Jessy looked with fear at the badger. She could feel that this was a level five King, and on top of that, she knew that this badger had an above-average Battle-Strength for his Realm. This badger would be able to win against 90% of level five Kings. Jessy herself only had an average Battle-Strength for a level four King. This meant that she was completely helpless against him.
"Finally calmed down, have you?" the badger said casually. "Well, that makes things way easier. I have kind of good news for you, but it depends on your power."
Jessy had no other option than to comply. "Yes?" she asked nervously.
"It's simple!" the badger said with a smile. "You will fight our dear friend Gravis over there," he said as he pointed towards the distant Gravis, who was only waiting for the badger to establish the duel. "If you manage to kill him, we will let you escape to the sea beasts' territory."
Gravis needed the badger to establish the duel. If Jessy decided to retreat, he wouldn't be fast enough to stop her. Gravis had already realized that Jessy obviously had an affinity towards darkness. This meant that she could hide herself very well and retreat. Gravis had no way of stopping her from fleeing.
Jessy was surprised when she heard that. Then, she turned and looked at Gravis to inspect him. As a spy, she had heard a lot about Gravis, and she knew that the sea beasts saw Gravis as an incredibly valuable target. Yet, there was a three-level difference between her and him. She knew that Gravis had outstanding Battle-Strength, but would he really be able to jump three levels?
Additionally, if she managed to kill Gravis and escape to the sea beasts' territory, she would receive rewards equivalent to killing a level one Emperor. This would secure her future and would allow her to rise to the ranks of an Emperor.
The more she thought about it, the better this offer was. Obviously, none of the other beasts would intervene in the fight. Otherwise, they wouldn't want her to fight him since that would not serve as tempering. This would make this whole situation pointless.
Actually, this offer was even better than if the original plan had worked. If the original plan had worked, she would have had to give the silver wolf the majority of the reward since he had planned everything and was also more powerful than her. With this offer, if she managed to kill Gravis, she would get the full reward herself.
Had the badger lied about letting her escape after she killed Gravis? She was certain that he hadn't lied. Someone with the power of an above-average level five King would find it beneath them to lie and con a weaker beast. After all, if he wanted to kill her, he could just kill her without any problems.
"I accept," Jessy said with cold eyes as she didn't let Gravis out of her eyes.
Meanwhile, Gravis smirked coldly. Finally, he had a worthy opponent. As an average level four King, Jessy probably understood four Laws, which was an incredible difference from the moray eel Gravis had killed. The moray eel only had comprehended two Laws.
The difference between this opponent and Gravis' last one was vast. Yet, Gravis also wasn't the same being anymore. Right now, he had comprehended two additional Laws. The Law of Lightning Speed had an incredible affinity towards his fighting style, and the Law of Suppression would also close the speed gap even more.
With these two Laws combined, Gravis could close the speed gap so that he wouldn't need to pre-dodge anymore. However, since Gravis couldn't continually use the Law of Lightning Speed, he would still be slower than her on average, but that was what he wanted. A slower opponent wouldn't be able to offer him much of a fight.
"Immediately stop what you are all doing!" a new voice suddenly appeared in everyone's mind.
A second later, a new beast entered their senses. Surprisingly, it was Commander Rime, the crab.
"Commander, this is the business of the Inquisition Department," the badger said.
"I don't care! This was one of my officers, and I will kill her for her betrayal!" Commander Rime transmitted with fury as he came closer.
Jessy became fearful again as her previous Commander charged over to her. Even though Commander Rime could be counted as a sea beast, he was fiercely loyal to the land beasts due to his past. The reason why they had traveled so far away from the defensive line to kill the squad was because of Commander Rime.
The silver wolf had told Commander Rime that they first needed to get familiar with each other since Jessy would join their operation, which would take place a day later. They had told him that they would do some practice fights in secret, away from the defensive line, so that no potential traitor found out their plan.
