Genetic Ascension

The number of people kept steadily growing to the point that even Alex was in shock.

He was sure that these people were decoys, but the fact that there were so many of them was a true shock. The First Race truly went all out even with their decoys. It was impressive that they had created so very many of them.

It was to the point that it almost made him second-guess himself. Was this really the decoy?

Despite his doubts, Sylas was sure that he was correct. He had already deduced before that the First Race had slowly recreated the existence of Humans on Earth, starting from the Great Apes and working their way back up to them.

By that logic, it would seem that maybe these weren’t the decoys. But Sylas was sure that the purpose of the First Race was to allow a new Race to bloom, not necessarily to perfectly copy the versions of themselves they had once been so very long ago.

In the midst of this ever-growing group of people, there were women and children, there were burly and frail men, there was the elderly, the injured, and the very clearly confused.

Some of them were even in compromising positions and had to hurry to cover themselves, one man borrowing a sweater from someone beside him as shampoo dripped down his hair and stung his eyes. Clearly, he had been mid-shower.

Regardless of the positions of these people, Sylas was sure about one thing. They were definitely all just like Professor Fembroise, every single one of the nearly 10,000 of them.

What was interesting about the sheer number, though, was the fact that it would have been far higher if not for all the deaths pre-summoning. These people were definitely the contingency plan of the contingency plan.

If not for how much of Earth’s population had been wiped out, there would have probably been millions of them, each one with an ability to grow exponentially more powerful under a single lucky event.

And yet, not a single one of them was speaking right now.

There was no rowdiness, no questioning, it was like they had all just fallen into complete silence.

At first Alex thought that this was because they had a great deal of respect and fear for Sylas and simply didn’t dare.

But the more he stared at them, the less human-like their reactions became, and the more… whole they felt.

Even Professor Fembroise fell into a trance, all of her previous fear being washed away by something far more hidden and looming.

Sylas’ eyes narrowed and he looked into the skies.

There was absolutely nothing there, and yet it felt like everything was there.

The more he stared into the emptiness, the more it slowly formed until it solidified in his mind’s eye as a looming black mountain.

‘I triggered something unexpected.’

Maybe he should have already guessed that this would happen. If this was a decoy of the First Race, what would one expect to happen if every single one of them, each one with a Will that was not their own silently hidden away inside of them, was gathered in a single place?

“You should probably step back.” Sylas said calmly.

Alex had already started to move before Sylas even finished the first word. He wanted no part of this.

Maybe he was a little clever, but it was hard to grow stronger when Sylas was constantly keeping him down. Right now, his power was pitiful and any Will that could make Sylas of all people pale and nearly cough blood was a Will he wanted exactly nothing to do with.

Professor Fembroise disappeared from where she stood and appeared in the large group of people, her eyes vacant.

And then, as though they were all trapped in the same horror movie, they began to hum.

Cassarae, Isolde, and an Elara who was rubbing both her butt cheeks with a downcast expression came out from the City Lord Mansion a ways away.

“Activate the city’s formation.” Sylas said. “This won’t be good.”

Sylas regretted summoning them all here thinking that would be the end of it. But he had already decided what felt like mere moments ago that any mistakes he made would just have to be erased by a better decision.

The only way forward on his path was one step after another. Not a single soul was going to stop him, not even the First Race of Earth who probably thought they were dealing with an enemy that was not only powerful but clever.

Sylas took a step forward and vanished, appearing outside of the city as Cassarae obliged and put the protections up.

The moment he did, the weight of the black mountain seemed to crash into him again. This time, he really did cough up a mouthful of blood, almost falling to a knee.

An emerald gold wind wrapped around Sylas, the image of a grim reaper wielding a scythe appearing to his back as though to project the Grimblade Legendary Royal Hero Line against the Ancestry of the First Human Race.

The pressure only seemed to increase after that, but Sylas stood tall and firm, his pale expression not causing his actual face to change in the slightest. It was like he could have stood there for an eternity if he had to.

And then he began to walk forward toward the sea of people, his steps slow, but deliberate and controlled. There was no fear on his face, but there was no reaction from the sea of people either.

Just when it seemed like Sylas would plow right through them all, the mountain of black solidified and Sylas stepped onto heavy earth instead. It felt like no amount of strength he could ever use or ever have could put even a scratch into its surface. And yet, it was a projection solidified by Will alone… Just how powerful had the First Race been in order to accomplish something like this? What level did they reach?

“You are weak.”

The voice echoed in Sylas’ ears with a booming cadence.