Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, pacing in tight circles.
He had no idea how to deal with this situation.
He cast a resentful glance at Cassie and Tatiana… then turned his glare toward the three annoying little shits.
Well, two annoying little shits. The last one was innocent.
"Hecate. Belial," he growled. "Enlighten me—why shouldn't I beat the shit out of you right now?"
Belial immediately started whistling, looking anywhere but at Klaus.
Hecate, on the other hand, met his gaze without a hint of guilt. She sneered at him, brimming with disdain.
"It's unfair! You get to go out there and fight, and we're stuck at home doing what? Nothing!"
Klaus grimaced, the vein in his forehead twitching. His heartbeat quickened, breath growing strained from the stress until he finally lit a joint of his magic weed and took a long, steady drag.
The effect was immediate. his pulse slowed, his mind calmed.
But even high, he couldn't forget his rage.
"Screw you, brat," he exhaled, smoke curling from his lips.
"Go fuck the fish."
Hecate's eyes widened as realization struck.
Wait… did he say that because of my username?
And also—"Fish"? It's not a fish, it's an octopus, you senile old man!
"You're quick to judge for someone who watched Venus fucking Mercury! What even was that?! That doesn't make sense, how can planets do that?!"
Cassie blinked, her head slowly turning toward Klaus. Her long lashes fluttered once, twice… then she grabbed a bottle of whiskey, took a massive gulp, and slammed it down.
After a deep breath, she snapped:
"What's wrong with you!?"
Klaus ignoring Cassie, give Hecate a cold, withering glare.
"Oh, so you checked my browser history, huh? Well guess what, you little gremlin. I know you've been masturbating to those videos of Morgan! Your browser history isn't any better!"
Cassie's head slowly tilted toward Hecate, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"I will delete you from existence if you don't explain yourself. So go on, young woman... before I grab my sandals."
Hecate's eyes widened in disbelief, horrified.
"You old fuck! Stop saying 'masturbating'! It's disgusting!"
Klaus snorted, clearly amused, but Cassie immediately cut him off with a sharp glare.
"I said explain yourself." Her tone turned colder. "Hecate… are you mentally ill?"
Hecate stared at her blankly. "What the fuck!? No! For the dead gods' sake!"
Klaus let out a raspy laugh, taking another drag from his magic weed.
"Nah, she's just a horny-ass kid. Hormones and stuff, I guess."
Belial sighed dramatically, shaking his head with a smug, self-satisfied smile.
"I'm the only decent human being in this family, huh?"
Tatiana raised a brow, chuckling as she leaned toward him with a playful wink.
"Oh? Do tell, my dear nephew. What exactly do you mean by that?"
Belial waved a hand dismissively, like a professor listing out the flaws of lesser beings.
"Hecate's a violent pervert. Klaus is already as freaky as a man can legally get. Cassie has her stalking skill tree maxed out. Noah's having philosophical debates with corpses. What's next? Diego's watching Madagascar on repeat and daydreaming about being King Julian. Isaac? That guy's a walking scam. And you?" He pointed at Tatiana. "You make people fall in love with you at first sight. it's not even brainwashing or magic, just your dumb flaw. Total cheat code."
He placed a hand on his chest with mock pride.
"And me? I'm the only normal dude in this freaky-ass family."
Tatiana let out a pleasant laugh, her golden eyes twinkling with amusement.
It was a soft, melodious sound like a mermaid's voice, the kind that could bewitch any sailor unlucky enough to hear it.
"First of all," she said with a warm smile, "it's called a flaw for a reason. And second… my ability doesn't work on people I genuinely love."
Belial blinked, surprised.
Oh.
That… made sense.
If her flaw was truly uncontrollable, then everyone around her would constantly look at her with desire... including her own family.
That would be a disaster. Not just for her, but for everyone.
Now that he thought about it… the fact that none of them ever felt even the faintest unnatural attraction toward Tatiana wasn't because her charm was weak.
It was because they mattered to her.
It wasn't magic that kept them safe from her power.
It was love.
After all, love is the enemy of lust.
So, Tatiana's Aspect... was it truly about love?
Or was it lust?
Belial's eyes narrowed slightly in thought.
It definitely felt like lust. Everything about her power, her flaw, even the reactions she invoked in strangers… all of it pointed in that direction.
But then Tatiana noticed his expression.
She smiled softly, then reached out and ruffled his hair like an older sister soothing a child.
"It's not about lust," she said softly. "It's about overcoming it."
