning Guild.

The hall remained silent, and Gravis looked deeply into the Guild Master's eyes.