Realm-Stop? Gravis hadn't heard that word before, but he could guess what it meant.
Additionally, did the Empress just say 100 years? That was twice his age!
Gravis took a deep breath. "What is a Realm-Stop?" he asked.
The Empress leaned back in her throne. "That means you are not allowed to kill, fight, or consume another beast for the next 100 years."
Gravis' body shuddered. He couldn't fight anyone for 100 years? Just the thought of it felt harrowing to him. He always felt stressed out when he wasn't constantly fighting, fearing that everyone else would overtake him. Yet, he had to stop for 100 years now?
"Why did you decide on such a harsh sentence?" Gravis asked. He first needed to know all the details before he jumped to conclusions. Right now, he felt shocked, angry, and suppressed again. He thought that this punishment was way too severe.
"Several reasons," the Empress said calmly, "but before we go into these reasons, we have something else to decide."
"Something else?" Gravis asked with furrowed brows.
The Empress nodded. "With that sentence, you are no longer considered a traitor. The sentence has been passed down with the committed crime in mind without considering anything else."
"Now, let's get to your rewards," the Empress said.
Gravis' head moved back in surprise. "Rewards?" he asked.
"You have managed to father three offspring that have already reached the power of a Lord. This is a major accomplishment, and such an accomplishment warrants a reward," the Empress said. "Additionally, your actions in the eastern defensive line have resulted in the defensive line moving without us having to send a Striking Squad."
"Then, you have killed several traitors in our ranks in the defensive line that had all been Kings. After that, you had uncovered more traitors when the enemy wanted to take you from the southern defensive line."
"In the Law Comprehension Area for Punishment Lightning, you managed to uncover a traitor with the power of an Emperor. This is, by far, the most outstanding of your accomplishments. Lastly, you have killed the traitorous squad leader of the Elite Striking Squad and another traitor from a defensive line," the Empress said.
"All of these accomplishments warrant rewards. Gravis," the Empress said, "I hereby grant you free access to every Law Comprehension Area available to my Empire for the next 100 years. Yet, your sentence of a Realm-Stop will still have to be completed. The reward and punishment will be given to you simultaneously."
"This means that for the next 100 years, you're not allowed to fight, kill, or consume any beast, but you will have free access to any Law Comprehension Area. This is my decision on this matter," the Empress said.
Gravis was shocked, and his mind was going wild. The reward and punishment were given simultaneously?
"So, you are saying that I can increase my Law Comprehension and Battle-Strength in the next hundred years, but I'm not allowed to rise in Realm," Gravis commented.
"Exactly," the Empress said. "Now, let's speak about the reasons for my decision."
After the Empress said that, she made herself more comfortable on her throne. Additionally, her oppressive aura receded until she only sat casually on the throne. The Grand Elder wasn't the biggest fan of that, but he understood that official business was over.
"Gravis, you can't go on as you are now," the Empress said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Gravis asked with furrowed brows.
"Think about it. Why are you the only King or lord able to fight three levels above yourself? What's the main reason for that?" she asked.
Gravis thought about this but actually wasn't really sure. "I would say everything," he said.
The Empress shook her head. "It's your Punishment Lightning," the Empress said.
"My Punishment Lightning?" Gravis asked.
The Empress nodded. "Exactly. You have told me how you managed to comprehend the Punishment Lightning, and you obviously didn't understand it yourself. This understanding has basically been forced upon you. This means that you have basically been granted a weapon that you shouldn't have had any access to."
Gravis looked to the ground in thought. It was hard for him to accept, but the Empress was right. Gravis hadn't understood the Law of Punishment Lightning himself.
"By now, you should have seen the different powers of Laws," the Empress said. "We generally categorize Laws by levels. We have three levels of Laws that are known in this world."
"The first level is the Laws that some Lords manage to comprehend. A rare few Lords manage to comprehend two of these, but most of the Lords never even understand a single Law until they become Kings. All of these Laws are Laws of the first level."
"The second level is the Laws that require a certain combination of level one Laws. Only very few Kings manage to comprehend these Laws. Special Laws like the Law of Pride and Law of Suppression also count as second-level Laws."
