Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2019: Sapphire

Sylasʼ brain started to race. Time slowed around him, and he gave everything toward considering just a single question.

How?

There was no path to the Demi-God Plane from Earth as far as he knew... or was it that he didnʼt know enough? His mother had made it quite clear that he was neglecting Earth quite a bit during his last visit. Just the fact the best food he had had on the Mortal Plane came from here said everything that needed to be said.

But something like a portal to the Demi-God Plane wasnʼt something that he would miss. He would sense that immediately.

ʼThe Demon World?ʼ

This was the first idea Sylas came up with. The portal to the Demon World was still here, and technically Demons had their own little backyard right now because Sylas was allowing it to happen.

But he had been through that portal in the Woodlands already, and as far as he could tell, that world was just a reflection of the Mortal Realm of the Real Plane.

That was to say that it was the Demonic equivalent of the Realm they were in right now.

Unless there was an easier way of transcending to the Demi-God Plane through the Demon World?

This was possible.

Technically, the fact the Demon World existed here at all was a huge taboo. The clash between Real and Demonic Runes was practically like a collision of Matter and Dark Matter. They were fundamentally opposed to one another and couldnʼt coexist.

The possibility that the existence of Demonic Runes in large enough quantity would bend spacetime enough that Elara could pull off something like that... It was possible. But was it the answer?

Sylas should be able to sense something so violent happening to the tapestry of the Mesh of Reality Earth sat within if it, indeed, happened like this.

So what was he missing?

ʼA Dungeon...ʼ

”You entered a Dungeon that led you to the Demi-God Realm?”

Elara laughed, still sheepish like a child who knew she had done wrong.

”Maybe?”

”What level?” Sylas asked.

”I donʼt know. It was just a bunch of question marks.”

”And you thought it smart to enter?”

Sylas stood in silence, but so did Elara. She looked at the ground, drawing a line with her toes. Apparently, she didnʼt have a clever quip to defend herself.

It really was too boring staying here alone. There was nothing to stimulate her and she was still another three or four years from turning 18.

Plus, it would be a miracle if that even meant anything to her mother and father. Just because she turned 18 didnʼt mean that theyʼd suddenly let go of the reins. She had sat around for long enough, she was getting tired of it.

But even though Sylas could understand this, and Elara felt her feelings were also valid, putting herself in that sort of danger was something her brother would never accept. Which also meant that when she acted, she knew that if Sylas ever uncovered out, he would certainly over-extend himself to go and find her to make sure that no harm came to her.

Sylas had a great deal of advantages, but because Elara had been sheltered so much, she didnʼt have any such thing. She didnʼt have a Madness Key, she didnʼt have any understanding of the wider world beyond the information on Runes that Sylas had given her—and even that wasnʼt complete.

She was a complete newbie, and her only advantage was an A-Grade Royal Hero Line that had yet to evolve into Demi-Godhood.

While Sylas had yet to set foot on the Demi-God Plane in earnest, he was fairly certain that even if there were Races beneath the A-Grade there, they still had Demi-God Aura, and that would make Elara basically the bottom of the barrel there.

From the Mortal Plane, the only way to enter the Realm of the Demi-Gods was to reach the A-tier in Race and then evolve it into Demi-Godhood. However, that didnʼt mean that those born on the Demi-God Plane were all A-tier Races by default.

Sylas couldnʼt confirm or deny just yet. What he did know was that his sister was definitely in trouble.

The agitation in his chest that he hadnʼt even truly dealt with yet bubbled up. His body released large amounts of heat trying to support his brainʼs function. But he couldnʼt think of a solution fast enough.

No experience. Not in information or combat. A weak foundation. No alliance or reliance. And now on a battlefield far beyond anything the Mortal Realm had to offer.

The worst part? Sylas already had enemies on the Demi-God Plane that were certainly waiting for him. What would they do when they sensed the appearance of the Grimblade Bloodline?

Sylasʼ breath came out steamy and hardly controlled.

”Sylas?” Elara spoke in a whisper. She could feel that Sylas was on the verge of something. She really hadnʼt expected him to come back so early, otherwise she would have never done it.

She was confident enough in herself to deal with things, but Sylas couldnʼt stand anything that wasnʼt fully under his control, and this was about as far from his control as it got.

It was just one thing after another.

Sylas pressed a palm to his chest, but it felt like it was just running away from him, sprinting faster and faster as though it wouldnʼt stop until his heart popped and shattered.

In an instant, Sylas vanished, leaving swaying grass in his wake.

Elara looked at where her brother had disappeared, a sadness flickering in her eyes.

”Iʼm sorry...”

She didnʼt know what else to say.

Sylas stood at the bottom of the ocean, waves bubbling around him as the heat wafting from his body only increased.

He tried breathing, but no matter how he converted the water to oxygen around him, it didnʼt feel like enough.

He clutched at his chest, his body pulsing with waves of an endless heat.

In front of him, a grave lay, a large sapphire stone as tall as an obelisk standing as its marker.

ʼNosphaleen Tideborn.ʼ