Ten Lucky Draws: I Became OP - Chapter 609: The Road is Closed (3)

Klaus’s lips curled into a faint, lazy smile.

“Guess it’s about time I got to work.”

With that, he vanished from the skies above the Coliseum.

He emerged again just moments later, standing on the long, empty road that led toward the Prime Expanse — the very same ancient route where Kaguya and Kagami had once faced each other in fierce combat.

The path stretched on endlessly, perfectly restored now, with no trace of the battles that had once scarred it.

Yet, the air was still thin and heavy, as though it clung to the echoes of those past conflicts, unwilling to let them fade entirely.

Klaus hovered above the starting point of the road before slowly descending. He sat cross-legged in the air, his pure white hair drifting around him as he looked down the long path ahead.

“This should be perfect,” he muttered to himself, resting his chin on his hand.

—

Back at the Coliseum, the final eighteen champions gathered in the heart of the shattered arena.

Even after the battles, they kept their forms.

Some appeared as swirling, abstract masses of power, others flickered restlessly between forms, and a few were nothing more than concentrated manifestations of will.

After years, decades, or perhaps even longer spent alone at the pinnacle of their own Realities, most had forgotten what it felt like to be in the presence of others.

Yet now that the battle they waited so long for was over.

A thick, expectant silence hung over them as they waited, uncertain of what would follow.

A tall, armored champion from the Existence side spoke in a low voice to the woman beside him.

“…What do you think is waiting for now that we’re the last remaining?” he asked.

“We’ve been waiting for so long… I’m not even sure I’m ready to step into a whole new realm.”

The woman beside him, whose form kept flickering between solid and mist, nodded slowly.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing. If things hold true… then maybe we’ve won a chance to ascend?”

Not far away, another champion — a broad-shouldered man whose body was half-covered in glowing runes — spoke up.

“Maybe it could be another round of fighting,” he said gruffly. “Or maybe something worse. No one even knows who gathered us all here in the first place.”

A slender figure with shifting, abstract features added quietly,

“Or maybe it’s not about fighting anymore. Maybe it’s about something bigger… something we can’t even understand yet.”

Another voice, colder and more detached, came from a champion whose form was little more than a mass of swirling darkness.

“Doesn’t matter what it is. If it’s strong, I’ll face it. If it’s not… then this was all a waste of time.”

The group fell into a brief silence again, each of them glancing toward the distant edge of the Coliseum, as if expecting something to appear at any moment.

Standing slightly apart from the rest, Ancestor Seeker was motionless, lost in thought, with an ancient book hovering quietly at her side.

A short distance away, Nihil floated quietly while the Merchant and Male stood nearby, speaking in low voices.

Male’s expression was calm, but his eyes burned with quiet determination.

“My only goal is to reach the Father,” he said quietly. “Everything else is secondary.”

The Merchant crossed her arms, glancing at him.

“Great…. so, you’ve forgotten about those Ineffables?”

Before Male could reply, a low, distant rumbling echoed across the void.

HUMMMM!!!!

In the far distance, beyond the broken remains of the Coliseum, a massive, ancient road began to manifest — the same path that led directly into the Prime Expanse.

It appeared slowly, stretching out like a bridge between two worlds, its surface glowing faintly with long-forgotten runes.

The champions turned their attention toward it.

“Well,” one of them muttered before, and then, almost in unison, they began to move.

Without any need for orders, the eighteen remaining fighters started making their way toward the newly formed road, their footsteps ringing through the heavy silence.

It was obvious there was nothing else left for them to do.

—–

Some walked with a calm, steady confidence, while others betrayed their unease in every step.

Yet all of them shared the same unspoken understanding — whatever awaited them beyond this road would be far more dangerous than anything they had faced inside the Coliseum.

As they drew closer to the ancient path, the air grew heavier, pressing down on their shoulders like an invisible weight.

The condensed mana beneath their feet seemed to hum with residual power, and the distant runes along the road pulsed faintly, as if responding to their approach.

Then they saw him.

Floating cross-legged in the air at the very beginning of the road was a man with pure white hair and matching white eyes.

He sat relaxed, one hand resting on his knee, his posture almost lazy.

He didn’t radiate overwhelming pressure like a typical powerhouse — but the moment the champions laid eyes on him, every single one of them felt it.

It was a presence unlike anything they had ever known.

Not merely a show of strength, but something deeper, weightier and more essential.

Almost like an unseen force that seemed to press against the very fabric of reality, as though existence itself was shifting to make space for him.

Among the crowd, three figures stood apart, their reactions distinct from all the others.

Ancestor Seeker, still in her simple circular form, remained motionless, but the ancient book beside her flipped open on its own.

’Isn’t he…’ She thought as her presence sharpened, as if she had already recognized the man in front of them.

Much like the other two, Male narrowed his eyes, but instead of showing fear, a slow, eager smile spread across his face.

His fingers twitched, as if itching to try out the power he’d just gained.

The Merchant, on the other hand, instinctively stepped back.

Her face grew tense, and for the first time since the tournament started, real caution flickered in her eyes.

They all had seen him before — at the Grand Ball — and knew exactly how dangerous not just him…. but the clan he hailed from could be.

The rest of the champions, unaware of who he truly was, simply assumed he was the next stage of their trial.

A thick, expectant silence hung over the eighteen remaining champions.

They didn’t rush to aggression.

Instead, a few of them exchanged glances before one of the more composed champions — a tall figure whose body was composed of shifting golden runes — stepped forward slightly and spoke with clear respect.

“Excuse me,” he said, his voice steady. “We don’t mean to be disrespectful. But… who are you? And what is this road?”

Another champion, a woman whose form shifted between solid and mist, spoke carefully.

“We’ve just come from the Coliseum,” she said. “We’ve all waited different lengths of time—some even since nearly the beginning of time—to fight in a tournament that has now ended.”

Murmurs of agreement rippled quietly through the group. None of them raised their voices or made any threatening moves.

They were cautious, but more than anything, they were seeking answers from what clearly appeared to be an immensely powerful being.

A short distance away, Nihil turned his star-filled gaze toward the Merchant and Male. His voice remained calm and even.

“You two seem tense,” he said quietly. “Especially you, Merchant. Do you know who he is?”