Vlad’s body moved flawlessly through the sky, gliding in absolute silence as he crossed the frozen upper reaches of Exilon. He wasn’t worried about detection. Thanks to his mastery over the Law of Space, he was currently flying between layers of reality—phasing through dimensions where only the most transcendent beings could even begin to perceive his presence.
From his perspective, the world had turned black and white, its forms distorted like shadows on water. In this hidden realm, only those with extreme perception and consciousness elevated to divine tiers could hope to notice his existence. For all intents and purposes, the True Depravita of Wrath was invisible.
His sharp golden eyes remained locked on his destination: a towering mountain range known as Aurora.
The region was notorious, even by Exilon’s brutal standards. The jagged peaks rose so high they pierced the lower clouds, and even in the upper atmosphere, the cold was so intense that lesser cultivators would freeze within minutes. Aurora was one of the coldest places on the entire planet—a land of eternal blizzards, glacial storms, and ice so ancient it radiated primal energy.
Despite the overwhelming flow of leyline energy beneath the ground—enough to power a hundred megacities—Aurora had been largely ignored by the Zanis Family. Its isolation, coupled with its unbearable climate and monstrous inhabitants, made it unsuitable for habitation or military infrastructure.
But for Vlad it was perfect.
This was one of the three designated sites for the Silence Towers—the ones that would sever all communication across the planet. But before he could build anything, Vlad would have to deal with the creatures that ruled this realm.
A thunderous roar suddenly shattered the silence, rolling across the icy expanse like a wave of sound and frozen death.
The roar echoed across the mountain range, accompanied by a burst of glacial wind so cold that it briefly froze the very moisture in the air. A solemn expression crossed Vlad’s face. Even while cloaked within dimensional layers, physical attacks could still reach him. The beast had not detected him—but it had reacted to the subtle shift in energy brought by his arrival.
"It seems the rumors were not exaggerated," Vlad murmured. "There truly is a Legendary monster guarding this place."
He narrowed his gaze, focus sharpening as he descended slowly from the cloud-wreathed sky and toward the heart of Aurora. He bypassed the snow-covered cliffs, passed a field of jagged frozen spires, and made his way into the central basin.
There, nestled in the valley, was a massive frozen lake—its surface perfectly smooth, like polished crystal.
At the lake’s center rested the creature: a Legendary Ice Behemoth.
It resembled a wingless dragon, but with a hulking frame covered in jagged plates of translucent blue ice. Its body bulged with raw muscle, each movement making the glacier beneath it groan. Spikes of blackened ice jutted from its spine, and its massive jaws were stained with frozen blood. The half-eaten corpses of smaller Ice Behemoths surrounded it, confirming that this monster had asserted absolute dominance over its kind, even resorting to cannibalism.
"That explains why none of the others dared approach this place," Vlad thought, lips curling into a thin smile. "Perfect."
If he could eliminate this Legendary entity in complete silence, not only would the lake be cleared for construction, but the lingering presence of the monster’s aura—even in death—would keep other creatures away long enough to complete the tower. It would serve as an unintentional guardian.
Vlad took a deep breath, his body still hidden in the layered dimension, and began channeling his energy.
Slowly, silently, he returned to the primary plane of reality.
His presence remained masked, but he now existed in the same layer as the beast. Drawing his sword, he began pouring Depravita Aura into the blade. Shadows curled around its edges, and the weapon drank in the light until it gleamed with a dull, suffocating blackness. The energy surged within him, building layer by layer, compressing until it became impossibly dense. Space itself warped around the sword’s edge.
The Legendary Ice Behemoth suddenly stirred. Its massive eyes narrowed as it sensed a shift in the air.
In a blur faster than sound, Vlad appeared directly atop the beast’s head. Two feet landed squarely on its skull.
And then the sword fell.
It plunged through the dense layers of enchanted ice and monster hide as if slicing through mist. The blade pierced the skull, then the brain, and finally erupted in a tightly focused explosion of spatial annihilation.
The Ice Behemoth’s body shuddered violently. Blood leaked from its glowing blue eyes before they dimmed. It collapsed silently, dead before it could understand what had happened.
Only when the corpse stilled did Vlad allow himself to exhale. He stepped back, his breath visible in the freezing air. A wave of exhaustion swept over him—not from physical strain, but from the immense control it had taken to kill a Legendary creature without alerting even the wind.
Killing a Legend was routine for Vlad.
But killing it without leaving any trace, without sound, without aura discharge—that required near-divine concentration. Even for him, it was exhausting.
And his work wasn’t finished yet.
Still breathing heavily, Vlad placed a hand on the behemoth’s forehead and began channeling what little Depravita Aura he had left. The freezing winds howled louder as a necromantic ritual began to unfold.
He wasn’t a necromancer, nor did he wield the Law of Death. But he had learned enough to animate corpses in rudimentary fashion.
The Ice Behemoth’s body trembled.
Its limbs twitched. Its eyelids fluttered.
Then, with a sound like cracking glaciers, it raised its head.
The monster remained still—motionless, silent. It wasn’t alive, but the aura radiating from its body mimicked the presence of a living Legendary creature.
That was all Vlad needed.
"Its aura will be enough for the time being," he said softly, nodding in satisfaction.
The beast, now little more than an animated shell, lay in a dormant resting pose atop the frozen lake. To any onlooker or predator, it would appear alive, dangerous, and perfectly capable of destroying intruders.
With the guardian in place, Vlad turned his focus to the next task—construction.