The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Queenie looked in his direction with a small smile on her lips, as if she were sizing him up. Klaus, meeting her gaze, knew she was somehow measuring his strength.

Though his Eye of Malevolence wasn't fully active, he felt every inch of her gaze and knew for a fact that the woman before him was dangerous. But for some reason, he wasn't concerned about her learning anything about him.

He didn't know why he felt that way—maybe because she was the strongest being in the entire world, so who would she even tell his secrets to? But Klaus knew that wasn't the real reason. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"You can just call me Queenie unless you want me to start calling you Big Brother Klaus," Queenie said with a small giggle.

Hearing that giggle, Klaus didn't know what to think. The woman in front of him was the leader of the Overlords, the person who led a group of six individuals to brave the apocalypse when even the government and military were struggling.

The same person who fought against hundreds of thousands of monsters and Zombies to clear cities and save the innocent. The same person who made sure peace was maintained, and various countries worked in harmony to secure a better society.

Now, that same person was standing before him, giggling. That was just too wild. 'I guess I'm the fortunate one,' Klaus thought, keeping a smile on the outside. Your next journey awaits at мѵʟ

"That would definitely sound weird. I guess Queenie it is. Wanna join me?" Klaus quickly offered. He was sitting at the edge of the Tall Oracle Inc. building, overlooking the setting red sun. One could say the scene before him was just too beautiful, the kind you'd want to show your girlfriend on a date.

"Why not?" Queenie took just a single step, and the next second, she was standing beside Klaus. "That's a long way down," she said, looking down.

"Not afraid of heights, are you?" Klaus asked with a smile. Queenie looked back at him with a look that said I'm terrified of heights, but Klaus knew she'd be fine even if she fell headfirst.

From what he learned from Miriam, it took them just a second to travel from the Demon's Abode to Arcadian City. When he asked how it happened, she said Queenie had opened a space in the void and let them travel through. So Klaus knew that even if she fell from space, she wouldn't die.

She wouldn't even hit the floor—after all, she could literally walk in the air. The one in danger here was him, who couldn't walk in the air just yet. But Klaus knew this was just the way ladies are, so being the polite and respectful gentleman he was... lol, he decided to act like one.

"Come here, I'll help you," Klaus said, reaching for her hand. She hesitated for a second, but in the end, she reached for his grip and gently sat beside him. Of course, Klaus was on cloud nine while Queenie giggled in her head. Klaus's expression said he was proud to have held her hand—what guy wouldn't be?

She was the freaking leader of the Overlords, after all. No guy would mind having such a figure sitting beside him, watching the beautiful setting sun.

"Beautiful," Queenie said, gazing at the sun dipping below the horizon.

Klaus smiled and continued to stare at the sunset. For some reason, he was captivated by it in a way he couldn't quite understand. But he knew one thing for sure: he wasn't going to miss the sunsets for the next few weeks, because he had a feeling Queenie was there for the same reason.

"So how's your work so far? Any progress?" Queenie suddenly asked.

"Yes, we managed to detect the root problems, so we've started working to fix them," Klaus answered. He and the Nerds were now in the process of turning Oracle into the world they envisioned 54 years ago.

"That's good. I guess your addition was a blessing to those four bookworms," Queenie said with a smile.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what's your relationship with them?" Klaus asked. He didn't have to be a genius to know there was something deeper between Queenie and the Nerds—something that felt like family.

"Well, it's kind of a weird thing, actually," Queenie said.

"I love weird," Klaus replied with a smile.

"Okay, but be sure not to laugh, or you're falling 150 feet," Queenie said, her smile teasing.

"No promises," Klaus said with a grin.

"We'll see. It's like this, before the apocalypse, high schools and colleges were the liveliest places for young people. That's where you'd meet all kinds of groups: the party crowd, the Nerds, the rich brats, and the freaks.

"I happened to be in one of those groups back in college. I was in charge of the student communication board. And before you ask, our job was to clash with other rival schools—Harvard, to be precise.

"Back then, we'd organize challenges with them, and every time it would turn into a chaotic internet rivalry. In the end, though, we always fell short. Whether it was a debate, tech fair, or even a hackathon, we struggled—until those three weirdos and Lucil showed up.

"We needed Nerds to help us win the brainy stuff, and those three stepped up. I wasn't really close to them at first. You could say I only needed their brains to win those dumb rivalries, now that I think about it.

"Let's just say that after they appeared, our status started to rise, and before I knew it, I started getting influenced by those weirdos. So when they came to me with their Oracle idea, I was thrilled to help make it a reality.

"But then the apocalypse descended, and here we are. I got stuck with them, and they've never stopped surprising me. You know, when communications went down during the start of the apocalypse, they were the ones who stood up and helped fix it.

"Many might not hold them in high esteem, but in this apocalyptic world, we need the Nerds just as much as we need warriors," Queenie said with a broad, proud smile.

"Well, I dropped out of school, so I never experienced something like that, but from the look on your face, I'm sure you had fun," Klaus said with a smile, tilting his head.

"Klaus, remember when I said you might fall 150 feet if you laugh? Do you believe me?" Queenie asked, a strange smile playing on her lips—the kind that made Klaus smile innocently back at her.

"You know, I'm just saying... but I could've sworn I sensed some Nerd traits in your voice just now," Klaus teased, his grin playful. This made Queenie smile slightly. This brat didn't care about her status as the Overlord at all—he was just casually chatting with her like they were equals.

"Well, I went to MIT, and that's a school for nerds," Queenie said, causing Klaus's smile to widen even more. He didn't know much about the school system before the apocalypse, so the only image that came to mind was the three Nerds who were currently using the data from the Mecha Zombie to start fixing the problems in Oracle.

"Well, Madam Queenie, you're always welcome to join us in the lab. I'm sure your help would be greatly appreciated," Klaus said, his smile widening further. He still couldn't believe that, within just a few minutes, he was teasing a full-fledged Overlord. And not just any Overlord—the leader of the Overlords.

He had to give himself a mental thumbs-up.

'There's something familiar about her', Klaus thought, watching the smile on her face. He couldn't shake the feeling—there was definitely something about Queenie that felt... familiar.