Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1319: Emperor of Snakes [Bonus]

[Bonus Chapter thanks to TheAuthor137... again... since you’re such an author write them yourself </3]

Their fists met, their tails swiping through the air and clapping against one another akin to thunder.

Reeling back, they used those same tails as leverage, surging forward into their next confrontation even faster than the last.

The platform was being destroyed tile by meticulously laid tile, the skies splitting beneath their might above.

Sylas stomped a foot, his body pivoting to the side as Morvok’s fist suddenly became a blade in the form of a palm. The latter’s claws extended, slicing through the air with a surge of poison.

There was another pulse that came from Sylas’ eyes, and the Runes of the poison collapsed. Ignoring the drain on his Will and the pulse of pain that came from his pupils, he had already smoothly transitioned into his next attack.

He erupted with an uppercut at Morvok’s elbow, sending his armor swinging up and back. Taking advantage of the sudden opening in his chest, he kneed at it, the wind splitting around it so fast it practically looked like a meteor breaking the atmosphere.

Morvok’s tail appeared in the way, his body leaping back and absorbing the blow. He seemed to have completely forgotten that he was battling an F-tier. The slit in his eyes carried a deathly murderous intent.

He slid from one devious scheme and combo to the next, every one of his attacks hiding a vindictive cancer to it that—a single nick of which could kill a D-tier elephant.

However, as cold and calculating as his eyes were, Sylas seemed even more savage, his attacks more straightforward, more vindictive—so straight and to the point they should have been easy to read, and yet it felt like wading along a tightrope as sharks snapped at you from below.

As soon as Morvok made some distance, his unobstructed arm pierced forward itself, forming another palm blade. This felt like the ability of the Serpent Armor. Everything became a fang, sharp and laced with poison.

While the Scorpion Warlord Armor could only emit its poison from its tail, the Serpent Warlord Armor was far more flexible—and maybe that was why Morvok was so cocky about it.

However, just when it seemed like Sylas was about to receive an attack he had just seen, a sword suddenly appeared in Morvok’s palm, the aura of the Serpent Warlord Armor immediately extending over it.

This was the first time Sylas had ever seen the Warlord Armor cover anything but the human body. Even when he was fighting Casteel and the others, their weapons were just that... weapons. They held them in their hands, but they didn’t get the benefit of the Armor. Well, they did, but only insofar as the strength change to the wielders.

This felt very different, though. And it was clear Morvok knew exactly that.

Dripping in a violet aura, the blade appeared at Sylas’ throat in an instant of time.

Sylas hadn’t even bothered to use his Spatial and Time Runes in this battle. Against a Rune Master expert like Morvok, that would just be asking to be countered.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it at all. It just meant he had to choose the right time.

Sylas’ eyes flickered and the Runes on the tip of the sword dispersed once again, but Morvok seemed ready. He knew that whatever ability Sylas was using to dispel his poison was very acute in range and had to be timed right. Otherwise, Morvok could just make more.

However, there was another way to counter such a thing.

Morvok’s wrists twisted and suddenly his sword missed Sylas’ throat, extending beyond it. Hidden Runes in the sword activated and its length increased several times over while Morvok’s thrust became a slash.

Chi. Chi. Chi.

BANG!

The poison-laced edge barely touched Sylas’ Scorpion Warlord Armor, and yet it shattered it to pieces. It was so potent that even Sylas’ perfectly drawn Runes couldn’t hold up for more than a few split moments.

And yet, the blade wasn’t done, coming for Sylas’ neck even more swiftly.

Sylas’ strength plummeted and his body seemed to lose all ability to react.

Gasps rang out as the blade crossed his neck.

But it somehow missed entirely.

Morvok’s eyes jumped. That was impossible!

Sylas didn’t seem to think so, though. In fact, he had already taken a step forward, his Scorpion Warlord Armor being redrawn in that split instant so fast that it reformed amidst the shattered emerald shards of the previous one.

[Primal Fury].

[Glassvolt Prism Arts].

Sylas’ strength exploded. All of his Fury seemed to pool into his Armor, tainting his Will and turning his bright emerald Armor into a dark green that reflected scales so deep and blackened that he almost seemed to manifest Gogo’s Ancestor themselves.

At the same time, his [Glassvolt Prism Art] turned the gauntlets of his Scorpion Warlord Armor from incorporeal to very real, reflective glass sparking with bolts that raged through reality and fantasy like a temporal storm.

And then his eyes flashed one last time. Right there, right where he was aiming, Morvok’s oh-so-perfect Armor was interrupted, its Runes becoming disorganized and crumbling.

Sylas couldn’t shatter the entire Armor, but his comprehension of it through Intuition was too strong, and his Runeweaver Profession had long reached the E-Grade. And he...

Was the Emperor of Snakes.

BOOM!

The punch made the previous one look as though it had been thrown by a child. The world dimmed, all sense of Aether vanishing as though a vacuum had been formed around it all.

Morvok’s torso shattered, an enormous hole appearing out of one side, making it look as though some enormous beast had bitten a chunk out of his body.

And yet, the fist was so powerful there wasn’t the slightest hint of blood, not the smallest touch of gore...

Until Morvok fell to his knees, his beating heart thrumming beneath everyone’s sight, just barely missed.

Torin Kael stood in the crowd, his eyes wide. The others of the Ape Lineage had gathered around him long ago, but no one seemed to have noticed that he had shown up for his appointment.

Was he supposed to fight... that?

Well... no one noticed his arrival but Sylas alone, that is. In fact... his gaze had already landed on him.