Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1496: Rather Not

Authrione stood there on his hooves, his head high in the skies. There was something particularly dim about his aura right now, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

This didn't make any sense.

Sylas Grimblade?

The aura of that name reminded him a lot of the human he had fought in the final round, the human that had forced him into retreat.

But if the two were really one and the same, there was just too much not adding up.

That Sylas was too weak. If not for his Poison Aether, Authrione was confident that he would win that battle ten out of ten times. It just didn't make any sense.

As a Rune Master himself, Authrione was similar to Sylas in how he could read the intentions behind the system messages.

Normal people just had the messages translated into their language of choice and could only read to surface level. But Sylas had been able to see the system messages in Ancient Ithkuil ever since he learned them, allowing him to grasp the underlying intention more than just the general gist.

There was too much lost in translation for the system, especially since it was constantly cutting corners and trying to save on energy. There was no way that it would be 100% precise at all times.

But because of that, it did something else.

How complicated could names become across languages and cultures? There was also the matter of people sharing names or even meanings of names as well. When it came to things like leaderboards and assigning Titles, this became extremely important.

Because of that, when the system read a name... it was embodying the aura of a person, not just a name. In this way, even if two people shared the same name, with the same pronunciation, hailing from the same region... They couldn't possibly ever have the same aura.

But it was precisely because of that Authrione couldn't believe what he was seeing.

It just... didn't make any sense... none at all...

The only way was if Sylas had some sort of trump card they didn't have, something allowing him to quickly find the location of the stairs and make his way downward.

"Authrione!"

The centaur's cousin shouted him back to reality.

"Look alive, dammit! We've found the stairs!"

Authrione was about to reply when his expression changed.

All of them received the message of the Quicktime Event at the same time.

Just their luck. They had finally found the path to the second floor, only for someone to reach the territory

at the same time as them. Now they'd have to fight the threat and this team at the same time.

Authrione was sure that it would be a team. It was the only thing that made any sense whatsoever.

But what he saw wasn't a team.

It was one man.

He wore a brown cloak, tattered and worn by time. His face was obscured, his feet gliding across the sandy plains they were wrapped in what looked like bandages and nothing else.

A scorpion's tail suddenly launched itself out of the sandy dunes, looking to kill him in a single stroke, but it mysteriously stopped moving a moment later, growing limp and slow as though caught in a quagmire of time.

Authrione began to feel a bit caught as well. His Will immediately tried to snap him out of it, but his eyelids were growing heavier, his body wanting to fall to the ground before him.

Starell of the Serpent Lineage shot into the air, the small pink wings on her ankles flapping as she took a step and vanished.

Yet, instead of accelerating toward the man, she was actually retreating, a look of absolute fear on her face.

That man's Will...

It was the most powerful Will she had ever felt in an F-tier...

In fact, it was the most powerful Will she had ever felt in an E-tier...

And a D-tier...

It was the sort of Will that had no business appearing in someone who was just Level 50. It didn't make any sense at all.

Just how long had this person spent at Level 50? How long had they spent refining their Foundation? It didn't make any sense at all.

Mora of the Lion Lineage roared. She might have stood at just four and a half feet tall, but her aura was anything but, carrying with it a towering fury as she rampaged forward.

But she didn't even cross a halfway point before she came to a grinding halt.

A head fell out of empty space, landing before her.

If Sylas had been there, he would have recognized the head instantly. It was the head of Beladora, the Ouro Race Champion. She had been powerful enough to slip from Sylas' grasp, but somehow she didn't have the same luck against this figure at all.

"Milky... Milky Way Horizon..."

Suddenly, it clicked for Authrione. This person had been moving through the territories with ease all this time because his Champion had already gone ahead.

Because Sylas was on floor three already, except in the case this man met another team, he would be able to move completely unobstructed.

It all clicked for them at that time.

"I would rather not fight."

A voice that was languid and unbothered echoed. It almost sounded as though syrup was pouring out of his mouth as he spoke, like his eyes were on the verge of shutting forever with every bit of slurred

speech.

"As you can see, I already killed someone about as powerful as you all. So... if we could skip all of this... I would really appreciate it..."

The man's words were cut off with a yawn, and he stretched a bit before he continued walking.

Time seemed to freeze for all of them, their hearts in their throats.

They recognized that head.

Beladora of the Ouro Race.

The only one amongst them that could have taken her in a one-on-one fight was Authrione, and right now he was completely frozen.