Genetic Ascension

Chapter 458: His Path

Sylas had only just finished speaking when he noticed a problem.

Nosphaleen was marked.

Still, he was quite calm when he noticed this despite the panic on Nosphaleen’s face. He was ready.

He had been marked before, and he knew the kind of tricks that the system liked to play. This was the real reason he had had Nosphaleen act as opposed to just doing it himself.

Like this…

He could actually hide her.

The somewhat warped cancer Gene appeared again.

“Bear with it.”

Sylas had already slammed the Gene into her chest before she could react.

A familiar pain overwhelmed her, and her body began to shut down once again. Soon, her Clypsian Genes had been suppressed once again.

With the upgrade to his Taboo Bond Path, it was even easier than it had been in the past for Sylas to accomplish this. Adding onto that his familiarity with the process, it barely took a few seconds before Nosphaleen was tossed back into his Hibernation Realm.

He looked above his head and nodded.

He had been partially worried that the beacon would transfer to him, but at the very least he had confirmed that at least a Legendary Path ability could circumvent the system to some extent.

‘Nosphaleen has had time to really drill the suggestion into Sunniva. But only time will tell if it will hold up these ten days. I’ll have to watch my back in the meantime.’

Sylas began to retreat from the region just as the first beasts began to rush out of the portal.

Because the gate was much more controlled than the usual portal, it wasn’t constantly expanding. However, that didn’t mean it wasn’t quite large.

The gate was at least 30 meters tall and ten meters thick. It was more than enough to unleash a great deal of absolute chaos.

And…

‘I’m in luck…’

Sylas hadn’t been paying much attention earlier, but he had felt a slight frigid wind coming from the other side. However, now he could confirm it.

The world on the other side was likewise a wintery land.

However, this shouldn’t have been a surprise. He had mostly spoken those words perfunctorily.

It had to be remembered that the Planar Convergence Gate connected the Aether Plane to the proper Earth coordinates, or vice versa. In addition, it had been implied through the description of the Multi Quest that the Africor Continent was not the proper landing location and that its climate and that of the Evergreen Territory’s would certainly clash.

Using this as a foundation, it was simple for Sylas to deduce that when he connected the Evergreen Territory to Earth with the Planar Convergence Gate, he would certainly be connecting to a location of similar climate. And in this case…

He would have the advantage in Aether.

There was no doubt that the Path of the Mancer had a great deal of potential, but there were also drawbacks. If he was in an environment that was too adversarial to his own, it would be far more difficult to cast Ice-Poison Skills, even with the support of Rune Soul.

But now…

He would be able to maintain his advantage.

**

Other side of Planar Convergence Gate.

The Celestial Republic.

“Report.”

—

[Verday Song (FFF)]

[Level: 26]

—

“A portal has appeared on the Great Celestial Wall, sir.”

Verday looked up from his documents, his eyes sharpening.

He had the air of a General to him. Though he was somewhat short in stature, standing at around 5’8″, he had an aura of a man a foot taller than that. His reporting officer couldn’t help but shrink beneath his gaze.

“What happened?” Verday asked slowly.

According to their analysis, there should be no such portal.

Although it was difficult to predict the appearance of portals into the future, within a few days, the “weather forecast,” so to speak, should be quite accurate.

A random portal couldn’t appear in such a highly monitored region without cause.

“We are still investigating. But all signs point to this being done on purpose. The portal is very stable and a gate has appeared. This gate also seems to have a particularly strong luring effect on beasts. The Aether is more stable, so it gathers more systematically. The Great Celestial Wall is already being overrun.”

The wall was long. It was impossible to defend every inch of it. Instead, it was mostly used to bolster defenses in certain areas. The location of this portal happened to be particularly inconvenient as a result.

Verday stood.

“Hand out my orders. Send a report back to headquarters and gather up the men.”

They needed to move out now and be prepared for the other foot to drop. The odds that this was a plot against their government were low. But they had to be prepared for it nonetheless.

And if it wasn’t, this was likely an opportunity.

As expected, the words had barely come out when the Quicktime Event notification reached him.

‘A System City?’

His gaze flashed as he made several decisions at once.

…

Within General Song’s encampment, a familiar man sat in silence.

—

[Morgan Hayes (FF-)]

[Level: 13]

—

“Professor, you’re needed.”

Morgan looked up. “Where’s the brief?”

“There isn’t one. Emergency situation.”

Morgan stood when he heard this.

“Alright. Bring me where I need to go.”

**

Orciulius City.

Sylas didn’t go very far from the Planar Convergence Gate as the warriors of the System City began to converge. His focus had turned to the clear conditions of the Quicktime Event.

One of them, unsurprisingly, was finding and killing the culprit. That, obviously, being Nosphaleen. But he had already hidden her away, and the odds of that were minimal.

However, after this, the challenge changed.

—

[Clear Requirements]

>[The culprit of this incident has been hidden through mysterious means. Find the secrets hidden in the dark and kill both the culprit and their conspirators]

—

It was unsurprisingly a very difficult requirement to meet. If Sylas wasn’t the one who had done it, he wouldn’t even know where to start.

Obviously, this wasn’t a requirement he could meet. So his path was the others…