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.
"You're already more than qualified to become my mate. Do you still intend to fight one of the present level five Lords?" she asked.
"I'm not doing this to impress you," Gravis said, making the present beasts stop breathing. "I simply want to temper myself."
The Empress looked at Gravis with furrowed brows. "You know that you are not on the cusp of understanding a new Law?" she asked.
Gravis nodded. "I do," he said.
"Yet, you still want to put your life on the line?" she asked.
Gravis nodded again. "In my current situation, tempering seems like it's not worth the risk to you, but there is something valuable that I gain out of this," Gravis answered.
The Empress looked some more at Gravis and then gazed at the level five Lords standing to the side.
"Alright," she said. "If anyone of you level five Lords manages to kill him, I will continue the search for a mate, and I will choose one among you."
Immediately, all the level five Lords gazed with battle-intent at Gravis. If one of them managed to kill Gravis, they would all have a chance to become a breeder of the Empress. This was the dream of every beast present.
The gathered level five Lords released their innate superiority, and it hit Gravis. Gravis' mind went wild when he felt that. One singular level five Lord wasn't able to influence him in such a way, but when so many level five Lords released their superiority simultaneously, it was wholly different.
This feeling of suppression washed over Gravis, and he felt his mind go wild. Yet, among the chaos, his mind became more focused. In no time at all, Gravis felt an incredible feeling of battle-intent. By resisting this pressure, his battle-intent increased.
When the Empress saw Gravis' eyes, she smirked. This had been another test. When confronted with such a feeling of suppression, would Gravis take a step back or resist even harder? Apparently, the second scenario had happened.
"Choose your opponent, Gravis," the Empress said.
Without waiting a second, Gravis pointed at a red hawk, about 500-meters-tall. "You," he said.
The red hawk was surprised that it was chosen, but it quickly grew excited about the incoming fight. It was sure that Gravis had noticed its outstanding power!
Yet, the red hawk was surprised when it noticed that Gravis was no longer looking at it. Instead, Gravis had turned his head and looked at the Red King with disdain.
The Red King only groaned in annoyance. He knew that Gravis wanted to make an example out of this red hawk since it looked similar to him and also had a fire affinity.
The white ape and the Empress weren't surprised. They had already concluded that Gravis was not a fan of the Red King at all. The Red King had shown his annoyance towards Gravis multiple times, while Gravis had basically ignored him the whole time. This was not how a contestant normally acted towards their referrer.
Based on Gravis' casual, even, and disrespectful nature, they had already concluded that Gravis wasn't the biggest fan of the Red King. He was probably pretty angry at the Red King.
The red hawk noticed this and also realized what was going on. 'So, you chose me only because I look similar to the Red King!?' it thought in anger, its feathers standing up.
The Empress laughed a bit at this display, but she kept it hidden from everyone. Yet, the white ape noticed it anyway, which made him sigh. He already saw it coming.
Trying to manage Gravis in the future would be a massive pain in his ass.