The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse - Chapter 556

Chapter 556: Core Evolution (2)

Klaus had often wondered how and what life he had led in his past lives. He had asked himself this question many times and kept asking to this day.

However, as he started meeting a few of his incarnations, he saw that perhaps knowing too much wouldn’t end well for him.

From the first to the fourth core he had been inside so far, he tried to sense love, peace and harmony, but he sensed none. It was like his life had none of those.

This only meant that he hadn’t lived a peaceful life or even tried leading a peaceful one. His entire incarnation has been that of death and destruction. He never knew peace…or so he sensed.

But he was still hopeful that he would have a life in which he was happy and peaceful… Well, at least to say, the fifth core was even worse.

He went ahead and stepped into the fifth core. However, what greeted him was a world of darkness, death, and eeriness.

He was plunged into perpetual darkness. He looked around but saw nothing. It was pure darkness through and through…

“I am out of here.” With that, Klaus left the space and headed to the sixth core, where he was plunged into a literal world of music.

Yes.

Klaus appeared in a space where everything was in rhythm, yet his heart skipped a beat. Despite being filled with music, the space he appeared in had every note reeking of death.

But that wasn’t all… While he felt a deep connection with the other cores, this one was, in a way, affecting him in all the bad ways.

He felt the need to kill… to kill in all the destructive ways. It was as if his soul was being remoulded in the image of death.

He liked it.

In fact, a wicked smile played on his lips as he stood inside the domain of music and death. The feeling was euphoric.

“I like this feeling. It’s like I’m finally in a place I should be… a paragon should be. The feeling is heavenly.”

Without even realizing it, he sat in a lotus posture and began absorbing the musical notes. He remained still, taking in the danger. The euphoria is palpable on his face.

A day passed, yet he remained seated.

Meanwhile, his body outside now bore runic markings of musical notes dancing around him. There were golden runes, dark runes, and red runes.

The feeling emanating from the golden runes was one of calm. It was so calming that if anyone were present, their soul, mind, and body would be enveloped in a state of tranquillity.

Their chances of gaining enlightenment would skyrocket.

However, the dark runes reeked of death. It was as if they were made purely for killing. The death qi exuding from them was pure death. There was no other feeling but that.

Then there were the red runes, which were all about destruction. Klaus could feel it—a single note made of red runes could destroy an entire landscape. Everything about it was pure destruction in its simplest form.

Seven days later, Klaus finally opened his eyes inside his soul sea. The moment he did, a dark red aura burst out of his body on the outside, filling the space.

The aura was so harrowing that, as it appeared, all the greenery within a 200-meter radius lost its colour, turning dry as husks instantly.

On the last floor of the dungeon, Lissa looked at Alida, and the two smiled.

“Master has finally reached the second stage of Aura Cultivation,” Lissa said, her expression a blend of pride and happiness.

“Indeed… Aura Manifestation isn’t something that can be achieved easily, yet Master made it appear effortless. As expected of him,” Alida added, making the two cats smile.

“However, the question remains: will Master be able to handle the backlashes he will start receiving? He is practicing the Slaughter Aura. The last time it appeared was during the Blood Era…”

Both Alida and Lissa fell into a thoughtful silence.

The aura Klaus was cultivating was the Slaughter Aura. The name alone spoke volumes, but in reality, it was much more complex than it seemed.

The Slaughter Aura had many methods of cultivation; however, the last time it surfaced, it was cultivated through the easiest path: the Path of Slaughter.

This was during the Era of Blood when the Asura God rose and cleaved through the universe, raining down blood. This era instilled fear in many and birthed the hate and fear of Paragons.

It was also the era when the Slaughter Aura was branded forbidden.

For Klaus to begin walking that path could only mean one thing: slaughter. But the question was, would he be able to handle the backlashes that came with it?

In fact, if he was discovered practising the Slaughter Aura, many would come after him—even gods and immortals.

“He is Master. When has he ever shown fear in front of his enemies? No matter what, this is the path he has chosen. We can only help him from the sidelines as he walks in,” Alida said, clenching her fist.

“Indeed, Master can walk the path. We must ensure he succeeds,” Lissa echoed, mirroring her sister’s determined gesture. The two women continued to watch Klaus’s body exude the Aura of Slaughter for a few minutes until it finally subsided.

Inside the core of Music and Death, Klaus stood up, and like the wind carrying away cotton, he began to sway, dancing across the domain filled with the notes of death.

“I need a musical instrument as a weapon. I need to utilize my Weapons Overlord class and whatever this is to the fullest. This music has great potential,” Klaus said before moving to the seventh core.

“What the fuck?” Klaus, who had just landed in the seventh core, screamed his heart out when his eyes fell on the nature of the domain he had appeared in.

Without a shred of doubt, he had entered a domain of battles, destruction, blood, and an eeriness that spoke more toward the realm of the undead.

Basically, the place was a battlefield. Nothing was enticing to the eyes there. Everything reeked of battle, and looking at it, Klaus knew that one of his incarnations had perhaps never had a good life.

He could feel it—hatred.

The overwhelming feeling of hate and resentment made him understand that in the lives he had lived. This one was where he may have lost something so dear that his hatred became absolute.

It was the only feeling inside the core, and for a moment, tears streamed down his face.

The feelings he was receiving were just too heartbreaking. Tears fell uncontrollably, making him leave the place a few seconds later. He couldn’t take it.

After leaving the space, he exited the soul space first. After calming himself down, he went back in. He didn’t bother to check the eighth and ninth cores, mainly because they had yet to evolve.

But so far, all seven were filled with nothing good. Every life he had led was filled with torment and heartbreak.

At that moment, he made a vow in his heart that he would never feel like that in this life.

During this lifetime, he planned to become very strong—so strong that the feelings he received from the seventh core would become a thing of the past.

This vow was made deep in his soul, and without him even knowing it, far away in the cosmos, nine stars shone brightly for a few seconds before eight dimmed.

One, however, started to brighten with each passing day.

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