Genetic Ascension

It wasn't even worth making the attempt. Even if he was lucky enough that everyone was stalled for that long, would he even be able to fight at the end of those seven hours?

Sylas didn't even bother to try and observe the Runes. What a joke. The standards of Rune Mastery were based on what the system was capable of drawing. How was he supposed to manipulate the perfect Runes of a barrier formed by the system?

There was no shortcut here.

The feelings that Sylas had pressed down began to bubble up again. He had run into a wall again.

Sylas closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.

Professor Fembroise pressed a hand against her chest, having her own small panic attack before she realized that she was safe for the moment.

And then she felt a swelling of anger. Sylas didn't even care about their previous relationship, directly attacking to kill her. He was just like everyone else in this world, only out for his own interests.

She grit her teeth. Her mouth opened as though she was about to say something, but that was when Sylas seemed to look right at her for the first time.

Her heart froze over.

There was something particularly dark about Sylas' gaze right now. It carried emotion he didn't usually have, a struggle deep within, but more importantly, a deep disgust with who she was.

If not for her, he wouldn't be in this situation. If she tempered her selfishness, if she picked a different path, if he didn't have to kill her.

Sylas slammed his eyes shut once again.

Those thoughts... they were unlike him.

He wasn't the type of person to blame others even when they wronged him. He preferred to take control of the situation himself. The basic assumption he made about the world was that everyone was out for themselves.

Even when he thought about Lucius, he felt that he had to kill the man eventually, but he didn't feel the same anger and rage someone who had had an attempt on their life should have.

But right now, he was feeling endlessly frustrated.

It had been bubbling up ever since he stepped foot into the Snail Queen's territory, and it was only growing worse with time. His Will was being chipped away at again and again, but... It was his fault.

That thought kept coming up again and again, drilling itself into his mind.

This Demonic Will was a part of him. It wasn't targeting him, nor was it an outsider trying to infiltrate his psyche. It was him and he was it.

The reason he was struggling so much was because he kept trying to reject it. He didn't want to accept the mirror it was holding up to his face even though he knew he should.

Even if a person knew they had self-destructive behaviors, would they be able to pivot on a dime and change everything about themselves on a whim?

'I'm weak... I don't want to be weak... I'm weak...'

The thoughts oscillated back and forth, and with every cycle, Sylas clenched his jaw harder and harder, to the point he began to feel like his own teeth might give way to the pressure.

Spiking pain ran through his jaw and the muscles of his face fatigued. It felt almost like acid was running beneath his skin.

It just kept coming back up. All of the usual tactics of discipline and self-control he had built up over his lifetime just felt entirely worthless right now.

He could no longer suppress it.

Sylas gripped his shirt as his heart threatened to beat out of his chest again. He tugged so hard that he almost tore the fabric entirely.

It suddenly dawned on Sylas that this was the path he had chosen. The mirror he was trying to avoid so fiercely right now, wasn't it the very path the Glass Pinecone had opened up?

He could have set himself up as a savior of Earth, sitting on a Throne of Glass that reflected the sacrifices of his ancestors that came before him. But instead, he chose himself.

'I chose myself...'

He had made the same choice Professor Fembroise had, they just chose two different paths. At that moment, Sylas ruthlessly suppressed the hatred he felt for Professor Fembroise. Those emotions had left him feeling disgusted not at the Professor, but himself. He didn't need such weak, hypocritical emotions.

Once more, the cycle reverted and Sylas felt hints of clarity. The darkness dissipated somewhat and his blurred vision cleared enough for him to notice the Basilisk King was looking toward him with one part worry, and another part confusion as it waited for his instruction.

Sylas exhaled and felt that clarity become a sharp focus once again. His eyes began to dart around the region, looking for a way out of this situation.

Thoughts flashed by Sylas' mind one after another, his speed of jumping from idea to idea seemingly surpassing what his Wisdom should be capable of.

This odd rollercoaster that his mind was on still inexplicable to him, but he knew that he couldn't spare the thought to figure it out... especially not when an idea suddenly came to mind.

Sylas took a step forward and pressed a palm against the egg-shaped barrier once again. His eyes glazed over, entering an unprecedented state of focus, one so deep that even the Beast Totem could no longer sustain itself.

The Basilisk King stood in a protective posture, ready for an enemy to appear. When

Suddenly...

CRACK.

The barrier that hadn't even shuddered under their earlier barrage of attacks suddenly had a

Huge fissure run through it.

In a single bound, it lost over a million Defense.

A billowing black fog came from Sylas' hand.

'It worked.'

CRACK.

The barrier lost another over million Defense, and then another.

The Runes of the system were practically infallible. But what Sylas had noticed during his excursion to the Demonic World Gate was that... the system really hated Demonic Runes.

CRACK.

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