Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1275: Tiere

Tiere froze, her eyes widening.

Sylas stood there in a full Scorpion Warlord Armor, crafted in the mere blink of an eye.

Chi. Chi. Chi.

Sparks flew as his claws clamped down on the scythe, slowing its momentum until he flipped once with it.

BANG!

Sylas landed on the ground, slamming the blade into the earth beneath him and leaving it embedded deep and buried.

Taking a breath, Sylas cracked his neck, his sunglasses shattering beneath bolts of sparking emerald. He took a step forward, his body lowering.

But then he suddenly disappeared into the earth, the scythe coming with him.

Tiere snapped back to attention immediately. She could completely form the First Layer armor. But the Second and Third were beyond her. However, the reason she had only formed the helm was that she physically couldn’t cast that fast.

Sylas had somehow done it in the blink of an eye and between an imposing action by his Will at that.

What kind of monster was he?

But before she could think about this further, she forced herself to focus. Her intent trained on the second scythe she could sense beneath the ground.

Sylas was trying to use her own weapon against her, but this was the most foolish thing he could do. He might have shattered her Will, but she had other methods of—.

BANG!

The scythe suddenly appeared to her side, but she had already turned toward it. Rather than block, she sidestepped, swinging down toward the ground with all the might she could muster.

BOOM!

The ground erupted into a rain of shattered steel and blooming earth.

But she hit nothing at all.

Her eyes widened, but a fist had already hit her back. The pain shot through her like sparks of lightning itself, but her body was sturdy. Amongst all the Beast Warlords, the Rhino probably had the greatest defenses.

While the Scorpion Warlord Armor was able to disperse damage, the Rhino practically directly nullified it. It didn’t need such petty tricks.

She took a heavy step forward, almost losing her balance, but that didn’t stop her from swinging her scythe back in a wild arc.

She didn’t even get halfway through it.

Sylas’ tail almost carelessly flickered against it, ducking slightly at the same time and sending the wild, uncontrolled strike over his head. He pivoted to her side, slamming out a fist against her liver.

She stumbled again, another bout of pain wracking her body, but Sylas shifted once more.

One shift and one attack seamlessly flowed into the next, a series of fists, kicks, elbows, and even knees raining down on Tiere in an avalanche of almost unconscious blows.

When the battle began, Sylas seemed like a mage completely incapable of close combat. And all of a sudden, he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and on his limbs themselves, fluidly moving in and out of attack and defensive postures as though he could see the future.

And that was because he practically could.

He was probably a full three steps slower than Tiere, and even more steps weaker in physical strength, but it didn’t matter in the slightest. He felt through the echoes in the Mesh of Reality before she could, his Chrono senses tingling as one subtle Time Rune after another flickered with life and vitality.

In such an uncontrolled state, she was even easier to reach.

Crack. Crack.

Her armor was beginning to give way, but Sylas didn’t show the slightest intent of stopping.

He struck a forearm out at the crook of her elbow, stopping yet another scythe swing far more directly than he had until now. The blow sent a shuddering might through his body that almost knocked him off of his feet, but he managed to weather it, his Scorpion Warlord Armor flickering as the blow was dispersed through his whole body.

Stomping a foot to stop the swaying momentum to the side, he drove all the torque of his elbow right up and at her chin.

Because of their height difference, it was even easier than usual to snap her jaw in just the right way. However, it was much harder to get the same leverage and momentum that he usually did because of the upward swing.

Her head tore to the side, but it wasn’t enough to truly rattle her. Even now, Tiere managed to retain a shred of her control, a minuscule amount of her autonomy, and it was the only thing keeping her alive right now.

She was waiting, hoping for a chance to turn the situation around.

It wouldn’t come.

Chi.

Tiere’s eyes widened as her Achilles was suddenly cut. Her own scythe, abandoned and forgotten, suddenly ripped through it at the most inopportune time.

She fell to a knee, only to suffer exactly that right up and through her chin.

Her head snapped back and the world spun as her Rhino helm finally shattered to pieces.

”If you kill her, it will be a problem.”

The voice wasn’t demanding anything, but instead seemed to be a friendly reminder. It was one thing for an outsider looking to join the Sanctum to kill a prospective disciple. But... one prospective disciple killing another prospective disciple was almost like a direct head-to-head challenge between the Scorpion Warlord and the Rhino Warlord.

”It’s too bad she tried to kill me first, then. Isn’t it?” Sylas said calmly.

Usually, he wouldn’t even bother to explain himself. However, the person who spoke was that man radiating a big cat aura.

Sylas was arrogant, but his ability to read social cues wasn’t stunted. He knew a man trying to make a friend when he saw it, and getting on their ride’s bad side—especially when there were pirates to consider—wasn’t exactly a smart thing to do.

So, he spoke. And as he did so, his movements never stopped for even a moment.

His Scorpion Tail flashed, a perfect, 100-Foundation Rune sparking with life. For a moment, it looked like a pincer formed of pure lightning.

Chi.

It pierced right into Tiere’s mouth and down her throat.

Her body shuddered before it was ripped apart, the poison deconstructing her Will first, and then tearing into every other aspect of what made her, ”her.”

The C-tier had tried to rush forward. Unfortunately for her, she was very right about Old Brama.