The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

The Destruction aspect didn’t burn Xar’kul as fire should have. It rather ended him. His remaining arm, his twisted torso, the hole in his chest, the runes carved into his flesh—all of it turned to pale ash, then to nothing at all.

Even the concept of decay was denied. There was nothing left to rot. Everything about him had become nothing.

Even his Immortal soul that remained would be useless to the Cartel, considering the damage the Soul Fury had caused him.

The arrow passed through where Xar’kul had been and buried itself deep into the reinforced wall at the far end of the Arena.

For a moment, nothing moved.

Then the wall collapsed, crumbling in its mass and grace.

A massive section of the Arena caved inward, the reinforced materials reduced to crumbling ruin, unable to withstand the residual force left behind by the arrow.

That was a testament to the force the arrow carried.

It would take billions of universe coins to repair that damage, considering that, aside from collapsing, the materials that could be reused for repairs had decayed beyond recognition.

Maybe adding a sliver of death law was just too much.

Silence followed.

However, it wasn’t the frozen silence Xar’kul had imposed before.

This was different.

This was awe. Every last one of them was in awe of Klaus, his power, and his combat experience.

The frost vanished from the Arena as if it had never existed. The temperature normalized slowly, unevenly, leaving most of the audience shivering—not from cold, but from fear.

Xar’kul was gone.

No corpse was left.

There were no remains at all to even think about.

What was left of his soul was taken by the Cartel.

Just like that, a high-level Real Immortal had been completely erased by a level 7 Empyrean stage warrior.

Klaus lowered his bow.

The four flames behind him dimmed, one by one, retreating into his body as if nothing extraordinary had just occurred. Of course, they were excited that their master and daddy had finally shown the universe what they were capable of.

Klaus exhaled slowly, the pressure around him fading.

The Arena shields flickered, barely holding together. If not for the last-minute command by Varkos that made them activate an S-rank shield, perhaps many would have died.

Naturally, that would have been ideal for Klaus. Killing criminals for power is something he would have certainly enjoyed.

Some spectators collapsed into their seats. Others stood rigid, mouths open, eyes wide, unable to process what they had witnessed.

This wasn’t a victory.

This was a display of power. It was a declaration that in the vast universe out there, there are those who can defy the heavenly laws and kill far beyond their realm.

The message was clear and loud.

Even the robot overseeing the match hesitated—its systems lagging as if struggling to register the result.

Then, finally, its light turned a brilliant gold.

”The winner of this week’s and the last Blood Tournament for a while is...” the mechanical voice echoed, distorted by lingering spatial instability. ”Blood Sword.”

The Arena erupted.

Not in cheers. That would have been an underestimation.

The cheer was chaotic.

Klaus turned away from the destruction, already walking toward the locker room where, a couple of hours ago, 64 warriors sat. Now, only one remained, and ironically, it was the weakest of them... a mere mortal.

Behind him, where Xar’kul once stood, there was nothing left to prove he had ever existed at all.

---

Niva took a deep breath, feeling her heart racing. She had just witnessed the most chilling thing that even a warrior of her caliber wouldn’t be able to do.

Klaus erased Xar’kul from existence; not even a bone was left to bury.

”Just what kind of monster is he?” she muttered, turning to Maud, who held a smug expression that could be felt from beneath her veil.

Niva couldn’t see her expression, but she knew she had a smug look on.

”If I tell you, you wouldn’t believe me,” Maud said with a chuckle.

Niva turned to face her and asked, ”Is he even a mortal?”

”Lord Klaus is a mortal. He is only a level 7 Empyrean. However, if he manages to get what he came to Yahmir for, then reaching the peak of the Empyrean stage and even ascending to the Early Immortal stage is possible.”

She paused for a moment, letting Niva get used to her words. Until now, Niva was mad at Klaus for making her lose the chance she thought would have gotten her close to Varkos.

In her mind, Klaus was her enemy. However, after what had just happened, she was no longer sure. Klaus had proven his strength, and with Maud’s assistance, she started to see that perhaps Klaus was her saviour, not her enemy.

”Lord Klaus would get the job done. He is not simple, and that is all I can tell you. However, here is some advice: if you want to return to your life stronger than ever, then when he returns, do your best to be on good terms with him.

Trust me, if you know who he is, you would go down on your knees and pay your undying respect to him.”

After saying that, Maud went back to scrolling through the Uniweb. Niva, on the other hand, went back to staring out the window of the spaceship, her mind pondering so many things.

All she had seen and heard made her believe things aren’t as simple as they look. From Maud to Klaus, she could tell that none of them is simple.

So she had some thinking to do.

---

[Planet Magnus Terra - Heavens Tower]

There are ten star systems in the Milky Way galaxy. Each star system has a ruling planet that holds the power. One could say they are the overlords of the various planetary systems in that galaxy.

They are mostly referred to as Star Planets.

In the Dervas Star System, Planet Magnus Terra is the Star Planet.

It is also home to Heaven’s Tower. It is like the mission hall, but this tower represents the Heavens Court on Planet Magnus Terra. The Heavens Court had dominated almost the entire universe.

At the moment, inside a large hall in the Heavens Tower, a demigod sat in a throne-like chair, watching a video that had been sent to him a couple of minutes ago.

In the video, a handsome redhead could be seen shooting a dangerous-looking arrow at a high-level Real Immortal. When the aftermath of the arrow was displayed, the Real Immortal was erased from existence.

But it didn’t end. Another video showing him take down a mountain of a man played, followed by a video of how he killed someone he was all too familiar with—Niva.

After watching every video sent to him and accessing the profile of the criminal named Blood Sword, a dark expression appeared on his face.

He pressed a button on his watch and spoke, ”Initiate extermination protocol. Target: Blood Sword. Current Known Rank: Level seven Empyrean. Threat Level: Very High. Current Location: Planet Yahmir. Use any means necessary to get a good result.”

After saying that, he forwarded the message to the outpost of the Heavens Court near Planet Yahmir.