Lightning Is the Only Way

BANG!

Mortis reached Gravis in an instant and also punched him in the face.

BANG!

Gravis hit the wall of the crater with an explosion as Mortis looked with hate in Gravis' direction.

"That one was free!" Gravis said as he came out of the wall, his head already healed.

Mortis gritted his teeth as his anger only rose.

BANG!

Mortis charged at Gravis again.

Gravis also charged at Mortis with a malicious grin.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

They exchanged some punches, but both of them managed to block the other's attacks.

PACK! PACK!

That was until Gravis caught Mortis' fists with two of his claws.

CRK! CRK!

Gravis' claws dug into Mortis' fists as he didn't let go.

PACK! PACK!

Gravis also immediately grabbed Mortis' two legs with his lower pair of arms. 

Usually, Mortis wouldn't have fallen for something like that, but in his rage-filled state, he had only wanted to vent.

Yet, Gravis had stopped him from venting as he kept all of Mortis' limbs locked down.

CRACK! CRACK!

Gravis' upper pair of arms cracked their knuckles as Gravis only grinned. 

"Hope you're prepared!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis unleashed a flurry of punches at Mortis' head with his upper pair of arms.

Mortis' body was created to put all of his weight and power behind a single saber.

However, Gravis' body was made for flexibility and adaptability.

Mortis couldn't do anything as he was punched again and again. 

Gravis just didn't let go of Mortis' limbs.

Mortis was at the mercy of Gravis' relentless attacks.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis continued punching Mortis again and again, but Mortis still didn't activate any other Law.

Gravis hadn't activated another Law, so he also wouldn't!

He refused to lose against Gravis!

Mortis tried everything to get out of Gravis' hold, but it was hopeless.

BZZ!

Mortis transformed into Divine Lightning as he cut off his limbs.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Mortis' limbs were thrown at him as Gravis immediately tackled him to the ground.

"You think that shit works against me!?" Gravis shouted with a grin.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Mortis was on the ground while Gravis was above him, simply going to town on Mortis.

Mortis' hatred and frustration increased even more as he felt Gravis' relentless attacks.

'Why!?'

'Why am I losing to him again!?'

'Why can't I have even a single thing where I am superior!?'

'Why is he better at literally everything!?'

Mortis screamed in rage as he tried to get away from Gravis, but Gravis wouldn't give him a chance.

Gravis knew all of Mortis' techniques, and he countered all of them.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis simply continued punching Mortis again and again.

"Yes, get angrier!" Gravis shouted as he punched Mortis again. "What's the point of being angry, huh!? Anger doesn't make you more powerful, you idiot!"

BANG! BANG!

"You-"

BANG! BANG!

"Shut the fuck up!" Gravis shouted at Mortis. He was also affected by Mortis' anger.

"You are only my fucking Avatar!"

That sentence hit Mortis harder than the punches.

"Of course you're weaker than me!"

"Your dream of surpassing me is idiotic!"

"I am in the dominant position, while you are in a subservient position!"

"I can kill you, but you can't kill me!"

"If I kill you, I just have to relearn the Law of Perceived Reality, but if you kill me, you cease to exist!"

Killing intent appeared in Mortis' eyes as he glared at Gravis.

"Killing intent!?"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis' attacks became more ferocious as he increased their power.

"You dare to feel killing intent towards me!? You!? A weaker version of me!? A weaker, past, dead, and forgotten version of me!?" Gravis shouted with fury.

"You are only my past!"

"I am the future and better version of us!"

"You are nothing but a vessel for my Divine Lightning!"

"You only exist because I felt bad for the Divine Lightning!"

Mortis' anger dissipated slowly as his mind became cold and emotionless.

BANG!

Mortis suddenly unleashed Divine Lightning into Gravis. The Divine Lightning entered Gravis' Spirit and started rebelling, stunning his Spirit for a second.

Then, Mortis summoned his saber and slashed at Gravis' head.

That attack was actually aimed to take Gravis' life!

BANG!

Gravis slammed the saber away with one of his free arms. They were still on the ground, and Gravis' position was superior.

"You think your shitty Divine Lightning can suppress my Spirit!?" Gravis shouted with a grin. "I know the fucking level six Law of Freedom! What the fuck can your shitty ass Divine Lightning even do to me?"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Even though Mortis had already summoned his saber, Gravis was still beating him without a weapon.

Gravis' attacks became even more powerful as he started to create serious injuries on Mortis' body that consumed his Life Energy.

This brawl had transformed into an actually dangerous battle.

BRRR!

Mortis summoned some Magma that shot at Gravis, but Gravis shot a faster beam of Magma back at the attack, canceling it.

"You truly are a fucking idiot," Gravis said coldly. "You need to convert your Divine Lightning into Magma, which wastes a ton of Energy. Additionally, you don't have Void Lightning, which makes your Magma even weaker than mine!"

"I have the physical superiority!"

"I have immunity towards Divine Lightning!"

"I have the greater Energy storage for everything that isn't lightning!"

"Even my Spirit is more powerful than yours since you're just my fucking Avatar!"

"Accept your place!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis continued attacking Mortis.

