Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2462: Finally

Sylas read the Creation Tower’s warning twice before allowing it to fade, not because he needed the second look, but because the timing told him almost as much as the notification itself.

The Tower’s defenses had never been weak. Old Man Shah had learned that when he tried to rewind time and pry into Sylas’ past, only to become trapped in the act until there was nothing left of him but a corpse and his robes, while two A-tier Rune Creators standing nearby could do nothing to save him.

So this wasn’t someone forcing their way through the Creation Tower from the outside. The Tower was still doing what it had always done, and if anything, the fact that the challenge had been issued through its own rules made the problem much clearer.

The Perfect Plane-Wide Notification had stripped the Thryskai of their legitimacy in the Skai Heaven, and Sylas couldn’t imagine the System allowing them to retain official authority over one of its most important institutions after branding them Demons and enemies of the universe.

The heads of the Creation Tower on the God Plane had almost certainly been Thryskai, which meant they should have been removed the moment the Heaven stopped recognizing them. Once those positions emptied, authority would naturally fall downward through the remaining hierarchy until someone qualified was found.

That someone, apparently, was him.

Sylas’ gaze cooled as he followed the logic through. He had climbed far too high within the Tower for someone of his Tier, while the people who should have stood above him had all vanished at once, leaving the God Plane’s Creation Tower technically leaderless and the Demi-God Plane occupying positions it had never been meant to hold.

To anyone knowledgeable enough to understand what had happened, the opportunity would be obvious.

The Tower was there for the taking. More importantly, everyone now knew that the people defending its highest positions were only Demi-Gods. Of course they had moved immediately.

Sylas looked toward the distant pillar connecting the Planes and felt his mood sour. A few days ago, he had seriously considered disappearing for a while, taking the closest thing to a vacation he had allowed himself since Earth’s Summoning began.

He had imagined spending time with his family, dealing with problems that didn’t involve entire Heavens, and perhaps waking up without another civilization deciding that killing him would solve all its problems.

Apparently, he had been too optimistic. At this rate, rest was becoming something he would have to schedule several wars in advance. But... he had never been someone who liked rest just for the sake of rest either way.

The Thryskai themselves were another issue, though Sylas didn’t feel nearly as strongly about them as the System apparently did. He disliked them because they had targeted him, interfered with Earth, manipulated his family, and repeatedly placed themselves in his way, but none of that translated into some broader hatred of Demons.

A Demoness was carrying his child, Alex was apparently half-Demon, and Sylas had never been interested in inheriting ancient grudges simply because other people had decided they were sacred.

If anything, using the Thryskai was likely far more valuable than exterminating them. Not that exterminating them was an option right now.

Even if Sylas stepped onto the God Plane this instant, wiping out seven God Clans would be ridiculous. He had grown stronger, but there was an enormous difference between being powerful enough to shock Gods from below and being powerful enough to walk into their territories and erase them. He wasn’t anywhere close to that point yet, and pretending otherwise would only get him killed.

The greater problem was that the Skai Heaven itself had become vulnerable. The restrictions and conventions that normally kept the Heavens from freely tearing into one another were already weakening around the Thryskai’s fall, and that meant Sylas’ enemies above no longer had the same reasons to remain cautious.

Gentrixaul came to mind immediately, but Sylas doubted he was the only one waiting for an opportunity like this.

Then there was Earth’s First Race. They still hadn’t returned.

Sylas had thought about that fact more than once, and the longer the silence stretched, the less comforting it became. A weak enemy rushed because they feared losing their chance. A patient enemy usually believed time was working in their favor, and a Race willing to leave Earth untouched for this long despite whatever claim they believed they possessed was almost certainly preparing something worth the wait.

He could deal with the Creation Tower today and wake up to ten more problems tomorrow. He could stabilize the Thryskai situation only for Gentrixaul to move, kill Gentrixaul only for Earth’s First Race to return, then turn around and find the Angels, the other Heavens, or some God Plane force he had never heard of already reaching toward the Milky Way.

Putting out fires one at a time was becoming inefficient.

Sylas’ expression settled.

It seemed he needed to send a message.

He raised a hand, and the remaining damage across his body began to close as flesh pulled itself across exposed bone and muscle rewove beneath the surface. Threads formed almost immediately afterward, black fabric shaping itself into fitted dress pants and shoes before a crimson dress shirt covered his torso, the collar left open as a long black trench coat settled over his shoulders.

"Nosphaleen."

She looked toward him.

"Let’s go."

Sylas stepped forward, and the space ahead of him folded shut around his body.

**

Rhykan looked more tired than injured, which was impressive considering Tomoe had spent the better part of several days doing her best to change that.

A grey-black sword line passed close enough to his face to tug at several strands of hair before continuing into the distance, where an entire stretch of space split beneath the force. Rhykan leaned away from it with the practiced ease of someone who had repeated the same motion far too many times, then looked back at Tomoe with an expression that carried more helplessness than irritation.

Half of that expression was because of her. The other half came from the notification he had just received.

His situation could have been worse. His realm was difficult enough to grasp that the upheaval on the God Plane hadn’t immediately dragged him into the same trouble consuming the Seven God Clans, and he had already secured control of the remaining six Demi-God Thryskai Clans before anyone else could take advantage of their instability. By most standards, that would have been an excellent outcome.

Unfortunately, Sylas Grimblade had never cared much for most standards.

Rhykan sighed as he looked over the notification again, wondering exactly how many days he had been allowed to bask in his victory before Sylas overturned the board. Not many. Worse, much of that brief period had been spent dealing with Tomoe, who had apparently decided that the best use of her time was to follow him around with a sword and attack whenever boredom struck.

Another keen note escaped the Executioner’s Blade as she shifted her grip.

Rhykan looked at her, then toward the lingering remnants of the notification.

"You hear that?"

Tomoe’s sword lowered by a fraction.

"He’s probably much more powerful than me now, don’t you think? You should go."

Rhykan expected another slash.

Instead, Tomoe actually looked upward and considered his words. Her blood-red eyes narrowed for several seconds before she gave a small nod, as though he had finally said something worth listening to.

Rhykan blinked.

Then Tomoe stepped forward.

Space split beneath the cry of her sword, the blade releasing a long, keening wail as she vanished through the opening in search of Sylas.

Rhykan remained still for a moment, staring at the place she had disappeared.

"... Finally."