Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2026: Fools of us All

'Gluttony?'

Sylas met his little sister's eyes, his pupils flickering continuously as though he was trying to understand something.

A Will that could devour flesh to revive itself... it was a fascinating concept and once again vastly different from his own. It wasn't even something that Sylas could replicate because his path wasn't his sister's path, neither was it Cassarae's.

"... You are fine?" Sylas eventually said.

Elara nodded rapidly like a pecking chicken. It almost looked for a moment that her hair itself would fall out as though it was a wig.

Cassarae found herself laughing. She pinched Elara's cheeks, still hugging her from behind.

"She might look adorable and soft, but she's evil. I guarantee it."

Sylas didn't say anything for a long while, trying to see through his sister and yet not quite managing to.

His judgment just felt... off.

Sylas did find himself to be smarter than basically everyone he came across or interacted with, but it wasn't usually for the reasons that many might guess.

Being able to figure something out was only one aspect of intelligence. The second part, and arguably the most important, was understanding what was actually viable and what wasn't.

In theory, a lot of the things Sylas did were exactly that. Theories.

Theoretically, they made sense, but that didn't mean that they would work in action.

Someone back on Earth before the summoning, for example, could think to daisy chain a bunch of extension cords together to power a device that was too far away. In theory, that made sense. And in function, it might end up working as well.

But what if one of the extension cords was overloaded, or had a severed cord, or what if the power was split too many times for the voltage to meet the requirements of the device?

Having a working theory, even one that made logical sense on the surface, didn't always mean that all your ducks were in a row. There might very well be small or large hurdles that left your theory in the land of, well... theory.

When Sylas out-schemed the Hydra, or used the stomach acid of the World Serpent in his Glassvolt, or even when he forged a formation to protect the entire Sanctum, these were working theories that formed sense on paper, but what many didn't see were the hundreds of other theories he had had at the same time that he ended up dismissing outright because he saw those small or large barriers coming before others did.

Deciding what not to do was just as important as deciding what to do.

The problem was that when it came to his little sister, Sylas wasn't able to do this. He second guessed everything because he knew a single mistake in deduction on his part would mean losing someone he couldn't afford to lose.

Sylas hadn't been forced to face this issue before. Maybe he hadn't even realized that the place he had his sister in his heart was slightly different from even everyone else he cared about.

She was a small flower he ironically wanted to shield from even the sun itself. But this small flower was tired of being in the shade... so much so that she broke free far earlier than she should have ever.

And now he had to decide whether to deal with that outcome, or to face a situation where he might very well never see his little sister again.

The fact he had only just now lost Nosphaleen made the possibility hurt even worse.

If losing Nosphaleen felt like that... what would it feel like to lose his little sister?

Sylas knew that even if he went to the Demi-God Plane right now the amount of resources it would take to find exactly where Elara was would be astronomical. It would be even worse since he wasn't prepared.

He wouldn't have the strength, the connections, the understanding... even if he went he would probably spend years spinning his wheels. By then, whatever would happen to his sister likely would have happened already.

Logically, he knew this. In practice... he still wanted to go.

He finally looked up from his little sister's eyes and met Cassarae's. His wife had a small smile on her face, her deep blue eyes radiating a conviction even Sylas himself didn't have right now.

This feeling of doubt...

Sylas didn't like it at all.

[The Virtue of Pride Madness Key has not been fed]

[The Virtue of Pride Madness Key's Hunger has increased]

[The Virtue of Pride Madness Key's Wrath has been stoked]

Alex coughed up mouthfuls of blood, his body convulsing. Bone stuck out at awkward angles, and though shadowy tendrils exuding from his body tried to reform them, nothing he did worked at all.

Before him, a man stood. Half of his body, or rather exactly half of his upper body, was formed of a black skeleton. Other than the organs of his torso, his left arm was nothing but bone and steel wires that seemed to replace the function of his tendons and ligaments.

The other half of his upper body was a sea of alternating shimmering obsidian and ruby scales, a horn matching the one growing from his skeleton half curving out from his forehead. Each one was wrapped in concentric circles of hell flames.

The man's lower half... was that of a steed, one formed of black and silver metal plates, rotating gears and pulsing waves of steam. This steed didn't have two pairs of legs, but instead had four pairs of powerful churning masses that made it difficult for the earth to withstand his weight even when he stood completely still.

"You know, Alex, it wasn't particularly hard to find you. I could have sworn your master would have put more effort into protecting you."

Alex prepared a quippy reply, but he coughed up another mouthful of blood instead. His body was a complete

mess.

"It seems that... even Psycho Syl... can make mistakes..."

The man laughed at this response. "The love of women makes fools of us all."

Alex's gaze flickered. He had no idea what happened to Nosphaleen so he didn't understand what this man was referencing.

"But rest assured, you will be of some use. Take it as you've been an incubator."

An arm ripped through Alex's chest despite the fact he was prone on the ground.

In a realm of fallen black feathers, the caw of a Crow filled the skies and laughter followed it soon after.

"Ah, finally... It has been so long since I heard that call. Your Envy is truly something else, Nosphaleen Tideborn."

The voice was instantly strangled by a hand as pale as ice that gripped it moments after it spoke.

"Nos... pha... leen... Grim... Blade..."

A voice replied.