The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Klaus came to a halt when he appeared inside his soul sea.

For a moment, he blinked a couple of times, thinking his eyes were deceiving him. However, even after wiping them multiple times, he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Standing on a grassy land, under a white tree, were nine children. They all appear to be 8 years old. They were standing in a circle, looking at something on the ground.

Klaus was stunned, unsure if he had unknowingly kidnapped some lads. However, that thought was wiped from his head, making him focus on what was important.

Upon a closer look, Klaus saw that they were standing around the box he had brought back from the Abyssal Trench.

He was so shocked that when the nine children looked back at him, he didn’t notice. They scanned him with scrutinizing eyes before one with a pair of cute little dragon horns spoke.

“Hey, Klaus, what is this?”

“Huh,” Klaus was taken aback by the sudden question. However, his surprised sound was a mistake because he saw the look of contempt appear on the dragon child’s face, a look he knew all too well he would have worn if he were in his shoes.

“I asked a question, Mr. Klaus.”

Klaus took a moment to look at all nine children before a smile appeared on his face.

“So even turning into soul bodies, you still have that arrogance, huh?” The dragon child smirked and turned his back on Klaus.

“Who are you calling a soul body? Let me tell you, I am only a half step away from becoming a Primordial Spirit, so better put some respect on my name.”

Klaus smirked. “I suppose being the first earns you some respect, but in case you are not aware, you and I are the same, so perhaps stop looking down on yourself.”

Klaus laughed and then waved his hand. The next second, a large stone table appeared from the ground along with ten chairs.

“Sit.”

He sat at the head of the table, and his soul bodies sat on the nine remaining chairs. Though he had only met a few of his past incarnations, he knew his soul bodies took after them.

To his right sat Paragon, his first incarnation. He appeared as a dragon, a handsome one at that. Looking at the judgmental and arrogant look in his eyes, Klaus just shook his head.

Then there was Knox, who had angel wings behind him. Klaus didn’t know why he had angel wings, but he planned to ask when he met the real Knox.

The last time he met him, the bastard looked human to him.

Then there was Zayan, or as he was called, the Asura King/god. He held a cheerful look, unlike Paragon, the first incarnation, who looked angry or more arrogant.

Of course, Klaus knew the smile on Asura’s face was fake, but he didn’t say anything.

Fruity also sat on the 4th chair with his violet hair, looking at Klaus as if he were after his life. That was funny, considering his 4th soul body was dressed like a monk, with the only difference being that he was bald.

Fruity, after all, was the Renegade Monk.

The fifth was a shadow demon, confirming Klaus’s suspicion that he was indeed an assassin in his fifth incarnation.

He was called Velkhan, the Paragon of Shadows.

The sixth was a pale-haired dude with features like a woman. Klaus shook his head, unsure if this bastard was the one who had left him the Zither.

However, he could sense the aura of death emanating from his elegant self, making Klaus aware of the danger this soul body possessed.

He was called Orien, the Paragon of Death.

The seventh, of course, was Magnus, who was spinning a dagger between his fingers.

Klaus didn’t know what to think of Magnus, but he knew the Paragon of War and Slaughter was probably waiting for the next battlefield to call him.

The eighth was a rather handsome redhead like Magnus and Asura. However, unlike the two, this one looked more peaceful and calm.

Yet Klaus wasn’t fooled by the look Kaden, the Paragon of Elements, War, and Defiance, was wearing.

If anything, he wanted to gain a deeper understanding of his character by recalling his eighth incarnation’s memories.

So far, he had only met the first, second, third, fourth, seventh, and ninth incarnations. The fifth, sixth, and eighth were still strangers to him. Of course, he had met Kaden, but he didn’t really know much about him.

So, although Kaden was his eighth incarnation, or a replica of him, he felt more like a stranger.

Until Pickle Berry turned sixteen, Kaden would remain a stranger to him.

The last, of course, was Efad, the most peaceful and happiest of them all. Klaus knew he would be easy to deal with. As for the rest, they were a danger he planned to study first.

“Before we start, I would like to point out that none of you qualify to be judgmental, so keep your comments polite, or else this council will penalize you.”

Efad looked at Klaus and smiled. Klaus smiled back, feeling like a big brother smiling at his younger brother. However, they were indeed the same person.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is this council?” Efad asked.

Klaus scratched his head and then answered in a sarcastic tone, “The Council of Paragons.”

For a moment, there was quietness. However, they all burst out laughing the next second, Klaus included.

“Not a bad name. However, I would like to return to the main topic here, and that is to figure out what is inside that box,” Paragon said, making Klaus and Efad shake their heads.

“No need to rush it. After all, this is ours, and we can open it anytime we want,” Klaus tried to at least put the issue of the box aside and focus on what having soul bodies meant.

It was supposed to be a soul body, but in his case, he had nine of them. Each came with their own uniqueness.

So he had to at least try to gain a better understanding of them before doing other things. However, aside from Efad, the ninth incarnation, the rest wanted to see what was inside the box first.

Klaus looked at them and smirked. “Fine.”

He extended his hand, and the box flew toward him. When he first received the box, he wasn’t sure how to open it. However, he did now.

So, when the box was in his possession, he started drawing some lines on it. The nine soul bodies were left unsure of what to do.

However, they were paying close attention to what Klaus was doing.

“This is taking too long,” Paragon, the first incarnation, said, looking at Klaus suspiciously.

Klaus smirked, knowing this bastard soul body of his would be trouble in the future. Of course, since a soul body cannot betray its true body, he wasn’t about to think Paragon would betray him.

If anything, he would love to know more about him and see what he could get from him now that he had awakened.

An hour later, the box hummed and then started emitting a faint blue light. Eventually, the light began brightening, taking on different hues. This continued for five minutes before the box creaked, and then slowly, its parts started moving.

“Finally,” Paragon sighed along with the other soul bodies.

Slowly, the box opened, and two things were revealed:

A scroll and an adult palm-sized jade tablet.