Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2126: The Impact Of One Person

Grey had no interest in speaking with the Gnomes. All he wanted was to cut down a few more Gnomes and return to the Peak Sovereign battlefield as quickly as possible.

He took the lead and charged straight at the enemy formation. Reynolds and the other human Ninth stage Sovereigns followed without hesitation, their figures streaking across the open desert.

The Gnomes had no choice but to meet them without puppets. Grey’s presence made summoning the constructs far too dangerous. Once they confirmed his identity they had sealed every puppet away. None of them possessed immunity to his mental pressure, and none dared risk the consequences.

The two sides crashed together in a fierce exchange. Without the numerical edge their puppets normally provided, the Gnomes could no longer dominate the field the way they had earlier. The humans, however, carried their own disadvantage: most still suffered from earlier wounds and could not call on their full strength.

Grey and Reynolds led from the front, each engaging two Ninth stage Gnomes at once.

Explosive impacts rang out across the sand. Sparks of clashing elemental energy scattered in every direction, leaving brief trails of light against the heat-hazed air.

The pair facing Grey fought with extreme caution. Neither overextended. Both understood that a single mistake could end their lives in an instant, so they kept their movements tight and their defenses solid, offering Grey no clean opening he could take advantage of.

A minute passed without either side gaining a clear edge in the fight. Reynolds, meanwhile, was being steadily forced backward by the two Gnomes he was fighting. Across the rest of the field only a handful of the humans retained anything close to the strength they had at the start of the battle. With the battle across the battlefield turning into a one on one fight now, the humans who should have the advantage were still at a disadvantage thanks to the fact that most of them were injured when they were ganged up on by the Gnomes earlier.

Grey was accustomed to ending fights quickly. The careful, measured style of these two Gnomes left him searching for any chance he could to break the stalemate. While he was looking for an opening, the bunny leader suddenly drew his attention to a different part of the field.

One of the injured human Ninth stage Sovereigns was being heavily suppressed. The man had already been wounded when Grey and Reynolds first rescued him earlier. He could muster less than half his normal strength, yet he refused to fall back. His only task was to keep a single Gnome occupied, and he believed he could manage at least that much.

Reality proved otherwise. After only two minutes he was fully suppressed and on the verge of death. A weakened Ninth stage Sovereign simply could not match one fighting at full power. The difference in destructive force was obvious.

The human fought desperately, pouring everything into defense. The Gnome opposite him was openly pleased. He could scarcely believe how weak his opponent had become. Watching the struggles of his companions elsewhere only made him more grateful for his own good fortune.

A large hand formed of darkness energy closed around the human, preparing to crush him. That was the moment the bunny leader alerted Grey.

Grey took in the situation at a glance and sent a quick voice transmission to the man. His body vibrated for a fraction of a second, then shifted. In the next instant he occupied the place of the injured Sovereign human and vice versa.

He appeared inside the grasp of the darkness hand. A sharp burst of energy shattered the construct, and he lunged straight at the Gnome.

The Gnome still believed he was dealing with the same weakened human. Even when the hand broke apart he thought little of it and continued his usual pattern of attack. He had fought this opponent for more than a minute and felt he understood the man’s limits. A quick scan of the surroundings had shown no one approaching to assist the man, so his full attention remained fixed on the figure in front of him.

It was only after his next strike failed to stop the incoming charge did he take a proper look at his opponent. Disbelief flooded his face.

How could it be him?

He rubbed his eyes once, then again, certain he must be seeing things. When the figure remained Grey Dawson, instant fear replaced every other thought. He turned to flee at once, unwilling even to trade another blow.

Grey noticed the Gnome’s attempt the moment he reacted. He teleported into the Gnome’s path, cutting off the escape, and unleashed a series of rapid attacks.

Though the Gnome had no desire to fight, he still believed the gap between them was not insurmountable. Forced to defend, he blocked the first wave. Only after absorbing those strikes did he understand the real danger. Surviving one attack was not the problem. Surviving the relentless string of follow-ups was.

Grey gave him no room to breathe and no chance to glance at the rest of the battlefield. He knew the human he had replaced was now facing the two Gnomes he previously faced and could not last long.

A heavy impact sent the Gnome flying backward across the sand.

Grey prepared to press the advantage, then sensed the sudden spike of danger from the position he had just left. The injured human could barely stay alive against a single full-strength opponent. Against two, the outcome was obvious.

He made the choice without hesitation. Rather than finish the wounded Gnome, he switched places once more, returning the injured Sovereign to safety and taking the pressure of the two original opponents back onto himself.

When Grey switched places with the injured Ninth stage Sovereign human, the two Gnomes fighting with him were momentarily stunned. They were unsure of how to react and paused for a good few seconds. The Ninth stage human Sovereign who Grey switched places with was already prepared to flee after trading places with Grey. So even though the Gnomes froze, he didn’t. He immediately retreated from where he was standing after switching places with Grey.

The man’s retreat and Grey’s attack on the man’s previous opponent gave the two Gnomes enough reason to stop gawking at the sudden switch. They chased after the man and unleashed attack after attack. The man could barely defend against the strikes, and just when he was starting to feel like his world was about to end, he heard Grey’s voice transmission again and relaxed his body.

Grey couldn’t switch places with people on the same cultivation stage as himself with ease, they could easily resist against it which would in turn make it impossible for Grey to complete the switch, so for this reason he made sure to always inform these people beforehand.

Boom!

A large explosion rang out as Grey traded places with the man and blocked the attacks of the two Gnomes.

The two Gnomes were frustrated to see Grey appearing in front of them once again. With greater conviction, they attacked with more ferocity, but still retained their caution.

As the battle raged on, Grey switched places with a few more humans, saving them at the last second and forcing back their opponents.

Grey’s impact on the battlefield soon transcended just his mental attack that made it impossible for the Gnomes to use their puppets, it entered the stage where he was switching places with one person or another every couple of seconds.

A lot of the humans were injured and couldn’t go head to head with the Gnomes. They sustained further injuries which made it harder for them to face the Gnomes.

In three more minutes.

Grey switched places with seven men, and managed to even almost kill one of the Gnomes in the process. The man who was fighting that particular Gnome was elated when he traded places with Grey again and found out his opponent could barely fight back against him.

It took a little time, but the man succeeded in killing his opponent and rushed towards the nearest fight.

The death of one more Ninth stage Sovereign made the Gnomes even more wary. Grey’s existence here already made them want to retreat, now that there was also the greater threat of death, they didn’t want to spend any more time here.

The tides of the Ninth stage Sovereign battlefield were slowly turning in the favor of the humans, and it was hard to believe that it was all caused by one person. Just one young man was able to force the Gnomes into a defensive position. Such a feat would never have been considered to be possible, but Grey managed to achieve it.

Grey stopped helping out when the second Ninth stage Sovereign Gnome fell. It was only a matter of time before the third Gnome fell. When this happened, Grey stopped helping out the others and focused on his opponents. He was still in a haste to return to the Peak Sovereigns’ battlefield.