The battle that was supposed to happen between the one who would have the Jade Ant Queen and those who would try to take her from him didn’t happen, since a third party came, took her, and walked away.

Shockingly enough, the person was none other than the Paragon of the Nine Stars.

The bitterness of what had just happened was so deep that everyone was left gritting their teeth.

Klaus stood calm, his expression filled with anger, but inwardly, he was laughing like a maniac.

From the start, he never planned to take the Jade Ant Queen.

If it were before he learned the ones who killed her were the Heavens Court, maybe he would have fought to have her. However, now, knowing the cover-up the Heavens Court tried to do, he knew he had to lose and win in the end.

Allowing himself to get this close to the prize only for his other incarnation to take the win was just too perfect.

All it took was burning his entire Unknown Bloodline, shattering all ten Immortal Rings that incarnation had, and burning 10 million years of his lifespan.

But that sacrifice paid off in the end since not even the gods were able to withstand his pressure—well, part of it was thanks to the Doomsday Cauldron.

The reason why Klaus didn’t falter in his acting when the Paragon arrived was because of the Doomsday Cauldron. The last time he saw it, it wasn’t this monstrous.

After the Planet Awakening, it left Earth for a place he said would awaken some of its power. Klaus lost all connection to it after he woke from his coma. So he never expected to see it again so soon, in the hands of his other incarnation.

The shock came from the fact that he didn’t sense the Doomsday Cauldron had returned to his side.

It was as if nobody could sense it, even though it was there.

The senior once told him the Doomsday Cauldron is one of the three mysteries of the Universe. Nobody knew where it came from, just like how nobody had the faintest idea where the Paragon came from.

So Klaus was shocked but felt this was merely one of its powers. The other shock was seeing the item spirit appear in human form and even drink a vanilla shake.

"Ah, what I wouldn’t do to have a vanilla shake right now," Klaus said, his expression breaking into a defeated smile. Turning around, he regarded the remaining gods and demigods.

Asmodeus had dragged the true god he was battling away, so aside from the four beast gods and the other four currently bleeding from the clash with the beast gods, only immortals and demigods remained.

"I suppose we go back to killing each other now,"

CRACK

Just when Klaus lifted his scythe and was about to attack, a crack appeared in the air.

"The seal is opening," some people were quick to read what was happening. It appeared the Paragon didn’t just leave; he made sure to break whatever seal the Heavens Court had used to seal the Jade Nest.

Now, it is only a matter of time before the portals to the outside world form. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Looks like we would have to put a pin in things for now. Rest assured, one day I will find you all, and when I do, it will be swift and precise." His threat wasn’t baseless; he indeed would hunt them down.

Looking to the side, his gaze landed on the wolf. "Tell your employer to wash his neck. Soon, he will feel my wrath,"

Learning that the wolf was hired by Supreme Elder Juo to kill him didn’t come as a shock to him. He had already established that until one of them is dead, there can never be peace between them.

So he would kill him one day.

CRACK

A second crack appeared, and everyone could feel the portals about to form.

Those hired to kill the beasts and humans felt their backs break into a cold sweat. They failed, and most importantly, they lost their leaders.

Going back is akin to walking to their death.

Klaus ignored them and turned to the beast gods. "Seniors, I would have to thank you for your assistance today. While we didn’t get the prize, at least we managed to survive. That said, this place will come undone soon, and when it does, the people outside will hunt you all down since you are calamity beasts. I wonder if these seniors have a way out for that."

Lady Beyhos turned and looked at her fellow gods, but they shook their heads.

Klaus smiled. "It appears you are in luck." Klaus snapped his finger, and a circular item appeared in the air. "When the portals open, a special one leading to a Beast Domain somewhere far away will open. You can lead your people there."

He threw the item to Lady Beyhos, who caught it and examined it.

"Thank you, human,"

"No need. You protected my friends and me against people far above our power level. The least I could do is do something to protect you, too."

There was an exchange of nods before Klaus turned to his teammates and Princess Evren and her teammates.

A third crack appeared, and the faint energy of portals forming could be sensed.

"Congratulations, everyone. Looks like you all managed to survive your first chaotic battle." Klaus’s smile made his teammates smile as well.

From the start, they saw no winning in sight. But now, as they stared at the calm battlefield littered with not even a single body, no thanks to Asmodeus, they knew they had survived, and that is just mind-blowing.

"It was all thanks to you going into an alliance with the beasts. If it hadn’t been for that, none of us would be alive by now," Princess Evren said, her expression conveying her gratitude. "I will pay you back for helping me get the Jade Pendant and surviving a grave battle."

"Don’t worry about it. I will gladly accept a few billion God Coins,"

Everyone laughed out loud this time, drawing the attention of the demigods still debating inwardly whether or not to attack and try to kill Klaus.

Klaus ignored them, already prepared to use one of his S-Class weapons on them.

The fourth crack appeared, and with it, some of the portals began to form.

---

On the outside, the demigods and gods who had brought their people to the portal snapped their gaze toward the main portal, which had been dormant for the past few weeks, finally stirring.

Those who came with unfriendly intentions felt their backs break into cold sweats. Already, they knew what was meant to happen inside the Jade Nest.

However, they had received word that things had gone badly, so some were planning to ambush and ensure no secrets went out.

They wouldn’t want the dirty little secret of the Heavens Court to be made public.

If only they had been informed that the Paragon had long since acquired the videos and knowledge he planned to use to tarnish the image of the Heavens Court, perhaps they would have dropped their guard.

However, that wasn’t needed, not when just before the first person came out, a figure clad in green armor, oozing the power of a Celestial, appeared on the dead planet.

Everyone recognized him as one of the elders in the Jade Temple. It appeared that the Jade Queen had sent someone to ensure her daughter’s safety.