Genetic Ascension

1551 Nails

What would it feel like if a world took a collective breath? What about if the entire world stopped breathing at the same time?

How many times had they watched this first round play out? How many times had they seen armies of tens of thousands completely wiped out in a matter of seconds?

The population of Earth had already taken an enormous dip. Due to the Trial, they lost vast swaths of the male population. In an instant, over half the men on Earth sentenced themselves to death just by clicking [Yes].

Women were luckier in this aspect, or at least more tempered with their actions. And yet, the Earth still lost over 30% of them in what felt like a flashing instant.

In that instant, no matter what happened, no matter what changed, the Earth lost half of its population.

But the Trial... the Trial had just been the beginning.

After this, they dealt with Dungeons and Portals, with monsters flooding cities and their homes being wiped out. Over just the first few weeks of the Summoning post-Trial, Earthʼs population fell to less than 10% of what it had originally been.

From a population of over 10 billion people, they had less than a billion left. And of that billion, the number that had no choice but to rely on the protection of powers and governments around them was another more than 90%.

On the entire planet now, there were barely a million people-if that with stats they deemed great enough to even hope to join an army and challenge the City of Glass.

Tens of thousands of these men and women, bold warriors with FFF+ monikers, layered in treasures of all kinds that Sylas himself couldnʼt even wear, had come here to throw their lives away.

Maybe their strengths alone didnʼt mean much to Sylas, but a world with as much talent as Earth, growing toward the higher Silver Grades even right this moment, had so many resources to produce. So many special Professions and Classes, so many shocking Legendary Path treasures prepped and ready.

None of these people who made these attempts could be considered stupid. They had survived for so long in this post-apocalyptic world after their lives had been upended beneath them.

And yet... not a single one had managed to survive the first wave of attacks, let alone the First Wave itself.

Then there was Sylas.

Pressed black dress pants, a white turtleneck formed of soft fabric that tightly bound to his broad shoulders, even a pair of white loafers that almost blended into the snow beneath him.

He was the picture of a classy businessman maybe on a summer vacation to his cottage. The only thing slightly out of line about him was just how wild his hair was, dancing with a sharp sporadicness in the chilly, cold air.

He had only raised a finger, just one. He hadnʼt moved an inch.

And yet a notification projected to the world made them realize that what they were seeing wasnʼt an illusion at all.

[Wave One Cleared]

[Wave Two]

[Commencing in 00:00:59]

”You should take a look.”

Isolde slowly peeked her eyes open when Cassarae spoke. They had been squeezed so tight the ligaments that held her lids together strained, pulsing with what almost felt like a cramp.

It took her all the courage in the world to open her eyes. If not for the trust she had in Cassarae after watching this little girl grow up from a swaddle to a fine young lady, she might not have opened them up at all.

And that was when she saw it. The image of her son the rest of the world also saw.

Kaelion blinked once, then twice. If not for his status as an Emperor, he might have rubbed his eyes as well for double measure.

This didnʼt make any sense.

Watching Sylas do this was the equivalent of pre-Summoning citizens watching a colleague catch a nuke in the palm of their hands. The gap was impossible to fathom.

How could one person be so impossibly powerful?

”Ha...” Kaelion exhaled out what was almost a laugh. He couldnʼt believe it. ”Where the hell did this monster come from?”

Moose slowly rose to his feet, his gaze impossibly grave. There was a heaviness between his brows as he looked back to the Demonic World.

This wasnʼt good. This wasnʼt good at all.

Sylas knew of his existence. Mooseʼs name had appeared on the rankings of the Battle of Worlds. If it was up to Sylas, Moose would already be dead. It didnʼt take a genius to know how he would react if he knew Moose was still here.

If Sylas still had the World Scepter, he would have certainly already stepped here to check the state of the portal to the Demon World. But now that he was back... Moose had a feeling that Sylas was doing this on purpose. Maybe he originally just planned to take the City of Glass quietly. But after realizing that this would be broadcast to the whole of Earth, he was taking this as an opportunity to prove a point.

How long would it take to go to every power one by one and establish dominance? How long would it take to make these large numbers of prideful men and women bend the knee?

But now... Sylas had only raised a finger, and Moose could practically feel it.

The world bowing to him.

”Your emotions are in flux.”

The voice of a woman echoed. The tone, the cadence, the sultry silkiness of it all was so elegant and seductive it could instantly bring even women to their knees, let alone men.

Moose, himself, tensed when he heard this.

”Itʼs not going to work,” he said after a long while.

The voice didnʼt reply, but soon a look of pain began to appear on Mooseʼs face.

There was no one there, but what looked like nails scraping across his skin and peeling it up appeared on his back.