Apocalypse Regression: I Am the SSS-Rank Nightmare

The heavy mechanical hum of the magma forge died out completely, leaving the circular command vault submerged in a thick, freezing silence.

Leon Graves stood alone over the ten-foot mountain of dark gray sand that had just been extracted from the Level 32 Solar Exemplar. The ambient heat inside the room evaporated into thin plumes of white steam, the copper coils wrapped around the obsidian pillars cooling down until they turned a dull, matte-black color. Through his shared vision with the Level 2 Ashen Fog, he could feel the automated security lenses along the entire three-mile garrison wall lines losing their power grid, their systems shorting out as the overboss’s core data was wiped from the ledger.

He did not check his level indicator. His updated parameters unrolled across the translucent black crystal interface floating in his vision, the metrics mathematically locked after his level-up.

[STATUS MENU]

Name: Leon Graves

Class: Sovereign of Finality: Apocalypse Monarch (Rank: SSS)

Level: 23 (Regional Threshold Leader)

Health: 3,510 / 3,510 (+200 from Con Increase)

Mana: 2,410 / 2,410 (+200 from Grave Reclamation)

[ATTRIBUTES]

Strength: 194

Agility: 166

Constitution: 198

Mana: 158

Perception: 71

With his baseline Constitution tracking inches away from the two-hundred-point barrier, Leon’s bone density was practically impenetrable to standard physical weapons or low-tier magic spells. He dropped to one knee before the platinum-veined container—the Garrison Master Casket—his bare fingers wrapping around the frozen metallic lock frame.

"Open," he commanded silently.

Click.

The heavy locking gears inside the frame snapped open in perfect sequence. The platinum lid slid back with a fluid, pressured hiss, releasing a dense cloud of silver condensation that carried the crisp, volatile scent of premium unrefined world assets.

[Opening Tier-3 Garrison Master Casket...][You have received: 150,000 High-Density Mana Crystals]

[You have received: ]

[You have received: 1x Hidden Core Upgrade: Spatial Anchoring Scroll]

Leon’s twin rings of deep violet pupils contracted sharply beneath his black hood as his gaze locked onto the heavy, starlight-swallowing black iron headpiece floating in the center of the silver fog.

The third and final Mythic-rank fragment.

In the future timeline before his regression, completing a full set of Mythic Utility gear was a milestone reserved only for the absolute gods ruling the top sectors of the Obsidian Firmament. The billionaire-backed corporate syndicates under Director Keating were still trading lives for common rare-grade items down in the lower docks, entirely blind to the fact that the first overboss casket of the third floor hoarded the missing piece of his absolute item matrix.

He reached into the silver cloud, his fingers closing around the cold alloy band. The moment the metal touched his bare skin, it dissolved into a fluid thread of liquid violet fire before hardening into a permanent black crown that integrated seamlessly under the fabric of his hood.

The complete integration triggered a catastrophic structural resonance check across his entire gear profile.

[Full Equipment Set Effect Detected: 3/3 Pieces of ’Finality Set’ Active.]

[Unlocking Legendary Sovereign Core Ability...]

Set Passive Effect 1: The mana cost reduction for all Calamity-attribute skills has been maximized at a permanent 30%.

Set Passive Effect 2: The true decay damage output of your SSS-rank skill is now elevated to 500%, with its armor-piercing ratio reaching a flawless 100%.

Full Set Active Skill Unlocked: — Once every hour, the user can forcibly overlay their passive planetary aura onto the physical geography of any tier for 60 seconds, completely suppressing the system’s local environmental debuffs for all designated alliance targets.

Leon Graves let out a slow, cold stream of white vapor into the dim command vault. A 100% armor-piercing ratio meant his physical blade was no longer operating within the standard constraints of the system’s mitigation formulas. He had just secured a absolute master key to bypass the defensive shields of almost any entity guarding the higher tiers. It didn’t matter if an ancient alien lord threw up a divine protection barrier later in the roadmap; Leon’s blade would pass straight through their protection values like a hot knife slicing through thin paper.

He turned his attention back to the bottom of the casket, picking up the final reward—the Spatial Anchoring Scroll.

Unlike generic skill scrolls, an anchoring scroll was an architectural tool used to rewrite the structural boundaries of a claimed pangkalan. Leon didn’t hesitate. He crushed the dark parchment between his bare knuckles, forcing the raw data straight into his fortress interface link.

[Spatial Anchoring Scroll Integrated Successfully.]

[Your Stronghold ’Ashen Citadel’ has unlocked the remote tether metric.]

New Feature: The user can now forcibly bridge the spatial coordinates of the Ashen Citadel across floors. A permanent portal node can be established within your current floor sector, allowing your base guards (Miller and Davies) to deploy defensive materials directly to your active hunting zones.

A cold, razor-sharp smile cut across Leon’s pale face in the shadows. The puzzle pieces for his permanent dominion were coming together with absolute precision. While the human faksi were still fighting for survival in the ruins of Earth’s surface, Leon was systematically transforming his stronghold into a multidimensional war machine capable of moving across the layers of the Obsidian Firmament alongside his progression line.

He walked over to the central terminal console behind the sand pile, his bare fingers lightly tracing the glowing violet keys as he accessed the administrative grid of the third floor.

"Miller," Leon’s flat voice transmitted directly into the mind of his guard back at the central lobby through the core link. "The garrison has been stripped. The core fragments are integrated. Prepare the low-tier engineering recruits to receive the spatial portal node at the coordinates I am about to flash into your interface."

"B-Boss?" Miller’s voice crackled back through the link, raw with a deep, chattering awe as he looked at the spatial notification ticking on his screen. "The... the system ledger just broadcasted your name again! The entire southern syndicate is pulling their trucks back from the boundary wire! They think you’re preparing to purge their harbor sector next!"

"Let them run," Leon Graves murmured, his pitch-black eyes locking onto the primary monitor as the golden text lines began to rewrite the security laws of the sector. "Their trucks are nothing more than resources waiting for the harvest."

He slammed his palm onto the central terminal lever, forcing his dark finality mana straight into the fortress core. The primary sector gate behind him violently flared with a massive column of black-violet fire, its automated systems completely overwriting the administrative rights of the architects as the path to the fourth floor unrolled across the horizon. He walked forward into the light with his blade drawn, ready to turn their grand entertainment game into an absolute, systematic slaughterhouse.