The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Ev though Klaus had grown stronger, he knew better than to go after a Tier 5 monster right away. He wasn\'t about to take on the big threats just yet. First, he needed to understand his own abilities better and figure out how to use them effectively in combat.

For now, his goal was to hunt smaller monsters, test his limits, and gradually work his way up to the more dangerous creatures lurking in the city.

"Tier 3 should be a good start," Klaus thought to himself. He knew these monsters were differt from the ones he\'d faced before, but he was eager to test himself. He didn\'t want to underestimate them, but he had grown far stronger than he once was. His confidce pushed him to aim higher, ev if it meant taking on more than he could handle.

With that thought, Klaus vtured deeper into the city. The brok ruins sured him, remnants of a world long lost to chaos. After a few minutes of walking, he suddly stopped. Closing his eyes, a smile crept onto his face. "I guess that painful transformation wasn\'t for nothing," he muttered to himself.

His sses had expanded dramatically. Now, he could detect anything within a 5-kilometer radius. It was more incredible than he had imagined. He could feel the presce of monsters, their realms, and ev their classes. At that momt, Klaus could sse a doz Tier 3 monsters nearby, ranging from Lesser to the Great class, all within his expanded range.

Wasting no time, he locked onto his first target: a spike-tail crocodile, a powerful lizard-type monster. As he approached within 00 meters, the creature ssed his presce and charged at him, its sharp tail poised for attack.

Klaus smirked, clearly unfazed. His sword wt into a casual swing, slicing through the air effortlessly without ev bothering to channel his elemtal essce or star ergy into his sword. The blade cut clean through the monster\'s neck, and its head rolled to the g.

Just like that, a Tier 3 Great Monster was killed—without Klaus breaking a sweat. No elemtal essce or star qi was used. Just a normal swing.

[You have killed a Tier 3 Great Monster called Spike-Tail Crocodile. You have received 7,000 Exp.]

[You\'ve earned ,500 ranking points.]

"As expected, killing mutated monsters pays more than the ordinary ones," Klaus thought with satisfaction. The last time he killed a Tier 3 monster, he had only received 3,000 Exp. This time, however, he had gained 7,000 Exp.

In addition to that, he had earned ,500 ranking points for his first kill in the zone. "This is a good start," he said to himself with a nod of approval. He quickly stored away the monster\'s body in his space ring and was about to move on wh something caught his eye. On the g, there was a small, glowing object.

"So this is the core," Klaus muttered. He had read about these on his way to the zone, so he immediately recognized it. The core was smaller than an egg, yet as he held it, he could feel the boundless ergy it contained. After admiring the core for a momt, Klaus placed it inside his space ring and set his sights on his next target.

"I need to level up quickly," Klaus whispered as he swiftly stabbed his sword into the neck of a Berserker Rat, another Tier 3 Great Monster. It barely had time to react before it fell lifeless to the g. Klaus moved seamlessly from one monster to the next, cutting them down with ease.

Despite not distributing his 700 points from previous level-ups, Klaus\'s speed had already become monstrous. He was moving with incredible agility, far beyond what he\'d once thought possible.

[You have killed a Tier 3 Great Monster called Blue Fur Rabbit. You have received 7,000 Exp.]

[You\'ve earned ,500 ranking points.]

"How curious," Klaus mused. "There are no Dark Monsters here. Does that mean these monsters live in a hierarchy based on class?"

After killing 3 monsters, Klaus noticed that every single one had be a Tier 3 Great Monster. Not a single Dark monster or anything higher-tier had appeared. It started to feel like he was stuck fighting weaker opponts, far below his currt level.

"I need a stronger challge. These monsters are just too weak," Klaus said with a hint of disappointmt. He quickly realized he had become something of a bully. He hadn\'t ev needed to use his Star Qi, yet he was able to kill dozs of monsters in less than minutes. His power was truly terrifying.

As he reflected on this, Klaus started to understand that the star diagram he had cultivated was far more powerful than he had originally thought. Ev though some of the monsters had ssed him and released their ergy in defse, Klaus felt nothing from their attacks. Their aura didn\'t ev faze him.

