Antarctica, The Falcon Scott...
The Winter Beast came.
And then, it left.
The last citadel of humanity in the Antarctic Center, Falcon Scott, had fallen to the Chain of Nightmares. The harrowing blizzard had swept through it, freezing the whole city solid and killing everyone inside.
Everyone was dead.
Except for Sunny.
His soldiers were dead. Millions of civilians were dead. Professor Obel was dead, too. But he was alive, and not even wounded. Sunny had remained in the shadows for a long time, only emerging from them after his essence almost ran dry.
And now, he was digging a grave.
The earth itself was frozen solid, so his task was not an easy one. He had to summon the Sin of Solace, and use the beautiful jade blade to dig. Sunny was standing in a shallow pit, deepening it. His movements were fast and purposeful. Angry tears were streaming down his face, turning into ice before falling to the ground.
…He was not alone, either.
A vague shape that looked a lot like him was sitting on the edge of the pit, staring at him somberly. It had his voice, too.
"Look at you go."
Sunny gritted his teeth, ignoring the Sin of Solace. The cursed sword remained silent for a while, observing him.
Eventually, it asked:
"So, did you find it? Conviction? Or whatever it was you've been searching for?"
Sunny spared the vague shape a glance, then continued digging.
"No… no, I didn't find crap."
He wiped his face with an elbow.
"Actually, that's not true. I did find something. I found out that they were wrong all along! Everyone was wrong!"
Sunny plunged the sword into the frozen soil and laughed.
"Faith, calling, conviction… all those lofty words. It's all rubbish! It's all… meaningless. People like Anvil of Valor and Ki Song have conviction, and that conviction helps them achieve greatness. Well, where are they? What good did it do? Where the hell were they, huh?!"
Sunny remained motionless for a moment, then returned to digging.
"I'll tell you why. It's because those bastards made it so… that's the world they have built. They can pursue their convictions and trample on millions in the process, because there's no one to hold them responsible. They can have their little wars while ignoring the death toll, no matter how much people die. Hate it. I hate it!"
Suddenly, he stopped, and then let out a small laugh.
"Effie... she was wrong. Well, I can't blame her… she doesn't know Nephis as well as I do. From the outside, it might really look like Neph draws power from conviction. And she does, too..."
Sunny laughed again, then shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.
"Fool… I'm such a fool. I should've listened to Klaus. I said I'd take his advice to heart, but I still followed the words of Effie and Nephis! And what do they know? Nothing."
His voice cracked with frustration.
"Klaus was right all along. It doesn't matter what kind of conviction you have. It never mattered. Did the Winter Beast have conviction? That mindless horror? No. But it still killed millions! millions who did have conviction."
He spat to the side, then wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.
"I'll tell you what. Power is power. It doesn't matter who you are or what ideals you hold. What matters is how far you're willing to go. That's what Klaus told me. And guess what? He was right. The only thing that matters is whether you have the strength or not. That's it. Not the idealistic bullshit Nephis and Effie go on about."
A dark grin spread across his face.
"Now… I'm stronger than Nephis. Stronger than Mordret. Klaus proved me wrong, again… and I'm not even angry. I was an idiot not to listen to him. But now-"
He lifted his hand, shadows swirling like smoke around his fingers.
"Now, with all my shadows… with my arsenal, my techniques, my Memories… I'm more than capable of killing either of them. And that's the truth."
A Sin of Solace remained silent. At the mention of Klaus, his mocking tone and expression vanished. Sunny didn't know why, and frankly, he didn't care.
Then came a slow, amused chuckle from behind, followed by the sound of clapping hands.
"Well done, Sunny. It's good that you finally realized it."
Sunny didn't react at first. He assumed it was just another hallucination. Madness was nothing new to him now. But the clapping didn't stop.
And eventually… he turned.
His eyes widened in disbelief and then narrowed in white-hot rage.
There stood a familiar silhouette, as unmistakable as a nightmare etched into memory: the same jagged scar twisting across a cheek into a perpetual smirk; the same stark white hair and burning violet eyes; the same tall, athletic frame cloaked in easy arrogance.
"Where were you, bastard?!"
Sunny's voice was a low growl, trembling with barely contained fury as his hand clenched around the hilt of his sword.
But Klaus only laughed. That casual, maddening laugh.
He shook his head in amusement, as if none of it mattered.
Sunny's rage snapped like a chain.
"What the hell are you laughing about?! Millions died! Everyone is dead!"