Her golden eyes shimmered with something deeper, older like she had lived through too many things no one should have to.
"Lust... it's not pretty. If I'm honest, it's a dangerous, hollow thing. Trust me, I know it better than anyone. But I don't think that's all my Aspect is. I've been thinking… maybe it's meant to evolve. Maybe that's the point."
She looked up at the sky for a moment, then back down at Belial.
"If I can abandon this sin, leave it behind... maybe it'll open a gate to chastity. And if I reach that... Truly reach it, maybe that's when I'll finally touch the essence of love."
Her voice quieted into something near a whisper.
"At least... that's what I choose to believe. Because if this Aspect was just about lust, then why would it give me a flaw that hurts me instead of pleasing me?"
She smiled wistfully.
"There has to be more to it."
Klaus let out a heavy sigh and sank down onto a nearby rock.
They were standing in front of the farmland. Sunlight warm on the soil, the air filled with the scent of crops and faint ocean breeze.
Peaceful. Almost deceptively so.
"Alright," he muttered, rubbing his temples. "Enough of the philosophy hour."
His voice turned colder, more grounded.
"I'm at war, kids. Do you understand that? I can't afford to play around anymore. If I want to win, I have to give it everything. My strength, my mind, my time. There's no room left for distractions or ideals. All that matters now… is victory."
His fingers tightened into a fist.
"I don't plan to lose. I won't be forgotten. I won't be discarded."
There was a beat of silence.
Then Hecate shrugged casually. The plants around her instantly began to wither, their moisture drawn into the air. Water streamed toward her, gathering and swirling at her feet. With practiced ease, she dropped its temperature, shaping the liquid into an ornate throne of ice and sat down on it, crossing her legs.
"Yeah, yeah. But we can help."
She gestured vaguely toward the coastline.
"We're near the ocean. You do know how powerful Belial and I are in water. We're not kids anymore, and we're not asking to play war. We want to fight."
She looked at him, hesitating for a breath. Then softer, almost vulnerable:
"Please… Dad."
Klaus raised an eyebrow, giving Hecate an unimpressed look.
"Stop guilt-tripping me. It's not going to work. And—"
He paused, his gaze drifting to the fields.
A massive black wolf with glowing blue eyes was bounding through the crops, tail wagging, tongue lolling out like he didn't have a single care in the world.
As expected of the chillest doggo around, just vibing.
"Why the hell did you bring him?" Klaus asked, pointing at Fenrir.
Hecate laughed, placing her hands on her hips with a smug grin.
"Because we're a trio! It's not like we were gonna leave him behind! We don't do each other dirty like that!"
Klaus groaned and grabbed his head, fingers digging into his scalp.
"Who asked me to adopt kids?! Who was it?! Ah, right—no one! You little shits tricked me into signing those adoption papers!"
He started pacing angrily, then kicked a rock so hard the space around it trembled.
The earth rumbled violently beneath their feet, a small quake rippling across the field.
Hecate took a nervous step back.
Belial, ever the coward, slipped behind her like a shadow and whispered shakily:
"S-Sister dearest… I think Dad's lost it. If that quake was stronger… we'd be dealing with a tsunami right now."
Hecate forced a trembling smile, whispering back through gritted teeth:
"D-Don't worry. He's not gonna beat us again.... I hope. The senile old man's probably just high out of his mind."
After half an hour of trash-talking, cursing, and casually destroying half the farm, Klaus finally calmed down.
Only because Cassie headshotted him with her sandal.
A direct hit to the temple.
An ancient, time-honored technique.
He went down like a sack of potatoes.
At last, Lich arrived, stepping out from barrier with his usual dramatic flair.
He looked around blankly, surveying the cratered field, wilted crops, ice chairs, and emotionally damaged teenagers…
And didn't comment on any of it.
"Enough fooling around," he said in his calm, rasping voice. "We need to calm the civilians and raise the morale of our soldiers."
He turned to Cassie and added, "My lady… when will the time arrive?"
Cassie smiled faintly and sat herself down in the field.
She was dressed for the occasion—sturdy pants, long-sleeved shirt, and a wide-brimmed hat to block the sun. It was the perfect farmer outfit which made her oddly charming.
She'd gotten curious about the idea of growing crops by hand. Lasted ten minutes before she quit and started sipping cool beer in the scarecrow's shadow.
Now, with a blade of grass in her mouth and dirt on her sleeves, she looked the part at least.
"In two days," Cassie said calmly, brushing a bit of dirt off her sleeve, "the battle will begin."
