Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2070: Efforts

Before Sylas' fist could land, there was a shift in the air and a palm appeared in front of him.

Sylas' fist shifted seamlessly, opening up into a palm that slid past the hand in front of him. The world shifted and his figure blurred, his palm suddenly pulling back as he erupted with a fist.

The sudden shift made it look as though he was always planning a feint, but the wide eyes of the Golmara that moved to block him clearly wasn't expecting this in the slightest.

Pain ripped through the body of the Golmara, a repelling pulse nearly cracking Sylas' wrist in response.

They both took a step back, but Sylas seemed to recover faster.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

The exchange was fast and heavy. The room wasn't highly large to begin with, the wind that formed through their exchanges alone pinned the woman to the opposite wall, her eyes flashing with rays of continuous fear she couldn't rein in.

This was beyond her. Why had she decided to enter this place at all?

"Mulva! What are you doing!" The Golmara barked.

By now, Sylas' surprise attack should have already fallen flat. The Golmara couldn't understand why he hadn't received any support yet. All he could think was that the Sachi was slacking.

There was undoubtedly competition between their Clans, but it wasn't to the point that they would let the other die when faced with an enemy like this. At the very least, they wouldn't choose such an outward and obvious method.

The Golmara didn't receive a reply for his barks, though. And when he looked back to see why that was, his eyes opened wide.

BANG.

A fist landed in his gut. Sylas jumped and unleashed a roundhouse at the side of his head, sending him spiralling into an opposing wall and nearly crashing to the endless depths below.

He just barely managed to catch himself on the ledge and flip himself back up. But it was clear that Sylas was already finished with attacking.

A delicate glow had enveloped the Golmara, signifying that it was his turn.

Fear gripped his mind. He had no idea how Sylas had managed to deal with the Sachi without a word. He hadn't even heard a scream. What the hell happened here?

How was an E-tier so powerful?

No. Sylas wasn't powerful. He had noticed those blows just now. They were a bit difficult to deal with in this enclosed space because Sylas was so skilled. But in terms of actual power output, Sylas wouldn't even be ranked in the top 100 of their Guild's Cryst Emperor's C-tiers, let alone the whole of the Cryst Heaven.

Mid-deduction, the man seemed to have entirely forgotten that Sylas wasn't a C-tier in the first place.

Taking a breath and then clenching his teeth, the man warily paid attention to Sylas at his back and selected a block at the same time.

A green glow formed around the block as it slotted itself into place. Then, a glow appeared around the woman.

She had slipped down to the ground, her shoulders trembling with fear. She was too paralyzed to even move, but she forced herself.

She had spent so much of her life running away from something that wasn't even her fault to begin with. She had lost count of the number of times she had just barely slipped in and out of death.

There was no way she could just fall here without even trying.

Looking toward the cubes and casting quick glances back toward Sylas again and again, she chewed at her lip nervously.

It didn't make any sense. There seemed to be two patterns, but nothing really fit.

In the end, she could only guess, her mind not working properly.

"That is the wrong one." Sylas said calmly.

This was the first time Sylas had spoken since they entered the Dungeon. In fact, this was the first time he had spoken since the tortoise moved. Half of the woman had thought that he was some sort of mute, but he could seemingly speak just fine.

"W-Which one?" the woman asked.

Sylas pointed and the woman hurried to pick it without hesitation.

There was a green glow and the correct cube was slotted into place. Then it was Sylas' turn again, he chose instantly. Then it was the turn of the Golmara who took much more time this time around.

While part of that was the fact he was trying to watch his back, another large part of the reason was the fact it had legitimately gotten harder, which confused him. The pattern should be the same, nothing had changed, and the cubes hadn't moved, this should be clear enough.

Finally, the Golmara realized what the problem was and selected. Then it was the woman's turn again.

She couldn't even understand the last one, let alone this one. Luckily for her, Sylas was there to point out again.

She didn't understand what was going on at all. This time what confused her wasn't the cubes, but instead Sylas. Why was he so casually helpful all of a sudden when he had killed the other man for simply talking before?

The turns went rapidly. Though the man was taking longer, that was only relatively speaking. Even on his last turn, it took him only about 12 seconds to come to the right decision, while between Sylas and the woman, they might have taken 12 seconds total on all of their turns.

And the only reason it even took that long was because the woman had to register where Sylas was pointing first. The last cube fell into place and the world shook as the vault on the other end was slowly opened up.

They walked across and entered the next room.

Before Sylas could register what the next challenge was, the world before his eyes went black and red.

[Objective Set]

[Objective: Walk through the minefield. (SABOTAGE)]

[Sabotage the efforts of your teammates in order to survive]

'As expected.'

Sylas had had an inkling of this due to the odd actions of the first man. And the Sachi in the last round was definitely the saboteur.

Every round until now, there had been a person designated to sabotage the others.

Now it was his turn.

But there was something odd about all of this.