The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

The concept of destiny is one many don't understand.

Some say it is a linear construct, something formed from the strings of fate.

But then, what is fate? Or more importantly, who is fate, and what does she have to do with destiny? Nobody knew that destiny is a strange one.

Some call it the circular domain, where everything that moves returns to where it began.

They say it is a circle that moves through many transformational stages and then returns to where it all started.

There are many others, for destiny is something nobody seems to grasp as a whole. However, there is a way to understand it.

You wouldn't know what it is, but you will understand it.

The concept of destiny takes many forms, depending on how you want it to be. In many ways, it has no form, yet it has every form.

To Kaden, destiny is a promise.

Destiny is a promise spoken from the heart. He believed that something spoken from the heart can transcend time and space, and even if the heavens are against it, it will come to pass.

This is the story of a Beast Cultivator and his five-headed elemental serpent companion.

Kaden was a kid like any other. His father died in battle, according to what his mother told him. Thankfully, his mother was someone he could count on, so he was happy.

He had friends and a life he was proud of.

He lacked nothing, and over time, he became a young adult, someone who could stand on his own two feet now.

And what is even better for Kaden is that he is in a world where power is everything, and rising to the young adult stage was like a dream come true.

Until it all came crashing down hard on him.

On the day of the awakening, Kaden awakened an unknown class that had no combat capabilities whatsoever. The only thing he saw in the blue panel from the universe was two words:

⟪Bind⟫ and ⟪Sacrifice⟫

These were the only things he saw. There was no explanation, nothing whatsoever to show he had become a powerhouse.

This devastated him.

His friends—or those he called friends—laughed at him, and his instructors ridiculed him. However, when he got home, his number one fan, his mother, made him feel loved.

She showered him with praise and even told him he was someone the heavens were jealous of—that was why his awakening was so bad.

Kaden believed his mother, and so he started living the life of a mortal, eating from his mom's account. But when a paragon is happy, the heavens frown upon that.

His peaceful life was shattered when his secret was revealed. Even without cultivating, he lived in an awakened world, where the concept of forbidden births was widely known.

So they chased him down, and in the last moment, his mother did what she had to do to ensure her king was well off and free from harm.

That was when Kaden found himself in the Lone Demon Forest, where he met the cutest snake he had ever seen. His sorrow was washed away by Pickle Berry—that was the name he gave to the snake.

That day, when he touched Pickle Berry, the panel appeared and displayed a new message:

⟪Do you want to bind this beast? Available slots (0/1). This is the maximum.⟫

Kaden chose yes, and that day, his destiny changed forever.

The moment he chose yes, he learned two new skills: [Poison Breath] and [Lethal Cut]. Strangely, he also learned how to turn into a snake and move like one.

His combat abilities have risen out of nowhere, and he can finally feel like a warrior.

But that wasn't all. When he used the [Sacrifice] option, his strength rose twofold.

That was when Kaden realized he wasn't the weakest awakened—he was the strongest. This would continue to rise in strength as pickle berry grows stronger.

Thus began the legend of Kaden, the lonely cultivator who roamed the universe with his snake. But he never forgot the revenge he had promised.

A thousand years later, the Heavenly Devastator, the one who made it his mission to hunt down the heavenly chosen, was born. He hunted them down, and those he wanted to kill were killed.

Those he didn't want to kill were enslaved, and for another thousand years, his army of heavenly beings was born.

Beings there were meant to do the bidding of the heavens were now under his command.

That was a huge blow to the ego of the heavens.

They said that when he counted sixty thousand heavenly beings, he laughed at the heavens and used the Paragon Star Transformation Art to transform all of them into Paragon Warriors.

Then his revenge began. The revenge he had been dreaming of for years began.

Many paragons had risen, but none had ever gone against the heavens.

He was the first.

He challenged the heavens themselves and forced down immortals, gods, supremes, and even celestials. This legend was written in the forbidden records, just like the other paragons.

But his was written in red—for he bled the heavens.

When he uttered the word [Sacrifice], the heavens quaked, for his trusted companion, friend, and source of power was the infamous five-headed elemental serpent—one that had never been born before.

Pickle Berry bestowed his strength on him, and with the power of the fire elements, he battled against the heavens.

Legend has it that when he broke through the Heaven Gate and landed on the celestial grass, he started to slaughter everyone and everything in sight.

Legend has it that, on that day, it rained blood everywhere, for the heavens had touched the reverse scale of a paragon by killing his mother.

He made them understand that a paragon cannot be trifled with.

That day, when he reached the Heavenly Law Pool, which was said to contain all laws and secrets even the heavens couldn't touch, he tossed Pickle Berry in for that was what he came there for.

He then went ahead and made him a promise.

"We will meet again... When that day comes, we will face the heavens once more. Go and rest, for your legend is yet to be born."

That was the promise Klaus's fifth incarnation made to his friend, companion, and power source.

Just now, while meeting with the generals, the fifth star shone, and the promise he had made millions of years ago resurfaced.

A wave of deep, seething anger gushed from his heart, driving him to move at full speed toward the location where a Void Stage Beast was attacking the mother of the beast he had once made that promise to.

Naturally, this was the work of the heavens. The moment he arrived at the scene, he felt an intense hatred that was directed at the beast—the same hatred he felt when he tried to kill Kate Duncan.

It was directed toward the Gray-Haired Naga, the one attacking the Dread Serpent.

"You dare?" Klaus's anger erupted as thousands of spirit weapons materialized in the air.

For the first time since leaving the Dungeon, Klaus was about to unleash his full strength against a being he had no business fighting.

And this being had the support of the heavens.