The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

"Yes, ma'am, I'll see to it that it's done," the announcement lady said, hanging up the call. She glanced around the room, noticing the strange looks on everyone's faces.

"Increase the rate at which the monsters pour in for his trial," she ordered, pointing at Klaus's screen. He stood there, calm, eyes closed, hands clasped behind his back. The scene was too shocking for anyone to comprehend.

"By how much, ma'am?" one of the operators asked, eyes wide as she looked at the display.

"Ten times," a voice interrupted before the announcement lady could respond. It was the War Goddess herself, her tone firm and unyielding.

Everyone's jaws dropped in unison.

"But War Goddess, that's... that's too much!" the announcement lady stammered. She had been told to raise the difficulty by three times, maybe five at most—but ten? That's an overkill.

The room was immediately filled with murmurs of disbelief. They all knew Klaus was a monster, but this was pushing it beyond reason.

"Are you sure?" the operator hesitated, her fingers hovering over the controls, unsure whether to follow the command.

The War Goddess fixed her with a steely glare. "Do it," she said, her voice final, leaving no room for argument.

The room fell silent, and the tension was thick. Everyone exchanged nervous glances, but no one dared to question the War Goddess any further. They knew what kind of power she wielded—questioning her would be foolish.

With a shaky hand, the operator entered the command. "Increase monster flow... tenfold," she whispered under her breath, her heart pounding as she hit 'Enter.'

On the screen, Klaus remained motionless, unaware of the chaos being set into motion for his trial. He stood there, calm, as if meditating, oblivious to the storm that was about to hit him.

"Good luck," the announcement lady muttered under her breath, her eyes glued to the screen. Everyone braced for what was about to happen next. For some reason, they felt pity for Klaus.

Back inside Oracle, Klaus stood firm, controlling the Void Piercing Needle with devastating precision. Suddenly, tens of thousands of monsters began pouring toward him, an endless wave of death.

His eyes snapped open, locking onto the storm of creatures rushing his way. "Looks like they want me to feel something," Klaus muttered with a smirk.

In an instant, the Void Piercing Arrow appeared in front of him, breaking apart into 45 sharp needles. With a simple gesture, he added ten more, making 55 needles float ominously before him. A smile played on his lips as the needles reformed into a single, new Void Piercing Needle.

This time, it wasn't the usual ten-inch needle. Instead, a thick, menacing 14-inch needle materialized, radiating danger. He grinned as he watched the monsters come within range.

Klaus stomped down, and from the ground, an ice chair emerged—elegant and sharp, perfectly crafted. With a mischievous look, he sat on it, comfortably taking his place. Thanks to his memories as Fruiy, he had mastered shaping the ice element into whatever he pleased.

Klaus really doesn't have any teacher to teach him how to use the Ice element, but thanks to the small memory he has of Fruity, his past self, he now knows how to shape some things.

Resting his hand on the chair's arm, Klaus supported his chin with his left fist, looking almost bored. With a flick of his right hand, he pointed a finger forward, and the newly enhanced Void Piercing Needle shot out.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of monsters evaporated into thin air.

"Tsk, not that I expected anything different," Klaus murmured, unimpressed by the carnage. But this time, he knew he had to be faster and more careful—thousands of monsters were pouring in by the second.

"Well then," he said with a smirk, "why not make this more interesting?"

With a flick of his fingers, the Void Piercing Needle split into two smaller, 7-inch needles. Almost instantly, they shot off in opposite directions—one to the left, the other to the right.

What followed was pure devastation. Hundreds of monsters disintegrated within seconds, shredded apart by the relentless speed of the needles.

Klaus even stopped using fingers and went back to controlling them with nothing but his mind and his Spirit Eye. The slaughter was seamless as if the monsters were mere insects in the face of the needles' precision.

"I should really pay more attention to my class," Klaus muttered to himself, slightly amused. If he had realized this potential earlier, he might have already become a powerful Spirit Master—adept in controlling weapons with his mind.

But it was never too late to start, and the battlefield was the perfect place to learn. An hour had already passed, and yet, 1,500 youngsters were still inside the oracle, fighting for a spot in the Top 1000. Looking at their struggles, though, it was clear that within the next ten minutes, the true 1,000 would be chosen.

At this point, luck seemed to play a big role. All you had to do was hold on and hope the unlucky ones would be eliminated. Anna and the rest of Klaus's friends were still in the fight, but only Anna seemed to be handling the pressure well.

Five minutes later, only 1,200 remained, the red screens flashing in the observation room said it all. Although these youngsters were strong, they couldn't hold on much longer.

Suddenly, the number dropped to 1,000. Now, the next kills would decide who made it into the Top 50. Klaus's name sat at the very top, his points towering above the rest. Nobody in the room was surprised. Even though his trial difficulty had been increased, he didn't seem bothered at all.

In the second place, of course, was Anna. She was pushing herself hard, and it was paying off. Miguel is in third place and from the look of how he is fighting, he seems to be trying to catch up to Anna

Surprisingly, Hanna, who had ranked 195 out of 200 in the city selection, was now sitting at number 4. She has been training very hard for this trial and it seems to be paying off quite well.

Kilian held the fifth spot, with his sister Lily right behind him at number 6. Mark, the spearman from Klaus's group, was at number 8, and Daniel and Danny followed at 9 and 10.

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Kay, on the other hand, was hanging in there at number 15. He is skilled with the bow, but his killing speed isn't the best. Still, it was enough to keep him out of harm's way while steadily taking down his targets.

Soon, the top 1,000 competitors began to dwindle. Before ten minutes had passed, only five remained inside the Oracle. Klaus sat calmly, continuing to kill with his two Void Piercing Needles, while Anna, surrounded by ice, was doing her best to hold on.

Miguel, still at third, fought on. Despite his hatred for Klaus, he proved himself to be a formidable warrior, showing everyone he wasn't a pushover. Hanna, clinging to fourth place, fought desperately, refusing to back down.

The fifth spot now belonged to Danny, who had risen from ninth. He fought fiercely, and if he managed to hold on a bit longer, he might even surpass Hanna.

But in the next minute, the final five were overwhelmed by monsters. They had no choice but to bow out of the trial. Anna finished second, followed by Miguel, Klaus's friend-nemesis, in third. Hanna secured fourth, Danny took fifth, Kilian came in sixth, and Lily, who had battled fiercely, ended up in seventh.

Mark finished eighth, Daniel took ninth, and Kay managed to finish the trial in twelfth place.

As the saying goes, friends of a lion aren't poppies. They have proven they are indeed worthy to be called friends of Klaus who the higher-ups are considering whether or not to let him continue the trial.