Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2058: Politics

"If she attacks me again, I will kill her." Sylas said without looking back.

Fanelei's heart skipped a beat, but oddly enough, she felt a small bit of warmth when she heard this.

Hoffman sensed the near smile on Fanelei's face and he wanted to find a place to faint. There was exactly nothing romantic about what Sylas had just said, what was wrong with her?

Sylas, though, didn't seem to have noticed. He just strode forward, the group of Analei parting before him. Unlike Leia who had been blinded by fury, they had all seen the lineup following behind Sylas... and they had all contemplated the same thing.

Why were they following behind Sylas?

In the crowd, Malikhi's own son was the most baffled. Ulan didn't exactly have the best record against Sylas, but he had at least been hoping for a good show today.

Watching his father unbothered following after someone else, when he had never known his father to follow after anyone, gave him such a strong bout of cognitive dissonance that he almost passed out too just to avoid having any more sensory input related to it.

By the time he recovered, Sylas had already vanished into their Ancestral home.

...

News of Sylas' arrival to the Analei spread quickly. The key part of the information was the same to everyone. Or rather, two key parts.

First, Nobel was nowhere to be seen.

And second... Sylas was certainly no prisoner.

The reactions to this would decide everything.

...

As the commotion was beginning to stir, Sylas himself didn't seem to be in a rush to do anything. Instead, he asked a question.

"What sort of records do you have?" Sylas asked.

"There isn't much you will find in them." Malikhi replied. "There is the family registry, the record books, and the rule book-the last of which you have already read.

"What I assumed you want is something like a detailed timeline or history, but there is no such thing."

"I'll read the family registry and record books, then."

Malikhi nodded and then looked toward Hoffman.

If Hoffman hadn't witnessed what he had, there would have certainly been some pushback. These didn't seem to be so important, but for the Analei especially, a detailed account of everyone's life and death was even more important than I would be for the other Clans.

It wasn't long before Sylas had them in hand and he went through them swiftly, flipping through the pages as though he didn't have to read at all.

In a few seconds, he had already handed things back to Hoffman.

Hoffman's eye twitched. Their registry was as tall as half the height of a person, and each page was filled with Runes that summarized large amounts of material into small print.

To read it, you would need to unravel the Runes first, read what was inside, close it, and then progress.

Even he couldn't do it that fast, and he was a Legend.

Sylas closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he began to speak. He listed off one name after another.

"... That is Tier 1."

"Of?" Malikhi asked with a raised brow.

"Of those most likely to betray you." Sylas said, then he began to speak again. "... That is Tier 2."

"How are you differentiating?" Malikhi asked out of curiosity rather than skepticism.

"They're the ones with irregular rebirth patterns. Talent can be presumed by birth line and how close they are in relation to recent Legends. There's a dividing line in the Analei. One group consistently underachieves what they should be capable of. The other group slightly overachieves."

"Slightly?"

"It's very minor, just nibbles on the margins, half to remain under the radar, and half because it's truly difficult to help those without talent go beyond their limits."

"For what purpose?"

"When you're the reason your family has been underachieving for so long, you're bound to accrue resentment." Sylas said.

Malikhi's eyes narrowed. He was the perfect example of this, but so was Hoffman, as were all the other Analei who would vote to make him the official Founding Ancestor very soon.

However, their eyes were too high up.

Nobel wasn't a fool. Even without Malikhi, he knew that his actions would turn the family against him, so he had contingency plans.

While they were playing with the big pieces, there were many pawns who were already ready to queen on Nobel's board.

They weren't the most powerful, but they were not only in strategic locations, but there were a large number of them.

Just the fact there was such a large crowd on their arrival articulated for itself.

Nobel had promised to bring home a prisoner and Malikhi instead brought home a new boss he even seemed somewhat subservient to.

Everyone had seen that and the rumors were probably already churning.

The arrival alone was enough to tilt a lot of things in Nobel's favor.

Of course, Malikhi's counter was airtight. Nobel wouldn't dare to use these contingency plans even though he had them, but that didn't mean that others might not act alone thinking they were doing so on his behalf, and there was also no reason for Nobel not to encourage exactly that.

At this point, the only chance Nobel had of coming back into power again was for the entire family to flip on Malikhi.

It was a hidden danger that could have easily bubbled up, and yet it took Sylas how long to find it?

Malikhi thought he had already covered everything. But this had somehow still slipped right out from under his nose.

At this point, he was fully convinced. He understood what Sylas meant before.

It wasn't that the other Clans weren't a threat, but Sylas had said they wouldn't be a problem anyway... there was only one reason for that.

So long as he had a foundation to play around with, everything else could be negotiated.

Just going out and showing off talent wouldn't do enough anymore. They already knew how talented he was, but that wouldn't make them feel any less betrayed or feel any more like he was one of them.

The only way to make the Guild accept his help was by truly integrating with the Analei. Once the Analei saw him as one of their own, then the other Clans would have no choice but to start looking at him this way.

But Sylas also didn't have forever to play politics. It simply didn't interest him.

"Bring Leia here." Sylas said to Fanelei.

Fanelei blinked. "Why?"

She asked the question before she could stop herself. She cursed inwardly afterward, but to her surprise, Sylas actually answered.

"It's time to get your seventh soul back. And to do that, I'll need the head of a certain Gluttony Disciple on a pike."

Fanelei's eyes widened.

The only reason Leia would be of any use in such a thing was she became a Gluttony Disciple.