The last few months had been rough for Song Seishan. She had recently, finally, become a Master. For anyone else it would have been a great moment. She had reached a level that most Awakened could only dream of.
Yet all it really managed to do was leave her wanting. She was only a single Rank away from her sisters now, and yet they never seemed so far.
It didn't help that this achievement was soured by the fact that she felt she was the very last to achieve this level.
The Awakened of the Forgotten Shore were still largely Awakened, including her Blood Sisters and the Fire Keepers of Song of the Fallen – and now that she was back, Changing Star.
Still, among the "elites" of the Forgotten Shore, they had all reached the Rank of Ascended before her.
Gehrman had naturally reached Ascension first. This did not bother her too much. Though she wasn't happy at no longer being of an equal with him, she had the self awareness to recognize that comparing herself with him would lead only to despair.
The real issue did not start with him.
A while back, an incident occured among Song of the Fallen, Awakened Sunless, and Clan Valor. The details were sparse, but it was now clear what had occurred. Somehow, someway, they had unleashed the Prince of Nothing.
The first son of Anvil of Valor, the true heir of War.
Mordert.
The Song Clan knew this now, because the man had told them himself. The Prince of Nothing had been trapped as an Awakened, impossibly immortal, and held in a prison made Anvil himself.
The nature of his immortality was still unknown, though Seishan suspected that her mother had at least an inkling on how a mere Awakened could survive the wrath of a Supreme. Needless to say, he was a uniquely horrifying existence.
In fact, the only thing on the same level was Gehrman himself…no, Seishan still believed that though Mordret was monstrous, nothing could compare to Gehrman.
However, that was neither here nor there. The main issue with Mordret's escape was that it accelerated things for her fellow elites of the Forgotten Shore. They could not remain Awakened, or else Clan Valor would eliminate them for letting their greatest black sheep free.
As Ascended, their value grew to a level where the Great Clans would be hesitant to lose them, as their value to humanity would be to important.
So, Song of The Fallen and Awakened Sunless (along with Nightengale and Raised by Wolves, likely due to the simple fact that they were friends) all fled to the 2nd Nightmare. Then, secretley, they were joined by the Prince of Nothing.
Not a single one of them died, and so, a large portion of them advanced past her.
Mordret, now free with the new body made for him by the Nightmare Spell, fled to seek asylum to Clan Song. Since war was on the horizon, they of course accepted the powerful Master with unmatched hatred with Clan Valor.
The Prince of Nothing was a plotter and exceedingly dangerous, but his Ascension meant less to her than the others did. They were once equals, after all, the pillars of the siege of the Crimson Spire.
Shortly after, Changing Star also Ascended.
Just like that, she was left behind. Again.
…Well, Caster was also still an Awakened.
But not a month after she had completed her Nightmare, he had also reached that Rank.
It was honestly making her develop a bit of a complex.
However, that was barley an issue when compared to everything else. Of course, the main problems all surrounded Gehrman…her fiance.
That impending wedding which once appeared so far off was now becoming frightengingly real.
It shouldn't have been a problem. Most marriages in Legacy Clans were simple, all that happened was the signing of a contract.
However, as a Princess – and an individual with 6 sisters who were for whatever reason very keen on the idea of a whole ceremony – an actual event was inevitable.
That was taking up more of her mind than she would have liked.
And then Gehrman died. Again.
A true bedlam propogated throughout the Jade Palace once they heard the news. Of course, his ability to return from the dead was well known among them, but the exact mechanics were still unclear.
He had gone up against a Corrupted Titan, and from the reports his entire body was shattered. Many people had asked her what she would do, how did this change things, what would happen to his territory and people with him gone?
Of course, none of this worrying was necessary. Gehrman came back.
And he came back a Saint.
That caused quite a stir. He was already nearing the level of a Saint as a Master, and now that he was Transcendent…
A meeting was called among the sisters and their mother.
