Lich stared at the young man in front of him, who was calmly dissecting an abominable frog. His hands moved with practiced ease—like someone who had performed this task thousands of times. And indeed, he had.
He was tall, with a lean, athletic build. Snow-white hair was lazily tied into a messy bun, and his amethyst eyes were cold, piercing—detached from the world around him.
He was beautiful in every sense of the word. So beautiful, in fact, that he resembled an angel… but this angel had undoubtedly fallen from heaven, for his heart brimmed with malice.
And yet, despite his beauty, a ghastly, horrifying scar stretched across his face—twisted into an unnatural grin. It marred his perfection and made him feel even more disturbing, even more wrong, than he already was.
Lich observed him for a while, then let out a long sigh, shaking his blackened skull.
"Well… it's been a two month. I know losing a fight is a bitter pill to swallow—especially for a prideful brat like you—but training day and night isn't going to change the outcome. Your rank is lower than hers. That's all there is to it."
Klaus glanced at him, humming thoughtfully. Then he shrugged, set the knife aside, and pulled off his gloves, massaging the back of his neck.
"I guess so... But it's not really about that."
He paused, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"At least the kids are doing well."
Lich nodded silently. It was a good sign—Klaus didn't seem broken or discouraged by his loss.
And now… the children. Belial and Hecate.
Those two had somehow survived the destruction caused by Amelia.
In fact, Elder Knossos had been looking for them—not necessarily for the children themselves, but for their mother, who was his friend's daughter.
She had been captured by Yggdrasil years ago, and Knossos had been searching for her ever since. Every clue, every trace he found led back to the same organisation—Yggdrasil.
That's why he reached out to Klaus. He made the choice to ally with someone who was not only well-informed about Yggdrasil… but also hated them just as much as he did.
The children's mother had died long ago—but the kids had survived. That, at least, was enough for Knossos.
The surprising part was that he left the children in Klaus's care, claiming it was too dangerous for them to return to the clan. Lich, however, had his suspicions. He believed Knossos's friend—and his daughter—had been traitors. That would explain why Knossos left the children here, hidden away.
It was clear as day that they carried the blood of the Storm God. The faint purple hue in their hair was proof enough. And now, Klaus was, more or less, the babysitter of these children of the night.
He was responsible for their finances, their education, and everything they needed to grow up into decent human beings. For now, at least, Klaus would be their guardian.
Lich supposed it was a good change. Lately, Klaus had been neglecting himself—constantly consumed by thoughts of war, organizations, clans, the Dream Realm, his own growth, and the endless pursuit of knowledge.
Though Klaus was a merciless bastard most of the time, at his core he was still a child in some bizarre way… A nicer way of saying he was, well, a bit retarded.
Lich shook his head in amusement, faint azure flames dancing in the hollows of his skull.
"Why didn't you use Gleipnir? When you attacked with Satan, you should've swapped Devourer out for Gleipnir. That way, you could've restrained her—and protected yourself far more effectively."
Klaus said nothing. He simply glanced at the runes hovering in the air beside him.
Enchantment: [War]
"Devourer can gain characteristics of mystical Artifacts and Materials it absorbs. By synthesizing absorbed artifacts, you can create the Seven Deadly Relics of devastating power."
[First Slot: Satan]
[Second Slot: Leviathan]
[Third Slot: Pandora's Box]
[Fourth Slot: Gleipnir]
Enchantment: The Deceiver – Gleipnir appears as golden chains, soft as silk, stronger than any steel.
Enchantment: Iron Will – Gleipnir can challenge the will of higher beings.
Enchantment: Heavenly Chains – It can shield and instantly transport the user to a safe location in moments of danger.
Enchantment: Mass Dispel – It neutralizes enemy's abilities.
Enchantment: Chain Constructs – It creates powerful constructs made entirely of chains.
Klaus stared at the runes in silence, deep in thought. Gleipnir... It was powerful. Unreasonably so. But that was expected.
He had obtained it after freeing Hope during his second nightmare. Breaking the deity's chains and liberating her hadn't been his only goal back then—he had several motives layered beneath the surface.
The first was obvious: break her chains to end the nightmare.
The second was more ambitious—to gain her blessing. And he had. But things hadn't gone the way he expected.
Her blessing had fused with the Law of Original Sin, amplifying its power. Now Klaus didn't just feel the sins of others—he could sense their desires as well.
