Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1799: Necessary Evil

Sylas walked right by him as though he didnʼt exist, a heavily injured Brama pulling out a metallic shield that unfurled in gears and fans of bronze to block.

Niafon was sent flying backward, and Old Brama coughed up a mouthful of blood, pools of it leaking faster from his wounds than ever before.

The armies of the Golden Grove roared, and at a time unknown to them... the Hollow Wing roared back.

Swaths and layers, tides and currents of corpses fell. It was a deluge of death, an oppressive mask of darkness that hung over the bright shades of gold that once made the Golden Grove look so sparkling and beautiful, but now made it feel so vapid and hollow.

Niafon crashed somewhere in the far-off distance, his arm broken and misshapen. And Yaoyao just stood where she was, her lip trembling as she looked from Zayreusʼ corpse and then to the sea of corpses around her.

They had no idea how much pressure Sylas had been under for so very long, no idea how much he suffered daily under people so much more powerful than himself, so much more talented, with so much more backing.

To think that he would come back here just to fall to the likes of them...

It was little more than a joke.

Sylas scanned the region, looking for what might be wrong, and then he found it.

It was just like he thought. Any changes that the Golden Grove would have made to their methods here would have to be a recent addition, and any recent additions they made would also have to be done with their current level of expertise... That was to say, particularly little.

The best Rune Master of the Golden Grove was Old Brama by far. If they didnʼt come so swiftly after he had come and failed to allow Sylas entry, Old Brama would have probably already found the problem and undone it.

The trouble was that as bad as the Golden Groveʼs Rune Masters were at, well, being Rune Masters, anyone they would have tasked with making this change would still be of the C-tier.

However, Sylas quickly found a flaw to exploit and his eyes flashed.

He targeted a D-tier Rune and used his Unravelling Pupils on it. In a flash, it shattered apart and all that was left was what had originally been here.

By the time Sylas finished, Old Brama had already managed to slowly crawl over on his command. Reaching up a bloody hand, he pressed it down onto the panel, and the golden tree began to sway.

Yaoyao wanted to say something, but she didnʼt even know what to say. If she didnʼt know before, she certainly knew now.

None of this was what Old Brama had wanted. But it seemed that none of them had understood that Sylas had just saved them from a very different form of heartache.

The false Greed Seed had managed to stimulate whatever was hidden within the Golden Race, but it would have also made Zayreus a slave to it. Someone with a Will that weak could never deal with Madness.

If anything... Sylas had done them yet another favor. Now, it was about time they repaid that.

Sylas vanished, leaving a half-dead Old Brama behind. The latter collapsed to the ground, hacking and wheezing. He had already been struggling to hold on, but after having to block yet another attack for Sylas, he was close to spilling over the edge.

All the while, Sylas had never even given him another look. But Sylas, though he could have, also didnʼt command Old Brama to kill himself either.

It was like he just wanted Old Brama to slowly bleed out... to suffer for what he had done.

Elderly Brama laughed. He couldnʼt seem to hear Niafonʼs roars or his charge, nor could he see Yaoyao anymore.

He wondered if he would ever see his granddaughter again, or how she would react to the news that her last remaining family member was now forever gone.

Sylas, though, definitely cared about the answer to these questions.

When Sylasʼ vision cleared, he found himself back in a familiar tunnel. He remembered the first time he entered, he had to face off against a Dungeon and make his way down before he was finally able to make it to the location he was aiming for.

ʼHm...ʼ

Sylas summoned Gogo.

A large head bumped at Sylas, nearly throwing him off his feet.

Gogo had grown large, much larger than ever before. Despite still being Level 50, he was probably even longer than just 50 meters, but the proudest and most standout feature of his was that crown of golden horns that stood proudly above his head.

Sylas had always thought that snakes were beautiful creatures in general. It was part of why he had made his PhD what they were, aside from his fascination with trying to make something worthless useful just for the sheer challenge of it all.

But Gogo was certainly on another level.

Clearly, though, Gogo was quite upset with Sylas. It had been cooped up in the Hibernation Realm for so long. Ever since his evolution, Sylas seemed to refuse to take him out no matter how much he begged and pleaded.

”Itʼs a necessary evil. You are too close to your ancestry now. It will cause problems if most see you.”

Gogo frowned, clearly not liking the answer. He finally had his horns back. Well... at least the crowns. He hadnʼt yet formed his adult horns yet, but that was beside the point. He wanted to show them off, and Sylas wouldnʼt let him! ”Well, you can show them off here. Have at it.”

A growl came from the distance and Gogo flicked his tail at the D-tier as though to tell it to piss off.

The poor creature became little more than a mist of crimson in the air, pasted across the wall like paint in a single blink of time.