There are many strange things in life... Many unexplainable things.
Before the apocalypse, we called people who flew without planes witches and wizards.
Before the apocalypse, we called shooting stars UFOs, thinking there were aliens on Earth. While that is somehow true, it was never confirmed.
Nobody could speculate, and we never truly understood anything.
But that all changed when the spiritual qi finally reached Earth. It was the turning point, and everyone started to believe in the impossible.
People could now fly, and it became normal.
Others ran very fast and packed punches that could obliterate landscapes and reshape them. Earth adapted, and people started living according to their current imaginations.
Then Klaus appeared, and the impossible, as they all knew it, was turned upside down.
He had just Awakened, but he was fighting across realms...
He was just an Ascended, yet he was battling mutated zombies and monsters.
Then, as a Master, he was saving an entire city from hordes of zombies hell-bent on annihilation. He was wiping out an entire race of zombies and combating hellish monsters.
When he became a Grandmaster, everything changed. Saints, Sages, Great Sages, and even Sovereigns were nothing in front of him. He managed to go as far as holding back a Transcendent while he slaughtered Sovereigns.
Then he became a Saint, and he skipped an entire realm, beginning to kill Ascendants like chickens.
He made it appear so easy that, despite the gruesome injuries he sustained after each battle, he never backed down or even frowned. He smiled through it all like a maniac.
Then, he became a Sage and began dominating the Ascendant stage. Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 couldn't withstand his attacks.
Now, he was a Great Sage who had awakened two overpowered bloodlines and some of the most dangerous weapons, skills, and techniques now under his control and at his fingertips.
Who is he today? Can the rest of the Ascendant levels contend with him? Nobody knew the answer, but they all can tell just by looking at it that Klaus is different...
So the idea of a bunch of humans challenging him and going as far as attacking his family—right now, he just doesn't know how powerful he has become. He will need some time to examine that.
But he wasn't about to show mercy.
He had awakened all seven forbidden ices that once terrorized the universe, and now the alliance found itself thrust into his world of hypnosis and illusion.
Reaper had killed thousands of them, so the remaining were just hoping they would survive.
The illusion took effect, and they were pulled into their betrayals.
The hypnotic effects made them recall the betrayals they had committed while the illusion recreated them. Using the [Poison damage] form of the [Reality Check] illusion technique with his illusion class, these illusions became tangible.
But it all happened in the mind space.
A Sage warrior, who was holding a sword, stood there with a pale expression. Nobody knew what was going on in his head, but in the next few seconds, a stab mark appeared at the back of his neck.
He fell to his knees.
Nobody knew what had happened, but Klaus saw everything. The Sage warrior, known as Kwau, had betrayed a friend who discovered a treasure when they were out hunting in a Tier 5 forbidden zone.
He stabbed him from behind, through the neck, ending him for the treasure... So, in his illusion, he was the one who discovered the treasure, and his friend killed him.
Klaus could have made it so everyone watching saw their betrayals, but he didn't want to let others see and turn against their loved ones out of anger. That wasn't what he wanted...
And so, more and more started dying in all the gruesome ways possible. One has to say that some humans are even worse than monsters.
Most of those who died had betrayed their friends and comrades by stabbing them in the back. It was the worst kind of betrayal.
Some even had it worse, which showed how they went through with their betrayal. Klaus could only watch them succumb to their treachery.
Strangely, there were a few who remained standing, unaffected by the hypnosis and the illusions.
These were the ones who had never betrayed anyone. They were simply greedy and chose the losing side, thinking they had it easy.
In the end, they could only thank their lucky stars for having lived an honest life despite their desires at some point in time.
Fifty-five minutes later, only 72 remained standing. These were the only few out of the 2,000-plus who had never betrayed anyone.
With only five minutes left of the promised time, Klaus dispersed the green ice.
"Congratulations. Seventy-two out of the 52,895 who formed the alliance to kill me have survived. As promised, I will let you all go. You have proven that you have some warrior in you somewhere."
But let this be your first and last attempt to come against me. Trust me, I could have killed all 52,895 within the five minutes I arrived here, but I chose not to.
It was because, while I wanted to eradicate you all, most of you are just greedy bastards who wanted momentum and came after me. I am compassionate, but I am also not a monster. You 72 have proven you have what it takes to survive.
That is a good trait. But don't get complacent. I am letting you go simply because I have no need for you. If you come after me again, you will die."
All 72 were just Saints and Sages. He wasn't worried about them.
The main characters were dead without showing any prowess whatsoever throughout the battle. It was shocking, but they simply never showed anything.
Duncan died screaming. Mason, Nabil, and Jiwon were practically missing in the chaos. Reaper was merely a weapon Klaus used—a means to an end.
The Dark Lords were practically nonexistent. As for the Transcendents who had miraculously appeared in their families, they all died without showing any prowess.
Their bodies were also missing, which could be blamed on the dragon burning almost the entire city.
Union City was gone for now.
If Ohema wanted, she could swoop in and rebuild it for the future. But for now, the battle that was meant to kill Klaus ended without Klaus's real body even appearing.
If you think about it, Klaus was just too monstrous.
"You 72 can go, and be sure to live good lives from here onwards," Klaus said, lifting the demon-killing circle.
He then turned to the cameras, specifically the ones belonging to Controversial News.
"Though I cannot say I am disappointed, I have to say people are stupid. Today, three great Clans and two legacy families are no more. But I know they have minions and support from many allies currently in hiding.
I won't hunt you down. I have much more important things to waste my time on. But let it be known, if after today, somebody—regardless of who you are—comes against me or my family again... there won't be a game show.
I will come for complete and total annihilation... leaving only when nothing else remains.
I have more important things to worry about than a bunch of idiots who don't know how to spend their days."
The ice lotus vanished, and the sky cleared. Klaus's illusion dissolved and disappeared, leaving the entire Union City in ruins.
People will need some time to process what has just happened.