The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

A heavy silce fell over everything—streets, pubs, restaurants, ev homes. No one moved, no one spoke, and no one ev dared to breathe too loudly. It just didn't make sse. In fact, it shouldn't have be possible.

Wh the mutated Zombie Geral appeared, everyone had braced themselves for an intse battle. They held their breath, expecting Klaus to struggle or ev flee. But with a single slash, he not only killed the Zombie—he split it clean in half. The shock was too much for anyone to process.

Klaus, a mere Ascded warrior, had just tak down a Tier 5 Terror Mutated Zombie and walked away without a scratch. It defied logic. Yes, there were giuses out there, fighters who could face opponts a level or two above them. But to kill something three realms higher with a single strike? That was unheard of.

Disbelief rippled through the crowd. Th, suddly, the scres showing the battle wt blank. The military had moved the satellite away.

As the sce of Ruin City faded from the scres, a new image appeared—a news anchor, looking serious. "Breaking news!" the anchor announced. "The young Ascded warrior, Klaus, has made his debut on the Union Warrior Ranking Chart, tering at number 807. Additionally, his rank on the City Chart is now 9, and on the Region Chart, he is ranked 98."

The momt the announcemt was made, the world erupted into a frzy once again. No one could remain idle. There was chaos everywhere, especially online. Klaus's fights had become the most trding topic, with countless videos circulating across the internet.

But while the world was buzzing with excitemt over his incredible feats, the main character of all this chaos stood calmly in the ctral region of Ruin City, staring down at his sword. He had be staring at it for the last five minutes, deep in thought.

After another t minutes of silt contemplation, Klaus muttered to himself, "I'll explore it later." With that, he placed the sword into his space ring. He th approached the fall Mutated Zombie Geral, carefully extracting a dark Zombie Stone from its body.

"This is a high-tier stone," Klaus said with a grin, eyeing the dark stone in his hand. "Hehe, the boy's rich now." A Tier 5 Zombie Stone was something anyone would vy, and for good reason. Once someone reached the Grandmaster stage, they needed to form a Star Core to ascd to the Saint stage.

The quality of this Star Core was crucial—it determined one's future pottial. Naturally, everyone sought to form the largest, most refined Star Core possible. But doing so required immse resources. Tier 5 monster cores were ideal for this purpose, but Zombie cores were ev more valuable.

Not only did killing a Zombie give more experice than a regular monster, but Zombie cores also held significantly more ergy.

Because of this, Zombie cores from Tier 4 and above were in high demand. With Klaus having slain hundreds, if not thousands, of Tier 4 Zombies, he now possessed a vast number of these prized cores.

Suddly, the battlefield shifted. The ice that had covered it exploded, releasing a mist of freezing air that swept across the tire area. Within that mist, Klaus's Star Qi pulsed. As the mist spread across a -kilometer radius, every Zombie core on the battlefield stirred. They were drawn to Klaus, vanishing one by one into his space ring.

"My control over ice is still lacking," Klaus muttered to himself. He recalled the words of the sior who had guided him: understanding the essce of his elemts—ice, and all the others—was crucial if he wanted to unleash true elemtal attacks.

Klaus moved back across the battlefield, repeating his earlier actions twice more, drawing in every remaining Zombie core. Once satisfied, he left and returned to the small mountain where he had once formed his Ice Lotus skill.

"Looks like my status has ris again," Klaus said with a smile, noticing the change. "Oh, I'm on the Union Chart now. Hehe, it seems I've finally made my debut. Let's see who dares to look down on me ever again."

Wh Madam Fei had couraged him to show everyone his power, no one expected his rise to be this explosive. Not only had Klaus tered the City Chart, but he had climbed to the top, and ev more impressively, he had secured a spot on the Region Chart within the top 0.

In every city, there were millions of warriors, all striving for a chance to rank among the top. The Union Ranking Chart was reserved for only the top ,000 warriors across the tire region. To make such a debut, one needed not just strgth but also vast amounts of Military Contribution Points. Klaus had done it—he had made his mark.

This meant Klaus's points far surpassed those who had be hunting and killing monsters for years. Not only had he eradicated an tire region of the Ruin, but he had also wiped out two regions tirely. He had slain thousands of monsters, amassing a massive sum of points, which catapulted him to the top of the rankings upon his debut.

