Affinity:Chaos

"You're just going to leave Rey's life in his hands?" Alice walked up to Grey when she saw him walking away.

"There are two Peak Venerables there, if they can't even stop him before he does anything to Reynolds then they're useless." Grey said calmly, then he looked at Alice with a smile and said, "Besides, do you think I'd be that careless with Rey's life?"

"The technique he used is very delicate, if I'm not careful I might kill Rey while trying to help him. I'm not sure the Gnomes will even be able to create something like this." He added.

A look of realization appeared on Alice's face, now she understood why Grey asked the man to heal Reynolds first. He was afraid of harming Reynolds and could tell that this technique isn't as simple as he thought. He could solve it, but he would need a lot of time, and from the movement of the dark patches on Reynolds' body, they clearly didn't have that much time.

He couldn't take the risk of trying out what he could when there's a chance he might be mistaken and then harm Reynolds in the process. This is one of the main reasons he decided to listen to the man. Of course, there's also the part where the man is a genius. Having someone like this isn't too bad. Controlling him might be an issue, but he has his ways of tracking the man if needs be. All he needs to do is ensure that there's something he can implant in the man's core, and he's about to think of it.

The man seems to be an expert in arrays so doing that wouldn't be good.

"Ah! I got it!" Grey suddenly exclaimed.

Alice looked at Grey, wondering what's wrong with him this time.

"I have a way to control him." Grey chuckled devilishly.

"Sometimes I wonder who's more evil, you, or Klaus." Alice shook her head.

"Klaus is stupid, you can't compare him to myself." Grey laughed.

"What's your plan in controlling him then?" Alice asked.

"He has to agree to be my servant first. I'll take him to my father when we're going back." Grey didn't say and looked at the man who seemed lost in thought.

To be honest, Grey was a little worried since they didn't have all the time. Just when he was about to lose it, he saw the man make a move. The man opened his remaining arm and the dark patches on Reynolds' body started to move, even while Reynolds was still frozen, they could see the dark patches receding.

"Good, he has made his choice." Grey's eyes closed to a slit.

His plan of controlling the man was actually simple, implanting two fusion orbs in the core of the man. He would use an array to keep them stable. The second the man or any array master dares to even touch it, without Grey's presence there, the fusion orbs will explode.

Also, if Grey were to die, the fusion orb would explode too.

For someone like the man who had a good grasp of arrays, this was the best way to get him under control. Even if the man tries to break it, as long as even a tiny bit of the fusion orb absorbs outside energy, it would explode.

The orbs being in the body of the man wouldn't impair the man's cultivation, so it was quite safe.

"Mind telling me how you intend to control him now?" Alice heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the patches on Reynolds' body slowly fading off.

"Simple…"

Grey went on to explain how the fusion orb would work.

When Alice heard that if Grey dies, so does the man, she was flabbergasted at her friend's mind.

"Don't give me that look. I'm only sparing his life cause I feel he has some use to me. If I'm no longer alive, what's he living for?" Grey shrugged when he saw Alice's look.

"Oh, he has information on a spy in the Phoenix Faction that gives him information and sends young talents his way for his research purposes and making them his corpse puppets." Alice recalled the man's words and said.

"That's originally the Phoenix Faction's business." Grey didn't seem to mind.

"Aries heard him speak about this, so we have to take out the Necromancer in there." Alice said.

"Oh, I'll ask him. He should be able to tell us the identity of these people. We'll kill them before leaving." Grey said.

"What about him?" Alice pointed at the man.

"He'll continue staying here, just without his diabolical things. When we're heading back from our tour of the Continent I'll come pick him up." Grey said.

"You already have all this figured out." Alice praised.

"Of course, I think thoroughly before making decisions like this." Grey replied with a smug smile.

"He's done." Grey said after seeing the man collapse on the ground, exhausted, the process wasn't an easy one.

"You're lucky you removed this shitty thing from his body." Klaus said coldly, he didn't like the man since he tried to kill Reynolds, well, not just Reynolds, but himself as well.

Why should he have a good impression of someone like that? But then thinking about it, the man wasn't wrong with some of his words, after all, this was a world where the strong rule and the weak can only be stepped on. The only reason they could force the man to heal Reynolds was because Grey was powerful and the man was weak.

Klaus thawed the ice on Reynolds' body, staring at his friend whose face had previously gone pale regain some color. It didn't take long before Reynolds regained consciousness, he looked around, and seeing the man, he instantly went into attack mode.

"Take off that ugly armor you clown, he's not an enemy, at least right now he isn't." Klaus calmed Reynolds down when he saw him about to attack the man.

Reynolds, although just regaining consciousness, didn't argue and removed his armor. He looked around and saw Alice and Grey talking on the side.

"Oh, he's here already. No wonder." He said calmly, and then a look of shock appeared on his face when he sensed the man's cultivation stage, "What happened to him?"

Klaus looked at the figure Reynolds was pointing at and motioned with his head at Grey, "Apparently he blew up the sky."

"Blew up the sky?" Reynolds was confused.

"If my speculation is right, Grey forcefully stopped him from breaking through even at the last minute, hence the backlash." Klaus said with a hand on his chin.

"That shouldn't be possible unless he killed him, but he didn't kill him, so how was it possible?" Aries interjected in the conversation.

"He blew up the energy that the world gathered for me." The man said in a low voice.

"I've heard you say it, but how's that possible? The energy isn't tangible to anyone else except the person it's meant for. How did he blow it up?" Aries asked, her expression showing that she wanted to find out what Grey possibly did to achieve such a feat.

The man was about to speak when Grey walked over, "It's nothing serious. I just blew it up, like he said. What's the point of asking so much?"

Grey's eyes had a nonchalant gaze, but Aries could tell it wasn't that simple. Knowing that she was somewhat overstepping her boundaries, she shook her head and said, "It's nothing, I was just curious, that's all."

"Alright. Since we're done here, I'll be leaving with him." Grey said that, nodded to his friends, telling them he was still busy with the array and left with the man.

Klaus and Reynolds stretched their bodies and then took a glance at Aries, "Anywhere else we can go? You heard what he said, he's still busy with the array."

"I have to ask that man some questions." Aries said.

She didn't have the time to ask about the person passing on the information from her Faction. This was a matter of utmost importance to the Faction.

"Don't worry, I've spoken to him, we'll make sure you get the information of the person before we leave. We're not fans of Necromancers either." Alice smiled at Aries.

Aries, hearing Alice speak, knew Grey would not hinder her from finding out this information.

"Alright, let's continue then. There are a few places we can go that wouldn't be as dangerous as this, and will be within our level." Aries replied.

"This was within our level, there were just a few mishaps." Alice consoled her when she saw her expression.

Aries nodded and then walked forward, taking them in the direction of the place they could go to spend time before Grey finished with his array deduction with the Phoenix Faction Leader.

The group followed behind her. They were all fired up after their last battle, Alice especially, she could feel the birth of something new in her.