Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1910: Mirror Dungeon

The roar of a beast shook the air, and a line of fire cut straight for Sylas. And yet, he didnʼt move. Despite the wide eyes of the group of Emperors below, they didnʼt move either.

What a joke. That roar came from a beast of at least the B-tier. Even someone surpassing Level 200 would have a great deal of difficulty dealing with that attack without coming away injured or even dead.

The problem with this place was that the beasts existed in a state between Demi-God and Mortal, making them weaker than true Demi-God Beasts but far stronger than usual Mortals.

The Emperor geniuses who had entered here had gotten used to ignoring the stats and assessments of these beasts because they were almost always stronger than what was shown.

”Heʼs finished...” the Emperor Dove muttered.

The line of fire swallowed Sylas completely and vanished into the skies before dissipating entirely.

However, just as they were about to turn away, their eyes widened.

Sylas was still standing there as though nothing at all had happened. There wasnʼt even a slight singe on his clothing.

”What?!”

Sylas hadnʼt even turned in the direction of the beastʼs roar. In fact, it looked like he was still thinking about something else, his mind wandering as though he wasnʼt in any real danger.

But the beast itself didnʼt attack again. It was as though it thought Sylas was already dead, so it didnʼt bother a second time.

ʼSpace is very interesting here,ʼ Sylas thought to himself.

With Archon casting, Sylasʼ ability to twist, bend, and fragment reality was very strong. He just didnʼt do it often because it was very taxing and almost impossible to do in worlds far beyond his Tier.

Usually, he was only able to do so in worlds that were very restricted in terms of Tier, like F-tier and maybe E-tier or D-tier worlds.

However, in those cases, his own Rune Mastery was so powerful that it still wasnʼt worth it.

This world, though, obviously didnʼt fall into that category. Yet Sylas found it even easier to manipulate here than he would have elsewhere.

As for why...

ʼThis world is incomplete, or...ʼ Sylasʼ eyes flashed. ʼItʼs reflecting something. This is a piece of the Mirror Dungeon as well, isnʼt it?ʼ

Sylas thought he understood Mirror Dungeons... but did he?

For the first time in a while, he asked his Virtue Madness Key a question. If his speculation was correct, he just might also be right about exactly how to take the best advantage of this place.

[How is a Mirror Dungeon Formed?]

[A Mirror Dungeon is a form of Split Realm Dungeon formed not from echoes of the past, but instead from a reverberation of the future. Triggered by a particularly traumatic event for a world, it fragments reality and repeats it, often ending in a kernel of chaos that reflects back anything it interacts with.] —

Sylasʼ eyes narrowed.

He had been in a Split Realm Dungeon before. It happened back in the Mountains of Giza. It was a type of Dungeon that reflected a portion of Earthʼs past, and it could be repeated and completed several times.

What was perhaps most important was that this form of Dungeon was one that existed before the current Heaven System. It could be considered the most natural form of Dungeon there was, because it was almost entirely formed by the universe itself.

When Sylas originally asked about Mirror Dungeons, he had only asked what they were and what they did. What he had neglected to ask was exactly how they formed because it hadnʼt been important until this very moment.

ʼI see...ʼ

[How do you clear a Mirror Dungeon for good?]

[A Mirror Dungeonʼs objective is constantly changing and constantly shifting, often evolving into more difficult forms and devolving into less difficult ones.

[There is no assured or singular way to clear a Mirror Dungeon. Often, the strength of a Progenitor is needed.] —

Sylasʼ eyes narrowed. This was the most vague answer he had ever received from the Virtue Madness Key. He had been used to getting vague answers from the Sin Madness Key, but this was different.

There were no limitations of Tiers or anything of the sort for the Virtue Madness Key. It shouldnʼt have anything it could hide from Sylas, and it didnʼt care whether he touched on Taboos or not either.

What did this mean?

It meant that the answer to this question was something that touched the very limits of the Virtue Madness Key itself not in terms of a Taboo, but instead in terms of what it knew.

There was a flicker in Sylasʼ eyes. Rather than disappointment, his gaze blazed.

If this secret was something that pushed against the very limits of the Virtue Madness Key, that meant that the rewards for clearing this Mirror Dungeon just might grant him something close to or even surpassing-the Madness Key itself.

Sylas had never run into such a treasure.

ʼIt says Progenitor, but if Iʼm correct, itʼs not referring to just any Progenitor. It likely means a Progenitor of the world that is dealing with the trauma that caused the appearance of the Mirror Dungeon in the first place.

ʼAnd since this Mirror Dungeon originates from a Demi-God Realm, itʼs asking for the power the Progenitor of a Demi-God Realm would have on their own world...ʼ

This alone illustrated just how difficult such a Dungeon clearance would be. But if it were easy, the rewards wouldnʼt be as great as what Sylas was envisioning in the first place, would they?

Sylas was gradually coming to realize one thing.

If he wanted this, he couldnʼt continue down his current path.

Destroying the Emperor Sanctum would have to wait.

It wasnʼt just a matter of strength or intelligence. If Sylas was correct, the Madness Key demanded a Progenitor because as difficult as it was to find the objective of a Mirror World, only a Progenitor of that world would have the senses and oneness with it to understand what it needed at any given time.

That meant that Sylas not only needed to refrain from destroying the Emperor Sanctum, he needed to help them rise to the Demi-God Realm.

And not only did he need to help them rise, he needed to be in a position to take over as Progenitor of the world they rose into.

Only then could he evident the Mirror Dungeon and lay claim to a treasure that just might rival the Madness Key.

Sylasʼ gaze became calm and chilly as he made his decision.