Half an hour passed in which Gravis only waited and thought about his current situation. He hated this feeling of having to wait for someone to come through for him, but there was nothing he could do.
'I've really had enough of this constant suppression!' Gravis thought. 'First, the thing with Stella. Then, the lower Heaven forced me through hell. Now, this middle Heaven might force some bullshit rule on me. On top of that, my life is completely in the hands of some Kings from my own side.'
'I hate this so much!' Gravis thought as he gritted his teeth. He started his cultivation journey for two reasons. One was to take revenge for the highest Heaven's schemes, while the other one was to never feel so helpless again. Yet, along with the growth of his power, the feeling of suppression increased instead of decreasing.
'The night is at its darkest before dawn. At least, that's a saying I have heard a couple of times. My goal is not pointless, and as long as I become more powerful, at some point, I will be free. Eventually, there simply won't be anyone powerful enough to suppress me anymore, even if they want to,' Gravis thought to himself.
Trying to think positive was the only thing he could do right now. After all, he had no alternative right now.
"I come from the northern defensive line!" a voice suddenly appeared as it echoed throughout the surroundings. Of course, the defensive line had already noticed the approaching beast, but they all knew the new arrival. This was indeed a beast from the northern defensive line.
"Welcome! What brings you here?" one level three King asked.
"I am here for the retrieval of a black, lizard-like beast around 0.4 King Units tall," the voice said.
By now, the beast was close enough for Gravis to see it with his Spirit Sense. It was a hippo with the power of a level two King.
Gravis immediately knew that this hippo was referring to him. One King Unit, funnily enough, was about one kilometer. Currently, Gravis was around 400-meters-tall, and the description fit him perfectly. It seemed like the northern defensive line had managed to win the fight, or at least hold.
"Sure, come over," the level three King said.
"Wait!" the mantis suddenly spoke up, surprising the beasts. Why did their commander get involved in such an unimportant issue?
Gravis' eyes narrowed as he noticed that. Did the mantis plan to take revenge on him by making it difficult for him to escape?
"What is the reason for your retrieval?" the mantis asked as she floated forward. Right now, she was only 20-centimeters-tall, not bigger than a mortal pet. Everyone would think that this was just some bigger, normal mantis.
The hippo was a bit taken aback. "Excuse me for my ignorance, but I don't know you," the hippo said.
"I'm the newly appointed commander for this defensive line," the mantis said. "Right now, this defensive line is under my supervision. So, I ask again, what is the reason for your retrieval?"
The hippo seemed a bit confused. He was just supposed to take the black lizard thing away, and normally such a retrieval went very smoothly.
"The black lizard has left an ongoing battle and put our soldiers in jeopardy by doing that. Such a thing is a grave violation of the rules, and the punishment is death!" the hippo shouted.
"Bullshit!" Gravis shouted immediately as he stood up.
BANG!
The badger before him suddenly shot at him and hit him in the stomach. For some reason, this attack from the badger stunned Gravis and made it hard for him to think. Even though the badger was a level three King, Gravis shouldn't have been this helpless in front of it!
"Silence!" the badger shouted aggressively at Gravis.
The mantis remained silent for a while, and the hippo looked with disdain towards Gravis' direction.
Two seconds later, the mantis nodded. Then, she turned to the defensive line. "Boys!" she shouted with a smirk. "Seems like our level two Kings get some tempering today!"
The beasts were taken aback. What did the commander mean? The hippo was also confused when he heard that.
"Who wants the hippo?" the mantis asked the beasts.
The beasts were still taken aback, but some of them were very good at claiming opportunities. "Me!" one of them shouted loudly.
"Alright, come on up," the mantis said.
"What's the meaning of this!?" the hippo shouted in outrage. "I demand to speak with Commander Teng!"
The mantis wasn't able to smile, but Gravis was absolutely sure that she was smiling right now. Additionally, he also noticed that the badger, who had hit him just now, was also smirking.
