Genetic Ascension

[Quicktime Event Cleared]

[Enemy of Earth - Completed] [Winner: Sylas Grimblade] [Top Dog Reward Received]

[Against All Odds Reward Received]

[Merit Reward Received]

[Quicktime Event Cleared]

[Fork in the Road has become a single path. You cannot harm Vesta Fembroise's life for <30> days]

[Merit Reward Received] .c

Sylas was taken aback.

He had been almost certain that the system wouldn't give him such a good deal. He hadn't been able to use the Madness Key to ask questions while he was frozen in time like that, but he was quite confident in his assessment.

Sylas exhaled a breath, realizing that maybe he had been in such a wound-up state of mind that his base assumption had just been to prepare for the worst, but in the end, the system hadn't decided to screw him over in the worst possible way.

Still, there were still several other issues with this problem, like how he was going to get the weak Vesta out of here, and that problem reared its ugly head immediately.

Vesta's Aether skin was already rapidly deteriorating. In another few seconds, she would probably be charred to ash by the heat in the surroundings.

It couldn't be forgotten that they were in an active volcano, and since the last time Sylas had come to this place, the heat was even more potent as Earth matured. It was just that his defenses right now were insane.

Because he wore the Scorpion Warlord Armor, his base Defense not including his Constitution was 1500. That meant that someone needed an Attack of at least that much before they could even do Damage to him.

But the best part was that his Scorpion Warlord Armor, after reaching Breath Mastery, so long as the Runes weren't entirely destroyed, could self-replenish with Mature Aether.

Because of all of that, Sylas hadn't thought about his Defense a single time since he entered this volcano, while by comparison Vesta had previously been protected by the system's barrier which replenished faster than the magma could harm it.

But now, Vesta was relying on nothing more than her own strength to protect herself.

It seemed possible to just let her die here like this, but the moment Sylas had this thought, he shook his head. Much like the Scorned Wraps could read his intention, so too could the system.

Functionally, if he could act to save her, within the next 30 days, he was obligated to do so.

'Her Will is too weak to sign a System Contract.' Sylas said with a shake of his head. 'We will have to do this the old-fashioned way.'

Professor Fembroise had squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for death. But it didn't come.

For a moment, she wondered if it had all happened so quickly that she was already dead and just didn't know it.

But then she heard a rip.

Her Aether skin shattered and her clothing was peeled off of her. Horror filled her mind as her eyes snapped open. Her own instincts kicked in as she began to scratch and claw, but to her horror, she couldn't even make it through Sylas' defenses. Every attempt just hurt her small hands and narrow wrists all the more.

Tears streaked down her face, Sylas' cold gaze making her shudder from the very depths of her soul. However, not a single one of her reactions seemed to change Sylas' movements at all. Without her Aether skin, the heat already began to leave severe burns on the Professor's body. She shrieked out in horror as the last bit of her clothing was peeled away and she was left with nothing.

Then, as he had done several times before, Sylas formed a Glass dagger and drove it right through Vesta's hip.

This sort of injury was too devastating to deal with in short order, and it likewise had a somewhat low morality rate. It was the perfect sort to use to control someone.

But what Sylas did next was unexpected.

He tossed the Professor up and the Basilisk King swallowed her.

Vesta's shrieks filled the air before they were sealed away by a clamp of the Basilisk King's mouth.

This was the only method Sylas could think of. Vesta was too weak, and he couldn't spare the Aether to try to protect her, nor was he sure of how to do so. Casting Aether skin on himself was simple enough, but giving a continuous stream of Aether to a third party sounded like a nightmare.

But like this, she could rely on the Basilisk King's ridiculous Constitution to survive. Sylas gave his beast construct a once-over and shook his head. Because he had been so focused on the task earlier, the Beast Totem had faded away. Though the Basilisk King's Constitution was high, it wasn't high enough to sit above lava for so long and remain unbothered without the support of Sylas' buff.

Because of that, the Basilisk King had burned through what looked like 80% of its Aether reserves in a short time.

'I guess this is the only way we're going to survive...'

Sylas' eyes flashed and the Beast Totem appeared once more. He felt a pang in his head as his lacking Wisdom began to rear its ugly head again, but he took deep breaths, circulating in full

Force.

With his focused attention, Sylas found his mind recovering much faster than before and the pain slowly receded.

Over 10 minutes later, he opened his eyes.

Now that the Quicktime Event was over, he could escape.

The obvious choice was to run into this volcanic Territory, but Sylas couldn't do this for

Several reasons.

For one, he didn't know where this place was. It wasn't among the Portal maps that the Grimblades had given him. He couldn't find himself stranded in another country so soon after he had just returned. Castle Main's situation was perilous and they needed him. Second... he couldn't allow the Snail Queen to keep living when it had grown so much since the last time he had seen it. Not when it had an Overlord Quest for his head. Something also told Sylas that this Overlord Quest was a huge deal. If he was careless, who knew if others had abilities like his Madness Key to "steal Destiny." At that point, would something even more dangerous than the Snail Queen be coming after him?

No. He needed to end these matters today.

But first, he would need to disappear, and all of this trouble the magma had just given him likewise gave him the best way to do so.

"Let's go." Sylas said.

With a stomp of his foot, he pierced through the sea of red and gold beneath his feet, diving

Into the magma.

When everyone above thought that he had already vanished or escaped into the Territory, he would return when they least expected it, from the location they least expected.

And while he was doing it... he wouldn't mind gathering up large amounts of what was now

The most valuable ore on Earth.

As much Metarock as they had managed to gather in the underground space, Sylas' rudimentary geomancer knowledge, gained from the booklet, told him that there was most definitely far more hidden in locations others couldn't easily get to.

But he could.