The explosion was massive, and Gravis was thrown back as all his forward momentum had been stopped by it. The armor on Gravis' chest started melting, burning the scales and muscles touching it.
This was a huge issue since these muscles and scales were essential to protect his organs from blunt force. With their current burned state, if Gravis got hit again, his organs might break through his flesh and skin and shatter on the liquified armor. Regrowing organs took up a lot of Life Energy.
Yet, Gravis had an even bigger issue. Since Gravis' forward momentum had been stopped, the Emperor could now unleash a follow-up attack.
BOOOOM!
The burning claw of the Emperor hit Gravis' back, melting and destroying the armor on it. Additionally, Gravis' spine broke into pieces and also became burned. Splinters of his spine destroyed parts of his organs as he got shot into the distance again.
BRRRR!
Another fireball immediately appeared in front of him, but this time, Gravis was prepared. He immediately used his Law of Suppression and the Composition Law of Fire to weaken the fireball as much as possible. Then, he kicked it.
BOOOM!
The fireball exploded, but Gravis' leg was only minorly injured since it had been weakened this time. The force of the explosion didn't shoot him backward but downwards into the water.
SSSSSSSSSS!
A massive cloud of steam exploded out of the water as the water came into contact with Gravis' hot armor. Additionally, the sudden stop that the fireball had forced on Gravis made his lungs break out of his body.
CRRRR!
Gravis quickly regrew his damaged organs at a different spot, his waist. His waist was relatively uninjured, and it could still give a lot of resistance towards blunt force.
BANG!
The Emperor didn't let up and chased after Gravis, unleashing another explosion onto Gravis' blocking right arm. The bone in Gravis' right arm broke, but his skin had only received minor burns. Yet, the force of the Emperor's attack forced Gravis deeper into the ocean.
BANG!
The Emperor just didn't stop and kept close to Gravis. He immediately unleashed another explosive claw, which had been blocked by Gravis' left arm. The ocean surface far above them boiled violently as the Emperor unleashed incredible heat.
Apparently, the Emperor had stopped trying to kill Gravis with his level two Law. Instead, he was now unleashing one physical attack after the other. This had the advantage that he wouldn't use nearly as much Energy, and that approach had also shown promising results. So, before Gravis could even stop or ready himself again, the Emperor already unleashed his next attack.
BANG! CRACK!
Gravis barely managed to move his tail with his Spirit to block. His tail had become immovable after he had destroyed three fire-copies with it, but with his Spirit, Gravis could still move it one last time. The burned tail broke into burned pieces that scattered into the surrounding water, and Gravis was further pushed into the deep.
Gravis couldn't block with his arms again. If he did, the lack of a solid bone in them would make them break off. Yet, the Emperor kept close to Gravis and unleashed another attack, targeted at his head. Seeing that he had no other choice, Gravis blocked again with his right arm.
CRACK!
The burned arm broke into pieces, leaving Gravis only with his left arm.
BANG!
Gravis hit the ground of the ocean, creating a violent wave of sand and dirt that swept into the distance. Steam and sand clouds were huge hindrances for Lords, and maybe even for Kings, but the senses of Emperors were just too sharp. This cloud made no difference to them. The Emperor easily pinpointed Gravis' new location and unleashed the same attack again.
CRACK!
Gravis had to block with his last remaining arm, which also quickly got broken into fragments. The molten pieces of armor fell off of Gravis' body. Sadly, he couldn't use these pieces to create a new shield or armor set since they had mixed with water. Additionally, forging new armor would cost him too much lightning. If he wasted his lightning now, he would definitely die!
By now, Gravis was several kilometers below the ocean floor. The attacks of the Emperor were simply too powerful, and they kept pushing him deeper. Additionally, even if he wanted to evade, it would prove challenging with this limited space.
The Emperor appeared again and attacked Gravis' head.
'Do or die! I must comprehend something now!' Gravis thought crazily as his mind went into overdrive.
BANG!
Gravis' head was burned to a crisp. Fortunately, he had created a second brain in his waist and had already moved his Spirit to that place. This cost him an insane amount of Life Energy, but he had survived. Sadly, he hadn't been able to comprehend anything.
BANG! BRRRRRRR!
