Chapter 410: Breaking the Limits

The leader extended his hand once more. Alexander felt that force preparing to envelope him, but this time he reacted: he executed a feint and burst to the side. The pressure slammed into empty space, missing him.

The leader narrowed his eyes in surprise.

"Seems I underestimated you," said the leader.

Stephen watched from the end of the chamber with a smirk. He could see what was taking place: Alexander’s body was absorbing the potion he had administered earlier at an accelerated pace. His [Adaptive Body] was forcing the assimilation of the chemical, skyrocketing his reflexes and multiplying his strength.

The leader began launching spatial locks across multiple angles, trying to corner him; however, his strikes were no longer effective.

"Don’t get arrogant, kid. I was playing with you," said the leader.

The man raised both hands toward the ceiling. Alexander felt a tide of compression descending from every vector, heavy and overwhelming.

"Try escaping now, kid!" shouted the leader.

The force slammed down at once. Alexander was pinned against the Vulcan alloy floor, unable to take a step.

"Good reflexes, speed, reaction time... Your body grows stronger, and you stink of Stephen’s chemicals," noted the leader, turning to his vice-leader. "Did you do something?"

"Push him closer to the limit," replied Stephen.

The leader clenched his fists, and the pressure intensified, morphing into an invisible mountain striving to grind Alexander into the ground.

"Hold him down a bit longer," said Stephen.

Stephen walked with steady steps until he stood near his disciple.

"Squeeze every drop of power out of your body," said Stephen in a low voice. "This is nothing for you."

Alexander gritted his teeth until they bled. He dug his claws into the metal floor and forced himself to rise by sheer muscle; under his exertion, the space around him thundered, showing hairline fractures as if reality were cracking from the clash of forces.

"Good grief... his strength..." gasped the leader, his eyes widening. "What did you do, Stephen?"

"What I do best," answered the giant.

The leader regained his composure and walked toward Alexander. With every step he took, the force crushing the vampire doubled; yet Alexander’s resistance rose, making him feel as though the mountain on his back grew larger.

"Don’t give up! It’s not that hard!" roared Alexander in defiance. "AGGGHHH...!"

The alloy floor buckled beneath Alexander’s knees. The pressure felt like a liquid crushing his lungs and forcing blood from his ears. Stephen gritted his teeth as he noticed his disciple’s progress grinding to a halt.

"Use your other skill!" barked Stephen in a commanding tone. "This is still too little for him."

The TMC leader froze a few meters away. His face carried a streak of severity.

"Are you sure about that, Stephen?" asked the leader without easing the pressure. "If I strike him for real, there’s no turning back."

"Do it," replied Stephen.

"Fine. You call the shots."

The leader clenched his fists.

"[Spatial Fracture]," whispered the leader.

The air inside the chamber let out a metallic screech. Within a second, terror welled up from the depths of Alexander’s heart. All around him, reality shredded apart: dozens of black fissures tore open, hovering in mid-air. The void bleeding from those rifts promised annihilation. Alexander knew that if he grazed the edge of a crack, no amount of regeneration would save him.

The black maws of the [Spatial Fracture] grazed Alexander’s shoulder and thigh. Upon contact, chunks of his flesh ceased to exist, erased from reality with no possibility of healing. Pain swallowed his screams.

In the midst of that abyss, a system interface flashed across his vision:

[Two critical survival skills detected] [Fuse? Y/N] [Shadow Vampire Summon Lvl 1] + [Vampiric Emperor Lvl 1]

"YES, DAMN IT, YES!" roared Alexander from the depths of his soul.

The two skills collapsed into his chest in a burst of energy.

[New skill acquired] [Vampire Emperor Shadow Armor Lvl 1]

An armor of shadows and vampiric power erupted from his skin, encasing his body in a black shell. The spatial fractures slammed against the surface of the armor; the shadows were consumed by the void, yet the armor regenerated, absorbing devastation before it reached his real body.

The TMC leader froze his hands mid-air, taken aback by the shift.

"That’s enough," said the leader, making a motion to disperse the pressure.

"Not yet!" interrupted Stephen, glaring at him. "He can push further."

"You asked for it," said the leader, redirecting the spatial cuts toward Alexander’s head and heart. "Whether he is worthy of your trust or not, we’ll see now."

A ringing shrieked inside Alexander’s mind. The hairs on his neck stood on end as every instinct warned him that if he didn’t move in that fraction of a second, he would die.

Amidst that blur of panic and agony, a system alert echoed in his mind:

[Do you wish to sacrifice these skills to evolve [Adaptive Body]?] [Advanced Perception] [Shockwave Lvl 1] [Shadow Lunge] [Silent Step Lvl 2] [Charm]

"YES!" screamed Alexander.

[Process complete] [Adaptive Body Lvl 2 acquired]

The stagnant flow of Stephen’s potion inside his veins erupted like a nitrogen bomb. His physical strength, reflexes, and muscle density multiplied ten-fold in a single heartbeat.

With a leap that cracked the Vulcan alloy beneath him, Alexander shattered the crushing pressure of the leader’s Domain and shot outward. The rifts of the [Spatial Fracture] cut through thin air, barely grazing his cheek and the chest plate of his shadow armor before snapping shut into the void.

Alexander landed firmly on his feet, making the metal floor of the chamber rumble. His breathing was heavy, but the crimson glare locking onto them from behind his shadow armor helmet held not a single trace of doubt.

He could feel his muscles overloaded with energy on the verge of exploding, throbbing at their absolute limit and roaring to be released after assimilating the potion to a whole new level. The raw power surging through his veins was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

Alexander stared them both down and cracked a side smirk, showing off his fangs.

"Now it’s my turn," Alexander said.