Affinity:Chaos

The Aurora Continent was placed in a standstill as everyone watched the figure in the sky.

The figure was staring down with the aloofness of a God, and people found it hard to look into the eyes of the figure.

Klaus recognized the features as that of Grey, but he wasn't the only one. Both Alice and Reynolds also recognized him too.

Other than Cori, they were the only ones who recognized Grey's features from the figure. Even Grey's parents wouldn't know it's Grey if they weren't informed about it by Cori and Grey.

Other than these people, no one else knows this figure has anything to do with Grey. Grey might be famous in the Continent, but there was no way people would associate him with something like this.

There was someone else who had a suspicion, Conor Dawson.

At the moment, Conor was in the Dawson manor, staring at the figure in the sky. He sensed the overbearing pressure that the figure was releasing and he couldn't help but look in the direction his Uncle, Lucas Dawson resided. Grey had been with him for a while. And it was said the duo left for a mission some days ago. No one knew their whereabouts, so there was no way for him to locate them even if he wanted to.

'If he comes back as a Sovereign, does it mean that he's the one who caused it?' He thought internally as he looked at the figure in the sky.

He was skeptical about this, however. Even if Grey does come back as a Sovereign, there's nothing actually tying him to the figure in the sky other than a weird coincidence. From Grey's reaction, he could tell Grey had no idea about what happened. The confusion he saw on Grey's face was enough to let him know he didn't know about the figure in the sky.

He didn't think too much about it, even if he finds out who is making this apparition to appear in the sky, there was nothing he could do about it. With that, he threw the thought to the back of his head as he continued watching the apparition just like everyone else. Everyone had a thought or two about what was happening, but everyone have to keep shut since they did not know the cause of the apparition.

….

On Grey's end.

He was absorbing so much essence. The lightning clouds above him raged on and they seemed to be on the verge of striking down.

Grey wasn't the one who conjured the clouds. This meant they appeared on their own.

He was crazily absorbing the essence when a lightning bolt struck.

Grey didn't sense it and only when it landed on his head did he sense it. His entire body jolted and he instinctively entered a fighting position, only for his eyes to widen when he saw another, slightly more powerful lightning bolt coming his way.

He bit onto a fruit, and with the fruit in his mouth, he placed both hands before him and created a seal. An inscription appeared, different from the ones he usually uses, a powerful attack struck the incoming lightning. He nodded proudly and removed the fruit from his mouth. To his greatest shock, he felt his body jolt once again from the shock from being hit by another lightning bolt.

It was the exact lightning bolt he tried to stop a few moments ago. Apparently, it just went past his attack and struck him.

He wanted to take a step, but he noticed something strange…

'My body is getting stronger.'

It was little, but he sensed the change in his physical strength. The last time he was only able to absorb so much essence into his body and he felt that was the end. He didn't think his physical body would continue growing stronger unless he had broken through to the Sovereign Plane. Nevertheless, he was getting stronger now even when he thought he had gotten to the limit.

'Was my body too weak hence my failed breakthrough?'

This was the question that popped into his head. He didn't stop the next lightning attack coming his way, rather, he prepared himself. He ate more of the treasures present while also absorbing all the essence he could from the surrounding.

He didn't only create an array to hide himself from the outside world, there was another array that gathered more essence to the center of it, the place Grey was standing.

The next lightning bolt was stronger. It shot down, heading straight for Grey's head.

Grey didn't move away, he looked up and with an intimidating smile, his aura burst out as he welcomed the lightning bolt.

The lightning bolt struck, and the impact was stronger than the previous ones, but it wasn't enough to get Grey to move.

"Is this all you have?" He spat on the ground in disgust.

As if sensing the disrespect, the next lightning bolt was almost two times stronger than the previous one.

'I was only joking.'

Grey's eyes twitched when he sensed the strength behind it. He didn't know what created the lightning clouds, but it looked like it was the universe, and it seemingly doesn't like being challenged.

The lightning bolt struck, and for the first time, Grey took a step back.

He looked up and his eyes turned cold before he stood back on the same spot, with a wave of his hand, he didn't try to eat the treasures any longer, rather, he sucked out all the essence.

This was something that required a powerful consciousness to achieve, and that was something Grey has always had. His mental energy was as a result of his powerful consciousness.

He looked up as his aura burst out once again. It was already at the threshold of the Pseudo-sovereign stage and the Sovereign Plane. At the moment, it was only a matter of time before he becomes a Sovereign, and a powerful one at that.

"Let's see who will win."