Gravis broke through a hard layer of stone, and a fountain of violent magma blew out from underneath him. Yet, the natural elements wouldn't make a difference to a fight in this power range.
The Emperor closed in again and unleashed another attack on Gravis' torso. If that attack hit, all of Gravis' organs would be turned to mush.
BANG!
The Emperor's attack hit Gravis' chest, but his eyes widened. Before he had hit Gravis' chest, he had seen a thick layer of scales appearing at the spot. The scales burned, but nothing else had been injured.
'Finally!' Gravis thought crazily. Gravis had just comprehended the Law of Skin Growth, which had allowed him to use his Life Energy to create a temporary barrier.
The Emperor saw this and stopped attacking.
BRRRR!
Some seconds passed in which the Emperor created over ten clones that all had their tails intersected with his body. The Emperor knew that if he continued attacking like this, Gravis could just create several strands of scales. He needed more power with a single attack.
During that time, Gravis' armor managed to cool down a lot. Yes, he was currently inside a vast pit of magma, but that magma wasn't nearly as hot as the Emperor's fire.
Without hesitation, the Emperor charged at Gravis again. The copies also all charged at him.
SHING! BOOM!
Suddenly, a lot of hardened fragments appeared around Gravis and shot at the copies. Gravis had taken the destroyed and molten pieces of armor and shot them at the copies. Three copies managed to evade, but the other seven exploded at a distance.
'There goes that trump card,' Gravis thought as he saw the remaining copies and the Emperor charge at him.
SHING! BOOM!
Three thin tentacles of scales grew out of Gravis' body and destroyed the last three copies. Without muscles, these tentacles wouldn't have been able to move, but Gravis could still use his Spirit to control them.
Yet, the main attack of the Emperor couldn't be blocked like that. The fire-copies would explode if they were hit hard enough, but the Emperor would just ignore such a weak tentacle. Gravis had to deal with this attack another way!
BANG!
Suddenly, a long bone grew out of Gravis' torso and hit the Emperor's claw, which quickly exploded. The new bone in front of Gravis' chest got pushed back violently and shot out of his back, leaving a huge hole. Luckily, Gravis had already relocated his organs previously.
Gravis had just comprehended the Law of Bone Growth.
The Emperor noticed that Gravis had learned multiple defensive Laws in a short amount of time and narrowed his eyes further. He had to end this fight quickly!
'I've got no time left!' Gravis thought urgently. 'He's growing desperate! Come on, the organs of plants work similarly to blood. Quick, think about it!'
BOOOOM!
Gravis managed to comprehend the Law of Blood Growth in this short timeframe. 'Yes!' Gravis thought crazily.
During that time, the Emperor had created another ten copies, which now charged at Gravis.
BOOOOOM!
All ten copies, as well as the Emperor, exploded onto Gravis' chest, turning his whole body into chunks. Yet, the Emperor didn't relax one bit.
Why not?
Because behind Gravis' destroyed body, a new, fully healed Gravis had appeared. Yet, there was a huge difference. This Gravis was literally made out of only skin, bones, organs, and blood. There were no muscles inside this body. When the Emperor's attack had arrived, Gravis had quickly created a new body without muscles, which grew out of his back. By knowing these Laws, Gravis could survive in his new body.
Gravis could also achieve this with his Lightning Fork, but there was a considerable difference between these two methods. As injured and exhausted as he was right now, a new body that had been created with the Lightning Fork would have fallen a level. At that point, Gravis would only be a level three King. Then, there was really no way for him to win anymore.
Yet, by simply using up nearly all his Life Energy, Gravis could create a new body without muscles. Like this, he didn't fall an entire level.
'5% Life Energy left. Seems like I have no other way anymore,' Gravis thought.
BZZZZZ!
Suddenly, some green lightning appeared around Gravis' body and filled up his Life Energy again.
Yes, this was Life Lightning.
When Gravis had learned the Composition Law of Lightning, he had also learned to summon Life Lightning again. Yet, entirely healing himself took a total of 20% of his lightning reserves. Gravis had just recovered to 40% of his lightning when he had been forced to refill his Life Energy. So, right now, Gravis only had 20% lightning left. He was basically back at the beginning but without any armor or muscles.
As long as the expenditure of his Life Energy didn't out-speed his regeneration of lightning, Gravis had a way to survive!