Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 1987: Shocking Scene II

“What is that?!” Even the Gnome dressed in silver robes exclaimed in shock.

Klaus was just as dumbfounded as the silver robbed Gnome.

The battle on Klaus’s side had not started, but even the ones that had started paused. Reynolds and his opponent stopped to take a look in the direction of Hugh, and so did Alice and her opponent. Even the Peak Sovereign Commander who was in a heated battle with the black robbed Gnome halted their battle as well. All looking at Hugh with an incredulous expression.

The Fifth stage Sovereign Gnome facing Hugh was just as bewildered as the others. He, too, froze in a dazed state as he stared at what looked like spikey vines shooting in his direction. It was only when the vine was very close to him did he get out of his dazed state. Sensing danger, the Gnome snapped out of his startled state, bringing out his Puppet to marginally block the vine coming at him.

He was a Fifth stage Sovereign and has been in countless battles over the years. The others who were not facing the attack found it astonishing, to him, there was nothing astonishing about the attack. The closer the vine got, the stronger the feeling of death that gripped him. This was the reason he was able to react in time, using his Puppet to block the attack.

The vine pierced through the body of the Puppet, still aimed at him. Scared, the Gnome retreated in a haste, while engulfing the vine with his darkness element in a bid to try to slow it down.

He also controlled his Puppet to use its water element to freeze the vine from the other side.

The fast approaching vine was finally stopped by the combined effort of the Gnome and his Puppet. Taking in a deep breath, the Gnome stared at Hugh with visible dread on his face. He was dismayed as he had never seen or even heard of anything like this before.

Hugh did not stop after this attack was thwarted, taking a step forward, three more vines appeared in front of him and shot straight at the Gnome and his Puppet. Each vine was filled with spikes; spikes that made one’s heart palpitate.

The Gnome, seeing that his attempt with the ice worked, used the same method. Only, this time, he did not allow the vines to get close to him. Creating an ice wall, he blocked the incoming vines. He was still behind his Puppet, keeping a good distance between himself and Hugh. Still focused on his Puppet dealing with the vines, he failed to see the large tree sprouting from beneath him. It was only after the tree was about to reach him did he sense the abnormality around him. Looking down, his heart almost jumped out of his body. Without any hesitation, he pushed his darkness element to envelope the incoming tree, while he retreated even further.

In his attempt to retreat, he felt a strong pull coming from his leg. Gazing down, he noticed a vine was wrapped around his right leg. He failed to notice this vine, and if he had not been trying to escape, there was a good chance he would have never sensed it.

A blade made purely from the darkness element appeared, cutting at the vine. The vine was surprisingly attached to the tree that sprouted from the ground.

When he tried to cut it with the darkness elemental blade, he was astounded by the toughness of the vine. The vine was barely as wide as a finger, and even though the darkness element can not be regarded as the sharpest element, it should have no issues cutting off something this small. However, even after the second and third attempt, the vine was still firmly holding the Gnome in place.

In the meantime, the tree was only momentarily slowed down by the Gnome’s attack, it did not stop in its growth. Slowly, it continued rising up, getting closer and closer to the Gnome.

While the Gnome was trying to hack off the vine, he noticed something that scared the living hell out of him. The vine tied to his leg, was siphoning essence from his body and using it to enhance the tree.

The back of the Gnome was drenched in sweat at the realization of this as he used all his strength to finally cut off the vine and retreat as far as he could. Creating an almost one kilometer distance between himself and Hugh. He also brought his Puppet over to his side. A look of fear was still apparent in his face.

Other than the battlefield of those below the Sovereign Plane, every single individual was staring at Hugh with amazed and shocked gazes. How could a Human control plants? This was the only thought in their heads. They had seen plants that seem to have certain characteristics and could attack over the years, but never has it been a Human control them. In fact, what Hugh was doing could not even be called controlling plants since that would require him to always have plants by the side. He was generating plants like any elemental attacks of an Elementalist. He even generated an entire tree! The sight of it was appalling, to his opponents, that is.

As for Klaus and the others, they were astonished at what Hugh achieved, especially Klaus. Of everyone present, he was the one with the closest relationship with Hugh and knew that this was not something he was capable of in the past. Hugh had a strange obsession with woods and trees, and because of this, even though he was an Elementalist, he barely got involved in any form of battles. He was also from a poor background which made it hard for him to have the resources to cultivate properly. This was the reason Klaus was baffled when he noticed he was already a Sovereign when even the top experts from the past were only Venerables.