It was the first time in a long time that Seishan had seen Ki Song genuinely disturbed. The gap between a Supreme and Transcendent was far greater than a Trasncendet and a Master, so there was no real concern that he would actually be able to usurp her.
But the thought was there, a seed of worry.
Gehrman sent her a message after his months of abscenese, and it went simply: "I died and got sucked into 3rd Nightmare. So I'm back and a Saint now. I'm going to be doing some stuff with the New Workshop any my Citadel. I'll keep you updated. Let me know if you need anything."
A few minutes later Dire Fang had appeared in the Jade Palace, as the Vassal Saint who had been dispatched to Antarctica, it wasn't technically his duty to report on everything. In fact, it was mostly the Ascended officers who would do so. However the Saint came himself, claiming that not only had Gehrman indeed returned, but he had also obliterated a Corrupted Terror with a single attack on his way to Fort Balmuth.
With the right preparations, each and every one of her sisters (except maybe Hel, who was a non-combatant seer) could defeat a Corrupted Terror with enough planning.
But as Fang had described it, Gehrman had simply been flying overhead when he casually spotted and then destroyed the thing.
He had become an unparalleled force, with only the Soverigns as his peers.
Suddenly, the wedding didn't seem so much a needless chore, but something that absolutely needed to go well. Keeping Gehrman happy was something of the highest priority.
I haven't seem him in a while. Seishan though idly while this tumultuous meeting was taking place.
For some reason, the thought bothered her.
It was an inane and pointless thought. The both of them were both pillars once again, this time not just of the Forgotten Shore, but the whole of humanity. They were fighters who could deal blows to the champions of Nightmare Creatures, or at least, they had the potential too. Gehrman was of course already at that level, but Seishan would likely one day join him among the greatest of human warriors.
At least, that was what she vowed.
So she found herself getting more and more consumed with the desire to shed Nightmare Creature blood, of becoming a vessel of perfect violence and power. Modeling Gehrman's insane obsession, she grew stronger in the ways she could control. Practicing her technique, refining her Battle Art, getting better with her Aspect.
It was that desire for more battle and greater challenges that she said what she said at that meeting.
"I wish to go to Antarctica," the voices quieted and the woman of Song turned to her.
"You already are. The dispatch force has already been decided. You, Silent Stalker, and Beastmaster," Ki Song said.
Seishan dimly noted that her mother used their True Names, and not their actual names. This was something that had been happening lately. Their mother would occasionally say something or do something that would indicate she was treating them as soldiers, and not her children. She would always snap back to the motherly countencace Seishan knew so well, but those slips were coming more often.
"In three months, correct?" Seishan asked. "With your permission, I would go earlier, with a smaller group, in order to rendezvous with Gehrman."
The others looked at each other, looks of discontent, worry, and contemplatioon were prevalent.
The corpse Ki Song inhabited was completely neutral, not betraying her true thoughts.
"For what reason?" the Supreme asked.
Seishan shook her head, letting her own discontent show. "Now that Gehrman is a Saint…The Chain of Nightmares is over. It will continue, of course, but from what Dire Fang has said, he can single handidly protect Fort Balmuth, wiping out each and every Gate that spawns nearby in an instant. For all intents and purposes, our plan is ruined. The cover for our dispatch will be faulty."
Indeed, the three Song Sisters, as well as Mordret and a legion of Song soliders, were not being released upon Antarctica to simplify fight against the Nightmare Creatures invading the Waking World.
Instead, they sought a much grander prize: Citadels.
Awakened who entered their 2nd Nightmare in Antarctica were all pulled to a certain region in the Dream Realm that was unexplored: The Nightmare Desert. This was a region most dangerous. During the day, the region was sweltering, and powerful Nightmare Creatures of the 4th and even a few of the 5th Rank were spatered about. However, if one took proper care to hide themselves, it could be theoretically navigated by even mere Awakened.
The real horror was the when night descended. In short, it when it was dark, it became one of, if not the most dangerous Death Zones besides the Hollow Mountains. Bloodlusted skeletons rose from the ground, each obscenely powerful. A mere pair of them could likely take down a Saint. And there were at the very least several thousand of them. From what she gathered, even her mother dared not enter that area.
