Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2160: Pay More Attention

The four inscriptions behind Grey flared brighter, each one pulsing with a different elemental force. Water, earth, fire, and lightning gathered rapidly. Unlike previous times, they did not attack immediately. Instead they began to spin, slowly drawing closer to one another as they merged.

When the array master saw this, his eyes widened in shock and fear. He had witnessed Grey use multi-colored fusion orbs several times during the fight and knew exactly how destructive they were. Those orbs had been the reason Grey managed to break through his golden wall and kill the second Necromancer. Now Grey was forming something similar through inscriptions that could gather far more elemental essence than a normal human could. The array master could not even imagine how powerful the finished attack would become.

He was gripped by fear and immediately tried to flee once again. He didn’t want to stay here any longer.

Grey, now able to use his space element freely, had no intention of letting him leave. His figure vanished and reappeared directly in the array master’s path.

The array master launched a powerful attack in desperation. ”Get away!”

The strike was not enough to move Grey, who then activated his gravitational force field and reinforced it with his earth domain, sharply increasing the pressure around the fleeing man.

The sudden change in gravity caught the array master off guard. Before he could adjust, he plunged to the ground and his feet sunk a few inches into the ground and refused to move. He tried to use his elemental essence to counteract the gravitational force field. Just as the crushing weight began to ease, he realized he still could not take flight.

Looking down, he saw that Grey had used earth and water elemental energy to turn the ground beneath him into thick mud before forcibly solidifying it, locking both of his legs in place.

Panic immediately set in. The aura of death radiating from the nearly completed inscriptions was growing stronger by the second. If he failed to escape before they fully merged, he knew he would not survive. He had never expected Grey to use so many different methods just to keep him from running. How could one person have so many elements? It just didn’t make sense now that he thought about it!

”Fuck you!” the array master cursed in frustration and anger. With a surge of power he ripped both legs free from the solidified ground. He was about to shoot into the air when he raised his head and saw the inscriptions finish merging. The combined formation lit up with terrifying intensity, ready to fire.

His heart raced as he tried to escape, only to be forced back down by a barrage of lightning arrows from Grey.

The array master felt like he was on the verge of running mad, he had been forced to take this attack, the same attack he knew he wouldn’t survive. Gritting his teeth, eyes red from determination, the array master summoned the small golden shield once more and positioned it above his head. He bit down hard on his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence, staining the shield a deep blood-red with only faint traces of gold remaining.

The merged inscription fired at the exact moment he finished reinforcing the shield. For a brief instant he still held a slim hope that the blood essence would be enough. Then he felt the true aura of the descending attack. All color drained from his face and his body began to tremble.

”Elder Kael, help me!” the array master’s panicked, croaking voice echoed across the hall as he cried for help.

He knew he could not survive this. The power contained in the attack was well beyond the Ninth stage of the Sovereign Plane. Even among Peak Sovereigns, it would be considered one of the stronger techniques.

On the other side of the ruined hall, the Ninth-stage Necromancer locked in a difficult battle with Elder Voss and Liora was already frustrated. He and Liora had been unable to overcome the elder despite their joint efforts. At first he had been annoyed with the three who were fighting Grey, believing them incompetent for taking so long. He felt if he were in their position he would’ve killed Grey by now and assist whoever was fighting this troublesome woman. He never expected that the aura of one of those Ninth-stage Sovereigns would suddenly vanish. When he risked a quick glance, he confirmed that one of his companions was already dead.

The discovery shook him, after all, they were both Ninth stage Sovereigns. In that brief lapse of concentration, Elder Voss found an opening, bypassed his defense, and wounded Liora. Luckily he recovered in time to stop Elder Voss from landing the killing blow on Liora.

As the fight continued, he later noticed the familiar golden barrier of the array master and felt a wave of relief. He knew that whenever the array master deployed that formation, it usually meant a certain kill. Believing Grey was trapped and as good as dead, he calmed down and refocused on Elder Voss.

Minutes passed, however, and unease began to return. He was just about to investigate when the aura of the second Necromancer also disappeared. Genuine shock hit him this time, and once again he lost focus long enough for Elder Voss to land an injury on him this time.

’What the hell is going on over there?’

After finally forcing Elder Voss back for a moment, he heard the array master’s desperate cry for help. When he turned to look, he saw a thick beam of multicolored light from the merged inscription completely swallow the array master’s position. The aura radiating from that beam made his heart skip a beat.

The Necromancer stared dazedly at the pillar of light, temporarily forgetting the battle in front of him.

A cold voice that seemed to come from the depths of hell reached his ears.

”You really should pay more attention to who you’re fighting.”