Affinity: Chaos

952 Self-destruct

Grey's eyes lit up with blue flames as he fought against the mental attack the phantom behind the old man sent at him.

He didn't even know when the attack struck him, all he knew was that he was unable to move, as if terrified by something.

The old man moved closer at this moment, attacking Grey with powerful attacks.

Grey was still fighting against the mental attack, so he saw the attack of the old man a little late.

He scrambled to block the attack, but he didn't block it properly and was pierced through on his shoulder by the sharp short spear the old man made from the darkness element.

Blood started to flow out of the wound, but Grey was more concerned about the second attack of the old man. He used his inscriptions to try to stop the old man.

But when the attacks almost hit the old man, the phantom behind him opened its mouth and spat out a black beam that destroyed the attacks as well as the two inscriptions.

Grey couldn't help but curse when he saw this. The phantom behind the man was a little too overpowered.

He used the light element secretly as he healed up his injury.

While doing this, he unleashed another attack at the old man who was already almost in front of him.

The old man created a darkness screen, blocking the attack before slicing the large heavy sword he made in Grey's direction.

Grey made a cutting motion with his right hand, and the heavy sword was cut in two by a strange force. It was none other than his space elemental attack.

The old man didn't let this stop him, since he had gotten this close to Grey, he tried to punch him on his shoulder where he was injured from his last attack.

However, just as his fist was about to make contact, he felt a powerful repulsion force that sent him flying from where Grey was standing.

Before the old man could balance himself, Grey appeared in the air beside him and unleashed an orb made from the lightning and fire element. He added a bit of the earth element as well, unleashing a catastrophic attack on the old man.

The old man covered himself with a darkness dome, hoping it would protect him from the attack.

When the orb made contact with the darkness dome, it exploded and the earth dome started to have cracks within a second.

After the cracks, it broke apart and the figure of the old man shot to the ground with unprecedented speed.

Bang!

The body slammed into the ground heavily, causing dust to rise up in the small cave.

Grey steadied himself, waiting for the next attack of the old man. He was certain that this would not be enough to keep the old man down.

Just as he predicted, he saw something coming fast at him from where the old man crashed.

He created a large hammer from the earth element and slammed it in the direction of the figure coming his direction.

When the hammer was about to land on the figure, the size of the figure suddenly inflated.

The old man grabbed onto the hammer with one hand before tearing it apart with his hands.

Grey's expression changed lightly. The old man wasn't the only one who increased in size, even the phantom behind him saw an increase as well. With the increase, Grey could sense the increment of their strengths.

He was already having a tough time dealing with them the way they were previously, now, they increased their strength in his presence. It was a little infuriating.

With all this, he decided not to hold back any longer.

Just as the old man got close to him, Grey's eyes shone with a blue light and his fire domain appeared. Having two types of fire domain, he used the one he felt was the strongest, the icy flame.

The old man as well as his phantom froze momentarily when the domain appeared. Just as they were about to continue, Grey used his lightning domain as well.

He would not let the old man get any chance. Since he had already come to the decision of not holding back, the result of the battle was naturally decided.

The lightning from the lightning domain electrocuted the old man, and he was unfortunate enough to suffer from a seizure.

The icy flame started to freeze the old man as his phantom alongside him.

Grey appeared in his front, a long sword made from the lightning element in hand. Without wasting any time, he drove it into the body of the old man.

The eyes of the old man showed reluctance and disbelief. He didn't want to believe that he was defeated by Grey, neither did he want to die.

Struggling, he managed to open his mouth.

"Wait…"

Grey, who had already driven more than half of the long sword made from the lightning element in the body of the old man paused to take a look at the old man.

"What?" He asked with a straight face.

"You… you can have it." The old man said in defeat.

He was already defeated by Grey, instead of waiting to be killed by the other party, it was best he preserved his life and thought of another way to advance. Even though his current lifespan was not great, it might be enough for him to search for another solution.

After all, when there's life, there's hope.

This was what he felt at this moment.

Grey thought about it for a bit, but after thinking of what the old man did with the excuse of wanting to break through, he decided against letting him live. Originally, he planned to leave the old man alone as long as he gave him what he wanted, but now that they fought such an intense battle, he didn't want to let him live. If the old man was the stronger one, it was unknown if he would let him go.

Being a decisive person, he didn't waste any time and continued on his attack.

When the old man saw that Grey was not stopping his attack, his eyes turned red.

'Since you want it that way, fine.'

The old man's aura suddenly started to change.

The moment Grey noticed this, his expression changed. He couldn't stay here and witness what the old man wanted to do.

The old man wanted to self-destruct his essence orb. The self-destruction of a Peak Sage Plane Elementalist was not something even the current Grey could deal with.

'Damn it!'

Grey cursed and fled immediately.

'Void, run away with Arya now!' He said to Void as he brought out the body of Arya's brother and left the cave.

"Hahaha, how far can you run, kid? Since you want it so bad, I'll take you and it with me." The old man laughed with a crazed look.

He already knew what Grey wanted to do after Grey left, but he couldn't stop the self-destruct. Even if he did, Grey would most likely come back to finish him off. Since that's the case, he would take Grey with him.

He already made his calculations, even though Grey had the space element, he couldn't go too far with just his teleportation ability.

As long as he exploded on time, he would be able to take our Grey. Also, the link to the place where the tree was located would be severed as well, so there would be no way for Grey to locate it even if he were to survive the explosion.

With the strength of a Sage Plane Elementalist, the self-destruction could cover a range of over one kilometers.

…

Outside the cave, more people were rushing in while Grey was coming out. Void and Arya were nowhere to be seen.

Taking his time, he located the mark he placed and Arya and disappeared from where he was standing.

If he tried to escape on his own, it would take longer for him to cover such large distance, but with the help of the mark, he could cover over a thousand kilometer with ease.

This was the main reason he told Void to leave immediately. This way, he could cover a larger range without having any issues.

Over two kilometers away, Grey appeared beside Void and Arya, with Arya's brother on his shoulder.

Arya wanted to scream when she saw him but what followed was a resounding explosion that came from where they left.

Boom!

A bright light shot out from the cave, and it gradually started to expand.

Grey's expression changed as he saw this.

"What did you do?" Void couldn't help but ask.

"Move, talk later." Grey said with a dark expression.

Void could only shut up and run away. Even at this distance, he was scared out of his wits. This explosion might still affect them. He didn't want to take any chances.