The Judge looked at Gravis with solemn eyes. "Every time," he said slowly. "Why is it you, every time? We have more traitors than before, but there are still not that many. So, why is it that it's always you stumbling into them?"
Gravis smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "I just didn't want my children to be under potential traitors. It's not my fault that there actually was one," he said.
The Judge sighed. "I know," he said helplessly. "Tell me how all of this happened."
Who the Judge was should be obvious by now. It was the Grand Elder of the Icy Pride Empire, the white ape.
This explained several things. The traitorous Emperor had said that only a Judge would be able to punish Gravis for his offense of killing an Inquisitor. However, no Judge had arrived to punish Gravis in the last century. Why was that?
That was because the Grand Elder had been present when the Empress gave him his punishment. The two of them had probably decided on the punishment together. Like this, Gravis had already been punished by a Judge.
Additionally, only Judges could order Inquisitors around. Hadn't the Grand Elder said that he had sent the badger to the southern defensive line to check for traitors when Gravis had been part of the invasion force? On top of that, it had also been the Grand Elder that had sent the Inquisitor with him when Gravis had his brief run-in with the traitorous Squad Leader of the Elite Striking Squad.
Everything had pointed to the Grand Elder. Sadly, Gravis hadn't been able to make the connection since the Grand Elder always took a backseat to the Empress.
Yet, something else also interested Gravis. Based on how powerful a Judge had to be, the Grand Elder would need to have the ability to fight a level three Emperor. Was he truly so powerful? So, Gravis checked the Grand Elder out again, and what he found shocked him.
"You've comprehended Punishment Lightning?" Gravis asked in shock.
The Grand Elder huffed. "You've finally noticed, huh? I've already comprehended it when you returned from the Plant Ultimate. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed when you didn't notice the Punishment Lightning inside me."
"I mean," Gravis said awkwardly, "I have no reason to keep inspecting you every time we meet. You're not an enemy."
The Grand Elder sighed again as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Just tell me what happened," he said helplessly.
Gravis told the Grand Elder everything that had happened as soon as he had left the Icy Pride Empire. He told him that he had found it quite suspicious that this defensive line hadn't moved in forever and that he had also suspected the Commander of being a traitor, which had turned out not to be true.
Then, he narrated how he had started to suspect the Emperor and how he had prepared himself for the fight. After telling the Grand Elder everything about the fight, he finally arrived at his proposition.
When the Grand Elder heard Gravis' proposition, he stroked his beard in thought. "I presume that this Life Ring of yours is from your homeworld?" he asked.
Gravis nodded.
"Can I see it?" he asked.
"Sure, go ahead," Gravis said as he threw the Life Ring over.
The Grand Elder inspected the Life Ring, but he just couldn't make any sense of it. Things like Artifacts and Formation Arrays didn't exist in this world. To the Grand Elder, something like this appeared way too magical to be real. How could someone use this tiny ring to control another beast?
If Gravis hadn't already proven to be anything but normal, the Grand Elder would have had immense doubts. Yet, if it was Gravis, everything he said was most likely true.
After inspecting the Life Ring for a minute, the Grand Elder looked coldly at the lizard. Surprisingly, the lizard looked rather nervous and afraid now. Earlier, he had had no hope of survival, which was why he had been able to remain calm, but this time, there was a genuine chance of survival. He didn't want to die.
"I need to test its validity," the Grand Elder said as he threw the Life Ring back to Gravis.
"How do you plan to do that?" Gravis asked.
Proving something like this was difficult. The lizard could simply act like he was under Gravis' control if the Life Ring didn't work. True loyalty couldn't be found out that easily.
"Simple," the Grand Elder said, "As a Judge, it is also my responsibility to find new Inquisitors, and for me to do that, I need to have comprehended the Law of the Mind."
Gravis remembered that Inquisitors had to go through an invasive investigation of their minds to see if they were spies. Initially, Gravis had thought that there were some beasts out there that were responsible for this, but it made more sense that the Judges themselves had this ability.
Gravis gestured for the Grand Elder to start. Then, the Grand Elder turned to the lizard.
"If you want to survive, you have no other option but to consent to a mind-search. Are you willing?" the Grand Elder asked.
Instead of being fearful about someone digging around in his mind, the lizard felt relieved. It looked like he would be able to survive. "Yes, Judge," the lizard said as he lowered his head.
