CHAPTER 817: FIGHT ABOVE THE ENEMY’S FORTRESS

Vlad smiled as he spotted Augustus standing atop the stronghold. While his own troops could not freely march across enemy territory due to the threat posed by suicide bombers, and while even other Legends could be pinned down or overwhelmed by coordinated attacks, Vlad’s situation was entirely different.

Alone, he had already reached the threshold of the Superior Legend Rank, a feat that could allow him to face anyone in Exilon with confidence. But after his fusion with Jormungandr, his strength had grown exponentially. With mastery over the Laws of Space, Life, and Lightning, he now wielded the power to unleash devastation on a godlike scale—and if needed, escape at speeds that defied comprehension. He was, for all intents and purposes, unstoppable.

Now that the Asaris Continent no longer required his direct protection, there was no reason for Vlad to remain idle. Destroying the enemy completely might be too ambitious for a solo strike, but attacking their stronghold would force the Zanis to divert resources and remain in a state of constant alert. Even if he could not break them, he would bleed them—slowly and relentlessly.

Without wasting time on words, Vlad raised his sword. Bolts of divine lightning, laced with the sundered force of space itself, surged into the heavens. Then, with a powerful downward swing, he released a torrent of destruction. The lightning exploded downward with the force of a nuclear barrage, slamming into the stronghold’s protective force field. Cracks spiderwebbed across the surface, glowing white with strain as the barrier struggled to hold.

Inside the fortress, soldiers and officers alike looked skyward, dread and disbelief etched into their faces. Even hardened veterans, trained to face death without fear, felt their resolve waver. Above them, the sky was no longer sky—it was a living storm, screaming with electricity powerful enough to turn them all to ash.

"Soldiers, to your stations! Now!" Augustus bellowed, snapping out of his initial shock.

He hadn’t expected Vlad’s power to increase to such an extent, but the threat of annihilation brought his strategic mind into razor focus. His voice echoed through the stronghold, carried by urgency and raw command.

Immediately, the soldiers moved in formation, pouring into massive buildings that ringed the central tower of the fortress. Vlad’s keen senses picked up the energy signatures flowing through the structures, being redirected into the tower’s core.

"Interesting... an energy matrix using the soldiers themselves as fuel." Vlad narrowed his eyes. "Taking down this force field will be harder than I thought."

Before he could analyze further, the force field abruptly vanished—not due to failure, but because its energy had been redirected.

"BOOOOOOMMMMM!"

A titanic explosion erupted, followed by five smaller, rapid detonations—one after the other, each shaking the battlefield.

Augustus and his elite team had launched into the air, empowered by the tower’s newly activated energy matrix. Having learned from their last encounter, Augustus understood that conventional stronghold attacks were too slow to strike someone like Vlad, a master of the Law of Space. And a barrage from ground troops would only waste energy. This time, he had chosen a different approach.

Vlad’s eyes narrowed. "Using the soldiers to feed the tower, and the tower to empower yourselves." He could feel the complexity of the matrix—the kind of innovation that come from the Zanis Family’s scientific elite.

But there was no time for admiration.

The six Legends—Augustus and five others—were already upon him, soaring like war gods, their killing intent burning through the air. The time for observation had ended.

With a blur of motion, Vlad surged forward.

His sword met Augustus’s spear in a colossal collision of force. Elemental energy exploded in all directions, followed by a flash of lightning that split the clouds overhead. The strength of Augustus had grown—immensely—but even with the tower’s enhancement, he was still not the equal of two True Deprivatas fused into one.

"Ahhh!" Augustus groaned as he was blasted backward, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth.

But Vlad had no time to press the advantage. The other five Legends moved as one, a perfectly coordinated team augmented by the fortress’s matrix. Their energy had reached the High Legend Tier, and their teamwork made them lethal.

A massive serpent forged of fire and wind roared toward Vlad. He dodged with a twist, his Eyes of Wrath predicting its path. A beam of light shot from his eyes, striking the serpent’s core and causing it to disperse. But the moment he turned, two sword-wielding foes attacked from above and below, their blades aiming to bisect him.

