MIGHT AS WELL BE OP - Chapter 691

Chapter 691: The Pinnacle Realm

With Voryss kneeling faithfully beside him, Anthony’s gaze shifted toward Klaus, who stood opposite, an unreadable smile tugging at his lips. He wondered silently what Klaus was planning to do now, his curiosity hidden beneath a calm expression.

Anthony himself knew very little about Voryss, the being who now stood as his servant. The system had only once informed him that she was a Primordial Behemoth, and then, without further explanation, it had vanished, offering no additional details.

Back then, Anthony had only just awakened his abilities; he was far too inexperienced to truly comprehend the sheer scale of power that such a designation implied. The words Primordial Behemoth meant almost nothing to him at the time, other than sounding like something impossibly ancient and terrifying.

Even now, standing in the present moment, Anthony did not know whether Voryss surpassed Klaus in strength or if Klaus, with all his mastery and overwhelming aura, was the superior one.

That uncertainty was precisely why Anthony had declared earlier that, should Klaus somehow defeat Voryss, he would accept it as his own loss, no questions asked. That admission had not been made out of weakness, but rather out of recognition of the colossal unknowns that surrounded both of them.

Then Anthony’s lips parted, and his calm voice carried through the air as he issued his command.

“Voryss, your opponent is the human before you. If he makes a move, do everything within your power to defeat or kill him. If he does not move against you, then you may stand down.”

Anthony’s tone was steady, controlled, not reckless. He understood, even in his confidence, that this confrontation was not meant to be a reckless life-and-death struggle. This was a battle to prove, to Klaus, to Vega, and even to himself, that he truly possessed the capability to end the Demon King when the time came.

It was not senseless bloodshed, and that was why he had clarified that if Klaus remained still, then so too should Voryss.

“As you command, Master,” came Voryss’s smooth and almost otherworldly soothing voice.

At her reply, her form rose gracefully from the ground where she had been kneeling. She lifted herself upright, molten orange eyes burning like eternal embers as she fixed her gaze firmly upon Klaus. Her movements were regal, deliberate, and unnervingly calm, yet the atmosphere itself seemed to tremble in response.

Her aura did not even flare outward, but still the very realm around them began to quiver as though in terror. It was as if the dimension itself recognized the potential devastation waiting to be unleashed. The air grew heavier, the ground seemed tense, and the silence carried the weight of imminent destruction. If Klaus dared to move, the Primordial Behemoth standing there was prepared to reduce everything to dust.

Klaus himself stood frozen, his sharp eyes wide in a rare moment of surprise. He had not expected this, certainly not this. He had sensed Voryss’s presence once before, four long years ago, a mere flicker of awareness back then. But never in his life would he have guessed that such a being, an existence that radiated unthinkable power, would one day kneel as a servant to a nineteen-year-old boy.

Then, without warning, Klaus felt something familiar yet unfamiliar.

His heart.

He became acutely aware of the steady thrum within his chest. His hand instinctively rose, fingers pressing against the left side of his ribcage. Of course, his heart had always been beating, but never once in all his long years had he truly paid attention to it. Now, however, he could feel it pounding, drumming almost violently, with excitement. Excitement at the possibility of facing this woman, this primordial entity, in combat.

‘How long has it been?’ Klaus asked himself silently.

When was the last time he had truly encountered someone worthy of being called an opponent? For him, most beings within this galaxy were little more than children, infants, even, barely learning to crawl yet daring to claim that they could walk.

Their struggles, their wars, and their supposed rivalries had all seemed pitiful to him, trifles that were far beneath his notice. That was why he never truly interfered with anything that did not directly concern him.

To Klaus, the galaxy was small, its champions insignificant.

He understood the purpose of this spar with Anthony.

He understood what Anthony had wanted to prove. And he also recognized, undeniably, that Anthony did indeed possess the power to end the Demon King. For Voryss’s power was not merely strong, it was overwhelming, transcendent, terrifying in every sense.

Klaus hesitated, his thoughts swirling. Should he end this spar now? Anthony had already proven his point. Or should he indulge himself, just for a moment, and give in to the wild thrill rising inside him? A minute of combat, perhaps two, it would not harm him, would it?

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The sudden eruption of laughter broke the silence. Klaus threw his head back and laughed loudly, a laugh filled not with scorn but with genuine happiness and unrestrained joy. His laughter echoed through the trembling realm like thunder, resonating with exhilaration.

“Never in my life would I have imagined,” Klaus declared, his voice booming, “that the presence I sensed years ago would one day belong to your servant. Truly, fate is stranger than fiction. Honestly, even calling you Heaven’s Favorite Child, or Heaven’s illegitimate child, feels like an understatement. For even the Heavens themselves could never bestow blessings like this upon a mere mortal.”

Anthony said nothing. He simply stood, his expression composed and his smile faint, while Voryss stood like a living wall of power beside him. He allowed Klaus’s words to wash over him, unfazed and calm, for he knew he had nothing to prove further with words.

Voryss, too, did not move. Her master had given his order, and she was absolute in her obedience. Unless Klaus moved first, she would remain still.

“I see it clearly now,” Klaus continued, his eyes narrowing with focus. “You were not arrogant. You never relied solely on your Primordial Behemoth to fight in your place. You have stood on your own merits. For that, I am genuinely impressed.”

He paused for a moment, as though weighing his next words carefully. “Ordinarily, I would end this battle here. We have achieved our purpose; the spar has served its role. But, ” his grin widened, sharp and eager, “I may have to clash with your servant, even if only for a minute.”

Anthony’s eyes flickered slightly, but he gave no outward reaction. He knew that Klaus’s words were not to be taken lightly. A single minute for beings of such terrifying power was not the same as a minute for ordinary mortals. For them, a single minute of combat could reshape landscapes, shatter realms, and annihilate civilizations. To Anthony, who was far weaker in scale, such a clash would be incomprehensible.

‘I wouldn’t even be able to watch,’ Anthony admitted to himself. Even with his All Seeing Eyes and his thought compartments working at full capacity, he knew he would be utterly unable to track the battle. He didn’t even fully understand what scale they were operating at.

Then Klaus’s voice rang out, sharp and commanding:

“Planetary Level Realm, deactivate. Pinnacle Level Realm, activate.”

The world shattered.

The entire realm collapsed in on itself, reality fragmenting as though it were nothing more than fragile glass. Shards of existence cracked apart, revealing glimpses of countless alternate dimensions beneath. The space trembled violently, folding and fracturing in ways that defied comprehension.

And then, just as suddenly, those fractured realities began to pull together. The infinite shards collapsed inward, merging and stitching themselves back into a single seamless whole, as though some invisible force was binding existence itself back together.

In a matter of moments, everything was restored. But it was not the same. This was no longer the same realm.

Anthony’s eyes widened in pure shock as he looked around at what Klaus had created.

‘The Pinnacle Realm,’ his mind whispered.

‘Such mana. Such gravity. Such oppressive energy.’

It was suffocating, overwhelming, crushing down on him like the weight of countless worlds. His All Seeing Eyes and thought compartments flooded with information, data streaming at impossible speeds into his mind, almost overloading his very consciousness.

He did not need anyone to explain it to him. Anthony understood immediately: within this Pinnacle Realm, he would die simply by existing. Gravity alone would crush his body into dust, leaving not even the faintest trace behind.

‘This… this is beyond galaxy-level power,’ Anthony thought to himself, awe and dread colliding in his chest.

And he knew, beyond doubt, that if it were not for Voryss standing beside him, her presence shielding him from the incomprehensible forces of the realm, he would already be dead. Not in minutes, not in seconds, dead in less than an instant.