Chapter 51: Empyrean Palace
The path leading toward the central spire did not consist of solid stone; it was a narrow, floating bridge crafted from raw, compressed light crystals that hummed with a high-frequency kinetic vibration.
Leon Graves moved across the translucent white-gold track with an absolute, ghost-like velocity. The dense cloud layers of the Empyrean Heights parted smoothly around his silhouette, unable to breach the five-foot perimeter of absolute darkness projected by his Aura of the End-Game. His physical parameters vibrated with immense density beneath his skin, the metrics locked into a flawless line of progression after his slaughter at the entry platform.
[STATUS MENU]
Name: Leon Graves
Class: Sovereign of Finality: Apocalypse Monarch (Rank: SSS)
Level: 25
Health: 4,580 / 4,580 (+50 from Con Increase)
Mana: 2,790 / 2,790 (+50 from Grave Reclamation)
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 248 (+5 from previous extraction)
Agility: 187 (+4 from previous extraction)
Constitution: 254 (+5 from previous extraction)
Mana: 179
Perception: 71
With his Constitution tracking past two hundred and fifty-four points, Leon’s body had achieved a state of structural optimization that bypassed the standard physics of the fifth tier. Every muscle fiber was tight, light, and perfectly synchronized with his one hundred and eighty-seven points of basic Agility. He covered five yards of the floating bridge with every single stride, leaving nothing but a faint trail of cold gray mist behind his heels.
Three miles deep into the ether, the cloud layer opened into a massive, hollow gulf where a colossal white stone fortress floated in the vacuum—the Empyrean Palace.
The citadel was an architectural masterpiece of ancient, sun-hardened white marble and interlocking gold alloy ribs that channeled the raw ambient light of the three suns into a centralized defense matrix. The outer walls rose eighty feet into the blue void, their polished parapets lined with twelve automated light-batteries—Solar Beams. These were tier-2 high-density defense cannons designed by the system architects to vaporize incoming terrestrial anomalies at a rate of one hundred rounds per minute.
Leon stopped at the edge of the light bridge, just twenty yards from the primary silver portcullis. His twin rings of deep violet pupils flared beneath his hood as his Perception tracked the mechanical tracking loops of the batteries.
The line-defenses were fully active, their gold apertures sweeping across the white mist like unblinking eyes.
’The tracking lenses scan the entrance grid every four seconds,’ Leon calculated, his fingers lightly brushing the matte-black hilt of the Abyssal Stinger inside his sleeve. ’If I use common speed skills, the friction against the celestial atmosphere will trigger an immediate regional lockdown check across all twelve batteries.
’He didn’t waste a single second formulating a complex siege plan. He took a single step forward, launching his body directly off the edge of the light bridge into the empty ether space toward the palace walls.
BZZZZT—
The moment his silhouette broke the open sky layout, the twelve gold-plated cannons on the wall snapped downward in unison, their apertures contracting violently as they detected the sudden influx of his massive SSS-rank mana density. Before the automated line-defense script could fire a single solar beam into the air, Leon unlocked his primary mobility matrix.
"[Activating Skill: Void Intercept]"
The entire universe lost its sound and color in less than a fraction of a millisecond. Reality grayed out into an absolute, frozen landscape of static mist. The twelve blinding streams of concentrated light magic discharged by the batteries passed straight through his chest cavity as if he were nothing more than a projection made of light, the physical and magical matter of the attacks finding zero resistance inside his phase-shifted body.
For three short seconds, Leon Graves existed completely outside the operational boundaries of the fifth floor’s physical laws.
He walked smoothly through the freezing vacuum above the clouds, his leather boots skimming across the empty space before he reached the base of the massive silver portcullis. The moment his initial three-second timer hit zero, his physical mass materialized back into the dimension—and he immediately chained his secondary movement trait before the automated sensors could re-calibrate their tracking parameters.
"[Activating Skill: Abyssal Step]"
His form instantly dissolved into a pitch-black, weightless shadow line that slipped directly into the dark parallel fold of the dimension. Thanks to his recent Chaos Breach shard upgrade, his stealth phase duration lasted for a full six seconds—and his ability to cast mid-range spells from the shadows was completely unlocked.
He ran straight up the vertical eighty-foot face of the marble wall, his shadow-line passing cleanly between the blind spots of the gold-plated cannons. He crossed the upper parapet ledge, dropping silently onto the white stone floor of the inner courtyard just as his six-second stealth timer expired.
[Void-Intercept and Abyssal Step chained successfully.]
[Palace Line-Defenses: Bypassed.]
[Notice: You have officially entered the Inner Yard of the Empyrean Palace.]
Leon stood perfectly still behind the shadow of a massive marble pillar, his charcoal duster coat settling around his leather boots without making a single sound. He checked his internal core reservoir; thanks to the 30% mana cost reduction from his full 3/3 Finality Set, the double-layered phase shift had consumed a mere ninety-eight points of his mana, leaving his energy pool virtually untouched.
A heavy, synchronized rustling sound broke through the quiet hum of the courtyard.
Emerging from the dark mouth of the primary throne hall were four heavy elite guards—Empyrean Centurions. These were Level 41 mechanical humanoids with sleek, gold-plated armor plates and four massive feathered wings made of solid starlight. They carried six-foot energy claymores that continuously hissed with compressed solar-fire attributes, their blank gold faceplates flaring to life in the dark as they caught the scent of an intruder stepping across their assembly yard.
Leon Graves pulled the Abyssal Stinger out of his sleeve, the violet runes etched along the matte-black blade flaring with an absolute, 100% armor-piercing ratio. A slow, cold, and dangerously sharp smile cut across his pale lips in the shadows. The wall was scaled, the cannons were broken, and the primary harvest of the throne hall was sitting wide open within his reach. He walked forward into the white glare of the courtyard, his footsteps silent, ready to turn their grand celestial palace into an absolute.