Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1224  Test (1) [Bonus]

The Duchess froze, seemingly realizing what had happened.

She tried to pull back, only to find that Sylas' arm was practically like a steel bar.

No, it wasn't that Sylas' arm was so strong, but instead that she felt almost as though her body didn't have any strength remaining at all. If she pulled away from Sylas now, she realized that she might fall and collapse right there, making an already embarrassing situation all the more embarrassing.

What music there was hanging in the air almost fell on deaf ears, countless gazes focused on the scene right before them.

"You… I…"

Her voice was so soft it came out in a raspy, hoarse tone, almost as though her lungs couldn't produce enough air to project at all. Her legs trembled and she almost fell, but Sylas only tightened his grip.

The Duchess had never felt so embarrassed in her life—it was like nothing in her body was working properly at all. All of her blood had rushed to places it shouldn't have been, leaving no strength for the muscles that actually needed it.

She was devastated, a crushing weight threatening to break her apart.

At a moment like this, Sylas knew that he could use

Semi-Fusion and Nosphaleen's Compelling Gaze Gene Talent —he could almost certainly subdue the Duchess.

It also wasn't long ago that he had felt a certain connection between his Madness Comprehension and his Seeds. He felt that the true method of using Madness might be in

bolstering the effects of the Seeds and projecting it out to impact the minds of others. Madness had always been able to do that—it just depended on whether Sylas reined it in or not, something he often did because it made the other effects more potent.

Using it to turn up the Lust Seed even more would make it all the easier.

But Sylas didn't. He didn't feel a need to, and the situation in the surroundings made it a bit trickier to do so. He wasn't infallible, and he knew that some of the things he did could certainly be sensed.

Everyone thought he was an Incubus already, and the

remaining four cloaked figures were almost certainly paying attention for any mental Skills or things of the like that he might activate.

There was no way they would just sit idly by if they sensed such a thing, and he would just as certainly lose his head.

However, this left him a question. Where should he take things from here?

"It seems you've also caught my attention," he said calmly.

The Duchess blinked, felt disgust toward the initial wave of happiness she experienced, then tried to push back even harder, cursing that her arms refused to work.

This time, Sylas let her go.

She stepped back and almost collapsed, but a wave of his telekinesis kept her up.

This was already the second time Sylas had done this, and now that she was forcing herself to be of more sound mind, she realized how ridiculous it was.

Using telekinesis on a person was nigh impossible for most.

A person was like the center of their own universe. Even incredibly weak Wills were extremely strong by comparison when focused on one's own body.

The only way Sylas kept using his telekinesis to move her was because she kept getting distracted. But even in a distracted state, it should have been impossible unless… Sylas' Demonic Will was on a level she couldn't fathom.

After letting her go, Sylas turned and walked away, leaving her on the dance floor, barely able to stand without the help of his telekinesis.

Sylas didn't say anything about it as she panicked. What would she do once he got too far away? She wasn't

recovering her legs fast enough, and there was no cloak to hide her expressions or gait anymore.

However, she was too embarrassed to call out to Sylas either.

Panic was setting in even fiercer, but by the time she resolved herself to call out for help, Sylas had already sat down.

This left her floored for a moment, until she realized that his telekinesis was still helping her.

Taking a breath, the Duchess began to walk back toward her table, feeling as light as a feather. Part of her was ready for Sylas to just drop her at any moment.

However, he didn't. He didn't even glance at her again, leaving her feeling both grateful and a bit vindictive.

She sat in her seat, finally thankful for the chance to let her legs rest. She looked at the glass of blood-red liquid before her in silence, saying nothing to her fellow Sanguan, her mind completely lost in the clouds.

As for Sylas, he didn't seem to have reacted as though he had done anything special. There was a calmness to him that belied the situation, like he didn't feel the countless gazes on him at all.

And it was then, when the atmosphere seemed to be at its most suffocating, that the Sanguan man who had been

eating from start to finish finally rose from his seat.

"An eventful night," he said in a soothing voice that melted bones. "Now that the festivities are out of the way, I assume that we can get to business."

Sylas seemed to realize at that moment that everyone had probably been waiting for this man to finish eating from the very start.

He turned his gaze to the side to see Ansla staring at him.

But feeling his movement, she hurriedly looked away, focusing her gaze forward as though there was nothing more interesting than what was about to happen.

"I'm glad that the Barbed Chain Gang has chosen to join. We will need all the hands we can get, and a group with their fingers in so many pots will certainly be a great asset." The man turned toward the table, but his eyes seemed focused on Sylas, who was still looking at Ansla's side profile.

There was a stiffness to the table that Sylas had seemingly not noticed before, but had started the moment the Duchess spoke.

"However, I did not expect for your gang to come with such an interesting wild card today. I know of the abilities of the others, but I do not know of his. So how about a little test?"