Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1528 Now

Sylas stood there without moving for a long while. He had found the location, but he still wasn't 100% certain where Cassarae was. In retrospect, he realized that it was probably good to have a method of finding her. But... His gaze flashed.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Explosive shudders rippled through the depths of space, a small armada of ships appearing around them in a perfect semi-circle. There must have been at least half a dozen of them, but there was an odd mesh that made the numbers look far greater than they were.

Given the distance and quality of the Runes causing it, Sylas wouldn't have been able to see through it at all if not for a special innate sense for illusions his connection with Nosphaleen gave him.

Battle in space was a completely different beast. It was far too difficult for Sylas to put his thumb on the scale, which was precisely why it felt so ridiculous that he would come here without a plan.

It was a good thing, then, that he wasn't so unprepared.

"Brama," Sylas said calmly. "Mow them down."

The ship flared to life.

Old Brama hadn't had the chance to incorporate the technology of the Veil Humans just yet. However... this vessel was still one formed of five of the highest quality ships the Sector had to offer.

No matter how wealthy Fowler was, that was a wealth spread across all his subordinates. No one would be mad enough to spend the sheer amount of money Sylas had on just a single ship.

Even Fowler's personal ship would very likely only be one of the five ships Sylas had had Old Brama craft this vessel out of. And while Fowler was certainly the strongest C- Grade Rune Master in the Sector... When it came to mechanical Rune Mastery, Old Brama was second to none.

Cannons roared to life, lines of white peeling across the skies.

Sylas turned away before he saw the result. With a step, he had vanished through space. When he appeared again, he was in the room Andromeda was being stored in. Even Andromeda's creator—Brama—was unable to use it completely. It required a level of both Time and Space affinity the old man simply didn't have. But the fact he was able to create it nonetheless just went to show how deep Brama's knowledge of mechanics went.

Maybe Sylas was even incorrect to say that the strongest Rune Master in the Sector was Fowler. It was possible that in terms of general knowledge Fowler was certainly better. But in this field alone... Brama was likely a match for Horizons far stronger than their own.

And today Sylas would be proving that.

He sat in Andromeda, feeling his mind connecting to the expanse of the ship.

“You will be my reflexes, Brama."

Sylas' pupils dilated, his mind snapping into a completely new reality. In that moment, it felt like he had gained a new limb.

His mind was fast enough, but there were many things in the ship that could only be triggered with a movement of Aether. That would be left to Brama.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The ships were wiped out of the skies the moment Sylas' words finally landed. However, Sylas had already given a command to Brama, and the ship shot forward.

They used the flash and destruction as their cover, a swarm of drones shooting toward them and yet immediately losing track of where they had gone.

The ship spiraled upward, shooting out with a line of debris. Twisting around it, its cannons locked on.

Sylas' eyes darted from side to side, his pupils dilating so far it looked as though his irises had become entirely black, surrounded by a ring of green that was further surrounded by a ring of gold.

Chi. Chi. Chi. Chi. Chi.

One order after another came from Sylas, the cannons pelting out a rain of fire that took out four or five drones with every individual strike.

Sometimes the line of fire cut across multiple drones at once; at other times they clipped their wings, sending them spiraling into others.

As though Sylas' mind was a huge mesh network of cascading thoughts and realizations, he projected them out into the outside world, one projected image after another bombarding Old Brama.

And yet, to the old man's credit, he kept up swiftly, his fingers practically itching as he launched one protocol after another.

They burned through Aetherstones as though they were hot coal, leaving carnage and destruction in their wake.

“

Cassarae took deep breaths. Leaning back against what practically felt like molten lava, she controlled her aura and her own pain receptors. She looked down at a hand she was gripping harder at the wrist, the blood that covered it unfortunately being much of her own.

TREMBLE.

The structures around her shook and her gaze flickered.

This was different. The shaking was commonplace here, but this felt much larger, grander.

She knew immediately that Sylas was here. However...

She looked outside toward the opening of the cave she was in and grit her teeth.

Right now, expecting Sylas to save her was ridiculous. She had actually asked him to come here because she needed a distraction.

“This should just be about close enough..." she thought to herself.

The asteroid belt turned Dyson Swarm continued to shuttle through space in a no-man's land. But it was being designed for a very specific reason with the collaboration of the Trakar. Meaning... “Now.'

Cassarae got up to her feet, bolting out.

The instant she did, drones monitoring the region turned to her direction. But the distance in space was large. Though they were rushing over, at that distance, it would still take them several minutes to reach her.

“

Fowler's eyes snapped open, his fury spiking again. Before he could explode, though, one of his attendants rushed into the room.

"Sir Saint, we are under attack. Ten percent of our drones have already fallen. The ship is a high-level one, far too fast and strong. We fear we've been targeted by an unknown third party."