Everyone grew quiet.
"The attack will come from Key Entry Point B4. It'll be Abominations… led by the Fallen Terror."
She paused, her voice growing distant, eyes unfocused, as if reading from something no one else could see.
"Their main trait? Rats."
She frowned slightly, like the detail puzzled even her.
"Which is strange… They're supposed to come from Antarctica. That would mean crossing an entire ocean or maybe a new gate opened on land. I can't say for certain."
She plucked a dead weed from the soil beside her and let it fall through her fingers. Her aimless blue eyes narrowed as she went on.
"What I do know… is that these rats are massive. At least four meters tall. Covered in filth, eyes full of rot. They carry plague in their veins, and wherever they walk, they poison the land."
Klaus frowned, a pale smile tugging at his lips.
"It feels like they're targeting the southern settlements for a reason," he said slowly. "Because this is where the world's food is produced."
He glanced at the sprawling farmland around them, suddenly looking far more fragile.
"If their attack succeeds… they'll destroy the fields. That alone would trigger a famine on a global scale."
His voice dropped, heavy with implication.
"And without food, we can't support the Antarctica campaign. The soldiers will starve, the lines will collapse, and the evacuation will fail. Eight hundred million civilians will die."
He let the silence settle like a weight before muttering darkly,
"I wonder... just how smart does an abominable rat have to be to think of that?"
Cassie nodded slowly, her expression tightening with a trace of concern.
"That's not all…"
The others turned to her as the wind tugged at her hat, brushing strands of hair across her face.
"It won't just be rats. Other Abominations will come as well. I don't know when but I know they will."
Her voice dropped slightly.
"They're some kind of lizards, harrowing and powerful. Not like the ones we've seen before. They're being led by a Fallen Titan."
A heavy silence followed those words.
"There are many Fallen Abominations out there," she continued, "but most aren't high enough in class to command the lesser ones."
She hesitated for a heartbeat.
"And then… there's the dragon."
The way she said it made even the air seem to hold its breath.
Klaus blinked.
Out of everything Cassie had just said, his mind latched onto a single word.
"Dragon?"
His tone was flat, caught between disbelief and greed.
Cassie shrugged, her eyes distant. Clearly, she didn't know the full story either. Only what she'd seen.
"I can't explain it," she admitted quietly. "All I saw was a dragon… burning everything."
She closed her eyes, the memory clearly unpleasant.
"But it wasn't normal fire. It felt like it was devouring light. Then it breathed it back out—and everything it touched began to die. Trees. Animals. People. The sky turned crimson. The world just... collapsed around it."
Klaus stared at her, pale.
"Okay," he muttered with a forced grin, eyes twitching. "Now that's scary."
But after a second, his expression hardened. his usual arrogance kicking in to swallow the fear.
"Well, whatever. Screw fate. If a damn dragon shows up… I'll deal with it somehow."
Though Klaus spoke with confidence, even he had to admit it.
It had been years since he found himself in a situation this dangerous.
And this time, he wasn't sure if bluster would be enough.
Cassie smiled faintly at him, as if sensing the thought behind his words.
"That's everything coming from the south," she said softly.
Then her voice grew quieter, heavier.
"As for the north…"
She paused, searching for the words, but none seemed quite right.
"I don't know how to describe them," she finally said. "I don't even know where they come from."
Her eyes darkened.
"But I know one thing for sure. They're powerful. And they're tall."
She closed her fingers slowly, mimicking the motion of something massive.
"They're like giant humanoid trees. Their skin is bark, their bones are roots. Every step they take shakes the ground. And they're marching… south."
Lich let out a dry, rattling laugh, fixing Klaus with a pointed look.
"See? I told you. That bitch will use any chance to attack. Peace, my ass. Gaia is attacking. That's why I always say: never trust people with plant- or life-related powers. It always gets freaky!"
Klaus snorted, staring at his skeletal mentor with a deadpan expression.
"You're only saying that because you're a corpse. Makes you uncomfortable."
Cassie furrowed her brow, confused.
"Gaia?"
Klaus shot her a chilling smile.
"Yeah. There's more going on than just the nightmare creatures. More than the war between Valor and Song Clan."
He laughed, humor tinging his words despite the weight of the situation.
"There are four insane bastards waging war against each other. I'm one of them."
He shook his head, a wry grin forming.
"I figured I'd declare war in a year or two… but color me surprised. Instead of me, they're attacking first. How curious."