Ten Lucky Draws: I Became OP

Chapter 610: The Road Is Closed (4)

Before the Merchant could respond, Klaus’s voice cut through the air.

Long before this moment—before he came here, before the chaos, even before his mother—Raven had surpassed the highest infinity.

All he had ever truly known was the mission that brought him to this place.

As Ash had instructed him years ago, all he needed to do was track Male and the Merchant, then eliminate them once he received the signal.

And.... the signal had come.

’But... he never mentioned the situation would be this interesting,’ he mused with a grin.

Klaus’s voice rang out across the road, calm and unhurried.

"Congratulations."

All eighteen champions focused at once. Klaus remained seated in the air, looking down at them with a faint, almost lazy smile.

"You’ve all done well," he continued, his tone carrying a strange mix of approval and indifference.

"Passing the final selection isn’t something many can claim. Most who reach the peak of their Realities... never make it this far."

He slowly stood up, still hovering in the air as he looked over the group.

His pure white eyes swept across them without any visible hostility, but the pressure in the air seemed to grow heavier the longer he spoke.

"Beyond this road lies the Prime Expanse," Klaus said, gesturing lazily toward the long, ancient path stretching into the distance.

"It’s the next stage. The real stage."

He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in before continuing.

"However, only those who are truly worthy may walk it."

As mentioned, he already knew everything he needed about the situation.

This meant that years ago, when Kagami and Kaguya had been here, the rule Ash set using the Language of Gods and the Narrative still remained in place.

In other words, for these champions, crossing this road was impossible, as Ash had decreed it could only be crossed by beings of Pantheos.

Klaus’s gaze briefly lingered on three figures in particular — Ancestor Seeker, Male, and the Merchant — before moving on as if nothing had happened.

"Whether or not you’re worthy... that will be decided soon enough."

He gave them a small, almost polite smile.

Internally, he wondered what would happen if any of them tried to walk the road without permission.

’Would they simply be repelled? Or would they die all together?’

Before he could dwell on it further, Male spoke up.

"Tsk... and who decides whether we’re worthy or not?"

Klaus didn’t respond right away, just fixed his gaze on Male with an unreadable expression.

Off to the side, the Merchant discreetly drew Nihil away, her voice dropping to a low, serious murmur as she spoke in hushed tones.

"That man... he’s part of the Ineffable Clan," she said, pausing as if searching for the right words to capture their nature.

"Each one of them is strong enough to wipe out entire realities... and honestly, they’ve already done it."

It was obvious Nihil had never heard of the Clan, but at this point, they were all on similar levels of power—none of them could be considered a pushover.

So, if she was genuinely worried, it meant something serious.

Nihil’s star-filled eyes narrowed slightly.

"...Are they really that powerful?"

Before the Merchant could reply, Klaus’s voice rang out again, cold and clear.

"This road cannot be crossed unless you belong to my clan... or something similar."

With a casual wave of his hand, a glowing orb materialized beside him, hovering silently in the air.

"For any of you to be allowed passage," Klaus continued, his tone straightforward, "you must first impress me. That is the only condition."

The man let out a quiet scoff, clearly unimpressed. He started to speak, but it cut abruptly.

"Damn your cla—"

But Klaus’s voice sliced through the air, this time in the Language of Gods.

The words carried a crushing, divine weight that made the atmosphere itself feel heavier.

"The next time you utter even a single word without my permission... your head will explode. Repeatedly. Without end."

A cold chill ran down the spines of every champion present.

Though none of them could comprehend the Language of Gods, they could feel the threat deep in their bones.

And with everything that had piled up—which, to be fair, wasn’t all that much—he didn’t really have a major issue with Ash, aside from the way he carried himself and the way they tended to act.

Other than that brief, awkward run-in with his wives, nothing had been particularly serious.

Still, pride was a powerful thing, and beings held onto it tightly.

Male’s expression darkened almost instantly, though he kept silent for a moment, letting the weight of the tension settle between them.

With a spark of defiance in his eyes, he finally broke the silence.

"Yo—"

The moment the first syllable left Male’s lips, his head violently detonated.

BOOM!!!

A sickening, wet explosion erupted as blood, bone fragments, and chunks of brain matter sprayed outward in every direction.

The sound was sharp and visceral, like a watermelon being crushed under extreme pressure.

His body jerked violently from the force, arms twitching as blood poured from the ragged stump of his neck.

Before any of the gore could reach the other champions, Klaus lazily flicked his fingers.

A perfectly spherical, transparent void instantly formed around Male, sealing him inside like a grotesque display case.

The blood and flesh splattered against the inner walls of the sphere instead of flying outward, creating a horrific, contained mess.

Inside the isolated void, Male’s head began regenerating almost immediately — bone, muscle, and skin rapidly reforming.

The moment his mouth and vocal cords took shape, he instinctively tried to speak again.

BOOM!!!!

The other champions stood frozen in horror, their eyes locked onto the nightmarish scene playing out inside the sphere.

Even with all their years and experiences, it was obvious they didn’t often witness something so horrific.

Some turned their heads, unable to bear the sight of Male’s head exploding apart and piecing itself back together again in a never-ending, macabre loop.

Others could only stand frozen, staring in mute shock, the color completely gone from their faces.

Even Nihil’s star-filled eyes narrowed slightly at the display.

Klaus, still hovering in the air, looked down at the group with a calm, almost bored expression. He tilted his head slightly and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.

"As I was saying..."