Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2119: Two Silhouettes

The Gnome was edging closer to a full mental collapse. This was not how a proper battle was supposed to unfold.

In a normal fight one side attacked while the other defended or countered. Here the pattern had been shattered from the beginning. Grey simply refused to remain in place. He darted across the battlefield in every direction, appearing beside one endangered human after another, always just in time to spoil a killing blow. No matter how aggressively the Gnome pressed or how many times the puppet lunged, Grey never settled into a direct exchange. The pursuit had become a humiliating farce.

Just as the Gnome began to consider abandoning the chase altogether, Grey finally stopped moving.

”Finally,” the Gnome muttered under his breath. ”He stopped running.”

Whether it could truly be called running no longer mattered. What mattered was that the frustrating figure had at last come to a halt.

”Take this!”

The Gnome ordered his puppet forward. Water elemental energy surged, forming thick, translucent chains that wrapped around Grey’s limbs and torso, locking him in place. At the same instant the Gnome thrust a spear of pure darkness toward the immobilized target, aiming straight for the heart.

Grey remained completely still, as though unaware of the incoming threat.

A triumphant grin spread across the Gnome’s face as the darkness spear punched cleanly through Grey’s chest. The weapon’s tip emerged from the back. The Gnome stood there for a moment, one hand still gripping the shaft, certain he had finally ended the nuisance.

The grin froze.

He gave the spear a sharp twist. Instead of resistance or the feel of flesh, the figure dissolved into curling wisps of smoke and scattered light.

”Afterimage,” the Gnome snarled through clenched teeth. His head snapped left and right as he scanned the chaotic battlefield, searching for the real Grey.

...

A few minutes earlier, on the distant Peak Sovereign battlefield.

The situation there was no kinder to the humans. Old Humphrey faced two Peak Sovereign Gnomes and both of their Peak-level puppets by himself. Odelia, despite her gentle appearance, fought with equal ferocity against another pair of Peak Sovereign Gnomes and their constructs. Rowena and Blaire each contended with a single Gnome, yet even those one-on-one matches left them hard-pressed because every Gnome had summoned a Peak Sovereign puppet of its own. Six Peak Sovereign Gnomes and six Peak puppets against four humans created a crushing imbalance.

All four focused purely on survival, absorbing only the lightest possible injuries while they waited for an opening to reverse the pressure.

The Gnomes had denied Old Humphrey any early chance to seize the initiative, exactly as he had anticipated. Even after prolonged fighting they remained cautious, never overcommitting.

One of the puppets facing Old Humphrey formed a blazing axe of condensed fire and brought it down toward his skull. He shifted sideways to avoid the strike, only to find an earthen hammer already swinging from the opposite direction, controlled by the second puppet. He tried a different angle of retreat and was immediately met by a storm of black crystal shards launched by one of the Gnomes.

Old Humphrey drew in a deep breath that expanded his chest. He raised his right palm. Flames bloomed across it. He exhaled a powerful stream of wind into the fire, wrapping the flames around his body in a swirling, protective sea of heat and light.

All three attacks landed at the same moment the fiery vortex fully formed.

A thunderous explosion shook the plain. Space itself tore open for an instant under the force of the impact before the world’s natural energy rapidly sealed the rift. Most of the smoke and debris was sucked into the closing crack, leaving only a dense residual cloud hanging in the air.

The two Gnomes and their puppets stared at the remaining haze, weapons ready, waiting for it to thin.

The explosion’s roar drew the attention of every Peak Sovereign still fighting nearby. Combat across the entire high-level battlefield stuttered to a halt.

”Old Humphrey!”

The three women cried out together the moment they recognized the location of the blast. They exchanged a single glance and sprinted toward the smoke without hesitation. Their opponents immediately gave chase, driving them straight toward the two Gnomes who still stood watch over the cloud. They didn’t let the two ladies anywhere near it.

A Gnome dressed in ornate golden embroidery regarded the approaching women with open hunger. He licked his lips and spoke in a slow, appreciative tone.

”You three beauties will make fine additions to my collection. I must say, human women are far more enjoyable than our own.”

A second Gnome, clad in black with short white hair, shot him a look of pure contempt.

”Varg, keep your twisted fantasies to yourself. Do not drag the rest of us into them.”

The remaining Gnomes wore matching expressions of disgust at the comment.

Varg remained unbothered. His gaze stayed fixated on the three women.

”You simply do not understand what you are missing. More for me, then.”

Blaire’s eyes narrowed until they were nearly red with fury. The idea of any Gnome looking at her that way made her want to crush him on the spot. Odelia and Rowena, both still breathing hard from their earlier fights, felt the same surge of anger. Odelia’s irritation ran deepest; she had endured Varg’s crude remarks throughout their fight, and now her sisters were forced to hear them as well.

Varg opened his mouth to continue, but a sudden burst of intense light flared from the center of the smoke cloud. The brilliance was so sharp that everyone present had to squint. When their vision adjusted enough to make out shapes, two distinct silhouettes stood where only one should have remained.

”Huh?” one of the Gnomes muttered, pointing at the bright light, ”Shouldn’t there be one figure in there?”

Like this Gnome, the others also saw the anomaly inside the bright light. There were two figures inside when there should’ve been only one.