“What do you all… think you’re doing…”
The elder Sylph gasped for breath, a palm pressed to his bleeding chest. He was even paler now than he had been in the past, and now his white robes had a patch of quickly spreading blackness.
The three figures still didn’t reply.
In response, the elder Sylph could only laugh. “Trying to play with the bottom line of the system as a mere E-Grade Race… you all… overestimate yourselves… whatever game you’re playing at… you’ll just end up the pawn on someone else’s board…”
There was only the barest hint of emotion on the faces of the three when this was said, but that didn’t stop them from dealing the death blow to the elder Sylph.
Once he had breathed his last, the three of them stood around the bonfire and looked toward one another for the first time. Until now, they had communicated seamlessly with hardly a word between them as they took the man down.
But now, they seemed to be negotiating something with their eyes. Eventually, two of them looked toward the last and there was a hint of resignation in his gaze.
With a clench of his jaw, he stuck his hand forward and into the bonfire.
Screams suddenly filled the forest. Cursed vein patterns ran how his arm and quickly made it to his heart. In that instant, the screams stopped… but the curse didn’t.
It continued to rampage through his body until it had grown so thick that it looks as though the man’s skin had become green.
His body was entirely stiff, not twitching even a single muscle as the curse finally invaded the dullness of his eyes and his brain.
CRACK.
Fissures began to appear across the man’s body and suddenly he cracked apart. What remained of his body floated off into the harsh winds, scattering across the forest to be forgotten.
The two remaining men continued to look down at the bonfire as though their companion hadn’t just died. Their focus was trained ahead, not wanting to miss a single moment of what would happen next.
But then…
The both of them shuddered.
They looked up into the skies at once to see a fissure, if it could even be described that way. It was too perfect, as though the building blocks of reality had been carefully peeled apart in layers of perfectly straight lines that could be seamlessly put back together as though nothing at all had happened at all.
The eyes of the two men widened in fear. How could this happen? This was certainly not supposed to happen.
The perfect fissure opened in the tear duct shape of an eye, and soon there was a swirl of energy right at the center that formed an iris.
The realization hit them too late. But even if they realized seconds earlier, it wouldn’t have changed a single thing.
The beam of light descended and silence fell into the forest once more.
Flames flickered in the bonfire, dancing without someone to manage it. A single corpse lay staring off into space, its eyes dull and lifeless. All the while, the situation on Sylas’ side had changed.
…
Sylas had been just about to clash with the apes when he felt a shudder. His body swayed and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
All of a sudden, the pressure in this combat level increased several times and icicles began to form across his skin.
Sylas reacted fast, using his Rune Soul to try and disperse them as quickly as possible, but while the Runes themselves were far weaker than his control, the Aether backing them was too powerful. It felt like he was facing off a behemoth whose Aether was hundreds of times more pure than his own.
No matter how strong his Rune Soul, his Wisdom and overall Mental was too weak to support it at this level.
Still, he grinded his teeth, pushing himself hard. He activated his Winter’s Edge Gene Talent for the first time, still not familiar with all that it could do, but knowing he had to rely on it for the extra bit of ambient Aether control he needed to keep himself alive.
Unfortunately, Lolaleen wasn’t nearly so lucky. She fought back valiantly, but after the second second, she was already encased in ice. After the third, all life had been completely snuffed out from her. Even if she was defrosted, there would be nothing but a corpse remaining.
The strength of the apes multiplied several times over in an instant.
Sylas quickly used
Luckily,
Unluckily, the remaining white ape smashed through
It lashed out, slapping at him.
Sylas could only gather all the Aether he could, crossing his arms over his chest and activated
BOOM!
His arms became a mangled mess and his body flew out faster than he had ever run in his life.
The Basilisk King’s fusion canceled mid-flight, his injuries too heavy for it to succeed.
He crashed down heavily, blood spurting out of his mouth.
What happened?
These were the only words he could think of before the white ape continued barreling toward him. It also didn’t look like the second white ape would be stalled for much longer at all. It felt like death was the only way out.
That was when Sylas saw the notification.
Normally, he would completely tune it out in battle. He knew how distracting it would be. But right now, when he was grasping at any straw to find a path to survival, it was impossible for him to ignore it.
However, what he saw when he opened it made his eyes widen.
—
[The System is watching you, System Breaker]
[Quest Received]
[War of Worlds (Legendary)]
[Your Dungeon has been tampered with by outside interferences and your life no longer seems to be in your hands. Follow the Path of the Progenitor and control your own Destiny]
—
Sylas was shaken.
This was completely worthless to him.
