Genetic Ascension

1592 Good Luck

The agonizing scream shook the air of the battlefield. However, it was shortlived.

The Rhino Armor completely formed and the youth raised his head to the skies, roaring to vent out the power shaking within his very bones.

The youth didn't even try to kill the Lion Lineage youth, it just happened. The force of the shockwave and the power of a single stomp was all it took.

There was nothing left of him.

[Victory - 073 Sanctum]

Countless eyes fell on Sylas.

It could be said that barely anyone had been paying attention to such an inconsequential battle. However, there was a glaring problem. The participant of the 073 Sanctum had taken the longest to arrive on stage.

It was only a delay of a few seconds, but it was glaring.

Whether by coincidence or not, many took note of this, but it was still something that could be overlooked... If not for the fact there was a glowing beam of light around the particpant that should have been moving forward, a beam of light that was very clearly and somehow being obstructed by another F-tier of all things.

This would have still been a matter that could be relatively easily ignored...

If not for the fact the battle had ended so violently and so abruptly.

The battles between the lower tier Sanctums shouldn't have had such large disparities. This was part of the reason many understood the actions of the overseer. Deciphering who was strongest and weakest amongst this rabble would have taken forever. The next rounds would already take weeks, maybe even months to play out. None of them had the time or patience to consider the feelings of the lower rabble.

But when such a thing happened...

...

"What happened?" the Emperor Dove asked with a frown. He hadn't been paying enough attention. All he saw was Sylas holding onto the youth's shoulder, and then there was a sudden forceful power spike.

That Unique Gene absorption process, which of them were unfamilar with it? They knew it all too well. That was what happened when someone felt that they had reached the limits of their Rune Armor's potential and wanted to take the next step.

But...

Vitality Mastery?

Some F-tiers of the Iwoer Sanctums might reach this stage, but what were the odds that one of them would be randomly selected?

Just what happened?

...

In the group of the 073 Sanctum, the Warlords were standing in shock. Of everyone, they were paying the most attention.

Their luck was horrible. Of their F-tiers, the Rhinos were definitely the absolute weakest thanks to Sylas. They had thought it was already all over until Sylas suddenly appeared.

What had he just done? They couldn't even begin to understand it.

Prione felt the Whale Warlord's gaze on him. He gave her a glance and then looked away, not saying a word. But for someone liek Prione, this was already as good as admitting defeat.

There was no way this victory had to do with anyone other than Sylas himself.

...

Authrione's pupils constricted into pinholes. He went from feeling that he would rather die than see Sylas eliminated before his revenge, to feeling that there was a gap that existed between the two of them that he couldn't even fathom.

A growl escaped his lips, his hooves driving into the ground and crushing the earth.

...

A flash of gold appeared before the Rhino Lineage youth. Elbrum seemed to have teleported there, but oddly enough, Sylas couldn't feel the spatial fluctuations at all.

The Rhino youth was so lost in his roar that he didn't even notice a powerhouse beyond his comprehension was standing before him.

Elbrum didn't do anything to him, though, just watching with narrowed eyes. Then, his head slowly turned toward Sylas.

Sylas had seen many things in the last year of his life, but this gaze was undoubtedly the most powerful he had been forced to personally face. The gap was so large compared to the next strongest things individual he had faced that he almost felt like a completely different sort of existence.

Sylas only blinked a single time, but Elbrum was already in front of him. He didn't mean to blink, it was almost like his eyes had been dried out by the extension, a stinging pain pushing it over the edge.

"Do you think you've overstepped your bounds?" Elbrum asked a peculiar question. "No." Sylas said calmly.

At that moment, even those that had missed what happened were paying close attention now.

"Mm. Is that so?"

Sylas didn't reply. He felt like Elbrum was looking at him for a completely different reason. He dind't care how these matters played out at all.

Given Sylas' intelligence, it didn't take him more than a breath of time to undersand. It was trivial once he sensed the aura Elbrum was radiating.

Scorpion.

Emperor Scorpion, to be specific.

"You didn't exactly allow this disciple of your Sanctum's to prove himself, now did you?" Elbrum pressed.

"What did he do to earn the right to prove himself?" Sylas asked a simple question in return.

Elbrum grinned. It was a wild grin, one that carried the edge you would expect from a Scorpion.

THe Scorpion Aura Sylas was used to sensing in the Warlord Sanctum was neutered, weakened, layered with escapism. It didn't carry the same Madness it should at all.

But this one... this one did.

This was a man who could do anything, a man without the slightest hint of a bottomline.

"Indeed. What did he do to earn the right? But you certainly did earn it, now didn't you?"

Sylas didn't reply.

"You must think that you can carry your Sanctum all on your own, hm?"

Once again, Sylas didn't reply, but Elbrum's grin was only growing wider.

"Alright. Let me see it. You're a Scorpion, aren't you. Be a Scorpion."

Sylas found himself phased out of reality as Elbrum waved a hand, he and the other 14 Sanctums that passed through this elimination round appearing on a new battlefield.

However, Sylas was alone, his face still pale and his Will still depleted from his earlier actions.

Across from him were the F-tiers of 14 Sanctums.

"Any Sanctum that kills you will be penned in at 071 at worst. If you win, though, I'll give your Sanctum the same treatment as a top 30 Sanctum for the duration of the F-tier competition. Good luck."