Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2164: Two Battlefields II (Bonus Chapter)

The moment the Peak Sovereign puppet fully materialized, the pressure on the battlefield skyrocketed.

A second powerful aura, equal in intensity to the Necromancer’s own, locked onto the Mayor and Elder Voss. The puppet, a tall figure wrapped in dense water elemental essence, immediately charged forward with startling speed. Its first strike was a heavy claw made entirely of ice aimed directly at Elder Voss.

Elder Voss met it with a wall of roaring flames. The collision exploded in a burst of steam, forcing her to slide back several meters through the clouds. At the same time the Peak Sovereign Necromancer attacked the Mayor with renewed ferocity, darkness spears raining down from multiple angles.

The Mayor’s expression turned serious. He raised a thick barrier of earth and fire, blocking the barrage, but the impact still sent cracks spreading across his defense. Before he could counter, the puppet that had just forced Elder Voss back turned and launched a second attack toward him, forcing him to split his attention.

”This is troublesome,” the Mayor muttered, eyes darting between the two opponents. Because they had been near Grey earlier, the Necromancer had not dared bring out his puppet. That brief period of safety had caused the Mayor to momentarily forget the man even possessed a Peak Sovereign puppet. Now that Grey was far away, there was nothing stopping him from using it.

”Deal with it,” he said after forcing the puppet back toward Elder Voss. He then turned fully toward the Necromancer and charged.

Elder Voss’s flames surged higher as she took on the puppet. She launched a series of rapid fire spears, each one exploding near the puppet’s body, yet the damage seemed limited. The puppet’s ice defense was solid and protected it from the worst of the heat.

She did not stop. Seeing the puppet block her first wave of attacks, she formed a long whip entirely of flames and lashed it forward. As if alive, the fire whip snaked past the ice wall and wrapped tightly around the puppet’s neck.

The moment Elder Voss felt the contact, she yanked with full force. The puppet was dragged off balance, its ice wall weakening for a critical second. Elder Voss seized the opening, broke through the remaining ice, and closed the distance in a burst of speed. The puppet shattered the fire whip, but by then she was already in front of it, flames roaring around her sword.

Meanwhile, the Necromancer took full advantage of the brief opening created when the Mayor had forced the puppet away. He closed in and unleashed a wide wave of darkness that tried to erode everything in its path. The Mayor responded with a massive earthen wall reinforced with flames, but the corrosive power ate into the barrier faster than expected. He was forced to retreat while launching counterattacks to keep the Necromancer from overwhelming him completely.

The Mayor and the Necromancer were fairly evenly matched, with the Mayor holding a slight edge in pure strength. However, now that the Necromancer had seized the initiative, he refused to let it go until his puppet finished dealing with Elder Voss.

The Necromancer snickered. ”If not for that boy, you would already be dead.”

The Mayor did not bother responding. He had no interest in exchanging words with a Necromancer. The only relationship he intended to have with this man was that of a killer and his victim.

Unlike the Mayor, who remained under heavy pressure, Elder Voss was steadily gaining the upper hand against the puppet. She stood at the very peak of the Ninth stage, only a single step away from the Peak of the Sovereign Plane. Her strength had already surpassed ordinary Ninth-stage experts and bordered on Peak level. Puppets, however, rarely retained the full strength their owners had possessed in life. Although a Peak Sovereign puppet was still stronger than most Ninth-stage Sovereigns, it could not match a true Peak Sovereign. In practical terms, its combat power was roughly equal to someone like Elder Voss.

She pressed her advantage relentlessly, determined to destroy the puppet as quickly as possible so she could assist the Mayor.

Flames exploded from her body in continuous waves. She drove the puppet back with a series of heavy sword strikes, each one melting large chunks of its ice armor. The puppet tried to counter with sharp ice spears and freezing mist, but Elder Voss cut through them with pure heat and force. A concentrated blast of fire struck the puppet’s chest, leaving a large gaping wound that leaked water elemental energy.

Just as she prepared to follow up with a finishing strike, the Peak Sovereign Necromancer sensed the critical danger to his puppet.

His eyes narrowed. Without hesitation, he forced the puppet to retreat backward through the clouds while simultaneously launching a darkness attack toward Elder Voss to cover its withdrawal. The attack was not particularly powerful, but it was enough to force her to stop her pursuit and defend. At the same time he intensified his assault on the Mayor, pouring more power into every strike.

Elder Voss was forced to abandon her follow-up attack and block the sudden darkness wave. The puppet, though heavily damaged and leaking energy, managed to regain its footing at a distance.

The Mayor immediately seized the short window created when the Necromancer diverted attention to save the puppet. Even as the Necromancer tried to force him back, the Mayor pressed forward with full determination, refusing to let the opportunity slip away.

Under the sudden increase in pressure, the Necromancer began to panic. He tried to call the puppet back to his side, but Elder Voss moved quickly and cut off its path, making sure it could not return to help its master.

Faced with a genuine life-and-death crisis, the Necromancer gritted his teeth. His voice turned urgent.

”Mayor, I know you will not want anyone connected to the Gnomes to remain alive. I can swear an oath on my essence core that if I ever align with the Gnomes again, my cultivation will be crippled. Please, let us end this here.”

The Mayor did not even glance at him. His attacks continued without the slightest pause, each one heavier than the last.

When the Necromancer realized his plea was being completely ignored, rage twisted his face.

”You think I’m afraid of you?!” he roared. ”I’ll kill you and take this barren city for myself!”

Darkness erupted violently around him as he abandoned all thoughts of escape or negotiation and launched an all-out attack against the Mayor. The damaged puppet, still blocked by Elder Voss, could only watch from a distance as its master threw everything into the fight.

The battle in the clouds grew even more intense under the night sky.