Genetic Ascension

The battlefield was as silent as it could be. People still died, blood was still spilled, and yet there was a heaviness on the hearts of the invaders that hadn’t been there before, joy in the hearts of the defenders they never thought they could have felt for Sylas.

Sylas was the root of all their problems, the core of why they were even fighting this battle in the first place, and yet none of it seemed to matter right now.

Whether humans or any other humanoid, they were simple creatures. Maybe that was why something like Stockholm syndrome existed in the first place.

But in this case, they likely deep down knew that Sylas hadn’t done anything he had purely to target them. He had done what he needed to in order to survive.

And now that he was standing on their side…

The laughter of the 713th Ape Emperor rocked the skies.

“If you laugh too much Rikkon you will make me laugh, and that would be very unladylike of me.” The 713th Serpent Emperor called from across the clouds.

“Then laugh! While you’re at it, do a sexy little dance for me and I might really die of pleasure!”

“I will let that go just this one time.”

The 713th Serpent Emperor’s laughter chimed in with the 713th Ape Emperor’s.

It had been a very long time since they had felt this good.

Did the death of a Royal Blue Troll—and several at that—mean they were in deeper trouble than before…

Maybe.

Or maybe they should have realized that they were already screwed. At this point, if they just kept taking one step back after another, how much good would that possibly do?

Who would believe that none of this had been their intention? Who would care that they would take it all back if they could?

Not a single soul would give a damn.

In that case, they should kill and kill, and then kill some more until they were satiated, until no one dared to attack them anymore, until they were worthy of their Ancestors’ expectations.

Maybe Sylas Grimblade was just a reminder to them of what it truly meant to embody the Will of a Beast Emperor.

They had long forgotten where the origin of their names came from. King Beasts were the strongest beasts out there. They had originally been named to surpass them, to take a step beyond what King Beasts were, strip them of their strength, and become the Emperor that ruled over Kings.

Every cycle, they aimed to get just a little bit closer to that, just a little bit better, until the day they could unearth the secrets their Ancestors left for them.

But in doing the “smart” thing, they had become complacent in letting things move forward by inches every generation, passing the baton to the next in hopes they would move it along just a little bit more.

When was the last time one of their own had demanded better of them? When was the last time they thought they could truly accomplish the impossible in their lifetimes alone?

Never.

They had simply never had such thoughts.

But some others had…

Maldrith was one…

The Traitorous Scorpion from the past was the other…

Sylas… he was the third.

Maybe it was time they shed their old ways.

Their gazes landed on Sylas. It was probably endlessly foolish of them, and maybe this was Sylas’ plan from the very beginning.

But they couldn’t help but see him as one of their own.

The only one of the four main 713th Emperors who didn’t react this way was the Lion Emperor. Somehow, he felt like something was being stripped of him the more the Sanctum looked toward Sylas for guidance.

…

Sylas didn’t interrupt the joy of the Emperors. In fact, it was precisely what he wanted.

However, what he did know was that this battle was far from over. He had told Yamero to hold out for three days for a reason.

Amongst those Royal Blue Trolls, there hadn’t been a single Cryst Emperor. Sylas already knew that those were the real geniuses of the Seeing Eye Guild. Though, they were incredibly rare.

In the C-tier, there were probably only two or three. But any one of them would be a problem only a step or two lower than Salivar had been.

And that was only assuming they didn’t have an ability as broken as Tri Classes.

There were also two other Races that formed the pillars of the Seeing Eye Guild. They might be far harder to deal with.

Ultimately, the power of the Royal Blue Trolls boiled down to super strength. For Sylas, those sorts of abilities were the easiest to deal with.

And there was another problem…

‘If the Seeing Eye Guild has appeared this early, there’s an even bigger threat out there. I don’t see any sign of the Thryskai just yet, and the Angels should want my head no less.’

Announcing himself did two things. It would force The Sanctum to acknowledge him, but it would probably put them in even more danger than before.

He wasn’t as invincible now that he wasn’t in his own Progenitor Realm.

Sylas thought silently to himself as he watched his clones complete their massacre. The number they were sending in with every disruption to the formation simply couldn’t keep up with his speed of slaughter anymore.

And after the deaths of the Royal Blue Trolls, the truly dangerous talents were still in hiding. They knew even a C-tier couldn’t easily take his head, and they were more than willing to let their cannon fodder drain him of his strength.

‘Sitting back and letting them come to me won’t be good enough. I need to take pre-emptive action.’

Sylas’ gaze sharpened.

“Yamero.” Sylas spoke at a normal volume. He knew Yamero would hear him. “Get me every D-tier Spirit Beast Lineage there is in The Sanctum.”

Sylas didn’t have the time to ask for permission. He would steal them.

The Sanctum’s Army wasn’t good enough. If he was going to improve them, he might as well do it now.