The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

BANG!

Daniel’s hammer landed on the jagged, polished surface of a Tier 10 Redwing Diamond Tyrant Ant. It bounced back, pushing the Ant back a few meters.

The monster stood six meters tall, with four pairs of legs—eight in total—each made of razor-sharp metal, making them deadly weapons.

The impact sent vibrations up Daniel’s arm, forcing him back and clearing the way for Miguel to strike with his single-edged axe. The blow pushed both Miguel and the Ant backwards, proving just how powerful their foe was.

“Damn, that is one terrifying monster right there” Miguel couldn’t help but say it.

The battle had only just begun, and according to Klaus’s training plan, Daniel and Miguel were expected to kill a Level 8, Tier 10 Ant.

This was their final battle against two teams of Ants.

Before reaching the Queen, the final blockade consisted of some of the most powerful Tier 9 and 10 monsters.

Then there are the 50 Tier 10 Ant soldiers who are all at the 8th level, and the 12 Tier 10s who are at the peak of that stage.

However, before the battle, Klaus had taken care of most Tier 10s, knowing full well his team would be overwhelmed if he let them face the over 70 Tier 10s.

In fact, he had to send reports back to the Overlords warning none of them to venture into any Tier 8 and 9 forbidden zones until he returned.

The number of Tier 10s is just too many.

Even with Kathy and Miriam on their side, facing that many Tier 10s wasn’t an ideal first challenge.

They’d only get hurt, preventing them from demonstrating what they’d learned. Hell, even the Overlords would struggle against such odds before being overrun.

So instead of 69 Level 8 Tier 10s and 15 Level 9 Tier 10s, Klaus reduced the numbers to 12 Level 8s and 4 Level 9s. Using his ice element, he eliminated them all in under twenty minutes.

However, he left the Tier 8 and 9 monsters untouched—that was for the team to handle.

Because of this, Lucy had to make quick decisions, assigning teams to deal with the various threats.

Originally, Klaus had wanted to make the situation even more chaotic from the start. However, seeing how seriously they took their training the past few days, he held back—only stirring up enough chaos to make them struggle.

Now, he was watching them with a smile on his face as they suffered under the overwhelming odds stacked against them.

Daniel and Miguel were fighting a Level 8, Tier 10—a dangerous opponent—but they weren’t the only ones.

Danny and Vida were up against a Level 8, Tier 10 too. Naturally, they weren’t making much progress; the odds were simply too overwhelming.

Meanwhile, Kathy and Mark were handling four Level 8, Tier 10s, and from the looks of it, they might just be onto something.

Kathy activated Klaus’s blood within her, materializing a new set of golden armour and a matching spear. Her speed and strength amplified to that of a Level 9, Tier 10.

But there was a catch—and a problem.

She could only maintain that form for two hours.

The problem was Mark—he wasn’t fast enough, and the odds were stacked against him. Klaus watched as a smile played on his lips. He was looking at his spearman friend.

This was the moment Mark had been waiting for.

The helplessness.

The crushing weakness seeped into his bones.

Klaus saw the frustration of being powerless despite the danger surrounding him all in Mark’s eyes. And he could tell Mark hated that feeling.

“What are you going to do, Mark?” Klaus mused.

Kathy was blocking, attacking, and making every second of her two hours count. But even with her handling four of the ants, six still remained.

And this was where Klaus was caught off guard.

Nadia was sitting in a lotus position, surrounded by towering metal blocks and a dark red crown resting on her head.

Her hands hovered in the air, fingers twitching as if pulling invisible strings.

Infront of her sat a small black pot, exuding an aura of danger.

And surrounding her are the six remaining Level 8 Tier 10 Ants who were locked in combat—against six puppets, each radiating a sinister red energy.

The puppets moved with eerie precision, holding back the monstrous ants. It was a mesmerizing site. Watching figures move through the air, pulling on invisible strings as Puppets fight.

One couldn’t deny its beauty.

Yet this sight made Klaus frown.

‘This shouldn’t be possible.’

The puppets were only Tier 8—comparable to human Sovereigns. Yet they were restraining evolved ants far beyond their supposed strength. It just shouldn’t be possible.

Klaus activated his Spirit Eye—and then he saw it.

From the pot in front of Nadia, the souls she had captured in previous battles were being absorbed into her body, temporarily amplifying the strength of her puppets by two tiers.

“Dark, yet effective.” He smiled.

The elf he once knew now resembled a dark elf, and behind her loomed a shadowy figure he couldn’t quite identify.

At least she was holding her own, taking a massive burden off the team.

But this meant Ling was sidelined—her sole purpose now was guarding Nadia.

Zing and Choi were the only ones still fighting freely.

Klaus could see Lucy’s mind working in overdrive as she struggled to coordinate the battle and minimize injuries.

She was failing.

Thankfully, that didn’t break her focus. Despite Kay bleeding from his chest and Vira limping as she stalked her targets, Lucy remained calm, adjusting tactics on the fly.

She is basically letting Klaus know she will remain level-headed regardless of how brutal the battle has become.

She wouldn’t falter no matter what. Klaus saw that, and he knew she was doing her best in that regard. However, there is more at the stage, and watching them fight, he could tell they are struggling.

Well, some of them are suffering.

But something unexpected was unfolding on one side of the battlefield—and Klaus was loving it.

This, of course, was Mason.

Back in his past life as Fruity, when he and Mason had become sworn brothers, they had just survived a brutal battle—only to be ambushed by an even greater threat.

It was a fight Klaus would never forget.

And even if he one day forgot about it, Mason—then known as Axel—had said something that stuck with him forever:

“When the odds are against you… you ride the odds.”

Klaus had no idea what Mason and Lily had devised during their six days of training. But now, watching two wind-like figures weaving through the battlefield, he couldn’t help but smile.

Watching Mason move through the hundred Ants, each a deadly weapon to him and his teammates, yet he was killing them, sent his mind back to his 4th incarnation.

“Riding the odds, huh? This brings back memories.”

A surge of battle qi radiated from Klaus, rising from deep within his soul.

The Paragon wanted to fight.

He wanted to stand beside his brother once more.