Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2180: Finality

Sylas heaved for breath, his chest moving to the rhythm of the howling winds around him. Every inhale he took came with a hurricane of force, every exhale washing out like a tsunami.

All around him, the flickering echoes of ghosts lay. Standing in the center of it all, it looked eerily like something he had seen many times before already…

The Golden Battlefield.

Maybe Sylas could have never expected that he was the great war they had been fighting all this time. But the moment he had come to stand here, not only did he understand, but he likewise used it to his advantage.

The Monkey King still hadnʼt moved. He looked at Sylas from his original standing position, his eyes boring holes into the space before him. But at the moment, it still looked like he was staring right through Sylas instead.

The man that the Monkey King feared was what Sylas would become, not what he was now. It was what he was now that could be taken out, and he would make certain that happened.

One of the horns on Sylasʼ forehead faded. It tried to pull itself back into being, but as it did so, the other faded along with it. They flickered in and out as though they couldnʼt decide whether to be real or not, and before Sylas could even begin to pull them back into reality, his body shrank down and he fell to a knee.

Sylas pressed a palm against empty space as though it was solid earth in a vain attempt to keep himself steady and upright. The world swirled around him, and he could feel his Will flagging. He just didnʼt have enough left over.

Wiping out the Golden Race Army seemed to happen instantaneously and easily, but in reality no matter how vulnerable a world like this was, its structure and heft was still so very real.

A roar echoed in Sylasʼ ears and he found the ghost of Supreme Commander Ros standing over him. She swung a glaive at his head, her rage so palpable it echoed across space and time.

Sylas couldnʼt even dodge.

The glaive passed right through him and he coughed up a mouthful of blood as his Will was cut in two.

The ghost faded and appeared in the distance as though sent back in time. It began a new charge forward, but before it could make it, it was another ghost that shoved a spear through his chest. And then another that sent an arrow through his head.

Every strike pierced through his body without fail and took another chunk of what little Will he had, chipping away at it continuously.

”I may not have expected you to clear the army so rapidly, but donʼt believe that I didnʼt come prepared.” The Monkey King stated coldly. ”Your potential is truly frightening, Sylas Grimblade. Your strength, even now, is beyond the bounds of reason. If not for a lack of God Aura, you would be a force to be reckoned with even on the God Plane, I am sure.

”However, right now, you are vulnerable. You understand too little about the world. You extrapolate too much, deduce too much on your own, and rely too little on actual experience.

”For example, if you had actually experienced the Demi-God Realm yourself, you would probably know that one of the aspects that separates Mortals from Demi-Gods is the persistence of their Wills even after death.

”Of course, their Wills arenʼt nearly as persistent as that of actual Gods, but it is enough to add another layer, another wrinkle to what you have to face.”

Fa. Fa. Fa. Fa. Fa.

A sudden bouquet of arrows lodged themselves into Sylasʼ chest, blooming like a flower before slowly fading away. Sylas felt as though his rib cage had been blasted open, his Will being ripped to pieces.

If not for the fact he had already stepped into False Infinite Will, he would have long faded into obscurity.

Blood pooled down Sylasʼ chin.

The Monkey King was right. He hadnʼt known about this, but even if he had, preparing for a perfect eradication of Wills that apparently had some Infinite qualities to them would have wiped out what little stamina Sylas had left. It would have hardly made a difference to know in advance.

But he should have known. He had already seen back on Earthʼs little hidden world that there was more to being a Demi-God than just reaching the limit of an A-tier Race. There was a qualitative difference between the levels that simply couldnʼt be replicated so easily.

Every time Sylas tried to stand, another attack hit him. And yet, no matter how close Sylas seemed to death, the Monkey King still didnʼt move a single inch.

He still stood there, still waiting, still talking from time to time as though to taunt and whittle down what little Will Sylas had left at a faster and faster rate.

Sylasʼ body had practically become little different than skin and bone, his life holding on by a minor thread. Maybe if not for his own persistent Will, he would have already died as well.

His grip could barely hold onto his scythe any longer, the ”ground” beneath his knees and palms looking out infinitely into the stars as though to remind him just how small he was not only in this moment, but into a forever sort of perpetuity.

How amusing such a thought was. A legend like the Monkey King could scheme across billions of years just to deal with him and yet the universe still sought it only natural to remind him how small he was nonetheless.

Sylas hacked up another mouthful of blood only for it to turn to a fine mist and shatter to ash. It was like he simply didnʼt have any more lifeblood to give.

His glowing emerald eyes dimmed and the familiar roar of Supreme Commander Ros echoed above him once again.

Her power surged and she slashed down her glaive with finality.