Position Is Lie

Sunny was in bit ridiculous situation while listening to Winter and Jet. He? Lost From Light living in Bastion like some pampered prince? No way, that felt disgusting. Hearing Jet laugh quietly, he added with a straight face:

"Oh... thanks for that, by the way. The mere thought that I could have been living like a prince somewhere in Bastion instead of spending quality time here in Antarctica makes me feel slightly nauseous. Who needs luxury when you can have unlimited military rations, right?"

Winter stared at him from behind her sunglasses and grinned.

"I did not know that Valor tried to recruit you. And you refused, huh... was she really ugly?"

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"No? What do you mean?"

Winter shook her head.

"I mean the bride they offered, of course, to marry you into the clan. Either she was really ugly, or you are really stupid... huh, I guess I have my answer?"

He opened his mouth to retort, but at that moment, the door opened, and two people entered the room. The atmosphere inside instantly changed.

The first of them was Saint Tyris, just as striking as stem as Sunny remembered her. The second was a man with smooth ebony skin and perfectly white hair, his eyes glinting with shades of indigo and deep blue.

Sunny had only seen the man once, and from afar, but he knew who the stranger was.

Bloodwave, a Transcendent of the House of Night. He was in charge of the naval convoy that had delivered the field army to the Antarctic Center, and the Saint Sunny had witnessed diving into the black water as a monstrous killer whale once.

He sighed. By the looks of it, all the important people were here to start the meeting. But then he froze, his eyes widening in disbelief and shock as he looked at the young man stepping into the conference room.

The young man was strikingly handsome, with short white hair and deep amethyst eyes that swirled in his sockets like twin vortexes of galaxies. He was tall, with pale skin and a large scar running down the left side of his face and neck, recently given to him by someone unknown. That scar had turned his moniker, "The Smiling Man," into something far more symbolic.

He had an athletic build and wore a dark coat flowing behind him, along with an oversized black shirt. He looked far too casual for a strategic meeting and certainly not dressed for a place as cold as Antarctica.

"Klaus?"

Klaus glanced in his direction with a calm smile. Though the expression seemed harmless at first, it tugged at the scar along his face, stretching it unnaturally, distorting his smile into something unsettling. The light atmosphere in the conference room instantly shifted into something heavier, more tense.

He took a seat casually, resting his legs on the table and leaning back with an air of arrogance.

"Let's start, shall we?"

Sky Tide spared him a glance but didn't argue. Instead, she greeted everyone.

Winter pulled down her glasses, confused for a moment, then her black eyes widened.

"Smiling Creep?"

Everyone froze.

All eyes turned toward Klaus, who met her gaze with his usual stoic calm.

"It's been a while, my Queen."

Winter leaned back, letting out a laugh of disbelief as she shook her head.

"Where did you disappear to? I thought you died."

Klaus remained quiet for a heartbeat, then replied in a calm voice:

"I guess I did… once or twice."

Before Winter could press further, Sky Tide cleared her throat to regain control of the room. Her expression remained cold and unreadable.

"There are things we need to discuss. I suggest we save that conversation for another time."

...

After the meeting was over, Sunny hadn't forgotten about Klaus. He found him walking calmly down the stairs and called out.

"Hey, what's happening!?"

Klaus looked back at him blankly and shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

Sunny stared at him for a long moment.

"Who are you?"

Klaus blinked, holding back a laugh, an amused glint in his eyes.

"What now? Am I so easily forgotten just because you became famous, Mr. Devil of Antarctica?"

Sunny grimaced at the nickname, but his dark gaze remained steady. Klaus sighed and then, a hauntingly beautiful wraith emerged from the wall, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"Now are you satisfied? What's wrong with you, dawg?"

Sunny stayed silent. Something was wrong. But... he sighed. Maybe he was just being too paranoid these days.

"It's nothing. What are you doing here?"

Klaus grinned, ruffling his white hair.

"What do you mean? Isn't it obvious? I'm here to fight a war, my little devil. Come on, let's go to my room, we can talk there."

Sunny shrugged and followed him, a strange sense of uneasiness creeping up his spine.

***

Klaus looked into the distance, watching the giant humanoid trees approaching from the north. They had made their way down from the Amazon rainforest and reached the southern edge of South America surprisingly fast.

Then again, it wasn't that surprising, those horrors stood tens of meters tall.

