Affinity:Chaos

"Did we make a mistake in sending her out now?" An Elder from the Syphilis Faction looked at his comrades when he saw Grey dominating their strongest member in the Overlord Plane.

"Lydia hasn't gone all-out yet, I believe she's waiting for the right time." A lady among the Elders replied softly.

"I know, but this isn't good for the others." The Elder said.

"What matters is that she wins, not how long it takes for her to win." The lady replied, her voice still soft.

The others looked at the platform and they noticed something, a look of realization appeared on their faces.

"I see." The Elder nodded with squinted eyes before focusing fully on the battle.

The youths from the Syphilis Faction were watching the battle with a surprised expression, the look of disbelief in their eyes was too evident. They never thought that someone who was unknown would be able to dominate their strongest member.

While the morale for those from the Syphilis Faction was a little shaken, that of the Pyrmond Faction slowly started to pick up. Losing six battles in a row naturally took its toll on the mental strength of the group. However, watching Grey beat the strongest person in the Overlord Plane from the Syphilis Faction was satisfying, and also very encouraging. Now they knew Alec was not the only powerful figure in their ranks, Grey was also in that category, if not even higher.

The Elders were impressed with Grey's performance as they watched him battle.

Grey and Lydia were still exchanging blows, Grey managed to send her flying, and she crashed into the ground, almost leaving the platform.

Before she could get back up, Grey attacked once again, forcing her back. She sensibly got away from the edge of the platform, she couldn't afford to let Grey defeat her.

Grey wanted to continue his assault, but he sensed something and backed away instantly.

A black orb exploded and spread black particles across the entire platform. Even though Grey succeeded in retreating, he was still pushed back by the explosion.

He looked at the black particles around and his expression changed slightly. When it dropped on his body, it started to wreak havoc in his body.

'What is this?' He was stunned.

Even a poison miasma would not affect him, yet he was being affected by an attack from this young lady. It was a darkness element attack, so he felt he wouldn't be troubled by it, but things aren't always what they seem.

He used his darkness elemental essence in his body to try to control it, but the moment it touched it, he felt a stinging pain all over his body and he jolted from it.

'Damn it.' He looked at his opponent, and he could see her smiling evilly.

"You're mine now." Lydia licked her lips with a flirtatious smile before attacking.

This time, she used the water element to attack.

Grey prepared to attack, but the moment he mobilized his elemental essence, he felt a stinging pain in his head and he couldn't help but hold his head from the pain.

Lydia's attack hit Grey who wasn't even able to set up a defensive wall. It sent him flying, crashing into the ground.

'I can't use my elemental essence.' Grey hurriedly stood up and dodged the ice spikes that came out from the ground.

This was one of the most difficult positions he had been in. The technique Lydia used made it difficult for him to even try to block using his elemental powers.

Lydia continued attacking, not giving Grey an opportunity to think. Grey was forced to move around, dodging all the attacks. Luckily, his physical speed was still very fast, so he could still barely keep up with Lydia's attacks. He tried to shorten the gap between them so he could send her out of the platform, but unfortunately, Lydia didn't give him that chance.

Those from the Pyrmond Faction looked at Grey's current plight in worry. They originally thought Grey would lose, but after watching him battle Lydia, they started to feel hopeful, especially when Grey almost knocked Lydia out of the platform. But now, things were different, Grey wasn't scrambling around the platform trying to keep himself in the platform, he was even unable to defend.

"What's happening?" One of the geniuses who had been defeated asked, worried.

They didn't know why Grey was unable to even block the attacks. They saw him holding his head all of a sudden, but they didn't know why.

"It's the Syphilis Faction's technique. Once one was inflicted by it, they would be unable to mobilize their elemental powers, or they risk suffering from a severe backlash." An Elder explained to the others.

"Isn't there a way to counter it?" Alec asked.

"There is, but none of you have gotten to that level yet. Normally, An Elementalist below the Sage Plane shouldn't be able to learn that technique, I guess Lydia is a generational genius." The Elder shook his head with a sigh.

Grey and Alec were their strongest members, now Grey was about to be eliminated from the competition.

"This is a little difficult, but you don't think that he doesn't have any hidden cards, do you?" Conor still had some faith in Grey's ability.

"Even if he does, without his elemental essence, he can't possibly win against her. I mean… wait a minute… how come he's that fast without using elemental essence?" Alec was in the middle of speaking when he realized something odd, Grey's speed didn't see a considerable reduction after being unable to use his elements.

Grey was moving almost as fast as a Wind Elementalist at the Ninth stage of the Overlord Plane, and it wasn't something normal.

After Alec brought this observation to light, the others also realized it as well. Grey was dodging the attacks and even trying to close the gap between himself and Lydia, this was not supposed to be possible without his elements.

"I knew he had a hidden card. Still so fast without an element." Conor said.

He saw Grey fight against one of the members of the horned race with his fists, so he knew of his monstrous physical prowess, but he didn't know it was on this level.