The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Klaus appeared inside his soul sea, hovering over the nine beautiful stars.

The Paragon of the Nine Stars first smiled, looking at what could be described as the slowly growing stars that would one day shake this universe and the multiverse at large.

However, he only admired the nine stars for a few minutes before focusing his attention on a green light that had appeared in the distance.

He moved toward it, and when he was about 100 km away, he stopped, feeling a powerful energy repelling his advance.

”That is weird,” Klaus muttered, his eyes narrowing. ”This is my soul sea. Nothing should have the power to repel me.”

He had no idea what it was, but he knew it was beyond his understanding even at first glance. He could sense the power coming from it; it wasn’t something to scoff at.

”Icon, can you see this?”

[Yes, master,] Icon appeared and landed on his shoulder, a lollipop in her mouth as usual. She could choose to appear in a physical form, but she mostly preferred being in her system’s form.

”Do you know what this is?” Klaus asked.

In the many years he had lived, this was the first time he had encountered something like this. He had absolutely no idea, so he called over the expert.

The only thing he knew, however, was that this came about because of Lady Danika. While drinking her blood, he sensed something start to change within him.

So he knew she was the cause; as to what it is and why he couldn’t get close, he had no idea.

Icon pointed her finger forward, and a gentle light flew from it and moved toward the green light. Klaus stood to the side, watching as the light closed in quickly. After a few seconds, Icon waved her hand, and an interface appeared.

On it, Klaus saw that she was scanning the source of the green light. He said nothing and continued to wait. Twenty minutes into the wait, the interface changed, and an envelope appeared.

Icon tapped on it, and it opened, showing another interface with several question marks. Klaus furrowed his brow, a slight smile appearing on his face.

He knew what these question marks represented, and so did Icon.

”Looks like we aren’t supposed to know what this is,” Klaus muttered, and Icon nodded.

[It seems so. I have even scanned the item through the Senior’s memories, but found nothing. However, I can tell it has a different form of energy emanating from it, one that is not related to the Star Qi.]

”Elaborate.”

[Take Spiritual Qi and Elemental Qi, for example. These two energies are different, but they can be merged with the Star Qi to create something new. The same can be said for the Law Qi and Blood Qi.

The reason for this is that the Star Qi is a different kind of energy, one that is above this plane of existence. It is superior to all these energies. You can even say it is a different tier of energy, if there is such a thing.]

”Hold on, Icon,” Klaus raised his finger to stop her. ”Star Qi, from what you said, seems to be superior to even Law Qi. If that is the case, then what is so special about it that made you say that?”

[It is very simple, master. Star Qi is superior because it has the power to swallow other energies to strengthen itself. So far, the master has only used it to amplify his attacks.

However, if the master dedicates time to studying Star Qi and mastering the art of merging other energies with it, there is no telling how powerful it will become.

It has the power to hold all other energies in a vacuum that prevents them from reacting negatively with one another. You can say it is a container that can hold other energies in one place.]

Klaus nodded silently, a part of him happy to have learned something this important. Another part of him wondered how hard it would be to actually merge energies, considering how dangerous it was back then when he was merging Spiritual Qi with Star Qi.

If that was taxing, how dangerous would it be to merge all the different laws he was drawn to?

”How then is my Star Qi related to this new energy?”

[I tried to run a simulation between Star Qi and this new energy to see if Star Qi could be merged with it, but it failed every time. This told me either it is on the same level as Star Qi or even higher.

Of course, I will run more simulations, but for now, we should lean more toward the idea that this may be the birth of a different kind of energy.]

”Is it cosmic energy?” Since this happened after drinking Lady Danika’s blood—someone he suspected had cosmic energy within her—it was only right to assume she was the cause.

To his shock, Icon shook her tiny head and licked her lollipop.

[It is not cosmic energy. I sensed the cosmic energy stir briefly within her during your lovemaking. This energy is not it.]

”Strange. I expected it to be cosmic energy. Perhaps that would have lightened things a bit. However, now that we don’t know what we are dealing with, I won’t be able to remain calm.”

Considering this strange energy is inside his soul sea, he most certainly wouldn’t be able to keep his calm, not knowing what would happen next.

[The master has nothing to worry about. I will stand guard and ensure nothing bad happens to the master.]

Klaus nodded. Although he was still a bit uneasy, he knew Icon would do as she said.

[One piece of advice, though. Since this was formed because you drank Lady Danika’s blood, continue drinking it. I am sure sooner rather than later, whatever this is will manifest. We can continue studying it from there.]

Klaus nodded.

While he blamed himself for overdraining Lady Danika, he knew this was the only way, and since she also insisted he drink more of her blood later, he would consider it.

After talking with Icon for a few more minutes, he opened his eyes on the outside and stood up. Lady Danika was already asleep, so after giving her a small glance, he walked away.

He soon left the mansion. After moving a few meters, he sensed a presence from his left.

”You are finally out.”

”Old man, have you been waiting for me to come out?” Klaus said, turning toward King Alric, who had been keeping an eye on his mansion for the past week.

While he didn’t scan the entire mansion, considering he knew what Klaus was doing over the past week, he kept his divine sense just outside the house, so the moment Klaus walked out, he teleported to his side.

”Do you have time for a coffee?” King Alric asked, and Klaus nodded.

”Considering it has been billions of years since we had tea together, this will be fine—and a start for me.”

King Alric nodded, and they started heading away from the mansion toward the city.

Billions of years ago, when Magnus returned, they traveled to many worlds and had coffee several times. But since this is a fresh start for Klaus, he very much wanted to spend some time with his old man.