Kingly Qualities

"Wait a minute… Hahaha! You're—Smiling Creep?"

Klaus's mood soured instantly.

Why the hell was everyone calling him that lately?

"And you're Master Lisa," he replied flatly. "Wonder what you're doing here..."

She chuckled, casually inspecting her claws before giving a lazy shrug.

"Well, don't you know? Because I'm Amelia."

She smiled sweetly. "Surprised? I wasn't planning on targeting your people, honestly. But they were digging too deep into mine… so I ended up killing them all. Sorry about that. I'm sure you understand."

Klaus nodded with a half-shrug.

He did hate it when people stuck their noses in his business, too.

"Understandable," he said coolly.

"...But that doesn't mean I won't kill you, bitch."

Amelia grinned, a savage gleam flashing in her eyes.

"One more thing," she said, voice dripping with pride.

"I not only challenged the Second Nightmare and became a Master… I also conquered the Third and rose as a Saint. So, your little story? It ends here."

Klaus burst into laughter — loud, unhinged, echoing with wild glee. His amethyst eyes burned with wicked light and manic euphoria.

"Well, that must suck, bitch..." he sneered, baring his teeth.

"Because I'm the Narrator of my own story."

Amelia raised an eyebrow, confused for a moment—then merely shrugged and shook her head.

Without another word, her claws extended, gleaming like obsidian, and the air around her began to ripple.

A haze of smoke hissed from her skin, and the radiation spiked—silent, invisible, but merciless. The very atmosphere thickened with the scent of burning ozone and decay.

Klaus's expression darkened.

He could already feel it — his muscles tightening, his breaths becoming shorter.

This environment was turning hostile by the second, not from heat or pressure, but from the cellular decay creeping beneath his skin.

The battlefield was growing increasingly hazardous—her body was actively leaking radiation. If this kept up, he wouldn't last long. His DNA would start unraveling — chromosomes snapping, cells mutating or dying. A prolonged fight would mean suicide.

Damn it… just how powerful is she?

A radiation-based aspect? That's practically cheating—it's apocalyptic in scale.

He stared in disbelief as Amelia descended upon him, her claws gleaming like forged blades.

She slashed—lightning fast—but Klaus phased through the strike, vanishing into the air.

In the next breath, he reappeared above her, his fist already drawn back.

With a sharp exhale, he punched the air—and the sky cracked.

Poseidon's shockwaves tore downward, splitting the atmosphere with thunderous force and rippling distortions.

Amelia snarled and spread her wings wide—twisting through the air like a predator unbound. She opened her mouth and exhaled a concentrated blast of plasma, crimson-hot and pulsing with lethal energy.

Klaus barely dodged.

He landed hard, gritting his teeth as he looked down at his leg.

A chunk of flesh had vanished, vaporized by the edge of the plasma.

Even worse—he could feel it now. A crawling sickness under his skin.

"Shit..."

The radiation was building inside him. His cells were starting to rebel.

Using [Faceless], he forced his stem cells to start repairing the wound, manipulating his essence to close it and neutralize the radiation. It was difficult, though, since stem cells were particularly vulnerable to radiation damage.

Without the aid of [Wisdom of Uriel] to help him split his focus, his body would have either been overwhelmed by radiation or he wouldn't have reacted in time to block her next attacks.

His perception of time began to slow as he raised Satan and hurled it with all his ascended might.

The spear split the air as it descended toward her. Klaus enhanced Satan's lethality with the [Impaler] enchantment and unleashed Devourer's final ability, [Death], to imbue the strike with a deathly will.

But Klaus didn't stop there. He summoned the repulsive power of his aspect to accelerate the spear, increasing its velocity, and finally coated it with the [Conqueror] enchantment to amplify the power of the combined enchantments, creating devastating synergy.

Altogether, this was a spear destined to strike with death itself—harrowingly lethal and filled with the insidious will of demise.

Klaus watched the crimson spear with anticipation as it broke the sound barrier and met its target.

Boom!

Heh, that's what you get for looking down on me, lizard.

He thought with wicked glee as he observed the bloodied form of Amelia. Even if she was Transcendent, that attack was far too powerful... even for him.

He glanced down at his arm, torn apart by the force of his own strike, and grimaced. Using Faceless, he began repairing it. It didn't cost as much essence as regrowing the entire arm, but it still drained too much. Right now, he had only half of his essence left.

