Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2068: Forever

Sylas felt like the world around him was still in limbo. As though he was stuck in a fun house of mirrors, his senses were being continuously bounced back at him and was hard to trust what his eyes were actually seeing.

The world seemed like it still hadn't decided exactly what it wanted to be, so Sylas didn't force it. His spot was already guaranteed, so there was no need to try and press.

The restraints here were also quite strong.

As far as he could tell, even if he had the intention to attack, it would be difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.

'This world isn't designed for C-tiers, but it is limited to C-tiers. This is probably so that the tortoise can stop powerhouses from taking advantage of it. It wants to claim the rewards for the Dungeon itself, but it can't enter and maintain the Dungeon at the same time. In order to have the best of both worlds, it has to open up the Dungeon and then allow geniuses of lower tiers an attempt to clear it.

'Even if those that enter fail, it will just try again, and then again.'

The first time Sylas sensed the emotions of Runes, he had been in a Dungeon that allowed more than one antagonistic party to enter as well. If he entered a Dungeon at his level, with his Fathomless Rune Creation, manipulating the ending of everything would be as easy as breathing.

In fact, the current Sylas could instantly clear any E-tier or below Dungeon-regardless of strength with his current Rune Mastery. There were likely only very few exceptions to this.

One such exception were God Realm Dungeons... but only because he was limited to Demi-God level Will.

This Dungeon, however, even if it wasn't much stronger than it presented, would have at least been C-tier. In reality, though? It was of the A-tier, at the very limits of the Mortal Realm... And then it took a step beyond because of Sylas and became tinged with Demi-God Aura.

The tortoise wanted to find a balance between finding participants strong enough to enter and yet weak enough that it would still benefit the most in the end.

The problem with this was that the tortoise was being quite greedy. It was just a Mortal Beast. It might have descended from the World Serpent, but it was no God.

It was overextending itself a great deal just to do this. But if it did succeed, it would certainly become a Demi-God Beast.

Sylas, of course... had not a single care about the desires of the World Tortoise. He wanted it all.

However, the tortoise was still an A-tier. In fact, it was stronger than most A-tiers despite its lack of obvious combat abilities. Taking something from right under its nose wouldn't be easy.

The oddity of how it had woken up flickered at the back of Sylas' mind, but he suppressed it as he felt the portal fluctuate.

In the depths of the unformed Dungeon world, the Royal Blue Troll appeared, and then the Sachi and Golmara.

Soon after there was Deuvuo and Juxi.

But then after these people, there came one odd group after another.

Their numbers ballooned to over 20 quickly and Sylas' eyes narrowed. Most of those that appeared were no real threat at all, just fugitives who were taking advantage of this opportunity. But there were some of them that were of interest.

The main problem, though, was the numbers. More variables to deal with, for one. But it also reflected just the lack of confidence the tortoise had in pulling this off.

It wasn't until the last of them appeared at the portal that Sylas really looked at him.

His aura was constrained, his face covered, his body dressed in brown rags and a poor excuse of a hole-riddled robe, but Sylas knew for certain.

The Glutton.

The Glutton looked up as though sensing Sylas' gaze, a glowing crimson bouncing off the mirrored world around them as though they were the only two left in existence.

Dangerous.

Sylas' eyes narrowed. This was the first time he felt any prickle of danger from someone beneath B-tier since he entered E-tier Fathomless Rune Creation.

And that was despite the fact he was pretty sure the Glutton had only just reached Level 151.

The world shook and then ultimately showed signs of solidification as though the tortoise was finally happy with the slate of powerhouses. It made no attempt to shatter the barrier the Cryst Emperors had put up. In fact, it reinforced it with more of its Will Construct, reaching out and making it sturdier.

The less chance there was of interference...

The better.

Sylas' body shook and he was ripped from where he stood, a bubble forming around him that slammed into the bubbles of four others... two of which were Cryst Emperors. A Sachi and a Golmara.

The world warped around them all and then their group was separated from every other constantly forming group.

Pop.

Their bubble popped and the world solidified.

Sylas landed lightly on his feet to find that his group was all around him. They weren't exactly close, but they weren't far apart either. Only a meter and a half or so separated each one of them.

They were trapped in a box of steel. The only way out seemed to be a vault door formed of brass in front of them.

[Objective Set]

[Objective: Escape]

Sylas raised an eyebrow.

BANG. BANG.

Two holes were suddenly punched out of the side walls and water began to be pumped through at a rate that made it obvious to Sylas it would only take 10 minutes before the room was filled to the brim.

But wasn't that a joke? It would take days, probably weeks before a C-tier died from oxygen deprivation, even if they ran out of Aether first. This wasn't much of a dangerous situation. The "allies" around him were far more the sort to be dangerous here.

That was when Sylas noticed two things.

First, this water wasn't normal. It hadn't touched him yet, but it was forming this odd reverse osmosis from the surroundings that was sucking everything dry-not just Aether, but the very oxygen from their bodies as well.

Second, the complicated vault door in front of them had a series of valves.

Just from a quick glance, Sylas could see that these valves could be pressurized by the water and change the puzzle that was the door. Every time the elevation of the water changed, the puzzle would not only completely change, but it would also grow more difficult.

But did it matter? Sylas already had the solution. The water wouldn't even manage to reach the first valve-.

A woman with dirt streaks on her face dashed forward. Sylas reacted hastily, his body looking to shift through space, but he was stalled by a brick wall.

The water, it was constantly changing the nodes of space too. He had been too focused on the vault to note this.

This shouldn't have been bad. They were all teammates, so it didn't matter who opened the door.

The problem was that the woman was an idiot going toward the wrong solution.

And if the solution was wrong, the mechanisms would trap them here.

Forever.