Chapter 458: Forgetfulness (1/2)

”I don't agree to this!” the red hawk shouted with rage. ”I can still fight, and an ability like this only works once against me!”

The white ape transmitted what the Red King had said to the Empress. She would need to be the one to make the decision in this matter.

The Empress remained silent for a bit as she went over all the things that the white ape had told her. The information came from the Red King, and it should be pretty reliable. Yet, should she really ask for a new opponent for him? In actuality, she just wanted to get this whole matter over and done with. Gravis had already proven himself more than worthy of being her mate.

After some seconds, the Empress sighed inconspicuously. A sigh was a show of emotion and frustration and shouldn't be seen by her subjects.

”Any beast ready to fight him, step forward,” she announced, shocking the gathered beasts. The Empress had agreed? But the fight wasn't over!

”Empress,” a King said as he stepped forward. ”I honestly don't mean any disrespect, but the fight isn't over yet. Maybe the red hawk can still win.”

This was the referrer of the red hawk. Some beasts became nervous when that King stepped forward, but, surprisingly, the Empress didn't kill him.

”This isn't some kind of trick from him to save his life,” the Empress said. ”If it were some sort of trick, he wouldn't ask for a different opponent. Even if it's hard to believe, he genuinely has already won.”

The King that had stepped forward was a bit unwilling, but he stepped back and no longer said anything. His polite and deferential attitude had saved his life.

”I don't agree to this!” the red hawk shouted again. ”I can still wi-”

SHING! BANG!

And the red hawk was no more. The Empress had overlooked the first time when the red hawk had objected. Yet, after seeing its King stepping forward and also being unsuccessful, it had dared to object again. A powerful beast needed to remain calm and had to have the ability to judge its current circumstances accurately. The red hawk, obviously, didn't have this quality.

”Any beast ready to fight him, step forward,” the Empress announced again, glossing over the fact that she had just killed someone.

Meanwhile, the King of the red hawk grew incredibly frustrated. He wasn't frustrated because of himself or the Empress, but because of the red hawk. Its stupid hot-headedness had cost him his reward!

Surprisingly, not many level five Lords stepped forward. Gravis' display had intimidated a lot of them. He had shown one weird power after the other, and they were sure that he had more things and abilities stashed away. It was simply too risky to fight him.

Yet, some still stepped forward. They were confident in their abilities and knew that this weapon wouldn't work against them. Those beasts were beasts with no elemental affinity, earth affinity, metal affinity, and one with lightning affinity. They didn't rely on ranged attacks and could attack him without any issue.

The Empress nodded. ”This time, I will choose an opponent,” she said.

Gravis shrugged, his shoulders creating a metallic sound. ”Sure,” he commented.

There was still a little bit of surprise that the beasts felt due to Gravis' casual manner, but they had mostly gotten used to it by now.

”You,” the Empress said as she pointed at a brown mammoth. This beast obviously had the earth affinity. On top of that, it was gigantic, with a body nearly five kilometers long.

The mammoth grew excited when it had been chosen. Then, it took flight and flew over to the arena.

BANG!

A mighty explosion could be heard as it landed on the ground. It looked at Gravis with bloodlust and battle-intent.

Gravis looked back with the same battle-intent. This fight would be way better and more challenging than the previous one. Finally, he could get some real tempering!

”Your weird ability won't work on me,” the mammoth proclaimed with a booming voice.

Gravis smirked. ”You're right, and that's good. I don't want to win. I want tempering!” he said.

The mammoth also smirked. ”Good, because I will give you more tempering than you've expected. In fact, I'm going to temper you into a footprint of mine.”

”That's the best you can come up with?” Gravis asked after some seconds.

The mammoth grew a bit angry when it heard Gravis' answer. ”Listen here, you little-”

”Can we start now?” Gravis asked as he looked to the Mountain of Pride.

The mammoth grew angrier, but the Empress found Gravis quite entertaining. Usually, such powerful and talented beasts had quite a strong ego, which often resulted in a lot of posturing before a fight. Yet, Gravis didn't seem to be interested.

”Start!” the Empress transmitted to everyone.

Gravis flew backward for a bit and landed around ten kilometers away from the mammoth. The mammoth didn't care and simply stayed there. ”Might as well. I need some space anyway to reach my full speed,” it said.