Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1186: Sense of Self

Sylas watched as they mutated, evolving before his eyes. But almost the moment it started, he felt an odd resistance come down.

It wasn’t a resistance of the items themselves, but the world—almost as though he was tapping into something he shouldn’t have.

Sylas frowned, visions of the little boy toying around with corpses flashing in his mind again.

Was that what he was doing here?

The cognitive dissonance almost made him lose his focus, his palm shooting up to his chest to find that his heart was beating out of his chest.

He knew that the erratic beat of his heart was due to his body being quite weak right now. He had literally just been resuscitated by Gogo, so he wasn’t exactly in the best state.

But there was something peculiar rooting itself inside him right now.

’Is this what the little girl was warning me about?’

Sylas realized where the feeling was coming from. His control over his own mind was practically absolute. When you matched that with what was quickly becoming a supernatural sense for the depths and layers of his body—and his Will as well—it was only natural that he be quite in tune with the changes to himself.

This satisfaction, this power that came from playing God, in deciding the life and death of his Contracts and casually using what had once been the essence of their life to create a new life that was far more useful to him...

It was reminiscent of the Greed Seed taking over, yes. But this time, it was manifesting differently.

He had already unrooted the Greed Seed from himself, so instead it was Pride rooting itself deeper.

The little girl watched Sylas pause in curiosity, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. If she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that Sylas wasn’t actually supposed to sense such a subtle change.

Logically, a new Seed wielder—especially one who had gained a True Seed so in line with his sense of self—would bulldoze right by such red flags and find themselves hip-deep in a new sensation they easily grew intoxicated by.

And how could they not? This sensation was something that made them feel almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing. How could it be bad if it made you more powerful?

However, the Path of Sin wasn’t so simple... they took this Path of Madness because it was the only one available to them, the only one the universe allowed them to have.

It was difficult, grueling, and it was cursed by the world. While it would make you more powerful, it would take any semblance of what you were as well.

But this Sylas... was so fascinating.

’Was I wrong?’ Her head tilted to the side, her thoughts changing as she observed Sylas regain clarity in his eyes.

Sylas’ actions didn’t stop, but he corrected himself, suppressed a sense of self he didn’t like—almost like he was forging his self onto the path he wanted rather than the one the True Pride Seed was trying to carve out.

And yet, instead of being angry, the True Pride Seed didn’t even resist. Like an obedient puppet, it lapped up his every bit of attention, loving everything Sylas did and actually growing... stronger as he did so.

’What...?’

The little girl didn’t understand at all.
She had seen so much, but this just didn’t make any sense to her. It was almost like the True Pride Seed had purposely shown Sylas a flaw in himself so that he could fix it—when in the hands of anyone else, it should be looking for a chance to pounce and consume its host.

’No, it’s not like that at all. It is trying to consume him, it’s just that... he makes it look so easy...’

Sylas didn’t feel guilt over sacrificing two of his Contracts. But what he wouldn’t allow himself to feel was satisfaction.

All things considered, the Glasirith and the Bone-Tailed Lizard had fought by his side and had been part—albeit a very small part—of why he could stand here today.

No, he should give them more credit than that.

The Glasirith’s existence had allowed him to feel out the Path of Glass far more clearly than he would have otherwise been able to on his own.

The Bone-Tailed Lizard had been his trump card against the Dogons and a huge part of why their bone manipulation abilities hadn’t been able to just kill him from afar.

They had been cogs to a very well-oiled machine at one point. It was just that... they were no longer of use to him, and he carried none of the same sentimental feelings for them that he had for Gogo, and to a far lesser extent, Nosphaleen.

All things considered, they were infants—once hatched to him, believing that he would protect them and care for them. The Glasirith’s personality wasn’t nearly as warm as the Bone-Tailed Lizard’s, but Sylas could read its thoughts just as easily.

They both saw him as kin, and neither resisted his intentions not just because they couldn’t under the influence of his Beast Totem, but also because they trusted him.

Feeling satisfaction at their deaths—as necessary as he felt they were—wouldn’t be him reflecting the sort of person he wanted to be. And since he didn’t like it, he did the same thing he always did when he sensed parts of himself he didn’t like.

He pruned it, chopping it away and burning it to ashes. He saw it as a weakness, so he suffocated it and choked it until it was buried into shadow it would never rise up again from.

When his mind regained its clarity, and he felt the resistance of the world, his True Pride Seed had grown strong enough once more to rise up and crush everything in its path again.

The location he stood in and the outside world seemed separated by a barrier.

There was a flash that came from the Scorned Wraps, and the senses of the system were dulled.