And that, in the end, turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing.
Still, his final goal had been the most fruitful of all.
When Klaus broke the chains forged by the Sun God, he didn't just free Hope. In fact, as the nightmare neared its end, he unleashed Devourer—a harrowing amalgamation of blackness.
What it did next was unspeakable.
Devourer consumed the chains.
Chains that were meant to imprison a deity.
And because of that impossible act, Devourer's [War] enchantment had been able to fill the fourth slot—with Gleipnir.
Klaus sighed, his thoughts drifting again to the war that would inevitably come. But he shook his head, forcing the weight of it away. Not yet. Amelia hadn't told him when to declare war—and Klaus knew exactly when the time would be right. For now, he was still too weak to challenge them.
He glanced at Lich and gave a small shrug, remembering the question that had started it all.
"It's not like I forgot about Gleipnir... I planned to use it. But the radiation messed with my mind—left me dazed, disoriented. I couldn't think straight."
He paused, his voice lower now.
"I wasn't even able to fight at my peak. That radiation didn't just cloud my thoughts... it was eating away at my body too."
Lich nodded, understanding Klaus's situation. He patted his thigh—or rather, the bone that served as one—and rose to his feet.
"Well, that makes sense. Anyway, go check on the kids. It's been a while since you spent time with them. Miseria managed to patch up their psychological issues, so now they're more or less normal..."
He paused, then added with a dry chuckle, "Well, except for being far more ruthless, cruel, and mischievous than any other child alive."
Klaus nodded absently… then suddenly froze.
"Wait—why am I the only one babysitting them?!"
Lich just shrugged, already walking toward the lab's exit.
"I don't know, and I don't care."
He stopped at the doorway, glancing back over his shoulder.
"Oh, and by the way—Fenrir's grown up too. Tsk. You're really letting that oversized wolf roam freely through your forest? What if he eats someone?"
A faint flicker of amusement danced in his blue flames.
"And giving him the name of that beast? What, you want your wolf to start Ragnarök or something?"
Klaus shrugged. Fenrir was a cool name—what was Lich's problem, anyway?
Besides, the wolf had grown splendidly. He was already as large as his mother. Of course, that wasn't much of a mystery considering Klaus had been feeding him a steady diet of abominations and soul shards. Honestly, the results were expected.
Still, it gave Klaus something to brag about. And brag he did—because who else had a noble creature prowling around their garden?!
Only him! He was the only one in the world with a noble creature.
And Fenrir was chill, for the most part. Sure, he was a wolf, but he was also frighteningly intelligent. He couldn't speak, but he understood everything people said around him.
Klaus had examined him several times—thoroughly, of course—and the results were always promising. In just two months, Fenrir had evolved from a dormant beast into an Awakened Demon.
A very welcome surprise.
Of course, progress would slow down as Fenrir continued down the path of Ascension. That was natural. But he still needed real combat experience to grow further.
Well… he would've gotten it—if a certain someone didn't keep causing trouble.
Hecate.
That damned brat.
Klaus grimaced at the memory of the savage little girl he'd gone out of his way to save. And now she was more of a menace than half the monsters he fought.
Still, for now, everything was going relatively well. His experiments were progressing—slowly but steadily. He had even managed to use his Ascended ability during battle, and soon, he'd fully incorporate it into his combat style.
The thought made him smirk.
He was genuinely looking forward to all the diabolical shit he could pull off with that ability.
Amelia's experiments were equally valuable. Her knowledge of natural awakening was a treasure beyond measure. But that wasn't all—because that mad bitch was also crafting weapons and diseases, using her own abilities to forge radioactive weapons capable of wreaking catastrophic damage on nature itself.
Klaus had learned a great deal from her work. More importantly, he had begun piecing together her true intentions.
If his theory was correct—and he desperately hoped it wasn't—Amelia's goal was to destroy everything.
Why? The reasons were unknown. Maybe it was the sheer love of the game.
Klaus could understand that much. He had always been drawn to accomplishing impossible feats himself.
But a more plausible theory was that Amelia planned to conquer the great citadel—and reshape its environment forever. Instead of a livable place, she would turn it into a radioactive hell, where her power would become even more terrifying and absolute.
As for Set and Gaia? Klaus had no concrete information about those two. That was why he had sent his people to investigate them.
After all, in a year or two, he planned to declare war—and then… he would truly turn the world upside down.