It had taken quite a bit of convincing until Commander Rime finally relented. Commander Rime was so incredibly careful about traitors that it bordered on paranoia, making him the biggest issue in pulling off the plan.
Commander Rime quickly arrived and immediately attacked Jessy.
BRRRR!
A wall appeared in front of Commander Rime, but his shears punched through it easily. Gravis saw some strange vibrations coming out of Commander Rime's shears, and Gravis was sure that he had used a Law with that strike.
"Commander, immediately stop what you are doing!" the badger shouted with authority. His casual and friendly demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't recognize your authority, badger!" Commander Rime shouted in rage. "I have heard the offer you have given, and you are obviously in cahoots with the enemy! You are only putting on a show to let this traitor escape today while giving her the chance to fulfill her goal!"
The badger became angry when he heard that. "How dare you!" he shouted with rage. "I am an Inquisitor of the Inquisition Department! We all go through an intense amount of screening to ensure that there are no traitors among us! I have killed more traitors than you have ever seen in your entire life!"
"Every system has a flaw, and you are one of them!" Commander Rime answered. "There is no way that you are not a traitor! You are sending one of our valuable members to their death!"
"Commander Rime, this is my own wish," Gravis said from behind him, making the Commander stop.
"What?" Commander Rime asked in shock.
"I have asked the Empress for an average level four King as an opponent, and we have already known that the silver wolf had been a traitor. Yet, instead of just killing him, we decided to use him to unmask other traitors," Gravis explained calmly.
"You might remember that the silver wolf exploded just now? That is one of my abilities, and it only works on beasts with a lightning affinity. Because of that, the silver wolf wouldn't have been able to serve as my opponent. That's why I needed another one."
Commander Rime's mind went wild. This was all a conspiracy to find Gravis a fitting opponent? But that was a level four King! How was that anything but suicide!?
"Do you realize the difference in power between you and the traitor?" Commander Rime asked.
Gravis nodded. "I have spoken at length with the Empress, and her evaluation is that the fight would be up in the air. It could go either way, and that's exactly what I'm looking for. I need to take advantage of my current Battle-Strength."
"Right now, I should barely be able to fight a level four King, but if I don't fight one before reaching the next level, I won't be powerful enough to fight three levels above myself anymore. That's why I wanted this fight."
Commander Rime heard these words while the badger glared at him. The squad only listened in shock. Their new member was powerful enough to fight someone three levels above himself? This was ridiculously powerful, so much so that it just didn't seem real.
"I'm uncertain and unconvinced of the Battle-Strength you have claimed to have," Commander Rime said, "but the Empress of the Icy Pride Empire has much more experience than me. If the Empress says that the fight is up in the air, then I believe her."
"But!" Commander Rime said with cold killing intent as he glared at Jessy again. "If you manage to escape to the sea beasts' territory, I won't rest until you are nothing but digested dung!"
Even though Jessy knew that she would be safe in the sea beasts' territory, a cold shiver still ran down her spine when she heard these words. She knew how powerful Commander Rime was, and being chosen as one of his targets was not something to be happy about.
"Inquisitor," Commander Rime said while looking at the badger with respect, "I have misjudged you and hereby retract my earlier words."
'Well, I guess that's as close to an apology of a beast as it can get,' Gravis thought.
"Don't judge the situation before you know all the background information," the badger said with an icy voice. Obviously, he was still angry about being called a traitor. "In my position, it is imperative to know all the details first before jumping to conclusions. That's something you should also try to learn."
"That's why I'm an Inquisitor, and you're just a Commander of a defensive line," the badger said coldly.
Instead of being angry or insulted, Commander Rime accepted the criticism. It was the truth that he had jumped to conclusions, and there was no falsehood in the badger's words.
After some seconds of silence, the badger turned to Jessy. By now, his smile had returned.
"You can start whenever you want. No one will get involved."
Jessy released a breath to calm down and then concentrated on Gravis…
Who was already slashing with his saber, just a couple of meters away from her.