The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Chapter 1562: Second Trial

’Let me shock this old bag of bones with my engineering skills,’ Klaus smiled inwardly and started forming arrays and formations at the same time, merging thousands of runes in rapid succession.

As his ten hands moved through the air, the runes responded, each moving along a preplanned path, a feat that was impossible even for the seven elders or Supreme Engineer Winnie.

A few thousand runes and arrays, and they might be able to manage, but anything beyond that was where the problem began.

Just a few minutes in, complete arrays and formations started to appear.

The seven elders immediately rose to their feet, their expressions revealing their shock.

”What is he doing?” one of them asked, jaw open and eyes wide.

”Don’t tell me...”

”Impossible!”

The elders stared at the projected rune structure, disbelief written all over their faces.

Normally, an engineer would isolate each flaw, repair it, test the results, and only then move on to the next issue. In most cases, they would first create a replica of the original issue and test their fix before implementing it.

That was the safest and most accepted method taught to all engineers.

Yet Klaus was doing the exact opposite.

He was repairing all three flaws simultaneously and at a speed that none of the elders or disciples could comprehend.

One mistake.

Just one.

And the entire Array Core would collapse, ruining everything he had done over the past two hours.

”He is insane,” one elder muttered. In his eyes, Klaus was excellent at drawing runes but terrible at implementing them.

However, while he saw a reckless kid, someone else saw something profound.

”No, look carefully,” Supreme Engineer Winnie said.

The others immediately focused on the projection.

Only then did they notice something terrifying.

The millions of runes floating around Klaus were not random.

Every single rune was connected to another.

Together, they formed an enormous support network that monitored every movement within the core. This allowed the runes to move at impossible speeds through complex pathways, without crashing into each other.

The moment one section changed, millions of calculations were adjusted instantly, eliminating the need to implement changes one by one.

The elders felt chills run down their spines.

”This...” they were left dumbfounded.

”This is not engineering. Is this even engineering?”

”This is engineering on a completely different level. I had the privilege of witnessing a true master at work in the Dwarven Galaxy, but even he wasn’t this insane.”

Supreme Engineer Winnie smiled. ”There is a first time for everything, I suppose.”

Klaus remained oblivious to their reactions. But even if he knew, he would have just smiled and remained focused on his work.

For now, his entire consciousness had sunk into the core.

Thousands of formation pathways flowed before his eyes like rivers. From where he sat, he could see every flaw, every weakness, and every imperfection.

The first issue lay within the energy circulation channels.

The original creator had designed them perfectly for ordinary use, but once Supreme Qi entered the bow, microscopic deviations began to appear. Those deviations, though minute at first, had accumulated over time until the Array Core destabilized.

The second flaw was hidden within the formation anchors.

Several anchor points had become incompatible after years of repeated stress, causing tiny disruptions whenever the bow released powerful attacks.

The third flaw was the most dangerous.

At the very center of the core was a resonance conflict.

Two independent formations were attempting to synchronize.

Of course, from the core structure, Klaus could see that the synchronization succeeded most of the time when the bow was in use.

But during intense combat, a delay of less than one-millionth of a second would appear in the relay.

That tiny delay triggered a chain reaction that threatened to destroy the entire weapon from the inside out. This issue, of course, had to do with three materials used in the construction of the bow itself.

The original Saint Engineer had never discovered it.

Nobody had, because the flaw did not exist when the weapon was first created.

It had evolved over years of use and had remained within the core, slowly degrading it.

A smile appeared on Klaus’s face.

’This is incredible. I never knew I would enjoy engineering this much ever again.’ His smile spread across his face as he formed the last three formations and ten arrays.

’I guess, with where the universe is heading now, creating weapons of mass destruction is the way forward. If I remain complacent, I might just end up dead in some ditch sooner rather than later.’

A few seconds later, 1,200 arrays and 590 formations hovered in the air. Then, with a wave, he sent all of them into the core, causing all eyes to widen.

Every disciple and elder held their breath as they waited for the results.

It took just a second for the core to tremble, and to everyone’s amazement, it stabilized itself. Klaus proceeded to integrate the core back into the bow, and then a powerful wave of pressure erupted from it.

On the screen in the room, a computer displayed the results.

---

Final Result

Starfall Bow Efficiency

Before: 37%

After: 99.8%

Maximum Safe Output

Before: 37%

After: 120%

Array Stability

Before: Critical

After: Perfect

Formation Integrity

Before: Failing

After: Saint Grade

---

Everyone was left in great shock. Meanwhile, Klaus had already moved on to the second trial. This time, he selected a trial from Class I.

Engineers at this stage were called Immortal Engineers, and they specialized in creating SSE-Class weapons.

---

[Second Trial: The Dying World Engine]

[Class: I]

[Difficulty: Immortal Engineer (Tier 9)]

[Status: Active Crisis]

[Description:]

Twenty-seven thousand years ago, an SSE-Class World Engine known as the Celestial Ark Reactor was constructed to power the floating continent of Astravia.

The reactor serves over three billion inhabitants and powers:

1. Planetary Shields

2. Continental Flight Arrays

3. Interstellar Gates

4. Divine Energy Collectors

Five years ago, the reactor began experiencing unexplained energy loss.

Current efficiency has fallen to 41%.

Every repair attempt has failed.

If efficiency drops below 30%, the continent will lose power and crash into the Void Sea.

Estimated casualties:

3,214,883,912

Your task is to identify the cause of the failure and restore the reactor to operational status.

Available Information:

1. Complete reactor schematic

2. Maintenance records

3. Array architecture

4. Formation blueprints

5. Energy-flow recordings

Success Conditions:

1. Identify the root cause

2. Restore efficiency to at least 90%

3. Prevent future degradation

4. Preserve existing infrastructure

Failure Conditions:

1. Reactor collapse

2. Efficiency below 90%

3. Structural damage to Astravia

4. Unstable energy output

Reward:

Immortal Engineer Treasury Access Token

(Reward unlocked only if all seven elders grant at least 80% approval.)

---

The moment Klaus finished reading the description, thousands of reports, blueprints, schematics, and much more appeared in digital form.

Beside them, a massive core structure also appeared. The moment Klaus’s gaze landed on it, he felt the weight of an entire continent fall upon his shoulders.

’If I can’t fix this, the continent will fall, and billions will die.’

He saw the challenge and the risk of failure and instantly knew he had to succeed. His failure would not be penalized, but knowing that lives depended on it made him dive into the materials at once.

While many were still recovering from the shock of him fixing the Starfall Bow, he had already started working on his second trial.