Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1989: Deal With

”Stop looking at me, slut.” Keyesen said coldly, his words dripping with venom.

Her expectations had been like a weight on his shoulders, pressing down on him and only making everything worse. He didnʼt see a supportive woman, he saw a lap dog who didnʼt know her place.

Who was she to expect things of him? She was just a convenient sleeve for him to put his arm around. She was pretty and she was easy, that was the extent of her use.

Many of the disciples had been too focused on the changes in their own bodies to truly grasp what was happening. The slap that rang out in the silence made them look over, but aside from frowning, no one did anything.

Even Bellaʼs cousin did nothing at all. She looked over with an expression that was cold as ice, met Bellaʼs gaze, and then looked away. As far as Mesalene was concerned, she didnʼt want to be associated with her cousin at all. Bella had humiliated them more than enough.

Bella, though, was still in too great a state of shock to react. She just held her cheek in silence, staring into empty space. She didnʼt even seem to have the energy to look up at Keyesen.

”Fucking bitch.” Keyesen vented the last of the frustration in his heart as though breathing it out in a mouthful of fire.

After calming himself down, he perceived that things should still be fine. His feeling that he was close wasnʼt an illusion, and the emerald lightning was definitely helping a great deal.

He felt that in just another day at most, he should still cross that threshold. At that point, the slight gazes he received today would be meaningless.

This wouldnʼt be the first time he had dealt with such a thing. Back when he was a child and foolishly took in his Scorpion Emperor Gene too early, he had experienced this as well.

People only respected power and strength. They didnʼt have any room for sympathy, and they never cared about him when the time was right to do so, so why the hell should he care about them?

At that moment, the Ancestors that had surrounded the Mancer Scape were waking up one after another and intimately experiencing the changes within them as well.

Amongst them, Maldrith was certainly one. Despite having left behind the Lion Lineage, his senses toward it were still very strong. His first thought was simple but direct... Who had changed the Lion Lineage and why did it feel like they were now a half-step beneath the Whale, Serpent, and Ape? What had happened while he was in deep meditation?

Unlike Keyesen, Maldrith was able to see the situation above instantly, his gaze landing on Sylas who wasnʼt even paying much attention to him at all.

Seemingly sensing the gaze, Sylas swept a look over toward Maldrith. The cold indifference was piercing in a way that Maldrith had never experienced before. Somehow, he felt so very small, almost like Sylas had every right to look down on him.

But as quickly as Sylas looked at him, he lost interest just as quickly, almost like Maldrith was beneath his notice.

Sylas most definitely wasnʼt paying much attention to Keyesen either. Instead, his thoughts had turned elsewhere.

Now that the disciples were out, and part of his promise had been fulfilled, there were other matters to handle.

”I assume there wonʼt be any problems with me dealing with the Scorpion Lineage as I please?” the words were calm, and seemed to be phrased like a question, but any one of them was smart enough to tell that Sylas wasnʼt asking at all.

He was demanding.

Every one of the Emperors couldnʼt help but frown.

They werenʼt fools. They understood the sort of talent that Sylas was. But by the same token, it was just as obvious to them that Sylas viewed them as little more than a tool to play with in his climb to the top.

Sometimes, having a talent that was too great under your umbrella when you didnʼt have the Karma nor the power to keep them restrained was like inviting death unto yourself.

How many enemies did Sylas have now? How many more would he make? How many times would he put them in the line of fire until he decided it was worthwhile to sacrifice them?

On the one hand, the Scorpion Lineage had betrayed them and deserved death.

But on the other, allowing Sylas to handle the punishment was almost like handing over the reins of their organization to an outsider. Even if that outsider was a complete anomaly, it just couldnʼt be so easy to allow someone else to overtake their power like this.

Sylas nodded following the lack of reply as though this was answer enough for him.

”In that case, Iʼll be taking what I want without your permission. Fanelei.”

Faneleiʼs gaze flickered. ”Yes?”

”Shatter the Construct.”

”STOP!” Eliwine, the Scorpion Ancestor, had no choice but to speak. However, his words werenʼt going to be what slowed Faneleiʼs palm down. ”RIKKON! MALREH! Are you all really going to allow a child to dictate things in the organization our Ancestors built?!”

The booming voice of the Scorpion Ancestor finally caught the attention of the disciples below, and their eyes widened in shock as they saw the chains rattling against the body of the Scorpion Ancestral Spirit.

Seeing that the 713th Cycle Emperors were still lagging in their response, Eliwine turned his attention to the Ancestors below.

Maldrithʼs frown deepened to the greatest extent it had. The Ancestors had been too focused, so their context for what was going on was highly limited.

All they could see now was that Fanelei, an outsider that only Maldrith was familiar with, was attacking one of their own at the behest of yet another outsider.

Keyesen was stunned into silence, but Maldrith acted first.

He had already let this matter slip away once, and he disliked Sylas enough that he didnʼt care to know the full story right now though he was sure that it was far more complex than he knew.

All he cared to do was attack and to do so directly.

Golden winds billowed around him.