Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1302: Reality [1600 GT Bonus]

Sylas’ eyes pulsed unwittingly. He was so focused that he was no longer reining in his Runeweaver Eyes, while the Runes around him were responding in kind. It was like the world itself was being weaved in and out of existence, one tile after another being pieced together to create the most beautiful of tapestries before unraveling itself just moments later.

There was a spontaneity to it that Sylas couldn’t explain. It was like the Runes around him were coming together of their own volition, almost like a child playing around with Lego blocks.

Legos…

Sylas remembered just how much he loved them as a child. He had already grown bored of their mass-produced puzzles by the time he was two or three years old, so he remembered taking up the task of crafting puzzles of his own.

That day Legacy put him in that white room, he almost reached for the Lego pieces to craft something of his own again, before the twine and cork board caught his attention instead.

He had grown out of that phase eventually too, feeling that it had become too easy to create what he wanted. There were only so many self-created engines, and cities, and trains that he could make. And eventually, when he had forged enough of one kind, it was all too easy to extrapolate it into others.

It had become monotony by a different name.

Sylas couldn’t remember feeling disappointed about that. In fact, he had instead felt that it was oh so very… complete. It was only natural that he reached such a state of perfection because he was Sylas Brown…

Sylas Grimblade…

A different name, but just the same person.

And now he was feeling that feeling again, like he was closing in on completion, like it was whispering into his ears.

But then came the sudden roar.

It formed out of nowhere, attacking Sylas’ mind with menace.

Twelve crimson eyes stared back at him from the depths of an abyss, the very crevices of death and the end itself.

Sylas felt his mind shatter and his heart combust. A Will buried deep within him rushed out in a wave.

PUCHI!

Gralith had been watching Sylas from the very start, not entirely sure of what was happening, but feeling like everything was about to change nonetheless.

And then it happened.

A hook, rusted with blood and reflecting with ominous greed. It pierced right through Sylas’ chest, and yet it also seemed to manifest from Sylas as well.

It wiggled about somehow both like a symbiotic parasite, and yet also killing Sylas right before Gralith’s very eyes.

The 713th Scorpion Warlord was shocked, but Sylas was even more shocked as he felt his life fading away from him. He tried to grasp it, but nothing he did seemed to work. It was like he had crossed over a taboo and there was suddenly no returning.

But they both had the same thought at the same time…

Scorpion… Tail…?

Sylas’ confusion remained just the same, but the reality slammed into Gralith like a ton of bricks. Reality and realization.

“Hold on or you really will die,” Gralith said with more emotion than Sylas had ever seen from him. No… he had seen this level of emotion once before. The tone wasn’t fawning or laced with anxiety. Instead, it was stern and pulsing with rage and fury.

Just like the moment he made Sylas stop questioning the issues with the Scorpion Warlord Armor.

Taking Sylas by the shoulder, Gralith’s speed suddenly accelerated. He moved faster than Sylas had ever seen a person move. If not for the fact he was being forced on as a tagalong, Sylas wasn’t even confident in tracking this sort of speed at all.

Space bent and warped not out of some sort of ability, but out of raw power instead. This sort of speed alone would be capable of shredding Sylas to pieces—he was sure—if not for the fact Gralith was protecting him with his abilities.

It was only at that moment that Sylas truly understood how powerful a C-tier was. Maybe it was because of the name, or because he had grown so used to fighting above his tier, but Sylas had subconsciously dismissed them.

It was hard to take a C-tier seriously when he knew there had to logically be a B- and an A-tier above it. The fact he had a King Slayer Title only made it more difficult.

But seeing Gralith almost casually pull out such speed, and over such a long distance and so consistently, seemingly without even relying on a real Skill, Gene, or technique…

It put things into perspective.

A C-tier could wipe out Earth with a wave of their hand if they so chose. The C-tier was a realm of real powerhouses…

Of Gods.

BANG!

Gralith landed heavily at the bottom of a set of stairs so golden they beamed away the sunlight, nearly blinding the eyes. He looked toward Sylas to find that other than a clenched jaw, it was hard to tell that the man was injured at all…

Well, if you ignored the illusory black scorpion stinger coming out of him.

Gralith tried to take a step forward but his body shook as he was sent back a step, and then another. Though he tried to restrain it, a mouthful of blood came from his lips as he coughed, his body shuddering.

Undeterred, he protected Sylas to his back and tried to take another step, but the result was just the same. Even after a third and a fourth attempt, he failed to even take the first step, let alone the hundreds that came following it.

Sylas didn’t even know what to make of this scene. Was he supposed to hold on while Gralith never seemed to take even the first step?

He had been trying to think of solutions all the while, but he only felt that he knew one thing for certain… whatever enlightenment he had just had almost caused him to fix the issue with the Scorpion Warlord Armor…

And the Scorpion did not like that.

Now, he was being punished for it.

‘How dare you?’ Sylas’ True Pride Seed growled in defiance.

But defiance was one thing. Reality was another.