The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

[The Skyfire Mercenaries]

Inside a fish-like spaceship, five individuals, each clad in red and black leather armour, sat in their respective chairs, watching a large screen displaying their position and the target they were pursuing.

They are the Skyfire mercenaries, a five-man group of four Real Immortals and a True Immortal. Just as many others accepted the bounty on Ophelia, they also chose to try their luck.

Luckily for them, they were much closer to Planet Nivel when the bounty was posted, so they rushed over first.

By the time they arrived, Klaus had already left. However, he left behind a trail, one that only a high-quality scanner could find.

Many spaceships leave behind a trail in the form of the energy they are running on. With a powerful enough scanner, one could read and track it,

So, the moment they pick a reading on that energy, all it took was following the trail, which was now leading them to their target.

If not for them possessing SS-class scanners, finding Klaus would have been impossible. Although not all SS-class scanners could do that, since there are many different energy sources out there, they were fortunate to have one that could track Klaus’s.

”They have just dropped out of the dark universe layer,” one of them said, watching as the colour of Klaus’s spaceship, indicated on the screen, changed from black to silver.

”Looks like they know we are after them, so they are getting ready to attack us. Can you get a read on how many people are inside?”

”No, leader. They seem to be in an S-class spaceship. Our Heat Sensor scanner isn’t strong enough for that.”

”Then increase the speed and catch up to them. Getting a map fragment and an S-class spaceship as loot wouldn’t be too bad.” The leader of the Skyfire mercenaries laughed, and his team laughed with him.

Suddenly, the image of Klaus’s spaceship appeared in the distance, allowing them all to see. Soon, they began to close the gap between them.

”It looks like they are slowing down.”

”It seems so. Are they perhaps looking to surrender?”

”It is unlikely; however, I wouldn’t rule out that option. Even so, keep alert and be ready for combat.”

Suddenly, the details on the screen changed. ”Huh.”

”What is it?” the leader asked.

”Leader, it seems there are five Real Immortals and a Level 9 Empyrean on that ship.” For some reason, they were now able to see the strength of the people inside the spaceship.

However, upon hearing the strength level of their opponents, they all became puzzled for a few seconds. They never expected their targets to be this weak.

Now that they knew, all that was left was killing them. ”Increase speed.”

Their pilot did as he was told. However, a few minutes later, another strange thing happened. Klaus’s ship suddenly stopped.

This again took them by surprise. However, their leader reacted quickly.

”Prepare weapons, raise shields, and close the gap.”

The leader gave the command, and they obeyed.

Meanwhile, inside Klaus’s spaceship, Klaus stood, his scythe resting on his shoulder as he also watched the enemy close in rapidly.

’They took the bait.’

[Indeed. The only thing left is for them to get within a 20-mile range, and they would be toast. I even allowed them to see the strength level of the people inside the spaceship.]

Klaus smiled and turned to Ophelia and his guards. Estelle and Erasmus woke up after a few minutes.

”No matter what happens, none of you should come out unless I say so.”

They nodded and remained seated. Klaus liked their attitude, so he didn’t give them a hard time. Instead, he let go of the bloody scythe, allowing it to hover beside him.

The five immortals shuddered as they looked at this weapon. To them, it felt like just looking at it would claim their souls. They are that terrified.

Klaus didn’t mind them, and he retrieved a laser gun from his space ring. It is one of the A-class Laser guns he got from the bandits.

’Icon, keep my heat signature alive inside the space ring,’ Klaus said to Icon before vanishing into the void. Since they are now scanning them, if one of them were to disappear, they would know something is wrong.

Thankfully, Icon is helpful in this regard.

With the spaceship brought to a halt, the enemy quickly closed the gap.

”Be ready for anything, guys.” The Skyfire mercenaries were also ready for Klaus.

Eventually, they were 25 miles away from Klaus’s spaceship. However, before they could enter the 20-mile radius, the pilot brought the ship to a halt.

”Something isn’t right,” he said. However, before he could elaborate, the void opened, and Klaus stepped out, laser gun charged.

”Yippee-ki-yay, motherfuckers.” Klaus grinned, and then he pressed the trigger.

”Reinforce shields.” The leader of the Skyfire mercenaries shouted as he gripped his sword tightly.

A shield generated by him surrounded the ship, reinforcing the ship’s own. However, it only appeared briefly before being shattered by the beam forged from the latter.

It shattered as if it were made of glass.

BANG

The beam then slammed into the spaceship’s shield. However, the moment it did, it flickered and then dimmed.

”SCATTER—”

BOOM

The spaceship exploded, ejecting all five passengers. The screams of most of them could be heard as they were flung into space like flies. One of them even died after the laser blew away his head.

The others didn’t fare any better, including their leader.

’Seraya, finish off the Real Immortals.’ From the void, the curved blade appeared and flashed forward, aimed at one of the Real Immortals.

Meanwhile, Klaus entered the void again.

Thirty miles from the explosion, the leader of the Skyfire Mercenary team, who is mainly referred to as Skyfire, coughed up blood, half his body burned beyond recognition.

”Damnit,” he coughed again and was about to wipe the blood when the void trembled.

Instinctively, he raised his sword just as a blood-red scythe appeared from the void and landed on his sword.

CRACK

The space under him cracked, and waves of energy poured out, causing Klaus to smile. The force behind the attack pushed Skyfire back, his sword cracking in more than one place.

”You are bleeding,” Klaus said, as if concerned, when in fact, his expression was anything but concerned.

Skyfire staggered backwards through the air, boots scraping against fractured space as he struggled to regain balance. Blood drifted from his mouth in glowing droplets, moving toward the scythe Klaus held.

Every drop is absorbed by it, making Klaus’ grin widen. The more blood consumed by Bloodwork, his scythe, the stronger it becomes.

Skyfire spat blood, but it flew toward the scythe, adding to Klaus’s strength. Seeing this, his eyes burned with rage.

”You are dead.” Skyfire unleashed his immortal ring, raising his strength by 15%. His sword trembled, and the sword aura burst out, creating a pillar of light. At once, a sharpness unlike anything filled the air.

Klaus merely smiled and muttered to Bloodwork, ”Let’s use the move and cut his head off once and for all.”

The scythe trembled again, unleashing a terrifying blood aura that created a large scythe image in the air.

Klaus gripped the scythe with both hands and lifted it. The image in the air turned to mist and moved, entering the scythe as if it were feeding.

”BLOOD CUT”