Chapter 280: Preparations (1/2)

”I am really impressed by your rapid growth,” Byron said as he reappeared a hundred meters in front of Gravis. ”I would have imagined that it would have taken longer for you to become that powerful.”

Only Gravis and Byron were in this area. No living thing could be seen for kilometers. The ground, mountains, and trees had long been destroyed by the prolonged fight with the elders. Right now, it was only Gravis and Byron in a wasteland without any life. The only thing that could give one company was the darkness and cold wind.

Gravis looked emotionlessly at Byron. ”Would you have ever expected that it would end like this when you decided to scam me?”

Byron sighed. ”Initially, no,” he confessed, ”but after Old Man Lightning saved you, I have expected that something like this would happen. Though, I had expected that it would happen in, at least, five years.”

Gravis continued looking evenly at him. ”Actually, the opposite is true. It couldn't happen any later,” Gravis said. ”Right now, I am only 2% away from the Sapling Stage. In just two more weeks, this whole thing wouldn't even be dangerous for me anymore.”

Byron's insides shook as he heard that. Then, he laughed a little. ”And instead of waiting for that, you decided to use my Sect as tempering.” Byron shook his head. ”I can't imagine anyone that would be so crazy.” Then, he looked with a complicated expression at Gravis. ”But, I guess that's why you are growing so rapidly. Such a crazy growth requires an equally crazy attitude.”

Gravis smiled a little. ”Did you know that your best chance of killing me was directly after I entered the Illusion Array?” he asked.

Byron sighed. ”Yes, but I was afraid that you were faking your infatuation. On top of that, if I were to strike you and you decided to blow up, I would be dead. I couldn't take the risk.”

Gravis shook his head. ”Even when I fought the elders, you kept yourself away.”

”That was because of your Lightning Sphere. If I struck you and you managed to summon that, I would be dead,” he said.

”And that's why you will lose today,” Gravis said. ”You have been so afraid of committing a mistake that you didn't act at all, allowing me to kill everyone around you. Now, you are alone. Was it really worth it to sacrifice basically your entire Sect to weaken me to this extent? Do you think it was necessary?”

Byron laughed a little. ”But!” Byron shouted with a smirk, ”you ARE exhausted and have no weapon. I think that outcome is more than enough. To be honest,” Byron said as he looked at the Darkness Sect, ”If I could choose again,” then he turned back to Gravis, ”I would act exactly the same. Exchanging the Darkness Sect to weaken you is worth it in my eyes.”

”You really don't care that all your elders are dead, do you?” Gravis asked.

Byron laughed. ”No. Everyone in the Darkness Sect is there to use it as a means to an end. No one has any loyalty toward it. Everyone wants to use everyone else to achieve their goals.” Byron chuckled a little. ”That's just how darkness cultivators are. Don't you already know?”

Gravis knew, but he just wanted to be sure. Hearing it directly from Byron was better than just assuming.

”Let's end this,” Gravis said as he charged forward. He didn't use his lightning as acceleration since he had to be careful with it. After all, he didn't have much left.

Byron readied his two black daggers and also shot at Gravis. He had already noticed that Gravis could feel the fluctuations in the darkness. After a full hour of fighting, Gravis had learned to feel the bodies of the darkness cultivators. Being stealthy made no difference anymore.

As Gravis closed in, he swung at Byron from a distance. A leg appeared inside his grip as he threw it. Gravis had cut off way more than just a torso as preparation. He also had a lot of arms and legs inside his Spirit Space.

SHING!

Byron cut the thrown leg apart. He had expected something like this happening. Gravis came closer, and Byron took note of how Gravis positioned himself. He quickly readied himself and slashed at both of Gravis' outstretched hands.

SHIIIIIING!

A small mountain of arms and legs appeared before Byron, surprising him. He knew that Gravis would have more body parts, but not that many! After cutting through many arms and legs, his strikes' power had been used up, leaving him open. Gravis quickly reached his torso and touched it. ”Goodbye!”

BOOOOM!

All of Gravis' remaining lightning and Spirit were unloaded into Byron's torso. This was easily enough to kill him. Gravis had kept all these limbs as a secret to kill Byron. After all, he had never forgotten Byron while he had been fighting the elders. Byron was his most dangerous enemy, after all. Therefore, this trump card had been specifically saved for him!

Gravis absorbed some of his lightning back, but it was only a minuscule amount. Maybe not even 10%. On top of that, his Spirit was completely empty. Yet, even though Gravis was sure that this would have been enough to kill Byron, Gravis decided to jump back. That was because he had not felt any Energy entering his body. This could only mean that Byron was still alive.

Crack.