Genetic Ascension novel Chapter 2407

Chapter 2407: Crippled

Sylas walked out of the World of Spirits with the same calm expression he had worn when he left Rhykan behind, the shifting light of the Sanctum fading from his body as reality settled around him again.

Reversing what had just happened was still possible, at least in theory, especially if Sylas combined what remained of his own hold over the Beast Sanctum with Yamero, who was in many ways a far more perfect vessel than Caracos Thar had ever been.

That was the reason Sylas had taken Yamero with him in the first place. In fact, he had several other potential solutions to the current situation as well.

At first glance, that might have made Sylas’ loss look stranger than it actually was. If he had already understood that Rhykan possessed Slovenly Madness and had independently considered using Yamero in a similar role, then why hadn’t he realized what Rhykan intended before the final stage ever began?

The answer was simple enough.

Sylas hadn’t failed to see the possibility, he had failed to account for how far Rhykan was willing to take it.

Sylas had never planned to use the Madness Path itself as the conduit. His intention had been to build an entirely new path through Yamero, something that suited the spatial serpent almost perfectly when Yamero’s body was quite literally constructed from many of the same principles that governed Sylas’ Rune Mastery.

That was only the beginning of what Sylas wanted from the opportunity.

If the Beast Sanctum truly wanted an evolution of Will, then Sylas had planned to use that moment to push beyond the narrow problem it presented and see just how much of Rune Mastery itself he could overturn in the process.

Yamero was already a living expression of Runes in a way almost nothing else was, which made him an ideal bridge between Will, Rune structure, and whatever path Sylas intended to create afterward.

There had even been a possibility that Sylas could lay the foundation for something much larger.

He had already begun finding ways to step outside the shadow of the Dragons, refusing to remain chained to the source of one of his greatest strengths forever. If he could do something similar with Rune Mastery, then there was at least a chance that he could begin laying the path to one day break free from the Phoenix as well.

That was what Sylas had been preparing, but Rhykan had taken a very different road. He had essentially crippled himself on purpose for the sake of victory.

Calling it a sacrifice would have been too simple, especially when the immediate benefits were so absurdly high, but that didn’t change the underlying problem. Rhykan had taken an existing path, made himself its supposed originator, and then wrapped both himself and the Beast Sanctum around it so tightly that the system had accepted the arrangement as something worthy of Progenitor Status.

The rewards were enormous, yet the cost would grow right alongside them.

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