Genetic Ascension

Chapter 409:  Not...

Sylas took a breath and gathered what remained on the battlefield. He had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time he saw that woman.

'A dangerous opponent…'

If not for the landscape advantage he had, it would have been impossible for him to win. He would have had no choice but to take her deal, but that would also mean giving up his chance at first place, and potentially even second.

He wasn't sure what that would mean, ultimately. Would he still be considered to have cleared the Dungeon? Usually the answer would be yes or no, but that answer seemed to be up in the air this time.

'There's only one challenge left…'

Sylas left and he found Brisa's team waiting.

'Aerwyna technically made it through the last round first, so she should be the first to choose a door. Brisa was second, so the moment Aerwyna conceded, she should be the one to go. So why is she still here?'

Though Sylas thought this, he already had his answer through her gaze.

Fear.

She was standing here despite having gained an advantage because she wanted to confirm it for herself. She wanted to see Sylas come out alive.

None of Aerwyna's teammates were here, and assuming "conceding" wasn't normal, she must think that they were all dead. After seeing Sylas come out alive and covered in blood, she was only more certain of this.

The look in Sylas' eye did nothing to reassure her of anything else.

This human had come in alone and had taken out two teams all on his own.

What kind of monster was he?

Sylas only continued to look at her silently, his breathing calm. It wasn't because he was particularly interested in her, her team, or anything she had to say. Rather… it was because he couldn't choose a door until she did.

Brisa only seemed to realize this much later, only then did shakily look toward the doors.

After she settled down, she realized that there was no need for her to be worried. With two teams gone, unless Sylas went out of his way to pick her, they should be able to cruise to the finish line.

She froze when she had this thought. What if he did go out of his way?

She didn't know much about Summonings, but she knew enough to know that these people were likely to go out of their way to collect Genes.

She turned back from the door, gritting her teeth.

"I'm willing to make a deal—."

"Ca—."

Brisa held out a hand to stop her second in command from saying something she was certain would be utterly foolish.

"There's only two of us left, and we can easily avoid one another the rest of the way. I'm willing to compensate you to ensure that."

Sylas was a bit surprised to hear that, but he understood her reasoning quite quickly.

"Go on." He said lightly.

"I have the corpse of a Level 35 FFF- Grade beast that I've been saving. The Beast Core is in pristine condition and it has a Constitution Type Gene Talent you might be able to unlock. I can give it to you right here and now so long as you sign a pact with me."

Sylas' eyes narrowed. He had been through the spatial devices of most of the others by now. Although he hadn't seen what Aerwyna's team had to offer yet, he had seen enough from Vayu's to know that this was a very generous offer.

FFF- didn't sound impressive… but it had to be remembered that the Grading system Sylas was used to was relative to Earth. The ratings were still a jumbled mess and wouldn't even out for many years.

There was a large concentration at the bottom of the barrel for Earth right now, so it made it extremely easy to come across even FFF+, let alone FFF- once.

However, in an established world like the Sylph's, most would turn tail and run the other way if they ever saw an FFF- beast. In fact, even F+ beast would take a mighty warrior to cut down.

A lot of things on Earth right now were being looked through a distorted lens… for an FFF- beast to appear in an E-Grade Race's territory, they would have to be exceptional. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In addition, the chance of a Gene Talent was truly tempting.

Seeing Sylas' silence, Brisa grit her teeth again.

"I am also willing to add in a blank slate, FF- Clandestine Ape."

"Okay." Sylas said lightly.

Brisa exhaled a breath of relief and the two quickly signed a contract. Soon, Brisa felt air finally making its way into her lungs and she settled down.

After handing Sylas everything, she rushed away with her team as though she couldn't move fast enough.

Sylas looked back toward the remaining doors. Brisa had entered II, which he presumed was Aerwyna's door. So it was only natural that he enter IV.

There was a reason he had accepted this door. He had no way of knowing if the tampering on his Dungeon would still be in effect now or not… which meant he likely still had one more dance with life and death coming.

So long as he could pass this, there would only be one last Will challenge remaining and he was confident enough in crossing that.

But this one…

He let Brisa off because he didn't know what kind of state he would be in after this round. There was no guarantee he would have another loophole to use like he had during the Clandestine Ape round.

Sylas looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them. Closing his eyes, he slowly calmed his breathing and steadied his heart.

He should only have one focus this time around.

Victory.

And he had to do it within 50% of Brisa's time or else he would be disqualified.

He took a step forward and entered door IV.

The world spun around Sylas and when everything cleared, a familiar set of tall stairs was before him.

He leapt up with a bend of his knees, landing with a solid thud. He had already fused with the Basilisk King, prepared to go all out.

'Not a beast…'

This was Sylas' first thought when he saw the figure.

'… But not a human either…'