Chapter 435: Tempering the Steel
Alexander walked alone across the rocky surface of The Breach. The sky, dominated by hues of purple and gold, seemed devoid of sun or moon, casting a desolate light over the ruins buried beneath the sand.
After advancing a couple of kilometers outside the range of the hidden cave, Alexander stopped and decided to take to the air to cover more ground.
"I’ll test flying first," said Alexander.
He leaped forward and tried to propel himself into the air as he usually did, but the Breach’s gravity spiked without warning, cutting off his flight. His body was pulled toward the ground with force.
"What the hell?!" exclaimed Alexander, caught off guard as he crashed down.
The ground beneath his boots cracked upon impact. The mass of compressed air and planetary pull not only prevented him from flying, but the gravitational pressure grew heavier with every passing second, sinking his feet into the rock and threatening to crush him.
"It’s getting heavier by the second," muttered Alexander, grinding his teeth against the pressure.
Seeing that the load was unsustainable in his basic human form, Alexander unleashed his inner power and assumed his Vampire Emperor form. His eyes gleamed with crimson, his figure grew imposing, and an aura of sovereignty enveloped him.
The instant the transformation completed, the gravitational force vanished. The weight evaporated as if it had never existed, leaving him feeling weightless.
"What happened?" asked Alexander, staring at his hands. "Did my transformation deactivate the gravity?"
To test his theory, he decided to revert the transformation and return to his normal human state. As soon as the Vampire Emperor aura dissipated, the gravity slammed into him once more with the force of a mountain, pressing him against the ground.
"Damn it!" cursed Alexander, reacting to activate his Vampire Emperor form once more.
The crushing weight vanished again. Alexander stood up with ease, baffled by the phenomenon.
"This is strange," observed Alexander, looking at the aura shrouding his body. "I don’t understand how it works, but it seems this environment either recognizes or respects this form."
With the Vampire Emperor aura enveloping every pore of his skin, Alexander bent his knees and launched himself toward the purple sky of The Breach.
This time, there was no spike in mass or crushing pull. His body shot upward with fluidity, slicing through the dense atmosphere like a crimson lightning bolt. The heavy air that had bound him yielded in his path, as if the physics of this world stepped aside in his presence.
"Unbelievable... In this form, gravity doesn’t affect me—the environment almost seems to propel me," remarked Alexander, gazing out over the vast desert horizon from hundreds of meters up.
From that vantage point, the true scale of The Breach became obvious. Ranges of black stone stretched out as far as the eye could see, dotted with the ruins of structures belonging to no human architecture. To the north, the ground plummeted into an abyssal tectonic fault, a ravine that appeared to split the breach in two and from which a red mist welled up.
"That must be the entrance to the Intermediate Domain," said Alexander, locking his gaze onto the abyss.
He tilted his body forward and accelerated to full speed. The velocity he reached broke the sound barrier with a crack, leaving a trail of red energy in his wake. However, as he neared the edge of the ravine, the crimson mist began to churn.
Dozens of winged shadows with grotesque shapes erupted from the depths of the rift. These were no ordinary mist beings; their bodies were composed of exposed bone, rotting flesh, and dark, tattered membranes. They were the vanguard of the undead from the Intermediate Domain.
Upon sensing Alexander’s presence, the creatures didn’t hesitate. They let out a shriek that vibrated through the air and charged en masse toward him.
Alexander narrowed his eyes and wore a smirk as he dove into the swarm.
"Let’s see if your bones are tougher than the gravity of this place," said Alexander, extending his claws coated in compressed mana.
The winged creatures closed ranks around Alexander in an attempt to smother him with their mass of bone and claws. However, Alexander didn’t slow down for a second.
"Too slow," stated Alexander.
With a horizontal sweep of his right arm, he unleashed a blade of compressed shadow that sliced through the air with a whistle. The attack cleaved through the first three creatures as if they were made of paper, severing their wings and sending them plummeting into the abyss as their Awakening Stones pulverized on impact.
The remaining beasts shrieked with fury and lunged at him from the flanks. One of the larger creatures managed to drive its bone claws into Alexander’s shoulder, trying to tear his flesh apart.
The impact echoed with a metallic clatter, but the undead’s claws failed to scratch Alexander’s skin. The passive durability of his Vampire Emperor form was so overwhelming that the beast’s claw fractured upon contact.
"Is that all you’got?" mocked Alexander, glancing sideways at the creature stuck against his shoulder.
Without giving them time to react, Alexander extended both hands and activated his shadow manipulation. Dark tendrils shot out from his palms, branching through the air like steel thorns that impaled over a dozen winged undead.
"Extinction," commanded Alexander, clenching his fist.
The shadow thorns detonated from within the creatures, reducing the vanguard to a shower of bone fragments and dust. Dozens of Awakening Stones plummeted toward the bottom of the ravine, but Alexander used his mana to catch a couple of them midair and examine them.
"They’re Level 2 and 3," said Alexander, examining the gems in his hand before slipping them into his storage ring. "Are these the beasts that require Platinum warriors to be deployed?"
Alexander looked down at the shower of bone fragments falling into the abyss and frowned.
"Or have I grown too powerful?" asked Alexander, staring at his claws coated in aura. "The gap in strength is staggering. If this is all the Intermediate Domain has to offer, it’ll be a disappointment."
Knowing that the true test lay within the depths, Alexander adjusted his shadow wings and dived into the thick red mist of the Intermediate Domain.