Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2177: Shattered

BOOM.

Sylas and Kairos both went flying. A roaring golden light spilled out from the stone. It didn't just feel like something was being born, it was almost like a natural force was being birthed into the world for the first time.

The first storm, the first tsunami, the first hurricane, the first meteor shower.

It hit them both with the same fanfare and a flood of Will so powerful it suffocated and swallowed everything, nearly snuffing out not just one, but both of their Pride Seeds at the very same time.

Sylas coughed up a mouthful of blood, his innards rattling nearly out of his control. The shredding and pressure placed on him was so great it almost felt like something had placed their hands into his body and had begun slowly tearing it apart with the shredding, sheer forces of a god's palms.

By the time he eventually managed to slow himself to a stop, it felt like he was nearly a planet's length away from where he had been before. He could see the enormous canopy of the tree that covered the planet in the distance, but more importantly than any of that, he could see the golden pillar that ran so large it split right through it and out the other side of the planet.

It was something that should have destroyed it completely, and yet instead of triggering something like this, there was instead a tiny lull before the golden beam of light shrank.

Slowly, it became more and more obvious that this wasn't just a streak of powerful light. No, it was something far more tangible, something far more real, something you could reach out and touch if you truly dared to go so far.

And when that "beam" finally shrunk down to its final form, what it was became obvious.

A staff.

A staff that now rested in the hands of a young golden monkey whose gaze faced the ground as though still in a deep slumber.

Far off on the other side, Kairos, too, had come to a stop, the cracks running along his body still racing to multiply and increase themselves. But much like Sylas, he wasn't paying attention to his own state in the slightest. Instead, he was looking ahead at the creature that stood before him as well.

"Monkey King." Kairos said slowly.

The Monkey King's head snapped up and it looked toward Kairos. There were still hints of confusion in the Monkey King's eyes as though it didn't understand what it was doing here or what it was seeing either.

But it could sense something on Kairos that shouldn't be there.

Its Pride Seed.

The chest of the Monkey King bloomed with light and all of a sudden, the region wasn't just filled with two Virtue of Pride Seeds… But three of them.

Kairos sneered and the Monkey King replied with a tilt of its head. It mimicked the sneer and seemed to like it despite how awkward it looked on its face for a small moment.

And then a beam of light descended from above once again.

Clarity appeared in the Monkey King's eyes as though it had awoken from a long slumber. His head snapped back to a normal position, and then he yawned, scratching his ass.

He looked away from Kairos and then at Sylas. Reaching up a pinky, he screwed it into his ears, picking at it for a moment before pulling it out and flicking the beads away.

How a newborn could possibly already have ear wax, Sylas didn't know. But it was more than likely a force of habit on the Monkey King's part.

"Well, look at you. Just as arrogant as ever."

The Monkey King looked back from Sylas to Kairos.

"And why are there two of you annoying little shits here, exactly? Does my power seem like something that's fun to take bites out of? Am I really so kind?"

Kairos' gaze flickered, and then he frowned. A lot of his enthusiasm seemed to be dampened, though it was hard to tell exactly why.

"You did this?" Kairos asked.

The Monkey King blinked. "Who the fuck are you to ask me questions?"

The Monkey King suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of Kairos, driving a fist into his gut so fast the latter couldn't even react in time to make even the smallest attempt at a dodge.

Kairos coughed, his head leaning over the Monkey King's shoulder as he gasped for breath and the latter picked at his ear again.

"I don't remember asking you."

A laughter echoed. "You're quite pathetic, Monkey King," Kairos said, the chuckling never leaving his tone at all. It was like he didn't care that he had just suffered a blow, what difference did it make? "How gross."

Kairos vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was high in the skies. He rubbed at his stomach with a hand and shook his head.

Then he looked toward Sylas. Seeing the same indifferent, unbothered expression, Kairos couldn't help but laugh again.

"I'm not interested in this anymore. Maybe another time. But I have a feeling that if we meet in the future, it won't be much of a fair fight anymore. You won't stand a chance."

Kairos shrugged his shoulders. "Life isn't fair. If you're so prideful, figure it out."

Chi.

Kairos suddenly struck a hand through his own chest, ripping into his heart and tearing something out. Gold roots were peeled out of his body, blood pouring down in large heaps.

"I guess this explains why you could take the Pride Seed, then. Now doesn't it?" Kairos said with a sneer. "I don't need trash that originates from trash."

Kairos' fist squeezed down and his Pride Seed shattered into a rain that fell down from above.

Then, raising his lightning shaft, he thrust forward. It pierced through the air and the world shattered to pieces before him.

He stepped through it and then vanished. All that was left in his wake were motes of light from his shattered Pride Seed.