Chapter 325: Recounting of Events (1/2)

Gravis walked through the corridor for a couple of minutes until he came to a big, open hall. In comparison to all the previous areas, this hall looked more majestic. There were some ornaments, and the whole hall was made out of gold. There were no lamps, but for some reason, the gold shone some light into the hall.

In the middle of the hall was a rotating orb with lots of symbols floating around it. Gravis guessed that this was probably the core of the whole Heaven's Trial. Behind the core were four closed treasure chests. The fact that there were four probably meant that everyone had survived.

Of course, Gravis didn't need to look at the treasure chests to know that. After all, all his companions were standing before the orb, looking at him with smiles. Everyone had survived.

Pack!

Joyce hugged Gravis. ”I'm so happy that you survived,” Joyce said with an elated voice. ”When I saw my trial, I knew immediately that you were in mortal danger. I'm glad that you won against your copy!”

Gravis smiled a bit and, surprisingly, returned the hug. Joyce was shocked by Gravis hugging her. He had never done anything like that before. Was the thing he had said true? Did he really have a solution to their current situation that both could accept?

Manuel smirked at Gravis when he saw him hug her, while Nero only looked to the side like he didn't see anything. After some seconds, Gravis pushed Joyce away gently.

”Well, I don't know if I beat my copy or my original, but I survived,” Gravis said with a slight laugh.

And like that, the whole group furrowed their brows. ”What do you mean?” Joyce asked. ”The fact that you are here means that you are the original.”

Gravis only smiled and shook his head. ”This Formation Array was way more complex than you think, and you also underestimate the power of Heaven.”

”Would you mind explaining?” Manuel asked with furrowed brows.

”Well,” Gravis said, ”Heaven didn't create a simple copy. It created another one of us. The copy, as you call it, has a Spirit, a mind, a soul, memories, and everything that creates a human. So, it was not just some construct, but another living being that was identical to us.”

Joyce and Manuel tried to wrap their heads around what Gravis had just said while Nero looked at one of his daggers. ”So, I could be the copy?” he asked.

Gravis nodded. ”Yes. Heaven created life, and with enough power, Heaven can just create another one of us. If Heaven is powerful enough, it can understand and see through our existence and then just sculpt another one of us. Of course, this lower Heaven doesn't know how to do that. This was the work of the Heaven from my homeworld.”

The mood of the group became complex. They started doubting their own existence. When Gravis saw that, he only shook his head with a smile. ”It doesn't matter if we are the copy or the original. All our ambitions, goals, dreams, memories, and everything about us is the same. Therefore, as long as one of you survived, you get to live on.”

The group remained silent for a while. ”But why would Heaven do such a thing?” Manuel asked, not shocked but curious.

”Heaven probably wanted to force a change in us,” Gravis said.

Manuel frowned. ”So, Heaven manipulated us?” he asked.

Gravis shook his head again. ”No. When two of the same people meet under these conditions, one of them has to change. If they both stay identical, they will both die. I don't think that Heaven had any specific plan in mind but just wanted to force us to grow in some way. It doesn't matter what change would take place. It only mattered that one of us changed. This is also a kind of growth.”

The group remained silent for a while again, lost in thought. If someone else claimed such ridiculous nonsense, they wouldn't believe that person, but Gravis knew a lot more about Heaven and how the worlds worked than everyone else in this world. In regards to Heaven, he was the supreme authority in the subject.

”Tell me, how did you all survive this trial?” Gravis asked.

Joyce and Nero stayed silent, so Manuel stepped forward. ”We decided to do a sparring match. Whoever manages to inflict an injury on the other person that would endanger a mortal's life would be the winner. The loser would then commit suicide.”