Chapter 455: Hawk (1/2)

One King stepped forward into the arena, while five others followed him. All of these Kings had their candidates killed and wouldn't receive their rewards because of that. This made them incredibly angry since the reward was the only reason they were here to begin with.

The King who brought the best candidate received an incredible reward, while others still received a participation award. After all, they had brought powerful beasts to the Empire.

After the breeder had been chosen, all other candidates would join the Empire. None of the candidates were weak, and they were all valuable beasts. Because of that, all other Kings would still get something. Yet, if their candidate died, all of this wouldn't matter.

The remaining three Kings, who had their candidates killed, remained stationary and didn't say anything, as they simply watched.

”This beast has killed several candidates without your explicit consent, and therefore, has disre-”

”You dropped something,” the Empress interrupted.

The King felt taken aback when the Empress interrupted him. He immediately took back his anger. ”Yes, my Empress?” he asked deferentially.

SHING! BANG!

All six Kings exploded as ice spears penetrated their bodies. Only some icy dust remained of them.

”Your common sense,” the Empress finished.

”Pfft.”

Most of the Kings had expected that something like this would happen, but they were genuinely shocked when they heard the sound of suppressed laughter coming from Gravis. They all looked at him in shock since they couldn't believe what Gravis had just done.

The Empress had killed several Kings to show her power. She did this to intimidate every other King that harbored malice. What was so funny about that!? Did this beast's guts have no end? Was he not satisfied until the Empress killed him!?

The Empress looked with surprise at Gravis, while the white ape only smiled bitterly. He knew that the Empress wanted to make a joke, but he just didn't find it funny when some beasts were killed in the process. These had been valuable Kings.

The Empress smiled a bit, surprising every beast present. Had the Empress just smiled? They had never seen her smile before!

”Gravis,” the Empress said, a different kind of pride radiating off of her. The other beasts couldn't evaluate this feeling of pride, but the white ape knew it. The Empress was proud of her own joke. The white ape wasn't a fan of that since he always tried to improve the Empress's image. After all, she needed to appear regal and unapproachable to everyone.

Gravis turned to the Empress. ”Yes?” he asked evenly.

The beasts were surprised again by his even and casual reply. Meanwhile, the Red King only rolled his eyes in exasperation. This tone reminded him of all the times Gravis infuriated him.

The white ape and the Empress noticed the Red King's reaction and drew some conclusions from that. Judging by the Red King's reaction, the white ape knew that this was Gravis' normal conduct. He wasn't just putting on a show.

The white ape had thought that Gravis tried to appear intimidating and daring in front of the others, but the Red King's reaction showed him that this was just normal to him. After all, the Red King didn't seem surprised at all.

The Empress also realized this and started liking Gravis more. Contrary to expectation, she actually hated it when everyone was acting this subservient to her. Yet, there was nothing she could do against that. After all, by understanding the Law of Pride, she radiated pride all around her, which suppressed weaker beasts.

Gravis was a pleasant surprise to her.