The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Kaden took his dear time to examine Blood Savage’s new form...

He took into account every small detail, making sure he clearly understood what he was dealing with before deploying him in battle.

Luckily for him, he had Icon with him, so gleaning every small detail of his first-ever battle doll wasn’t too hard.

The first thing he noticed was that Blood Savage could not speak, which, frankly, he had no problem with, as he wouldn’t mind having him mute all the time.

He could listen to mental commands or even verbal ones, and Kaden could also feel his thoughts, which he knew would be better than having him speak... really.

They could form their plans and execute them without their opponent having the faintest idea about them. Of course, the fact that he couldn’t talk didn’t mean he couldn’t reason.

From what Icon had shown him of Blood Savage’s intelligence, he could even be considered more intelligent than he was before the Blood Refinement ritual.

Maybe this had something to do with the bloodline Icon had used, or maybe it was how all puppets were, especially ones created using the Blood Refinement Formation.

But Blood Savage was rather intelligent, especially in aspects of combat. His battle intelligence was at an all-time high, which Kaden very much liked about him. The last thing he wanted was a puppet that only knew how to punch.

With the intelligence Blood Savage had now, if Kaden added his own, then even against a Primordial, they could handle it.

Kaden still had some trump cards to play, but to use them, he needed someone who could buy him enough time.

His Primordial Flame Spirits had helped him trap Blood Savage, and now, with Blood Savage on his team, who knew what else he would be capable of accomplishing?

”By standards, I would say this is the strongest Pseudo-Primordial I have ever laid eyes on by far,” Kaden said with a smile, turning to face the three who had worked tirelessly to accomplish that. ”Nicely done, guys.”

Bloodwork, Icon, and Doomsday nodded, smiles appearing on their faces.

Icon then said, ”When we return to the Primus Universe, Atomic will work on making him a Primordial Puppet. Until then, we need more supplies for the next one, so let’s head a bit deeper into the Bleeding Kingdom and see if we can harvest more blood and souls.”

Kaden nodded and turned to his three wives. ”Do you ladies want to travel on the outside or wait inside?”

”We want to be by your side,” Nova replied, and Kaden nodded.

”Then we’d better get going. I, for one, would love to see what this puppet is capable of.”

Soon, they left, with Blood Savage leading them. Icon’s suggestion was mainly because the resources they had used were from the personal collections of Bloodwork and Doomsday, who had intended to use them on themselves.

However, because of the urgency of the situation, they had to sacrifice them. Now they needed to restock for events where they would need them again.

Three weeks soon passed, and within those three weeks, Kaden and his team had invaded the borders of the Bleeding Kingdom, killing as many Blood Monsters as they could.

Blood Savage’s presence had made them fearless, and so, putting caution aside, they did the best possible thing they could and killed thousands... hundreds of thousands, even.

What Bloodwork and Doomsday had lost was recovered in mere days and added upon, leaving them extremely happy.

However, after three days of massacring the Blood Monsters at the borders of the Bleeding Kingdom, they finally returned to the narrow path and continued their journey, drawing closer to the other side of the two domains.

However, on this very day, they finally met someone they weren’t prepared for, or more like someone they never expected to appear at the borders when they hadn’t even ventured into his domain to begin with.

Kaden had checked with Icon and knew they were two days away from arriving at the western part of the Ant Desert and the Bleeding Kingdom.

Naturally, that meant they should be out of all forms of danger. However, standing and facing them now was a man with obsidian-black skin, deep red eyes, and an ant-like antenna on his forehead, his hands in his tattered pockets.

He stood atop the trunk of a severed tree, looking down at Kaden and his team with an amused expression.

Kaden realized the danger, and so did Blood Savage. The man, or more like the insectoid man staring at them, was a Primordial and a very dangerous one at that.

If they were to fight, things would escalate really quickly. So Kaden held back and made sure his teammates were ready to move at a moment’s notice.

”I have been watching you for the past couple of weeks, boy. Tell me, who are you and what business do you have in a place like this?”

Kaden narrowed his eyes at the man who spoke. He had sensed various pairs of eyes on him over the past weeks, but never had he expected one of them to come from a monster like this.

He had already concluded that this place was dangerous, but a Primordial Beast taking an interest in him wasn’t something he had prepared for.

But he answered him regardless, making sure he didn’t falter in his words. ”Before I answer your question, may I know who I am speaking with?”

”But of course,” the antman said with a smile. ”I am the Third Ant Ancestor, but you can call me Maneli.”

Kaden nodded, and then he replied, ”I am Kaden, and as to what I am doing here, I am just passing through with my teammates, heading to Dunsil City.”

”Is that so?” Maneli asked, and Kaden firmly nodded. He had his guard up, not ready to let this man gain even a single advantage should he dare to act.

For a moment, the air hung with anticipation, each side staring at the other. Then, in a turn nobody expected, Maneli smiled and asked...

”Do you mind if I tag along? I happen to also be going that way, and it would be good if I traveled with company such as yourselves.”

”Huh...?”