Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2054: Nothing to Worry About

Malikhi walked out, looking every bit the child he had the last time Sylas had seen him. Yet, there was an extra glow in his eyes now that felt sharper than ever before.

"Malikhi. What the hell are you doing here?" Akshat asked coldly.

This was a curious change for Sylas as well. Though, unlike the others, he had seen Malikhi in the shadows long ago.

There was little here that could be hidden from his sight. But it seemed that just like himself, Malikhi was able to walk around the void without an external aid to direct him.

Usually, that could only mean one thing... Infinite Void Rune Mastery.

But Sylas wasn't sure if that was the case here. Plus, did he know enough about the world to say that there was only one way to walk through the void?

Who was to say there wasn't another way to do as much?

Either way, Malikhi could, but that left more questions than just the how of it all.

That was because according to what Sylas knew about Malikhi, the man had only made it to the B-tier in his last life before he ended up dying, and unlike Fanelei, he was currently only on his fourth life. Theoretically, he hadn't fully matured as an Analei just yet.

Could it be that he had reached the A-tier in an earlier life? Higher than that?

"I'm stopping the Analei from making an idiotic mistake." Malikhi said coldly. "And I advise you watch your tone with me, little three-life."

Akshat froze.

Not every Analei could live out their full seven lives, only the most talented of them could-Fanelei was one such example.

The only reason Fanelei wasn't as strong as Nobel was because one of her lives ended up being wasted due to her pursuit of Gluttony. This caused her to have to cut off one of her lives from herself, effectively leaving her with just six instead of a full seven like Nobel had.

But even then, there were more tiers of separation between that.

Even if you did have a full seven lives, each one was variable in how much an Analei could get out of it. This was why Fanelei was so enraged when her granddaughter, Leia, wasted one chasing skirts along a mediocre path.

Malikhi might have only ended his last life at the B-tier, but he had reached Legend status in both his first and second life, matching a number that was already the best of the best amongst the Analei even with four attempts remaining.

To reach Legend twice in two attempts... Malikhi's legend spoke for itself.

Akshat had only managed it once.

This gap didn't seem as though it was all that large... except for the fact that Akshat was the worst sort of Analei, the sort that didn't dare to take another roll for fear of not being able to succeed like he had the first time.

So he settled for melding together three complete and four incomplete souls together.

Maybe if three had been his limit, Malikhi wouldn't be bothered to bring this up, but to Malikhi, the worst sort of sin was cowardice.

And it appeared that Akshat wasn't all that comfortable with his own choices, otherwise there wouldn't be such an ugly expression on his face right now.

"What is the meaning of this, Malikhi?" Nobel asked slowly.

"I've already said it clearly, Ancestor Nobel. It is a mistake to do what you are doing. Foolish enough that I cannot take your intentions at face value. I have to believe that it is also underlined by an act of cowardice.

"If you were a true man of virtue, you wouldn't have raised a disciple like this one."

A darkness radiated from Nobel's eyes.

"Do not think you can speak to me however you'd like, Malikhi. I, too, have reached Legend twice, and if you give me enough reason, I can make sure you don't have a chance at a third."

"Hardly the same thing." Malikhi said coldly. "You achieved it on your last, a culmination of your six lifetimes of efforts. If you didn't reach Legend, it would be more pathetic than your disciple's feats."

"Nothing in life is guaranteed, boy." Nobel's eyes became frigid. "Especially not when you haven't grown."

"And I think that's the real fear, now isn't it?" Malikhi said as though a nail had been hit on the head. "Wiping out threats before they can rise up sounds like something your bloodline would do. Giving up an opportunity to rise high instead of taking the risk sounds like another.

"It's a good thing, then, that you aren't the only present Founding Ancestor."

A shadow walked out from behind Malikhi.

"Hoffman." Nobel said coldly.

Hoffman somehow looked even older than Nobel, though that should have been impossible. It was more likely that he was just worse at taking care of his skin.

"I think we should listen to the boy," Hoffman said with a smile.

"You are no match for me, Hoffman. Why are you insisting on doing this?"

"Maybe not, but many in the family have been dissatisfied with how you are doing things and believe that Malikhi is their future. They had already been ready to crown Fanelei, but she made an unfortunate slip.

"Too many talents have been wasted under your doctrines. Akshat is far from the worst of the stories. I don't believe Leia would have been nearly as willful if not for your string plucking."

"What?"

Fanelei stood straighter, her expression going icy cold.

"Is this true, Nobel?"

Nobel sneered, a bit of his real face slipping. "Already no longer calling me Founding Ancestor?"

"If you impeded my granddaughter's path, you are no Ancestor of mine." Fanelei said, a chill radiating out of her.

She had no choice but to go into seclusion for many years due to her failure to take Gluttony as one of her paths. But she had already laid out a perfect advancement plan for her granddaughter before then, all Leia had to do was follow it.

Fanelei knew her granddaughter could be willful, but she was baffled by the results when she exited.

She couldn't have ever expected that there was an actual conspiracy behind all of this.

"You want to replace me with Malikhi?" Nobel asked, his sneer deepening. "He is not even halfway through his cycles, and there's no guarantee of anything. This the bet you want to take? And for an outsider, no less?"

"Aren't you the one who replied the last is but a formality? Even if I fail, I will have three Legend lifetimes. It doesn't sound like you have much to worry about." Malikhi said calmly.