Lightning Is the Only Way

"Who?" asked Gorn. He wanted to know who had attacked Gravis. There were not many people who would be able to injure him. It could only be one of the Guild Masters of another Elemental Guild or…

"Jaimy!" Gravis growled with hate.

Gorn sighed. So it had been Jaimy. Gorn almost couldn't believe it. Jaimy had always been such a forthright and nice guy, and he had supported the guild wholeheartedly. Yet, Gorn couldn't doubt Gravis on this. Gorn knew that Gravis was too angry to care about deceit.

"Are you sure it was Jaimy?" asked Gorn with seriousness.

Gravis' eyes narrowed further with a fire of rage. "Are you trying to protect him?" he asked aggressively.

Gorn lifted his hands in a defensive position. "No. Whoever attacked you will be punished! I will give you my full support in taking revenge," he said. "But, I need to know if you can be sure that it was Jaimy."

Gravis' nearly lost control of his rage as he recalled Jaimy's face and what he had said. "I am absolutely sure," he spat.

Gorn sighed to relieve some stress. He knew that the following conversation wouldn't be pleasant. "Alright, but there is a problem," he said carefully.

Gravis' eyes narrowed even further.

"Jaimy and his brother Frank both vanished on the same day as you," Gorn explained carefully.

Gravis inhaled violently and stood up. "Are you actually protecting him?" His Will-Aura was fully released by now, and he compressed it to the smallest possible area. Gorn stopped breathing, and he

couldn't move anymore. It felt like he would die if he moved one step.

Gravis' Will-Aura had increased even further by this setback, and he was compressing it fully. On top of that, he had broken through into the Energy Gathering Realm. His earlier Will-Aura and this one were like Heaven and Earth.

Gravis continued to stare at Gorn intensely. After some seconds, Gorn managed to get some of his wits back. "I have carried you out of the cesspool. I have risked the whole Lightning Tower by supporting you. I have given you everything! Don't doubt me when I say that I don't know where he is!" Gorn shouted.

Gravis' rage exploded when he heard the words, "I have given you everything!" Jaimy had said the same sentence to Gravis, and Gravis almost couldn't control himself anymore. Yet, when Gorn said those words, they felt completely different to when Jaimy had said them.

Gravis retrieved his Will-Aura, and Gorn could finally relax again. He felt like he had evaded death just now. The Gravis that he knew wouldn't have acted this recklessly and full of hatred. The Gravis, in front of him, seemed like a completely different person.

"Then I'll find him!" said Gravis through gritted teeth and sprinted out of the Lightning Tower. Gorn couldn't even react before Gravis was gone, and before he could even start to follow, he heard a loud explosion coming from outside.

"Jaimy! Come out and face your death!" Gravis shouted as he threw a lightning bolt at a house. The house got utterly vaporized, and nothing but ash remained. It didn't matter that it was made out of stone since Gravis' lightning was just too destructive.

The disciples around the guild got gripped by fear and panicked. They started running away from Gravis and scattered in all directions. "Come out, Jaimy!" Gravis shouted as he blew up another house.

Gorn finally arrived outside, and he gasped when he saw Gravis going on a rampage. Gravis was destroying everything around him. Fires started appearing around the destroyed houses, and one house after another got blown into bits.

"Jaimy!" Gravis shouted with all his power as he blew up another house. The explosions were so loud that even people outside of the guild heard them clearly. The disciples looked in fear at their home who was being destroyed right now. Luckily, no one got injured. At least, Gravis seemed to be able to control his rage, somewhat. He wasn't mindlessly slaughtering everyone.

"Jaimy! Come out!" Gravis shouted again as he tore down another building. Gorn could only watch helplessly and in sorrow as his whole guild was torn down. He had been the Guild Master for about 40 years, and it hurt him when he saw everything he had built get destroyed. Gorn clenched his fists and only continued watching. Buildings could be rebuilt.

After around five minutes, Gravis had torn down the whole guild. All the buildings were destroyed, and only the Lightning Tower and the Exchange Hall still stood in one piece. They were protected by Formation Arrays, and it wasn't that easy to destroy them.

Gravis continued shouting in hate and blasted even the rubble. Gorn only watched calmly. After another two minutes, Gravis stopped his rampage and started breathing heavily. His Energy was nearly empty. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

When Gorn saw this, he stepped closer to Gravis. "Gravis, you need to calm down! This isn't you!" he shouted at him. "You are being influenced by the temperament of lightning!"

Gravis turned to him with bloodshot eyes. "I am me! No one controls me!" he shouted coldly.

"Gravis, you have absorbed too much lightning too quickly while being in an unstable condition! Listen to me," he shouted as he put his hand on Gravis' shoulder. Gravis Will-Aura exploded in its full intensity again, but Gorn held firm.

"When lightning is enraged, it lashes out at the closest thing! If anything approaches the lightning, it will destroy it with all its power! Look around," shouted Gorn as he gestured to the whole guild. "You have destroyed the whole guild! No one but Jaimy and Frank have hurt you in here! You are lashing out at everything around you! That is exactly like lightning!"

Gravis looked around the destroyed rubble that was the Lightning Guild. He couldn't find Jaimy or Frank, and yet, he had still destroyed everything. Gravis saw some disciples outside of the guild crying about their burned-down homes. Others looked at Gravis with hate and helplessness.

The disciples had the same expressions as the villagers in the first village that Gravis had visited. The villagers had looked at the bandits, who destroyed their homes, the same way. Back then, Gravis had killed them in cold blood, because he despised such cruel people who trampled on the weak.

Gravis looked at his own hands and only grew angrier. He had become what he despised, and his rage transformed into self-loathing. What was he doing? All this lightning was making him angry? If Gorn were right, and the lightning was making him act this way then fuck lightning! No one controlled him!

"Aaaahhh!" Gravis shouted and released all his remaining lightning into the surroundings. His surroundings exploded, and a shockwave blew everything away.

Gravis released a deep sigh, and his rage diminished. He realized that Gorn had been right and that his lightning had controlled him. If he didn't calm down now, he might never escape this blood-sea of rage and hatred. Gravis closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He buried his hatred deep into his heart, but he wouldn't forget what Jaimy had done to him. His hatred slowly vanished into the background, and only cold determination replaced it. Gravis would find Jaimy, and then he would kill him and his brother.

"Thank you, Gorn. Without you.."

Gravis said as he turned to his right, but he couldn't finish his words. To his right, where Gorn previously stood, Gravis could only see a puddle of blood, muscles, and guts. Behind that puddle, Gravis could see half of Gorn's remaining head, which showed an expression of fear and shock.

Gravis had forgotten that Gorn was beside him when he released all his power, and without realizing it, Gravis had killed Gorn.

And with that…

"Oh no…"

The plan of Heaven to never give Gravis any enemies…

"What have I done?"

Was destroyed!