"The third level is the Laws that only very few Emperors manage to comprehend. If an Emperor manages to comprehend a third-level Law, they have a good shot at ascension. Without knowing a level three Law, the Emperor won't be able to kill a Strider and therefore also won't get enough food to ascend."
The Empress pointed at Gravis. "Your Punishment Lightning is a Law on the third level," she said.
Gravis thought about his Punishment Lightning, but the Empress continued before he could say anything.
"With just your Punishment Lightning, you have the ability to kill beasts two levels above you. You wouldn't even need to use your Lightning Crescent. You can injure them, and if you're able to injure them, you can kill them. Now, if you would actually win in this situation is another discussion, but, at least, you have a shot at victory. This means that just your Punishment Lightning increases your Battle-Strength by two entire levels."
"Without your Punishment Lightning, you wouldn't even be able to really injure a beast two levels above yourself. By using your Lightning Crescent, you might be able to injure them a little bit, but you can't use that attack many times."
Gravis simply listened to the Empress and reflected on his previous fights. He thought about his fights and imagined him not having access to Punishment Lightning.
"Fighting a beast three levels above oneself is impossible for every other beast," the Empress explained. "It's not a matter about how much they have fought in their lives or how many Laws they understand. Fighting a beast three levels above themselves is straight-up absolutely impossible."
"As you might know, the main reason for that is that their attacks simply won't be powerful enough to injure such an opponent. With enough Laws, they might be able to become faster, but they will never be able to injure such an opponent, and without being able to injure someone, you can't win."
"Do you agree so far?" the Empress asked.
Gravis sighed. "You're right. Without my Punishment Lightning, I wouldn't be able to even injure a beast three levels above myself, let alone actually kill them. The gap is just too wide."
The Empress nodded. "Now, let me tell you something that you don't know."
Gravis listened intently.
"In order to become a King, you need to understand a Law. Heaven grants this Law at the breakthrough, but some Kings that are not able to make use of that opportunity will die. So, to become a King, you need to have understood a level one Law."
"In order to become an Emperor, you need to understand a level two Law. Yet, in comparison to the breakthrough to become a King, you are not granted an opportunity. Without having understood a level two Law first, no matter how much you eat, the evolution will just never arrive."
"That is why we have a lot of level five Kings but so few Emperors. Lastly, to be able to ascend, you must have understood a level three Law. Otherwise, you won't be able to find enough food to ascend since you can't kill the Striders."
"Do you realize what I'm getting at, Gravis?" the Empress asked.
Gravis nodded. "You're saying that the Inquisitor, a level five King that has understood a level two Law, would be only average as a level one Emperor."
The Empress nodded. "Yes. The dead Inquisitor only fulfilled the basic requirements for becoming an Emperor. If he had become an Emperor, his Battle-Strength would be very average."
The Empress leaned her head on one of her hands. "Now, let's talk about the ramifications of your understanding of Punishment Lightning."
Gravis listened intently.
"If you continue going like this, you will become an Emperor without an issue. Even as a level five Emperor, you would still be outstanding and powerful enough to ascend. Every other Emperor in this world would see no problem with this situation."
"But," the Empress said loudly, "you have told us about the higher world and highest world. So, as you are now, you will be outstanding as an Emperor, but what about the Realm after that? At that point, every beast will have managed to comprehend a level three Law by themselves."
"Meanwhile, you, who have relied on only your Punishment Lightning, might not understand an additional level three Law in a long time. On the other hand, the beasts that have already managed to comprehend one level three Law will find it easier to understand more of them."
"So, to summarize," the Empress said.
"As a King, you are untouchable."
"As an Emperor, you are outstanding."
"As an Immortal, you are above-average."
"And on the Realm after that, you will be average, at best."
"And to stop that from happening, you need to spend more time comprehending Laws. That's why I have decided not to counteract your punishment by taking away your rewards. You need to spend a lot of time comprehending Laws now so that your future path will be stable."
"This is not a punishment," the Empress said calmly, "this is me helping you in a healthy way."