Chapter 98: Checking Steadfast Sector

Looking at his panel, Leon locked on the five distinct fragments he harvested from Erebus. And because he was a Level 99 Realm Lord, the fragments extracted were Realm Lord Prime Fragments—dense concentrations of conceptual law that self-contained a singularity of the Void God’s power.

"Five prime fragments," Leon analyzed, swiping his hand to isolate the glowing shards on the interface. "Let’s put the Void God’s legacy to work."

He selected the first two fragments.

"System, synthesize."

Ding!

[Prime Fragment consumed. New Talent Acquired: Dimensional Lock (Grade: S).]

[Description: The user can temporarily freeze the spatial coordinates of a localized area, preventing all forms of teleportation, dimensional phasing, and spatial rifts within a hundred-yard radius.]

Ding!

[Prime Fragment consumed. New Talent Acquired: Entropy Incarnate (Grade: S).]

[Description: The user’s physical strikes and offensive spells carry a conceptual degrading effect. Armor, magical shields, and environmental defenses struck by the user will rapidly age and crumble into dust.]

"Two flawless additions to the arsenal," Leon murmured. He then looked at the remaining three prime fragments.

"System, take the third fragment and fuse it directly into my Aegis of the Void."

Ding!

[Skill Evolved: Aegis of the Void has absorbed a Realm Lord fragment. The spatial shield now passively absorbs kinetic and magical energy to expand its surface area, effectively turning hostile bombardments into localized fortress walls.]

Leon nodded in satisfaction, turning his attention to the fourth fragment. He summoned the Blade of the Dragon God, resting the heavy Mythic greatsword across his lap.

"Fuse the fourth fragment into the weapon."

The system interface flashed a brilliant platinum. The prime fragment shot out of the holographic screen and sank perfectly into the dark metal of the blade. The ethereal golden flames instantly flared, taking on a subtle, devastating core of pitch-black void energy.

Ding!

[Weapon Synthesis Successful. The Blade of the Dragon God has absorbed the conceptual trait: Absolute Erasure. Critical strikes now carry a minor percentage chance to permanently delete a portion of the target’s maximum health pool, bypassing all regeneration mechanics.]

"And the final fragment," Leon said, pausing as he looked at the last pulsing shard.

He had intended to fuse it into his Obsidian Carapace, but a sudden, brilliant realization struck him. He looked out the sliding bamboo doors toward the courtyard, where Auris, the Glacial Sovereign, was resting in the sunlight.

Leon’s heterochromatic eyes flared with anticipation. "Can I use these fragments to upgrade Auris or give him new talents? There’s only one way to find out!"

He didn’t hesitate. He directed the final prime fragment directly through their soul-bond. Outside, Auris let out a sudden, thunderous roar as the concentrated void energy slammed into his massive sapphire core. The dragon’s scales shimmered, the crystalline ice taking on an indestructible, darkened luster.

Leon realized the implications instantly. If he could use Talent Fragments to upgrade Auris’ abilities, then there was no reason to assume Stat Points would be any different.

A thought flashed through his mind.

If anything he could do to himself could also be done to Auris, then the possibilities were far greater than he had initially imagined.

Leon’s eyes gleamed.

"Then this might get interesting."

He opened his stat and evolution panels. He had a massive reservoir of unallocated points from his sprint to Level 100.

"System, divert Evolution Points and Stat Points directly to Auris. Evolve his S-Rank Absolute Zero Breath to SS-Rank. Push his Glacial Aegis and Void-Piercer Wings to S-Rank. Maximize his Constitution and Agility scaling."

The system practically hummed under the weight it all. Outside, Auris roared again, this time a sound of pure, unadulterated ecstasy as his biological limits were violently shattered and expanded by his master’s authority.

Leon smiled, dismissing the horizontal panels. He had optimized everything. He was a Level 100 Steadfast entity, and his bonded beast was at the exact same pinnacle of catastrophic power.

He stood up, walking out onto the porch. He locked the bamboo doors behind him and vaulted effortlessly over the porch rail, landing softly beside Auris.

"You feel it, don’t you?" Leon asked, patting the dragon’s newly reinforced, darkened sapphire scales.

I am a storm that cannot be broken, Master, Auris projected, his ancient mind sharp and burning with newfound power.

"Let’s see just how far this storm can travel," Leon said, mounting the massive beast. "Take us to the northern boundary of Sector 12. I want to see what a Steadfast-rank region looks like."

Auris launched them into the sky, tearing through the air with a newfound speed that instantly broke the sound barrier. The flight that would have taken hours previously was condensed into mere minutes. They flew over the vast, glittering expanse of the crystalline forests, passing the massive mana rivers until the vibrant landscape abruptly ended.

Ahead of them, the sky simply stopped.

It was a shimmering, translucent wall of golden energy that stretched infinitely upward and horizontally across the entire horizon. Beyond the barrier, Leon could see the jagged, towering peaks of a mountain range that pulsed with an intimidating, heavy red mana.

Auris slowed, hovering fifty yards from the golden wall.

Leon extended his hand. The moment his leather glove grazed the golden energy, the system interface violently materialized, flashing red.

Ding!

[Entrance to a Steadfast Rank Region Detected: Sector 11.]

[Entrance Restricted!]

[Restriction Protocol: Sector 11 is locked. The barrier will not open for any player until the current Elimination Cycle has entirely concluded.]

Leon pulled his hand back, his brow furrowing. "The elimination cycle must finish first."

He did the math. With the amount of time he had burned inside the Abyssal Fracture’s time dilation, he had just over fifty days remaining until the cycle ended. He was currently Level 100. To gain Essence Points and level up, he needed to fight Steadfast-rank monsters in Sector 11. But the system was completely barring him from entering Sector 11 for nearly two months.

"So I am time-gated," Leon calculated, his voice betraying a hint of frustration. "I currently can’t grind Essence Points."

Leon looked at the impassable golden wall. Most players would have seen this as a forced vacation, a time to rest and consolidate. But Leon didn’t. He refused to remain stagnant. If he couldn’t level up his raw stats, there had to be other avenues of progression.

He opened his inventory, looking at the millions of Eternal Coins he had.

"I can’t level my stats, but I can certainly leverage my wealth," Leon noted. He had the Blade of the Dragon God, and his draconic garb provided excellent defense, but Auris was a massive, unprotected target in the sky. "Auris, bank south. I saw a settlement marker on the map Vaelen gave me, it’s near the eastern crags. It registered as a Dwarven outpost."