Nephis let out a long sigh, staring up at the ceiling. She was sprawled out on the floor, utterly exhausted. Sweat beaded on her forehead and soaked through her clothes.
"I thought we were just doing, you know… marketing? Or whatever it's called when I'm on the product?"
Klaus floated above her, legs crossed mid-air like some smug hooligan. He gave her a blank, unimpressed look.
"Get up. I don't like how you fight. You're a weakling."
Nephis shot him a dark glare, healing herself with flames as she stood up once more, sword in hand.
This wasn't her usual [Dream Blade], but one of the powerful Memories Klaus had given her—its name was [Zealot].
The sword's ability was as strange as its name. The more faith you had—whether in gods, ideals, or simply in yourself—the stronger it became. It was a Transcendent Memory of second tier, that enhanced everything: abilities, essence recovery, physical strength, essence output… all of it.
The weapon itself was a magnificent bronze longsword, regal and radiant, brimming with raw power.
While the name might've been a bit odd, Nephis couldn't deny just how useful it was. After all, if there was one thing she didn't lack… it was unwavering faith in herself.
White flames ignited along the edge of her sword as Nephis stepped forward. The fire coiled and danced with growing ferocity, fed by a steady stream of her essence. The blade shimmered, burning brighter with each heartbeat.
But Klaus remained unfazed. He hovered in the air with the same bored, nonchalant expression—watching her with mild interest.
Then, in a blink, her sword flashed.
It sliced cleanly through his neck.
His head hit the ground with a dull thud, eyes still watching her with an unsettling curiosity. And then, like it was nothing more than smoke and illusion, his severed head crumbled into glowing amethyst dust and vanished on the wind.
Nephis gritted her teeth, frustration tightening her jaw. She couldn't even trust her own senses while fighting him. Sure, she could break the illusions—sometimes—but he kept conjuring more, endless and relentless.
His illusions worked on two levels: one, to deceive her senses; and two, to manifest illusory constructs from that swirling violet sand.
She couldn't tell which were mere constructs and which were her own mind betraying her.
The constructs themselves were harmless, incapable of killing her, but their presence was disorienting. Even if she resisted the mental assault, she still had to deal with these lingering phantoms. Worse yet, she never truly knew if she had broken free from the mind attack or was still trapped within it.
Four versions of Klaus hovered in the air, each looking down at her with the same arrogant smirk. Nephis felt a sting of irritation. Lady Changing Star—she—was usually the one who was stronger, more experienced, and wiser than most. In the Forgotten Shore, everyone followed her lead.
So having someone look at her like she was a child? That was a bitter pill to swallow.
Sunny had been right—this man was a monster. To think someone could be this powerful... Now she had no doubts: he possessed a Divine aspect. But, as Sunny had said, there was no way to tell which god's power he inherited. No, this wasn't even the power of any of the six gods. Perhaps it was something entirely his own?
She didn't know the truth yet, but now wasn't the time to ponder it. Instead, she did what she knew best—swung her sword, unleashing waves of immolating flames that engulfed the four illusions, reducing them to sparkling amethyst sand.
"Why don't you show me your real skills? Remove those illusions and fight me with your sword."
A soft, mocking laugh echoed from above. She looked up, catching sight of him standing on the ceiling, calmly watching her.
"And why would I? I am no warrior," he said with a sly smile, "but a sorcerer, as you can see."
He paused, a humorous smile appearing on his face as he shrugged, then vanished from the ceiling—only to appear standing in front of her as if he had been there all along. She wasn't sure whether he had teleported or if it had all been an illusion.
Then he snapped his fingers, and the entire underground dojo transformed. All the destruction she had caused vanished, replaced by a pristine white dojo, untouched and flawless.
"How?" she asked, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Klaus rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by the question.
"By using my ability, duh. But fine, I'll humour you... Still, you're easily deceived. I don't think you've ever met a great liar."
Nephis gave him a confident smile. She was no stranger to falsehood—after all, she was the one and only graduate of Sunny's school of deception and lies.
"Hmm… who knows…" she said nonchalantly and shrugged.
But Klaus's gaze remained unimpressed, staring at her like she was an idiot.
"Why do you sound so smug? Girl, if you think you're the main character in some xianxia novel, I have to disappoint you. Because you're about to get beaten to a pulp. Now, focus."
Nephis blinked. That was… harsh. But nonetheless, she nodded and focused. This time, she did exactly as Klaus had taught her. Though he was a prideful guy who enjoyed mocking and annoying people, he was surprisingly helpful.
She concentrated her essence into her senses, opened her eyes, and dashed forward to cleave the figure in front of her with unwavering confidence.
Well… she failed. That one was just an illusion, while the real one kicked her squarely in the butt—literally.
She clenched her fists but kept trying, focusing on what Klaus had taught her. This technique was useful to resist mental damage or control, so she needed to channel her essence into her nervous system—the part responsible for her senses. But achieving that was incredibly difficult. No, it was impossible for anyone other than him.
