The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Chapter 576 25th Cycles of Death

A day before Nadiaʼs tribulation, back in the dungeon, beneath the raging sea where Klaus had fought his last battle, his body remained submerged with a gaping hole in his chest that showed no sign of healing.

He wasnʼt breathing...

Well, with a hole through his chest, breathing was no longer an option. However, he wasnʼt decaying under the sea either, and surprisingly, just like the other places where he faced trials, no vicious animals surrounded him.

He simply lay there, peacefully sleeping beneath the waves.

Yet, while he may appear to be peacefully sleeping, the world around him was far from tranquil.

Hovering around him were 25 cards floating eerily in the water. These cards had appeared when he defeated the final challenger over a month ago.

The cards were unrecognizable at first glance, but if one were to inspect or appraise them closely, one would discover that these were the Cards of Death—the very same cards the Goddess of Death and Music had used to master the art of Death millions of years ago.

It was once said that one who masters the art of death will rise and walk the universe as the Grim Reaper, Death incarnate, and the harbinger of destruction—Deathʼs Chosen.

Many years ago, a girl who, from the moment she was born, knew only joy and happiness one day faced the harsh reality of life when her entire beautiful world was plunged into darkness.

Just like that, the most cheerful soul lost everything, including her happiness. It was a devastating moment for her; however, it didnʼt last forever.

Because when she was about to give up, she received the calling... the calling of death and was presented with 24 cards.

It was said that these 24 cards were the Cards of Death.

Legend has it that when the heavens were born, they despised Death, for it was a powerful foe they could not defeat. In an attempt to bring some semblance of order, they banished Death to the Land of the Forbidden, where it was sealed for eternity.

It may still have its hands on everyone and would one day come to claim their souls when they arrived at its doorstep. But the power to wield supremacy over death was never allowed to bloom...

Or so they thought.

Death... that sneaky bastard had other plans when it sensed the betrayal of its siblings...

Before its banishment, it left a souvenir, knowing that one day, when the heavens turned their cruelty on people, these cards could be their way out. If they were worthy, they would inherit the power of death.

It appeared many times but never found a worthy person—until it met this girl.

It was said that Death left 25 cards behind, but this girl only received the first 24 cards.

The 25th card never appeared, but even with the 24, she rose and created the most famous song the entire universe has ever heard—the Song of Death.

It was said that when Death picked its heir, that was when the heavens knew fear. Many called her the one the heavens feared, for when she played her song, even the heavens trembled in fear.

Perhaps many never knew who she was, but to those who did, they called her the Paragon of Death, for she brought the era of death, where even the three Great Calamities never stood a chance.

Now, hovering around Klaus were 25 cards—all 25 cards of death. His body was still and unmoving, but the cards were imprinting their power in him, and for weeks, they never stopped until 15 hours before Nadiaʼs tribulation, when the sea suddenly began to churn.

Waves rose and crashed, creating a stormy sea where everything turned chaotic.

Slowly, Klausʼs body rose from the ground and lifted out of the water, making him hover a few meters above the waterʼs surface.

It was nothing unusual, but the fact that when he finally rose, the 25 cards began entering his body one by one.

When Klaus entered the trial, he received three life points. They were meant to make him respawn after he died. However, aside from using two for the tribulation, he never used them to revive himself.

She saw no reason to die, considering he managed to kill his opponents.

Ultimately, after killing all his targets, he received 25 points.

He got one point for each target he killed. He was supposed to have only 10 after killing the last figure; however, he received a point from each target when he killed the seven summons in his 4th trial.

The same was true for the Eight-Headed Hydra demon snake. It produced 8 points, considering it had 8 heads.

He never revived himself, but now, he was benefiting from it. Had he perhaps used the points, he wouldnʼt be inheriting all the 25th marks of death left by Death itself.

The cards, one by one, entered his body, healing his wounds in the process. Whenever a card entered his body, Klaus would undergo a cycle of death where he would awaken a mark of death.

They appear like runes inside his soul sea, bringing with them the Aura of death. Klaus had no idea something like this was happening, but the changes happening within him said it all.

He is becoming much more powerful now.

After 2 hours, the last death card entered his body immediately, causing the aura of death to descend on the entire space, making Klausʼs body surrounded by the aura of death.

It dispersed ten minutes later, and Klaus was revealed, still hovering in the air.

However, from the dead body of the Eight-Headed Hydra demon snake, eight cores, eight soul crystals, and eight blood essences emerged and started getting absorbed into Klausʼs body.

Just like that, his ninth core began forming rapidly. However, that wasnʼt the only thing getting absorbed.

The hard metallic armor covering the colossal body of the snake was also being absorbed. Everything was happening so fast that eight hours later, Klaus was done. Then the heavens opened, and he started receiving the tribulation runes.

He broke through and was now becoming a Great Sage.

****

Meanwhile, atop the last floor of the dungeon, Alida and Lissa sighed when they saw Klaus breaking through. They had been on edge the past month while he was submerged underwater.

In fact, they had to put in extra effort to keep the trial going for as long as their masterʼs life was in danger. Just looking at their pale expressions showed they had worked hard.

In fact, they did work hard, considering their cultivation base fell from the Chaos stage, then to the Void, Ascendent, and now level 5 Transcendent.

”So, this is it, huh? We have to go back to sleep again,” Alida sighed.

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”We have to... The master will enter the ruin soon enough. He must discover us naturally like it was meant to happen,” Lissa said to her sister. ”But even if we couldnʼt come out now, we helped Master.”

She extended her small hands, and a multidimensional cube appeared in them.

”Do you think Master will be able to discover the other Void Stage monsters hiding in his world?” Alida asked.

”That will be up to fate, I guess... But itʼs Master. We shouldnʼt worry too much about him.”

They stayed there for hours until Klaus finally broke through to the Great Stage. Lissa let go of the orb when the tribulation ended, making it fly toward the true owner.

The moment it touched Klausʼs chest, the entire dungeon shuddered... and seven different ice elements burst out of his body.