Chapter 266: Stubbornness and Loyalty

Gravis looked at them with unamused eyes. "Are you actually for real with that question?" Gravis asked.

Back when he had first seen his new look, he had expected that a lot of people would question his vision, but that surprisingly didn't happen as often. It actually made sense. After all, the chances of a blind person reaching such power were low. Having no vision was a severe detriment in the Body Tempering and Energy Gathering Realm.

The younger of the two Sapling Stage cultivators continued narrowing his eyes. "Just answer the question!" he shouted. Apparently, he was quite serious about this question.

Gravis snorted. "No, I'm not fucking blind," he said with an annoyed tone.

All the people's eyes narrowed, yet the sadness in their eyes also reappeared, confusing Gravis. 'What's up with them?' he asked himself.

The older person took a step forward. "Then, you must be Gravis, right?" he asked.

Gravis lifted his brows in surprise. "You know my name?" he asked in surprise.

The older person closed his eyes and then sighed in melancholy. Their unfitting display of emotions towards the current situation made Gravis think that he was under an illusion again. He looked through his whole body and also his belongings. Of course, that was unnecessary. After all, he wore nothing that could be considered an artifact or something similar. Even his weapon had been destroyed.

The older person looked at the other cultivators and nodded severely. The others also sighed but then opened their eyes with determination.

Whooosh!

Shields, pikes, clubs, and spears appeared in all their hands, making Gravis lift an eyebrow.

"Then, we must fight to the death!" shouted the older of the two Sapling Stage cultivators.

It took a couple of seconds to process this new development. After seconds of calculating every eventuality, Gravis answered only one word.

"What?"

"Today, either you or us will die! There is no other way!" the younger of the Sapling Stage cultivators said with battle intent.

"Why?" Gravis asked, trying to understand the situation. The fuck was going on?

The cultivators shot forward, but they were still about 20 kilometers away. It would probably take another couple of minutes to reach him. Their slow speed made for an interesting contrast to their motivation to kill him. The rather wide distance also didn't help.

Seeing that no one answered him, Gravis asked again. "So, could you explain why we are suddenly supposed to fight to the death after I killed the beast that made problems for you for the last couple of decades? I don't get it," he said.

"We are thankful that you took down the Ogre," said the younger person, "but you have disrespected the Earth Sect, and there is no redemption from that! You must die today!" he shouted threateningly.

Sadly, Gravis felt no threat from them. First of all, even while not being at his peak condition, killing them wouldn't even be an issue. On top of that, in comparison to him, they were moving about as fast as slugs. This was about as unthreatening as they could get.

Gravis blinked a couple of times. "When did that happen?" he asked.

The cultivators charged with all their speed. "You have invaded the Earth Guild in the Middle-Continent and destroyed all the houses! This is a humiliation to the entire Earth Sect! Therefore, you must die!" the older person shouted with power and battle intent.

Gravis looked like he remembered something. "Oh, that," he said. "I was only paying the Earth Guild back for what they have done. They disrespected me first, so I just repaid that favor." Gravis shrugged and shook his head. "I really don't get how this suddenly became a life and death enmity."

"Your reasons for doing that are irrelevant!" shouted the older person aggressively. "We are one entity, one organization, one Sect, one family! Anyone or anything that hurts our family must die!"

By now, the earth cultivators managed to close in by another kilometer. Only 19 more to go!

Gravis sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So, let me get this straight. Hypothetically, if the Guild Master of the Earth Guild wanted to kill or suppress me for absolutely no reason, you still wouldn't allow me to take revenge?" Gravis asked.

"No!" the younger person shouted. "We are one family, and no matter what someone in our family has done, we will stand by their side! Even if they become a monster or become the enemy of the entire world, we will always stand by our family!"

Gravis rubbed his chin in thought. "Loyalty, huh?" he muttered. "Loyalty is a good trait, I suppose, but don't you think you are taking it a bit too far? Unwavering loyalty can become injustice and unfairness."

The cultivators were still very motivated and angry. "Justice and fairness don't exist! The bigger fist is always right, and as long as we all stay and hold together, nothing will break us apart! With this, we have the biggest fist, and are therefore right!" the younger person shouted, still charging with all his speed.

Gravis hummed a little. "I guess that makes, at least, some sense," he said, "but I think you are oversimplifying a complex situation. Say, are you actually just using all these excuses to temper yourself?" Gravis asked with interest.

"Of course not!" shouted the older one in anger. "This is what we believe, and masking our beliefs like this would dishonor them! Earth doesn't give, and there is no reason to hide our beliefs! Today, either you or us will die!"

Gravis looked evenly at the "charging" disciples. They still had around 17 kilometers to go. "You do realize that you have no chance of victory, right?" Gravis asked. "I am fast enough to evade the Ogre, and my attacks are strong enough to kill it. Your defenses mean nothing in front of me."

For the first time, the older man gnashed his teeth. "We know that! We know that we are running into our deaths, but we can't betray our beliefs! Our beliefs are what defines us!" he shouted with battle intent, anxiety, sadness, and a little bit of fear.

Gravis' eyes widened. 'So that's why they were so sad when they saw me,' he concluded. 'They saw me and my power and knew that they had no chance against me. The whole melancholy and sadness they felt was for the loss of their own lives. The question about me being blind was probably just a shot in the dark, hoping that I was someone else that just looked similar to... well, myself. Fuck, this situation is so surreal.'

For the first time in a long while, Gravis wasn't sure what to feel. Obviously, they stepped over his bottom line by intending to kill him, but they were also kind of pathetic while doing so. They were not even a small threat. On top of that, they weren't running into the fight to win, but to die. Gravis scratched his head as he tried to comprehend the ridiculousness of this situation.

Suddenly, Gravis thought of something. "Did you tell me all this from such a great distance so that I could flee from all of you?" Gravis asked.

The Spirits of some of the cultivators shook. They didn't need to answer as their Spirit already told Gravis everything. Yes, that was precisely their plan. They needed to defend their beliefs, which forced them to attack him at full force, but they also didn't want to lose their lives. Only by forcing Gravis to flee would they be able to keep both.

The cultivators didn't answer anymore as they continued charging. Now, this situation finally made some kind of sense. Gravis rubbed his chin in interest and a slight bit of amusement. 'I wonder if their beliefs or their lives are more important to them.'

"No worries," Gravis said with a smile. "I'll stay right here! Take as long as you need."

Like this, the disciples started becoming nervous again.