But his joy was cut short. At that very moment, Amelia's body began to change. She grew taller, jagged horns sprouting from her head. Her flesh transformed—scorched and covered in scales. Enveloped in bizarre armor, she now gripped a lance in her hand.

Klaus's smile froze as he remembered she hadn't gone all out yet, holding back because of the rank difference. Sure, there was a hole in Amelia's shoulder, but Transcendents were far more tenacious—and by the looks of it, Amelia especially excelled in that regard.

She looked up with a smile, eyes glinting with a hint of admiration, and laughed.

"As powerful as they say, Lightbringer. Ah, I don't really want to kill you... You're so powerful, so marvelous. Why don't you join forces with me? With my support, you could become even stronger."

Klaus remained silent for a moment. Accepting the offer would save his life, but... at the end of the day, he was a prideful bastard. He'd rather rot than serve anyone.

"Nah, not my style to be someone else's dog. How about you? You can serve me. I'm already powerful—just imagine what I'll be when I become a saint."

Amelia shook her head, It was understandable. Both of them were kings, conquerors. It was beneath them to kneel before anyone. Truth be told, Klaus respected that quality in her. Both of them carried kingly pride.

And that also meant they were both insane enough to fight for something insignificant in this age—because most people had abandoned their pride just to survive. But not these two. They were crazy enough to stand before the world and say, "You're all wrong, and only I am right."

Klaus straightened his body, resting the spear on his shoulder as he took a stance.

Amelia mirrored him—then they both erupted into a storm of motion.

But no matter how fiercely Klaus fought, there would always be someone stronger. And today, that someone was Amelia.

He crashed to the ground, battered and bruised. His body was mangled, ruined beyond recognition. He couldn't even feel his legs.

Worse yet, he now faced an ultimatum.

Heal—or don't.

It sounded like a simple choice: just heal. But it wasn't. If he used Faceless again to repair himself, it would drain his cores completely—and even then, it wouldn't fully restore his body. That meant no more fighting… and no chance of escape using the Key of Light.

And if he didn't heal?

Well, the answer was painfully clear. His body had been ravaged. His immune system was failing, his DNA unraveling. Soon, there'd be nothing left but dust—withered away by radiation.

Amelia loomed above him, her transformation fading. She chuckled softly and squatted beside his broken form.

"Well? Did you satisfy your curiosity, little king? That I am superior…"

She sighed, her voice growing distant.

"I only hope my battle against that vile Dragon will be this easy… but no doubt, it'll be a living hell…"

She kept talking—about her own struggles, her future, things Klaus didn't quite catch. What he did understand was simple, undeniable.

He was dying.

Still, it was fun… wasn't it?

He'd lost, and the bitter taste of defeat clung to him—but Klaus wasn't the kind of loser to make excuses. She was simply stronger. That was all.

He was confident that if he used everything—his full strength, his spirits, memories, and resources—he could defeat an average Saint. Easily, even.

But Amelia of Yggdrasil wasn't average.

Even if he went all out, he'd still lose. Because even now—even transformed—she hadn't fought him at full power.

He forced a smile as he looked up at the sky.

Amelia noticed it and chuckled, a hint of appreciation in her voice.

"I see... A prideful king to the very end. Admirable. It's rare to find someone who truly values battle. Someone who respects and acknowledges their opponent. It's a pity we're enemies... Even if I had been the one to lose, I wouldn't have hated you. Not if it was you who had beaten me."

Klaus chuckled weakly. He tried to lean against the debris but couldn't move his body.

"I don't hate you either... Why would I? It doesn't make sense. Well... Wasn't it fun?"

She smiled sweetly, but then sighed—her claw extending once more.

"Indeed it was… Farewell, Lightbringer."

***

Well… Klaus lost. Not too surprising, honestly — it was a losing battle from the very beginning.

Now, I know some of you might think it's a bit cliché when enemies respect each other. And yeah, in the world of Shadow Slave, that kind of mutual respect isn't exactly common. But Klaus and Amelia are a bit of an exception.

It's not that strange, though — even in real history, many powerful leaders held deep respect for their rivals. So I thought it would be a nice touch to reflect that here, too. :)

***