Klaus expected so many things that could go wrong in his life. However, he never expected the heavens to go to such extreme lengths just to kill him.
He saw his entire life as Fruity, the renegade monk.
He saw the hardship.
He saw the pain.
But he also saw happiness.
He went through it all and loved every last minute of it. But he knew the heavens never wanted that happiness to be part of his life.
To them, while Klaus was growing up, their job was to ensure he struggled until he couldn’t do it anymore.
But for all the nine lives he had lived, they tried everything, and finally, they could tell he wasn’t someone they could kill.
So they chose to bring the pain around him and watch his despair until he succumbed, and there, they would swoop in and end him for good.
The paragon cannot be allowed to rise, with all nine lives aiding him. That was what they were afraid of.
They used to be scared of just one Paragon, and now, they have to face not just one, which is Klaus, but he is being aided by nine Paragons.
That is something they don’t want to see happen to him.
When the white-bearded man created the projection for Klaus, he saw the Devouring Snake, who had just birthed his long-time friend, companion, and source of power, Pickle Berry, getting attacked.
This made Klaus angry, and when he managed to save Pickle Berry, he, alongside Queenie, Nari, and Queen Lunara, managed to handle the heavens, who intervened by splitting the snake into four just to kill him.
All through it, Klaus’s head was clear. His reasoning was at its peak, with no mistakes being made.
However, when his gaze landed on Lucy, who was held by the throat, his anger burst, making him confront the hunter.
In the scene he was watching, he actually killed the hunter.
But that was the mistake he made.
The moment he killed the hunter, the heavens deemed Earth capable of awakening.
So they sent the notification, and six days later, the Awakening Gate opened, and from its maw, the heavens sent the doom of Earth.
They appeared jagged, towering, and incredibly powerful.
But they weren’t the only ones who came. The monsters on Earth also attacked, and the moon also descended.
Klaus faced the battle, fought, and killed hundreds of thousands. But they kept coming, and so, Danny died, and then Daniel also died.
Kilian also couldn’t hold on anymore, and so he died. Then Mark died saving Lily, but right after he died, Lily also died.
Then Anna could only smile as her head was severed.
Painfully, too, Klaus was locked down by three Chaos beings. These beings were sitting at a stage that nobody on Earth, including Klaus, could measure up to.
He was a mere Great Sage facing three of them.
But all he could do was continue to scream as he watched his friends and lovers die one by one. The heavens won, for he knew the moment Danny died, they had won.
Painfully, he could feel this had happened to him before, and so, out of nowhere, a power he didn’t know the source of descended on him.
It was two hours of battle where Klaus killed from the Awakening stage to the Chaos stage, and even when a peak Chaos stage appeared, it took just a single attack.
But when the two hours were over, he looked around and could only see the dead bodies of his friends, lovers, and enemies.
Everyone died, leaving only him.
Those he was fighting to protect died, and all he could do was stand and look at the dead bodies.
When he looked up, he saw the sky cracked in more than one place and slowly continuing to expand. This was a sign that the Earth was breaking, meaning it was dying.
He could only watch as the same hunter he killed appeared when everything was doomed to fall completely.
That was when he realized the one he killed wasn’t the real hunter. It was but Karma made whole. He destroyed the Karma of Earth, meaning he had challenged the heavens.
That was what they wanted, and they accepted his challenge.
Klaus could only watch as everything he loved and swore to protect was destroyed around him.
“This is what awaits you if you kill this being,” the man spoke. “Your world still hasn’t awakened, so there was no way the heavens would send a hunter to it.
This means they didn’t. Instead, they used the rules against you. In truth, this being wouldn’t have killed the lady he took hostage.
It acted that way for this very moment. It wanted you angry, for they know you value the people around you, and they will forever be your weakness.”
Hearing his words, Klaus’s anger started to rise, and for a moment, all he wanted was to kill the hunter who was actually the Karma of Earth.
Klaus lifted his head and looked at the man who may have saved Earth this time. Looking at the dark veins appearing on his face, he knew he was dying.
He had broken many rules, and despite being a fully-fledged demi-god, his death was unavoidable.
“Don’t worry, my friend. We all know a day like this will come, yet I chose to come today. Don’t worry about me, for your dream is far bigger than this universe.
Go back and do all you want to do. The heavens have crossed many lines this time, so it will be a while until they can come against your world again.
So go back and do all you have planned. As you used to say, ‘When you meet them, you will give them a nasty welcome.'”
He smiled as blood seeped from the corner of his lips.
“I used to believe in the heavens, you know, until I met you, and you showed me how evil they are. Today, I am happy knowing I contributed to stopping them. Goodbye, my friend; I hope we meet again.”
Though Klaus had literally become death or a being wielding the power of death, his emotions were touched watching the figure die before him. It was like watching his best friend die right before his eyes.
For a moment, tears fell from his eyes, for he knew going against the heavens wasn’t something someone who wasn’t a paragon could do.
“Your time is not yet over, my friend,” Klaus said as he pointed his staff at the man.
“Death’s Chosen,” he muttered, “Seventeenth Form.” The diagram behind him spun, and the seventeenth diagram pointed up.
“Death’s Bargain.” A runic mark shot out and landed on the man’s forehead.
“You are no longer under the heavens… become one with the paragon stars.” The space around him twisted, and they appeared back on Earth.
Meanwhile, far into the universe, sitting atop an immortal platform on a remote island, the man snapped his eyes open only to see a colossal finger a meter away, about to destroy his soul.
However, just when the finger was about to touch him, a dark star appeared on his forehead, and a powerful dark lightning bolt shot out, destroying the finger completely.
Just like that, the man, whose face had turned pale, was spared from dying.
“I will wait for you, Kaden. Just don’t be late.” A smile appeared on his face as he fell back and passed out.