The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

With his senses extending over a 70-kilometer radius, Klaus was able to track the Sovereign Assassin, who was strolling toward the carnival in hopes of finding him there.

The temptation of being the one to kill the most elusive target ever noted in the Dark Order's records was too enticing for the assassin to resist.

Unbeknownst to him, he had just entered the kill zone Klaus had meticulously set up for him. Klaus uses Star Q instead of Spiritual Qi.

So although he hadn't exerted much effort to hide his presence, the Sovereign couldn't sense the presence that was now just 400 meters away.

Klaus watched with a smile on his lips. He took out one of the three special arrows he had crafted and notched it onto his bow. He pulled back the bowstring but then paused, lowering the bow to take out a phone.

The phone belonged to Aya Middlestone, the mother of Luna and Nuna. Before killing her, Klaus had ensured he used her thumb to unlock it and change the phone settings to his own. Now, he had access to her contacts, and Lex was among them.

He opened the messaging app and typed a text to him. As soon as he sent it, he raised the bow and notched an arrow.

Lex, who was walking casually toward the carnival, suddenly felt his phone chime. He took it out and tapped on Aya's name.

When he saw the message, he froze. It read, "Look to your right and say cheese. You will see the face of your killer."

Lex froze, but then he turned. However, as soon as he saw Klaus's face, his energy surged—or tried to. Before he could release his cultivation, a red, crackling light appeared and shot through his chest, digging a hole through it.

It pierced his heart, leaving no chance for recovery. Lex looked dazed as he watched Klaus approach through his darkening vision.

Klaus stood before him with a small smile. "Aya will be waiting for you on the other side." With that, a ball of flame appeared in his hand. He used Aya's phone to snap a picture of Lex's lifeless face before tossing the flame onto him.

What followed was a quick, ashy burn that consumed him so fast that even his core was destroyed.

[You have killed a Sovereign Stage Warrior named Lex Nelson. You have earned 1,000,000 EXP.]

Klaus smiled reading the system message.

[You couldn't have saved his core?] the senior asked.

"It would have contaminated my Star Core once formed. The EXP was enough," Klaus replied, without a trace of regret. The Tier 8 Core he had just burned was sufficient to make significant progress in forming his first Star Core.

But he was so disgusted by the assassin that if he had the chance, he would have rejected the Exp Points too.

After using the ice element to bury the ashes, he walked toward the carnival, stood on a hill, and began to watch.

*** Read exclusive adventures at empire

Somewhere in the city, Miriam moved across rooftops only stopping when she appeared on top of a building. Inside a certain room, a young man was scrolling through his phone, laughing now and then.

Miriam narrowed her eyes as she observed the smug expression on the young man's face. His name was Rick Shelly, an assassin for the Dark Order. Over the past 15 years working for them, he had killed 410 people.

Among these kills, 24 were innocent, but because he was ordered to assassinate them, he never even blinked.

Miriam wanted to proceed slowly, but seeing the nonchalant, smug look on Rick's face made her blood boil.

Inside the room, Rick, who was happily watching a cat video, suddenly felt his body freeze in place. He couldn't move his hands or legs. The only thing he could move was his eyes. Surprisingly, his voice was also silenced.

On the roof, Miriam raised an eyebrow as she watched the result of using her power to immobilize him. Although Rick was a Great Sage, Miriam expected some resistance. However, to her shock, he couldn't move at all.

But she didn't let that distract her. She moved and glided through the air, entering through the window that was already open — Rick had a habit of watching the night city, so he kept it that way.

With her face covered and clad in dark clothing, Miriam stopped beside Rick and spoke coldly, "In your next life, don't kill the innocent."

Her palm glowed, and she gently tapped Rick's forehead. Light engulfed him, and before he could even scream in his head, he disintegrated into a flash of light, vanishing forever.

Miriam stared at the spot where Rick had been for a few seconds before she, too, disappeared from the room. The skill she had used was one she gained when she broke through to the Saint stage many years ago.

When Klaus saw her use that skill a few weeks ago, he felt envious. With her light element, a simple touch could disintegrate anything. The name of this OP skill is [Annihilation Touch].

It was the kind of ability any assassin would kill for. As for Miriam, she only used it for close-up kills or to disintegrate her opponents' weapons.

She doesn't truly depend on it since she prefers brutal battles where blood and sweat will cover her enter body. She is that weird.

She moved to her next target, and then the next, ensuring she left no trace of a foreign presence in the places she visited.

In another part of the city, Nuna was also making her moves. As a Great Sage, taking out Sages was effortless for her. Thanks to her Shadow Manipulation abilities, she could move through the shadows with ease.

Her first target was a cashier who was just about to leave work. However, she never made it to her car before the shadows consumed her. Nuna dragged her into the shadow realm before taking her out.

Klaus once asked why they preferred to bring their targets into the shadow realm before killing them. Their response was rather chilling.

In their shadow realm, they were supreme. The moment someone entered, they would be cut off from their cultivation base, rendering them mere mortals in the shadow realm.

Killing them after that was as easy as picking up stones. This made it their primary killing ground. Even more terrifying, the two shared the same shadow realm, so anything that entered would be subject to both of their dominions.

One could only imagine what their shadow realm would become once they ascended to Sovereigns.

Somewhere else in Harmony City, Luna, and Cynthia Ross were also taking out dozens of targets by the hour. Cynthia had some affinity with shadows, but her control wasn't as strong.

This was likely due to the fact that she was just a Sage. However, she wasn't any slower than Luna. While she could travel through shadows, she couldn't use them to trap her targets the way Luna could.

But since her targets were Saints, surprise attacks were enough. With her and Luna working together, they were able to move swiftly. When the situation called for it, Luna would handled it; otherwise, Cynthia was doing most of the killing.

By 5 a.m., the last of the Dark Order assassins in Harmony City had been eradicated. Klaus received texts from all four ladies, informing him that they had returned to the helicopter.

Klaus wasn't back yet...

At some point during the night, Klaus decided to join the carnival. When he returned to the helicopter, he was covered in paint and sparkles.

Miriam and the others looked at him with varied expressions. A few seconds later, they all sighed.

"Don't tell us," Miriam chuckled.

Klaus just smiled, and soon, they were off, headed to Arcadian City where the next cleanup exercise would take place.