What Klaus accomplished in such a short time would take others months, if not years, to achieve. Normally, it would require a team of dozs of warriors to ev attempt such a feat—and ev th, they would barely manage it. Wiping out an tire region of a Forbidd Zone was something no one had ever imagined possible, not since the apocalypse struck.

Klaus was the first to achieve it, and he set the bar so high that ev if someone tried to replicate his success, it wouldn't have the same explosive impact. His actions had redefined what it meant to be a top warrior, and the world was now watching.

Despite his incredible feats, Klaus couldn't help but frown as he stared at his status scre. "Hmm, after all this killing, I still need 7 million more experice points to level up and become a Master," he muttered, eyeing the progress bar with disappointmt.

He had hoped that this battle would be the turning point, the push he needed to ascd to Master Warrior. But now, seeing how much experice was still required, he could only sigh.

Suddly, his phone rang—now showing on the military tracking device Hanna helped him link his phone to. The name "Ohema" flashed on the scre.

"It's Ohema," Klaus said, quickly retrieving the phone. Before answering, he brushed his hair back, trying to look more innoct and cute.

"Hello, Ohema. Missing me already?" Klaus teased in a fridly tone as soon as her face appeared on the scre.

"Tsk, who's missing you?" Ohema replied with a slight blush. "By now, thousands of girls are sliding into your DMs, and you think I would miss you?"

Klaus blinked, confused. "Mmmh, what's a DM?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

Ohema stared at him for a momt before bursting into laughter. "Oh right, I forgot you're new to all this," she said, still giggling. "Anyway, you're popular now!"

"It seems so. I guess this means I can ter the Selection for Celestial Mountain Academy," Klaus said, his voice filled with curiosity.

"Oh, absolutely," Oheme replied with a nod. "You're more than qualified now. Ev without a recommdation, I'm sure the academy will reach out to you soon ough."

She paused for a momt, th raised an eyebrow. "But… ar't you worried you might have gone too far this time?"

Klaus looked at her, confused. "Gone too far? I only killed monsters and Zombies. It's not like I stole anyone's girlfrid," he said, guinely puzzled.

Oheme sighed and leaned closer. "You're on the City, Region, and Union charts, Klaus. That alone is an insult to many prideful warriors. Think about it—if one day you woke up to find your status pushed back or wiped from the charts by someone several Tiers below you, how would you feel?"

Klaus frowned but remained silt as she continued.

"You've not only pushed people down a rank but on the City Chart, you've tered the top fifty—a feat usually reserved for Saint Warriors and above. Do you see now why I said you might have gone too far?" Oheme's tone was gtle, but her words carried weight.

Klaus thought about her words for a momt, finally understanding the impact of his sudd rise on others. He could see what she meant now. Still, it wasn't his fault that people were weaker than him. "Well, that does make sse," Klaus said, nodding thoughtfully. "I guess I won't wipe out the other three regions just yet."

Ohema's jaw dropped. "Wait, you were planning to take out the other three regions?" she asked, eyes wide.

Klaus smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I was going to use the time to break through to the Master stage," he replied casually. "But since you mtioned I might be stepping on some toes, I'll postpone it for now."

"You... ar't you tired?" Ohema asked, still in disbelief.

Klaus chuckled. "Not at all. I could do this all day." If only she knew about his heav-defying recovery ability that defied all logic—she probably wouldn't ev be able to stand next to him without feeling overwhelmed.

"Th it's a good thing I called you," Ohema said. "You don't need to break through just yet. After the City Selection, there'll be a gift. Those selected will be giv a vial of Mountain Dew. Wait until th and use the Mountain Dew to cleanse your body before you push yourself to the Master stage."

"What is Mountain Dew?" Klaus asked, his tone curious.

"It's a unique medicinal essce," Ohema explained. "It cleanses all impurities from the body, allowing a warrior to cultivate more easily and break through to higher realms. If you use it, your spiritual qi will become more refined and pott."

Klaus nodded thoughtfully. "I see. I'll take your advice and—"

Suddly, Klaus paused, his atttion shifting sharply to the left. His eyes narrowed.

Ohema noticed his change in demeanor and asked, "Klaus, what is it?"

"It seems I have some visitors," Klaus replied, a cold edge in his voice. "I'll call you later, Ohema."

Before she could respond, Klaus ded the call. A wicked grin spread across his face