novelraw Chapter 907: Reunion (2)
Chapter 907: Reunion (2)
Chapter 907
"Hello, my prickly queen."
The whole battlefield froze instantaneously.
Raze and Jay staggered back to their feet, swaying slightly from the previous impacts.
From their current position, they were unable to see the figure’s face, as his back was turned toward them.
But they had all heard Scarlet’s words loud and clear.
...Did she just call the Otherworlder "Grey?"
Unfortunately, the others still couldn’t get a clear look at the stranger’s features.
Scarlet’s body acted as a barrier, obstructing the view with how she had positioned herself directly in his personal space.
But then, she stepped to the side for a brief moment.
Just that single, fleeting interval was enough.
Kael’s crossed hands faltered and dropped heavily to his sides.
His eyes went wide, reflecting the sheer terror and confusion of someone who had just looked upon a ghost.
Arthur and Vanica shared the exact same stunned expressions.
Their hands had been poised, fingers twitching as they prepared to channel their various elements to aid the struggle, but now those hands dangled uselessly in shock.
Extreme, paralyzing shock.
Even Greg stood with his mouth hanging open, the lightning around his palms fizzling into nothingness.
Everyone stuttered in a disjointed harmony before finally uttering a single name:
"G-G-GREY?"
Raze and Jay hurried forward, desperate to see what the others were witnessing, and soon enough, they could see him clearly.
Their eyes widened in tandem. Their weapons fell.
Raze was about to speak, his voice cracking with emotion, until Jay suddenly barked out a denial.
"No, no, no! This can’t be! This is a lie! This isn’t Grey! That—that Zodiac said Grey was dead. Scarlet, that’s an illusion! This is all part of the Otherworlders’ plan!"
For a moment, a heavy silence descended over the ruins of the square.
"True. Grey can’t be here..." Raze whispered, his voice trembling.
His gaze narrowed into lethal slits once more.
Lightning began crackling around his hands and legs, his muscles coiling as he prepared to burst forward, until—
"Pipe down, fool. It really is me. And if you try to touch me, I will turn you to ash."
Grey snarled the warning, glaring in Raze’s direction with a familiar, sharp intensity.
Raze clenched his jaws even tighter, the sparks of his magic growing more violent.
"Stop acting like you are the real deal, imposter!" he bellowed into the air.
Without hesitation, Raze exploded forward with blazing speed.
He closed the distance in a jiffy, his fist pulled back to launch a devastating attack, until a series of fireballs from Scarlet’s dragon slammed into the earth directly in his path.
The sudden wall of heat forced him to leap backward to avoid being singed.
His gaze narrowed at Scarlet, who now stood directly before Grey like a protective shield.
"What are you doing, Scar? Don’t tell me you actually believe this imposter."
Scarlet didn’t reply immediately.
She looked up, her eyes searching the face of the man who was currently smiling softly at her.
Then, she glanced back at Raze with iron-clad certainty.
"I believe him. He’s really Grey."
"And what proof do we have that he is the real deal? We saw him use that—that—that strange power some of the Otherworlders used! He’s one of them!" Jay shouted, his face reddening with anger.
Scarlet clenched her hands into fists, her knuckles white, before looking at Grey one more time.
"I believe him because only Grey—and I mean only the real Grey—would ever dare call me ’Prickly Queen.’ And I’m the only one who wouldn’t feel the immediate urge to burn him alive for it!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the crumbling walls.
"..."
Everybody stared at her, stunned into silence.
They were unable to find the right words to refute her logic, yet the suspicion remained thick in the air.
"Oh yeah? That isn’t enough proof, Scar. We all here have battled the Otherworlders during the invasion, and that was just a quarter of their full force. We haven’t even seen all they are capable of," Greg rebuked, beginning to walk forward with slow, cautious steps.
"...In case you have forgotten, Vince works for them now. There’s no telling what he told them. He probably informed them about how close Grey was to us and gave them a ’code’ word to trick you. This is all a calculated plan, can’t you see?!"
Scarlet squeezed her hands together even tighter.
’How do I tell them? How do I explain? This—this feeling... this emotion. I know this is the real Grey, but I just don’t know how to make them understand.’
"Let me..." Grey whispered softly.
He slowly walked past Scarlet, his crimson robe fluttering as he made his way toward the front.
The others tensed up instantly, their bodies shifting into defensive stances, prepared for a sudden betrayal or a lethal strike.
Grey didn’t flinch. He simply looked at Greg.
"We got admitted to the Lunaria Academy recently; I hoarded a table in the canteen all by myself.
You came to mess with me because of your snotty pride as a noble, and I shut you up by conjuring a silent wind sword pointed directly at your head.
And I said this: ’Don’t judge a book by its cover. Who knows? The book might just end up biting you. Or saving you.’"
Grey uttered the words with a calm, nostalgic weight as he pointed directly in Greg’s direction.
Turning his head in Raze’s direction, he added:
"... We were roommates back at the academy. I gave you a bunch of rules and some of them were to not touch my belongings, don’t yap too much or I zap you. And I also disliked anybody touching me, talk more of hugging me. That was said in our room where only me and you were in. So tell me, how could Vince have known of this?"
Raze faltered, his eyes widening in sudden, sharp recognition.
Still, Grey wasn’t finished as he shifted his gaze in Arthur’s direction.
"Way before we got admitted into the academy, during the assessment; Scarlet called you trash because of your magic.
You were down because of that, the words refusing to leave your head when I walked up to you silently and told you to prove her wrong.
Grow so much stronger that she will be forced to acknowledge you and your magic. And by the looks of things, you did. She acknowledges your help in battle. How could Vince have known what I said?"
He then turned to glare at Kael, who was watching the whole scene without budging an inch.
He was about to speak when Kael shook his head slowly.
"I’m already convinced a while back that you are the real deal. Because per my knowledge; the Otherworlders strictly maintain their signature robes and masks, especially the Zodiacs.
This has been going on for decades, and for a ’Zodiac’ to suddenly appear with new robes and masks, things didn’t make sense. That’s why I didn’t even join in the fight to begin with."
Kael thought for a second before adding:
"Coupled with the fact that you had tons and dozens of opportunities to kill your opponents, yet you didn’t take them.
You opted for the bare minimum attacks that wouldn’t kill them but were enough to keep them at bay. Only someone who cared could do such a thing."
Grey smiled before shaking his head, then looked at Greg and Jay, who still didn’t look like they were entirely buying it.
The mage just sighed deeply and then—
The wind howled loudly, lifting Grey from the ground until he was hovering high in the air.
Bolts of lightning began crackling all around his frame, followed by fireballs suddenly materializing around his position.
Wind swords appeared, whistling through the atmosphere, while the ground quivered continuously as if an earthquake was about to erupt beneath them.
"Is this proof enough to douse your doubts? Or who else aside from the Emperor can use four affinities?"
Grey thought for a second, then snapped his fingers with a sharp, resonant sound.
An ashen portal yawned open before him, swirling with chaotic energy.
"Sorry, five affinities."