Even more harrowing was the fact that not a single one of these skeletons could die. Their dark bones remained stalwart, even if broken they would repair themselves with time. Each and every one of them was undying.
All this was known, funnily enough, because this was not the first time the Soverigns had set their sights on this area. In fact, one of them had even traversed it long ago in search of reaching the great prize at its center.
A towering black pyramid made from stone that appeared carved from the night itself. It's scale and grandeur made it clear that it was of the same level as Bastion, Ravenheart, and the Night Garden.
It was a Great Citadel.
However it could simply not be reached.
The eerie and most vile of the Soverigns, the long sealed Dreamspawn had once traveled to that region, seeking to conquer it.
Mordret (who had been raised by the Dreamspawn due to a terrible deal between that creature and Anvil) had told them all of this.
Even that thing had not managed to reach the pyramid.
The undying armies of skeletons that reached the level of th 5th Rank were terrible, and no matter how the Dreamspawn walked or moved, the pyramid remained out of his reach during the day. Mordret theorized that only through wading through the nightmare of the undying horde would grant one entry.
Even the Dreamspawn, who had a level of immortality that Seishan did not know the details of, was unable to traverse that place during the night.
The creatures grew stronger the closer they were to the pyramid. And at the rate they did so, it was likely that there were even minor deites on that dreadful battlefield. All of which also fell into this undying and mindless state.
No one knew what they were or how such opressivley dreadful things came to be, and frankly, it terrified Seishan.
They were a testament to the true powers that wandered the Dream Realm in ancient past. Likely remenants of the mysterious Doom War that caused the end of that world, and forced its remains into the depths of Corruption.
Seishan wouldn't be suprised if one of the 6 major gods who were lauded by the greatest of kings and heroes of those civilization had personally made his way to the Nightmare Dessert and left it in the state it was now.
…due to their nature of being undying, it was likely the elusive Shadow God, the God of Death, had descened upon them.
It was a sobering reminder. That even if her mother as a Soverign was untouchable among humans, in the grand scheme of things she was not a particularly noteworthy power. At least compared to the things that wandered the Dream Realm during ancient times.
Still, Ki Song sought what those past kings and gods had left behind. There were several citadels on the edges of the Nightmare Dessert, and now that they knew Antarctica was directly connected to the Nightmare Dessert, they could finally snag them up.
Potentially even giving them a stronghold to reach the Black Pyramid.
"Gehrman will not be pleased at the struggle that is about to ensue. Even if it is only a prelude, he will detest the fighting between Great Clans in Antarctica. Though he will soon be on our side, I don't doubt he will take measures to mitigate our ability to fight there," Seishan said.
Her mother looked at her, the corpse's face unmoving.
"And you could change that?" her mother asked.
Seisahn thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I don't believe I can. However, I don't think he would be opposed to helping us gather Citadels. It may very well be that he would clear the path for us in order to ensure no fighting breaks out at all."
The sisters looked at each other, considering the words of their eldest.
Eventually, they all turned to their mother.
For the first time, the corpse's face moved to show emotion.
"I do not like the idea of you going with so little protection. Fang will be able to pull you into Antarctica from the Dream Realm, but he may struggle to do so with Beastmaster and Silent Stalker."
Indeed the ability of a Saint to pull people with them into and out of the Dream Realm was dependent on the weight of that persons soul. As members of the Royal Family and keepers of the Divine Lineage of the Beast God, their Souls would be stronger than Dire Fang's, and he wouldn't be able to pull them along.
As Seishan opened her mouth to respond, her mother cut her off adding in a casual tone something that sent a chill down her spine.
"Why don't you bring Mordret along with you and your retainers. Letting him build up his strength would be fine. Gehrman would keep him in check at your behest, I'm sure." A smile crawled up the lips of the corpse she was using. "It will be intresting to see how the two holders of Divine Aspects interact with each other."