Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2211: Thunderbird Clan’s Retaliation III

"This..."

The astonishment in the eyes of the two Thunderbird leaders quickly turned to elation. Ten Peak Sovereigns from the enemy side were dead, and the remaining Gnomes and Necromancers could no longer rely on their puppets. For the first time in months the path to driving them out, or even wiping them out, stood open.

The blue Thunderbird did not hesitate. Its voice rolled towards the chaotic battlefield.

"Thunderbirds, heed my command. Leave no survivors!"

The order struck the Magical Beast ranks like a spark on dry tinder. Thunderbirds and Dragons pressed forward with renewed ferocity, cutting off retreat routes and refusing to give the enemy any breathing room.

Sir Astarot had been about to speak when he noticed Reynolds vanish from beside him. His gaze snapped back to the battlefield. Reynolds now stood next to Grey, with Void and the bunny leader already present.

....

On the battlefield, Reynolds had been waiting for the transfer. Less than a minute had passed since Grey left the Peak Sovereign zone, but the reactions of Sir Astarot and the Thunderbird leaders told him everything he needed to know. The method had worked again. It always did.

He glanced toward the distant Gnome camp. "I guess those heavy auras belong to their Half-God experts."

Grey nodded. "Yes. One of them feels familiar."

"You’ve probably crossed paths with him before," Reynolds said. Given how many Gnomes Grey had encountered, and the fact that he had already met Half-God experts more than once, the possibility did not surprise him.

Void and the bunny leader, however, both looked uneasy.

The bunny leader turned to Grey. "Can you sense that?"

"Yes," Grey answered. His expression was serious. "There’s something wrong with the space here."

The moment he had arrived through the shard, he had felt the oddity. A faint distortion, subtle but persistent, as if the space in this region did not behave the way it should. He had ignored it at the time because the opening against the Peak Sovereigns could not be wasted. Now that the immediate strike was over, the feeling returned with more clarity. He still could not tell what caused it.

Reynolds frowned. "But you can still use the space element."

"I can," Grey said. "I just can’t explain the discrepancy." He looked at the bunny leader, but the small creature only shook its head. It sensed the same irregularity and had no answer either.

Grey set the matter aside for the moment. Whatever was wrong with the space would have to wait. "We’ll look into it later. Right now let’s kill some enemies."

He shot forward toward a group of Ninth-stage Gnomes and Necromancers locked in combat with several Dragons. Reynolds merged with his Elemental Warrior and followed, lightning trailing behind him.

The Gnomes and Necromancers were already trying to disengage when they saw Grey and the lightning-clad Reynolds closing in. Alone, the two humans would not have been enough to break them. What finished their resolve was the wave of Sovereign auras that came with them, hundreds of Magical Beast Sovereigns, nine of them clearly at the Ninth stage.

Stripped of their puppets and already shaken by the deaths of so many Peak Sovereigns, the fifteen Ninth-stage Gnomes and Necromancers broke in different directions, each hoping to avoid the worst of the pursuit.

The Dragons who had been fighting them from the start cut off the escape routes without mercy. Lightning, fire, and raw physical force slammed into the fleeing experts. One Gnome tried to slip between two Dragons and was caught by a sweeping tail that shattered his defenses and sent him tumbling. Another Necromancer raised a hasty darkness barrier only to have it torn apart by a concentrated lightning spear from Reynolds. Grey appeared beside a third and ended the exchange with a short spatial blade through the man’s core.

Across the wider field the same pattern repeated. The Thunderbird army held complete control. Gnomes and Necromancers struggled to form any coherent defense while the Magical Beasts hunted them down in groups as they tried to escape.

Sir Astarot and the two Thunderbird leaders arrived on the battlefield at that moment. They had sensed the Gnome lords leaving their camp and moving toward the fighting. Meeting them halfway was the only sensible response.

Sir Astarot went further. His massive claws closed around Grey and Reynolds before either of them registered the movement although they were kilometers away from each other. Even with Grey’s spatial abilities, there was no time to react. One moment they were in the middle of the chase; the next they were held firmly in the Dragon’s grip, pulled out of the lower battle entirely.

The two Gnome lords arrived shortly after and stopped in front of the Magical Beast Half-Gods. Both fixed their eyes on Grey.

The one in golden robes studied him in silence. ’So this is Grey Dawson. Why does he feel familiar when I am certain this is the first time we have met?’

A Half-God’s memory was nearly flawless. The sense of recognition without any matching recollection left him unsettled.

Grey looked back at the same Gnome and felt the same faint, unplaceable familiarity. He ran through the times he had encountered Half-God experts. The most likely possibility was that he had brushed against this aura once before inside the God’s tomb, but he could not be sure.

The second Gnome lord spoke through gritted teeth. "Call back your army. We will vacate the land."

He clearly disliked the words. The blue Thunderbird’s earlier command was evident the Thunderbirds weren’t here for a skirmish, and Magical Beasts were not known for mercy once they gained the upper hand. After months of being pushed back, the Thunderbirds would not be satisfied with a simple withdrawal.

The silver Thunderbird gave a soft, cold chuckle. "And why would we do that?" She drew a calm breath and continued, "You have occupied our territory for months and refused to leave no matter how many times we attacked. Why should we listen to you now that the advantage is ours, when you never listened to us while you held control?"

The expressions of both Gnome lords turned sour. Neither had an answer.