The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Chapter 1141: The Awakening (45)

“Rita, fall back. You are our killing weapon, so let us create an opening for you,” Nia said, jumping into a shadow only to appear behind a Monarch Assassin.

The Monarch twisted his body, his dagger spinning for a quick jab at Nia. However, she fell back into the shadows and appeared in front of the same Monarch again.

However, she didn’t attack. Right when she appeared before him, she fell back into the shadows again…

“Coward,” the Monarch said, his dagger hungry to leave a cut on Nia’s delicate skin.

However, despite having the numbers on his side, the Monarch could only wish.

There were two of them and five Death Stage assassins.

However, for the past hour, none of them had managed to land a cut on the four ladies who intercepted them just when they managed to sneak their way into the world of a Paragon.

Their mission was to kill a certain redhead beauty, who, aside from the Paragon, is the second most hated person in the universe.

All would have gone well, but then they met Nia and her team.

The four ladies—technically, the seven ladies, considering Nia had three shadows fighting actively beside her.

However, they had locked them down, and all the Monarchs could do was endure.

Nia and her shadows—Axis, Chronis, and Veyrha—weren’t giving them time to breathe at all.

Axis, the shadow of space, caused the space around all seven targets to freeze, preventing them from escaping the shadows. Her understanding of Space Law is at the Adept stage, so she has some claim over space.

Naturally, nobody would expect a mere shadow to be Adept in Space Law.

But it didn’t end there; Chronis, the shadow of time, managed to slow down time for the Monarchs, matching their speed to their own.

Under normal circumstances, Nia, Lulu, Nuna, and Rita shouldn’t have been able to match the speed at which the two Monarchs were moving. In fact, even the five Death Stage assassins should be faster than them.

But thanks to Chronis, they were able to match their speeds.

But the most dangerous shadow thus far was Veyrha, the shadow of Void.

While Nia was holding a whole Monarch by herself, Veyrha was also locked in with the second Monarch, allowing Rita, Luna, and Nuna to handle the five Death Stage warriors.

Nia knew killing the two Monarchs would require all hands on deck, so she was waiting for her sisters.

The twins, Luna and Nuna, were attacking both the physical body and the shadow of their targets, while Rita, the soul assassin, was moving through the openings Luna and Nuna were giving her to attack the souls of the five Death Stage warriors.

It was a battle between assassins, so it was unexpected and lethal.

Rita’s eyes shimmered faintly, their pupils narrowing into slits as the air around her distorted. She was channeling so much soul energy that standing beside her would be fatal to anyone’s soul.

HUM

A sudden hum came from her body, spreading over the shadow battlefield.

She whispered something under her breath—an incantation so soft that even Luna and Nuna couldn’t catch it.

A faint hum filled the air, and from Rita’s body, ethereal daggers began to materialize—transparent and humming with soul energy.

They drifted weightlessly, surrounding her like she was a spirit master. Then, with a low hum, the daggers darted toward the five Death Stage assassins.

One of them sensed the incoming danger and turned sharply, spinning his dagger in defense.

However, his expression twisted in confusion.

The logical thing was for his dagger to meet Rita’s dagger, allowing him to successfully defend against it.

However, Rita’s daggers passed straight through his blade, plunging into his chest. There was no wound, no blood—yet he screamed.

His soul was burning.

Luna and Nuna seized the moment.

The twins moved as one, their coordination so seamless it was as though they shared a single consciousness.

Luna struck high, her curved blades slicing through the assassin’s defense, while Nuna swept low, her weapon coated in shadow essence, severing tendons and forcing him to his knees.

“Now,” Luna hissed.

Rita’s eyes flashed crimson.

She formed a hand seal, and the soul daggers flared, exploding inside the assassin’s spirit. His body froze for a moment before collapsing—lifeless, eyes still open.

That is how dangerous a soul cultivator is. Though it takes a lot to execute a perfect soul attack, once it connects, the chances of the enemy coming out unscathed are very slim.

So Rita had a good one, but that was one down. There were four remaining.

Meanwhile, Nia’s battle with the Monarch was intensifying. The assassin’s movements were sharp and ruthless, his every strike aimed to kill. However, Nia’s body melted and reformed through shadows again and again.

With every failed attempt, the Monarch’s anger surged, making him slowly and discreetly start to make mistakes.

“You’re much too slow for a Monarch,” Nia taunted, her voice echoing from all directions.

She decided to learn a thing or two from Asha, who loves to use taunts, claiming it is the best way to provoke the enemy into making mistakes.

And it worked.

The Monarch snarled, slicing through the air, but his dagger met nothing but mist. One could spot that his attack was now filled with anger, which, for an assassin, was a mistake.

Suddenly, Nia appeared behind him, her twin shadow blades crossing in a deadly arc. He barely turned in time, his dagger clashing with her blades, the impact sending sparks flying.

For a moment, they locked eyes—his filled with fury, hers with amusement.

“Axis!” Nia commanded, and the Shadow of Space responded…

They were one and the same, but Nia preferred to treat her shadows like real people.

Space itself seemed to crack like glass. The Monarch froze mid-motion as the air around him thickened into invisible walls.

Nia grinned and vanished again, her body turning into liquid darkness.

In the next heartbeat, she reappeared within the Monarch’s personal space, her blade piercing straight through his abdomen.

The Monarch gasped, but before he could counter, his shadow rippled violently.

From it emerged Veyrha, her form half-material, half-void, eyes glowing a hollow violet.

She drove her clawed hand through his shadow, pulling out something glowing faintly.

COUGH!

The Monarch coughed, but it was already too late. Veyrha had taken out his shadow essence, the connection between body and shadow.

“Void binds shadow,” Veyrha murmured, her voice cold and distant.

The Monarch howled as his movements slowed, his shadow bleeding into hers.

Veyrha was back to holding back the second Monarch while Nia worked on finishing this one off.

“Too bad… You had potential, but you wasted it by coming against my family,” Nia spoke in a cold tone before driving her dagger through the Monarch’s chest.

With his shadow bleeding—something only Veyrha could do—even if Nia did nothing, he would die. The only way he could survive a shadow bleed was if he killed the one who inflicted the cut.

But Veyrha was not somebody he could kill, not while Nia was still breathing.

With him dead, only four Death Stages and a Monarch remained.

Nia and Veyrha picked the Monarch and started working together to kill him.