Lightning Is the Only Way

"I will strengthen Mortis. You will strengthen Gravis," Orthar said to the Opposer.

The Opposer flew over to Gravis and looked him in the eye.

The two of them shared a knowing glance.

They couldn't talk to each other without revealing something to Orthar. After all, this was Orthar's Cosmos, and not even the Opposer could keep his messages a secret from him.

They had never shared their plan with each other in the open.

Yet, they both knew it.

Orthar flew over to Mortis and put his hand on his shoulder.

"You will keep your promise?" Mortis asked Orthar as he looked him in the eyes.

"Yes, Azure won't have to face death," Orthar said.

Mortis nodded.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Then, Mortis looked at the Opposer.

"Can you look out for Azure?" Mortis asked.

"You are my son," the Opposer said.

"I will protect her with all of my ability. This is the least I can do."

Mortis also nodded.

Then, Mortis looked at Gravis.

Gravis looked back.

"I'm sorry," Mortis said with a shaking voice.

Gravis felt his heart fall into a pit of despair. He tried his best to remain emotionless, but he couldn't.

"No, I'm sorry," Gravis answered with an equally shaking voice.

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"I enjoyed our time together," Mortis said.

"I did too," Gravis said, keeping back his tears.

Then, Mortis revealed a bright smile as tears ran down his eyes.

"You can start," Mortis said.

"You won't die," Orthar said.

***

Mortis closed his eyes in a peaceful expression.

Gravis gritted his teeth with unending rage, helplessness, and frustration.

Then, he shot a determined glance at his father.

The Opposer nodded and put his right hand on Gravis' shoulder.

WHOOOOOM!

Gravis felt an insane amount of Energy enter his Cosmos through his human body.

Gravis immediately used a huge chunk of that Energy to accelerate time while using the remainder to strengthen his Cosmos.

Then, he closed his eyes.

Gravis knew exactly that when he opened his eyes the next time, his destiny would be decided.

Gravis' Cosmos began to expand violently under his constant supervision. Every failure from now on wouldn't sap Orthar's Energy but his father's Energy.

Gravis couldn't allow any failure!

He focused on his Cosmos with every last bit of concentration he had to spare.

It was even more stressful than when Gravis had been beset by Sin Monsters.

Many years passed, and Gravis Cosmos grew to an astounding size.

Gravis split the worlds apart into different levels, and he created a vast network of different worlds that each served one specific purpose.

Power!

As time passed, Gravis felt his power grow to unfathomable levels.

His Will was so incredibly powerful!

His physical power was so incredibly high!

He had so much Energy!

He had so much Death!

He had so much Brutality!

Yet, Gravis feared that it wasn't enough.

He needed more!

Because, he knew exactly what would wait for him when he opened his eyes again!

Orthar's plan had caught all of them, and he had to do everything in his power to escape from it!

He had to survive, both for his sake and his father's sake.

What would happen?

How had all of this begun?

What had been Orthar's plan?

Well, it all started with the incident in the lower world, when Gravis had become the manifestation of lightning.

Back then, if Gravis had been allowed to grow, the Opposer would have been able to maybe grasp victory.

However, the Opposer had informed Orthar.

When Orthar had seen that, he had immediately changed the Laws.

It would be impossible for such a scenario to happen again from now on.

However, at the same time, Orthar had come up with a plan.

Orthar's intelligence and ability to plan were unparalleled, and he had immediately created a terrifying and complex plan.

When Orthar had recreated Gravis, he had changed the Laws of his Cosmos to accommodate the Opposer's wishes.

The Opposer had seen nothing wrong with that. After all, he could see the Laws in Orthar's Cosmos.

However, the crux to Orthar's plan hadn't been in the Laws inside the Cosmos but in his own Spirit.

Orthar had changed his personal lightning over the years following that incident.

From that moment onward, Gravis had been Orthar's tool to finally get rid of the Opposer.

However, Gravis had to reach supreme power first.

When Gravis was a kid, he had been Orthar's tool to infuriate the Opposer, and when Gravis was older, he had been Orthar's tool to kill the Opposer.

And everything hinged on Gravis' new state of existence.

What had been Orthar's plan?

Well, Orthar had changed his personal lightning to no longer be its own Law.

Instead, Orthar had changed his personal lightning to be himself.

Yes, just like Gravis, Orthar was now one and the same with his personal lightning.

He had infused all his will into his lightning and had become it.

***

The Opposer had noticed the change, but there had been nothing he could do. If he attacked Orthar now, everything would go down like back then.

