Klaus stared at the massive flood rushing toward him, his expression unreadable.
Well... that was a bit brutal, Hecate.
He sighed, raising a hand.
Space around him trembled.
Then—like glass cracking under pressure—the air fractured. Shimmering veins of distortion spread outward, and with a sudden, deafening boom, shockwaves burst forth in all directions.
They collided with the oncoming water in a violent clash, the pressure forcing the tide back mid-surge.
Riding the flood like a ghostly surfer, Hecate narrowed her eyes, calm and cold. She ducked low, twisting her body with eerie grace as she slid along the water's surface, weaving through the cascading waves and avoiding the shockwaves with inches to spare.
Meanwhile, from above, a streak of lightning cracked through the sky and slammed into the flood below.
It wasn't aimed at Klaus directly—but he understood the plan. He was standing on the water, after all. They were trying to electrify the entire surface, hoping to catch him off guard.
Klaus clicked his tongue in annoyance and casually stepped upward, his foot finding purchase on thin air as if gravity no longer applied to him. The lightning hissed below, harmless.
"You already knew that wouldn't work," he said, voice calm and unimpressed. "So why are you fighting so stupidly?"
Hecate gritted her teeth, water swirling violently around her as she summoned a cluster of spears. They spun faster and faster, the air whistling with their velocity—each one sharpened by sheer pressure, built for piercing even the toughest of defenses.
Beside her, Belial moved in perfect sync. White lightning coiled behind him like spectral serpents, then took shape—swords crackling with raw voltage floating in the air, humming with restrained destruction.
Klaus watched the siblings with faint amusement, eyes gleaming with reflection and curiosity.
A storm and a tsunami... sky and sea... heaven and the depths.
Sacred children of the Storm God...
They hoard the fury of the heavens and command the weight of oceans...
This shit is so poetic, eh?
"How amusing..." Klaus smiled faintly and vanished from his spot, reappearing a hundred meters away in midair.
The first attack to strike his previous position was Hecate's spinning water spears, swiftly followed by Belial's crackling lightning swords.
Klaus chuckled softly, a hint of pride in his voice. So, they did pay attention during his lessons about their abilities...
He recalled explaining how combining their powers could create devastating synergy, amplifying their attacks far beyond what they could achieve alone.
Lightning tore through the air with unimaginable force—hundreds of millions of volts crackling and searing the sky. But Belial's lightning was no ordinary storm; it pulsed with mystical energy, raw and devastating beyond mortal reckoning.
Water, the perfect conductor, trembled beneath their combined wrath. If their attack landed true... Klaus didn't want to imagine the fallout.
A cataclysmic shockwave erupted, the lightning superheating the water to a boiling fury, triggering a violent explosion that rippled outward with thunderous pressure.
Klaus raised a hand, shielding his eyes from the dazzling, destructive spectacle.
They were terrifying—too powerful, too uncontrollable. Two forces of nature, elemental disasters given form, focused solely on devastation and calamities...
Still, they were just Awakened, and even if they were masters like Klaus, it wouldn't matter. They stood no chance.
Shaking his head, he blinked across the distance and reappeared behind Hecate. He touched her back gently, but repulsive power coalescing in his palm crushed her to the ground, making her groan in pain.
Belial's eyes widened, and he quickly formed a sphere of lightning around himself to protect against the attack. But it was useless—Klaus simply walked right through the sphere.
Still, the lightning irritated his eyes even though he kept them closed.
Belial, who had been about to sigh in relief, froze as he watched Klaus approach unharmed.
Klaus raised an eyebrow at him and lifted his hand. In the next moment, a crushing force descended from the air, cracking the ground beneath them. Belial barely managed to escape.
He took a deep breath — that was dangerously close. If he hadn't felt the faint vibration in space, Klaus's trap would have caught him cold.
Klaus's nasty skill locked objects in space, freezing them in place like a cage. Not only that, but it amplified gravitational pressure, forcing whoever got caught to kiss the ground — a thought Belial had no desire to entertain. Pain was inevitable.
Still, Belial was faster than Hecate and had sharper senses. Lightning crackled around him as he darted circles around Klaus like a flash, eyes searching for an opening — or better yet, a chance to create one.
But Klaus dashed those hopes in an instant. He slammed his palm to the ground, summoning Shiva to converge everything into a single point of a crushing singularity.
Belial felt an irresistible force pulling him in. He tried to retreat with his superior speed, but it was futile. Not even light could escape a singularity's grip.
Just as he was about to collide with rocks, dirt, and water hurtling toward him, Klaus swung his foot up in a brutal kick, smashing Belial square in the face.
At the same moment, Klaus released his skill fully, blasting him away like a thunderbolt.
Few minutes later...
Hecate blinked, staring bitterly at the sky as she cursed under her breath. How was he that strong!? Shaking her head in disbelief, she pushed herself up from the dirty ground.
Luckily, the bastard hadn't sent her flying toward the electrified water—or she'd have been cooked... literally.
Glancing around, she spotted Belial massaging his neck with an aloof expression. Still… it was strange. Klaus was practically toying with them, casually beating them to a pulp.
Bloody hell...
