The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

“Are they coming to fight?” a young man asked, watching Klaus and Miguel walk and face each other.

“Why are you asking me? Naturally, when two people holding weapons face each other, they are indeed coming to fight. Jeez, have you become even dumber since the last time we met?” another person replied to the clearly stupid question.

“But why are they coming to fight? Isn’t it against the rules?” a young lady asked, looking somewhat scared.

Well, she was scared for Miguel. After all, she was one of the very few women who had been trying to get close to the brute, whose only focus was on training and nothing else.

“Should we say something to them? Maybe they’ll calm down and rethink this.”

“I don’t think they are about to fight seriously.”

“Huh… what do you mean?”

“Look at them. It seems this is just a friendly duel,” another young lady said, pointing out what seemed obvious to those freaking out.

Right as she said that, Miguel charged at Klaus, his weapon in full swing. Klaus smiled and also charged forward, the axe in his hand raised high.

Boom

Miguel swung his axe, meeting Klaus in a power clash that sent a gust of shockwave, blowing dust everywhere. Miguel was pushed back seven steps, while Klaus moved back only two.

“Awesome.”

Klaus smiled, feeling the vibrations from the clash coursing through his arms. Miguel had a similar expression, feeling the impact in his arms as well.

“Again!” Miguel shouted, coming at Klaus with another swing.

“You bet!” Klaus charged forward, swinging the axe to meet Miguel’s in another thunderous boom. Then they began exchanging blows, neither activating any abilities for the moment.

Within five minutes, Klaus and Miguel had exchanged hundreds of blows. Klaus smiled through it all while Miguel began to understand something unsettling:

He was nowhere near Klaus’s level.

Unlike Klaus, who had maintained his strength as if untouched from the start, Miguel was losing his edge. With each swing, his strength waned further.

There was no chance for recovery. Klaus had ensured that. Though this wasn’t a death match, Klaus had used the Demon Killing Circle strategically—to prevent either of them from recovering strength or stamina.

Now that Klaus had six cores formed, his powers had transcended common sense. He could sustain the Demon Killing Circle indefinitely and exert more precise control over the battlefield using his mind and soul alone.

Clearly, the skill was far more useful than Yuying had initially explained, and Klaus realized he was only beginning to scratch the surface of its potential.

Ten minutes later, Miguel was drenched in sweat, nearing his limit. Klaus, however, showed no pity and refused to underestimate him. Instead, he relentlessly rained down attacks, showing him there was indeed a huge gap between them.

Of course, nobody could tell just how wide that gap was since they weren’t using active skills. But even from the results on the battlefield, everyone gathered could see that Klaus was monstrous.

He wasn’t the only one receiving praise. Miguel was also getting some. The shockwave hitting them said it all.

None of them would have been able to withstand those brute attacks. Miguel was undoubtedly powerful, but even so, he could only endure 15 minutes of pure brute combat before he tapped out.

“Good fight, Miguel, but if you want to match my strength, focus on tempering your body more. Of course, since you’ll be joining my circle, you won’t have to worry much; I’ll build you into a juggernaut,” Klaus said with a smile.

“Okay, Klaus, I will listen to you,” Miguel replied before walking away to sit and recover. Scarlet quickly cast some healing spells that sped up the recovery process.

Klaus, on the other hand, walked back to his friends, handed the weapon over to Danny, and then turned in a certain direction, waving with a huge smile.

Everyone turned their attention to the direction he was waving, and, behold, the three legacies stared back at Klaus.

Everyone immediately understood the situation, so they didn’t say anything and instead began discussing the just-ended duel between Klaus and Miguel.

However, 200 meters away, Ella, Ethan, and Max clenched their fists, their eyes burning with killing intent.

They had heard everything Klaus said to their families, and for that, they couldn’t hold back their anger. Of course, since they had accepted that they were no match for Klaus, they could only swallow their pride and wait until they reached the academy.

Meanwhile, several meters away inside the large academy building, Instructor Constance and three others stood by the window, observing the disciples gathered below them.

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“That Klaus is much more monstrous than I thought,” one of them, named Ben, said, having just witnessed the duel between Klaus and Miguel.

“Well, he isn’t known as the strongest of the younger generation for nothing,” Instructor Constance commented, her gaze shifting to the data they had gathered so far on Klaus.

“I guess this year’s batch will be much more fun than the previous generation,” Instructor Tanvi said with a small smile.

“I guess so,” the last instructor, Jane, replied, smiling faintly.

“Then should we get things started? I doubt the other unions will want to be the last to arrive at the academy,” Instructor Tanvi asked.

“No need to rush it. We’re the closest to the academy but also the ones with the most dangerous flying paths. We’ll leave on schedule; otherwise, we’ll have more fights on our hands than we’d like,” Instructor Constance said, stepping away from the window.

“We’ll need to be extra vigilant this time. We all know things could have gone much better last time, but I want everyone to be at their best since monster attacks are random. Let’s get these kids to the academy safely,” Instructor Constance instructed.

“Alright, Leader,” they all responded in unison before walking away.

From Union City to the academy, they would have to fly over a Forbidden Zone known as the territory of powerful Flying monsters. Their leader is a Tier 8 Monster called Razor Klaus Diamond Hawk.

Occasionally, monsters tend to get active when flying over the forbidden zone. Since that is the only path with relatively less danger, the academy deployed three Great Sages and one Sovereign to each union to escort the 16,000 disciples who passed the Union Trial.

Naturally, as with most things, there’s a competitive edge to it. Those tasked with escorting the disciples would earn additional Celestial Points based on how quickly they completed the journey.

However, all the groups would be departing simultaneously.

Despite this, they could only prepare as much as possible for the monsters lurking in the path and the threat of unexpected attacks.

Three hours later, all the disciples had gathered and were waiting for the instructors. During this time, Klaus used the opportunity to instruct his friends and allies on how to handle the legacies.

He also warned them that things might get chaotic when they arrived at the academy. Of course, he kept his plans for the legacies to himself.

When Miguel pressed him for details, Klaus laughed and said nothing.

An hour later, Instructor Constance and the other three instructors finally appeared.