Affinity: Chaos

Grey walked closer to the young man with a confident smile on his face. He was not flustered by the pressure he was getting from those watching, he knew this was a battle he could've won easily if not for the fact that he was trying to hide his true strength.

The young man was being forced back with every attack. He had to also make sure that he wasn't touched by any of the butterflies. There was a time he accidentally got hit by it and the explosion sent him flying. He slammed into more of the butterflies which caused his injuries to further increase.

On the side of the Nether Faction, Bill and the leader of the Faction had sour faces. From the way things were going, there was no way the young man could use the technique they wanted him to use. If he couldn't use it, then Grey would win.

Bill looked at the Faction leader worriedly. If Grey won this, they couldn't take the risk of fighting against him, but letting him recover was the worst since he would get all the time he needed to recover most of his strength.

"This time, the increase definitely affected him. All he needs to do is to hang in there for a little longer, even if he can't win, let him force that kid to stay in this state for a little longer so the havoc that would be caused by the use of such a technique would be too much for him to bear in his next battle." The leader said with a grin.

Even if the young man would lose this round, it was already obvious that he had forced Grey beyond his limit. As long as Grey stayed in such a state for too long, it would definitely affect him. This way, the next person who would step on stage would challenge him immediately and end him.

He could even kill him, making the two sides tally on the same numbers. If the young man can't force Grey to even the level where he couldn't fight again, then he would be a disappointment.

On the side of the Burchard Family.

"Do you think he can fight again?" Scott asked.

"I don't think so, his condition doesn't look too good. The fact that he can still stand after what his body is going through is already testament of his incredible will and persistence. I'm afraid he would need months to recover from this." An Elder replied with the shake of his head.

No one argued with him since they all felt he was correct. Everyone could see how dried up Grey had become. As the battle went longer, Grey seemed to be reducing in size as well. If this were to go on for ten more minutes, Grey might die even before the young man gave up.

Back on the platform.

Grey was attacking the young man who was frantically trying to escape. He wasn't even trying to defend since he knew it was of no use. If he dared to block, the attack power would push him back.

The butterflies on the platform were still there, so was the array as well as the inscription. Grey completely dominated this young man, and he was not trying to hold back.

He wanted to unleash a dimensional slash, but thinking about the fact that the young man might dodge it, he halted and used another attack. He used a fire blade, trying to cut the young man apart.

The young man dodged the attack, retreating to the left. But he was met with an attack from the inscription which sent him flying even after he set up a defensive wall.

His injuries worsened and he spat out a mouthful of blood. At the moment, he barely looked like a person. He was badly mutilated, and his skin had been burnt by the flames of Grey.

He has not only suffered from burns in this battle, but he had also been attacked by extreme cold, and also shocked by lightning. In short, he had taken a lot of attacks, but he was not one to give up so early.

Grey looked at the young man with an irritated look.

"Give up or die."

He raised his hand and a pulling force dragged the young man in his direction.

As the young man was getting close to him, he attacked.

Since he didn't have control over his body, he wanted to force Grey to leave him, so that he could escape.

The attack was strong and deadly, if it hit Grey, even with his improvement, he would still be badly injured by it.

Seeing that Grey was not moving, a smirk appeared on the face of the young man.

'You're too confident.' He wanted to speak this out but he couldn't.

Grey didn't move and inch as his hand was still outstretched. Just when everyone thought the attack was about to hit him, it passed through him.

'An afterimage?'

Surprise appeared on the face of the young man, but he soon noticed something was wrong.

If this was an afterimage, he shouldn't be heading in the same direction. Grey's technique should've been broken by now with the change in his location.

'Crap!'

Grey's figure soon appeared again, it was like he was stuck between the physical and spiritual worlds.

The young man's vision soon went black, this time, Grey's attack came crashing down on him like a tidal wave.

Grey's fist also came slamming down on his head, he wanted to take him out.

But just as Grey's fist was about to hit the young man, he felt a protective shield guarding the young man. He turned his head to where the old man was sitting once again.

The old man shrugged before waving his hand, sending the young man back to the Nether Faction so he could receive treatment. If he was left unattended, he might risk suffering heavily from this.

Grey walked off the platform as fast as he could. He had already exited the Fusion State, and he also made sure to look as downtrodden as he could.

He dragged himself back to his seat, and this time, before he even got to his seat, he felt a strange energy entering his body. He naturally wanted to force it out, but then a voice sounded out from the crowd.

"I'm trying to help, don't worry, I won't pry."

Grey didn't say anything as he sat down, took a healing tonic and sat down in a crossed leg position. He started recovering and a speed visible to the human eyes. The reason he did this was simple, if he didn't do it and was slow in recovering, he might be challenged again, and fighting in that state was not good for him.

Bill soon stepped on the platform.

"Since everyone is challenging you, I want to try my hand as well."

Everyone understood what the Nether Faction was trying to do.

"I never took you for a coward." Scott's mocking voice came from the side of the Burchard Family.

"Me, a coward?" Bill raised a brow.

"Yes, you're a coward. Everyone from the Nether Faction is a coward. What can you do about it?" Scott said coldly.

"I'll handle you later, but for now, I have a target in sight. Besides, I only want to exchange views on cultivation with him. I like geniuses like him." Bill chuckled. He knew Scott's plan, and there was no way he would fall for it.

"Fight me then, if you have the guts." Scott stood up.

"Sit down, I'll deal with you later. I challenged him, let him come." Bill wasn't bothered.

As long as Grey doesn't step up within the next minute, it would mean he forfeited the battle and that meant that he won. All they wanted was to take out Grey, no matter the method used.

Grey opened his eyes and looked at Bill who was staring at him.

"You've done enough already, forfeit this battle." The leader of the Burchard Family said.

Grey turned to look at him, before staring at Sylvia who also nodded her head. They could all see how much his last battle cost him, if he dared to fight again, then the result for him might not be good.

As much as they wanted to win, they didn't want to ruin such a genius.

With Grey still sitting down, Bill turned to the old man.

"Elder, as you can see, he's obviously not stepping up. That means…"

Bill was still speaking when he heard the footsteps of Grey.

"Since you dared to challenge me, of course I'll date to accept it." Grey said with a smile.

"Haha, I like you." Bill laughed.

"Why don't we make this a little more interesting." Grey chuckled.

"Oh, you have a wish?" Bill asked.

"A deathmatch. How about that?" Grey asked with a smile.

"Oh."

Everyone gasped when they heard Grey's statement.