Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2053: Enough

Darkness swallowed as far as the eye could see.

Or, that would have been the case had Sylas not long grasped for the void. This was already the third time he had arrived through this portal, and right now, it might as well have been as bright as midday.

The first time he stepped foot here he nearly lost himself in the infinite void forever. The second time, he had ended up causing an old man of the Analei to achieve enlightenment, effectively causing the old man to leave him alone.

This time, the very same old man was here once again, but he sensed like even less of a threat to Sylas than ever before.

He stood there with a smile, clasping his hands behind his back with a calm look in his eyes.

The difference was that this time, the look was very clearly forced and feigned. At least in Sylas' eyes.

Fanelei took a step forward. "Founding-."

Nobel held a hand up, causing the apology on Fanelei's expression to waver for a moment. She had a great deal of respect for the old man, but there was little she could do if he insisted on being stubborn.

By the old man's side, Akshat sneered. The last time he had ended up having to swallow his grievances. It looked like his master planned on finally putting Fanelei and the child in their place this time.

"Sylas Grimblade." Nobel said slowly.

Sylas looked over, meeting the old man's eyes with a hardly measured indifference. There was nothing about his expression that seemed to dictate even the slightest hint of respect.

"I must thank you. You've helped me reach an understanding of Rune Mastery I believed was forever lost to me."

"Master..." Akshat whispered, but he was stopped much like Fanelei had been.

"Please accept my bow."

Nobel clasped his hands and leaned forward until his head was nearly parallel to the ground. Then, he remained tall once again, fixing his robes and smoothing out their wrinkles.

"Now, with that concluded, we must move on to business. Your name is quite volatile, and you have taken quite a lot from our Weaver Guild without returning much of what you've gained. Instead, you've forced us to weather the storm of the chaos you've wrought while rewarding our own efforts to others as you've deemed fit.

"As much as you've helped me, I am but one Ancestor of the Guild, whereas there are dozens of others who've not only not gained anything, but have lost instead.

"If you chose not to return, out of respect for what you've done for me, I would not personally pursue you, though I would not stop the others from doing so.

"However, now that you have come, it is my obligation to take action. As a member affiliated to our Weaver Guild, you will be punished under its rules just like anyone else has. And given what you have done, you have received sins of the lowest caliber.

"Your sentencing is not yet complete, but make no mistake that it will be swift and heavy."

The worry in Akshat's eyes slowly faded into a self-assured nod, while it was Fanelei whose brows were furrowed now.

"Now, will you make this easy, or will you make it difficult?"

Nobel didn't seem intent on making a move. He stood there in silence, waiting for Sylas' answer as though this was the last bit of respect that he would give the man.

Sound was already swallowed up to a great extent within this infinite void, but now it felt even more hollow than usual.

"You've finished?" Sylas asked.

Nobel frowned. He was already as kind as he could afford to be. But if the Analei didn't do this-

"I'm not entirely sure what the point of this is. This has nothing to do with what you feel you're obligated to do. You've just used Fanelei to lure me in so that you can be the one to hand me in. This is little more than an attempt to save the Analei from sanctions wrought by the other six Clans.

"It's no wonder your Rune Mastery is trash, you wouldn't have the Will to back up anything greater. What is the point of the fake niceties? Just do what you feel works best for you and save us all the time."

But he seemed to forget that this was the infinite void. It didn't even reach Sylas. It was swallowed up in the folds of spacetime before it could even make it.

Akshat realized this a step late, but he recovered quickly, taking a step forward as though to deal with Sylas himself.

"I will capture him, master."

Nobel didn't get a chance to say anything in response before Fanelei stepped in front of Sylas. It was only then that there was a change to the Founding Ancestor's frown.

He knew that Fanelei was partial to Sylas, but he didn't expect her to be so partial that she would take action even against him. Though it was Akshat who was moving now, acting against him was about as good as acting against Nobel himself.

And if Fanelei was so insistent, there would be absolutely nothing stopping Sylas from successfully escaping. Nobel had seniority on Fanelei, and maybe a bit more strength, but it was still only a percentage or two.

Fanelei was still a Legend. There was no higher realm in the Mortal Plane.

The dividing factor between them was their Rune Mastery, but if Nobel had been enlightened by Sylas after a single exchange, what could Sylas have done for Fanelei given all the time they spent together?

The answer was actually nothing at all, but Nobel didn't know that. In his mind, he might actually be weaker than Fanelei at this point.

Regardless, even if the strength gap was the same, it wasn't wide enough for him to stop Sylas from activating the formation and teleporting away if Fanelei was insistent on stopping them.

Nobel didn't expect this at all.

"I think that's about enough, right?"

At that moment, the unexpected voice of a child echoed, reaching each one of their ears.