Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2179: No Need For Words

Later that night, several hours after the Mayor and Elder Varis had addressed the gathering, the large open square of the manor remained full. More than two hundred Sovereigns still waited in place. Even the Ninth-stage Sovereign who had publicly voiced his skepticism had not left. He stood among the others, silent but watchful.

When the main doors of the manor finally opened, two masked figures stepped out first. Grey wore his usual black attire and a plain black mask. Reynolds was dressed in blue, his mask marked with blue and white carvings. The sudden appearance of the pair immediately drew the eyes of the entire crowd.

Many experts studied them carefully. They could sense that the one in blue stood at the Eighth stage of the Sovereign Plane, yet the cultivation of the young man in black remained completely hidden. Quiet speculation spread through the square in low murmurs. Some wondered whether the two were special envoys. Others guessed they might be the source of the mysterious information the Mayor had mentioned. A few felt a cautious sense of relief at the sight of any possible reinforcement, while more than one expert frowned in suspicion at the decision to keep their identities concealed.

Keith, whom most of the gathered experts recognized, walked out behind the masked pair and led them to an open section of the square to wait. Shortly afterward the four other experts who had been present during Grey’s earlier meeting approached and offered respectful greetings. The clear respect they showed the two masked figures only deepened the curiosity of the crowd. Several Sovereigns exchanged glances, silently questioning what kind of background could earn such treatment from high-ranking experts of the city.

The Ninth-stage Sovereign who had earlier opposed the attack kept his eyes fixed on the pair, especially on the figure in black. A thought rose in his mind.

’Could these two be the reason the Mayor ordered the assault?’

He evaluated them carefully. The one in blue was clearly an Eighth-stage Sovereign and therefore limited in what he could contribute beyond delivering information. The one in black, however, gave him nothing. No matter how he directed his spiritual sense, the man’s cultivation remained hidden. For a Ninth-stage Sovereign, that usually meant only two possibilities: either the target did not cultivate at all, or his strength was higher. The second option pointed toward a Peak Sovereign.

’One extra Peak Sovereign will not change the overall battle,’ he concluded. The local Gnome camp had only one Peak Sovereign, yet that single expert commanded two Peak-level puppets. Elder Varis had survived this long only because of the Mayor’s occasional support. Another Peak Sovereign on the human side would ease the highest-level fight, but it would do little for the Ninth-stage and lower battlefields. Peak Sovereigns rarely fell quickly, and once the Gnome Ninth-stage experts noticed the additional threat, they would simply reinforce their leader. In his view the fundamental situation remained unfavorable.

Even so, he lacked the resolve to abandon the city at this hour. He was born here. Leaving now would endanger his entire family and brand him a deserter. He decided to follow the Mayor’s order for the time being and watch for a chance to withdraw if the battle turned hopeless. These thoughts stayed locked inside his mind as he waited in silence with the rest.

Before long the Mayor and Elder Varis appeared. The large force immediately took to the sky. Among the more than two hundred experts, only seven stood at the Ninth stage. The great majority were Sixth- and Seventh-stage Sovereigns, a composition that made the coming fight look even more precarious to many of those flying in the ranks.

When Grey rose into the air, the skeptical Ninth-stage Sovereign finally caught a clear reading of his cultivation and froze for a moment. The masked man in black was only a Ninth-stage Sovereign, the same as himself. He did not consider the possibility that Grey might still be stronger in actual combat. Instead he simply assumed the young man was unusually skilled at concealing his aura.

The flight toward the Gnome camp passed in near silence. Neither the Mayor nor Elder Varis issued further instructions, and the experts followed without conversation. Night covered the land completely. Cool wind rushed past the formation as the terrain below gradually shifted from open ground to rising hills and then to a rugged mountain range.

Unlike the forest camp they had destroyed near Cinderloch, the Gnomes here had established their base among the peaks and valleys of the mountains. The human force reached the outer edges of the region a few hours after leaving Emberlyn City. Almost as soon as they entered the mountain air, the auras of numerous Gnomes flared to life around them.

The unmistakable presence of a Peak Sovereign Gnome stood out clearly among the approaching enemies. Within a minute the human experts found themselves surrounded. Gnome figures filled the darkness on every side, and more continued to arrive from deeper within the range. The numerical difference was obvious and oppressive. The seven human Ninth-stage Sovereigns looked few against the denser ranks of the enemy, and the lower-stage experts felt the weight of the encirclement settle over them.

Elder Varis locked eyes with the Peak Sovereign Gnome across the night sky. The Gnome appeared ready to speak, but Elder Varis gave him no opportunity.

"Attack!" he roared.

Without waiting for any reply, Elder Varis charged straight at his opponent. The sudden order caught the Peak Sovereign Gnome off guard. He had expected at least a moment of words. Suspicion flickered across his face, yet instinct still made him summon both of his Peak-level puppets at once to meet the incoming assault. He would not allow Elder Varis to strike him unopposed. The duo immediately disappeared from view leaving the others below.

The moment the two strongest experts clashed, the rest of the human force moved in coordinated fashion. Elemental lights of every color erupted across the dark mountains as the battle exploded into chaos. The night sky above the range filled with roaring flames, crackling lightning, shattering ice, and waves of darkness. The mountain peaks became a violent arena of overlapping attacks and shockwaves, the first fierce exchanges of the night assault already underway.