"Elder Byron, someone at the Tree-Stage appeared!" Gravis immediately sent with his ring.
"What? That's the leader of the Greens! I am pretty close because I was worried about you. Try to stall for time! I have a contingency plan!" came the urgent voice of Elder Byron.
There was nothing Gravis could do now except stall for time. He was utterly spent, and even if he weren't, he still wouldn't have a chance against someone at the Tree Stage.
"This has been a fair fight! Why do you involve yourself?" Gravis shouted.
The man narrowed his eyes, but his eyes wandered towards Gravis' right hand. Then, he pointed towards Gravis' right hand. "There is no fairness in this world! You have attacked my disciple, so it is only just that I will get involved!" the person shouted.
Gravis was a little confused about the elder pointing to his right arm while saying this. Just like the others, the elder wore a green cloak. He hadn't taken out his weapon yet, but Gravis was sure that he would also use a long sword.
"Do you feel no shame to save your disciple when he has lost in a fair fight!?" Gravis shouted aggressively.
The elder moved his hand in a cutting motion, and a wave of sword force appeared that shot right at Gravis' right hand. Gravis quickly pulled it back, evading the slash.
"It doesn't matter!" the person shouted, pointing at Gravis' right arm again with more fervor. "You Greys think yourself better than us, but I will prove that the Greens are the only ones worthy of taking over this weak world!"
BANG SHING!
The elder got pushed forward violently by sword force and then cut at Gravis' right arm again. Gravis sidestepped the attack barely, but part of his thumb was cut off. "Why are you point at my right arm!?" Gravis shouted.
The person pointed more violently at Gravis' right arm and shot more crescents. None of them targeted Gravis directly as they all shot towards his right arm. Then, the person stomped the ground violently and shouted into the surroundings. "We will prove that we are the only worthy ones!"
Manuel, who had regained control over his body by now, now also looked at Gravis' right arm. Then, Manuel charged forward. Manuel barely raised his sword with his nearly destroyed hands and attacked Gravis' right hand, for some reason. Gravis wanted to retrieve his hand, but his arm suddenly got gripped by the new person's mighty hand, immobilizing it.
SHING!
Manuel cut off Gravis' right hand and then summoned wind to fly away again. Gravis kicked the new person away, distancing himself. Then, he immediately used the remaining Energy inside his body to fully heal himself. Gravis then quickly turned back to the person, but his eyes widened in shock.
The person no longer wore a green cloak. Instead, he wore green robes that were indicative of the Wind Sect. On top of that, his eyes no longer showed rage but were looking seriously at Gravis. 'Also, has Manuel just used wind to fly away? Where was his sword force?'
"Can you see clearly now?" the person asked with a solemn voice.
Gravis was confused. He looked around and saw that Manuel and the elder were also wearing the same green robes as the new person. Those were the robes of the Wind Sect! What the hell was going on?
"What?" Gravis asked involuntarily in confusion.
SHING!
The head of the new, green-robed person left his body as two daggers cut through his neck, decapitating him. Gravis' confusion and shock grew. The other two people were also staring in shock at what just happened.
"SECT MASTER!" Manuel shouted with panic and rage.
'Sect Master?' Gravis thought in disbelief. 'Was this person the Sect Master of the Wind Sect? Why are they people of the Wind Sect? What is happening?'
The body of the Sect Master fell over, revealing a new person behind him. Gravis took a deep breath in shock. "Elder Byron?" he asked.
Yet, this Elder Byron was different. Their faces were the same, but he was no longer wearing the grey cloak. Instead, he wore robes that were as black as night. He also carried two daggers that emanated the darkness element.
Elder Byron smiled smugly, and his laugh echoed into the surroundings. "Finally!" Then he violently kicked the body of the Sect Master away. "You always remained inside your Sect but look at what happened to you now! This has all gone perfectly!"
Gravis remembered how the Sect Master had pointed at his right arm violently when they had met. Gravis looked over towards his right arm, and his gaze stopped at the ring that Elder Byron had given him. His mind worked overtime as he tried to understand the situation, and when he came to a result, his eyes widened in horror.
"You used that ring to create illusions!" Gravis shouted.
Everything shot through Gravis' mind.
The Greens flew on swords? The Wind Sect could also fly!
The Greens used crescents made out of sword force? That was the wind blade of the wind cultivators!
Manuel was using a funnel to concentrate sword force? He was concentrating wind, which also explained the non-lethal force that it generated!
The cultivators he had fought had all been fighting exactly like wind cultivators! They even used the same weapons! The Spirit of the powerful person that Gravis had felt after his last fight? That had been Elder Byron, who had kept watch over Gravis' fight to create appropriate illusions! The time Elder Byron said that he would still keep his imprint on the ring to retrieve it in case Gravis died? Bullshit! He left his imprint on the ring to control it remotely!
Gravis remembered the membrane that appeared around him when he had first put on the ring. His vision and Spirit passed through the membrane, which enabled Elder Byron to change everything that Gravis saw or felt! Gravis also remembered how Elder Byron had laughed when Gravis had first put on the ring. The Greens? They had never existed! There was never any force from another world.
Gravis also remembered the first group he had fought. When he pulled out his saber and told them that he wanted a fight, they had retreated with their arms held like they didn't want to fight. Elder Byron changed it so that they mocked him, but in actuality, they just wanted to show that they didn't want a fight. Yet, Gravis had killed them.
Gravis felt Elder Byron's power, and he felt that Elder Byron was also at the Tree Stage. Elder Byron wasn't some guy from another world, but the Sect Master of the Darkness Sect! Gravis also realized why Elder Byron was using him to achieve his goals.
'The Spirit Bottles!' Gravis thought. Every Spirit Forming cultivator left part of their Spirit inside a bottle that remained in the Sect, and if they were killed, it would get destroyed with the element of the killer. If a darkness cultivator hunted people from the Wind Sect, the Darkness Sect would become a target of the powerful Wind Sect.
But what if someone with the lightning element killed them? Then the Wind Sect would become enemies with the Lightning Sect. Of course, the Lightning Sect would deny everything. They also knew about Gravis and would tell the Wind Sect about Gravis.
The Wind Sect thought it was Gravis' lone doing since he was not affiliated with any organization. Like this, the Sect Master would have no qualms about leaving his Sect and attacking Gravis since he was way stronger. This would leave him alone and vulnerable to an ambush from the Sect Master of the Darkness Sect.
'I've been used!' Gravis thought in a mixture of frustration, rage, grief, and helplessness.
"BYRON!" Gravis shouted in absolute rage as he shot towards Byron, who just smiled smugly at Gravis.