She sighed and remained motionless for a long moment, her gaze fixed blankly on her runes.
Name: Hecate
True Name: Scourge Of The Seven Seas
Aspect: Depth Of Oblivion
Aspect Rank: Sacred
Aspect Description: You are the source of disasters. The ancient terror of the cold, dark depth where even light is drowned. A merciless force without pity or pause—the living embodiment of endless calamity, summoned by the wrath of a sea that forgets and forgives nothing.
She paused, staring at her Aspect's description with a frown. This was her nature, her power — to drown everything beneath cold water.
Hecate felt a quiet satisfaction with her strength. She was formidable, after all. Awakeneds who could best her could be counted on one hand, and even that was partly due to her own inexperience.
Flaw: The Law Of Surrender
[The sea cannot crush what offers itself to be drowned.]
Her expression darkened. This damned flaw... It was Hecate's most closely guarded secret, something she would never reveal to anyone.
The Law of Surrender meant she could not dominate those who offered themselves willingly. In other words, she couldn't harm or kill anyone who truly surrendered to her. That was her flaw—the thing she hated most.
If anyone found out, she'd be in serious trouble. Still, there were some advantages to this terrible weakness. At least when her enemies knelt before her, she could tell who truly surrendered and who was deceiving her. After all, she could harm those who lied.
Not to mention, it wasn't all bad—if someone decided to keep fighting after surrendering, her power would be restored, and she would be able to execute them without hesitation.
Innate Ability: Holy Water
Rank: Awakened
Soul Fragments: [1000/1000]
Her core was saturated as well, that was good news. Hecate was also healer, she could heal herself with her innate ability. She could also heal others but it wouldn't be as effective as using it on herself.
Attributes:
[Adventurer]
[Astrologist]
[Storm]
[Dominator]
Aspect Abilities:
Dormant: Water Control
Awakened: Temperature Control
Now these were some crazy shit.
Hecate smirked in amusement as she scanned her abilities.
She could manipulate all the water within her range—and now, with her Awakened ability, she could even control ice or vaporize water into steam at will. That alone made her a terrifying force on the battlefield.
Her attribute Adventurer had proven surprisingly useful. It enhanced her instincts during exploration, improved her ability to find hidden paths or clues, and made long-distance travel feel almost effortless.
Then there was Storm—her Lineage. The blood of the Storm God pulsed through her veins. Perhaps her other attribute, Astrologist, was tied to that divine origin too.
Astrologist was an odd one. It allowed her to use the stars like a living compass and even glimpse fragments of the future. A subtle but potent attribute which was surprisingly useful.
And finally—Dominator. The name said it all. It wrapped her in an aura of absolute power, giving her a tyrannical, overwhelming presence.
Some people even mistook her for a Master just because of how crushing her presence felt, lol. Those stupid fuckers...
But it wasn't just for intimidation. Dominator could paralyze enemies with sheer dread, freezing them where they stood. If Hecate really wanted to play dirty, she could unleash that aura to bluff, manipulate, or outright terrify her opponents into submission.
She grimaced, dragging herself to her feet. Every muscle ached, her limbs heavy from the brutal beatdown, but what stung most was Klaus's face—that smug, unreadable expression, like he'd just swatted a couple of flies.
"That fucker..." she muttered under her breath, brushing dirt from her arms. He'd looked at them like they were nothing. Like they weren't even worth the effort.
Well, whatever. Her eyes narrowed, burning with quiet defiance.
I'll beat the shit out of him when the time comes...
"So what now?"
Klaus raised an eyebrow at Hecate, a faint smile tugging at his lips. Without a word, he waved a hand dismissively and turned, walking away with that usual air of arrogant elegance.
Hecate and Belial exchanged a look, then both shrugged and followed him.
Their destination loomed ahead—the Lawless Tower.
It floated above the horizon like something out of a fever dream. Water cascaded down from its base in soft, endless streams, like a waterfall pouring from a suspended lake. The tower itself shimmered with layered enchantments, its structure both alien and breathtaking.
Hecate stared at it, hands on her hips, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
If I can't get my flying ship… then I want this damned Lawless Tower for myself.
But still… she wanted that flying ship. A floating tower was great and all, but come on—a magical vessel soaring through the skies and slicing through waves like a beast of legend? Now that was style. That was freedom.
Hecate grinned to herself, eyes gleaming with childlike mischief.
Just imagine it… gliding over storms, landing on seas, disappearing into clouds. A real airborne pirate ship. With sails made from essence silk and a hull reinforced by enchantments… mm, yes. That's the dream.
She already knew what she'd name it, too.
Black Pearl! Hell yeah!
"Sorry, Klaus," she muttered under her breath with a cheeky smirk, "but I'd be a better Captain Jack Sparrow than you ever could be."
And with that, she followed after the others, already lost in a wild daydream of sky battles, stolen treasures, and wind in her hair.
"..."
Hecate blinked as her mouth opened, then closed. She looked at Belial with wide eyes, then at Klaus, who was massaging his neck, clearly hungover.
"For spell's sake... this shit is beautiful..."
She muttered with dreamy eyes, because in front of her was a majestic ship floating peacefully in the air.