Hemera was currently resting in his spirit sea, regaining her energy so she wouldn't remain stuck in her tiny phoenix chick form. As for Hassan... he had sustained too many injuries and was out of commission as well.

That left him with only Lich and Loki. Both were powerful in their own right, but Klaus couldn't help but wonder. Would they be enough?

Still, it didn't matter. The battle would begin either way. If everything went according to plan, they'd win.

If not, then...

"I'll be cooked. Shit..."

He shook his head in resentment. He was tired, exhausted of this endless fights. That was all he had done for months, so it was understandable. But what wore him down even more was the loss of his people. His army of two thousand had been reduced to a mere eight hundred.

Sure, the legions of rats were gone, along with the lizards. Lich had managed to kill the corrupted Tyrant after Hemera drove it to the brink of death, while Hassan had slain both the corrupted Devil and the Fallen Terror.

That only left the dragon… and the humanoid trees.

Klaus had decided to call them Ents.

"Respect to Tolkien. RIP, my guy," he muttered with a faint smile, glancing at Anna, who stood behind him, gripping her mace.

Klaus remained motionless for some time, glancing at runes.

Memory: Mother's Cruelty.

Memory Rank: Transcendent

Memory Tier: V.

Memory Type: Weapon.

Memory Description: [ Sometimes, the deepest suffering doesn't come from the cruelty of the world, but from the one who was meant to shield you from it.]

Memory Enchantments: [Blunt Acid], [scorching Strike].

He stared at the runes for a while. It was a memory gained after Lich killed the Corrupted Tyrant but to him, the memory was useless.

It was a spiked mace imbued with two attributes. The first granted a poisonous element, while the second infused it with fire.

Sure, a mace that could either melt everything it struck with acid or set it ablaze, repending on the enhancement was cool. But it wasn't for him. His battle style didn't revolve around brute force.

So... Who should i...

He titled his head and placed a hand on Anna's shoulder, causing her to stiffen, and transferred the memory to her.

After hearing the Spell's notification about the gained memory, Anna exhaled in relief and bowed politely.

"Thank you, my lord."

Klaus waved his hand dismissively, his expression hardening.

"Forget it. We need to win this battle too… Are you ready?"

Anna nodded and gave a cheerful salute, her navy hair fluttering in the wind.

"Sir, yes sir!"

Klaus grinned, ruffling the psychopath's hair with a shrug.

"Well… time to stretch, I guess. Let's go, we're cutting down trees today. Fuck nature. We need that paper."

Then he jumped down from the towering wall built by Utility aspects. It was sturdy, but without Lich's reinforcing runes, it wouldn't have been anything impressive.

But even so, they couldn't withstand the attacks from those ugly abominations. Some of them were nearly as tall as the wall itself. And if Anna was telling the truth, then the weakest among them were Awakened, while the strongest were already Transcendents.

But that wasn't what worried Klaus, it was Gaia.

Sure, her minions were powerful, but nothing he couldn't handle. The problem was her. Her power was disturbing. And her brief show of strength had been more than enough to prove that Gaia was close to reaching Supremacy… The same could be said about Seth.

Which meant Amelia was already catching up to them in terms of Ascension while Klaus was the last one in the race.

Sure, with the Conqueror's help, Klaus could barely wield Will. Even if just a little, he was still a Master. But his enemies? They were all Transcendents. And now they were showing signs of natural Supremacy?

Bloody hell...

Klaus knew he had no choice but to use this opportunity. The chain of Nightmares was his only shot, his only window to challenge the Third Nightmare and become a Transcendent. Only then would he stand a chance against the other three Monarchs.

Gaia was already on the move, an act that would no doubt attract the attention of the Great Clans, though she didn't seem to care.

Seth remained hidden behind the sandstorms and scorching dunes of the Sahara, strengthening himself by gathering more followers.

As for Amelia… she had completely vanished for now.

But… perhaps that dragon…

Klaus shook his head. He would think about those developments later. For now, there was a battle to win.

***

Guys, I think I might go with a rewrite. The idea was good, but because of my inexperience, the first few chapters turned out kind of lame. at least that's how I feel. What do you think? Should I rewrite some of them?

Also, I'm thinking of doing another fanfic after this one. This time, the OC will be female, and I'm planning to give her the Error pathway as aspect. Let me know what you think about that too!

***