Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2147: Ready

”Ready yourself.” Ros said. ”This will be volatile. We will have to directly eject you. Zaun.”

”I am ready, Supreme Commander. I will not allow a single hair on his head to be harmed.”

Ros looked away from the controls for the first time and gave Zaun a somber look, but Zaunʼs determination didnʼt waver. He knew it would very likely be a death mission, but he had come expressly for that reason.

He would not allow Ros to take this sacrifice upon herself.

Sylas watched all of this silently without a single word.

BANG.

The hood of the vessel suddenly flashed out. A large amount of golden energy surged around Sylas as Zaun picked him up once again.

Their chairs shuddered and then ejected in a long line of fire.

Zaun morphed back into a Unitaur mid-air, slamming his hooves into the volatile empty space as though it were solid ground.

He unleashed a roar and became a streaking golden light himself. Throwing Sylas onto his back, he charged across the skies.

Sylas, however, didnʼt sit this time. Instead, he stood tall on Zaunʼs back, his gaze scanning the region like lightning. His body was primed and ready, his mind sparking with a continuous series of connections and looping links as he took in everything.

He was seeing Runes now that he had never laid eyes on before, combinations and catalysts that simply didnʼt exist in his time, and when he stared into the maw of the oncoming Split Realm, he felt a gaze land on him.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Sylas had hardly had the time to frown when artillery bombarded against Zaunʼs sphere of golden energy. Sylas turned toward where he had sensed the feeling, but the gaze was already gone.

Zaun coughed up a mouthful of blood.

”VILE DEMON SCOURGES!” Zaun roared, raising his bow and firing.

It looked like shooting stars streaking across the skies. They instantly travelled light years at a time, shattering everything in their wake. But Sylas could feel that this wasnʼt power Zaun would usually have access to, at least not so easily.

He was using the same energy he had used to amp up Sylasʼ cells but on a completely different level. He was basically burning away his life force with every step he took.

There was a blazing determination in the manʼs eyes and Sylas couldnʼt help but wonder just what they were fighting for. Because by now he was certain… he didnʼt have the whole picture.

ʼDemon scourges…ʼ Sylas thought calmly, looking out into the distance.

He felt something shift within him as his Demonic Will flared up as though it suddenly wanted to be fed.

His eyes narrowed.

The closer they got to the Split Realm, the stronger the demonic influence became.

But it wasnʼt just because of this that his Demonic Will was reacting. It felt like there was something it was pulling him toward, but the feeling was too unfamiliar for him to understand.

PUCHI.

A spear appeared in Zaunʼs chest. His muscles squeezed around it, just barely stopping it from passing through with enough force to impale Sylas along with it.

Sylasʼ gaze shifted to the spear. It had been far too fast for him to react to. If Zaun hadnʼt been there, he would certainly be dead.

ʼBlazara…ʼ

Zaun roared, ripping the spear out of his chest, nocking it to his bow, and firing.

The crimson spear had a jagged, almost broken blade that cut through space like butter and churned the violent energies in a blended mesh of chaos.

Sylas had no idea if it landed. The target was too far away, and there was too much between them.

But it didnʼt matter, not when they were so close.

”STEP ON MY BOW!” Zaun said with a roar. He placed his bow on his shoulder, its end hovering in front of Sylas.

Sylas leapt onto it calmly, finding his balance instantly.

Zaun spun in the air and stomped a hoof to empty space. Runes burst out from beneath him, space solidified, time seemed to slow.

Sylasʼ pupils constricted.

BANG.

Zaun sent him flying forward.

A golden energy coated Sylas, but with every inch he shot across, it flaked off, the might surrounding it so great it was peeling away beneath the friction.

Sylas didnʼt experience any of the wind and pressure himself. He could only watch as the layers of protection were peeled away.

But then the Split Realm was suddenly in front of him, so close that he could practically reach out a hand and touch it.

”NO!”

Zaunʼs eyes widened and in all the chaos, Sylas could just barely hear it.

The maw of the Split Realm was right there, within armʼs reach, and yet space had seemingly become an infinite shadow, extending into forever.

The protective coating was still being eaten away just as fast, and yet he wasnʼt moving. No, he was moving, but he was crawling millimeters at a time.

In another three seconds, the protective coating would vanish and he would have to face all the volatility with his own power.

Impossible.

This was a battlefield of S-tiers. Even A-tiers were fodder in this place, he didnʼt have the ability to control so much and survive.

A laughter filled the skies and a Demon with skin as crimson as a blazing red giant star appeared, his horns curling in layers of black.

The spear Zaun had fired was in his palm, held out before his chest just before it pierced through.

”Thank you for my weapon.” His gaze turned from Zaun to Sylas. ”I think Iʼll end this little farce here, no?”

The Blazara raised its spear, cocked it back, and took a step forward that could have shattered a line of planets through an entire star system in the blink of an eye. It felt like the universe itself ceased to be beneath the soles of its feet.

Sylas met the gaze of the S-tier Demon with a cold indifference.

BOOM.