"How nice of you to ask for the old commander," the mantis said with a mocking tone. "I think I haven't told you where he is right now, have I?"
The hippo felt like something was wrong and became nervous. "No," he simply said.
Some laughter came from the mantis. "Well, you see, our dear Commander Teng has had some very suspicious past few years. Right now, he is being detained in the Vicious Fire Empire for colluding with the enemy."
The hippo felt sweat break out all over his body. This situation was rapidly going out of control!
"I have not lied up to now! Everything I have said is the truth!" the hippo shouted.
Gravis grew angry again when he heard that, but after seeing the badger's smirk, he knew that more was going on. Because of that, Gravis remained silent for now.
The mantis chuckled a bit. "You're right. I've detected no falsehood in your words," she said, "but you have also chosen your words very carefully. You said that the black lizard had left his group, which is probably true. Yet, I would like you to tell me that he left 'voluntarily'." She put special emphasis on the last word.
The hippo became nervous. "The black lizard left his group voluntarily," he said as he looked into the eyes of the mantis.
The mantis remained expressionless, but the badger had a disdainful smirk on his face.
"You know very well that you can't lie to a beast much more powerful than you," the mantis said with a victorious voice. "Also, thank you for asking for Commander Teng. That was just what we needed to convict him."
Before the hippo managed to react, the mantis turned to the beast that had claimed the tempering opportunity. "Go ahead," she said as she flew back to the wall.
"This has been a mistake! I'm inno-"
BANG!
The hippo couldn't finish his sentence before the other level two King charged at him. In no time at all, the hippo and the beast were fighting all out.
The mantis flew over to Gravis and landed in front of him. "So, how did I do?" the mantis asked.
Gravis was a bit confused that the mantis asked him.
"Not bad," the badger from beside Gravis suddenly spoke up, "but you should have been the one initiating the conversation. By interfering halfway, you gave the enemy a chance to suspect something."
Now, Gravis realized that the mantis wasn't speaking to him but to the badger.
"You already knew?" Gravis asked the badger and mantis.
"Yes," the badger answered as he turned to Gravis with a smile, "but only my soldier and I knew about this. Everyone else has been kept in the dark to make this as convincing as possible."
"Your soldier?" Gravis asked as he looked at the badger and mantis.
The badger smiled, and suddenly, his aura fluctuated for just a split-second.
'Level five King!' Gravis realized. This short split-second had been enough for Gravis to feel the power of the badger, which had surprised him quite a bit. 'It's possible to make yourself appear weaker?' Gravis thought.
"What did you feel?" the badger transmitted to Gravis so that no other beast could hear their conversation.
"You're a level five King," Gravis transmitted back.
The badger nodded with a smile. "Quite impressive," he transmitted back. "Our Empire has already planned to take this defensive line for a while, which was why I've been sent here. Yet, who would have expected that we would find a corrupt commander?"
Gravis remained silent for a bit as he thought about this. "How did you know that this commander was corrupt?"
"Simple," the badger transmitted back. "He constantly asked for reinforcement, always saying that he got some intelligence about the power of the enemy's defensive line. Like this, he was weakening our other fronts. Meanwhile, the enemy can just put a small number of Kings on this defensive line for show and help the other fronts."
Gravis nodded. That actually made sense.
"Should I go ahead and give the signal to attack?" the mantis asked the badger.
The badger nodded. "Our little friend here has given us a great opportunity by pulling the main force of the northern defensive line out of position. Go ahead and gather the soldiers."
The mantis nodded and left without looking at Gravis.
"You want to watch the battle?" the badger asked Gravis.
"No," Gravis answered immediately. "I have other things to worry about. Can I leave for our northern defensive line now? I still need to deliver something to my companions."
Gravis was still a bit mad about the suppression and the punch of the badger. Of course, he understood the reasons and knew that he shouldn't be mad, but his lightning disagreed.
Apparently, his lightning was a bit grumpy about the current situation and wanted to strike something.