Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1036  Sleep [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]

”Not off to a good start, I see.” Zayreus said with a smile.

Sylas didnʼt reply. The man hadnʼt looked him in the eye since he stepped into the room. Even now, he was still looking at the chains on the ground until he looked up to meet what seemed to be the back of Megeanʼs head.

As though they had perfectly timed it, Megean looked back to Zayreus with an annoyed flare in her movements.

”You—”

”I wouldnʼt say too much if I were you,” Zayreus said lightly. ”This is my jurisdiction right now. And technically speaking, you could be detained for coming here without permission. Iʼll give you some leeway as my fiancée, but donʼt say anything that would make this harder on you.”

Megean choked on her words, feeling a bit helpless all of a sudden. Then she almost took it out on Sylas. If he hadnʼt done something ridiculous like breaking those chains or suddenly healing from those ridiculous injuries, she would have managed to say what she needed to.

Zayreus pulled something out of a spatial device and tossed it onto the stainless steel table.

”You can wear those to cover up your decency. We will be placing you before the council now, but I will have to report this infraction. An attempted escape will unfortunately make whatever sentence you receive harsher or less beneficial depending on the way they decide.”

Sylas looked toward the clothing. It was practically just a medical gown of some sort, and honestly, it wouldnʼt be covering up any decency at all. Not only was it incredibly flimsy to the point that it was practically see-through, but it was short. Sylas could tell at a glance it wasnʼt tailored to his body at all, especially not after his changes.

He stepped down from the table, completely ignoring the gown. His body flexed and stretched, a crackling sound that made the air whine, echoing before Runes flashed across him.

In a blink, a new set of beast skin clothing had covered him. It was nothing more than a show since they had come directly from his Madness Key. But they didnʼt need to know that.

Zayreusʼ eyes narrowed, seemingly looking at Sylas for the first time.

”… I donʼt know who you were in your own world, but this is a stage much larger than you now. I would advise… caution.”

Sylas didnʼt reply.

Zayreus gave him another glance and turned away. Megean tried to open her mouth to say something, but it was the voice of her grandfather that came to interrupt her this time.

”Thatʼs enough, Megmeg. Come here.”

**

Sylas found himself standing on an elevated platform, a fence of elaborately sculpted wood. But the courtroom that surrounded him in a ring was completely empty.

Seats that presumably should have had people in them were vacant. Instead, there were what looked like projected lights, but these lights, other than adding to a somber ambience, didnʼt do much else. It didnʼt seem like theyʼd be taking the shape of anyone anytime soon.

Sylas raised an internal eyebrow, but eventually just closed his eyes.

His breathing became rhythmic, and the Runes of the world seemed to coalesce around him, forming a support structure of space that kept him upright.

Then he fell asleep.

…

The hours ticked by, and Sylasʼ rhythmic breathing didnʼt stop. He just fell into a deeper and deeper sleep.

At some point, the Runes around him accumulated so much that there was a natural glow to him. Even those who werenʼt Rune Masters began to notice something particularly odd… at least those still paying attention to what was happening.

Sylas had never been the sort of person to care very much about disrespect. Ironically enough, he had just gotten quite furious with the All-Seeing Eye, so it was a bit amusing that heʼd have such a thought now. But…

Were these people on the same level as the All-Seeing Eye?

Maybe it was more accurate to say that Sylas couldnʼt take disrespect he saw from most people seriously. Whether it was the Grimblades who had tried to control his every action, or Lucius who tried to command him, or the Golden Grove now.

The only times he truly got pissed was when he felt a true lack of control over the situation. And quite frankly… that very rarely happened.

And this was certainly not one of those incidents.

…

Finally, one after another, the lights before the chairs began to coalesce into real people. Many were Unitaurs and Aurans, but there were those of other Races as well, many of whom had odd golden glows to them as though this was the only color they could be.

There were some human-looking Races that just seemed to have blond hair and golden eyes. There was a lizard-like Race with the heads of what looked like gold-scaled alligators but the bodies of humans. There was even a beautiful, somewhat plump woman on the ground with the aura of a silk worm.

The silk worm-like Race woman didnʼt have hair in the normal sense, but rather had a mass of smooth flesh covered in patterns of white-gold along its length. This mass split into two and looked almost like if flesh had taken the shape of a pair of ponytails.

The kindness she oozed was almost sickening, not in a sociopathic way, but in a way one really couldnʼt bear to hurt her at all.

And then came a familiar, Buddha-like man and a Yaoyao, an old woman of the Unitaur Race.

They brought order to their court, and then every one of them looked to Sylas, who still had his eyes closed.

At first, many thought he was just arrogant and instantly felt some discontent. But then they heard his rhythmic breathing, and the truth settled in.

This guy… he was actually sleeping?

A silence fell in the room.

Sleep wasnʼt something most of them would need. Even for an F-Grade, staying up for two or three days shouldnʼt be a problem, not to mention the fact Sylas had just been resting for several days until now.

Plus, even if Sylas was tired—which he shouldnʼt be in the first place—even a mortal wouldnʼt be able to sleep in what should be a stress-filled situation.

What was going on here? How could he be so relaxed?

The Runes around Sylas buzzed as though being awakened to the situation.

Sylas slowly opened his eyes, a radiant, oppressive Charisma causing many projections to flicker involuntarily. It felt like the Runes used to form them might collapse at any moment.