Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2177: Emberlyn City II

Elder Varis gave Grey a deep, measuring look before speaking in a calm voice.

”Tell us in detail.”

He still found it difficult to accept that a problem which had plagued the Faction for months could be resolved so thoroughly by Grey’s arrival alone. If the same methods that had worked in Cinderloch could be repeated here, Emberlyn City might finally see a real turning point.

Grey did not hold anything back. He began recounting the events in order, starting from the discovery of the Necromancer hideout and moving through the night battle, the capture of the traitors, and finally the decisive assault on the Gnome camp.

The seven people in the hall listened with complete attention. At first their expressions were simply focused. Then, as Grey described how the mental attack had frozen two Peak Sovereigns in place and allowed Mayor Aldric and Elder Harrington to finish them almost immediately, visible shock began to spread across their faces. One of the Ninth-stage experts leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing. Another exhaled quietly, as if the account had forced the air from his lungs. The Mayor’s hands tightened on the arms of his chair when Grey mentioned the three Peak Sovereign Gnomes falling in such a short span of time.

When Grey reached the part about the bunny army appearing and the lower battlefield collapsing into a one-sided slaughter, the silence in the room grew heavier. Thousands of Gnomes killed within minutes, including three Peak Sovereigns and a large number of Ninth-stage experts, while the human side suffered only limited losses. The scale of the victory was difficult for them to reconcile with their own months of grinding defense.

”You mean this all happened after wiping out a Necromancer hideout the previous night?” the Mayor asked. His voice carried a slight tremor, and the alarm on his face was clear. The mere mention of a Necromancer base inside a human city was enough to put him on edge.

Grey understood the concern at once and spoke in a steady tone. ”There is no need to worry. There are no Necromancers in this city. I already swept the entire area before coming to the manor.”

The Mayor let out a long breath of relief. The others visibly relaxed as well, though the astonishment from Grey’s report still lingered in their eyes. They had expected any victory against the Gnomes to be hard-fought and costly. Hearing how completely the Cinderloch forces had capitalized on Grey’s mental attack left them shaken in a different way. The contrast between their own difficult situation and the overwhelming success in Cinderloch was almost jarring.

Elder Varis remained silent for a short while, clearly turning the information over in his mind. Finally he looked at Grey again.

”Since you are here, I assume you intend to do the same thing in this region?”

Grey nodded. ”Exactly. And the sooner we act, the better. I do not know if any Gnomes managed to escape from the Cinderloch camp into this area. Once they pass on information, the Gnomes here will be prepared. They will refuse to bring out their puppets.”

He continued in a measured voice. ”My presence alone will still reduce their overall strength, but without the chance to immobilize their Peak Sovereigns at the very start, a clean victory becomes much harder. That opening only exists if they summon their puppets without knowing I am here.”

Elder Varis understood the urgency at once. He turned to the Mayor.

”Are all the experts currently in the city?”

”Only those stationed in the surrounding towns are absent,” the Mayor replied. ”Everyone who has been defending the city itself is still here.”

”Good. Summon all of them. We move out tonight.”

The Mayor nodded immediately. He fully agreed with the decision. If Elder Varis had not made the suggestion after hearing Grey’s warning, he would have proposed the same course of action himself.

He turned to the other experts in the hall and began giving clear orders for the gathering of every available Sovereign in the city. Given the limited time, the four experts left the manor at once to carry out the instructions.

Keith then led Grey and Reynolds deeper into the building, away from the main hall.

”How have things been here?” Grey asked as they walked along the quiet corridor.

Keith gave them a concise account of the situation in the Emberlyn region. Just like in Cinderloch, multiple towns and smaller villages had already been lost to the Gnomes. The number of refugees pouring into the main city grew with every enemy attack, and the pressure on the defending forces increased steadily. Supplies were stretched, morale fluctuated, and the constant need to respond to raids left little room for any large-scale counterattack.

Grey and Reynolds listened without interruption. The picture Keith painted was grim, yet it matched what they had expected after seeing the state of the previous region.

Before long they reached a private room. Keith stopped at the door.

”Elder Varis wants the two of you to wait here,” he said. ”He prefers that your presence remains undisclosed to the rest of the experts for now. It will help avoid unnecessary complications.”

Grey nodded. The precaution did not surprise him. He had already mentioned Liora, who had not even been a true Necromancer yet had still worked with them. For that reason Elder Varis and the Mayor had required the other five experts in the hall to swear an oath: they would speak of nothing they had heard and would not reveal Grey’s presence to anyone.

Keith remained with them for a time, asking about Grey’s journey since they had last met. When Grey described the broader situation across the Azure Continent, Keith’s expression darkened. The Gnomes were growing bolder with each passing day, and the human side still lacked any true means of reversing the overall tide of the war.

Time passed quietly inside the room. Outside, the previously calm city of Emberlyn began to stir. Messengers moved quickly through the streets and defensive posts. One by one, the experts stationed in different parts of the city received the same urgent order: report to the Mayor’s manor at once.