However, with both of their Cosmoses resetting, Orthar would be able to regain his Energy faster than the Opposer could. Additionally, the Opposer would lose all his loved ones, whom he now cared about.

So, the Opposer could only rely on Gravis.

Sadly, the Opposer couldn't inform Gravis about any of this.

Why?

Because time was on Orthar's side.

If the Opposer compromised Orthar's plan by revealing it, Orthar would have simply killed Gravis.

He could afford to waste this chance. He definitely didn't want to, but he could.

The Opposer couldn't.

The Opposer would continue living for billions and billions of years, but eventually, he would make a mistake. He couldn't remain perfect forever.

Orthar knew that.

However, billions upon billions of years was a long time, even for Orthar, and while the Opposer was inside Orthar's Cosmos, Orthar couldn't unleash much power on the outside.

While the Opposer existed, Orthar couldn't allow himself to become enemies with any strong enemies on the outside.

That severely crippled his entire existence.

If someone really powerful found Orthar and decided to kill him, Orthar would be forced to use his Energy to defend himself, which would give the Opposer the edge, which could very well result in Orthar's death.

So, while waiting wasn't as much of a risk for Orthar as it was for the Opposer, it was still a risk.

Because of that, Orthar wanted to kill the Opposer as soon as possible.

And Gravis was the key.

In comparison, the Opposer wanted to kill Orthar. However, as long as the balance didn't change, the Opposer couldn't kill him.

However, in order to make Gravis powerful enough to make a difference, Orthar would also need to expend his Energy.

This would break the equilibrium and would give the Opposer the chance he needed to kill Orthar.

It all depended on Gravis.

In the beginning, Gravis had been fully following Orthar's plan.

Everything was going perfectly.

However, then, the first hiccup arrived.

It was Gravis' decision to offend his lightning when he decided to let that middle Heaven leave.

Orthar's plan hinged on Gravis being one with lightning.

However, his plan was still in motion.

He could work around that.

Then, the second hiccup arrived.

It was when Gravis had created Mortis.

Gravis had distanced himself from Orthar's concept regarding lightning, and over the years, he had changed the concept of lightning more and more.

By now, Gravis was no longer connected to Orthar's concept of lightning.

He had created his own lightning.

This was no longer Void Lightning but something entirely new.

This was an issue for Orthar since his plan didn't work anymore.

However, Orthar quickly changed his plan to the new circumstance.

Now, his concentration was on Mortis.

After all, Mortis was the version of Gravis Orthar needed.

Yet, Gravis' survival was still paramount.

Why?

Because the Opposer had realized Orthar's plan by now, and if Gravis died, the Opposer wouldn't have any chance anymore to pull everything around when the fated moment arrived.

If Gravis died, the first thing the Opposer would have done was to kill Mortis.

From then on, everything was set.

The die had been cast.

The incident with the Gate of Death?

Irrelevant.

It didn't make a difference if they comprehended the Law of Death or not.

For the last couple of million years, all four of them knew what would happen.

Yet, there was nothing they could do.

***

The Opposer, Gravis, and Mortis were all on the same side.

But Orthar was still the one in control.

Refuse to become powerful?

Orthar wouldn't mind. Time was on his side.

Fight him early?

Their power would be too weak to make a difference.

Refuse to go along with Orthar's plans?

Orthar and the Opposer would fight, which would result in Gravis' and Mortis' deaths, returning everything to the beginning.

If they lost, Orthar would win.

If they refused to play, Orthar would win.

If they got a draw, Orthar would win.

They could only win if they played Orthar's game and won.

They had to play, and they had to play by Orthar's rules.

Sadly, playing by Orthar's rules meant having a minuscule chance of victory and committing certain sacrifices.

What was this certain sacrifice?

Well, based on Orthar's original plan, Gravis was one with lightning, and Orthar was one with lightning.

Yet, Orthar had lived for far longer than Gravis, and his will was also infinitely more powerful.

So, if Gravis got hit with Orthar's lightning...

He would become Orthar.

Orthar would essentially assimilate Gravis into his being.

However, since Gravis was no longer one with Orthar's lightning, the target had become someone else.

After uncountable years had passed, Gravis felt it.

It was time.

He was now able to keep up with Orthar's and the Opposer's speeds.

It had begun.

Gravis quickly opened his eyes and looked at Mortis.

Or, more specifically, Orthar.

Mortis had died.

Mortis was now Orthar.

Mortis had known that this would be his end for millions of years...