Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2158: Unwilling

The foremost pair of statues were crushed to pieces.

As though not to be outdone, Gogo shot into the clouds like a bolt of black lightning, soaring far and high until he looked like little more than a dot from below.

He took a deep breath and Sylas could feel the rampaging of the skies around them. It was like everything that was here was rejecting Gogo, unwilling to allow him to fly further, to soar higher.

But Gogo took it all in, allowing it to fuel his bloodline, to spark the fury of his Ancestors.

Every echo of his heartbeat was another booming, thunderous peal across the skies.

And then he roared.

The palace shook on its very foundations as Gogoʼs horns grew even further. Unwillingness, horror, pain, it all laced through the roar, filling it with a distraught sort of Will that crumbled at everything it came into contact with.

Sylas even found that his own Will control faltered for a moment, slipping out. It almost felt like this ability was eerily similar to the Hollow Wingʼs [Hallow Call] ability. However, this one was far more imposing and controlled at the same time.

[Hallow Call] was an instant death to those with Will beneath a certain level, but this call of Gogoʼs forced his Will into the crevices of anotherʼs Will, morphing and changing it.

It was a forced empathy, one that made one experience the plight of the Basilisk Kings, their suppression, their Pride, and their unwillingness.

In one respect, if Gogo forced it enough, the Will of a person he was targeting could collapse beneath it all. It was like the weight of an entire ancestry falling onto your shoulder, how many people had strong enough Will to withstand that?

But by the same token, he could choose to hold back and interrupt your Will instead, making it hard to cast Skills or Runes.

And yet, on top of that, it had one more ability, and maybe the most important ability of them all…

And that was to borrow from the rage of his Ancestors to fuel his own Will, bringing it to a completely different level.

A line of grey-black flames so concentrated it looked like a laser beaming down from the skies ripped through everything in its path.

Then it vanished.

For a moment, it looked like nothing at all had happened until the statues began to crumble. They didnʼt fall into large lumps of stone. Instead, a gust of wind passed by and it was like they had never been much more than beautiful creations of sand.

They wisped away into ash until nothing at all was left.

Gogoʼs roar began a vibrating pulsation of deep reverberations. It took Sylas only a moment to realize that this was no longer a roar at all, it was laughter and a sob mixed into one.

He bent down, pressing a palm against Gogoʼs head.

For a moment, neither said anything until Sylas spoke.

”We both have a lot of growing to do.” He said calmly.

He knew why Gogo was so mad at him. Sure, Gogo had liked Nosphaleen a lot. Sylas wasnʼt exactly the most caring master in the world, so 90% of the time, unless it was the most basic and important needs, it was Nosphaleen that cared for Gogo.

The two had no one but each other in the Hibernation Realm before Sylas got a city. And even after the city was created, it was hard to tell who they should trust and take as friends.

At the very least, for Gogo, he was so focused on growing stronger he didnʼt even consider having any friends at all.

The Hollow Wing didnʼt even have the same level of intelligence as the rest of them. It was a Mount—albeit a Combat Mount—but it was as effectively a tool as it got. It was only a living beast in name, but in function, it was little different from a screwdriver.

Gogo was a baby, and maybe he didnʼt have many memories if any at all related to his family. One day, he had just woken up in a Dungeon and was expected to fight anyone that came across him. Stuck there, he had been little more than a tool just like the Hollow Wing, expected to last as long as it took for someone to eventually kill him one day, forever capped at the same power level and never able to improve.

His only hope had been to last long enough that there would be a Dungeon Break, and then he might have a small sliver of a chance.

But what were the odds of that?

Zero, apparently, especially when he came across the likes of Sylas so quickly.

There he was, another shattered dream, and then he was forced to become this personʼs beast.

For a Basilisk King, what sort of humiliation was this?

At that point, Sylasʼ Vipermancy Profession would have never worked on a beast of a Legendary Caliber, it probably wouldnʼt have even worked against a Bronze, let alone a Legend. And yet he had been so easily pressed beneath Sylasʼ thumb.

It was a humiliation. He had hated Sylas for so very long, but maybe the worst part was that Sylas simply didnʼt care. He would use anyone or anything that was of use to him without a care for their feelings, and he was so smart, so strong, so sharp that there would never be a chance to escape.

Nosphaleen had been a light that Sylas was only slowly learning to be. She had experienced the same feeling as him, ironically having been tasked to be the punching bag of others for a long time as well.

She was his big sister, and quite frankly, Gogo loved her a lot more than he had grown to love Sylas.

But Sylas effectively killed her. She died just like everyone else he had ever known died.

Gogo was unwilling. He was unwilling to lose any more.

Gogo roared again. The weight this time was even heavier than before as he flicked his tail and shot toward the palace.

Sylas was right.

They had a lot of growing to do.

If Gogo had been stronger than Sylas back then, he would have never lost Nosphaleen.

And when they got her back, he wouldnʼt let his big sister come to harm again.