The Grand Elder flew closer but never dropped his guard. After all, the lizard was a traitor. Then, the Grand Elder put his hand on the lizard's head and instructed him to not resist. The mind was the most intimate and most protected place of a living being. Even with a level two Law, one couldn't forcefully read someone's thoughts.
The lizard did as instructed, and some minuscule strings of lightning came out of the Grand Elder and entered the lizard's head. After around five minutes, the Grand Elder retrieved his hand and stroked his beard again.
"A traitor rarely allows us to search their thoughts," the Grand Elder muttered. "We have gained a lot of valuable intel with this."
"Gravis," the Grand Elder said as he turned to Gravis, "You have not only found a traitor but also allowed the land beasts' camp to learn a lot about the sea beasts. You will probably receive another 50 years of access for Law Comprehension Areas."
"Huh, that's nice," Gravis said as he scratched the back of his neck. "To be honest, there are a lot of things that I wanted to learn but couldn't due to time constraints. This is quite useful."
The Grand Elder nodded. "Use the Life Ring. After that, I will take another look at the mind of the traitor," he said.
Gravis nodded and turned to the lizard. "You will feel something enter your mind. If you resist, it won't work. At that time, you have no chance of survival anymore."
The traitorous Emperor had enough time to get his thoughts in order while they had waited for the Judge. By now, he had already accepted the fact that, in the future, his life would be fully under Gravis' control.
"Go ahead," the lizard said.
Gravis activated the Life Ring. Since the effects of the Life Ring were invisible, the present Emperors saw nothing happening for several seconds. Yet, as they were watching, an incredibly complex Formation Array entered the lizard's mind.
Ten seconds later, the lizard opened his eyes again. Then, he bowed before Gravis. "Morus greets Master," he said deferentially.
Gravis nodded. "Allow the Judge to inspect your mind one more time," Gravis ordered.
"Yes, Master," Morus said as he lowered his head towards the Grand Elder.
The watching Emperors were still skeptical about all of this. To them, it seemed like nothing had changed. Ten silent seconds had passed, and without anything happening, an Emperor was already entirely under Gravis' command? This was hard to believe.
The Grand Elder put his hand on the lizard's head again and looked at his mind one more time. Initially, he didn't see anything different from before, but as soon as the Grand Elder looked at Morus' loyalty and his opinion of Gravis, everything had changed.
The Grand Elder saw an undying loyalty and worship towards Gravis. It was impossible for a beast to fake the thoughts in their mind, which was why this method of mind-reading had proven quite effective. The Grand Elder had never seen anything like this. It was like Gravis was the most important thing in the entire existence for Morus.
The Grand Elder retrieved his hand and released a shaky breath. "This Life Ring is truly terrifying, Gravis. It warps the personality of a beast to the point that they aren't themselves anymore."
"As far as I'm concerned, the traitorous Emperor Morus has died. This is no longer Morus. This is simply a selfless tool that will sacrifice itself for its master. To be honest, I would rather die than ever live like this," the Grand Elder said. "A beast with no ambition is no beast anymore."
Gravis nodded. "I told him what would happen, and he has decided to rather live like this than die. He has chosen life over freedom, and that is his own decision. Also, it's not like he will remain like this forever. At some point, I will probably give him his freedom back. Of course, that won't happen before I have left this world."
The Grand Elder nodded. "True, this is his choice. So, Gravis, official business is over. Do you want to return to the Icy Pride Empire for the special task that the Empress has for you?" he asked.
Gravis only smiled. "No, I want to spend some time with my kids first. I will be back in about a week or so."
The Grand Elder nodded. "Alright. I will distribute the knowledge we have extracted from the traitorous Emperor and take action." Then, he looked at the present Emperors. "Do not attack the sea beasts right now since the Empire behind this defensive line is too powerful for this lineup. Reconstruct a new defensive line in the conquered territory, and I will deal with everything else."
"Yes, Judge!" the Emperors said with respect. Then, they all scattered to plan the new defensive line.
The Grand Elder threw one last look at Gravis, nodded, and then flew back to the Icy Pride Empire.
Meanwhile, Gravis smirked happily as he found his children with his Spirit Sense. Without waiting for a second more, Gravis flew towards them as Morus followed respectfully behind him. There was no sense in keeping Morus inside the Life Ring's Space. After all, Morus was powerful enough to fend for himself.
Then, Gravis spent a happy and jovial week with his children.