The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

The tribulation continued to rage on. The dragon was doing its best, killing monsters as they poured in alongside the lightning chains.

But Klaus was pleased...at first.

He had been so focused on the monsters that he hadn't considered the chains for when the Grand Lightning Source Diagram would disappear once its job was done.

Essentially, the Grand Lightning Source Diagram could only be used once, during the awakening of the Lightning Source Diagram. And right now, that awakening was imminent.

Klaus was running out of time.

"Crap… it's about to start," he muttered, feeling the awakening draw near. He quickly formed a hand seal and took hold of the dark hole, aiming to place it directly in the main path of the chains. The dragon could handle the monsters.

"Just one minute," he muttered as the diagram shrank and flew back toward him. At the same time, he went all out.

The dark hole expanded further, covering more area. The dragon began channeling more energy, and the Ice Pillar continued to unleash a relentless rain of arrows. The dragon now targeted the monsters, shattering them with its Tail Slash Kill skill.

It had grown much stronger after the upgrade, but it wasn't strong enough to hold off the dozens of chains aimed at Klaus.

Thankfully, Klaus still had some skills that could utilize the 30% portion of his remaining Star Qi. The Ice Lotus appeared, followed by the Bell of Harrows.

Klaus expanded the bell, making it large enough to work inside. He sat in a lotus posture and began forming hand seals.

The spirit weapons lay beside him, as he couldn't use them while working on the awakening. However, the other skills only needed an energy source.

The Bell of Harrows was positioned within the Absolute Ice Domain, slowing down all incoming attacks. With each bell ring, they began to shatter, but they could only hold out for so long.

Klaus sat in a lotus posture and began the awakening of the Lightning Source Diagram. The chains and monsters were relentless, but the dragon was holding most of them back, and the dark hole was also doing its part.

However, there were many chains, and, worst of all, some monsters were still making their way toward the bell—Klaus's current source of ultimate protection, his last line of defense.

Five seconds passed, though it felt like thirty.

***

Ohema, watching from 12 kilometers away, began to panic as she saw hundreds of chains entering the small ice domain, with some even striking the bell.

Her fists clenched, and she tapped her foot on the ground like a worried housewife. The sight before her was terrifying.

Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

Klaus sat there with danger closing in on all sides.

Ten seconds passed, and he remained still, the miniature version of the Grand Lightning Source Diagram hovering before him.

"Come on, Klaus," she muttered.

Twenty seconds later, her worry only grew. He was surrounded by hundreds of monsters, something humans wouldn't be able to easily handle. The dragon was doing its best, but it wasn't enough.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The dark hole was also reaching its maximum capacity, leaving Klaus no choice but to finish as quickly as possible and get to work.

Thirty seconds. Klaus was now crackling with lightning as he sat quietly with his eyes closed, the only thing protecting him now being the bell, which had started to form cracks.

Forty seconds later, Klaus, who hadn't worn a shirt from the beginning due to the Source Diagram destroying it, was now covered in lightning like a second skin.

Up above, the heavens churned and swirled as if struggling to watch something that once belonged to them be taken for good.

The tower shuddered, and more chains and monsters poured out as if to make sure Klaus knew what was coming. But alas, the person they aimed to kill was now deeply immersed in the awakening of one of the Nine Forbidden Ancient Relics, the Lightning Source Diagram.

Back in the Tormented World, Klaus, with Yuying's company, managed to retrieve another of these forbidden relics, the Seven Star Forbidden Diagram, which was meant for the ice element.

Now, however, Klaus had taken back something that Number Three, his past incarnation said belonged to them, so all he could do was trust his past self and focus on claiming it.

To achieve this, he had to compel the heavens to send down their precious Lightning Diagram, said to contain advanced lightning control and manipulation techniques. It wasn't simple to steal something from the heavens.

But Klaus did. His past has come to help him and now, if he somehow manages to fully claim this diagram, his future with the lightning element would be limitless.

Legend has it that those fortunate enough to glimpse the Lightning Diagram are destined to gain stellar mastery over lightning and thunder.

Essentially, one with the diagram becomes akin to lightning itself, and Klaus, having severed the heavens' connection to it, stored it in his soul.

Now, he was awakening it, and once he succeeded, he would have the power to harness the storm as though he were the progenitor of lightning and thunder.

"Come on, Klaus," Ohema muttered, gritting her teeth as she watched him. The only thing stopping her from intervening in the tribulation was the fact that the bell was still holding—and Klaus had told her not to do anything reckless.

Rumble.

Suddenly, the heavens thundered, and instead of ascending to end the tribulation, the Lightning Tower descended another level.

Level four had now descended, piling immense pressure on Klaus, who began bleeding from his nose as his defenses crumbled.

The dragon shrunk in size, a sign that the pressure from the tower was overwhelming, reducing its attack power significantly.

The Nine Star Ice Lotus Bloom was also struggling, littered with cracks. The domain was crumbling, and once it fell, all the pressure would instantly shatter the bell.

"Come on, Klaus," Ohema whispered, tears welling as she watched Klaus's defenses break down one by one.

"Damn it," she muttered, barely holding herself back.

BOOM

Suddenly, the bell shattered, and the monsters poured in like a raging tide. Klaus remains seated with his eyes closed, oblivious to the impending onslaught just inches away. Monsters and chains closed in, aiming hungrily for blood.

However, just as the first monster was about to touch a hair on Klaus's head, a chuckle echoed through the space.

"Tsk, what a bunch of idiots, thinking they could harm me with just this strength," said a voice, eerily similar to Klaus's yet not entirely his.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Number Three or Fruity, either.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lightning erupted from Klaus's body, blasting the hundreds—if not thousands—of lightning monsters and chains aimed at him into Tribulation Runes.

He slowly opened his eyes, now bathed in lightning. Boom! From his back, a golden metallic circular ring, about three feet in diameter, appeared.

Intricate patterns adorned the ring, and within it, five adult fist-sized orbs of different colors formed a pentagon shape, each crackling with lightning. From all around, Tribulation Runes poured in as if starved. Even the ambient lightning was being sucked in.

"It's been a while; let me stretch my legs for a minute," Klaus said, a slight smile playing on his lips. He slowly stood and, like a deity, began to rise gracefully from the ground.