Moonlight Faction. Klaus' residence.
Klaus could be seen seated with a dull look on his face while dressed in silver robes, in front of him was a young lady who looked to be around twenty or so giving him the updates on what was happening around the world.
"How can that be? Didn't they send Elder Griselda to help deal with the situation?" Klaus asked with a little skepticism. He could not be blamed, the news he was getting isn't something he expected at all.
A few days ago, reports about a Town within the territory of the thr Moonlight Faction was attacked by Gnomes. Using the information they received, they sent out experts with the corresponding cultivation levels. Klaus recalled hearing the strongest experts from that Gnomes' attack was only a Fifth stage Sovereign, and to be sure, they sent out two Sixth stage Sovereigns to deal with the Gnome. It has only been a few days and reports reaching him was that both Sixth stage Sovereigns were in critical conditions while the others that went with them were almost all killed.
"The information was accurate, but the Gnome is stronger than they expected. It also had a Seventh stage Sovereign puppet with it, catching them completely unprepared." The young lady explained.
Klaus frowned when he heard this, if this was the case, then the possibility of the Gnome defeating the two Sixth stage Sovereigns from the Moonlight Faction did not seem unacceptable due to the element of surprise it held.
"I don't think it will stay there and wait for death. Knowing that we already know what they are hiding, the Gnomes should have already retreated." Klaus commented, he wanted to kill the Gnomes, but there was nothing he could do given how slippery they were.
The Gnomes only came out to launch surprise attacks and then disappear after managing to draw some attention. This has been the card the Gnomes have been playing for over six months now. They knew they could not move rampantly in the Aurora Continent yet since they did not have the numbers advantage. Although Gnomes have been coming to the Human World, they still could not come in en mass, so they have to take their time. And once they get too many in a particular area, due to their natural affinity to the darkness element, their presence influences the essence in the area which in turn gives them away. This is one of the reasons humans have been able to quickly locate them once they've gathered to a certain number.
Two large hideouts of the Gnomes were destroyed in a short amount of time which alerted them about the humans' abilities to sense their presence once they get too large. Of the hideouts, one of them had a few Peak Sovereigns, yet they could not even withstand the attack and only one of the Peak Sovereigns managed to escape with their lives, the rest were either killed or captured.
"Actually, they are still there. I was told to tell you to set out immediately." The young lady replied, her mood a little downcast.
Seeing her expression, Klaus chuckled and said with a frosty expression while a little killing intent sipped out of him body, "Don't worry, I will make them pay for hurting our people."
Hearing Klaus' words, a hopeful expression appeared on the young lady's face before it was replaced with fear, "What if this is also a plot by the Gnomes?"
This was her worry. When they initially received the news of the Gnomes attack, they sent out people based on the information they received, and it was only after they suffered such a brutal defeat did they realize this was the plan of the Gnomes from the start.
Klaus is a very important figure in the Moonlight Faction. Other than the fact that he was the only male in a all female Faction, he is also the greatest genius in the history of the Faction, and is someone who could easily be regarded as one of the top geniuses in the entire world. If he were to die due to their carelessness in information gathering again, then the consequences would be dire.
"Are you forgetting that I've faced a Ninth stage Sovereign and survived?" Klaus was touched by the young lady's worry and tried reassuring her.
The young lady's previously worried expression turned dark as she remarked, "You did not fight with him, you ran away before he even said a word."
She knew about this event and at first when Klaus returned, he spoke of how he faced off against a Ninth stage Sovereign Gnome and survived. When they all heard the story they were amazed by the fact that he was able to survive an encounter with a Ninth stage Sovereign, after all, Klaus was a Seventh stage Sovereign. Most Seventh stage Sovereign Elementalists can not defeat Gnomes in the same cultivation stage due to the Gnomes' puppets. Yet, Klaus managed to survive and ordeal with one two stages above him. It was only when an Elder who happened to be in the same area Klaus told them of how Klaus took off the second the Ninth stage Sovereign arrived did they understand that although he faced off against a Ninth stage Sovereign, he did not really fight the latter.
The Elder who exposed Klaus was one of the few who Klaus ran to for protection the second he realized his opponent was a Ninth stage Sovereign. Klaus, shamelessly coming back to boast is well within his character, so even when they heard him say this, most of them did not stop him, with the exception of that Elder.
"Talk when you can stand face to face with a Ninth stage Sovereign Gnome." Klaus snorted in discontent, clearly not happy the young lady pointed out he was boasting. Although he was not happy, he reassured, "Don't worry, they can't kill me."
Hearing the confidence in Klaus' voice, the young lady nodded. She too believed that Klaus would be able to succeed in this mission, she was only a little worried, especially after the utter failure of the last group.