Genetic Ascension

"He still hasn't appeared?"

Professor Broussard reclined on a love seat, a hand on an armrest and his other laying flat across its headrest. He crossed his legs in a lazy sort of posture, everything about his expression reading either confidence or the need for a nap.

"There is no news."

"Is that so…"

Professor Broussard found it odd. According to his understanding of Sylas, he would have definitely appeared by now. With his calculations in place, this would have given him just enough time to deal with everything appropriately.

What he didn't expect was for Sylas to hand him such a victory on a silver platter without even an attempt to fight back.

The longer Sylas took to appear, the better it would be for him.

Professor Broussard stood to his feet.

"My armor," he said lightly.

His secretary rushed about, beginning to help him prepare.

Two days… it was too much.

If Sylas had appeared within half a day, there might still be some lingering variables. But now…

This matter was as good as finished.

A screen flickered and appeared before Professor Broussard, and he nodded to himself.

"Well… someone should pay for the death of my little sister."

**

Javier stood in the middle of the battlefield, blood coating his body and fatigue hanging from his lips.
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[Javier Munich (FFF+)]

[Level: 35]

His conversation with Rosa replayed in his mind every time another one of his allies fell. There was a pounding at the heart of his chest that came not just from fear but, more importantly… fatigue.

He was so, so very tired.

They had been fighting for two days without the slightest bit of rest. He knew that they would be used—he wasn't naive enough to think that Rosa's words had no merit. But he thought that he would be able to use the circumstances around them as well.

That was where his true naivete lay.

The idea that he could have ever been more than just a cog in this machine was nothing more than wishful thinking.

He thought himself to be great—a Level 35 FFF+ powerhouse who had fought and clawed his way to the top without any sort of backing. In any other Summoning, he might have truly been an elite among elites.

No… he was an elite among elites even now.

The problem was that he had stepped foot into something he had no business taking part in.

He was an ant trying to shake a tree, a mosquito trying to bite down an elephant, a minor gust of wind trying to sway the peaks of a mountain.

He hurriedly raised his hammer, blocking a blow from the swiping claw of a Rotten Wolf.

With a stumble, he stabilized himself, roaring and pushing up and back. His torso twisted at the last moment, sending the wolf tilting to the side.

"You fucking zombie bitches! Come at me! I've got more to give!"

He was so very tired… but also so very pissed off.

Sylas Grimblade. The Terranova Government. The Generals. The Dukes…

He wanted to kill them all, to rip them limb from limb, to suffocate them with his power.

But he was weak. Too weak. Far too weak.

A dense flame flickered in Javier's amber eyes, his olive skin rippling with a bronze hue for just a moment as he activated a Class Skill.

He grew three inches in height, and the head of his hammer expanded.

The feeling of his abs practically ripping apart beneath his heart-shuddering strength echoed as he slammed down with all his might.

The sickening sound of splattering brain and bits of skull echoed.

Javier felt something snap within him, and his Will pooled out in a torrential tide.

[Your Will has been Upgraded]

[You have formed a Blazing Will]

Javier didn't realize just how important this change would be for him until it happened.

There was a sudden, sweeping wave that buffeted against him. He frowned in discomfort but seemed to shrug it off quite easily.

"Bo! Hold the line! What the fuck are you doing?!"

Javier's head snapped in a certain direction. His senses felt more sensitive all of a sudden.

His unique Class—a Bronze Class called Bronzed Paladin—actually scaled with his Will. One of his passive abilities, [Paladin's Eye], was one such skill that scaled.

So when the line by him collapsed, he felt it before it even happened…

Only for him to look over and find what remained of his men in a daze.

In fact, Bo wasn't the only one.

They were all in a daze.

The only existences that seemed unaffected were himself, a few commanders near the back, and… the Rotten Wolves.

"Shit! What the fuck happened?!" Javier roared.

The entire front line was decimated in a single instant.

But then everyone started to wake up one after another.

The odd change only triggered for a split moment before there was another.

The very warriors that had just been in a daze suddenly unleashed a roar. Their bodies were lit ablaze by a bronzed flame, and then, akin to martyrs fighting for limb and country, they shot forward.

Until now, Javier had been holding the line, acting as the anchor that kept everyone from completely collapsing. There were a few other warriors of his caliber, but very few of them were willing to put themselves on the line to such an extent.

But now, the people that had been cowering behind him just moments before rushed ahead as though they had all taken a shot of adrenaline.

The world became a sea of bronze as the tide pressed forward, and Javier paled as he seemed to understand what was happening.

They… were being controlled. Their minds were very clearly no longer their own.

They never had any intention of letting them leave in the first place.

While the Casstle Main warriors finally snapped out of it, the madmen of the cobbled-together coalition army crashed against them, beginning to rip them apart.