Sunny punched him, hard, and both men tumbled onto the cold ice. The wind howled around them, biting and merciless. Klaus didn't resist. He simply lay there, his mouth curling into a faint, unreadable smile.
"But you're wrong, Sunny," he said softly. "Not everyone is dead. The millions you mourn… they aren't gone."
Sunny froze. Then he scoffed, pulling away and standing up with a bitter laugh.
"So you've lost it too, huh? Well, color me surprised-"
But Klaus's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"I'm not joking."
Sunny's laughter faltered. He blinked, confusion flashing through his black eyes.
"I came back," Klaus continued, sitting on the shattered remains of a vehicle. "After I left, I returned with another ship… to evacuate the civilians."
Sunny staggered a step back, staring.
"But... that ship couldn't carry everyone. It wasn't big enough-!"
"It wasn't," Klaus agreed, voice quieter now. "So I used a Memory called Pandora's Box. It has an enhancement called Ark. That box… it can become anything I imagine, so I analysed the evac ship... every bolt, every seal, every channel and created a copy."
He looked up, his violet eyes calm yet heavy.
"It wasn't as massive as the original, but it was enough. Enough to carry those left behind."
He paused, a long silence stretching between them like the horizon of ice.
"No one died, Sunny. Not the civilians. Not the families. Not the children. Only… the soldiers."
His voice cracked, just faintly, and he looked away, down at the frostbitten ground, down at something only he could see.
"When I arrived, you had already gone to face the Winter Beast. I didn't have time. I saved who I could. I did what I could. And maybe… maybe The Battle of Falcon Scott isn't completely lost."
***
Klaus's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright, his breath ragged and sharp. For a moment, his mind spun and panic surged in his chest as he looked around.
This… is my room?
But that couldn't be right. He was dying. His body had been collapsing under the weight of radiation. Yet now…
The pain was gone.
He blinked rapidly, then lifted his trembling hands, checking his skin, his breath, the core of his being.
The radiation… it was gone.
"Who the fuck...?" he muttered, laughing in disbelief as he raked a hand through his tangled hair.
A voice answered him, soft and cool like distant moonlight.
"Not fuck. It was me."
Klaus froze.
Slowly, he turned to his left and saw pale, ivory skin. Deep gray eyes that reflected nothing. Her silver hair spilled down her shoulders, a soft gleam against the morning light. She stood there, still as a statue, her presence cold and calm.
"...Nephis?"
She didn't respond, just stared at him with unreadable face.
Next to her, Cassie gave him a sly, knowing smile. Her arms were crossed, her chin tilted ever so slightly.
"Well," she said, voice almost playful, "I asked for her help. I figured Neph owed you that much."
Klaus blinked again, the pieces falling into place now.
Cassie had called her. Somehow, she'd contacted Nephis and brought her here to South America. And then Nephis, using her soul flames to purged the radiation from his body.
He let out a long, slow breath and fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling with a lopsided grin.
"...Well, damn. That's... pretty neat, huh?"
Nephis shrugged, glancing at him with a furrowed brow before letting out a soft sigh.
"I need to head back as soon as possible, Cas. The Elders are putting pressure on me..."
She hesitated, stealing a quick glance at Klaus. It was subtle, but the unease in her expression was unmistakable. Even though Klaus was her mentor, she wasn't entirely comfortable speaking about her affairs in front of him.
To be fair, she owed much of her growth to him.
Before meeting Klaus, she hadn't even thought of shaping her soul flames beyond their raw, destructive form... Waves of fire, burning pillars, or a simple coat on her blade. That was the extent of her control. But Klaus had changed that. He'd run experiment after experiment on her aspect, analyzing every detail. Then, with the same obsessive brilliance he applied to everything else, he created a personalized training system that pushed her beyond her limits.
And it worked. She had grown stronger—faster than she ever imagined possible.
Still… they'd only known each other for a few months. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Cassie gave Klaus an apologetic smile before gently guiding Nephis out of the room.
He didn't mind. Not really.
Not when the rush of vitality was still burning in his veins. His recovery wasn't just a return to health. He could feel it in every fiber of his being. The raw, chaotic energy within him had changed, sharpened and refined like a blade drawn through flame.
Now this... this is what [Chaos] truly is.
He felt powerful. Monstrously powerful.
Crushing a Saint? It didn't feel like an impossible task anymore. In fact, it felt inevitable.
His lineage… was terrifying.
And for the first time in a long while, Klaus realized he didn't need Miseria. Or Hemera. Or even Lich.
He didn't need anyone.
He could do it all alone.