The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

“Don’t get me wrong, but we all know this whole mess started when we took the hit on Klaus Hanson’s head,” Dark Lord One said, his tone heavy with suspicion.

“It all began with him, so how sure are we that he’s not connected to this Renegade fellow?”

His words sent a ripple through the room, forcing everyone to consider a troubling possibility. Indeed, everything started after they targeted Klaus.

Then Aya, in her ambition, decided to use the attention surrounding Klaus to bolster her name and the reputation of the Dark Order.

But her plans had backfired spectacularly. That was when the Renegade emerged. At first, they had no idea who was behind the killings.

Now, however, the Renegade had made their presence known. What had been a shadowy threat was now an undeniable enemy.

A hidden enemy, but one they could no longer ignore.

“This is turning into quite a headache,” Dark Lord Seven muttered, shaking his head. “Even if we try to connect Klaus Hanson to the Renegade, we can’t say for certain how they’re linked.

“Are they the same person? If not, is there an intimate connection between them? And perhaps most importantly—why now?”

His gaze swept over the others and then continued…

“While the idea of Klaus Hanson, a mere Grandmaster, being the same person who managed to kill four of us and even hundreds of our finest assassins seems ridiculous, we can’t dismiss it.

Even so, how are they linked—Klaus and the renegade? That’s the mystery. But the most important question is this: who placed the hit on him?

I know we maintain the anonymity of our clients for their safety, but before linking Klaus to this renegade or even identifying who the renegade is, we first need to know who ordered the hit.

We need that information if we want to uncover the motive. And, well, we need to understand what we can do to use that motive to our advantage. After all, everyone has a reason for their actions.”

They all nodded.

While linking everything to Klaus Hanson might seem logical, they knew they couldn’t do much with that angle.

But someone had placed a high-priority kill order on Klaus, and the instructions left by that person made it clear—they wanted Klaus dead as soon as possible.

At the time, they hadn’t paid much attention to it. But now, pieces were starting to fall into place.

First, why would anyone place a kill order on a mere newbie who was just starting to rise?

Second, even if they wanted him dead, why offer such a high price and make it a high-priority target?

Third, why hadn’t the client come back to demand a refund after the kill failed? It was standard policy, yet this person never returned.

Instead, when Klaus disrespected them, they chose to make it personal—and that decision had landed them in this mess.

“This is indeed a headache, but let’s not point fingers or make rash decisions,” the leader began.

“That being said, we need to move quietly now and hold back our retaliation for the time being. However, we have to take care of some variables first.

The client needs to go, and so does Klaus Hanson. I will leave this to you 32, but bear in mind that Klaus Hanson will be heading to the academy in five days.

You all know what to do. After all, we are everywhere.”

“We see everything.”

The leader stood up and left. The Dark Lords, however, remained seated.

“This is a high-priority task, so I will take pointers,” Dark Lord One said, taking charge now that their leader was gone.

“You all should be ready to activate your assets. We have to handle Klaus cautiously since, as the leader said, we can’t make rash decisions.”

“Let’s all think of the best way to go at it,” Dark Lord One added.

“I think we don’t have to do anything just yet,” Dark Lord Two interjected. “Don’t get me wrong, we all want Klaus dead, but we can’t easily infiltrate the academy. That would be a huge risk even if we could use our assets.

So we have to wait and bide our time. Knowing how serious the academy is about their training, it won’t be long before Klaus Hanson appears in the Badlands.

He will also start going on missions. This means that, in most cases, he’ll be alone, or the strongest person with him will be a mere Great Sage since the Badlands he’ll be sent to all have restrictions.

We can utilize that moment to kill him. I say it’s the most ideal time to strike back.

Who knows? Killing him might even stop the renegade.”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Then we’ll use the Badlands to eliminate him,” Dark Lord One said. “But we also need to activate our assets in the academy. If an opportunity arises, they should make a move.

After all, they cannot be tracked back to us. And since the Legacy Families and the Clans are also now making their own moves, perhaps we might even find a chance to take him out.

Though he’s heading to a place beyond our immediate reach, we now have even more avenues to kill him. I say we bide our time and strike when the opportunity presents itself.”

Dark Lord Three added his voice. “Agreed. The Badlands will provide the perfect stage for this. Timing is critical.”

“Then how should we handle the client?” Dark Lord One asked, his tone shifting to a colder edge.

“For now, we only know they’re linked to one of the Great Clans, but we don’t know which one, since the order was received by Dark Lord Four.

However, we can check the database and retrieve their details from there. After all, while we operate under the anonymity policy, we still have to protect ourselves.”

Dark Lord Two leaned back in his seat. “If they’re connected to a Great Clan, we tread carefully. The last thing we need is a direct confrontation with powers beyond our preparation. Still, we handle them swiftly and quietly if they become a liability.”

Dark Lord One nodded. “We proceed with caution. No mistakes this time.”

“Then it’s settled. For now, we hold things as they are, and when the time comes, we can make our move and ensure things are done right this time.”

With that, the meeting ended. They had made up their minds and would soon make their move. But while they were meeting in secret, other powerhouses were also plotting.

The Three Clans met with the Legacy Family and discussed their plans for handling Klaus. For now, they too were holding back. But soon, they would make their move as well.

Meanwhile, the Overlords were also meeting. When Queenie returned a few days ago, she immediately entered seclusion.

Klaus had yet to provide her with the cultivation technique for the Asura race, but he had told her to put her affairs in order before they met again.

After her seclusion, she called for an immediate meeting with the seven other Overlords. Their discussion centered around the alliance with the Moon Race.

Right now, the Overlords are the strongest authority on Earth. Since each Overlord represented a Union or Continent, only they had the power to decide what would happen next.

Of course, the Overlords would consult their people, but their decision would be final once they made up their minds, regardless of any outside concerns.

But that was their world.

Klaus, whose every move seemed to shape the unfolding events, had just arrived at the Nucci Fashion Trend X headquarters.

It was time for him to meet the future Overpowered Puppeteer, the one who held a key component of his destiny.