The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Nari’s torture lasted for an hour, as she had said.

The 11 immortals kept screaming, filling the space with their haunted cries, the entire duration of the torture. However, after an hour, they all dropped dead, the True Immortal included.

Asha collected their bodies, while Nadia took their souls.

Asha had yet to reveal her true strength after she became an Early Immortal. However, the fact that her guards—Linx and Jinx—were already at the High-Level Early Immortal stage was all the reason one needed to know she had become a monster.

The same could be said for Nadia, who had also become low-key dangerous. Her puppets had been undergoing an upgrade for a while now, so there was no telling what horrors would be coming out soon.

”What do we do next?” Queenie asked. Although the immortals had been killed, they knew the Black Flag Syndicate wouldn’t stop.

They would try everything in their power to make sure they got their hands on the planet. So they had to address it, and Queenie knew Klaus was the best person to do it.

”Why so serious, Queenie? Don’t you miss me?”

Klaus pinched her cheek and moved closer, locking lips with her... ”I suggest we go back first and catch up. The stars know we have a lot to catch up on. As for the Black Flag Syndicate, leave it for now. I will handle them later.”

The ladies nodded.

Klaus stored the spaceship that the now-dead immortals had brought. The next second, they were back on the last floor of the Tower of Defiance.

Every last one of them became naked the next second, and what happened next was as one would expect.

Klaus came mainly to spend time with them. So starting off with sex was the right move for them. They needed him after all, and what better way to do that than to have an orgy session.

***

[Planet Baski]

After Rory and Klaus went back to the garden, four other Immortal Lords were there waiting for them. Lord Victor was also there.

Klaus didn’t need a genie to tell him these people were the other four immortals he would be leading to the Jade Ant Queen’s Nest.

The strange part was that all four of them were stronger than Rory, from what Klaus sensed. That said a lot, considering she had six Immortal Rings, the same as them.

This can only mean that the four of them have become Immortal Lords much faster than Rory.

Three of them were male, and the last was female.

They were all Stella Humans, as evidenced by their silver hair. All Stella humans, like Rory and Lord Victor, have silver hair.

”How did it go?” Lord Victor asked the moment Klaus and Rory arrived in the garden.

”Better than I had hoped.”

”Oh, how did you hope it would have gone?” Knowing Klaus was the Paragon, he wanted to know more about him. His family was alive today because of him, so finding an interest in learning more about his benefactor was essential.

It would help him to better understand why his grandfather told them to always treat the paragon well.

”I expected powerful beasts popping up so I could absorb more tribulation runes. However, it ended before I could push my cultivation base to the Medium stage.”

Lord Victor merely smiled and said, ”You will get them next time.”

”Hopefully.”

The four Immortal Lords remained seated on the side, though they seemed a bit surprised seeing their mostly stern leader casually converse with Klaus.

Even Rory was a bit surprised, despite knowing who Klaus was. Her father was rather cold and a bit unreasonable, so seeing him smile and casually talk with Klaus made her wonder just what kind of monster Klaus was.

She was an Immortal Lord, so despite Klaus’s amazing feats, she placed no emphasis on him. Of course, she recognised his combat experience, but she wasn’t about to think Klaus could kill her.

She was several times stronger than Blood Shadow, so she wasn’t afraid of him. But it was a bit humbling to see her father, who could easily contend with a demigod, smile with Klaus.

”We will talk more about that later. For now, I want you to meet the warriors you would be entering the Jade Ant Queen’s Nest with.”

They began introducing themselves, starting with the men.

”My name is Omen. I am a swordsman.”

”I am Manes, also a swordsman.”

”You can call me Slate, a spearman.”

”And I am Echo, a combat mage. I use both the staff for spell casting and combat.”

”Well, I am Klaus, but you can call me the Renegade Hunter if you prefer that. I am a spirit master, but I can fight in close combat using the scythe, the spear, the sword, or just any weapon.”

”So you are something of a weapons expert,” Slate asked.

”I believe you can say that.”

”I suppose that explains how you were able to win against Blood Shadow,” Echo said, a bit apprehensive, learning about what Klaus was capable of.

”Well, if I had missed on my first attack, she would have won. However, I played dirty, and she fell for it. This also means that aside from my weapons expert nature, I like to win, meaning I play dirty, so you have to know that.”

Klaus knew all four Immortal Lords staring at him were not happy with the arrangement Lord Victor had made. They were beings who had lived for years now, so the idea of a low-level Early Immortal leading them didn’t sit well with them.

While it was true they would be suppressed to the True Immortal stage upon entering, if they met a True Immortal, they wouldn’t have to do much to kill them.

They would still have their Immortal Rings. This means their cultivation level would be the only thing to drop.

So if that is to be considered, then it means Klaus was the only one who was not qualified. They believed they were overqualified to follow him into such a dangerous place.

Klaus could see that, but he said nothing.

”The mission is in five months. However, since you six will be venturing into the nest together, I wanted you to meet and get to know each other.

There is no doubt this mission will be dangerous, so the faster you learn to trust each other and find a way to work together, the better.”

After saying that, Lord Victor vanished, but not before leaving a message for Klaus. ”Rory, after you are done here, bring Klaus to the tower.”

After he was gone, Klaus leaned back in his chair and smiled. ”So I believe you guys are not happy with me leading, right?”

”No offense, Mr Renegade, but how can an Early Immortal lead a team of five Immortal Lords? I have been cultivating for years, and so I can boldly say this is just not something I am happy about.”

Klaus smiled and replied, ”For starters, I am just 23 years old, but that shouldn’t be a measure to determine who qualifies to lead and who doesn’t.

All I know is that Lord Victor wants me to lead, not because I am stronger than you. The heavens know I am nowhere near your level. My job here is to make sure you five come back alive because, as you already know, I am the Renegade Hunter; my job is to keep people alive or avenge them.

This means whether you like it or not, I will be leading. The question, however, is whether you can do away with your ego and let me do what I do best... keeping you alive.”