Affinity: Chaos

Grey was not surprised at Bill's reactions, most geniuses who practice an odd method of fighting tend to be more excited when they see someone like them. In this case, even though Bill seemed to hate him, he couldn't hide the joy on his face after they exchanged blows some time ago.

"If you say so, I won't hold back any longer." Grey said before charging at Bill.

Just as he was about to arrive in front of Bill, he vanished and appeared on his left side as he threw a punch at him.

Bill didn't expect Grey to use a method like this, but he still blocked the attack, but was pushed back.

Grey attacked once again, his fist exploding with fire.

Bill threw a punch of his own, his hand covered with lightning. Both fists collided and sparks flew everywhere.

They soon started to move at lightning speed as they each tried to overpower the other. Grey's attack power was massive from the start, and with the addition of the explosive power of the fire element, he was too powerful for anyone in the Sage Plane.

Bill could barely keep up with him, but as time went on, he soon started to grow in strength. This was something Grey noticed when they started to fight, now, he was noticing it again.

Bill threw a punch, but Grey disappeared before appearing behind him. Expecting this, Bill swung his fist sideways, sweeping behind him with his fist.

Grey didn't move and the fist phased through him.

When the fist was just passing him, he attacked Bill with a punch.

A lightning screen appeared where his fist was about to hit on Bill's chest as he used it to block against Grey's attack.

Bill returned the favor to Grey as he tried to kick him off the ground.

Grey jumped up to dodge the kick before doing a spinning kick mid-air. Bill's hands were always covered in lightning as he raised them above him to block the attack.

The force of the attack almost forced him to his knees, but he managed to hold on and pushed Grey off.

While Grey was mid-air, a lightning bolt dropped from the sky as it crashed into his body.

Grey was hit by the lightning bolt as he was unable to dodge it. However, he was always covered with earth armor, so other than rocking his innards, the attack didn't do much to him.

Just as he was about to hit the ground, Bill appeared below him, throwing a fist into the sky that transformed into a large lightning fist that crashed into Grey, sending him into the air once more.

Grey stabilized himself in the sky before large boulders appeared in the sky, wrapped in flames and lightning.

The boulders came crashing down, but Bill moved through the platform before shooting into the sky, punching a hole through the boulders coming his way.

He soon came face to face with Grey as he attacked with his fists.

Grey blocked and countered. The sound of the two fists clashing was the only thing reverberating in the entire platform.

Everyone watched the duo in the sky as they fought fiercely against each other, punching almost every part of the opponent's bodies.

They both fought widely and brutally. But people soon started to notice something odd, Bill was starting to gain the advantage.

Since the start of the battle, Grey had always had the advantage when it came to physical strength, but now, it didn't seem to be the case. Bill was starting to grow stronger with time, and his physical strength seemed to be an edge stronger than Grey's.

This came as a surprise not only to the crowd from the Burchard Family, but to Grey as well.

'What is he using?' He thought to himself.

He already knew it was a technique that increased physical strength, but he didn't know how it worked.

Bill was getting more excited as they fought. He didn't even try to engage in a conversation with Grey any longer, all he wanted to do was to fight to his heart's content.

Grey gave up on the idea of asking him what he was using as he tried to ensure that he didn't lose this battle.

Bang!

A fire orb exploded as Bill tried to get close to him. This halted his movement, giving Grey time to move close to attack.

However, the moment Grey got within two meters of Bill, the area was covered with lightning. Small lightning arcs shot through the air, moving like snakes.

Bill has made use of his domain.

Grey was forced out of the domain as he suffered burns from the lightning.

Bill's domain strength exceeded Grey's expectations. He was almost certain that this domain could destroy his own, and he didn't want to try it out.

Now he understood why Bill was the number one person in the Sage Plane from a Faction as big as the Nether Faction.

If Bill couldn't achieve this much, then he would've been disappointed.

Grey's body had some injuries already, and blood was dripping from the side of his lips. After going through multiple body wrecking battles, he still engaged in such an intensifying battle, especially after not having enough time to heal.

What was worse was that cracks were forming on his body. Very tiny cracks. Even Grey didn't notice it as he fought with Bill.

Bill laughed as he charged at Grey after using his domain to force him back.

Grey stretched out his hand as a repulsive force tried to push Bill away. Bill stopped moving and tried to hold out against the repulsive force. He managed to hold out for a while, but he was still forced back, although the distance was almost negligible.

'Damn!' Grey couldn't help but complain.

His facial expression changed and he moved his hand closer to his face.

'What the hell?!' He freaked out when he noticed the crack on his hand.

While Grey was in a state of shock, Bill had already gained himself and rushed over, sending a punch Grey's way.

Grey snapped out of the shocked state as he barely dodged the fist coming at his face.

Bill's fist brushed through the side of his face, but it wasn't much.

Seeing that he missed, Bill tried to use his elbow to continue his attack.

Grey noticed this quickly and used his right hand to stop the elbow from hitting his face before kicking at Bill's stomach.

Bill blocked the attack with his hand.

​ Both fighters stopped in the same position. Bill was grabbing hold of Grey's right leg with his left hand, while Grey was using his left hand to block Bill's elbow.

The duo retreated simultaneously as they stood some meters apart, staring at each other in the eyes.

"You're my toughest opponent yet. You should be excited since I'm rating you this high." Bill said respectfully.

"I could say the same, but…" Grey paused mid-sentence as he recalled the old monster who tried to kill him back at the Lutra realm, before shaking his head, "I've met a stronger opponent."

Bill's expression changed when he heard this. Him acknowledging Grey was already unexpected for most people there, but the fact that Grey said he was not the strongest person he had fought against irritated him.

"Anyone stronger than me in the Sage Plane is definitely not in the Sage Plane." Bill said angrily.

He would never accept that there was anyone stronger than he was in the Sage Plane.

"Well, I'm an exception, don't you think?" Grey asked with a smirk.

Bill didn't respond, but he snorted coldly. Everyone could tell that he couldn't reply since that would mean he was not correct with his statement. However, no one could refute Grey. If Grey were to be at the Peak of the Sage Plane, he might've defeated Bill already.

Grey was studying his body as they spoke and he soon started to notice multiple things, his body was not the only thing that was cracking, even his innards, bones, organs, and even his cores seemed to be cracking.

'I need to end this.' He was losing it.

He had gotten a general idea of what was happening. Even with the increase in his strength, he couldn't use the Fusion State infinitely. Now, he wasn't strong enough to use the Fusion State for this long, so it was starting to have an effect on his body.

If he didn't stop soon, he might die before even completing the battle.

"I'll defeat you, so you can know you're not a match for me." Bill said with a cold expression.

"You don't have to take me too seriously, I'm still in the Fifth stage, why don't you wait till I get to the Peak before you say that?" Grey said with a smile.

Bill snorted coldly once again, he acknowledged Grey's strength, but he felt Grey was too proud.