Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2072: Saboteur (2) [Bonus]

[Bonus chapter thanks to chronotitan <3]

Sylas looked down.

From a casual glance, every square looked completely identical. But there were three ways to tell where the bombs were.

The first were Runes. The fluctuations were different around them and Sylas could already feel a lot of the path from here. Just standing in place, he could map out the next seven steps before things got fuzzy for him.

The second was Aether. There was a unique Aether fluctuation as well. Using this lens, Sylas actually couldn't tell immediately. It took him three seconds to find the step to take through this method, and a full twelve before he found the one after that.

To his surprise, his answer using the second method wasn't the same as the first.

Was there more than one path out? Or was one of the methods of detection wrong?

It was odd because Sylas was certain that both of his methods were used correctly.

His Intelligence stat might not be as great as his Rune Mastery, but it was still Willborne. As such, Sylas was technically a Cryst Emperor himself, one with two extremely powerful Aethers.

It was just that his talent in Aether wasn't as easily able to bridge gaps as large as his Rune Mastery could.

But logically, that talent was still high enough that it wouldn't make foolish mistakes.

This left Sylas frowning.

The third and final method of telling which mine was which was actually the most primitive way.

These mounds separated into one by one meter plots looked identical, but each one actually had their differences in density, in porosity, even extremely subtle differences in size and shape.

And from that method...

Both his Rune and Aether methods were seen as correct.

The Golmara's eyes narrowed from behind Sylas, but he didn't do anything. Fighting in this mine field was a death sentence for all of them, but he didn't know why Sylas was taking so long.

Behind them, the woman had her hands clasped and her head lowered.

Sylas' eyes suddenly flashed. 'Interesting.'

He took a quick three steps forward, taking the Aether route.

As expected, nothing triggered.

The woman was teleported forward.

"Wait." Sylas said.

The woman didn't even hesitate to listen.

After half a minute Sylas told her which way to go. She obliged and then nearly sank into a puddle of her own sweat when they didn't blow up.

The Golmara was next. He had his brows knitted, but he ultimately found the direction in just five or so seconds.

Then it was Sylas' turn once more.

The group swapped back and forth, making it through the mine field not exactly quickly, but well enough that it wouldn't be a problem. None of them paused for long enough that it felt like they would be stuck here forever, though the last bit of turns took several minutes each.

Hours later, they stood on the second to last row. There was a faint bit of anticipation in the hearts of the Golmara and the woman. Though they didn't dare to sigh a breath of relief until they were finished.

They had already been on the third to last row as many as two turns ago, but the correct solution had just made them walk sideways when the exit was right in front of them.

The obvious answer was to just jump. But they grasped that if things were that easy, they wouldn't have had to go through this process at all. The only way forward were the mine squares.

This time, was the Golmara's turn.

He stood there for several minutes. It was over a dozen before he grinned ear to ear and took a step forward onto the final row, then two to the left to face the exit dead on.

He positioned on the bridge a step away from a protective barrier and turned around.

"It seems my luck is quite good. Enjoy your death, Sylas Grimblade."

The Golmara's actions seemed to happen in slow motion. As he took a step back, he threw out a dagger with great force toward one of the uncleared mines. Even if it wasn't triggered, just the residual force alone was enough to send the entire place up in smoke.

The woman fainted before the dagger could even land just as she and Sylas were teleported to the final step.

But whether they were on the final step or not at this point was entirely irrelevant... there was only one way forward.

Death.

The dagger landed.

In that moment, the Golmara could see the entirety of Sylas' expression as he took a step back. He had expected to see something meaningless. Fear, anxiety, unwillingness-at the very least, rage.

Even those that didn't fear death in the end would show something, even if it was just to curse the Golmara to the fiery pits of hell.

Any one of these would have been fine with the Golmara. Who gave damn about the rage of the dead? A ghost would stay a ghost.

But he didn't get any of that from Sylas. All he saw were those abyssal eyes that seemed like they could look death in the eyes without the slightest flinch, the eyes of a man so self-assured in his own abilities that even if he did die, he would feel as though no one else would have survived in his position anyway.

He didn't just fear death, he almost welcomed it to try, to try and see if it would really be worth him giving a modicum of true effort this time.

And then, just when the dagger landed, Sylas took a single step backward.

It was a step into a square none of them had stepped on previously, a step that the Golmara was sure wasn't

correct.

Did Sylas just want to kill himself first so he wouldn't have the satisfaction?

The Golmara sneered. It was fine with that too. As if he cared. A dead Sylas was the only good sort of Sylas

Grimblade.

BOOM.

The room went white.