Affinity:Chaos

Void started attacking the Snakes with renewed vigor. The anger of Grey stepping on him was unleashed on the Snakes.

The Snakes which had the advantage were a little taken aback when Void attacked with such ferocity that they didn't have an answer for his attacks.

Void continued attacking with anger. Making sure none of them were able to fight properly.

Even with the Space Snake blocking him from using the space element, it still didn't stop him. Void had the lightning element which could still increase his speed.

The Snakes could barely keep up with his speed. With Grey standing on his head and attacking, they were able to force the other snakes back.

The Old man was amazed by the strength and coordination of the duo. Void's strength shocked him the most. Unknown to him, Void was venting on these Snakes.

This was a situation he had tried to avoid at all costs, yet, he was forced into it by these Snakes. At first, he didn't think of it when he increased his size, but the second Grey stood on top of him, he realized what he had gotten himself into.

They continued fighting with the snakes, forcing it back. The Old man was in a safe space without the snakes attacking the area he was standing, but then another issue came up, Wasps started attacking the place he was standing. Each Wasp was in the First stage of the Elemental Venerable Plane.

The Old man was able to enforce the armor Grey gave to him to block their attacks, but with the sheer number of them, he was unable to keep up.

When Grey saw this, he quickly left Void alone and came back to help out. With a single attack, he was able to force all the wasps to retreat. He wanted to tell the Old man to leave the area, but he wasn't sure if he would be okay so he told him to follow them.

The Old man felt relieved when Grey forced the Wasps back.

"Void, we need to leave." Grey didn't want to continue the battle any more. Getting the crystal from the head of the snake wasn't too important to him.

With the strength of each snake, it would be difficult for them to defeat them. The only thing they could do at the moment is to block the attacks and hope the snakes would eventually give up as they escape from the area.

The Old man was behind them as they retreated from the swamp. While fighting, they had destroyed most of the trees around, and Grey was using his fire element at full force.

The snakes might be powerful, but they didn't dare to take his attacks. Their thick scales had been burnt from his fire attacks.

Void used the space element for most of his attacks, and the strength of it was tremendous. He was more dangerous than Grey, however, being the strongest of the duo meant that he had to take on more responsibility while fighting the snakes.

Boom!

Grey found an opportunity and tossed a fusion orb made with more space essence at the largest snake. The Snake was kept busy by Void's attacks, so it didn't sense Grey's attack early.

The second it hit one of the snakes, it exploded with a powerful impact that made the snake hiss in pain. It opened its mouth wide and spat out yellowish substance in Void's direction.

Void didn't need anyone to tell him before he avoided the substance. The substance touched the ground and smoke rose into the air.

The Snake was injured from Grey's attack and hurriedly went to the back of the other three. Given the Ranks of these Snakes, their intelligence was quite high. It knew that with the injury, the chances that it might get killed increased.

Grey created three more fusion orbs and threw it in the direction of the other three. They saw the attack and dodged it.

The opportunity Grey and Void had been waiting for finally came, without any hesitation, they retreated as fast as they could. Grey unleashed a few more attacks at the Snakes to slow them down from chasing after them.

A few seconds later, they were out of the area where the Snakes resided.

Void returned to his normal size, tossing both Grey and the Old man to the side.

Grey flipped mid-air and balanced himself while chuckling.

After some thoughts, Grey decided it was best if he left. He was interested in getting more treasures, but he didn't want to lose his life over them. This place was a new region and he had zero knowledge of it.

They spent one more hour before Grey asked the Old man a question he forgot when entering this place.

"How do we go out when we don't know if the fissure is calm or not?" He asked.

"There aren't any restrictions when leaving." The Old man explained.

Apparently, they only need to bother about the fissure when coming in, but when leaving, there was no need to wait.

Grey nodded and contacted Arthel.

While he was heading to the exit, he paused as looked ahead of him.

The Old man also sensed something and stopped.

"Gnomes." Grey muttered as he saw the people blocking his way.

He has had frequent encounters with Gnomes, hence identifying them wasn't a problem for him, even while they were in disguises. The Gnomes in front of him all looked like a normal human.

Grey is one of the few people that can identify them even in such a state.

"Grey Dawson?" One of the men asked with a playful smile.

Grey looked at them and his expression changed slightly, they were all in the Late stages of the Elemental Venerable Plane. He wasn't afraid of them, but the puppets they would bring out. With such strength, the chances of them bringing out a Peak Elemental Venerable puppet was very high.

"We've been running after you for a while. Good thing you came to us." Another one said with an evil grin.

Grey accessed his situation and just as he was about to turn to Void, he noticed Void had disappeared. He shook his head at how unreliable Void could be sometimes.

'Void, don't give them any chances. Once you come out, kill one person.'

He didn't get a reply, but he knew Void was around.

The battle started the next moment.

Three corpse puppets appeared and it was just as Grey feared, they were all at the Peak. The only thing worth mentioning is that these puppets aren't as powerful as a true Peak Elemental Venerable, but it doesn't change the fact that they were powerful.

There were five Gnomes and only three of them brought out their puppets. Of course, they only brought out just one each.

Grey located the connection they had with the puppets, and before they realized what was happening, they felt a sharp pain in their heads.

All three of them grabbed their heads and screamed in pain.

'Void, now!'

Void appeared out of thin air and attacked the trio who were clutching their heads in pain.

Before the other two could react, the trio disappeared like they never existed.

The duo were stunned when they saw this. They knew the trio didn't just disappear, but were wiped out.

"You want to kill me and you're not aware I can incapacitate you with your puppets? Are you guys stupid?" Grey smirked.

His previous nonchalant expression changed into one of disdain. For some reason, he hated Gnomes. To be honest, after they tried to kill him multiple times, he had every right to hate them.

Gnomes and necromancers made him run for his life for a long period of time. That was something he wouldn't forget anytime soon.

"How do you do it?" One of the duo left asked.

His expression had calmed down. It was like he didn't witness his companion being killed.

"Simple, I studied it, just like you guys." Grey shrugged.

He didn't plan on telling them how he managed to find the link they have with the puppets. It was a strange situation since he was the only one who could do that, at the moment.

"Which means you're one of those necromancers?" The man asked.

Grey shook his head, not opting to speak further. He took a step and his figure appeared in front of one of them. He unleashed a punch, sending the figure flying.

The other one attacked, but without the help of their puppets, they weren't on the level of Grey. It didn't take long before Grey made short work of them.

The Old man watched Grey demolish a group of five like they were children. What he found scary was how easy it was for Grey to deal with the puppets. The puppets which were at the Peak didn't even have the chance to show their strength before he killed them.