Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2210: Thunderbird Clan’s Retaliation II

The expressions of the two Gnome lords changed at once. They did not know what the black shard could do, but they were certain it would not favor their side. The Magical Beasts’ decision to drag so many fights into one area suddenly made sense. Nothing else on the battlefield had looked unusual. Whatever plan the Thunderbirds had, it depended on that shard.

The answer came a moment later.

A figure appeared inside the freezing mist around the Dragon.

One of the lords, the one in golden robes, narrowed his eyes. ’A human? He feels familiar.’

The second lord saw the same figure but could not understand why the Magical Beasts would seem a human, until...

A powerful wave of mental energy burst out from the human at the center of the mist. Both lords understood immediately.

”Grey Dawson!”

They exclaimed the name in unison, yet there was nothing they could do. The agreement between Half-God experts bound them in place. If they left the camp and joined the fight themselves, they might never return to the Gnome World.

On the battlefield, Grey did not waste the opening.

The instant he appeared he swept his senses across the clustered Peak Sovereigns, locked onto their positions, and released his mental attack. The links between the nearby Gnomes, Necromancers, and their puppets snapped. For a brief moment every one of them froze.

The two Necromancers closest to the Dragon were the first to suffer for it. Grey and the Dragon struck together. A fusion of lightning and compressed space tore into one Necromancer’s chest, while the Dragon’s claws ripped through the other before either man could raise a defense.

The Thunderbirds who had been waiting for that exact signal did not hesitate. Lightning exploded from their bodies as they dove on the immobilized targets. Beaks, talons, and concentrated thunder struck vital points with ruthless precision. Of the twelve Peak Sovereign Gnomes and Necromancers inside that one-kilometer zone, ten were fatally hit in the space of a heartbeat. All three Necromancers fell, along with seven Gnomes. The remaining two Gnomes survived only because there were not enough Magical Beasts in position to reach them at the same instant.

Grey went after one of the survivors. The Dragon went after the other.

Those two Gnomes broke free of the mental suppression a moment later. Panic hit them immediately. They understood who had appeared and how close they were to dying. Neither tried to stand and fight. One turned to flee and shout a warning.

”Gre...”

A massive earth hammer smashed into his back before the name could leave his mouth. The blow hurled him out of the sky and into the ground below, cutting the warning short.

The second Gnome found the Dragon already in his path. He had no choice. Darkness surged around him as he tried to force his way past, trading desperate blows just to keep himself alive.

The Thunderbirds who had finished their first targets did not stop. Three of them turned toward the Gnome still locked with the Dragon. The other four dove after the one Grey had sent crashing down. The entire sequence, from Grey’s appearance to the collapse of ten Peak Sovereigns, lasted barely two seconds. Two more were already being hunted.

Shock rippled through the rest of the Gnome Peak Sovereigns. Ten Peak Sovereign auras had vanished almost at once. The shift was sudden and violent.

The remaining Peak Sovereign Gnomes and Necromancers tried to look toward the area, but the Thunderbirds and Dragons in front of them gave them no room. Then two voices cut across the battlefield at nearly the same time: the broken attempt of the falling Gnome to shout Grey’s name, and the command from the two lords in the camp.

”All Gnomes, store your puppets and retreat!”

A deep voice followed from far away. Sir Astarot.

”What’s the meaning of this?”

”I am not taking part in the fight,” one of the Gnome lords answered.

Sir Astarot did not press further. They had always known there would be only one clean opening. Even without the lords naming him, the Gnomes would have identified Grey soon enough.

The name spread across the battlefield like a cold wind. Gnomes and Necromancers reacted the same way. Almost all of them pulled their puppets back at once. Only a few did not. Three Peak Sovereign Gnomes were among those exceptions. Their puppets remained at their sides, proof that Grey’s technique had no hold on them.

Those three turned toward Grey the moment they heard his name and abandoned their current opponents, shooting straight for him.

Grey stood in the air staring in the direction of the Gnome camp with squinted eyes when felt their auras lock onto him. He understood immediately. If they still dared to keep their puppets out, they were the rare ones unaffected by his attack. He had no interest in staying to fight them. He had already helped cut down more than ten Peak Sovereigns. With most of the remaining enemies stripped of their puppets, the Magical Beasts could handle the rest.

”You can deal with these three.”

His figure vanished.

The Thunderbirds who had just finished the Gnome Grey sent into the ground moved at once, blocking the path of the three incoming Peak Sovereigns and giving Grey a clean route toward the lower battlefield.

With their puppets gone, the rest of the Gnome and Necromancer forces immediately fell onto the back foot. The sudden deaths of ten of their strongest companions had already shaken them. Hearing Grey Dawson’s name finished what little fighting spirit they had left. The retreat order only made it worse. Most of them stopped trying to press the attack and focused on defending as they pulled back.

Hundreds of kilometers away, inside the great orange-leafed tree, the two Thunderbird Half-Gods stared with wide eyes. Even Sir Astarot could not fully hide his astonishment. Grey’s effect on the battle had gone far beyond what they expected.

They had thought they might kill three or four Peak Sovereigns if everything went well. They had not imagined the number would reach double digits in the opening exchange.