Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1982: Ultimate Fusion

Sylas reached out a hand and seemingly grasped at empty air. His fingers felt as though they were gliding through silk, the world feeling far more tangible now than ever before.

He hadnʼt lied. He truly wasnʼt interested in learning about other Seeds... but since such an opportunity had presented itself, there was only one way forward, just one way to look at things, just a single way to take his next step.

To force the Virtue Seed of Lust into the subservience of his Virtue Seed of Pride.

It happened so seamlessly and casually that he hardly spent even a modicum of time on it. He thought it, so it happened.

Sylas didnʼt want his Dao to change... so it just wouldnʼt.

He had been through so much just to understand the various intricate differences between every Sin and Virtue, but the lines blurred between them so very much that it was often easy to mistake one for the other.

So why not take advantage of this?

What Sylas didnʼt expect was just how easy it was to subordinate one Seed to another. Or, maybe... that was just a quirk of Virtue Seeds in general.

It seamlessly slotted itself into his very essence and being, allowing the Virtue Pride Seed to take center stage.

Lust subordinated itself to Pride, a calm sort of balance taking place between the two.

The world shuddered around Sylas.

When his Will had advanced to Demi-Godhood, his Charisma had become so powerful that his senses simply couldnʼt withstand it. In order to survive, he had been forced to make his brain evolve into Demi-God as well to make certain that his body could process all of the information that he was being given.

Compared to that progress, though, the Virtue of Lust felt like it was on another level entirely. By all rights, Sylas could have crumbled and died... But it was so highly gentle.

As subtle and in the background as it was, it still felt so powerful in its abilities.

When Sylas reached out for the world, it bent to his whims like wet tissue paper. But when he pulled back, the world acted as though he wasnʼt there at all.

It wasnʼt just power, it was control of the ultimate level.

But was that truly just the Lust Seed? Or was it the Pride Seedʼs influence on it?

The answer didnʼt matter to Sylas, not right now, not in this very instant. That was because after feeling the power, he had already decided that this would certainly be his path moving forward.

He wouldnʼt chase the other Virtues, but should they come... he would force them under the umbrella of his Pride.

In action, wasnʼt always how it was anyway? His Pride was the greatest of other actions. It was the one that decided how he interacted with all of his other Sins.

Virtues

dictate all

his

What, then, was the difference between those Sins having formed a Seed or not?

None at all.

The situation was much the same, just with far more power than ever before.

His Virtue of Pride would be the guiding light that dictated all else.

And right when he made that decision...

A figure who remained at the helm of Legacy felt the Seed she had relied so heavily on shatter.

Another figure who took the helm of the Petal of the Seeing Throne also felt something within themselves fissure and break apart entirely.

And then there was one last unexpected one, a figure that even Sylas wouldnʼt have guessed at all. This wasnʼt because Sylas knew the figure, it was instead because this figureʼs mere existence was a flashpoint to one of the greatest secrets in the universe.

A Charysm cursed.

Sylas didnʼt feel what was happening across the universe. As powerful as he had grown, his senses had not reached such an exaggerated extent. But he could guess that much the same way his Virtue Pride Seed erased the possibility of any other representation of Pride, so too did his Virtue Lust Seed do the same for the other followers of Lust.

However, maybe for them, they had all the right in the world to be crushed.

Sylas had never even pursued Lust. He had grasped this Virtue Seed for just a single reason only... Because he improved so quickly under the current system that his body had experienced the Virtue Lust more acutely than any other figure in existence currently alive.

To Sylas, the Virtue Lust Seed was a mere byproduct of his success.

One that would place an imprint on the world that would never be forgotten.

Sylas raised a hand and clenched a fist.

Under the power of the Lust Seed, his Rune Mastery—already powerful beneath his overwhelming Intention and Dao-doubled in power once again.

The light of his Dao shone brighter than ever before, and the world was forced to obey.

In an instant, the Serpentes Rune Armor took shape before Sylas. A helm of poisoned canines, a tail that swished through time and space itself, scales that seemed to contain not just reflective colors, but the very essence of the world itself. It hid a myriad of secrets, each one more overwhelming than the last.

But all of these were just facades, changing fixtures that could be tweaked and modified by the user.

That was the Lust aspect. The Virtue of Lust was a matter of Charisma, imposing onto the world what you wanted to see it reflect back at you. This made the Serpentes Rune Armor incredibly flexible and almost illusory in nature.

But underlying that Lust were waves of Gluttony. This aspect struck a beautiful sort of balance.

Lust used coaxing to take what it wanted.

Gluttony used Will to devour what it wanted.

When the two came together, one flexible enough to reflect anything an enemy desired, and the other taking whatever was to be reflected for itself, an odd, reality bending feedback loop was formed... One where the Armor created for itself exactly what it wanted to devour.

The ultimate fusion of Will and Charisma.

Creation itself.