Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1888: Poked and Prodded

Sylasʼ pupils constricted into pinholes. He couldnʼt understand how this construct was talking, at least not right away.

Ultimately, the answer could only really be one thing...

Will.

When he used Champion Will, that gaze had sensed him—a gaze he still didnʼt understand to this day.

But when he had formed his Lineage as it currently was, the Monkey King had also appeared. He had seen its smile, its grin.

This time, however, Sylas wasnʼt just learning from it; he was actively taking from it.

The Emperor Sanctum had a representation of the Monkey King in their halls now because of Sylas. Now, Sylas wasnʼt just learning from the Monkey King-he was taking from its lineage, its dynasty, to strengthen something else for his own goals.

That wasnʼt something you could just gloss over as easily as before.

And now, this Mirror Dungeon was doing so again. Taking from the Monkey King to strengthen itself.

If a fly kept buzzing at your face, wouldnʼt you come and smash it to nothingness?

There was just one thing that Sylas didnʼt understand...

How was the Monkey King alive at all?

The Monkey King wasnʼt just some random thing Sylas had conjured up. It was a creature that once represented the Sin of Pride. Or... was it the Virtue of Pride?

However, due to some unknown history, the original creatures had become distorted.

Still, as far as Sylas knew, the representation of Pride was still the Monkey to this day. It had just lost a lot of its original meaning.

The ones that had changed were the Rat, which had taken the place of the Scorpion as Greed, and the Boar, which had taken the place of the Hippo as Wrath.

It most definitely wasnʼt a coincidence to Sylas that these two creatures also happened to be the only two Official Madness Disciples.

Though Sylas had met a Sloth and a Serpent, they had only been one of many. While it was possible they were frontrunners, there could very well be much more powerful versions of them.

Even so, as Fanelei had told him in the past, the only True Madness Disciples were the Rat and the Boar. Greed and Wrath.

Now, somehow, the manifestation of a creature that should have not only been dead long ago, but had been distorted beyond measure, had actually appeared here. What sense did that make?

ʼThis level of Will... it transcends time... it transcends space... it transcends both life and death...ʼ

Sylas slowly realized what he was looking at here.

This was no normal existence.

To the Monkey Kingʼs Will, there was no separation of life and death. In fact, this Will here might very well be being projected from a version of the Monkey King that was still alive. Maybe in the past, maybe in a completely different timeline.

The answer itself didnʼt matter.

What did matter was that this was no normal Gold Dungeon anymore.

”No words? Pity, pity, pity.” The cloud beneath the Monkey Kingʼs feet flipped upside down, but he hung from it as easily as if it were flat ground. His staff remained like a pillar to the skies, crossing his arms as though he were in deep contemplation. ”Is this where the Pride Lineage has fallen to? You barely have any hair on your chest. Nonsense. And whatʼs this being protected by a woman nonsense?”

Nosphaleenʼs eyes flashed with warning, the trident in her hands pulsing with hidden might.

”Ai, feisty. I think she likes you.” The Monkey King flipped again, leaving his cloud in the air until he landed on the ground, kicking out a foot at the enormous pillar that was his staff now.

It moved with a speed that belied its size, flipping through the air and shrinking at the same time until it landed spinning in his hands.

Then, he pointed it toward Sylas.

”Well, if youʼre not going to talk, then thereʼs not much more need for you to exist, right? I have Gods to slay, women to fuck, food to eat, babies to have. I think at least three of my wives are in labor right now. No time, no time.”

The Monkey King tossed his staff up and then clapped his hands.

”Alright, donʼt blink.”

In a flash, he disappeared, appearing behind Nosphaleen and right in front of Sylas, a savage grin on his face that painted blood and menace. His breath didnʼt smell like death and decay, but somehow Sylas could see all the screaming spirits of the creatures and heroes he had killed in his lifetime.

”Bye-bye,” the Monkey King said, his voice no longer nearly as cheerful despite his word choice being exactly that.

His rod spun, aiming for Sylasʼ head.

Death.

It wasnʼt just a thought; it was a word spelled into the depths of space.

Inwardly, Sylas viewed it happen, time slowing. He could barely hear Gogoʼs roar and Nosphaleenʼs scream of rage. They were strong and fast, but clearly not nearly fast enough.

But Sylas felt... provoked.

You could just do this? Snuff out competition in the future because they pissed you off this much? How far beyond Infinite Will was this?

He wasnʼt able to display his Infinite Will to its fullest potential, and his Will hadnʼt improved in ages because of it. What was there to improve? He had already reached a level more A-tiers in the Mortal Realm werenʼt even at.

And yet even that wasnʼt good enough to hold a candle to the Monkey King.

Just a sliver of its Will, projected forward through who knew how many eras of chaos, was toying with him.

How many times was he going to be provoked? How many times could a man be poked and prodded?

Seeing Sylasʼ eyes, the Monkey Kingʼs grin grew wider, his howling laughter filling the skies again and causing Sylasʼ orifices to burst with more blood.

Gogo and Nosphaleen were directly dismissed. This face was one Sylas wanted to feel his own knuckles on.

A Glassvolt Throne crackled in the skies.