Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1959: Again [Bonus]

[Bonus thanks to Bryson_Clark :)]

Time pulsed and the Strokes were forcefully frozen. Etched into the Mesh of Reality, echoes of their past and potential future were written into Sylasʼ mind.

The reason Sylas could instantly swap place with any of his clones was because they were entangled by his Will. When he spoke of how his Will pressed onto the Mesh of Reality, forming a curvature much like how a planet or moon or star would, this was what he meant.

When his clones formed, Sylas realized that both he and they were entangled.

This wasnʼt a true entanglement. If it was, Sylas would be able to teleport instantaneously to any location in the universe that he had a clone in. It was more like a false entanglement that worked within the range of Sylasʼ Will.

Sylas posited that once he reached True Infinite Will, he might be able to do a swap across star systems, but even that couldnʼt be enough for the entire universe.

Regardless, what this showed Sylas was that he still wasnʼt using his Archon Rune Mastery path to its fullest potential, especially now that it incorporated a comprehension of the Void as well.

But at least in this acute sense, he would.

He would draw Runes and Foundations and Strokes. If he made a mistake, he would freeze them in time. Using his own presence in the Mesh of Reality, he would force his own laws of causality, rewinding them to a more perfect state and then redrawing them to a greater level.

And if that failed, he would do it again.

And then again.

And then again.

Until...

WHOOSH.

ʼ85%. Spark Mastery.ʼ Sylasʼ gaze glowed. ʼStill not good enough.ʼ

BANG.

The Armor shattered again.

87%.

BANG.

89%.

BANG.

89.5%

BANG.

90.2%.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

Sylas was absolutely relentless, his Will seemingly endless. He didnʼt know pause or fatigue, and as he immersed himself in the Will of the Vulture, a bloody light and aura oozed from him.

Even from a far off distance, those forced to watch what was happening out of the corners of their eyes could feel the thirst. The looming spirit of the Vulture loomed around Sylas, and the 713th Vulture Emperor was actually having trouble restraining the spirit from splitting off from him and rushing toward Sylas.

Sylas had felt the essence of the Vulture somewhere else before. It was the naked underbelly of society. Filled with scavengers, those that wanted to prey on those fallen before them without taking part in the kill themselves. People who were content to point, watch, and laugh, basking in the victory and defeat of another as though they had been part of the former or responsible for the latter.

Pathetic.

And yet necessary.

It was a simple thought exercise, one steeped in philosophy and yet so very easy to understand. Could one be happy without understanding sadness? And if the answer was no, how could you know you were a real winner without losers?

In the sense of nature, the ecosystem couldnʼt function without scavengers eating away corpses, stopping disease and illness from spreading. It could be said that the world would be finished without them.

But even if Sylas understood this path, was this the path that the Vulture should have? Was it the true essence of their path? Either to be a loser to enhance the shine of winners? Or to scavenge in death what would otherwise harm others?

ʼTo be the last line of defense. To win by any means. To lurk in the shadows and strike only when victory was perfectly at hand. These are the three pillars I will give you.ʼ

99.4%

BANG.

100%.

A wild momentum rushed out with Sylas as the center, a Gene of Legendary proportion descending.

The eyes of the 713th Cycle of Emperors bulged wide.

Not ever once in their history had anyone managed to force a Legendary D-tier Rune to descend.

The idea of a D-Grade Spark Master was one that they couldnʼt quite grasp. In their entire history, there had only been a handful. But just because you were a Spark Master, didnʼt mean you could draw an entire Rune Armor to Spark Mastery. And even if you could reach 85%, that still wasnʼt enough to ensure you would force a Legendary Gene to descend. What if you needed to get to 90%? Or higher?

The thing was that not a single one of them realized what the threshold was.

All they knew was one thing for certain...

Sylas was the first.

That was what made it all the more ridiculous when violet lightning sparked around Sylas, shredding both the Gene and the Armor to pieces.

They were rended down to the E-tier, and then down to the F-tier, shredded by violet lightning that stripped them of all their being.

Sylas could have started at the F-tier and immediately drawn a perfect Armor, but he hadnʼt done so. The reason was because if he drew an Armor to the best of his abilities at the F-tier, he wouldnʼt have the skill to do the same at the E-tier or the D-tier. His scope in understanding was too limited at those levels.

However, if he started at the D-tier, reached perfection in the Lineage, and then worked his way backward, he could see exactly how those pieces fell into place at the E-tiers and F-tiers.

Then, once he understood how perfection worked backward for this Armor, he could then improve those pieces to his real level... And then work forward once again.

The double reversal in engineering would allow him a vantage point from both perspectives, and as such, when he pressed his palms together again... A Vulture Emperor Armor of deep black replaced the original deep maroon

color.

A new Legendary Gene descended. Despite only being of the F-tier, it somehow completely overshadowed the D- tier one that had appeared earlier.

And then Sylasʼ palms slammed together and even that shattered to pieces.

Soon, a deep black E-tier Vulture Emperor Armor had taken shape.

Once again, the process repeated itself, a Legendary E-tier Gene of a level all its own descended.

Then... Sylas did it again.