Genetic Ascension

Chapter 777  Silence

Sylas watched on coldly as the beast rattled against its chains, snapping them. 
… 
In the outside hall, a crowd had long gathered. In fact, this matter was projected through the whole Rune Tower, not just the Beast Master Tower section. 
When those watching saw the crowd, they became horrified. Then there were those among them who had weird, contemplative expressions as though they understood something. 
Among this number was a certain young woman in a heavy cloak. But she was far from the only one. 
… 
Ulrik glanced at the screen above him and sneered. By his side, standing in disheveled clothes and trying to mask the puffiness of her eyes with makeup, there was Eliza. 
This was what happened when certain people didn't know their place. 
Uninterested in the happenings, Ulrik turned away and returned to his task. He had already vented his needs, so it was about time he dealt with the true purpose of his visit. 
What he was preparing for was too big and too important to screw it up. He didn't have the time to care for someone who had passed him up on a mere Breath Master list, not when he had long since risen beyond that list. 
… 
The attendants of the Secret Realm scrambled to take action. But they seemed clumsy. They had no experience with the situation they were dealing with at all, and at a certain point, a young girl who felt like her hair was on fire frantically reached for a communication device to call in someone more qualified. 
The young woman in a heavy cloak looked over and shook her head. Was it really a coincidence that all three attendants were so inexperienced the moment Sylas entered? Or was this just another obvious ploy? 
She, too, turned around and left. Sylas' life and death had nothing to do with her. What was more important was to use this commotion to execute what she wanted to as well. 
Sylas had once again provided her perfect coverage. 
… 
Mospheral opened his eyes, a hidden sharpness lighting deep within them as the cobra broke free of its chains. 
This was it. They would find out right now just how valuable this little asset was and how worthwhile it would be to invest or not. 
It was still impossible to tell which Summoned World Sylas came from. That information would be obscured from the leaderboards until the Summoning was completed. 
But even after the Summoning, there would be certain difficulties. 
Aside from some training wheels that would still be present, the greatest difficulty was actually the travel. 
The galaxy was huge, and methods to cross it were scarce, especially for an unmanaged and underdeveloped star system like Earth's. Usually, it would take years, if not decades—depending on the location—to build the infrastructure needed for easy travel to a newly Summoned region. 
There was a good chance, too, that this region was already targeted by others who had already found it. But it was impossible to confirm which factions had their hands out for a piece of the pie already, and they certainly wouldn't share that information. 
It would also be tough for them to confirm just which of these Summoned regions Sylas was actually in until the leaderboard exposed them. 
All of this would take time, effort, resources. Before they could confirm whether it was worth it, Sylas needed to show them. 
Otherwise, they would just take the normal path of recruiting, or wait until Earth was fully integrated and then go and capture him. 
If Sylas just died here, that was fine too. That would just mean they saved themselves the hassle and also a potential headache in the future. 
Whichever it was, Mospheral won. 
Just like he had said… Sylas was too clever for his own good. 
… 
Sylas was the only one who didn't seem to have such existential thoughts. After being through so many life and death situations, facing off against a beast he could make yip like a little puppy whenever he wanted wasn't on his list of fears. He couldn't even make his heart rate accelerate even if he wanted to. 
When he noticed that no one was coming to shut down the Secret Realm, his gaze became cold, but that was about it. 
He had prepared for this as well. 
Sylas cast <Astral Will Projection> again, and then again. His Will fissured into a dozen pieces, and then a dozen more. 
In the blink of an eye, it was as though he had become over 20 people. 
Each one fanned out, leaving the beast not knowing which to target. Because this was a Secret Realm and not a real world, Sylas' Will was his body. As such, when he used the fission mechanics of <Astral Will Projection> to separate them, he had functionally given himself very real clones, each one no less tangible than the last. 
Several of Sylas' clones picked up the pieces of the chains as a tail slapped out, destroying one of them. 
Or so it seemed. 
Rather than being destroyed, Sylas activated <Frosted Nightmare> and sank into the creature's body again. 
The beast froze in place for a moment before its crown shone and it shattered the restraints apart. 
But by that time, Sylas' Rune Mastery had calmly manipulated the chain in his hand. Once again, this wasn't a real world, so what could these chains be formed of if not Runes as well? 
They shattered only because there was a timer on them, but what if Sylas reversed that timer? 
He struck out with a palm and the open maw of the cobra was latched by a chain. Two of his clones appeared behind the beast, grabbing the two halves of the chain and then pulling while a third clone sank into its body again, activating <Frosted Nightmare>. 
The cobra froze just in time for the clones to pull hard. 
It was thrown off balance and crashed onto the flat of its back. 
Sylas' other clones moved swiftly, reversing the flow of the chains and wrapping them around the beast once more. 
Soon, the Quasi Bronze Beast was surrounded by over ten of Sylas, each one kneeling by a portion of the chains and freezing them in place. Now that the timer was no longer ticking down on these Runes… 
How could the cobra escape? 
Sylas looked up indifferently again and the Rune Tower fell to silence. Nôv(el)B\\jnn