Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2443: Thank You [Bonus]

[Bonus Chapter thanks to BobTheEngineer <3]

Two and Three.

Sylas understood what the numbers meant now, though the truth was somewhat different from what he had assumed when Legacy first classified him as Five. Throughout its history, Legacy had only identified a handful of existences whose potential surpassed the boundaries of the Sacred Grade, talents they considered fundamentally uncontrollable no matter how much effort was spent observing, guiding, or manipulating them.

Sylas was Five, the Monkey King was Three, and the Professor before them was Two. What made Two strange wasn’t his strength or even the fact he had survived long enough to reach whatever level he stood at now, but that he seemed to be the only one of them who had remained part of Legacy rather than becoming something it could only watch from afar.

It wasn’t a ranking. It was simply the order in which they were found. The problem was that simply by virtue of the time that separated their starts... it may as well have functionally been a ranking nonetheless.

If in the long history of Legacy, only five such existences had been found, then who knew how many generations separated them? The fact that Two had said he had already "accidentally" killed Four wasn’t a surprise at all.

In fact, part of the reason the Monkey King was likely in such a sorry state to begin with was so obviously due to Two as well. The difference was that the Monkey King managed to carve his way out...

The thought passed through Sylas’ mind just as Three moved.

This time, Sylas couldn’t properly follow what happened.

Gold and red collided across Hell, yet calling them colors barely described what his senses were receiving. The Monkey King’s staff disappeared between one moment and the next while Two’s telekinetic constructs ceased resembling arms at all, becoming immense concentrations of Will that bent the surrounding layers of Hell with every exchange.

Slithering Madness attempted to move forward once before stopping, while Weaving didn’t even bother. Their Wills were monstrous enough that Sylas had struggled to judge their limits when he first arrived, yet the battle unfolding ahead had already passed beyond a level where either Arcane Madness could meaningfully interfere without risking being caught in something they couldn’t withstand.

Sylas felt Scurrying begin to slip from him at almost the same time.

The Omnimous still maintained its connection with the cyborg’s systems, while his Greed continued resonating with the Scorpion heart buried inside it, but the attention Sylas needed to maintain control was growing difficult to justify. Scurrying sensed it too, its massive body thrashing as metal plates twisted against one another and the Rat attempted to claw free from the commands restraining it.

Weaving moved before Sylas needed to respond.

Silvery-blue threads crossed the battlefield and wrapped around Scurrying’s limbs, torso, and neck in overlapping layers, each strand sinking deeper into the mechanical body as the Rat fought against them. Under ordinary circumstances, two Arcane Madnesses of comparable strength might have struggled against one another for an absurd length of time, but Scurrying had already been controlled by Sylas when Weaving began binding it.

That was enough to decide the result.

Sylas released his control once the final threads settled into place, allowing the Omnimous to float back toward his palm while Scurrying continued thrashing uselessly behind him. Escaping would take time, and by then Sylas had no intention of still being here.

He turned around and began walking away.

"You’re leaving?"

Slithering Madness’ voice rumbled through Hell as Sylas continued for several steps, and even Weaving’s enormous mechanical body shifted slightly in surprise. Sylas had dragged Slithering free of Two’s restraints, released Weaving from his control, and helped them contain Scurrying without once asking what either intended to give him in return.

"You have Karma with both of them now," Slithering continued. "And neither of those two seems particularly fond of you. When one kills the other, what exactly do you think the winner is going to do?"

Sylas finally stopped.

"Neither of them cares about the impotent system," Slithering added. "I barely care about the thing myself when it becomes inconvenient enough. If you’re hoping its restrictions will protect you from either of them, you’re even more stubborn than I thought."

Sylas looked back toward the battle, watching a golden strike tear through enough red Will to distort several layers of Hell before Two answered with something his senses couldn’t properly interpret. The sight did make his blood move a little faster, but that was where his interest ended.

"I’m not interested."

Slithering’s enormous eyes narrowed.

"They’re too powerful for me to deal with right now, and I’ve already used the cards I came here with. Sitting around hoping the kinder one wins accomplishes nothing, and worrying about which one might come after me afterward accomplishes even less."

Sylas turned away again.

"I’ll become stronger."

The simplicity of the answer seemed to silence Slithering for a moment, though Weaving reacted differently.

Silvery-blue Will gathered before the mechanical spider and slowly formed the shape of a beautiful woman, elegant features emerging from the light as she approached Sylas with a smile. Her expression softened before one hand sank into her own chest and pulled free something small enough to rest across her palm.

Sylas accepted it and studied the strange bundle, but for once no immediate answer came to him.

Weaving giggled. "Pull a strand free and place one inside the womb of each of your wives."

Sylas’ gaze lifted toward her.

"It will nurture the children and make the births much easier. Wills that come from you won’t be particularly easy to carry, even for women strong enough to become your woman."

Sylas looked down at the object once more before slowly nodding and putting it away.

Slithering released a disgruntled sound behind him. "So now I have to give you something too? Utter nonsense."

The serpent stared around for several seconds before lowering its head toward the bound Scurrying Madness. Its jaws opened and tore through a huge section of the cyborg’s torso, crushing machinery and ripping metal apart until the Scorpion heart buried at its center was exposed.

"Take it."

Sylas raised an eyebrow, but Space folded around the heart and brought it into his possession. He had no idea what use he had for the heart of a dead Scorpion, but Two had preserved it for a reason, which was enough for Sylas to know throwing it away would be foolish.

Slithering’s attention shifted toward Fanelei next, then its eyes flashed.

Fanelei stiffened as a foreign Will bloomed inside her, spreading through her body before condensing into something Sylas immediately recognized. A Gluttony Seed took shape within her and stabilized under Slithering’s influence, leaving Fanelei staring down at herself in obvious disbelief.

"Whether you can evolve it into a Virtue will be up to you," Slithering grumbled. "Good luck becoming a wife. If he’s going to be too stubborn to take my Seed himself, I’d prefer one of my disciples beside him."

Fanelei’s eyes widened further, but Sylas had already turned away again.

There were questions he could ask Slithering and Weaving, enough that he could have remained here for days pulling apart everything he had learned. Instead, Sylas stepped toward the path out of Hell without looking back.

He had a feeling his answers would come soon enough.