Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2174: Overwhelming The Gnomes II

Grey did not waste time with words. He and Reynolds moved at once.

A fresh wave of mental energy swept outward from Grey, wider and more precise than before. At the same time Reynolds’s lightning flared as he charged into the nearest group of Ninth-stage Gnomes. The effect was immediate. Five Ninth-stage Sovereigns and their puppets froze in place almost simultaneously, the connections to their puppets cleanly severed. Reynolds’s lightning spear flashed three times in rapid succession, taking the heads of three of them before the others could even recover. Grey finished the remaining two with short, efficient bursts of blue flames and wind blades.

The sudden deaths of five more Ninth-stage Gnomes sent a visible shock through the enemy ranks.

For a moment the surrounding Gnomes continued fighting on instinct. Then the name spread like wildfire through their spiritual senses and frantic voice transmissions.

”Grey Dawson!”

”It’s Grey Dawson!”

”Why is he here?!”

Panic erupted across the Gnome side. Many of them had heard the reports from other regions. They knew what that name meant. The young human who could sever the link to a puppet in an instant and who had already killed Peak Sovereigns while still in the Ninth stage. The same human who had forced entire Gnome forces to abandon their greatest advantage.

The Ninth-stage Gnomes who still had their puppets out immediately recall them. Grey’s mental energy continued to pulse across the battlefield in controlled waves and whoever still had their puppets out was attacked.

The bunny army dove into the chaos without hesitation. The ten Ninth-stage bunnies led the charge, crashing into the remaining high-level Gnomes with coordinated elemental attacks. Behind them the Eighth-stage and Seventh-stage bunnies swarmed the lower ranks, overwhelming isolated groups with pure numbers and relentless pressure. Human experts who had been struggling only moments earlier suddenly found openings everywhere. Confidence surged through their ranks as they pressed forward with renewed ferocity.

On the Peak Sovereign battlefield high above, the brown-clothed Gnome’s situation grew more desperate by the second. Mayor Aldric, Elder Harrington, and Elder Voss attacked in tight coordination, giving him almost no room to breathe. His Peak Sovereign puppet fought fiercely to protect him, but the three human Peak-level experts refused to let it create any lasting advantage. Each time the puppet tried to open distance or launch a counterattack, one of the three would intercept it while the others pressed the Gnome himself.

Below, the slaughter continued.

Grey and Reynolds moved like a killing storm through the Ninth-stage ranks. Every time a Gnome tried to rally a defense or call for coordinated resistance, Grey would silently appear in their ranks with the help of his space element and attack before retreating. This made it impossible for the Gnomes to even fight back in a proper manner as they were all afraid of Grey appearing behind them to kill them. It had to be said that the fear the Gnomes held towards Grey made it hard for them to even want to fight him.

Some attempted to flee toward the forest below. Others tried to break through the human formation and escape into the sky. Very few succeeded. The bunny army cut off the most obvious escape routes, and the human experts, now fully aware of their sudden advantage, showed no mercy.

Within a short time the once-overwhelming Gnome force had been reduced to scattered, panicked groups. The lower-stage Gnomes fell in droves. The surviving Ninth-stage experts were either hunted down or forced into desperate last stands that ended quickly under the combined pressure of Grey, Reynolds, the bunnies, and the rallied human Sovereigns.

High above, the brown-clothed Gnome finally reached his limit. His puppet, heavily damaged and leaking elemental energy, was pinned down by Elder Harrington and Elder Voss. Mayor Aldric broke through the Gnome’s final defensive barrier with a concentrated strike of earth and fire. The Peak Sovereign Gnome’s eyes widened in fury and despair as the attack landed. His aura flared once in a last attempt to resist, then collapsed. Mayor Aldric finished him without hesitation and burned the body, just as he had done with the previous captive.

The Peak Sovereign puppet, now without its master, was destroyed moments later under the combined assault of the three elders.

Silence began to fall across the sky.

The remaining Gnomes who had not yet been killed tried one final, disorganized retreat into the forest. Very few made it far. The bunny army and the human experts pursued them with cold efficiency. By the time the last pockets of resistance were crushed, the once-large Gnome force that had threatened Cinderloch for months had been almost completely wiped out.

Grey hovered in the air, his breathing slightly heavier than usual. The lingering injuries from the previous night still made themselves felt, but the battle was over. Reynolds landed beside him, lightning still faintly crackling around his spear before he dismissed it. The bunny army gathered once more behind the bunny leader, their auras settling back into quiet stillness.

Mayor Aldric, Elder Harrington, and Elder Voss descended from the upper battlefield. The Mayor surveyed the scattered corpses and the quiet forest below with a hard, satisfied expression.

”It’s done,” he said.

The human experts began to regroup, many of them still processing the speed and completeness of the victory. Several glanced repeatedly at Grey and the bunnies, the earlier confusion about the Mayor’s confidence now fully replaced by understanding and a measure of awe.

After a short time spent confirming that no significant enemy presence remained, Mayor Aldric gave the order to return. The force assembled in the sky and turned back toward Cinderloch City. The flight home was quieter than the journey out. The tension of the approaching battle had been replaced by the heavy calm that followed a decisive victory.

As the walls and buildings of Cinderloch finally came into view under the afternoon light, the experts of the city looked down at the place they had defended for so long. For the first time in months, the immediate threat of the local Gnome army no longer hung over them.

Grey flew near the front beside Reynolds, his expression calm. The battle had been short, brutal, and one-sided once the advantage was established. The Gnomes who had laughed at the small human force that morning had learned too late why the Mayor had been so certain of victory.

The group descended toward the city, the weight of the successful assault settling over them as they returned home.