Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2181: Short And Decisive II

The humans remained surrounded from every direction. Pressure weighed heaviest on the Ninth-stage Sovereigns, who were forced to hold the most dangerous sections of the encirclement. The man who had openly questioned the attack cursed the Mayor and Elder Varis under his breath while fighting simply to stay alive. He did not even have the attention to spare when a Sixth-stage Sovereign beside him was cut down by a Gnome.

He had been searching the chaotic sky for Grey ever since the battle began, yet he saw only Reynolds among the higher-level fighters. The thought crossed his mind that Grey might have gone to support Elder Varis against the Peak Sovereign Gnome, but he could not see what a single Ninth-stage Sovereign could accomplish against an opponent who commanded two Peak-level puppets. At best Grey would be doing what the Mayor had done in previous battles: offering limited help whenever Elder Varis fell into real danger.

He was still turning over possible escape routes when he noticed Elder Varis and the masked figure in black flying back toward the main force. His heart sank. He assumed the two had realized they could not match the Peak Sovereign Gnome and were preparing to retreat. Breaking out of the current encirclement was possible, but the losses would be severe, and the Gnomes might even seize the chance to push straight toward the city.

How could the Mayor have been so reckless?

The question burned in his mind as he watched the two figures approach, already imagining the disaster that would follow a full withdrawal.

Elder Varis didn’t know what was running through the man’s mind, and even if he did he wouldn’t care. A massive flaming bird formed above him and dove straight into the outer ranks of the Gnome encirclement. The targeted Gnomes sensed the attack only when it was already upon them. Most of those caught in its path stood at the late stages of the Venerable Plane or the early stages of the Sovereign Plane. Against a Peak Sovereign’s strike they had almost no chance. The firebird smashed through their formation, scattering bodies and breaking a wide section of the surrounding ring.

Grey ignored the weaker enemies entirely. He appeared beside Reynolds, who was locked in a difficult exchange with a Ninth-stage Gnome and his puppet. Grey’s mental energy flared in a tight, precise wave. The Gnome and the puppet froze at the same instant. Reynolds, already prepared for the opening, drove a lightning-coated fist through the Gnome’s chest and ended him with a single blow.

The battlefield, already chaotic, descended into deeper confusion the moment Grey and Elder Varis rejoined the fight. Most of the human experts who had not been told the full plan stared in surprise. The Ninth-stage Gnomes were equally bewildered. They could not understand why their Peak Sovereign leader would allow Elder Varis to slaughter the outer ranks so freely. Before they could adjust, the first Ninth-stage Gnome fell.

The sudden disappearance of that life aura swept across the battlefield like a cold wind. Nearly every Ninth and Eighth-stage Sovereign on both sides paused and turned toward the source. Shock rippled through the ranks as they watched the lifeless body of a Ninth-stage Gnome drop from the sky.

Grey and Reynolds did not pause. Neither did Elder Varis. He had already missed one critical opening today and refused to allow another.

Grey locked onto a cluster of four Ninth-stage Gnomes standing in relative proximity. He seized Reynolds with a short-range spatial shift and appeared in their midst. His mental energy flared outward again, cleanly severing the links between all four Gnomes and their puppets. The four enemies froze in place.

Void, who had remained hidden until that moment, materialized beside one of them and struck with a sharp spatial cut. Grey engaged the second, stabbing his head with a fire sword. Reynolds took the third with a bolt of lightning. Elder Varis, still directing the rampaging firebird through the lower ranks, turned his free hand toward the fourth and unleashed a concentrated spear of flame.

All four attacks landed almost simultaneously. The immobilized Gnomes had no time to form defenses. Their bodies were destroyed in a single coordinated wave, and four more Ninth-stage auras vanished from the battlefield.

A raw, terrified shout cut through the noise of combat.

”Grey Dawson is here! Keep your puppets!”

The cry came from a Ninth-stage Gnome who had already recalled his own puppet. The moment the words left his mouth he spun and fled at full speed. He needed no confirmation that their Peak Sovereign was dead. Both Grey and Elder Varis had returned from the direction of that high-level fight. Without their strongest expert, remaining on the battlefield against Elder Varis was suicide. The elder could kill any Ninth-stage Gnome the instant an opening appeared.

The shout carried across the entire mountain range. Recognition and panic spread through the Gnome ranks in seconds. Every Gnome who still had a puppet out immediately withdrew it. The remaining Ninth-stage Gnomes reached the same conclusion as the one who had given the warning. Five of their peers had died in the span of two breaths. Staying to fight was no longer an option. They turned and fled in scattered groups, abandoning the lower-stage troops without hesitation.

Grey hovered in the air and gave a small signal. The bunny leader appeared beside him. In the next instant the auras of more than a hundred Sovereign-level bunnies erupted across the battlefield. Nine of them radiated the clear pressure of the Ninth stage. The sudden appearance of an entire second army froze many of the fleeing Gnomes mid-flight and sent a fresh wave of dread through their ranks.

On the human side the reaction was pure astonishment. Even those who had known parts of the plan stared in disbelief at the force that had materialized behind Grey. The rest of the experts, who had been fighting under heavy pressure only moments earlier, looked on in stunned silence.

A single young man had rendered an entire Gnome army’s greatest advantage useless and then summoned a hidden force strong enough to finish the collapse.

The Ninth-stage Sovereign who had doubted the attack from the beginning floated in place with his mouth open, unable to form a single word as he stared at the masked figure in black and the army of bunnies arrayed behind him.