Mortis was unleashing one Element after the other, but Gravis always countered them easily. Mortis might have Gravis' memories up to a certain point, but Gravis was used to fighting in a versatile battle style while Mortis always went for offense.

Mortis was becoming weaker and weaker, and his Life Energy eventually reached a critical point.

Meanwhile, Gravis was still full of Energy and Life Energy.

Mortis' cold mind fell into a sea of frustration.

He was helpless.

He couldn't do anything.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis continued punching, and eventually, Mortis' Life Energy completely ran out.

Any injury he received right now might kill him.

BANG! BANG!

Gravis broke Mortis' chest again as he crushed his organs. 

Mortis felt his mind becoming weaker and weaker.

"Accept your place or die!" Gravis shouted.

Mortis' mind became calm at the moment of his death.

'Accept my place or die?' Mortis thought calmly. His thoughts were distant like he wasn't the one being beaten to death right now.

'What's the difference between those two things?'

'It might as well be the same thing.'

'Fine, kill me.'

'What's the point of living if everything suppresses me?'

'I don't care anymore.'

BOOOOM!

WHOOOOOM!

Suddenly, a beam of Brilliance appeared that bathed Mortis' dying body in healing light. Mortis' Life Energy immediately refilled as all his injuries healed.

Gravis stood up, cleaned his hands, and took a couple steps back.

Then, Gravis smiled happily at Mortis.

"There, happy now?" Gravis asked.

Mortis' mind was confused for a second.

However, all his rage and hatred had vanished, and his mind became clear.

This made his comprehension ability return back to its peak, and he immediately understood what had happened.

"You're truly acting like an idiot sometimes," Gravis said with a sigh. "You see how I'm doing better against an opponent that perfectly counters you one time, and you immediately assume that I'm more powerful than you."

Mortis continued lying on the ground, looking at the sky.

"If the Black Demon's defense had only been a slight bit weaker, you would have killed him in a single strike. Meanwhile, I would have needed to fight a bitter battle against him. After all, your offense is far superior to my own."

"Then, you get shocked when I comprehend the Law of Freedom before you," Gravis said as he shook his head. "Of course I comprehended the Law of Freedom before you! Even though everything I have said to you just now was a lie, it is true that my situation allows me to have more freedom than you."

"On top of that, freedom is my goal, not yours. It's only natural that I'm going to comprehend freedom before you."

"Yet, instead of looking at everything objectively, your mind was consumed by hatred and self-loathing."

"Have you forgotten the very phrase we use more than any other?" Gravis asked. "Advantages have disadvantages, and disadvantages have advantages."

"If you simply thought about it, you would have realized that, while I have a greater affinity towards freedom, you have a greater affinity towards Suppression. It was only a matter of time until you comprehended the level six Law of Suppression."

"On top of that, you managed to comprehend an Emotional Law just now. The only Emotional Law I managed to comprehend after your creation was the Law of Empathy, and that was entirely thanks to Stella."

"You managed to take the first step towards our emotional independence, something I didn't manage to do. However, instead of seeing that you are superior in that, you only get angrier."

Mortis continued looking at the sky, his mind calm but going through a ton of thoughts.

"And the fact that I comprehended the level six Law of Suppression just now is supposed to change that?" Mortis asked.

"Yes," Gravis answered.

"However, you were the one that taught me the Law of Suppression," Mortis said calmly.

"If our situations were reversed," Gravis said, "I wouldn't have been able to comprehend the Law of Suppression. I would have probably immediately killed myself to exert the last remaining bit of control over my life that I had left."

"Your personality does not have such a great affinity towards the more positive emotions and freedom, but it has a greater affinity towards the negative emotions and suppression. Just because you haven't made the necessary progress yet doesn't mean that you won't comprehend them in the future."

Silence.

"I don't know what to think anymore," Mortis said calmly.

"So? You don't need to," Gravis answered. "Just go with the flow and adapt to whatever happens. That's how I comprehended the Life Laws and the Law of Freedom. I didn't force anything and just did whatever interested me."

"When you let your mind relax for a bit, you will notice that a lot of problems don't seem as bad or complex anymore."

Silence.

"Anyway," Gravis said with a smile. "I'll go now. Just think about what I've said. You don't have to follow it, obviously, since freedom also means allowing others to be free. It's your own decision if you want to follow my advice or not."

"Also, I'm sorry for saying all these things, but you should already feel my guilt and pain for saying these things."

"Sadly, it was the only way I could get you out of this slump of yours."

"So, I hope you can forgive me for that."

"Anyway, gotta go, bye!"

Gravis waved at Mortis and teleported away.

Mortis simply continued staring at the sky, unsure of what he should think or feel right now.

"The level six Law of Suppression, huh?" Mortis said to himself.

"Gravis said he wouldn't have comprehended it in my place, and as far as I can tell, he was actually honest when saying that."

Then, Mortis did something that he hadn't done ever since he was created.

Mortis laughed a bit to himself.

"Now that I think about it, Gravis was right when he said that I have several aspects where I'm superior."

"Oh, what an idiot I have been."

After saying that, Mortis became quiet as he only looked at the sky.

'Is putting myself under pressure really what's stopping me from becoming more powerful?'