Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis stood alone on top of one of the walls of the Heavenly Divine Sect.

He had been standing here for hours, simply looking aimlessly at the horizon.

Gravis was still in shock, and it was difficult for him to accept everything.

He hadn't expected that so many had died.

The feeling of losing his loved ones was not foreign to Gravis, but it was difficult every time.

Especially this time.

"You were her father, right?" a man said to Gravis after approaching him.

Gravis looked over at the person and read his Law fragments.

Then, he wordlessly nodded as he looked at the horizon again.

The man joined Gravis at the wall.

The two of them had never met each other before, but they felt the same thing right now.

Grief.

"She often spoke of you," the man said.

"She did?" Gravis asked absentmindedly.

"Yes," the man answered. "She always said that she didn't regret her choice, but I think that she regretted it a little bit. After she became a Star God, she gained a human mindset, and with it, feeling."

"Yet, so much time had passed, and she never found a good opportunity."

"I think she wanted to meet you again and bury the past," the man explained. "She always talked about how much she hated people running from their emotions, but I think that's because she was hating her past self for her decisions."

Silence.

"You know, I always hated you," the man said.

Gravis didn't answer.

"It was like your existence put an impossible pressure on her. She always wanted to push herself to the top. She always said that she had to overtake you. Every time she achieved something, it never was enough. She always said that her achievements were worthless. After all, you would have already long overtaken her."

"That pressure she put on herself was also extended to me, her husband," the man said. "I always had to listen to complaints. No matter what I did, I wasn't powerful enough. I wanted to spend more time with her. I just wanted to be with her."

"Yet, it never happened. She was fully focused on becoming more powerful. Honestly, I don't even know why she chose me as her husband."

The man took a deep breath.

"But I loved her. I loved her with all my heart."

"And now, she's dead. Dead because of a war that started because of you," the man said.

"I know where my faults lie," Gravis answered neutrally. "I always wanted to be there for her, but I didn't even know where I could find her. Additionally, I wanted to let her have her space. If she didn't want to meet me, that was her decision. I wasn't about to interfere in her freedom and force my existence upon her."

"Is that so?" the man asked with a snort. "Don't you realize that, sometimes, we want someone else to take the initiative? She didn't want to admit it, but I know that she missed you. Yet, you never came."

The man took a deep breath. "And when she finally wanted to meet you again, she couldn't find you."

"No one could find you."

"After millions of years of not being able to see you, this war happened, and she decided to join the stalling group. Her disregard for your group of friends in the past disgusted her so much that she joined a fight that would almost certainly end in her death."

The man snorted with disregard, but that disregard was targeted at himself.

"And now look at me. I'm still alive. Why? Because I wasn't powerful enough to join the stalling group."

"I'm merely a level three Divine God. She was a level four Divine God."

Gravis didn't answer.

"Anyway, that was all I wanted to tell you," the man said as he turned around. "I hope this was what you wanted."

Then, the man left.

Gravis only looked at the horizon.

"At least you found someone that truly loves you, Cera," Gravis said to himself.

Gravis wasn't angry at Cera's husband. After all, he was just as stricken with grief as Gravis, probably even more.

Additionally, Gravis didn't want to admit it, and he hated himself for it, but he didn't mind Cera's death as much as the other deaths.

Yes, she had been his daughter, and yes, losing her deeply hurt Gravis.

However, they hadn't seen each other in a very long time.

Gravis had seen her once in the tournament, but Cera hadn't seen Gravis back then.

When was the last time Cera had seen Gravis?

When she had left for the higher world.

Back then, Gravis had only been a bit older than a thousand years.

A thousand years.

Now, Gravis was 4.6 million years old.

After such a long time, there was bound to be a feeling of disconnect between them.

And now, she was gone.

On top of that, she wasn't even the only one.

Gravis continued thinking about the friends he had lost.

One of his friends and previous mentor had died to his tribulation in the Ancestral God Realm. His opponent had killed him.

The Late Ancestral God Realm was as far as Dorian could go.

That's where his journey ended.

Dorian had been pushed to the extremes of power with the help of everyone around him and his own creativity. Yet, every opponent in the Ancestral God was a peerless genius.

For a very long time, Dorian had effectively fought above his talent. He had managed to close the gap in power with his very creative techniques, but at some point, the gap simply became too much.

At least Dorian had had a great life.

From what Gravis had heard, Dorian had already expected to die to his tribulation.

Yet, he seemingly hadn't taken it seriously. It was like he had already accepted his death.

In the last years of his life, he had simply done whatever he wanted.

Gravis still remembered when he had met Dorian, Old Man Lightning.

Dorian had once saved Gravis from certain death, and he had even given Gravis his first real home in the lower world.

His grandson, Lasar, had died in the middle world, but Dorian had managed to get all the way to the Late Ancestral God Realm.

From the lower world to the Late Ancestral God Realm.

How many beings could reach that far?

How many beings could live for millions of years?

He got very far, and he could be proud of his achievements.

Just like Ferris.

Ferris had reached the Peak Ancestral God Realm. Sadly, his tribulation also spelled the end of him.

Ferris was very talented in some very few aspects. Unfortunately, at such levels of power, everyone was basically talented at everything.

Ferris simply couldn't keep up anymore.

However, out of all of Gravis' friends, Ferris was probably the one that minded his own death the least.

Ferris lived every day to the fullest, and he always spent time with everyone.

He was a pleasure to be around, and everyone loved him.

Sadly, it was his time to go.

One death Gravis wasn't that surprised about was Exar.

Gravis had heard that Exar joined the Lightning Peak Sect, and when Gravis had seen the Lightning Peak Sect being destroyed, he had already anticipated that Exar had died with it.

Exar and Gravis had never been truly close. Their relationship was less like friends and more like partners.

After staying on the wall of the Heavenly Divine Sect for a bit longer, Gravis left.

He needed to be there for someone.

Someone else was going through much worse heartache than him.

Gravis teleported into a room, and he saw a crying woman with black hair.

She didn't even notice Gravis.

Gravis walked over, and he gently put his hand on her shoulders.

She looked up and saw Gravis.

Then, she jumped into Gravis' arms as her crying intensified.

Gravis sat down on a chair, pulling her with him.

For a long time, Gravis didn't say a thing.

He simply let her cry as much as she wanted.

Gravis had wanted to cry too, but for now, he simply wanted to be there for his daughter.

Yet, hearing his daughter cry still made Gravis' heart hurt.

It was like his own grief was being pulled out by Yersi's crying.

For a long time, the two of them only hugged each other.

Yersi had lost her husband, Jake…

And she had lost her brother.

And Gravis had lost his son.

Aris had also been in the stalling group.