Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2014: Truly Evil

Elara winced from the window. This was much less entertaining than she thought it was going to be. She hadnʼt even managed to take a third handful of popcorn, because by then it was obvious that those two were very serious about killing each other.

She looked up to the skies to find that Sylas was still standing there. There was a flicker in her eyes and then she shook her head. She closed the curtains and left the window.

On the ground below, Sylasʼ parents and Cassaraeʼs stood in silence. They, too, had stopped finding this funny quite a while ago. But there was little that they could say.

They didnʼt know anything about Nosphaleen, the latter hadnʼt made many appearances around them. Compared to their daughter and the one they had seen as a daughter-in-law practically all their lives, it was obvious who their hearts were leaning toward.

But they still couldnʼt help but find the situation to be sad.

They could tell that Sylasʼ lack of action was a choice. But it wasnʼt all that evident whether it was a choice for Nosphaleenʼs sake or if it was one for Cassarae.

Not saving Nosphaleen seemed to be for Cassarae, but it was also a nod to Nosphaleenʼs own resolve. Maybe Nosphaleen had known exactly how this would end before it even began, but she had still chosen to do exactly

this.

Isolde looked up and couldnʼt help but get teary eyed. There was nothing you could see from Sylasʼ expression, but as a mother she could tell. She could tell that there was something off about his current state.

Cassaraeʼs breathing was even. She looked up, her sword still lodged in Nosphaleenʼs chest as though she desired to make certain that it had struck true.

She met Sylasʼ eyes, her own gaze flickering when she realized he showed no signs of moving at all.

Part of her had been convinced that he would. Of course he would.

Then he would say something about how Nosphaleen was a valuable asset he had spent quite a lot of time and resources on.

But he didnʼt do that.

Cassarae frowned.

Sylas met her gaze with the same calm he usually had. There truly wasnʼt anything she could read from his expression, but she could feel it. He wasnʼt happy.

It wasnʼt an unhappiness he would take out on her. Sylas was logical, often sometimes to a fault. He knew Nosphaleen had come here of her own volition, he knew that Cassarae didnʼt seek this out, he knew that Nosphaleen had come here with the conviction to die.

Maybe it was something that caught him off guard, sure. One moment, he was sitting in tranquility, and in the next moment he was watching two women battle to the death for him.

But that didnʼt change the truth of it.

If it changed anything, it was just a realization of just how much Nosphaleen had been holding back for so very long.

To Sylas, this was sudden. But to Nosphaleen, it had been brewing for a very long while. And maybe she realized that nothing would change if she didnʼt do something.

If not now, then when? Hadnʼt Sylas already promised a grand wedding upon Earthʼs ascension to the Demi-God Realm? And now he already stood atop the Mortal Realm. There probably didnʼt exist a single soul here that could truly threaten him.

That matter was set in stone already. So when would she act?

At the wedding? Maybe after their first born? Or would she have to wait until they grew tired of each other? Would they ever?

Nosphaleen couldnʼt ever imagine any woman growing tired of Sylas, and she also couldnʼt fathom Sylas ever changing his mind about something he had decided on.

The moment one looked at things from Nosphaleenʼs perspective, it seemed obvious that this was the only way things could have ever ended.

Maybe this was the very best outcome for her.

Cassarae clenched her teeth. ”... You fucking bastard...”

She wasnʼt speaking about Nosphaleen, she was speaking about Sylas.

Why couldnʼt he make this easy? Why couldnʼt he just prove her right and spill out the logical stream of bullshit he usually did?

Shadows of what happened in the past kept flashing through her memories.

Words couldnʼt describe how vulnerable she had been back then. Maybe she should already be over it. She was damn near 30 already and those matters had happened when she was just a teenager.

She had lived so much life since then, and yet it practically felt like everything had been in limbo from the moment he spoke those ridiculous words.

Sylas wasnʼt someone you just got over. What did it feel like to grow up beside someone who could practically read your mind? Someone so perfect and utterly flawless in every way? It often felt like the only way she could ever keep up with him was by pouring her everything into understanding his quirks more than anyone else ever could.

She had taken pride in that, she had felt a powerful sense of self because of it. She had practically built her entire identity on being the Sylas translator.

Only for something she couldnʼt even begin to understand to happen.

Or maybe she had understood... she just didnʼt want to accept it.

She didnʼt want to accept that the man she had fallen in love with could be truly evil and was simply choosing not

to be. Not because of her, not because of his family, but because it was simply not convenient.

She understood him so well that it had completely consumed her and shut her down.

~”I love you...”~

The echo of Sylasʼ words those months ago bombarded off the sides of her skull. She hadnʼt even said it back, she couldnʼt bring herself to.

She second guessed herself, wondering if he even meant it. In all his intellect, did he even know what that word meant?

”I truly... Envy you...”

The echo of Nosphaleenʼs words shook Cassarae awake. She looked down at the Clypsian, watching as the last of the light in her eyes faded away.

Nosphaleenʼs body went limp and fell to the ground as a tear rolled down Cassaraeʼs cheek.