The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Chapter 215: Trading Death for Death [Bonus]

The red moon, which was supposed to end 20 minutes ago, finally started to fade. The sky returned to normal, and the forest regained its natural colors. Klaus, who had been thriving off the effects of the Blood Moon Transformation, began losing his power at the worst possible moment. Read new chapters at m_v-lʼe|-

Under normal circumstances, he wouldnʼt have cared, but this time, he was in serious trouble. A sword had been stabbed through his chest, sticking out from his back—courtesy of the Blood Queen.

Klaus had intended to break her vine wall and overwhelm her with attacks while waiting for the Dragon to finish barbecuing the last of the Blood Princes. However, he had miscalculated. The wall wasnʼt meant for defense at all.

It was just a smokescreen for the real attack the Blood Queen had planned, and unfortunately, Klaus fell for it. He broke through the wall as expected, but he paid the price with a sword through his chest.

He hadnʼt expected it at all. From the start of the battle until now, the Blood Queen hadnʼt used a sword, so he assumed she didnʼt wield one. But he was wrong, and the sword in his chest was proof of that.

However, Klaus wasnʼt the only one impaled. Looking at the Blood Queen, Klaus couldnʼt help but smirk, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and his teeth stained red.

”You didnʼt see this coming, did you?” Klaus said, his voice strained, as he stared at the Blood Queen, who was turning pale from the spear now lodged in her chest.

”You expected me to fall for your attack, but you failed to realize I knew youʼd try something like that. You can always hide your trump cards, but you canʼt hide a weapon from me. I tend to be a little sensitive to weapons you see,” Klaus added, coughing up more blood.

In truth, the moment she retrieved her weapon, Klaus sensed it. Thanks to the sixfold power-up from the Blood Moon Transformation, despite the overwhelming emotions and tormented thoughts, his connection to weapons never faltered.

For the first time, Klaus saw the potential of his class—the Weapons Overlord. He realized just how powerful it could be.

Throughout the battle, Klaus had formed connections with all the weapons around him, though he couldnʼt use them as easily as his Void Piercing Needle. Still, this didnʼt stop him from altering the trajectory of some of the attacks.

The spiked mace from the Blood Prince could have hit him many times, but Klaus used his connection to slow the attacks or move them slightly, reducing the impact. Of course, each time he did this, it caused him mental strain, but it worked.

So when he sensed the Blood Queen drawing her weapon, he knew he had to overwhelm her while he waited for the Dragon to finish off the last of the Blood Princes so he could put his final attack into action.

But he failed to realize he was walking into a trap. Her attack came too quickly, and Klaus struggled to adapt. He knew he was lacking in that regard, quick reflexes.

When she attacked and he was out of options to defend, he used his weapon control ability to alter the swordʼs trajectory. He couldnʼt move it much, but he shifted it enough to avoid a fatal blow to his heart.

Yes, Klaus could have moved it further away, but that would have caused him to miss his chance to stab her. And with the mental strain that followed each time he controlled a weapon with his mind, he knew missing that strike would have been dangerous.

So he opted for the old-fashioned approach: you stab me, I stab you. In this case, though, Klaus aimed to make his strike count. Unfortunately for the Blood Queen, she didnʼt have Klausʼs control over weapons, so his spear went straight through her heart. Klaus added something extra—a cold, icy essence that began freezing her from the inside.

”You... you shouldnʼt have done that,” the Blood Queen gasped, coughing up blood, her gaze cold despite her life slowly draining away.

”Oh? Do tell. What shouldnʼt I have done?” Klaus asked, not faring much better himself.

”The entire Zombie race will hunt you down for eradicating the DarkBlood Demon Zombies,” the Blood Queen said as she continued to turn into an ice statue.

”I killed every last Voltox Zombie and Iʼm still alive. I think itʼs your so-called race that should be worried. And oh, before you threaten me with that Zombie Empress of yours, know that I donʼt care,” Klaus replied, too exhausted to pull the spear from her chest.

Being so close to her, staring at her twisted expression, he felt disgusted with himself for ever having lustful thoughts about her. The feeling alone made him want to vomit, but he was also sinking into darkness.

The sword had missed his heart, but only slightly. It had grazed it, causing him to bleed internally.

He needed to remove the sword so his Overlord Healing skill could activate, but he was too tired. Now that the Blood Moon Transformation had ended, his strength had diminished considerably.

Suddenly, the Blood Queen froze completely. Using every last ounce of energy he had left, Klaus twisted the spear, shattering the ice. The Blood Queen cracked and shattered, and Klaus fell backward, hitting the ground hard.

The sword was still lodged in his chest, and his eyes grew heavy. He looked sideways and saw the dragon dissipate, leaving a cooked Zombie corpse behind.

”At least theyʼre all dead. I can take a nap now,” Klaus said with a weak smile as his eyes closed, drifting into unconsciousness. He no longer had the strength to pull the weapon from his chest.

A few seconds later, a powerful gust of wind swept through the silent battlefield, raising dust into the air. When it settled, Miriam, the War Goddess, appeared.

”Klaus!” she cried. The moment she saw him lying on the ground with a sword through his chest, she rushed to his side, instantly removing the blade. She cradled him in her arms as tears began to fall.

Once again, she was too late to save him. Just like in Arcadian City, she had arrived too late when he needed her most. Her tears flowed freely as she did everything she could to wake him up.

Suddenly, planes and vehicles started arriving in the forest as the reinforcements Klaus had called for forty minutes ago finally reached the battlefield.

Klaus had already killed every last Zombie, leaving the War Goddess holding his cold body in the midst of the silent battlefield.

The soldiers and warriors who had arrived stood silently, staring at the bloodied battlefield and Klausʼs unconscious body in the War Goddessʼs arms. No one made a sound. They simply stood there, watching.

They had come to fight, but it was clear they had arrived too late. However, that wasnʼt their main concern. What truly stunned them was the sight of Klaus—the same Klaus they knew—having cleared a battlefield full of thousands of these terrifying Zombies, now lying dead and beheaded all around them.

It was too shocking. They were all in a daze, just standing there, trying to process what they were seeing. The War Goddessʼs tears continued to fall; she was clearly going through a lot.

Suddenly, the sky cracked open, revealing a dark inner space. The whole army looked up at the sudden change, but before anyone could react, a woman they all instantly recognized appeared through the crack.

She looked cold—so cold that none of the warriors dared make eye contact with her. The moment she appeared, she vanished and reappeared beside Miriam. The crack in the sky closed behind her.

”Stop crying, little sister. Heʼs not dead. He just needs time to heal,” the woman said, placing her palm on Klausʼs chest.

With a flick of her wrist, space cracked open again, and before anyone could fully understand what was happening, the woman, Miriam, and Klaus vanished, leaving behind only the dead Zombies and thousands of Zombie stones (cores).