Lightning Is the Only Way

"Good," Mortis said with a nod. Since he had Gravis' memories, he also saw Orthar as a friend, but he also knew that this Orthar was different from the previous one.

Mortis wanted to make sure that Orthar wouldn't make a stupid mistake.

"You can simply leave whenever you want," Orthar said to Gravis and Mortis. "I have made my stance clear. Whatever happens from now on is up to you."

"Also, one more thing," Orthar added as his eyes narrowed. "Don't attack my Cosmos with the Major Law of Death again. I might want you to act as a stabilizer, but you still need to reach the power necessary to act as one. Fixing a hole in the Cosmos takes a gigantic amount of Energy, and I need every little bit of it."

Orthar looked at the Opposer. "Before you have reached sufficient power, I can't allow myself to become careless. If I waste just a little too much Energy, I might die to your father's hand before you achieve the necessary power to act as a stabilizer."

The Opposer only glanced back at Orthar.

He hadn't spoken much since they had arrived, which made his stance clear.

He would support his two sons, but he would still allow them to make their own decisions.

He hadn't interjected with his own thoughts regarding what Orthar had said.

"This won't happen a second time," Gravis said. "If I can't lose something, it doesn't have any value. By being willful this time, father has paid the price. I can't allow him to pay the same price again, or I might regret it forever."

Mortis nodded. "Agreed. If I die, I die. I can get why Gravis resurrected me this time, but I don't want it to happen a second time."

"Good," Orthar said.

And then, Orthar disappeared.

It was like he had never been there.

After some seconds, the Opposer looked away from the place Orthar had been and looked at his two sons.

Gravis and Mortis looked at their father, unsure how they should feel.

They could finally return home, and they would never need to leave again.

They had gone through the lower world, the middle world, and the higher world to reach the highest world.

The very world that had been so far away from them in the past was now directly in front of them.

There would be no more temporary homes, only a permanent home.

They didn't have to say goodbye to their close ones again.

They wouldn't leave to different worlds anymore.

As Gravis looked at his father, his family shot through his mind.

Was Aris still alive? Had he reached the highest world?

Was Cera still alive?

Yersi should still be alive. How powerful had she become?

Did Stella miss him?

After some time, the Opposer smiled warmly, something rarely seen.

"You've done it," he said to Gravis and Mortis. "You've become powerful enough to truly be part of your home."

Gravis and Mortis both felt a complex mix of emotions, but they were mostly positive.

"It's been a long time," Gravis said. "I should be something like 270,000 years old by now. I've reached this world when I had only been 4,000 years old."

Gravis also smiled.

"Yet, for some reason, my time in Arc's world didn't feel as long as my time in the middle world. I think that's mostly because of Mortis, Stella, and Arc."

"While it hasn't felt long for you, it has felt the longest to your mother," the Opposer said. "She always wants to know how you are doing."

Gravis also missed his mom.

In comparison, Mortis felt nervous.

Mortis wasn't technically her son.

Would she accept him as part of their family?

Usually, Mortis would have seen such thoughts as weak, but as soon as he had been cut off from Gravis' emotions, he held a certain nervousness inside himself.

This Mortis hadn't been cut off from Gravis' emotions for more than some hours. After all, in Mortis' memories, they had fought Nira just a couple hours ago.

Due to Mortis' conversation with Gravis, Mortis didn't directly fall into the spiral of despair. On top of that, he had been distracted by their upcoming fight with Arc.

This version of Mortis hadn't had enough time to come to terms with his new situation yet.

However, these thoughts that had resulted in the old Mortis' suicide were still buried in Mortis' mind.

Because of that, Mortis felt more nervous about his mother's position regarding him than he had ever believed.

Could he also feel these feelings that Gravis had sent him in the past?

He hoped so.

The Opposer looked away from the two of them and looked behind them with an emotionless expression.

Gravis looked back and noticed that Arc's time had resumed.

Right now, Arc was looking nervously at the Opposer.

Arc had always appeared like an all-knowing God, but even he became incredibly nervous in front of the Opposer.

When Arc had seen the Opposer, he had immediately realized who that was.

Arc's perception was incredible, and he could immediately discern why the appearance of the Opposer made him so nervous.

The Opposer felt just like the Gate of Death.

Both of them didn't belong to the Cosmos.

They were foreign things.

These things shouldn't exist in the Cosmos.

After listening to Orthar's words, Gravis knew where these feelings of rejection that everyone felt towards his father came from.

The Laws in his father's Cosmos were far different, and Orthar had also said that the Opposer's Cosmos was filled with Death.

He was a manifestation of his Cosmos, and he truly didn't belong to this Cosmos.

"To think that I would one day help one of the old bastard's creations," the Opposer said.

Gravis sighed. "It would be really cool if you could refrain from calling Arc a creation. He's a living being just like you and me."

The Opposer remained silent for a second.

"You're right," he said. "Arc, the old bastard has agreed for you to come to the highest world. You will be a normal Cultivator just like anyone else, but I doubt that you will be spared of the Brand."

Arc's nervousness mixed with some disbelief.

He was free?

He was free!?

Arc almost couldn't believe it.

"Congratulations," Gravis said with a smile towards Arc. "You can finally see the highest world. You no longer need to guess Laws. You can see them for yourself now."

After some time, Arc sighed and smiled warmly.

Gravis could even see some tears forming in his eyes.

"Thanks," Arc said silently. "Truly, thank you."

"No problem," Gravis said with a smirk. "It's what friends do, right?"

Arc nodded with a smile. "Yes."

"Let's go," Gravis said, looking at his father.

SHING!

A portal appeared before them, and the Opposer motioned with his head to follow him.

Then, the Opposer stepped through the portal.

"Come on, Arc. You go first," Gravis said.

Arc looked at the portal with a complex expression.

This portal signified freedom.

Arc looked one last time at his world.

He wouldn't miss this world even a little bit.

Yes, it was his world, but it had also acted as his cage for an eternity.

He wouldn't miss his cage.

Without a word, Arc quickly flew through the portal.

Then, Gravis stepped through the portal, and lastly, Mortis.

The portal closed, and this would be the last time any of them would step foot into this world.

A couple weeks later, a new Heaven would appear in this clearing and would take Arc's place.

It would emulate Arc's behavior in managing this world, but in comparison to Arc, it didn't care much about freedom.

No one in the world had noticed that their Heaven had left.

No one knew that the two most powerful Cultivators, Gravis and Mortis, had left the world.

The Peak Sects would continue warring with the beasts without end.

The world didn't change much, except for the increased average power of beasts.

This was the first world Gravis left behind that hadn't been severely damaged or destroyed.

Gravis had kept his promise of not destroying the world.

WHOOOM!

As Gravis stepped out of the portal, he was immediately attacked by a substantial Will-Aura.

This Will-Aura was definitely on the level of a Star God, which was quite impressive.

Gravis quickly saw the cause.

Arc had clamped his hands down on a saber.

The Will-Aura came from the attacker.

Apparently, someone had just tried to attack Arc.