Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 1748: How Can This Be?

”How can this be?!”

The young lady was the one who exclaimed in shock.

It had been over thirty minutes since sheʼd been battling Grey, and he hadnʼt even shown any signs of exhaustion; in fact, he was still almost the same as when the fight initially started. Other than the hint of blood on the side of his mouth, his disheveled hair, and ruffled clothes, his calm expression didnʼt give away the fact that he had been locked in battle for such a long time.

The young lady wasnʼt any better than Grey, but neither of them had sustained any significant injuries. Greyʼs attacks were not as powerful as the young ladyʼs, and other than when he used his five-colored fusion orb once, which occasionally threatened the young lady when used, he hadnʼt been able to get any significant advantage over her.

The same could be said for the young lady, although she possessed greater strength, Grey was too fast, and his space element was too troublesome to deal with. Although she sensed that the longer the fight lasted, the fewer Grey was making use of his space element, it was still a shocking thing to see.

She knew she couldnʼt beat him, hence she went with the plan of exhausting him till he couldnʼt fight again. Unfortunately, this plan didnʼt seem to be working out.

Since the start of the competition, this battle could be said to be the longest so far. And although it looked like both parties were acting cautiously, the truth is that it was a very close match. Grey was too fast, but he didnʼt possess enough strength to defeat his opponent. His opponent, on the other hand, possessed enough strength, but wasnʼt as fast as Grey, making it almost impossible to land a blow on him. If not for a few times when Grey was careless and caught by her attacks, his clothes wouldnʼt have been ruffled.

This was the first time Grey was in such a position. Although he had fought opponents more than three stages above him in the past, that was all thanks to his Fusion State which massively boosted his strength. At that time, he could even go toe to toe with experts who were five or even six stages ahead of him. This is an ability he has since lost, and he has gotten used to life without being able to use his Fusion State. He didnʼt know the reason for this, but he didnʼt care too much. His Fusion State was a trump card that has saved his life on several occasions, and while it was a great life-saving trump card, it clearly wasnʼt part of his strength; else, why would he suddenly be unable to use it?

The disappearance of the Fusion State worried Grey, but it also made him even more convinced that he needed to grow his personal strength. The only strength he could use continuously was his own.

The young lady and the crowd were all shocked by Greyʼs essence reserves since he had been matching the young ladyʼs attacks all this while. Greyʼs elemental essence expenses over the course of the battle could even be said to be higher than the young ladyʼs, as he not only defended, he evaded and also countered. While all the young lady did was occasionally evade, and mostly attacked.

Fifteen minutes more went by. And at this time, the young lady started to show signs of panic. She was gasping for breath, and her face was starting to have a hint of red. Not just her face, but her entire body as well. This was a sign of over-exhaustion. If the battle didnʼt stop in a few more minutes, the situation would be even more dire for the young lady. Overexhaustion is something all Elementalists try to avoid. If an Elementalist were to completely dry up the elemental essence in their bodies, they risked delaying their cultivation for a few months if lucky, and years if unlucky. Hence the reason they all wanted to make sure they didnʼt dare overuse their elemental essence.

The young lady also noticed that Grey was not using too much of his elements at the moment. In fact, he mainly used the lightning, wind, and fire elements. He had stopped using his space element five minutes ago, and his earth and water elements were rarely used unless absolutely necessary.

Although Grey wasnʼt at his peak, his situation wasnʼt as serious as the young ladyʼs. From how calm he looked, it was clear that if needed, he could still drag this out another thirty minutes comfortably.

Another five minutes went by, and the young lady was getting more flustered. She could barely keep up with Grey now, and the initial cycle broke, the position of attacker and defender changed at this moment.

The young lady, who has been the one in pursuit since the start of the battle, suddenly realized that Grey had stopped evading and was starting to meet her attacks head-on. At first, it was just once in a while, but within the next two minutes, Grey completely suppressed her, and he started attacking.

As the young lady grew weaker, Greyʼs momentum spiked, and to the shock of everyone. After successfully dodging one of Greyʼs attacks in a flustered manner, before she could even keep herself calm, she sensed an attack from behind her. When she turned around, she stood dazed as her pupils shrunk, her expression one of shock. Behind her, a massive two-colored array had mysteriously appeared. And the aura she was sensing from it was enough to threaten the current her.

The young lady gritted her teeth, she didnʼt expect that Grey still had this trick up his sleeve. The infuriating thing about this array is that, an hour ago, she wouldnʼt even bat an eye if faced with such an attack. Sadly, she was already an arrow at the end of its flight, thereʼs barely any more resistance she could put up.