Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2008 2008: Greyʼs Arrival

The southern entrance to the Magical Beastʼs Forest.

Grey stood in a City some kilometers away from the Magical Beastʼs Forest itself, looking at his friends who were standing beside him. Some days back, he received a message from Klaus asking if he could lend them a hand. After getting approval from his Father, he rushed here as soon as he could.

On getting here, he was bombarded with questions from Klaus and the others about his experience in the Gnome World. Since Klaus was more interested in the Principal, he was particularly detailed about how he found the Principal.

”Wait, so what happened to the shop owner you took?” Reynolds suddenly asked.

During the story, Grey told them about the shopkeeper who sold the Principal. He also mentioned leaving him behind in a cave, and due to not following up with his initial plan, he did not have to go back to the cave since there was no clash.

Grey scratched his head when he thought about the shopkeeper from the Gnome World, he replied with an awkward laugh, ”I have no idea. I couldnʼt be bothered about him.”

”Thereʼs no point in worrying over a Gnome. If he dies he dies.” Klaus snorted.

The others nodded, it was not like they had any goodwill towards any Gnome. Reynolds was only curious as to what Grey did with the shopkeeper since he never mentioned him again. Now that he knew even Grey had no idea what happened with him, then there was no point bringing it up again.

”Oh, do you guys notice anything strange about this place?” Grey suddenly asked.

”Something strange?” Alice raised a brow, looking at Grey curiously.

Looking at their reactions, Grey knew they had no idea what he was talking about. He found the experience odd. When he first came back to the Human World, he sensed something different in the essence of the World, although it was vague, he was confident he did not sense this different feeling before. When he arrived in this City, the vague feeling became even more prevalent. Unfortunately, he has not been able to figure out what changed.

”Itʼs nothing serious.” He waved them off before turning in the direction of the Gnomesʼ camp, ”So thatʼs where they are stationed?”

”Yeah, if I want to see Dad soon, then we have to deal with them.” Klaus nodded.

”Why donʼt you go back and he takes your place? At least that way it wouldnʼt seem like we brought too many people.”

”This is war, not a competition between two friendly Forces where they have to follow some rules. We can use any means to attain victory.” Grey commented. He could understand it if it were for the Half God Plane experts, but he did not see the reason they were being so cautious about a single camp when they were all Sovereigns.

”If we wipe them out, thereʼs a chance that they would use the same method to attack those below the Sovereign Plane on other sides.” Reynolds said, looking at Grey he continued, ”The truth is, this is the only place where we have the same numbers of people. If we take action against them and wipe them out in an overwhelming manner, they would retaliate.”

”Yeah, for some reason, the Gnomes have been comfortable with taking things slow and have not tried to overextend even in places where they have the advantage.” Klaus explained.

Grey scratched his head, ”Iʼm not good with these things. You guys can handle it however you feel it should be handled. Father said I canʼt spend too much time here.”

Before the others could speak, he added, ”You guys too. He did not plan to station you guys here. So you guys will be leaving soon as well.”

The others exchanged glances before sighing, they already knew Lucas would summon them back shortly. They were originally meant to deliver the soldiers, yet due to their impulsiveness, they started fighting with the Gnomes which made the Gnomes call for reinforcement.

They were still discussing when Hugh and the Commander walked over.

”You must be Lord Lucasʼs son.” The Commander said, looking at Grey with sparkling eyes. Most of the top experts at the Peak of the Sovereign Plane had heard about Grey and knew that he is not only a genius like his Father, but he even has a way to stop the Gnomes from using their Puppets. There were also his multiple elements. Grey is a subject to most of these top experts as they try to understand the reason behind why he is able to achieve something like this.

”Hello, Commander.” Grey bowed slightly as he greeted the Commander.

The Commander waved his hand to stop him.

Looking at Hugh who was beside the Commander, Grey found him oddly familiar.

Klaus leaned closer and asked, ”Remember when you were looking for a wood back in Lunar Academy and I brought you to meet someone?”

As soon as he heard this, it was as if his memory was jerked and he recalled the events of going over to meet Hugh at the time.

”Itʼs you. Itʼs nice meeting you again.” Finally recalling the reason he found Hugh familiar, he smiled at him before stretching his hand forward

Hugh smiled and shook Greyʼs hand. He did not know Grey, forgetting about their encounter all those years ago. He could not be blamed for this since he had met Klaus with a few other people back in the City, and since Klaus did not try to jog his memory like he did to Grey, he was still in the dark.

”Lord Lucas mentioned that you would be taking over from where I stopped in the battle this time.” The Commander said.

As soon as the others heard the Commanderʼs words, they were shocked, including Grey. He did not know his Father had already made arrangements for how they were going to deal with the battle. His friends were still thinking about it, so hearing that his Father had already sorted it out, he could not help but click his tongue.

”Do you think you can handle an injured Ninth stage Sovereign?” The Commander looked at Grey, trying to see his reaction to his question.

Grey wore a blank expression as he replied, ”No big deal.”

The Commander heard the confidence in Greyʼs voice and knew that this was not him just speaking randomly, he was indeed confident he could deal with a Ninth stage Sovereign. The Commander almost had the urge to ask him if he could handle one that was not injured. Grey was an Eighth stage Sovereign, and he could tell that he has been in this stage longer than Klaus. When he thought about Klausʼs performance all this time, he felt Grey should not be weaker than Klaus in any way. Most Peak Sovereigns from the first mission Grey accompanied already mentioned his breathtaking abilities and the fact that he traded blows with a Peak Sovereign, even though it was only for a few seconds. There was also the fact that he had been fighting for a while before engaging in the exchange with the Peak Sovereign.

”Alright, since youʼre confident, you all should hear out. We donʼt have time. Once the Gnomes know that we have been able to call you over, they would naturally react differently.” The Commander said. The Gnomes knew about Greyʼs ability to block them from using their Puppets, so they would naturally want to guard against him. Since the start of the war after the passage was unsealed, there had been no sightings of Grey in the battlefields that were spread across the entire Human World. Once there is news of him appearing here, there is a probability the Gnomes would want to take him out as soon as they can.

”Commander, I donʼt think it will be ideal for this army to remain here, at least for a short time.” Grey understood the Commanderʼs fears. He was a special case to the Gnomes, and they have been trying to kill him for some time now, the moment they know he is in this place, the Commander and the army would be in serious danger.

Klaus chuckled awkwardly before apologizing to the Commander. If they did not attack with the Commander and killed some of the Sovereigns, they would not be in this situation.

”Donʼt think about it, I would do it again if we were taken back, donʼt blame yourselves.” The Commander did not think the blame was Klausʼs and the others. He knew what would happen if they attacked them, but after being suppressed for so long, he was dying to finally be able to fight back. Besides, he had lost a few people too to these hateful Gnomes.

Klaus nodded, appreciating the Commander. They had only thought they would stay for a short day or two, not for this long. Now that Grey was present, they should be able to deal with the Gnomes and return.