Capítulo 2002: Why Are You Thanking Me? Klaus’s body exuded no aura which suggested that he was alive, yet, the Gnome could clearly hear the sound of a beating heart coming from his body. Klaus had been injured from their previous clashes, and even his darkness elemental essence had invaded his body and wreaked havoc inside him. Even in his current state, dark mist could be seen coming from the injuries on his body. Even with that, his heart started to beat again. The silver robbed Gnome, not wanting to take any chances, decided it was best for him to destroy the body. Besides, he had failed in his multiple attempts to forge a connection with the corpse, so there was no point in keeping the body whole. Other than that, the sound of the beating heart from the supposed dead body made him a little apprehensive. His blow was about to land when Klaus’s body was suddenly covered in a seal of ice, blocking the palm strike of the silver robbed Gnome. “Huh?” The sudden development startled the Gnome. He could tell from previous inspection that Klaus was not conscious, so how was he able to set up a layer of protection? There were so many questions in the mind of the Gnome. First he failed to create a connection with him even after repeated attempts, now even though there were no apparent signs of life force in his body, his heart suddenly started to beat again. This is not something that could be explained with normal logic. Now he tried to destroy the body, only to find it sealing itself in defensive ice even though it was evident that there were no signs of consciousness in the body. ‘What is going on?!’ This was the only question ringing in the head of the silver robbed Gnome. While this question rang in his head, alarm bells rang in his heart. A sliver of murderous intent soon locked onto him from an unknown place, scaring him out of his wits. If whoever this person was facing him head on, he would not panic. However, he could not even see where this murderous intent was radiating from, and there was still the shock of what was happening to the body before him. He quickly decided to retreat to stick close to Klaus’s body for one reason, to use him to block whichever sneak attack was aimed at him. He was just about to grab the body frozen in ice when he suddenly paused and gawked at it, looking completely befuddled at the scene before him. The body that previously held no aura of life slowly started to glow while still frozen in an ice case, the aura which had previously disappeared bloomed once again. At first it was like a flickering spark of flame that would go off with the slightest breeze. After only a couple of seconds, the aura started to grow stronger and stronger. That was not all, a bone-chilling cold air spread from the body, freezing everything in its path, including the very space around him. The air showed signs of freezing, making the silver robbed Gnome retreat in haste. The darkness domain started to also show signs of freezing over, shocking the Gnome greatly. When he fought with Klaus the last time, the latter showed signs of almost freezing the domain. Fortunately for him, that did not happen and he successfully used his domain to take his opponent down in the end. ‘This is bad.’ Pushing his darkness element to the maximum, he made sure the corrosiveness of his domain matched the coldness coming from the ice case. If his domain was frozen in this instance, although it was not dangerous to him, his overall strength will see a decline for the meantime. As the corrosiveness and the chilling cold fought for the upper hand, Klaus’s aura was getting stronger and stronger. His already Seventh stage Sovereign aura flared up, seemingly on the verge of going higher. Seeing this, the silver robbed Gnome grimaced. Outside the darkness domain. The silver robbed Gnome was not the only one who noticed this sudden turn of events, the other Sovereigns did as well. “Did he succeed?” One for the Ninth stage Sovereign Gnomes asked. They could not be blamed for thinking this, the reason being that a Puppet always retained the same aura as when they used to be alive. So when they sensed this flaring aura, they did not think of any other reason other than the Gnome successfully forming a connection with Klaus’s corpse. Hearing the Gnome’s question, Reynolds, who was facing off against him, became even more crazy with his attacks. “Don’t worry, you will join your friend soon enough.” The Gnome snickering, before declaring coldly, “Every last one of you.” Alice and Hugh had the same reaction as Reynolds, all fueled by anger. They had already put their lives at stake, and were even on the verge of trying something drastic when the aura, which had supposedly peaked at the limit of the Seventh stage of the Sovereign Plane, took a step further, reaching the Eighth stage in one try. The expression of the snickering Gnome froze, this was because he knew it was simply impossible for a newly bonded Puppet to suddenly break the shackles of their previous cultivation when they were alive. They had no idea what was going on inside the darkness domain as the Gnome’s ability restricted everyone except himself. Inside the darkness domain. Klaus’s previously closed eyes snapped open the moment his aura rose past the Seventh stage, at the same time, the ice case sealing him broke apart, revealing his body. His expression was as calm as still lake, taking a glance at the silver robbed Gnome, he casually said, “I should thank you for your assistance.” The silver robbed Gnome looked at Klaus warily, “Why are you thanking me?” “I said I should, it doesn’t mean I will.” Klaus remarked coolly, not intent on speaking further. He observed his current condition and his expression turned cold. There was no joy in his face after breaking through to the Eighth stage of the Sovereign Plane.