Ten Lucky Draws: I Became OP

Chapter 612: Shaking The Foundation (2)

[A/N: Let’s be honest... we don’t really care about those people. Lol, but if you do, check out my second novel... all episodes of Existential Crises will be featured throughout.]

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Klaus’s little game ended far quicker than expected.

Out of the eighteen champions who had stood before him, only two managed to impress him. The rest were deemed unworthy almost immediately.

For those who failed, a small, ominous black box would suddenly materialize in front of them.

The moment it opened, their punishment began — each one more cruel and creative than the last.

Some had their existence unraveled thread by thread, their bodies slowly disintegrating while they remained fully conscious.

Others were forced to relive their greatest failures on an endless loop until their minds broke.

A few were simply erased on the spot, their bodies collapsing into dust without even the dignity of a final scream.

Within minutes, only two figures remained standing on the road.

Klaus looked down at them with a faint, almost bored smile.

"That’s enough," he said. "You two can go ahead and walk the road. But if I’m being honest... I have no idea what comes next."

The two survivors — a tall, armored man and a woman whose body was composed of shifting golden threads — exchanged a glance.

Despite having just watched sixteen of their fellow champions die in horrific ways, they still gathered the courage to speak.

The armored man stepped forward, his voice respectful yet laced with tension.

"...How can you not know what’s beyond this road? If you’re so powerful... shouldn’t you see what’s ahead?"

The woman gave a small nod. "There couldn’t possibly be anyone stronger than you... right?"

Klaus chuckled softly, turning his head toward Don and offering a lazy wave.

"Appreciate the assist. You’re free to head out now."

Don responded with an exaggerated, almost comical bow, clearly pleased with the spectacle he’d just witnessed, before stepping casually into a swirling portal that closed behind him as he vanished from sight.

Klaus then looked back at the two survivors, his white eyes calm.

"Well, you’re not entirely wrong," he admitted. "It wouldn’t take much for me to see what’s to come. But like I mentioned before... I only came here to kill that guy from before."

While he could catch a glimpse of the plan Ash had in mind, he knew better than to get involved.

Also he wasn’t the kind to meddle in matters that didn’t concern him.

Much like Aurora, he figured that if his parents were so powerful and had an entire existence of their own, there was no reason for him to bother with the outside world.

He’d only step out when summoned.

"While I could do that, it wouldn’t benefit me in the slightest," he said with a shrug. "Because, despite what you think, there are beings far stronger than me—namely, my mothers and my father."

He paused for a moment, then added with a small, knowing smile,

"And right now, the two of you are nothing more than pawns in whatever he’s planning."

The two champions paled at his words.

The armored man’s grip on his weapon tightened, while the golden-threaded woman’s form flickered uneasily.

Hearing that even someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Klaus was merely following orders made their situation feel even more insignificant.

Klaus tilted his head slightly, his tone shifting to something almost casual.

"But look on the bright side," he said.

"My father doesn’t treat his people poorly. Now that you’re inhabitants of Pantheos and users of its power system, you have nothing to worry about... as long as you don’t cause trouble."

He gestured lazily toward the long road stretching into the distance.

"Now hurry up and get going. The Prime Expanse is waiting."

The two survivors stood there for a moment longer, still processing everything they had just heard.

Then, without another word, they turned and began walking down the ancient road, their footsteps echoing softly as they left Klaus behind.

Klaus remained floating in the air, watching the two remaining figures grow smaller as they walked down the ancient road.

A small, amused smile lingered on his lips.

"Well, my job here is done."

With a casual wave of his hand, he vanished from the road, leaving behind only the faint ripple of his presence.

The two survivors continued walking in silence for a while.

As they moved further down the path, their abstract forms began to dissolve.

The tall, armored man’s massive frame gradually shrank and solidified, revealing a middle-aged man with sharp, weathered features, short black hair streaked with gray, and a long scar running across his left eye.

The woman beside him, whose form had been flickering between mist and golden threads, stabilized into a slender figure with long teal hair and calm, calculating eyes.

They walked side by side, the sound of their footsteps echoing softly along the stone road.

"...What kind of being like that needs pawns like us?" the man muttered, his voice rough.

"We survived everything for countless cycles... And yet we’re still just pieces on someone else’s board."

The teal-haired woman stayed silent for a moment, her eyes fixed straight ahead as she kept walking.

"Entertainment," she finally said, her voice devoid of emotion.

"That’s all it is. You saw the way that white-haired guy behaved, how he treated the other one—blowing his head apart again and again like it meant nothing. He wasn’t testing us because he had to. He was just bored."

The man gave a low, bitter chuckle.

"Funny, isn’t it? We’ve probably both used those beneath us as pawns, and now here we are... just playthings for something far greater."

As they strolled along, neither noticed that with every step, the road behind them was quietly disappearing — melting away into nothingness, as if it had never existed.

Thanks to Ash’s interference, the path that once stretched endlessly had been abruptly severed.

Before long, they reached its sudden end, where a vast, swirling portal of silver and deep violet energy loomed ahead, pulsing with an almost tangible power.

They exchanged one final glance before stepping through.

The moment their feet crossed the threshold—

KKKRRRAAABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!