Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2510 Death of Him

"You're quite fast. Not bad."

The woman sitting on the throne looked at Alex with mild approval. Her swirling black eyes moved over him before settling on Fanelei.

"Under ordinary circumstances, your performance would have been enough to earn you a place in the Grand Competition without needing to undergo a secondary assessment. After all, recognizing that something is wrong and acting upon it without hesitation is precisely the sort of quality we hope to cultivate in our descendants."

Alex blinked, feeling a lot more pleased with himself.

So, he'd been right after all. Fanelei had been a bit more enthusiastic about the whole thing than he'd planned for, but there was no denying they had pulled it off.

"Unfortunately, you've also killed several members of our Clan, and that's not something the family can simply overlook. As a penalty, you'll have to participate in the secondary assessment regardless."

Alex's expression stiffened.

He glanced at Fanelei. But she looked completely uninterested in what the woman had just said, so he turned back to the throne himself.

"Well, I suppose that's fair. Although, in our defense, some of those fellows were rather rude, and I'm sure a prestigious family like ours wouldn't want to encourage that sort of behavior."

The woman smiled and didn't bother answering his excuse.

Alex felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze. It didn't help that the five people sitting around the table weren't reacting to the conversation at all.

They seemed far more interested in Fanelei. Every so often, their Wills fluctuated as they tried to get a read on the woman who had slaughtered her way through the harbor without so much as wrinkling her robes.

"Ah, before we begin, I suppose I should introduce myself. Considering the relationship between our Bloodlines. I'm most likely your great-grandmother."

Alex froze.

His thoughts went straight back to the harbor, where he had spent several minutes flirting with the beautiful attendant who came to register him.

Wait a minute. Had he just tried to pick up his own great-grandmother?

Alex coughed, looking at the woman again with a lot more awkwardness than before.

He had known the Nethum had some rather unusual family relationships, especially considering how long their stronger members could live. But, this was taking things a little too far.

"Uh, when you say great-grandmother, exactly how literal are we being here?"

The woman's smile turned a bit more mysterious. She made no attempt to answer him.

The back of Alex's neck prickled.

For once, he was almost grateful she'd ignored his flirting. He was going to have to be a lot more careful about who he complimented from now on. Otherwise, he might accidentally end up propositioning someone who had personally changed his mother's diapers.

"Now then, live already spent quite enough time waiting around here, so I don't intend to make this particularly complicated. There are six of you present, and we'll conduct a simple round-robin assessment. Each of you Will face every other participant once, and your performance Will determine whether you're qualified to enter the Grand Competition."

Alexis gaze moved to the five people sitting around the table.

So, these were the other returning descendants who had managed to spot the test hidden in the harbor's registration process.

He hadn't seen anyone else leave their Ships. If that was the case, there was a good chance these five had arrived before him, and had probably been waiting here for quite a while.

The woman continued.

"Of course, you're free to send a representative to fight on your behalf. The Nethum have never believed that personal strength is the only measure of a descendant's potential, and the followers you've gathered are just as much a reflection of your accomplishments as your own abilities."

Alexis eyes lit up. Now that was a rule he could appreciate.

He had spent 5,000 years building an army. He certainly wasn't weak himself, but there was no reason to put his life on the line when he had so many capable people who could do the fighting for him.

Plus, Fanelei seemed like she needed to blow off some steam. He was just helping her do that, that was all. No big deal at all.

"However, there are a few conditions. If both participants choose to send representatives, there will be no restrictions on Tier. If you've returned with an S-tier follower while your opponent only possesses a C-tier, then that advantage belongs to you. The Clan Will not compensate for your inadequacies."

Alex nodded. That made sense.

Wasn't that the whole point of sending Nethum descendants down to the Lower Planes in the first place? They weren't just supposed to cultivate themselves. They were also supposed to gather foundations that would let them compete once they came back.

If one person managed to recruit an S-tier while another couldn't even find a decent C-tier, why should the first one be punished for succeeding?

"However, if either participant chooses to fight personally, that decision Will take precedence. Their opponent must either fight personally as well or send a representative of an equivalent Tier. There Will be no restrictions upon two descendants who choose to challenge one another directly, regardless of their individual strength."

Alex rubbed his chin. That complicated things a little.

Even if he had an extraordinarily powerful representative, he couldn't just use them to steamroll every opponent. The moment another descendant decided to fight personally, he would either have to step up himself, or find someone of the same Tier.

Of course, stepping up himself wasn't all that worrying.

From what Alex could see, all five people at the table were C-tiers. And despite spending 5,000 years developing his strength in the Summoned World, he was still in that same Tier himself.

The Systemis restrictions had kept him from progressing as freely as he would have liked. That didn't mean he'd spent those 5,000 years getting nothing done, though.

Far from it.

Alex had dug up an enormous amount of his hidden potential. The combination of his Nethum and Demonic Genes gave him advantages that most of his generation probably couldn't even imagine.

However, he wasn't stupid enough to think that made him invincible.

The Nethum controlled an entire Heaven, and these five were among the first of their generation to come back. If they had anything like the advantages Alex had enjoyed, there was a good chance they were monsters in their own right.

More importantly, he knew practically nothing about any of them.

That was probably intentional.

The assessment didn't seem very interested in rewarding whoever had the most information about their opponents. Knowing the Nethum's philosophy, Alex suspected the ancestors wanted to see how their descendants reacted when they had to make decisions without knowing what kind of abilities they were up against.

He could appreciate the reasoning, even if he didn't much like it.

Still, he had brought several powerful people with him. Even with the restrictions on representatives, there were plenty of ways to work the rules. Maybe he could use Fanelei for the opening matches. She could deal with anyone who sent a representative, while he gathered information on the others.

Even if it wasn't directly one to one, there was probably some correlation between the abilities of the followers and the ones they followed. That only made sense.

Once they started fighting personally, he could adjust his approach based on each of their strengths, and save his more valuable cards until he knew exactly what he was dealing with.

It wasn't a perfect plan. But, it was a reasonable place to start.

Unfortunately, before Alex could finish weighing his options, Fanelei spoke up. "Tell them I'll fight all their representatives."

Alex blinked.

Fanelei looked at the five descendants sitting around the table with the same indifference she'd shown on their entire walk over.

"There's no need to waste time with a round robin. They can send whoever they like, and I'll deal with them all at once."

Alex stared at her for a long moment, then slowly turned to look at the woman on the throne.

The five descendants were already narrowing their eyes. Their expressions were still composed, but he could feel their Wills beginning to stir.

Alex covered his mouth with a fist and coughed. He was pretty sure he saw two S-tiers amongst their representatives.

At this rate. Fanelei really was going to be the death of him.