So Klaus gave her a knockoff version of his technique—humiliating, yes, but she was still grateful. Instead of channeling it with perfect control, she ended up wrecking her own body, burning everything inside her… including Klaus's essence that was influencing her senses. Then, she rebuilt her body again using her flames.
She opened her eyes, gritting her teeth against the pain. The pristine white dojo was gone. In its place was the same destruction she had caused before Klaus snapped his fingers.
Wait… she thought the burned dojo was an illusion, and when he snapped his fingers, the new pristine scene that appeared was reality—but now it seemed the reality was the illusion, and what she had thought was illusion was actually reality?
Nephis blinked. That was confusing... Klaus was nowhere to be seen. She looked around curiously—and then found… what?
He was sitting there with Cassie, casually smoking and playing a video game.
Nephis blinked, utterly baffled.
What… even is this?
She didn't know whether to be annoyed, impressed, or just utterly confused.
Klaus glanced at her with a smirk, inhaling deeply before releasing a stream of smoke—followed by perfectly-formed rings. Then, he stood up. White sparks flickered around him, coalescing into a sinister, double-bladed crimson spear. He stretched lazily, cracking his neck before resting the weapon casually on his shoulder.
"Alright, let's do this," he said. "I'll fight without any tricks. But—you'll do exactly as I say. The stronger you've become, the more you've forgotten how to be cunning. You try to solve everything with brute force now…"
He smiled wider, the scar on his face stretching into a grotesque grin.
"Anyway, I won't use illusions. But please—I'm a sorcerer. Go easy on me."
Nephis nodded, still a bit confused by what had just happened. But she had figured out something important: pain could help her resist illusions. And by destroying her own body, she could burn away Klaus's lingering essence that distorted her perception of reality. That way, she wouldn't be fooled again.
"Sure," she said calmly, eyes narrowing. "I'm curious about your style."
Nephis vanished from her spot, reappearing mid-strike as her sword came crashing down with impressive force. The floor beneath her cracked, and waves of white fire roared outward from her blade in a blazing arc.
Klaus didn't waste a second. Crimson swirling spheres formed around him, orbiting like tiny satellites—then one of them shot forward, colliding with the flames and unleashing a blast of repulsive energy. The explosion not only extinguished the fire, but hurled Nephis backward like a ragdoll.
Nephis gritted her teeth, reinforcing her body with essence, then further augmenting it with her flames—her aura flaring like a white-hot inferno.
But Klaus was already upon her, appearing behind her in a blink. His blood-red spear cut through the air in a deadly arc, humming with power.
She sensed the attack just in time, shifting her grip on the hilt of her sword. With praiseworthy precision, she brought the blade up and blocked the strike, the clash of weapons sending a shockwave rippling through the room.
Her arms became a blur as she slashed in every direction, trying to strike the constantly teleporting Klaus. Blades of white fire carved through the air, but none found their mark.
Then, without warning, he truly reappeared—his fist wreathed in amethyst smoke.
Before she could react, he drove it into her side, piercing through her armor and flames with brutal ease. Repulsive power coalesced around his fist, destroying everything in its path and launching her across the dojo. She slammed into the wall with bone-rattling force, the stone cracking behind her from the sheer impact.
She gasped, dropping from the cracked wall—but Nephis didn't let her guard down just because she was on the ground. The moment her feet touched the floor, she healed her wounds in a flash and dashed forward, eyes blazing with furious light.
Klaus frowned slightly, watching her approach with eerie calm. From the center of his pupils, amethyst cracks began to spiderweb outward, thin lines of blood trailing down his cheeks. Nephis had pushed him hard enough to force his eyes into overdrive.
He wasn't going all out yet—not even close. Shiva's full potential remained sealed, and he hadn't tapped into Poseidon either. So far, he was only using Bia and Melinoë.
…Fine. Let's throw Astraeus into the mix.
He smiled, tilting his head as she closed the distance—and just before her sword could reach his neck, he swapped places with her in an instant.
Klaus shifted mid-air, glancing back with eyes glowing in vivid amethyst light, and drove a sharp kick into her head.
Then he slammed his spear into the ground—not to steady himself, but to pivot. Twisting his body around the weapon, he launched himself like an arrow.
He wasn't physically stronger than Nephis. In fact, she outmatched him in almost every physical category. But Klaus had the edge in perception… and speed—further enhanced by subtle manipulations of space.
Nephis saw him coming, raised her blade to intercept his flight—but she was too slow.
Klaus grabbed her face mid-air, kicked her sword aside, and slammed her head into the floor with bone-cracking force.
Nephis vomited blood instantly, her breath hitching from the shock her body had just endured. Her vision swam—her skull was damaged, and breathing had become a struggle.
She needed to heal.
Flames surged inside her, racing through her broken body to mend the damage. But before the process could complete, Klaus raised his hand. His spear shot into his grasp, then pierced her shoulder with a sickening crunch.
