Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1493 Mesmer Dance (2) [2250 GT Bonus]

[Shimmering Vein] allowed a Mesmeryx to place a Mesmer Mark on a target, outlining their Aether Pathways and permanently imprinting them to subtly influence their actions. This didnʼt seem like something that should have any relation to time whatsoever, but what was so fascinating was how this worked.

[Gilded Fog], when taken to an extreme, could already bend the perception of a personʼs time. At its simplest, forming clones and misdirection was what it could do at best. But at its highest form, it could begin to make a person think that the clones they were facing were real—up until the point they even started to suffer real damage from these so- called ”illusions.”

This blurring of reality and illusion was exactly the key.

[Gilded Fog] targeted from the outside, and [Shimmering Vein] did so from the inside.

If what was happening inside a person was synonymous with what was happening outside, then was it real?

If everyone trapped in the illusion was living out the same reality, then who was to say that this reality of theirs wasnʼt real?

If a tree fell in the middle of a forest, did it still make a sound?

This question was one that had puzzled and bamboozled philosophers for so very long. “I think, therefore I am” is another fascinating line of philosophy, a simple representation of how people tended to see reality from their most basic instincts.

If the illusion became so real that it could harm you, and you were convinced that it was real—along with everyone else around you... Then suddenly the Mesmeryx wasnʼt just an illusionist—they were the God of Creation in their own world.

At that point, space, time, and everything in between was at their fingertips.

When a Mesmeryx comprehended enough, it was even possible to glance into the future and predict what would happen ahead of time, crushing enemies before they could even resist.

And that just left [Fleeting Caress] and [Twilight Dance].

[Twilight Dance] was a unique movement art. If [Wings of Rhyme] was purely about speed, [Twilight Dancelincorporated illusion into movement. However, it wasnʼt about evasion—though it could be used like this. Instead, it was one of the most devastating art forms of the Mesmeryx.

When [Twilight Dance] was fused into an attack method, it made it ethereal, hard to track, and even more difficult to manage. That mesmerizing dance was akin to a death knell for an enemy, blending illusion and reality until one strike became three and three strikes blended into just one. A single step could become as large as a leap, while a leap could become a short stab. The source of thɪs content is novel-fire.ɴet

Unpredictable, impossible to read—and at the highest levels, it was a shocking llustration of grace in vengeance.

And then came the final one... [Fleeting Caress].

[Fleeting Caress] was another combat style, but this one was reliant on touch. It plucked at the deepest desires of an opponent, making them long for the touch of the Mesmeryx before ripping it away.

It was said that [Fleeting Caress] came with some of the strongest sensations of pain in the world—stronger than even many of the rarest poisons across the universe.

Every touch, when pulled away, would feel like the greatest hell, and yet you would want another, and then another, your Will opening yourself up to be hurt again and again like the fleeting touch of a femme fatale.

When the pain reached a certain threshold, your Will would simply collapse, unable to sustain itself any longer.

It would be akin to a death by a thousand cuts—one that didnʼt need to even open the slightest bit of skin or draw the slightest bit of blood.

Every single one of these Gene Beast Forms was incredibly powerful. Any one of them would be shocking, but when they were combined together with Gene Beast Harmony, forming [Mesmer Dance], it was like a true Goddess had descended from above.

Sylasʼ mind was practically jumping from one path to the next on how to combine all of these abilities, feeling almost overwhelmed by it all.

A part of him even wondered what the use was in bothering with his own Classes.

With his E-Grade Vipermancy Profession, his comprehension of these Gene Beast Forms all instantly reached Progenitor Mastery. He could use any one of them to their utmost limits with a single thought, and all of them were only a level or two beneath the Gene Class Forms of his own Legendary Gene Classes.

However, his thoughts of abandoning his own progression to chase that of his Contracts were immediately dismissed by Sylas.

For one, if he was too weak, he couldnʼt Fuse with his Contracts for long in the first place.

Right now, he wasnʼt limited at all thanks to Primus Imperium. But when he reached E- tier, there was no telling how long it would take him to get Primus Imperium again. He needed to be strong enough to withstand Fusion.

PIUS...

His Profession only made him so powerful because of how heavily it relied on the system. However, there was someone who had created the system.

By definition, Sylas would always be weaker than whoever this person was for the rest of his life if he only knew how to rely on them to do things.

Vipermancy was important to him. It was invaluable to someone who needed help progressing from the lowest rung of the world like him.

But it couldnʼt be his everything.

He needed to progress himself.

Without the system.

Sylasʼ chest pulsed with a radiance before he calmed, pushing himself up from Nosphaleenʼs lap.

She seemed to have regained her legs, no longer being half serpent, half human. Her skin had returned to its familiar delicate blue, pale to the point it was almost impossible to spot.

It looked like she had once again become a Clypsian—but more perfect, more refined, almost too gorgeous for words.

This was a natural ability of the Mesmeryx: to take whatever form they deemed fit. And she, of course, preferred her original appearance.

The difference was that her Charisma and Will were overwhelming, while previous imperfections had been expunged.

She was as close to a deity in the F-tier as Sylas had ever seen.

And for some reason, she was still in the nude.