The scene before Klaus was not one he was expecting to see. Alice and Reynolds were currently in a battle with three Puppets, all three were Ninth stage Sovereigns, and from what Klaus could tell, not all the Gnomes have unleashed an attack. However, instead of feeling fear, his blood started to boil. Reynolds was currently in his merged state with his Elemental Warrior, increasing his strength by a considerable margin. Alice was using her dual domain to help slow down these Puppets. With the duo working together, although they are outnumbered, they were still putting up a fight. Klaus did not rush to join the fight, sneaking closer, he contacted Alice and Reynolds, telling them of his plan to take out one of the Gnomes with a sneak attack. If the sneak attack is successful, then the other two Gnomes will be disorganized within that short time frame, which will give them the opportunity they needed. The duo felt some sense of relief when they heard Klaus' voice in their heads. As long as Klaus can join them, then they will be able to at least survive this ordeal or even turn it around if the plan is successful. They have tried escaping after they were surrounded, but it was futile. The duo quickly followed Klaus' plan, dragging out the Puppets as they retreated to the woods, away from this little City that is already in ruins. The Gnomes, having the superior numbers did not feel any panic as the duo tried to take the battle to the woods, this was not the first time they had to deal with the duo trying to escape. There were presently six Gnomes present, and two of three of them were Eighth stage Sovereigns, hence the reason they are able to have Ninth stage Puppets. When Klaus first arrived, he thought of destroying the Puppets first, but after giving it more thought, he changed his mind. The Puppets were under the control of the Gnomes, so as long as the Gnome controlling the Puppet dies, the Puppet will stop functioning. With Reynolds and Alice dragging the Puppets out, the Gnomes naturally had to follow since they would not be able to pass proper instructions to their Puppets if they were out of sight. Klaus laid up his ambush around two kilometers away from the City, he needed to be sure that the Gnomes would not sense him, and the woods was the only place he could hide both himself and his aura without any issues. As long as the Gnomes did not sense him, he was confident he could at least insta-kill one of them. The Gnomes knew that allowing Alice and Reynolds retreat into the woods would not necessarily be a good thing, after all, this was a woods filled with Magical Beasts. Even if the Magical Beasts will not be able to cause any harm to them, they might still be able to delay them, which was enough time for experts of Reynolds and Alice's caliber to escape. They tried to stop the duo from going deeper, but Alice's Seelie appeared at the right time, moving away from her body, blocking the attacks of all three Ninth stage Puppets, giving the duo the chance they needed to enter the woods. This was the first time something like this was happening since the fight started, so the Gnomes did not react quickly, letting the duo safely enter the woods. The Gnomes realized something was not right and rushed after the duo. In the woods. Klaus was hiding in the branch of one of the first trees while entering the woods, so he got a good view of how Reynolds and Alice were able to withdraw. Alice has lost significant strength since sending out her Seelie and her aura only had that of a newly advanced Seventh stage Sovereign. It was easy to see that it had not been long she broke through to the Seventh stage. Although unlike Grey and Klaus who had broken through months ago, her cultivation speed lacked a bit compared to them. Klaus did not come out even after seeing his friend in such a state, keeping his calm, he waited until the Gnomes entered the forest. While waiting, he had been preparing two ice needles. This was his strongest ability, and against Gnomes who were a stage higher than him, this was his only chance at one-shotting them. As soon as the Gnomes entered the forest, both ice needles shot straight at two of the Eighth stage Sovereign Gnomes. Two ice needles were his limit at the moment, but he was confident they would be enough to take out two Eighth stage Sovereigns. None of the Gnomes sensed the presence of the ice needles until it was only a few inches away from them. Klaus' accuracy was impeccable as both ice needles not only pierced the bodies of the Gnomes, it even passed to the other two behind them. Alice and Reynolds were just about to face a three pronged attack from the Puppets, and the Alice who was mostly focused with helping with defense has been weakened due to her Seelie giving them the opportunity to withdraw. 'Klaus, where are you?' She did not know where Klaus was hiding just like the Gnomes. If not for her certainty that the person who contacted her and Reynolds was Klaus, she would have had the thought of a Gnome plotting against them. Facing the three pronged attack, she prepared herself for the attack. Bam! The sound of something hitting the ground resonated, while Reynolds rushed to her front to block the Puppet that was about to attack. Reynolds was the one facing two Puppets, but to his shock, they were never able to release their attacks, falling to the ground like inanimate objects. He guessed whatever Klaus did was successful, so he focused on helping Alice. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 Alice, saw Reynolds appear before her in a flash and turned to check for the other two Puppets, a smile crept on her face as she saw them on the floor. 'There you are.'