Genetic Ascension

Chapter 709 Threshold

Sylas pushed his way through the lava, feeling like he had to push every muscle of his body to get deeper.

He immediately noticed that the damage to his illusory armor had increased substantially, but at least for now, the cost was still low enough that it could keep up.

The biggest issue he faced was actually moving through this molten rock. It was far harder than he thought it would be, and he soon found his already fatigued body aching.

But he pressed on.

The aching pains soothed the thoughts that came from elsewhere, and as though he was on one of his long runs again, he found catharsis in the situation.

To his side, the Basilisk King was holding up much better. Maybe due to the natural shape of its body, it was far easier for this Serpentes to slither through the lava than it was for Sylas to swim through it.

If Sylas wanted to make things easier on himself, having the Basilisk King lead the way would certainly be the obvious choice. But for now... he had found a rare moment of peace.

ʼI will kill him...ʼ

It wasnʼt just this familiar pushing of his body that gave him this feeling of catharsis, it was also this one thought.

Maybe it was the liberation of deciding to do something that went against his logic for the first time, or maybe this wild feeling growing inside of him was only making him think that this was what he wanted to do, but regardless...

It made him feel good.

Unfortunately, as with many things in life, there was such a thing as too much of a good thing, and often, what made one feel the best wasnʼt necessarily the best...

Sylas couldnʼt check on his rewards for the Quicktime Events for now, not while he was in the middle of a pool of lava that would probably destroy them on contact.

But... wasnʼt it about time he asked the Madness Key the questions he had been too distracted to do so already?

Unfortunately, the moment he had the intention to do so, the result he had been dreading occurred.

Taboo.

Sylas sighed inwardly.

He had already known that matters related to Demons were highly likely to be Taboo. Aside from the fact he couldnʼt very well ask the Madness Key questions in the middle of battle, another reason he hadnʼt was because he knew that this would almost certainly

be the outcome.

[Madness Key (Treasure)]

[A key leading to a fortune of Madness. Detects other Madness Disciples and enlightens your path. Contains small spatial world within. Can answer one question in exchange for Genes]

[Curse Status: Glutton. Genes a day to maintain Happiness. Requirements grow by the day. remaining until Hunger increases]

[Curse Status: Cannot be unequipped]

The current state of the Madness Key was very much still manageable. Sylas killed so many beasts every day, and by this point, every beast averaged at least 20 or so.

A single Bronze Gene gave 20 stat points, so with everyoneʼs stats soaring into the hundreds and beyond into the thousands now, one could imagine just how many Sylas could gather.

Of course, most of those stat points came from Aether and Classes and the like. After all, even Sylas had a limit of 40 Bronze Genes per stat, let alone everyone else.

But the important point was that gathering this number of Bronze Genes was exceptionally easy for Sylas. He had so many in excess that he didnʼt even think about it

anymore.

Still...

He knew the day the Madness Key would need Silver Genes was coming. And right now, he was well and truly considering biting the bullet and asking this question anyway. But doing so would put him in a position where the Gene requirements would double again.

After needing Bronze Genes, the Madness Key had slowed down from doubling every week to adding an additional two Genes. But the last time he accidentally stumbled into a Taboo, it directly increased by a factor of two.

There were too many ways this could go wrong.

There was, of course, another option... and that was to ask his Gralith or Szorn. But did he really want to do that?

[How does the universe treat Demons?]

[-]

[Cost: 10 Silver Genes]

A nice, short, and succinct answer. It told Sylas all he needed to know about the dangers

of letting others know what was going on in his head right now.

But could he really afford to not learn about this?

Sylas took a deep breath. ... It seems thereʼs another problem down here. Oxygen is limited... Iʼll have to rely on Aether instead...ʼ

He had taken the deep breath out of habit, but it was like he was inhaling foul gas.

”Maybe I can think this through myself... if the Madness Key ends up needing Silver Genes before I have a steady supply of them... itʼll all be over

But if this Demonic Will was dangerous and he couldnʼt deal with it properly, he would suffer for it just the same.

”What to do...

As Sylas was lost in thought, he found his visualization range becoming more and more constrained.

Oddly enough, when he first entered the lava, he actually had a wider range to work with than he had in the ocean. But as he descended, it was like forces were pressing down on him from all sides, constraining his visualization range from about 50 meters to 40, and then from 40 to 30.

If things continued like this, Sylas would be hard-pressed to find anything down here.

ʼI have to ask.

With how things were going, if he didnʼt find a steady supply of Silver Genes soon, Earth wouldnʼt stand a chance to begin with.

Sylas pushed through the warning signs of his Luck, but even he didnʼt expect what would actually happen next.

[Threshold Reached]

[You Have Been Awarded: Tier Two Madness Disciple Rank]