Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2148: Canopy

Sylas didnʼt even make a move to stop him, not that he really could. The gap in power was enormous.

However, what was particularly odd was that after watching him for a moment, Sylasʼ gaze actually shifted away from the Blazara just the slightest bit, peeking over his shoulder and spotting something in the window of a vessel.

ʼThere.ʼ

Sylas realized that this was where his feeling of being watched had come from earlier. There, staring at him, was the Duchess.

There was a look of indifference on her face and she was lacking the familiarity she should have had. She was observing like she was a third party to everything, and maybe that was exactly what she was. She didnʼt actually seem to be among the number entering the Split Realm.

Her brother, however, he was. Much like Sylas, he was stuck in an event horizon, being stretched out across countless kilometers.

But something in the air was starting to shift. Sylas could feel it coming.

When the Duchess felt Sylasʼ gaze, she frowned as though something in her had shifted. Right now, she was wearing a cloak, her beautiful features were covered and the only thing that could just barely be seen were those hovering, glowing eyes of hers.

So why did Sylas pick her to look at out of everything? Especially considering his current situation?

Sylas, though, didnʼt look for long, as though he had just had an itch to scratch. And now that it had been thoroughly dealt with, he could finally give the S-tier hounding him the attention he so desperately craved.

There was a flicker in Sylasʼ eyes.

”Scram.”

A flame of red-gold sparked in Sylasʼ eyes and the moment the Blazara met it, it froze in the air. Its eyes widened and all the momentum it had built up in its arm to strike came to an abrupt halt.

BANG.

The Blazaraʼs arm exploded into a rain of blood, the backlash far too great for it to handle.

Yet, it stood there as though it hadnʼt even noticed. Then, it fell to its knees in the skies.

Sylas didnʼt even watch the scene happen, paying little to no attention even as the Blazara brought its spear to its throat and cut its own head off.

The blood of the S-tier was stretched through space.

It was hard to tell just how many people were paying attention to what was happening right then. But it could be said that the Split Realm was the absolute center of attention. The appearance of an S-tier to cut off the hope of the Golden Race was just the cherry on top.

The Demons were simply dominating this war. And the Golden Race, the pinnacle of the Demi-Gods, had struggled to keep up, diverting too many of their resources to something unknown.

Presumably, that unknown was the young man in front of them. This was why it was so shocking when it seemed he would die so easily. Many had thought they were already seeing the end of the Golden Race that had reigned for so very long.

Then Sylasʼ lips parted and he spoke a single word. No one could seem to see his eyes but the Blazara himself.

And the results spoke for themselves.

Sylas didnʼt even watch as the blood was painted across the skies, sparkling with dancing flames and forming his backdrop. He simply gave the Duchess another glance and then vanished.

A silence fell for a moment.

Ros watched from a far-off distance, her pupils constricted into pinholes.

Even while dying, Zaun couldnʼt seem to take his eyes off the location Sylas had vanished from. Then he began to laugh with the last bits of energy his life had remaining. He laughed so uproariously that tears of blood shed from his eyes.

The Prince had soared into the event horizon of the Split Realm as well. Fighting intent sparked in his eyes. He had no idea what Sylas had just done, but he found his fingers itching for battle.

He looked back and gave his own sister a glance, only to find that for the first time in her life, she was looking in shock toward a man that wasnʼt himself.

The Prince didnʼt seem enraged by this, though. Instead, a wild grin spread across his face, revealing two rows of perfect white teeth and a pair of sharp canines that glistened in the sun.

The Split Realm suddenly pulsed.

The Princeʼs expression changed as he was swallowed up. However, he had already expected to enter. The reason for his reaction was very different.

A pulsing wave of space distorted and swallowed up a far larger region than it should have…

Taking the Duchessʼ vessel with it.

…

Sylasʼ eyes slowly opened to what could have only been the most beautiful view he had ever laid eyes on.

He sat above the clouds, sparsely spotting flowing rivers of blue and greenery from on high. His perch was a tree that pierced into the stars, its leaves a radiant but not piercing gold, its bark such a rich brown it felt like warmth and home incarnate.

The scent of a delicate, not-overwhelming lavender hung in the air, a gentle rustle of wind carrying his hair up.

Sylas found that last part particularly odd. His head was well-maintained, but it curled and had a strong density to it. Usually, a gentle wind wouldnʼt shift it this much, it would take something far stronger.

But everything about this world simply felt far more substantial than any other world he had ever been in.

When he looked behind him, he found maybe the last sight you would expect to see in such a tree…

A city. One no less expansive than the tree, and yet so respectful of nature that it was entirely seamless. Sylas could sit here on the end of one of its branches and just as easily stroll into the city whenever he so pleased.

Something suddenly fell out in front of him and Sylas registered and caught it before it could plummet to its death below.

Sylasʼ gaze flickered as he realized what he caught was a wrist.

And the being on the other end of it was none other than an unconscious Duchess.