The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

The red eyes lit up in the darkness, transforming the shadowy setting into an eerie blend of red pointed lights and darkness. It could terrify any of them before the apocalypse, but now, it looked even more beautiful to some.

"Tier 4 Gloom Rats," Klaus immediately recognized the type of monsters he was about to face. The Gloom Rats were large, shadowy rodents with glowing red eyes that moved and attacked in swarms.

Klaus understood the purpose of this level of the trial and what was expected of them. Precision and speed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He formulated many solutions in his mind, but ultimately returned to his original plan: using the Needles.

"I count 50 Gloom Rats," he muttered, and without hesitation, the needles moved. What followed was a series of red lights going off as the needles dealt death blows to the 50 Gloom Rats.

The trial aimed to use swarm tactics to test their precision and agility. The Gloom Rats were incredibly fast and did not attack individually, so the trial required them to be quick and precise in their attacks.

Of course, for someone like Anna, a mage, she cast a wide area-of-effect attack that managed to slow down the monsters. Then, using ice shards, she quickly took care of them. It was the only way she could do it since she wasn't like the archers or swordsmen who could unleash quick attacks.

Hanna, like most of the archers, chose to switch to a crossbow, which allowed for even faster reloading and shooting. She could have used her bow, but that would have required much more energy.

The crossbow didn't require much energy, but just as it consumed less, its damage output was also lower. However, the Gloom Rats weren't known for their tough defenses, so using the crossbow was the best option for her in that regard.

The ones who struggled were the brute fighters. At first, Danny and his group of brute fighters wanted to take the Gloom Rats out one by one using brute strength; however, they soon noticed the monsters were faster than the axes and hammers they wielded.

Some struggled, but after realizing the monsters had weak defenses, they simply created powerful shockwaves to deal with them. It took just a couple of strikes to kill the Gloom Rats, and then they moved on to level 7.

At level 7, the Gloom Rats doubled in number, now totaling 100. But all the fighters needed to do was crank up a little from the 6th level to take care of them. This was also true for level 8. However, at level 9, they found themselves in a new place.

Klaus arrived at level 9 after spending about two minutes clearing levels 6 to 8. He found himself in a barren, rocky wasteland. Sharp rocks jutted out of the ground, casting ominous shadows in the dim light.

"Looks like these levels all have something to do with shadows," Klaus muttered, looking around the tricky yet shadowy setting.

Just as he was getting acquainted with the rocky environment, powerful steps began approaching him. He scanned with his senses and then smirked.

"Ash Golems." He muttered picking up his next targets

As if responding to their name, 2-meter-tall monsters made of hardened volcanic rock with molten lava veins that glowed fiercely charged at him—50 of them.

Klaus immediately sprang into action, sending the needles flying. However, when the fire needle connected, it bounced off the rocky skin. The monsters have a rather rocky skin that acts as their natural defense.

"Interesting," Klaus smirked, merging the needles to form 50 Void Piercing Needles. They moved, and this time, they managed to pierce the tough skin of the monsters.

The Ash Golems are creatures made of rock, specializing in strong defenses. They are also heavy hitters, so most warriors flee when they encounter higher-tier ones. They are hard to kill.

However, Tier 4 ones aren't that difficult to defeat. It only requires precise and powerful attacks, which of course favors the brute strength fighters. Danny and his group were on cloud nine through these levels.

Level 10 was also populated by Ash Golems. Klaus quickly made his way through them, killing only with his Void Piercing Needles.

He had, like everyone else, racked up the time that was meant for them to use to rest. But unlike many who began to slow down as the levels progressed, Klaus was moving through them with ease. His pace was as fast as it could be, so while many were still at Level 10, he was already at Level 15, speeding his way through.

After battling the Ash Golems up to level 14, he found himself facing some rather interesting and icky-looking, zombie-like slime monsters called Bog Crawlers at level 15.

He appeared in an endless marshland filled with the stench of decay. Shallow, murky water covered the ground. Klaus immediately realized that this place was poisonous. However, he knew that to become infected, one would have to breathe in a large quantity of the poisoned air or—

getting hit by the Bog Crawlers' acidic venom sprays. They lived in the mushy waters, so this time, Klaus devised a different attack plan.

He first used the ice element to freeze the water, instantly encasing the monsters in ice. Then, with a heavy shatter, all 50 Bog Crawlers were reduced to nothing. He could have used the needles, but they wouldn't have been ideal.

By employing a wide area-of-effect attack pattern, he was able to clear levels 15 through 18 with ease. He chose to use the ice element more.

Klaus knew that although his ice element was stronger than most—despite still being unawakened. But he knew it was only a matter of time before it awakened.

He had already witnessed the awakening of the seven Forbidden Ice elements in Fruity's memories, and he knew that the moment he awakened them, his control over ice would become very strong.

However, he first had to gather some resources which he had already made moves toward. The only downside was that after researching the resources he needed, he found that most of them could be found in the Ice or Glacial Union.

So first, he wanted to get into the academy, and since Lucy told him that by joining the academy, he could pick missions in those regions, he knew he had to hurry.

From level 19 to level 20, the monsters he battled were quite sneaky, Earth Lizards.

Earth Lizards were monsters with a strong affinity for the earth element, attacking from the ground. If one was not fast enough, they would be caught off guard and fall into a sinkhole.

However, with his enhanced senses, he was able to clear through it. After taking care of the 20th level, Klaus managed to clear the first stage in under 10 minutes.

He quickly made his way to the second stage, which spanned from level 21 to 40. This stage also meant they would be fighting Tier 5 monsters. However, instead of the base number of monsters starting at 50, this time it started at 70, and it would double after that.

Klaus wasted no time before entering the second stage of the trial. Some of the others chose to rest for a while before diving in, while others headed straight in. Klaus's friends, of course, chose to go straight in, saving their resting time for when they needed it.

However, the moment they entered the second stage, they could no longer slack off. The Tier 5 monsters posed a different kind of threat.