Chapter 581: Realizations
SHIIIING!
The claws shot out from Sylas' knuckles once again, and a power flooded into his body.
'It's weaker... but...'
The original claw gave a +506 boost to strength. This one gave barely +250, and the Durability was also already half gone, leaving it at 15/30.
However, the feeling was amazing. Sylas could feel the Greed Seed stirring as though it had sensed something that it really liked, and a resonant connection formed between the two.
Sylas' gaze flickered. 'Can it?'
A wild thought danced in Sylas' mind.
'Excellent timing.'
The peacock appeared high above a Demon City, and Sylas immediately hopped off of its back, his arms spreading out wide as one of his hands gained four claws the size of short swords.
Sylas fell directly onto the city wall formed of thick logs. The sentry couldn't react before the four claws ripped directly into its chest.
With a movement of his intent, the Greed Seed shuddered, and a great deal of blood was drawn in through them.
It was foolish on its face for Sylas to use these claws like this. The boost to his Strength only activated when the claws were active, and he only had one set of them, so killing their Durability on such weak opponents wasn't something someone as smart as Sylas should have done...
Or so it seemed until something clicked.
[Durability: 16/30]
Sylas shook his head, feeling a swirl of emotions ripple through his body as a feedback loop formed between the Blackened Claws and the Greed Seed.
'Clever...'
This was all Sylas could say. Whoever had created this Greed Seed had laid quite the trap.
Sylas was almost certain that the Greed Seed in his body and what was meant to be the original Greed Seed were not the same.
There was no reason for the Gluttony Seed to be so benign in comparison to the Greed Seed otherwise. Plus, the method through which he gained both were too drastically different.
He gained the Gluttony Seed through the action of the Madness Key. But he gained the Greed Seed through a random dagger that couldn't even survive the process.
The gap in the treasures was too drastically different. He had been almost certain from the beginning that his Greed Seed had been tampered with.
Originally, he was very confident nonetheless. His Will was improving so much faster than the Greed Seed that he didn't have to worry about it.
But this might change things.
Demonic Treasures now finally presented an opportunity for him to level the playing field with everyone else.
When he fought normal existences or beasts, it wasn't as obvious. But when he had fought powerhouses like General Aleen, the weight of not being able to use armor and weapons was heavy.
That gap would only grow larger with time, and he had a feeling that it would rear its ugly head very soon.
In fact, Sylas didn't know how lucky he was. There were restrictions on what the Sylphs of the Frostbane Dungeon could bring in. Otherwise, he would have been drowned out by their wealth alone.
Now, the Greed Seed seemed to want to use this opportunity to open up a new path to its improvement.
As difficult as it would be to find someone who would repair Legendary Path Treasures, it would probably be even more difficult to find someone that could repair normal Demonic Treasures.
The ability to increase its Durability just by killing was absolutely invaluable. But increasing the Blackened Claw's Durability in this way also seemed to strengthen the Greed Seed much more considerably than usual.
Sylas could almost imagine a floating smirk in front of his eyes.
'Indeed, clever... just not clever enough.'
Sylas' arm swung out to the side, and the head of a charging Demon was split into five. Before it even hit the ground, its blood was sucked into the Blackened Claws, and the Demonic Treasure's Durability increased to 17.
With a step, Sylas fell into the village and unleashed absolute carnage. By the end of the battle, rather than his Demonic Treasure losing Durability, it had returned to perfect form. Though the Strength it gave him was still only half of the original, and this Strength only seemed to be applied to his right arm's attack alone, there was no doubting just how much more efficient Sylas had become in killing.
And this only continued.
Sylas went from Demon City to Demon City, leaving rivers of blood in his wake, and sometimes, leaving not a single drop of it at all.
If there really had been such a smirking smile, it would have almost certainly turned stiff by
now.
Sylas didn't fear the Greed Seed in the slightest. His Will had left its ability to influence him so far behind that it was still playing catch up...
And he still had no intention of ever letting it even see his footsteps, let alone grow strong enough to influence him...
This wasn't because he planned to stall its progress either.
It was because he didn't plan to stall his own.
...
SHUUUU!
The peacock shot through the air and appeared over the System City once again.
By this point, the fatigue on Sylas' face was palpable, but he had succeeded in what he had set
out to do.
There were no longer any Demons in his Territory, and to his surprise, he gained a Hollow
Merit for it.
The effort to pay off ratio certainly wasn't worthwhile. But it was nice to know that that was
possible.
'They will continue to spawn eventually, though... I'll need to find a method to deal with them, or I might have to leave Nosphaleen here... No, actually, there's a better solution. I will command the System City army to do it.'
If Sylas sent a General after every newly spawned Demon City, the issue should be handled.
Normally, the System City was quite slow at handling these matters, mostly because the system decided it should be that way. But Sylas' rule of law took precedent here.
Now, he could finally rest... and then it seemed that he would have to face off against a
government.
On his ride back, Sylas had caught the escaping Braxwell. This time, their real bodies. Oddly enough, he also learned that Ragnar had died.
This didn't leave Sylas feeling relieved. Instead, it left him frowning. For two reasons.
First, he had been around the area where Ragnar should have died, but there was no corpse,
nor were there any remains.
Second, he had been planning on killing Ragnar for the secret to permanently etching the
tattoos into his body. Although he had opened up a new doorway with the Demonic Treasures, that method was still only temporary.
This raised some alarm bells in Sylas' mind. Everything revolved around the question of how Moose had managed all of this.
Whether Moose was really alive or dead was irrelevant to Sylas. No matter what the answer was, there had to be someone else behind him one way or another.
But Sylas wouldn't even get the chance to look into this any further because Braxwell also had information that made his eyes light up.
If he was correct...
The Africor Continental Government was now targeting the very same location he was.
[Rune Enlightenment (Silver) (Chain Quest)]
[The people of Earth have a deep and storied history. In its past, much of its language
encompassed the secrets of this path and embodied the hope of nations.
[Fallen and forgotten, the ebbs and flows of time have suppressed this storied heritage. As an
Earthling who has rekindled that flame, you share part of this responsibility.
[Rise up and claim your Rune Enlightenment]
[Silver Requirement]
[>Clear Dungeon: The Mountain of Giza]