Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1985: Not as Good

Sylasʼ arms dropped, his head sinking his chin down to his chest as he huffed for breath. He had been at his limits for a long while now, but every time he made a breakthrough in comprehension and understanding, it was like he was able to eke out just a little bit more, and just a little bit more after that.

But now, this matter should be over.

With one last deep breath, he looked up, his gaze flickering.

ʼItʼs not as good.ʼ

That was Sylasʼ ultimate conclusion to crafting a barrier that could stop even A-tiers in their tracks. He realized that it simply wasnʼt as good as the formation that protected Earth.

While it was more powerful, Earthʼs formation had more flexibility, more room for growth. To top it off, Earthʼs formations had also been greatly weakened due to both the course of time and the fact its Runes had been eroded away.

Yet, despite those setbacks, that formation was simply on another level.

ʼNot good enough.ʼ Sylas thought to himself.

It wasnʼt good enough now, but it would be one day. For now, this would do.

”What is this?” Riqo finally breathed out.

They couldnʼt understand what they were seeing at all.

Large scale formations existed. Any power worth their salt had them. But usually, they only came about one of two ways.

The first was through a Fortress Treasure, one that fused with oneʼs City Stele and granted a great amount of defensive power, usually with some other added buffs. Some of them would be better at offense than others.

Fortress Treasures could be forged at the hands of craftsmen and Rune Masters, but it was a process that took an innumerable amount of materials, sweat, and often even blood.

Most often, people just hoped to find such a treasure or to be bestowed it by the system due to some great feat.

The second method of gaining such a large scale formation was to build it brick by brick with a veritable army of Rune Masters. Not even thousands would be enough. Usually, armies of tens of thousands or even more Rune Masters would spend weeks studying a single formation before going about the work of building up each layer diligently.

This was a method that was often favored by truly powerful powers-though there would certainly be shades of both—because of the flexibility it allowed for. It was also something that could be tied into their own personal system, giving them more range and freedom.

But this wasnʼt to say a Fortress was easier to forge. It was instead that the fact a Fortress would be fused and then projected by a City Stele allowed it to happen on a much smaller scale. As such, a single Rune Master or a small team of them could easily stretch out the work they needed to do over months or years before they finished.

Never, even with the long history of the Thryskai, even with all the records and information that they had, had they ever seen anyone complete a formation in just three days.

And even that time frame included the time Sylas spent comprehending the Wills of the various Lineages. Had he already mastered their Wills, he could have done this from the very beginning and their attack would have ended up as little more than a joke.

A single man... no, a single E-tier had completely shifted the tides.

Chi.

A cracking echoed in the ears of Riqo and Ziel as they realized that their attack formation had crumbled.

Their heads snapped back in the direction of the Core of their ship, their faces going pale.

ʼRune Suppression...ʼ

Rune Suppression... it was something far rarer than Aether Suppression, and a devastating one at that. In the face of a formation that was far more powerful, a much weaker one wouldnʼt be able to communicate with the world under its presence.

The result was exactly as follows.

The formation that Riqo and Ziel had been reliant upon was now finished and dead. There would be no continuous attack against The Sanctum any longer even if Sylasʼ formation wasnʼt so powerful.

But that wasnʼt the main issue at all.

If their formation went down, it meant it was only a matter of time before—.

”Shit!” Ziel called out.

Without hesitation, they both rushed out. Those of the Thryskai sharp enough to realize what was happening also rapidly left the ship.

But some of them were simply too late.

BOOM.

A cascading catalytic explosion erupted, and then one ship after another began to suffer the same fate.

The Runes that kept them alive and well crumbled and countless warriors lost their lives.

The hearts of Riqo and Ziel went entirely icy.

Rune Suppression was much rarer than Aether Suppression because, by design, weaker Runes and stronger Runes werenʼt coexistent in nature. Even a world of the A-tier would have countless F-Grade Runes that made up its being.

The suppression of weaker Runes couldnʼt just happen by the existence of a more powerful collection of them. It could only happen when a powerful collection of Runes formed a gathering so powerful that it reflected essentially like the Will of a world in its unity and oneness.

In this sort of situation, any Rune or Formation that was deemed a threat or against the Will of the formation itself would be unceremoniously crushed until none of it remained at all.

Riqo and Ziel, as well as anyone else powerful enough, had no choice but to wrap themselves and what treasures remained on their bodies in their own Will, but the pressure of The Sanctumʼs new formation was simply overwhelming.

If they had to fight like this, it would be like the situation was entirely reversed. While it had been the Emperors who were using up large portions of their strength to fight off their Spirits from leaving their bodies, now it would be their enemies forced to use large portions of their Will just to exist in this plane.