Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1643 A Single Strike

Amende’s movements were too fast. A fist drove into Sylas’ gut, the Scorpion Warlord Armor already showing signs of complete collapse after a single strike.

There was nothing fancy about the action-it was complete and utter rampaging fury, a wild attack that moved so fast it looked as though Amende was using his arm like a lever and a whip all in one, all the torque and power of his shoulder erupting in a single, lengthened attack.

He only landed a single punch, and yet the devastation felt like a dozen stacked atop one another, the air exploding from Sylas’ back making it feel as though the fist had gone right through his torso-as though he was hardly there at all, as though the target was something behind him rather than himself as a person.

Sylas hacked up blood as though he was pushing out his heart from his throat, his inner organs shredding apart and nearly spilling out in a fine mesh of wild violence.

And yet, this strike that should have been powerful enough to shatter him to pieces didn’t. In fact, he didn’t even fly into the distance.

Amende had already been preparing a step as though he was going to go after Sylas, getting to the location the latter would fall to before even he did.

But he was wrong to.

Sylas’ claw clamped down from above, his expression hardly changing at all as his body was shredded from the inside out.

His shattered armor reformed in a flashing instant—so fast there was hardly a delay at all, even under the presence of a Will as powerful as Amende’s own.

Taking advantage of the half-completed step forward Amende was trying to take, Sylas took his own step forward, hopping a heel behind Amende’s Achilles and then rapidly stepping back.

Sylas pushed his control on Amende’s arm as his leg pulled back, throwing the latter completely off balance.

Blaring warning signs of danger shook Amende awake from his shock. He immediately used his telekinesis in an attempt to recover and pull himself back up, not realizing that Sylas had been feinting a throw all the while, knowing all too well that Amende’s Luck would warn him of the Scorned Wraps.

BOOM.

Sylas drove a fist right into Amende’s face, the momentum the latter was using to rise back up meeting the former’s downward stroke in a chaotic symphony.

The shattering of Sylas’ own bones echoed through the air, but one would have never thought this was the case by the expression on his face.

Cold, calculating—an almost mad focus as veins popped across his handsome features.

He put every bit of physical and telekinetic strength he had behind the attack, driving down and torquing his hips.

BOOM.

Amende’s back slammed into the waters below, hitting the shallow shores so fast it was like he hadn’t hit water at all.

His teeth cracked, his nose slanted and broke on impact, his jaw sliding out of place.

Blood spurted from his face and the world spun into a daze around him.

The violence of his collision with the shores was so great all of the water evaporated in an instant-not even forming a geyser-as the land for miles collapsed.

Sylas stood to his full height, looming over Amende and the crater he had just formed. He hovered in the air as though it was solid ground.

Down below, Amende’s eyes were open wide in a daze. Setting aside his crooked nose and bleeding mouth, even the crack running along his jaw, he was still in complete shock.

He couldn’t fathom an understanding of what had just happened.

He was just fine. He wasn’t even close to death. He had fought a Primus Imperium of a much stronger Sector, and of his own Tier, for days at a time. He had suffered much worse, and his vitality was the strong suit of his Race.

But he had never experienced something like this.

BADUM.

Amende’s heart seemed to react before he did. Sylas’ heartbeat sounded like thunder to his own ears, but Amende’s was like a crack of lightning across the skies they all stood under.

Robareda frowned when she saw this. With a signal of her hand, her group began to retreat. She wasn’t going to get caught up in this.

However, when she looked at Sylas this time, there was a slight flicker of fear in her eyes.

Monster.

An F-tier should have no business doing that to Amende.

ROAR.

The call of what could only be called a wild beast peeled across the skies. Sylas wasn’t even close, but his eardrums burst on impact of the sound, space around it shattering and fragmenting.

Even then, Sylas didn’t move, his eyes flashing.

Amende’s attempt to summon his armor was shredded to pieces, his Runes falling on deaf ears and blind eyes. Yet, that didn’t slow his rampage at all.

He slammed his fists into the ground and launched himself into the air, a vaguely humanoid creature with black fur and even blacker scales appearing as though a cross between a dragon and an ape.

Sylas vanished as Amende smashed his fists down. They collided with the air as though it was solid steel, reality bending and warping around it.

The cracks in space paused for just the slightest moment before they ripped through the ground beneath, eviscerating whatever remained of the body of water.

Violent and rampaging madness was all he seemed to know. In a flash, he had already disappeared and appeared again, so fast he appeared behind Sylas before he could seem to react.

Sylas, though, didn’t seem to notice, appearing in the wave of demons. He reached forward with a palm and slapped against the Demon’s chest with practiced movements.

Then he vanished as Amende slammed down.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The Demon suddenly exploded, a chain reaction erupting across the air and enveloping Amende within.

But this only lasted for the briefest of instances before the draconic ape leapt out from the inferno, appearing right above Sylas.