Chapter 129 - Council Of Ascendancy

Klaus yawned as he spun lazily in his chair in the meeting room.

🎵 "You spin my head right 'round, right 'round

When you go down, when you go down, down..." 🎵

"I'm bored," he muttered with a sigh, still spinning slowly in his chair.

He was waiting for his siblings to arrive. Behind him stood Anna and Cassie. At the moment, Cassie was acting as Klaus's direct subordinate and assistant—just like Anna.

Cassie watched everything with quiet curiosity, using Anna's eyes to observe the room. It wasn't large or extravagant, just a simple, sterile space on level -8, the lowest accessible level in the base… unless you counted level -9.

Level -9 belonged to Klaus alone.

She didn't know what exactly he did down there, but she knew that Lich and Miseria spent most of their time there. She could guess what they were doing, but didn't bother thinking about it too much.

She had more serious matters to worry about now.

"Nik… I have a question."

Klaus groaned and leaned back, spinning slightly as he waved a hand lazily. "Shoot."

"While I'm following you… who's taking care of the Firekeepers?"

Klaus frowned and looked over his shoulder at her. Cassie's expression was anxious and uncertain. Maybe because she didn't really know what she was doing anymore. She was supposed to be working on building connections with the government, laying the groundwork for propaganda that would boost Nephis's public image. and instead, she was here, helping her idiot lover.

Behind her back, Cassie clenched her fist in quiet worry.

Klaus shrugged.

Anna, watching all this unfold, sighed. She'd already noticed Cassie's unease. Her boss wasn't exactly the most thoughtful guy. Laid-back to the point of apathy, lifeless when it came to anything that didn't interest him, and smugly arrogant.

In fact, she was pretty sure he had about five different disorders. Alcohol use disorder, PTSD, ASD, antisocial personality disorder, narcissism, god complex…

Well, that's what Miseria said, anyway.

So yeah. This guy was seriously fucked up.

Klaus took a swig from the wine bottle resting on his chest and mumbled through the sip, "Meh, no worries. I've got plenty of capable people handling it. If anything goes sideways... well, we've got Isaac. Luck's basically rigged in our favor. Suck on that, bitches!"

Cassie stared at him blankly, unimpressed and clearly exhausted. What had she expected? Of course he wouldn't take this seriously. Though, that didn't necessarily mean the problem wouldn't get solved.

Right then, the door opened and in walked Noah, Isaac, Tatiana, Diego, and Driver. Each took their seats without a word.

It was a funny thing: Klaus was the official director of the Chaos Ascendancy, but everyone knew he dumped most of the administrative work on his siblings. Why bother when you had a whole team of competent people?

Noah gave a nod to Driver, who brought up a glowing screen floating mid-air. Each member of council had their own guards with them, just like Klaus had Anna and Cassie standing behind him.

Driver clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed, and started the briefing.

"Alright, let's begin. First up—this organization we're targeting is called Yggdrasil. Not as cool as our name, but they're no joke."

She swiped the screen, revealing blurry images and data.

"We don't know the full extent of their power, but at minimum, they're on par with us. Their leader is a woman named Amelia—though we still don't know her True Name and rank."

She scrolled again. More files appeared—kidnapping reports, photos of ruined facilities, casualty stats.

"Yggdrasil's methods are brutal. They eliminate competitors, kidnap both children and adults for unknown reasons. The reason they attacked us two years ago? Because we are dominating South America. They needed resources. Simple as that. Maybe they also wanted to cripple the government and the global food supply chain—most of the world's food production comes from South America. If she managed to start a famine, she'd destabilize everything: governments, clans, the economy."

Klaus stared at the screen, his expression unreadable. But his gaze darkened with a flicker of displeasure.

Meanwhile, Driver continued speaking, her tone not nearly as enthusiastic as Diego's, who was visibly itching to kill someone.

