Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2325: What is Ours [Bonus]

[Bonus thanks to Chrono <3]

BOOM.

The galaxy snapped back into phase almost like a camera shutter flickering into focus, one instant blurred beneath overlapping laws and displaced celestial bodies, the next settling into a new reality that felt as though it had always been there.

At the same time, power flooded into Sylas so violently that even he paused. It rushed through his veins, filled his bones, seeped into his Will, and for a moment he assumed it was some extension of his new authority over the Galaxy of the Grimblades. Then his eyes narrowed.

Evolution Energy.

An absurd amount of it. Enough that, if he allowed it to carry him forward without interruption, he could step directly to the peak of the A-tier in a single go. Yet another bottleneck had been shattered before he even reached it. Sylas hadn't expected the renaming and restructuring of a galaxy to reward him in this fashion, but after thinking about it for a moment, he couldn't call it unreasonable either.

The universe measured progress through more than slaughter, levels, and direct combat. Changing the fate of worlds, altering the structure of civilizations, rewriting the identity of a galaxy, these things clearly carried weight as well. He had simply underestimated how much.

Sylas pressed a hand against his chest. There was something else he had been delaying for long enough.

The Legendary City Stele.

Originally, he had planned to carry it with him indefinitely. Its presence allowed the Hibernation Realm to remain anchored within his body, while projecting that realm outward gave him a degree of control over the surrounding atmosphere that was difficult to replicate through other means.

Sylas still liked the idea, but circumstances had changed. The Milky Way World was now tied directly to the Grimblade Bloodline, and the galaxy surrounding it had taken their name as well.

As the Progenitor of both, these things were no longer loose pieces of territory he happened to command. They were becoming roots of his Karma, foundations that would influence how far the Grimblades could go and what they would eventually become.

Leaving the Legendary City Stele floating within his Hibernation Realm as though it were just another treasure suddenly felt half-finished.

The system had always placed strange importance on City Steles. Even back in the Tutorial, the paths had seemed to divide into three choices, but in practice there had only ever been two that mattered. You either became a warrior, or you became someone who commanded a city. The third option had always been little more than a variation in how one arrived at one of those two destinations.

More importantly, Sylas had yet to encounter anyone truly powerful who wasn't connected to some larger foundation. Cities, Clans, Sects, organizations, worlds, it hardly mattered what form the structure took. Even the Disciples of Madness, who appeared to stand alone, were still tied to the majesty of the Madness Cult.

Sylas' fingers tapped once against his chest.

The only question was whether he should do this now or wait until Iskaleth delivered the supposed Fate Dragon.

His answer came instantly.

Now.

When the Fate Dragon came, it wouldn't be creating anything from nothing. Sylas wasn't interested in allowing some ancient failed experiment to dictate the shape of what belonged to him. If it truly carried the sort of Karma Iskaleth claimed, then it would enter a foundation that already existed and learn to lower its head like everything else had before him.

There was also no longer much reason to hide the Legendary City Stele.

Before, caution had been sensible. A Legendary City was valuable enough to make powers far beyond his current reach move against him, and carrying the Stele within himself had prevented anyone from easily locating or targeting it.

Now? Sylas almost wanted someone to try.

He finally had enough capital to defend what was his, and if some organization believed otherwise, they were more than welcome to come prove it.

His gaze flashed. In a single step, Sylas vanished.

He appeared above Casstle Main.

His family sensed him almost immediately. Cassarae looked up from what she was doing, her lips twitching as she felt his presence overhead. Wasn't this husband of hers supposed to be fighting some life-and-death battle against an entire galaxy? Somehow, he had found time to come strolling back over Casstle Main as though he had merely stepped outside for a few minutes.

Sylas didn't notice her expression. His attention had already turned inward.

BOOM.

The projection of the Legendary City Stele descended.

Space around Casstle Main warped as two territories began to overlap, the Hibernation Realm pressing into the city while the authority of the Legendary Stele spread across its streets, walls, formations, and foundations. Almost immediately, resistance appeared.

Casstle Main pushed back.

It wasn't violent, nor did it threaten to damage either side, but the rejection was clear. This was Cassarae's city. She had built it, bled for it, expanded it through one crisis after another, and the city had long since recognized that connection.

Cassarae blinked as she sensed what Sylas was doing.

Then she chuckled.

Maybe a few months ago she would have crashed out.

She had put too much blood and sweat into Casstle Main to casually watch another City Stele descend over it and begin swallowing everything she had made.

But now, she struggled to care.

Sylas was her husband. What was hers was his. What was his was hers.

The thought was simple enough that Cassarae didn't even bother interfering. And as though Casstle Main felt her release that grip, its resistance faded as well.

The Legendary City Stele descended another inch.

Then it swallowed Casstle Main whole.

The reaction was immediate.

Across the Demi-God Plane, Serpentes froze.

Some lifted their heads from battlefields. Others opened their eyes from meditation. Ancient bloodlines stirred inside hidden valleys, enormous bodies shifted beneath oceans and mountains, and countless Serpentes felt the same inexplicable emotion rise from somewhere deeper than conscious thought.

Rage.

It crossed worlds and galaxies, then it pierced upward.

Into the God Plane.

Every Serpentes that could feel it experienced the same instinctive fury, as though something that belonged to their Race had been stolen, claimed, or corrupted beyond tolerance.

Sylas looked toward the Legendary City Stele as the change completed.

And Sky Roaming made its presence known.

Before Sylas had even understood the concept of a Dragon, he had already named a city meant to surpass it.

No mere abstract Will would suppress him.