Grey had no interest in speaking with the Gnomes. All he wanted was to cut down a few more Gnomes and return to the Peak Sovereign battlefield as quickly as possible.
He took the lead and charged straight at the enemy formation. Reynolds and the other human Ninth stage Sovereigns followed without hesitation, their figures streaking across the open desert.
The Gnomes had no choice but to meet them without puppets. Grey's presence made summoning the constructs far too dangerous. Once they confirmed his identity they had sealed every puppet away. None of them possessed immunity to his mental pressure, and none dared risk the consequences.
The two sides crashed together in a fierce exchange. Without the numerical edge their puppets normally provided, the Gnomes could no longer dominate the field the way they had earlier. The humans, however, carried their own disadvantage: most still suffered from earlier wounds and could not call on their full strength.
