Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2159: Trapped With Me IV

Grey gave them no time to recover.

The moment the smoke from the fusion orbs thinned, he shot forward, silver scales gleaming under the residual golden light of the barrier. Blue flames and lightning coiled tightly around his body as he locked onto the heavily injured second Necromancer. The man was still on one knee, blood dripping from his mouth, his aura unstable and weak.

The array master reacted instantly. He poured more power into the damaged formation, trying to reinforce the two-layered defense while simultaneously sending a wave of golden spears toward Grey. At the same time he reached out with darkness elemental energy, attempting to send his companion outside the barrier.

Grey did not slow down. He swept his left hand forward and a wide curtain of water mixed with sharp wind blades formed in front of him, deflecting most of the golden spears. The few that broke through were smashed aside by a quick burst of earth elemental energy. His right fist, already covered in dense blue flames and lightning, drove straight toward the second Necromancer.

The array master gritted his teeth when he realized he would not be able to send his companion out in time. He shifted more of the formation’s power into a thick golden wall between Grey and the injured man.

Grey’s fist slammed into the golden wall. Causing cracks to spread rapidly across its surface. Instead of pulling back, he poured more power into the strike. Lightning exploded outward and the blue flames roared higher. The wall shattered with a resounding bang.

The second Necromancer’s eyes widened in terror. He tried to form one last defense, gathering the remaining elemental energy he could still muster. It was far too little.

Grey’s flaming, lightning-coated fist crashed through the incomplete defense, punched straight through the man’s chest, and came out the other side. The bones that had not already been broken from the earlier strike shattered completely. The clear sound of bones shattering and flesh ripping rang out inside the barrier. The second Necromancer’s body jerked violently. Blood sprayed from his mouth and chest as the combined force of Grey’s physical strength and elemental power tore through him.

For a brief moment the man stared at Grey with wide, disbelieving eyes. Then the light in them faded completely. His body went limp.

Grey pulled his fist back, exposing the large hole as he let the corpse drop to the cracked floor of the barrier. Blood still dripped from his silver-scaled knuckles. A sharp ache flared through his side from the earlier injuries, but he ignored it.

The array master froze for half a second, staring at the lifeless body of his companion. Rage and shock twisted his face, but beneath them was clear fear.

”You!”

He did not finish the sentence. Golden light surged wildly around him as he poured everything he had into the formation. The barrier walls flared brightly, and dozens of thick golden tendrils and spears shot toward Grey from every direction at once. At the same time a dense wave of corrosive darkness swept across the confined space, trying to drown him.

Grey clicked his tongue and crossed his arms in front of him. A layered barrier of earth, water, and blue flames formed just in time. The golden attacks and the darkness wave slammed into it one after another. The impact pushed him back several steps and made the injury in his side throb painfully, but the defense held long enough for him to disperse the residual force.

When the barrage ended, Grey looked on in mild astonishment as the array master did not continue attacking. Instead, the man turned and tried to flee.

Grey chuckled when he saw this. His figure bolted forward and blocked the array master’s path.

”I told you earlier,” Grey said, ”you’re trapped here with me.”

He stared down at the Necromancer coldly.

”It would be rude of me not to send you to accompany the rest of your companions. Now wouldn’t it?”

The array master shivered. His gaze darted to the fresh corpse of the second Necromancer, where a pool of blood was already spreading across the floor, then to the body of the first Ninth-stage Sovereign Grey had killed earlier. There had been three of them at the start of the fight. Three Ninth-stage Sovereigns against one man. Not only had they failed to stop him, he had already killed two, and the last one no longer even had the confidence to face him directly.

The array master’s breathing was heavy and his face was paler than before. The golden barrier had dimmed noticeably, a clear sign that he had overdrawn its power. His eyes darted around as he tried to find a way to survive facing Grey alone. Every time he recalled what had happened to their group, his confidence sank further.

While the array master rapidly assessed his remaining options, Grey shook the blood from his hand. He was panting harder now than a few seconds earlier. Fighting three Ninth-stage Sovereigns simultaneously had taken more out of him than he had expected. He felt a little annoyed at the fact that none of them had dared to properly use their puppets. Even when the array master had summoned one, he had detonated it instantly.

If any of the Ninth-stage Necromancers had brought out their puppets and given him even a short window, his mental attack would have allowed him to kill at least one of them with far less effort. He was used to killing Gnomes and Necromancers in a matter of seconds and not having prolonged fights with them.

Since things had already reached this point, Grey saw no reason to drag the fight out any longer. He took one step forward and vanished.

The array master’s expression was filled with fear as he frantically tried to lock onto Grey’s new position.

Grey appeared behind him and struck. The attack was blocked by a small golden shield only the size of a human head. By concentrating the remaining power of the formation into such a small area, the array master had made the defense far sturdier than a full-sized barrier.

Grey snorted.

”That’s not enough to save your life.”

The four inscriptions that had dispersed earlier flared back to life behind his shoulders, glowing with renewed intensity as he prepared to end the fight.