Chapter 453: Opponents Chosen (1/2)

None of the Kings were sure how to even react to this current situation. The Red King supported Gravis' claim of power? Yet, how was that even possible!? He was a level three Lord!

None of the Kings dared to say anything and just waited for the Empress' judgment on this matter.

Meanwhile, the Empress looked at the Red King and then at Gravis.

WHOOOM!

Her pride came out of her body and concentrated entirely on Gravis. None of the other beasts, except the white ape, noticed what the Empress was doing. The pride washed over Gravis with more power than before, but he had already experienced this. Without waiting another second, he released his Will-Aura to withstand the feeling of pride.

Yet, the feeling was many times stronger than before, and Gravis had to use the entirety of his concentration to keep his Will-Aura steady. His Will-Aura deformed into multiple shapes as the pride pressed into it.

Some seconds later, the feeling of pride became even more powerful, and Gravis had to grit his teeth. He wasn't willing to admit her superiority and accept her as his ruler.

The other beasts looked at Gravis and wondered why he looked so distressed right now. What was going on with him?

The power increased more, but just before Gravis' Will-Aura broke, it vanished. Of course, Gravis knew why that was. The Empress was only testing him.

After all of this had passed, the Empress showed an interested smirk. To her, it was incredibly interesting that a Lord was able to withstand so much of her pressure. She realized that Gravis had some peculiar techniques and powers. After all, the other Kings didn't even notice her pride, while he was able to withstand it. Of course, she hadn't used her full power.

”What is your name?” she asked Gravis.

The beasts almost couldn't believe what was happening. The Empress only asked the names of beasts she found worthy. She didn't even bother to learn the names of the Kings and only referred to them with their titles.

”Gravis,” Gravis said directly with some spite in his voice. Withstanding the Empress' pressure felt to him like she was trying to suppress him, which he didn't like one bit.

The Red King felt a bit nervous when he heard Gravis' tone. This beast was even ready to show disrespect to the Empress! He only hoped that he would not be dragged into this mess.

Meanwhile, the other beasts almost went crazy. Gravis hadn't called the Empress as Empress and even sounded like a rebellious prisoner. Not even the beasts that were ready to die dared to be disrespectful towards the Empress. The feeling of the Empress' power gave the beasts the illusion that disrespecting her was worse than dying.

”Interesting,” the Empress mused with a grin. It had been a while since someone had talked to her that way. Usually, she would just kill the offending beast. After all, if someone dared to disrespect her, it meant that they hadn't felt her power before. As soon as they felt her power, they wouldn't dare to disrespect her.

Yet, Gravis had felt her power and still dared to talk to her in this tone. Other Emperors on her level or above her level also acted like this, but they were Emperors. It was wholly different when a Lord did the same. The fact that Gravis managed to somewhat resist her Law of Pride earned him some respect in her eyes. After all, power was everything.

”Gravis,” she said with a calm voice. For some reason, when Gravis heard his name spoken by her, his whole body shook. To him, it felt like the Empress' power had been fully released and pressed down on him. Yet, that feeling had nothing to do with the Empress.

It was just that when she spoke his name, his emotions and body finally realized that an impossibly powerful beast had taken note of him. Earlier, it had still felt like they were in two different worlds, but now, it felt like her power came into his world.

”Choose one of the seven beasts beside you to be your opponent,” the Empress said. ”If you win, you will become my mate.”