Genetic Ascension

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SSS! SSS! SSS!

The kunai zipped through the air, piercing through the skulls of the hounds in quick succession.

Sylas had already rushed forward across the magma, leaving a trail of heavy stomps in his wake as he leapt into the air again and again, minimizing his contact with the crimson liquid.

At that moment, Sylas' hair stood on end. He felt a powerful sense wash over him, a sense more powerful than anything he had ever sensed before. He was absolutely certain that it was the snail.

A pressure pressed against his mind, but it instantly shattered, unable to rattle his Will.

The snail reeled back slightly, disoriented. At the same time, the beasts that were under its control seemed to have broken free for a moment.

Sylas didn't expect this to happen, but that didn't stop him from capitalizing.

His kunai were like death scythes streaking through the air. 153 Physical wasn't something the majority here could withstand. They were too fast, too flexible, too strong. He didn't even have to use a drop of Aether.

In just a handful of seconds, Sylas had entered the most dangerous region, crossing by where the snail was, and likewise the largest concentration of beasts.

The snail had obviously kept most of its puppet beasts around itself, not wanting to risk being harmed. It was odd given its overwhelming stats, but maybe it was feigning weakness, assuming that most didn't have high enough Mental to see them. Given its high Wisdom, it was certainly intelligent enough to make deductions like this.

Unfortunately for Sylas, it was at precisely this moment that the snail broke free of the state of backlash it had been in. And this time, Sylas seemed to have its full attention.

Sylas' jaw set.

Before the snail could do anything, he activated <Maddened Enlightenment> and <Madness Control> at the same time. Then, he cast <Astral Bind>.

With the boost of Madness, the average of his Will and Charisma was 611, while the average for the snail was only a little over 200. If things went right, he would be able to freeze it for practically as long as he wanted.

But his hopes were low.

And soon he was proved correct.

The Skill was broken by the snail instantly, and it only bought Sylas a fraction of a second. By then, he was being swarmed from all sides. It felt like the beasts were forming an impenetrable tide.

<Astral Bind> was only an F+ Skill; it almost certainly had an upper limit of Will and Charisma it could handle. At the same time, Sylas' Aether was immature.

This snail was simply on an entirely different level.

Sylas' gaze sharpened, and his kunai flashed again and again. He focused entirely on killing the beasts as swiftly as possible using the most efficient movements.

With the clear visualization his Luck allowed, and the help of <Madness Control>, everything in his twenty-meter vicinity seemed to be under his control.

Unfortunately, not only was the snail outside of this range, it wasn't something he could control whether he wanted to or not.

The antenna of the snail suddenly moved, and a whirlwind of Aether formed between them. It formed a lance that suddenly shattered the air around it, soaring toward Sylas.

Bogdan, Elise, and Petard were taken aback, not just by the power of the attack, but the fact the snail had attacked at all. All this time, they had assumed that it couldn't.

Sylas' appearance had taken a great deal of pressure off of them as the snail turned its attention toward him.

Sylas didn't have time for such casual thoughts. With beasts surrounding him and a sniper taking aim from afar, it could be said that this was the most pressure he had ever been under.

Thankfully, his Wisdom was high enough to split his mind a fifth and sixth direction.

He quickly cast <Solidify> to block. Feeling that it wasn't enough, he cast it again.

His mastery of the Skill had reached the peak the moment he got it. Thanks to that, his casting was near instant and without the slightest delay.

BANG!

The first shield shattered as though it wasn't even there.

The second appeared behind it, but it too was shattered.

BANG!

Sylas' pupils constricted. That was 400 points of damage, and it was still coming.

'There's no time.'

Instant was still relative. He knew the Skill simply wouldn't form again. Would he just have to tank it? It couldn't possibly have much Strength left.

Sylas found himself surprisingly calm. The cool liquid flowing through his brain was like the call of a siren, and though he couldn't see it right now, the snail certainly could… it could see that regal gaze staring right back at it.

The memories of forcing his Will into the force field and shattering it replayed in Sylas' mind, and his telekinesis split into a fourth stream, gripping onto what was left of the lance of Aether and ripping it to shreds.

The government agent trio and the snail all seemed taken aback by this. They had simply never seen such a thing.

But Sylas was even more surprised because he noticed something else.

The Aether was now his.

He used it instantly, converting it into several more <Solidify> casts and forming a line of shields in the direction of the snail.

At the same time, he continued to rip apart the beasts before him.

A hound had its head split in two. A hawk with flaming eyes tried to claw down on Sylas' head, but a single punch shredded its frail body and hollow bones apart. A wolf preparing a fireball found a kunai running right up through the bottom of its jaw, causing the ball to explode in its body before its head ruptured.

Sylas was focused on just one thing the entire time.

Speed.

Speed.

Speed.

He knew he had a little under two minutes left until the Fusion was complete, but he would have preferred not to use it at all. And if he had to expose himself in this way regardless, he wanted it to be in the last leg of his escape.

A rumble echoed at the edge of Sylas' visualization dome.

The snail was getting serious.

Pools of Aether rushed toward it from all directions.

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