Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1305: A Tale as Old as Time [1800 GT Bonus]

Sylas had been completely surrounded by the aura of a Scorpion—the true, unbridled nature of one—from the moment Gralith began. It was much clearer to him than the attack on his Will Core had been, before one was separate from him while the other was ironically trying to protect him.

The dichotomy of the two, not to mention the sheer strength of the latter, made it far easier for him to grasp what was happening. Sylas was already quite confident in doing it on his own. But doing it before his body gave out… well, that was another matter entirely.

As powerful as the Scorpion Emperor was, it was still less powerful than the incomplete Scorpion Emperor that Gralith seemed to harbor.

However, Gralith didn’t seem to have heard Sylas at all. Even as the Scorpion Tail was restrained by Sylas, pressing back into his body, and the poison was forced into a retreat, Gralith had still taken the eighth step.

His torso exploded.

Sylas’ eyes narrowed, understanding what was happening. Will wasn’t something you could just turn on and off whenever you wanted. Gralith had made these steps his enemy, and as a Scorpion Warlord…

He couldn’t back down.

Without having Gralith tell him the full story, Sylas had already picked up on some of it. There was definitely a great danger involved in trying to complete the Scorpion Warlord Armor the way it should be used.

From what he could see, Gralith had taken a step toward doing that. Unfortunately, Sylas couldn’t even begin to analyze the complexities of the C-tier version of this armor.

His potential at the F-tier might be far beyond Gralith’s own, but as of right now, there was no doubt who between the two of them was the superior Rune Master. So, the best Sylas could do was guess.

But that left him in a troubling situation.

These steps would kill him. Whatever they were, they were far beyond him too. But he also couldn’t just snap Gralith out of it. If it was that easy, it wouldn’t be a C-tier-ingrained Will, now would it?

Would he just have to stand here until Gralith died, waiting to follow him too?

“You awoke.”

The voice spoke again. But this time, there was some true emotion within it.

Surprise.

Shock.

They were as clear as day.

Sylas looked up, his body completely under Gralith’s control as he tried to take another step forward. However, he couldn’t find the source of the voice.

“You really are… you…”

The voice spoke again, its shock even more evident as though it hadn’t believed its senses the first time.

“Impossible. The Emperor Armor can’t be born in this tiny corner of the world.”

“Emperor Armor?” Sylas’ eyes flashed. Suddenly a series of deductions fell into place for Sylas one after another. “… Is that so?”

Sylas looked toward Gralith’s back.

“Stop.”

A bristling aura came from Sylas, but it still didn’t work. Gralith was shaking as he tried to take another step, his eighth having torn a crevice through his torso.

‘Am I wrong? No… I’m not wrong, it’s that…’

Sylas closed his eyes again.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

One after another, shingles of armor slammed into place.

‘Not good enough.’

72%.

“IMPOSSIBLE.”

The voice boomed and Sylas ignored it completely.

He realized that if he wanted this to work, he needed to integrate his Scorpion Warlord Unique Gene first.

No…

His Scorpion Emperor Unique Gene.

But he refused to do that before his armor was perfect.

Unfortunately, despite his breakthrough, his Emperor Armor had actually regressed. That was because he had to break it apart and reform it, getting rid of the weaknesses. It was surprisingly easy with Gralith’s help.

If he tried to form the Scorpion Warlord Armor right now, it would undoubtedly be at 100%. He couldn’t have been more confident in that.

But that was no longer his path. He was taking another, even if that supposedly meant pissing off quite a great deal of people.

It was a tale as old as time—a division between nobles and common people, of Emperors and their subjects. How could an Emperor give his people the same power as himself? Of course, they would have to have a muted version, a kernel of power that acted as both the carrot and the stick…

It would give their subjects power and the chains that bound them at the same time.

Sylas wasn’t one to be chained. He drew the Emperor Armor again.

85%.

He leapt into Spark Mastery in just two bounds.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Gralith was almost flung off the stairs as he took another step. Sylas felt his body shake, blood leaking from his lips. He wasn’t in the best condition to begin with. The poison no longer affected him, but he had still suffered the damage from it—not to mention the fact his heart and lungs were still a crumpled mess right now.

He was only alive due to his powerful Will and nothing else. Any other F-tier would have long died by now.

But rather than diverting his Will to keeping his body alive, he was focusing all of it on building this armor.

He drew it again.

89%.

He clenched his jaw, feeling himself slow down. If he just had a week, or if he could bring out Andromeda, he knew that he could do it. But…

Sylas’ gaze became even more focused. He pulled Temporal Delay as hard as he dared, slowing down his perception of the world and accelerating his speed of thought several times over.

‘Again.’

He couldn’t let Gralith take another step. That last one had almost killed them both. He had to be faster.

91%.

Not good enough.

He had already given up his foundation once before. He refused to integrate the Unique Gene until he brought out the best he had.

His True Pride Seed flared, roaring through his veins.

‘Again.’

92%.

Gralith’s leg was already raising as Sylas shattered the armor once again.

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