Without hesitation, he lifted her by the embedded spear and hurled her across the dojo—nailing her to the wall like a broken banner.
Nephis screamed, eyes wild and bloodshot as she stared at Klaus. He wasn't unscathed either—her flames had clearly burned him. She could see one of his arms charred, flesh blackened and smoking. Yet, he was healing. Burns crumbled from his body like dust, replaced instantly by fresh flesh and nerves.
Gritting her teeth, Nephis clawed at her own shoulder, ripping herself free from the spear's cruel grip.
Her gaze dropped to [Zealot], the weapon lying at Klaus's feet. She let it dissolve into white, shimmering sparks—beautiful and ethereal—before it reappeared, solid and deadly, in her hands.
She didn't have much essence left. Pouring every last drop into one final attack, she drove her sword into the floor and unleashed a tidal wave of incinerating flames, collapsing to her knees beneath the roaring inferno.
But… it was blocked? No—something was wrong.
Klaus emerged from the sea of flames as if they were nothing, untouched and unharmed. And indeed, they were—because he no longer existed in this dimension. He had shifted into another, one where the flames couldn't reach him. To her, the fire seemed to pass right through him, but in truth, it was Klaus who was intangible.
He stood before her, a humorous grin tugging at his lips as he ruffled her hair like a scolding parent dealing with a rebellious child.
"Well… good fight. But I'm still disappointed."
Nephis groaned, already bracing for what she knew was coming—days of this relentless torment. Her prediction was confirmed as a sharp kick slammed into her jaw, shattering it with brutal precision.
Klaus hummed softly, watching her wrecked form lying in a pool of her own blood, a thoughtful expression on his face. Blood floated up from his body in delicate streams, peeling away from his skin as space bent to his will—leaving him as clean and pristine as he'd been before the fight.
His gaze lingered on her. Slowly but surely, she was healing herself.
Nephis was practically nigh-immortal… it almost felt like cheating.
Then again, only Klaus would think that—with his greedy, insatiable mind—as if his monstrous skills, broken techniques, and absurd abilities weren't already more than enough. Not to mention the fact that he, too, was ageless. Thanks to Faceless, Klaus was immortal in his own twisted way.
Cassie had been watching the fight—not with her own eyes, but through both Klaus's and Nephis's perspectives. Still, she never expected to witness Nephis being… well, bullied by her lover.
It was understandable, of course. Nephis had only recently ascended and still struggled to control soul essence with masterful precision. Klaus, on the other hand, had been Awakened for years. It wasn't surprising that Nephis lost... Miserably.
Once her wounds had healed, Nephis sat up slowly. Her expression remained indifferent, composed as ever, but her gray eyes carried a flicker of bitterness that betrayed her pride.
Still, this was a valuable opportunity to learn.
Nephis looked up at him, confusion flickering in her eyes.
"Why won't you fight me anymore? You've been training me for weeks..."
Klaus lit a cigarette, the ember briefly illuminating his face. He took a slow drag, then exhaled smoke directly into her face. His expression remained unreadable—eyes half-lidded, glowing faintly with that eerie amethyst light.
"I'm busy with other things," he said flatly. "And as I told you before… I don't think you've ever truly met a great liar."
Nephis shook her head. She had met a liar like that—a pathological one. Someone so skilled in deception, they could twist truth into lies without ever blinking.
But Klaus only flicked her forehead with a lazy snap of his fingers, clearly unimpressed.
"Foolish girl… I didn't mean that. That's just pathetic. And if you try to mimic that kind of lying, then you're pathetic too."
Nephis frowned, thrown off by the sharpness of his tone. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, unsure for a moment.
"Why?" she finally asked. "Are you a better liar, then? Or are you just so prideful that you enjoy reminding everyone how superior you are?"
Klaus laughed, a dry sound as ash drifted from his cigarette.
"Oh, I do enjoy it. It's oddly satisfying. But that's not the only reason." He took another drag, exhaling slowly. "Cassie told me what happened. Not everything, but enough for me to understand."
He tilted his head slightly, eyes glowing behind half-lidded lashes.
"Do you know why you figured out that Sunny was constantly lying to you back on the Forgotten Shore?"
Nephis's eyes widened in disbelief. She glanced toward Cassie, who was casually strolling nearby, whistling innocently like she hadn't just betrayed a confidence.
But another quick flick from Klaus snapped her back, making her forget the sting of Cassie's betrayal—at least for a moment.
"I… don't know," she said quietly. "I just figured it out, at some point."
Klaus shrugged and laughed loudly as he walked away from her defeated form.
"You really shouldn't fight the same enemy too often. You'll just end up teaching them all your war tactics, you idiots."
He shook his head at their stupidity—then suddenly froze, his expression twisting with pain.
"Damn it! The dojo's gone! Nephis! You're gonna have to work harder, got it?! You're paying for this mess. So get ready to brainwash… I mean, inspire people to buy my products!"
***
Dedicated to "not_333"
You got me feeling guilty, man 😔 Had to deliver.
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