Vlad’s eyes flared.

He fired a concentrated blast from his eyes at the swordsman below, slamming him into the ground. Then, he met the descending blade above with his own sword, releasing another lightning surge that sent the attacker hurtling into the sky.

It all happened in less than a second—a blur of motion, power, and instinct.

But the assault didn’t end there.

Behind him, a massive shield crashed forward, carried by a giant of a man—a shieldbearer Legend whose strength surpassed all the other Legends. The charge wasn’t graceful, but it was overwhelmingly powerful.

Vlad’s sword was still mid-air, so he responded with his body. He spun, twisting his hips and using centrifugal force to deliver a crushing kick.

"BOOOOMMMM!"

A kinetic shockwave thundered through the sky as Vlad’s leg connected with the shield. For a heartbeat, there was a deadlock. Then, the shieldbearer was thrown backward, skidding through the air as cracks appeared across his enormous shield.

Vlad allowed himself a small smile as he stood amidst the storm of battle, having successfully parried or countered every strike Augustus and his team had thrown at him. But the moment of satisfaction faded just as quickly as it had come. His expression hardened again, eyes narrowing with focus.

Though he had managed to retaliate against each attack, none of his enemies had suffered any serious injuries. The continuous flow of energy from the tower behind them kept their strength at its peak, allowing them to fight without signs of fatigue. As soon as one barrage of attacks ended—flashes of spears, blasts of fire, slicing wind, and thundering shields—another began almost immediately.

Vlad inhaled deeply, centering himself. His gaze sharpened, lightning flickering in his pupils. Thanks to the gift known as the White Death—the Brain of Thot—his soul could withstand the strain of fusing with a single True Deprivata indefinitely. As long as his energy reserves held, he could continue fighting at full power. And considering his passive ability to devour ambient energy from his surroundings, it would take a monumental effort to wear him down completely.

Above the stronghold, the battle raged like an apocalyptic storm. Explosions echoed through the skies, waves of elemental energy crashing in all directions. Fire and lightning twisted into serpents. Gales became blades. Each clash tore the air apart. Occasionally, some of the destruction spilled downward, with beams of power or debris smashing into the stronghold’s surface. Unfortunately for Vlad, the structures had clearly been reinforced. While the streets and courtyards were obliterated by stray blasts, the main buildings—especially the ones connected to the tower—endured the chaos with minimal damage.

Hours passed, and the fight grew more intense with each cycle. Neither side could gain the upper hand. Vlad’s blows were mighty, but Augustus and his elite squad were bolstered by the tower’s energy matrix, regenerating and recovering at supernatural speeds. On the other hand, despite being outnumbered, Vlad’s fusion with Jormungandr and mastery over multiple elemental laws kept him a step ahead.

Still, the stalemate dragged on.

As the sun dipped beneath the horizon, bathing the battlefield in golden twilight, Vlad’s eyes narrowed once more. Though his soul remained intact and his body unharmed, he could feel the drain creeping in. Even with Jormungandr’s inner abilities recharging his reserves during combat, the intensity of the fight had begun to take its toll. And fighting while fatigued—especially within enemy territory—was a recipe for disaster.

Realizing it was time to retreat, Vlad made his move.

His sword pulsed with concentrated lightning, a halo of raw destruction forming around its edge. With a single sweeping slash, the halo expanded in all directions, exploding outward in a shockwave of devastating force. Augustus and his team were thrown back, their formations momentarily broken.

Seizing the opportunity, Vlad called upon the Law of Space. His body shimmered with spatial energy before vanishing from sight, phasing out of the battlefield entirely. Within seconds, he was gone—outside the tower’s range.

August and his team gazed at Vlad with hatred and pure killing intent. All of them burned with the desire to kill that man, not only out of personal feeling, but because they were sure that if he were gone, the enemy army would be greatly weakened.

Unfortunately, while their energy pool remained full of power, they were all badly wounded after hours of fighting, and if they chased after Vlad, they would lose the support of the tower, making it impossible for them to equal the man.