Genetic Ascension

No matter how confident Sylas had been, it was impossible for him not to feel his heart constrict. The gap was too large, not just in strength, but in terms of preparation.

He had been caught completely off guard. He had done everything almost perfectly, and yet he ended up nailed to an altar before he even understood what was happening, his blood pooling out of his body and falling to the lake below.

Every single bit of the heat of his body seemed to be being drawn out. Just how many heroes of Earth had to be drained to form a lake of blood so large?

And then Sylas suddenly grew calm.

A pressure on his mind passed over him like a wave, shattering when it came into contact with the depths of his Will Core. His eyes cleared and he looked ahead, a reflective, glasslike texture in his eyes.

A warm fire burned deep within him, a silvery blue flame that encompassed the depths of his soul.

Sylas understood what it was immediately. His Progenitor Flame.

But… he had never felt it so clearly before.

The lake of blood churned, agitated by something.

Aki's gaze suddenly sharpened, his head snapping toward the lake. His brows shot up when he realized that someone was actually awake.

"… That's impossible…" he said in his slow, sultry, almost magnetic voice. There was a feminine sort of texture to the way he spoke that made one uncomfortable, not because of the tone, but because it always felt like he was trying to worm his way into your good graces… only to stab you in the back.

Sylas' body trembled, his right hand pulsing with might. Veins popped up across his body, but he focused all his attention on that one palm.

The black stake driven through it began to shift.

'I need… I need to stand…'

This one thought consumed his being.

PENG!

It shot out from his palm with such force it felt like it nearly broke the sound barrier. The instant it gave way, the stakes driven through his elbow and shoulder were ripped out in the same motion.

Sylas roared, his free hand reaching up to his left side and ripping the stakes driven through him out.

PENG! PENG! PENG!

Sylas ripped his legs free, his body trembling violently as it lost all of its support. He slid down the altar, almost falling into the lake of blood before he caught himself.

He shakily stood, his heavy, mane-like hair covering much of his face.

His breathing was heavy and uneven, bumps and bruises he couldn't even remember receiving aching his body all over.

However, while his body was stripped of everything, there was one thing that remained on him, one thing that they couldn't hope to take away even if they tried.

A giggle echoed in his ears again.

The Madness Key.

Sylas lifted his head, looking up to the bloodied skies. It felt like he had slipped down to the depths of hell, reds and blacks swirling around him. A heavy scent of death hung in the air.

'I guess this is it.' He thought to himself.

The Madness Key swayed on Sylas' neck.

— [Aki Purvon]

[Level: ???]

—

There was a flash in Sylas' eyes, just the slightest hint of red as Madness activated.

—

[Aki Purvon (Silver)]

[Level: 50]

[Physical: 9999]

>[Strength: 9999]

>[Constitution: 9999]

>[Dexterity: 9999]

>[Speed: 9999]

[Mental: 9999]

>[Intelligence: 9999]

>[Wisdom: 9999]

>[Charisma: 9999]

[Will: 9999]

—

He hardly reacted to the numbers that flashed on his notification screen, his breathing growing more and more even as his heart revved up like an engine.

There was only one other person here that was worth his attention.

—

[Vaekra Zyrakhn (Silver)]

[Level: 10]

-

[Physical: 5432]

>[Strength: 4999]

>[Constitution: 4999]

>[Dexterity: 6729]

>[Speed: 4999]

[Mental: 5140]

>[Intelligence: 5423]

>[Wisdom: 4999]

>[Charisma: 4999]

[Will: 2999]

—

According to the stats, Vaekra had room to become the far more dangerous party. But deep inside, Sylas knew that Aki's stats were almost irrelevant. This sort of opponent… he would almost become as strong as he needed to be in order to reach his goal.

The fact Aki's stats were translated to Earth's system at all was an enormous red flag, especially since Sylas could still sense Professor Broussard's Will within him.

Right this moment, Sylas felt incredibly sensitive to Will, more so than he ever had before. He could see through the fact that Aki was using Professor Broussard's body with a single glance, and that only made him more alert.

Why was it that he hadn't been able to read Professor Broussard's stats, but could read Aki's with such ease?

This man had perfectly adapted his strength to Earth. He was ready for this moment, and the odds that there would be something for Sylas to exploit were minimal.

Now, he stood here alone, the other heroes of Earth pinned to their altars, and probably far too heavily injured to make much of a difference even if they were to awaken now.

And yet, these two that he picked out were hardly the end of it. There was an entire army of Dogons before. Despite only bringing elites, their numbers exceeded 50.

Standing there, bleeding from head to toe, his body whining under the effort of just staying on his feet, Sylas felt the pressure of the world on his shoulders.

He looked up toward the bloody skies again as though he had all the time in the world. A wind caught his hair, pushing it to the side and revealing his eyes for just the briefest instant.

Aki felt his heart skip a beat, his eyes narrowing even further.

Sacrifice.
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Sylas' Will bloomed like a pillar piercing the skies.

Essence Mastery.

The Way of the Scorpion thrummed through Sylas' body. In that moment, he seemed to understand the beast more intimately than ever before.

The tale of the scorpion and the frog reverberated in his mind. Somehow, he felt that the moral tale wasn't just a children's story anymore.

To cut off the nose to spite the face.

A wild aura flourished from Sylas, a dense black, billowing, poisonous aura coming off his Scorpion Warlord Armor as it solidified.

His Will seemed to burst through another ceiling, his presence reaching another level.

At this moment, he would rip his own heart out if it meant tearing those that stood before him to shreds.