Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2345 Kiver

Vaelith didn't approach with anything resembling hostility. She walked across the bounds of space at an easy pace, her wings folded neatly behind her while a light, almost playful smile rested on her lips, and there was something in her gaze that bordered on anticipation rather than anger.

It was a strange reaction from someone who had every reason to hate Sylas, not only because he had defeated her, but because the Karma of the entire Skai Heaven now hung in the balance largely because of him.

Sylas wouldn't have cared if she hated him without reason, let alone when there was a perfectly good one, though that would never have changed how he behaved. Vaelith carried none of that fury with her, however, and when she finally stopped nearby, the golden slit between her brows remained calm.

"You actually came, I was beginning to think half the battlefield would lose their minds very soon."

Sylas gave her a small nod before looking back toward the chaos below, offering no response beyond that.

Vaelith didn't seem bothered in the slightest, her attention instead shifting toward Yamero, whose unusual existence immediately drew the focus of someone as sensitive to Runes as she was.

She reached out almost instinctively, only to pause halfway when she seemed to realize that touching him without permission was probably rude.

That realization came slower than it would for most people because Vaelith was called the ice princess for a reason, and most of her life had been spent getting whatever she wanted without needing to ask.

Yamero looked at her hovering hand, then at her face, before grinning. "A pretty girl can touch me if she wants."

Vaelith's eyes brightened, but instead of continuing, she pursed her lips and looked toward Sylas. "Did you create him?"

The question made enough sense from her perspective. Yamero's body was formed entirely from Runes, and to someone who already suspected Sylas had stepped across the threshold of Infinite Will, it almost seemed as though he had divided a portion of himself and given it a body, which made Yamero's compliment suddenly seem much more amusing.

Vaelith's smile deepened. "So this is how you compliment women without having to say it yourself?"

Yamero blinked, then his face twisted with offense, his serpentine body wiggling about. "Is this what every pretty woman is going to think when she sees me, that I'm just an extension of Sylas?" He turned toward Sylas with a wounded look. "See what you've done to me, your Rune Mastery is so broken that people think you can create things from thin air."

Sylas finally looked over. "I can."

Yamero choked on air, while Vaelith stared between them before a laugh escaped her, soft at first before she gave up on suppressing it.

She hadn't known Sylas could be funny, though even now she remained convinced that Yamero was some elaborate extension of his Will, because Beasts simply didn't make Rune Masters of this level. How could she possibly know that Yamero possessed his own Will and had forged this body himself?

Her amusement faded as she looked toward the battlefield. "There are a lot of people here who want you dead."

"You're not one of them?"

Vaelith met his gaze and smiled. "I don't have a death wish."

Sylas watched her for a moment, but she didn't retreat beneath his stare. "Plus, I'd like to learn Rune Mastery from you. Do you think that's possible?"

Sylas shook his head because he barely had enough time to study for himself, and spending that time teaching someone else held no appeal. Vaelith's lips parted as though she wanted to argue, but after a short pause she changed tactics.

"Observing would be enough, and since you're going to be on the battlefield anyway, I'll just follow you around and watch anything interesting you do."

Her smile thinned as her gaze swept across the countless Beast Heaven warriors pouring toward the bridge. "If I stay close enough, I doubt I'll be in much danger anyway, and I'd like to see another Heaven knocked down a level or two. They've looked down on the Skai Heaven for far too long."

That sentiment ran deeper for a Thryskai than it would for most, especially one standing near the pinnacle of their younger generation. Sylas didn't respond because his attention had already returned to Dry Mouth, Iskaleth, and Sarethvane below, tracking their movements as they plunged deeper into the battle.

Vaelith accepted his silence without complaint and finally reached toward Yamero again, lightly patting his head.

Sylas' gaze shifted before the others noticed anything.

The warriors nearest them were beginning to move away, not in an obvious retreat, but through a series of small decisions that gradually carved an empty pocket into the battlefield. Some broke from their opponents and descended, others altered their routes entirely, while several distant Wills settled onto Sylas from different directions and remained there.

Vaelith's hand stopped atop Yamero's head. "They noticed you quickly."

One of those distant presences had begun moving toward them, and the surrounding Aether changed with it. Runes flickered far across the darkness in a repeating sequence, each pulse appearing closer than the last while a low vibration passed through the fractured bridge beneath their feet.

The pressure continued building until even nearby clashes began slowing, warriors turning their attention toward whatever was approaching. Something enormous moved behind the distorted layers of space, its outline hidden by violent currents and explosions until the surrounding formations activated one after another and forced the chaos apart.

BOOM.

A massive warship tore through the fractured layers of space, its hull wrapped in overlapping Rune formations as it entered the empty region that had formed around Sylas. The ship displaced the battlefield around itself, warriors scattering beneath its shadow while the unfinished bridge groaned beneath the weight of its presence.

Vaelith blinked once before looking toward Sylas. "They're probably here for you."

Sylas' expression didn't change.

"A lot of people think that if they kill you, this entire problem ends." Vaelith studied the markings running across the hull, recognition appearing almost immediately. "They're the Kiver Guild, a subordinate Guild beneath the Vaelryn Clan."

Sylas' gaze finally shifted toward the ship.

Vaelryn.

They... were the Clan that left that message about his little sister, weren't they?

A murderous wave rippled out of Sylas.