Capítulo 1998: Losing Strength Klaus’s opponent gaining the advantage did not give him the chance to get back into the fight. Even when Klaus tried to get help from Alice and Reynolds, he realized the duo were fully preoccupied. Hugh was also having an intense battle against the Fifth stage Sovereign he fought with the last time. There was no way anyone could assist him against the silver robbed Gnome. He was lucky the Gnome’s Puppet had been destroyed from their first clash, else he would have been in a precarious situation. He focused fully on defending, taking one attack after another from the Gnome. With each attack, he was forced to retreat a couple of steps from the impact of the attack. His ice wall was barely able to block the Gnome’s persistent assault. He used his domain, but the Gnome was already prepared, making use of his darkness domain, he shielded his body, ensuring there was no way the cold from Klaus’s domain would have any effect on him. As long as Klaus’s domain did not affect him, then he knew he was free to do whatever he wanted against the former. Klaus gritted his teeth as he was fully suppressed by the Gnome. There was no chance for him to fight in the same reckless manner as he did the last time due to still suffering from some of the injuries of the previous day. The same could be said for the Gnome, only, being in the Ninth stage of the Sovereign Plane, his restorative ability was higher than Klaus’s. The Gnome grinned as he continued his attack, attacking with more and more vigor. He did not even try to engage Klaus in any conversations as there was no need to. From their bout a few minutes ago, he already knew the Human before him had a vile mouth and the moment he gives him the chance to speak up, he would regret it, this is the reason why even though he was on top, he still remained silent, compared to the way he acted the first day they fought. Klaus’s already pale complexion turned even whiter as he struggled to even counter. This was the first time in a long time he felt this feeling of weakness. The gap between a Ninth stage and a Seventh stage Sovereign was large. Previously, he had always had the assistance of his friends when fighting, so even though he knew he was not on the same level as a Ninth stage Sovereign, he had never really felt it to this extent. The last time, Reynolds and Alice were able to lend him a helping hand due to their opponents being weaker than they were, especially Reynolds. Unfortunately, the situation was different now, Reynolds’s opponent was even stronger than Klaus’s since he was not injured beforehand like Klaus’s opponent. The only saving grace for Reynolds was his terrifying speed, so even though he could not go head to head against the Ninth stage Sovereign Gnome, he could still at least run, evading most of the attacks. Klaus’s defense was tough, but he was not fast. This turned him into a sitting duck for his opponent who unleashed one technique after another. The Gnome showed no sign of slowing down, breaking one ice wall after another. The entire area surrounding the duo was filled with cold air from all Klaus’s destroyed ice walls. As one ice wall is taken down, another one is raised in an instant. The Gnome continued attacking, feeling it was only a matter of time before he got to his opponent. Klaus was feeling the pressure, yet he remained calm and collected. His gaze darted around the battlefield as he looked around to see if there was any chance he might be able to create some distance between himself and the Gnome. His gaze landed on the shattered Puppet and he rushed in that direction. The Gnome, thinking Klaus wanted to escape, chased after him, blocking his path. Klaus wanted to speak, only to be met with an arm made from the darkness element grabbing at him from below. He pushed his water element, sending out a wave of water blades at the arm. The arm halted, not moving any closer. The Gnome smiled as small particles of darkness essence spread across a hundred meters radius, covering both him and Klaus in it. Before long, their figures faded into the darkness. In the darkness, Klaus looked around, sending out his Mental Sense, he realized his senses as well as vision was affected. He could barely sense anything more than a few meters away from his body. This was one of the special abilities of the Gnome’s domain, sealing a short area in darkness. He lost track of the silver robbed Gnome’s aura. Without hesitation, he set up a layer of protection around himself. Bang! Accompanied by a creepy laugh was an attack that caused a crack to appear on the ice veil Klaus used to protect himself. Klaus frowned as he turned in the direction of the attack, sending out a series of ice spikes; he failed to make contact with anything. The Gnome attacked one again, further increasing the cracks in the ice veil. Klaus tried to reinforce the ice veil, only to notice that the darkness was corroding the ice veil as well. So not only was the Gnome’s attack breaking it, the darkness they were surrounded by was also slowly corroding it. Klaus knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before his thin layer of protection was broken through. ‘Damn it!’ He cursed internally. If not for his weak strength, he would have not been in such a situation. His friends had no way to help him even if they wanted to. They too were facing their own difficult opponents. Alice might be able to help, but he was sure she was assisting Reynolds. Bang! The ice veil was struck once again, the cracks getting wider as the darkness particles started to sleep through the cracks into the region Klaus was located. If he inhales the darkness particles, the outcome would be deadly to him. He created a large ball of heavy water that he covered himself with. The use of heavy water was more taxing compared to creating normal water, the best he could do right now was to create the one he could use to protect himself as his ice veil finally cracked open, shattering into pieces. The laughter of the Gnome rang out as attack after attack made from the darkness element slammed into the water protecting Klaus. The Gnome, hidden in the darkness, was a little frustrated at the sight of this water. This is the reason the battle has dragged on for this long, Klaus’s defense was just too strong. There were times he thought he had defeated him, only to see that he still had a layer of protection. This was one of such cases as well. This time though, he had no plans of letting Klaus escape from his clutches like the latter had done in the past. Klaus, covered in water, felt his body being struck by powerful attacks. Even though he was not personally taking these attacks, the impact from it still made his organs churn. He tumbled repeatedly from the attacks, yet he did not leave the cover of the darkness. It was as if the entire world was filled with darkness and once the water he was covered in dries up, he too would be engulfed by this unending darkness. Despair slowly started to rise in his heart as he felt the water reducing little by little. Each attack from the Gnome was chopping off a little of the water, before long, it was certain that he would be exposed to the darkness. ‘Grey isn’t even back yet, I didn’t get to see if he successfully found Father.’ Klaus thought about the missing Grey as well as his Father. There has been no news from either of them for days now, and there was no saying what could have happened to them. ‘I didn’t even get to enjoy my marriage.’ A feeling of melancholy washed over him at the thought of his wife. He married only a short while before they rushed to the Azure Continent. Since they arrived, other than the first period they were allowed to travel around, it has been from one battlefield to another for him. His wife was safe in Red City, but he had been engaging in multiple battles. At the moment, he almost felt a hint of regret. The feeling of regret was swiftly pushed away and the figure who was enveloped by despair suddenly wore a maddened expression, shouting into the darkness he roared, “Since you want to end my life, I’ll take you with me!” The Gnome, who was hidden in the darkness, snickered. He realized it seems the Human had finally lost all strength to fight.