"Thanks to Lady Cassia's help, we've managed to locate a branch of Yggdrasil. It's in France—specifically, Bordeaux. For those who don't know, it's also known as La Belle Endormie, or 'The Sleeping Beauty.'"

Klaus grinned, his expression turning a little dreamy as he murmured thoughtfully, "It used to be the largest fine wine-producing region before the Nightmare Spell… Hmm, there must be some records left. If I get my hands on those, I might be able to recreate something similar. Ahh, Vinexpo~"

Everyone stared at him for a few seconds.

Then, collectively deciding it wasn't worth addressing, they moved on.

"We don't know the exact location of their base yet, but once we arrive, we'll be able to pinpoint it easily with Lady Cassie's help. Correct?"

Cassie nodded, her face thoughtful and serious.

"Yes, I believe I'll be able to detect them. And with Isaac's ability boosting my luck, it should be significantly easier."

Isaac grinned smugly at the compliment, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat with a self-satisfied look. Most of their insane, high-risk operations had only succeeded because of him. His Aspect wasn't related to combat or healing, but it was still one of the most unique—and unpredictable.

Even Klaus had gained significantly from Isaac's influence. With his luck-enhancing presence, Klaus had managed to explore and evolve his own Aspect, unlocking new skills and obscure knowledge. Without Isaac, all of that would have taken much longer.

That was how valuable Isaac's power truly was.

Meanwhile Tatiana frowned as she looked at the screen, her lovely features tight with unease.

"Still… how do we get there? And how do we transport an entire army?"

Klaus watched as the room fell silent. It was a reasonable question. Traveling by sea had become incredibly dangerous ever since most Nightmare Gates began opening underwater, where Awakeneds couldn't properly contain them. The ocean floor was now infested with countless Abominations.

Still, not that much of a problem for me…

He smirked, thinking of his recent alliances.

"I've already taken care of it. Nothing to worry about."

Diego leaned back with a shrug, clearly unbothered. If Klaus said it was handled, that was good enough for him. But not everyone was as trusting—or as simple—as Diego.

Noah, who had been mostly silent, tilted his head with mild curiosity.

"And how, I wonder?"

Klaus grinned and took a casual sip of wine.

"Let's just say I had a very productive conversation with a very important person. About two weeks ago, I met with Elder Knossos—he's more than happy to offer his help. So now we have the support of Night Garden."

He smirked as he added, "Navigating the sea won't be much of a problem. After all, our allies carry the blood of the Storm God and the sea listens to them, remember? "

Noah nodded in satisfaction. Finally, he thought, at least Klaus is thinking about something other than disturbing experiments and developing weird aspect abilities.

Cassie, on the other hand, was quietly baffled.

When did that happen? She never imagined Klaus would have connections with Night Garden… but thinking back, it did make a certain amount of sense. The Great Clans had to be aware of Chaos Ascendancy's existence—but they hadn't made any direct moves. Why?

Is it because they lack information? Or...

Her sightless eyes widened as a suspicion crept in.

Or is it because no one knows Klaus is Joker?

If the Great Clans believed that Joker—the mysterious and faceless head of the Ascendancy—was at least as powerful as a Saint, they'd hesitate to take action. After all, if Joker joined another clan, it could destabilize the already delicate balance of power between the Valor and Song Clans.

Her gaze snapped to Klaus, who now wore a wider, more sinister grin.

That bastard... She realized, he let spies into his organization on purpose... and let them leak fake information.

By feeding false intel, Klaus had allowed the clans to build up their own image of Joker as a powerful, unknowable force. If both the Valor and Song Clans feared him equally, neither would dare provoke the Ascendancy without risking the other gaining an ally.

Klaus was using their mutual fear of one another to keep both sides in check.

It was outrageous. It was insane. But it was working.

He had been deceiving the world's most powerful clans for years.

Cassie stared at him, dumbfounded and secretly in awe.

That guy is too unpredictable.

But even as she thought it, she couldn't help but admire the elegance of the scheme. It was masterfully crafted deception.