Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1873: Berserker [Bonus]

[Bonus thanks to The Honored One69. I know you wouldnʼt understand, but I was busy not being single this weekend. But hereʼs your chapter :) (I hate your guts)] Somehow, it felt like the young manʼs blood had stopped flowing at a certain point, as though his body had reached a point of saturation where his heart couldnʼt even beat anymore, the pressure too great to allow it.

And then it suddenly did.

In that instant, the young man exploded forward with a claw.

BOOM.

Sylasʼ eyes narrowed.

The young man didnʼt use a Skill, he didnʼt use a Gene Talent, or even an external item. And as far as Sylas could tell, he was also just a D-tier-though that tidbit hardly mattered at all.

Yet, his swipe just now was beyond what should have been possible for his stats. It wasnʼt just a matter of Effectiveness.

It was true that depending on Effectiveness, two people with equivalent stats could be of vastly different strengths. Professor Fembroise was the best example of this.

She had had stats far beyond Sylas back when she first awakened, but she had been toyed with like a child. That wasnʼt just because she lacked the skill and experience, but also because she had no ability to maximize the stats she actually had.

In fact, it was now Sylasʼ opinion that the only way to truly maximize your stats through Effectiveness was to be a powerful Telekinetic Martial Artist. After experiencing what it felt like to control your own Genes, Sylas just felt like there wasnʼt a better way to maximize the strength you had.

Even after watching the young man, he felt he was still right. It had taken him several long breaths to saturate his body the way he had.

Even so... Sylasʼ gaze couldnʼt help but flicker.

There was still so much about this world he didnʼt know. Who was he to say that there could only possibly be a single way to do things?

Whatever method the young man had just used didnʼt rely on a single external item, and yet he had more than maximized his stats he had surpassed them... ʼBerserker...ʼ Sylas thought. ʼ... From a Lion? Not an Ape?... Interesting.ʼ

Kalem had been supremely interested in what score he was going to receive. But seemingly sensing a gaze he didnʼt like, his head snapped toward Sylas.

Sylas didnʼt flinch at the sudden attention. Despite the crowd around him, he knew quite well that Kalem was looking directly at him, and he could feel the frown forming on Kalemʼs face when the latter realized that Sylas was actually just an E-tier.

Why would he feel the gaze of an E-tier-?

”You...”

Kalem vanished from where he stood.

Sylas raised an eyebrow. Well, he hadnʼt really expected that.

Fanelei was about to act, but Sylas shook his head. ”Donʼt act unless I tell you to. No matter the circumstances.”

Sylasʼ voice spoke out in Faneleiʼs head, and then he too vanished.

BOOM.

A crater of earth formed where Sylas had just been standing. Sylas himself was already high in the skies, looking down with an expression that was difficult to read.

However...

Sylas looked at his trench coat. A clear claw mark had torn right into it.

ʼInteresting...ʼ

He was fairly certain that he had dodged completely. Kalem also had to break out of the restrictions of the area he was in as well, a place that was heavily fortified to withstand the attacks of those who tested themselves against the pillar.

Yet, he had still managed to nick him. Well, his jacket.

Sylas shook his head. He was really going to need Alex to improve faster. He was getting tired of his clothing always being ruined.

In the crowd, Buleseʼs eyes went wide. She didnʼt understand why Kalem had suddenly attacked.

She knew her brother had a very short fuse, but it wasnʼt like he could be set off by just anything, especially not when he was already doing something that occupied all of his attention.

When she saw who was in the skies, though, her pupils, too, constricted.

She knew that man. Everyone in the Emperor Sanctum knew him. By face, by presence, by aura. It didnʼt matter— they knew him.

They knew Sylas Grimblade when they saw him.

ʼDammit!ʼ

Bulese didnʼt know what to do.

On the one hand, her brother wasnʼt attacking someone Maldrith would want to protect, so that was fine. Maldrith was also unlikely to care about damage to the city either. Their strength wasnʼt enough to destroy the entire city. Even the crater Kalem made was just a meter and a half or so wide, and not even much more than half a meter deep.

But she had seen Sylas in action.

While this wasnʼt Earth, and Sylas was only an E-tier, something made her very, very worried about her brother.

When she sensed Sylasʼ Will, that feeling was even more potent.

Somehow, his presence alone made her Lion Spirit Beast cower. She had never sensed something like that before, not even from the Ancestors of her own Clan.

And if Kalem was experiencing what she was, it was no wonder he was furious. She knew how her brother would react to having his bottom line trampled like that.

While she believed her father was a chauvinistic asshole, he was probably right not to give up on Kalem so easily. That was because between the two siblings, Kalem was the one who embodied what it meant to be a Lion Emperor the most.

While her Lion Emperor... was far more subtle.

Kalem didnʼt waste any time talking. He didnʼt ask why Sylas was here or what he was trying to do.

Furious, he roared, and his golden hair danced in the air, his eyes radiating the very same gold as they both became akin to orbs of light.

His hair flickered back and forth from strands to bundles of snaking light, as though they couldnʼt decide their real form.

And then he vanished again.

In the skies, Sylas was trying to decide how best to deal with this situation. But he knew that it was going to quickly spiral out of control.

If the Ancestors of the Emperor Sanctum managed to get to him before he could get to his Monkey King Mountain, that would make everything countless times more difficult.

It didnʼt seem like Kalem was giving him much of a choice in the matter, though.