Back in the Sunlight Forest, he had barely escaped death wh a Tier monster locked him down. But now, facing Tier 3 monsters, he was completely unchallged. He felt as though he was gliding effortlessly through the battlefield, moving from one kill to the next like a fish in water.

Not satisfied with the easy victories, Klaus pressed on, making his way deeper into Ruin City in search of something more worthy of his growing strgth.

Roar!

The g beath Klaus shook as a deep, thunderous roar echoed through the brok-down city. It came from a few kilometers away. Without hesitation, Klaus sprinted toward the source. After a few swift steps, he arrived at a small clearing where an intse battle was already underway.

"They\'re fighting," Klaus muttered to himself, taking in the chaotic sce. Three large monsters were locked in combat for reasons he couldn\'t discern.

The first was a Dark Fur Mountain Wolf, known for its incredible agility and strgth. Its dark, sleek fur rippled as it danced a the battlefield. Opposing the wolf was a Red-Eye Leopard, its glowing eyes dangerous to ev glance at.

From his watch, Klaus recalled that the Red-Eye Leopard possessed terrifying hypnotic powers —looking directly into its eyes would plunge a person\'s mind into chaos, making them vulnerable to attack.

But what truly caught Klaus\'s atttion was the third monster—a Diamond Tusk Elephant. Its massive body towered over the others, but it wasn\'t its size that made Klaus\'s heart race. No, it was the monster\'s tusks. Diamond Tusk Elephants themselves were oft considered worthless despite their size, but their tusks were a rare treasure. Owning ev one could fetch an impressive sum on the market.

Klaus\'s eyes gleamed with excitemt as he surveyed the sce. "What a perfect opportunity," he thought. The Mountain Wolf\'s meat was highly prized, something that people would go wild for.

The Leopard\'s value was dect and ev more ticing was the fact that it was a Tier 3 Dark Monster—killing it would not only add to his ranking points but also provide him with a body he could sell for more money.

"Let\'s see the power of Star Qi," Klaus muttered to himself, channeling a small portion of his star ergy into his sword. The momt the ergy flowed into the blade, it began to hum with life, vibrating with raw power. A gold aura veloped the sword, instantly amplifying its strgth.

"Fuck, this feels amazing," Klaus grinned, feeling invincible. His original plan was to ambush the monsters, but with the surge of power from his Star Qi, it became clear that they stood no chance against him.

Ice essce flowed from his body into the sword, freezing the g a him in an instant. The sheer power left Klaus giddy with excitemt. "Damn, this is great!" he exclaimed.

With a mischievous smirk, Klaus whispered, "Gtlem, the Yama King says hi," and th lunged forward, slashing his sword at the Mountain Wolf. A dse cresct-shaped arc of blue ice, coated with gold ergy, flew from his blade and struck the wolf. The attack sliced deep into the creature\'s skull, leaving a massive wound.

At the same momt, Klaus directed another arc of ergy toward the Red-Eye Leopard. The strike was so precise and powerful that it cut the leopard cleanly in half before it could ev react.

Finally, he turned his atttion to the Diamond Tusk Elephant. A more pott ice arc shot from his sword, aimed at the creature\'s thick neck. Klaus had expected the beast to dure the attack, perhaps ev retaliate, but to his surprise, the momt the ergy connected, the massive elephant collapsed to the g with a resounding thud.

Dead, just like that.

Klaus stared at the fall monsters in disbelief. "Wow, that was... almost too easy," he murmured, his heart pounding with exhilaration.

"Although they are Tier Dark Monsters, I expected some resistance" Klaus only used a small portion of the ergy he could channel, yet the monsters were overwhelmed, killing each with a single attack.

"Since that is the case, th I better use this time to level up and see whether or not, this City can contain us" Klaus arrogantly said storing the bodies of the monsters. He disappeared further into the City. What followed was howls, roars, and thuds. Klaus has finally found his groove and started his slaughter.

After about hours, Klaus stopped and sat on top of a brok wall. he pulled the system message.

[You have leveled up. Currt Level: Level Ascded. You have received 300 Stat points.]