Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2151: Night Purge III

Elder Voss’s flaming sword shattered the earth wall just as the Mayor finished his short exchange with Grey.

The two Peak Sovereign Necromancers stepped forward at the same time, their auras flaring outward in heavy, oppressive waves that pressed down on the entire hall. One moved directly to intercept the Mayor, who had already begun advancing after giving his order to Grey. The other locked onto Elder Harrington without hesitation. Neither of them summoned a puppet. Across the hall, the weaker Necromancers and the two Seventh-stage Gnomes also kept their puppets firmly sealed. Every single one of them knew what Grey Dawson’s mental attack could do. Bringing out a puppet in his presence was the same as handing him a free opening to cripple them, or worse, kill them outright.

That single restriction hung over the Necromancers and Gnomes like a blade.

The Mayor raised one hand. A thick barrier of condensed earth and fire elemental energy formed in front of him just as the first Peak Sovereign Necromancer’s attack arrived, a dense spear of pure darkness that screamed through the air with vicious speed. The spear struck the barrier with a deep, resonant impact. Cracks raced across the glowing surface, but the defense held long enough for the Mayor to sidestep and counter.

He thrust his palm forward. A massive earthen spike erupted from the floor at a sharp angle, aiming to impale his opponent from below. The Peak Sovereign Necromancer twisted in mid-air, darkness swirling tightly around his legs, and narrowly avoided the spike. The stone construct continued upward with tremendous force and punched a clean hole through the ceiling, sending a shower of dust and stone fragments raining down into the hall.

The two clashed again immediately. Every clash with the Mayor carried the crushing weight of compressed earth combined with the destructive heat of fire, designed to overwhelm defenses through raw force and searing power. The Peak Sovereign answered with fluid, corrosive darkness that sought to erode and bypass rather than meet force head-on. Black tendrils lashed out from multiple angles, trying to wrap around the Mayor’s limbs and restrict his movement. The Mayor swept his arm in a wide arc, and a series of spinning fire plates shot outward, slicing through the tendrils and forcing the Necromancer back several steps across the cracked floor.

Neither gained a clear edge.

A dark blade formed in the Peak Sovereign’s hand and descended in a vicious diagonal cut. The Mayor met it with a reinforced gauntlet of layered earth elemental energy. The collision released a powerful shockwave that cracked the floor beneath them and forced several nearby Seventh-stage Necromancers to stagger. Sparks of fire and black mist exploded from the point of contact. The Mayor’s boots slid half a step backward across the stone. The Peak Sovereign’s arm trembled slightly from the rebounding force as he staggered a few steps backward.

They separated for only a breath before engaging once more.

The Mayor stomped heavily. The floor across a ten-meter radius turned into a field of rising stone spears that shot upward with lethal intent. The Peak Sovereign rose higher into the air, darkness gathering under his feet like a solid platform, and responded by raining dozens of condensed dark needles downward in a dense barrage. The Mayor crossed his arms and formed a domed barrier of earth and flickering fire. The needles struck in rapid succession, each impact sounding like hail on hard metal. Small fractures appeared across the dome, but it held until the barrage ended. The moment the last needle faded, the Mayor dropped the barrier and launched himself upward, his right fist coated in swirling, high-intensity flames.

The Peak Sovereign met the fist with both palms. Darkness coiled tightly around his hands, absorbing and dispersing part of the force, yet the remaining power still drove him backward through the air until he slammed hard into one of the thick stone pillars. The pillar cracked from top to bottom with a sharp, echoing report. More dust and fragments rained down from the damaged ceiling.

Across the hall, Elder Harrington kept the second Peak Sovereign fully occupied with a relentless series of precise, high-pressure attacks that left little room for recovery. Elder Voss continued her fierce assault on Liora and the Ninth-stage protector, her flames roaring hotter and brighter with every exchange, forcing both opponents deeper into a defensive stance. Grey, Reynolds, and Void had already begun cutting through the lower ranks with efficient, coordinated strikes. Lightning and multi-elemental attacks flashed in short, controlled bursts. The two Seventh-stage Gnomes tried to organize a defense but were driven back almost immediately. Still, no puppets appeared anywhere in the hall. The fear of Grey’s mental attack remained absolute.

The Mayor and his opponent clashed together again in the center of the hall. A wide ring of destructive force expanded from their clash, pushing broken stone and residual elemental energy outward in all directions. The Mayor’s breathing remained steady, though a thin line of blood trickled from a shallow cut on his cheek where a dark tendril had grazed him. The Peak Sovereign’s robes were torn at the shoulder, and a visible bruise was already forming where the Mayor’s earlier fist had landed with full power.

They circled each other slowly for a moment, auras pressing outward in mutual suppression. The air between them felt heavy and distorted.

The Peak Sovereign struck first this time, closing the distance in a sudden blur and driving a darkness-coated elbow toward the Mayor’s ribs. The Mayor turned just enough to take the blow on a reinforced layer of earth elemental energy along his side. At the same time he drove his own knee upward, the joint coated in compressed fire. The knee connected solidly with the Necromancer’s midsection and forced a short, sharp exhale from him.

As the Necromancer retreated, he launched a wide, sweeping wave of darkness meant to force the Mayor backward. The Mayor answered without hesitation, unleashing a powerful combined strike of earth and fire aimed directly at his opponent. The Peak Sovereign dodged at the last moment, and the full force of the Mayor’s attack slammed into the already damaged ceiling above.

A deep, grinding roar filled the hall as a large section of the roof finally gave way. Heavy stone slabs and thick clouds of dust crashed downward. A broad column of clear moonlight poured through the new opening, cutting through the swirling dust and casting long, stark shadows across the ruined floor. The sudden light illuminated the two Peak Sovereigns as they continued their relentless exchange, neither willing to yield even as the underground hall began to collapse around them.