Genetic Ascension

Chapter 651: SSS+ [Bonus]

Sylas stood in silence.

It was rare that he was so lucky, so much so that he, quite frankly, was having a hard time believing it. But when he thought about everything that happened... he realized that it was only natural things went like this.

During Leg 001, he was able to use Mature Aether to quickly clear a large number of enemies thanks to his high Rune Mastery. But that was hardly the most important part. Someone more powerful than him could have done that as well... But what they couldn't do was locate and analyze the Will of the man controlling the golems.

Because of that, Sylas got an exceptionally fast start on Leg 002. All he had to do was lay eyes on the Great Priest and he would have been able to identify him.

If not for this, the task of Leg 002 to "Stabilize the city" would have been so vague that he would have no idea what to do. If he hadn't known that the danger was inside the city walls, who knew how long it would have taken him to figure it all out?

By knowing that, it led him straight in Leg 003 which finally exposed that the lingering danger was in the temple.

But that was where the difference between Sylas and others really began to show. Setting aside how difficult it had been to kill the Rotten Chimera, the main issue of Leg 003 was figuring out how to destroy a Rune Platform forged from diamond.

Unless Sylas had the Rune Mastery to analyze the Runes and know that reversing the flow would destroy things, he didn't even know how else he might go about destroying diamond. He was sure that he could find a method, but how many days or weeks would it take him to prepare for such a thing?

And then came Leg 004. This was probably the most time-consuming Leg only because of the travel aspect of it, but without the ability to control such a powerful beast and divert attention from himself at the same time, just how much time would he have wasted trying to find a way in?

And then once again for Leg 005, without the ability to analyze Runes, he wouldn't have been able to make it into this World of Mirrors so easily. And without Extricate, he wouldn't have been able to sense the flow of the Blood Essence that allowed him to do it.

It could be said that aside from those with absolute power... Sylas was probably one of the most suited people to clearing this Dungeon. In fact, he was undoubtedly the fastest to ever clear it.

In not even three days, this unranked Dungeon had fallen, and he didn't even have to fight the Thryskai to do it.

Easy. All he needed was three Legendary Path Talents, a Legendary Path beast contract, and Rune Essence Rune Mastery.

Anyone could do it.

Sylas shook his head and exhaled a breath. Is this what the Madness Key meant by 'Be Strong'?

When you were strong... did it matter what variables or curveballs you were forced to face? You could plow through them all with ease.

Sylas had come here ready for the fight of his life... only to steamroll everything in his path. The world warped around him.

[Split Realm Clearance Contribution]

1. [Sylas Grimblade - 92%]

[Grade - SSS+]

2. [Archibald Flowning - 23%]

[Grade - AA-]

3....

[Grade - ...]

...

27. [Alex Reynolds - 6%]

[Grade - C-]

'Hm? That name.'

Sylas' gaze suddenly sharpened. He didn't even have the time to care about what these rankings meant or what they represented. His eyes were entirely glued to the number two ranked on the list.

Archibald Flowning... he had definitely seen that name before.

[Archibald Flowning (FFF-)]

[Level: 3]

[Profession: Master Tinker (Silver)]

[Special Talent: Scrapyard (Upgradeable)]

[One man's trash is another man's treasure. This ability allowed a Tinkerer to find the value in cast-off items and make more with less.]

[Favorability: N/A]

Sylas' memory was immaculate. He recalled the status screen as though it was hovering right in front of him.

He was certain. Archibald Flowning, unless it was a sheer coincidence and there was another man who carried the same exact name, was the Master Tinkerer he had saved from the pig demon city all those months ago.

Sylas had gifted Archibald to Lucius, who had ended up using him to receive great rewards from the Grimblades.

This latter part wasn't something that Sylas was in the know about. What he did know was that many of the fixtures of Lucius' city were created by Archibald and he was a large part of the reason why it would be so difficult to attack Lucius in the future.

Of course, what Sylas also didn't know was that his preparations to deal with Archibald's creations wouldn't be of much use because Lucius had already fled back to the Grimblades. Well... they wouldn't be of much use unless he was forced to clash with the Grimblades themselves.

But this was truly the last name Sylas expected to see here. He had thought that he would see some royalty, maybe some from the government, maybe even some famous historical names

from the past...

But this?

What did this mean? Just who was Archibald? Was the Olden day language he spoke in really a testament to the era he had come from?

In that case, what did it represent? Had he come from the past? How had he lived for so long?

How had he ended up in a Demon City?

The more Sylas thought about it, the more it settled in for him...

Archibald had fooled him.

There was no way that he was as clueless as he seemed to pretend to be. Either that, or the

man had wiped himself of all of his memories.

The thoughts ran wild in Sylas' head and the possibilities felt endless.

But the answer he was looking for wouldn't be here.

What would be here, though...

Was the light at the end of this Dungeon and the rewards that came with it.