Chapter 733: Environment [Top 5 in Golden Tickets Bonus]
The husk rebounded against the ground heavily, blood flying from its mouth.
Sylas continued walking forward, crossing by his side as though nothing at all had happened.
A flash came from the eyes of the husk, suddenly reaching out toward Sylas' leg.
But...
PUCHI!
Its arm went flying.
A single whip of Sylas' tail severed it at the elbow.
There wasn't a single groan of pain that came from the husk. But this didn't surprise Sylas in the slightest. How could something that wasn't even really human possibly feel pain?
Sylas' gait remained steady, but when he got to the end of the path, he paused.
A group of several dozen shadows stood, their gazes just as empty and vacant. Some of them held cold weapons, and the others held pistols and rifles.
They didn't seem very organized, and yet there wasn't a single gap between them to be exploited.
Sylas didn't know how they knew he was coming... but that answer hardly mattered to him.
SHIIIING.
The skies were suddenly filled with Glass blades.
With a step, Sylas shot forward, his green irises leaving streaks in the air.
...
Sylas' little sister, Elara, sat on her balcony, unhappily staring out at the moon.
The faint sounds of an argument could be heard from a distance away, reverberating through the walls. Her parents probably thought that she was already asleep, though to be fair, she should be.
But, she was already at the age where she felt a slight rebellious spirit in her heart. Plus... what was the point?
They weren't letting her go to school anymore, and she felt isolated with the other families subtly distancing themselves from their little group.
There already weren't very many children her age around here, and she missed her friends greatly, but now it was far worse than it had ever been before.
The argument her parents were having was much the same as it had been the last handful of weeks.
Should they leave? Should they not? Where would they go if they did leave? Was it even possible to leave?
Her grandfather had mostly been silent about it all. He was the calmest aside from Elara herself. That calmness of theirs came from their belief in Sylas...
Of course, that wasn't to say that her parents didn't believe in their son. It was just that... the environment that the two of them had grown up in was far different.
Her parents were very simple people, and neither of them seemed to show the same sort of sharpness that she or Sylas had.
It was odd, even Elara felt it so. In this case, the apple falling far from the tree seemed to be a compliment to Elara and Sylas, and a disparagement of their parents.
Elara remembered bringing this up to Sylas when she was seven years old. She had always felt like her elder brother was the only person she could show her true face to.
Still, she had expected to either be scolded or agreed with. What she instead received was insight that made her respect her brother's mind all the more.
"Your environment decides just as much about the person you are as your innate tendencies do..." Elara muttered under her breath.
Her parents were people who had grown up in the normal world, managing to build up great businesses.
But her father had lost his mother at an early age and felt abandoned by his own father even though Magnus had come back into his life.
Her mother lost both parents before she even met Cedric.
Because of this, the two of them took family to be their number one priority. If they really forewent everything else, they would have likely also built a billion-dollar business together.
But instead, they had no-work-from-home policies instead.
Elara and Sylas' parents were the slowest to adapt to this new world because they were still chasing after the simple warmth they had fought so hard to earn...
Not realizing yet that this world was a place that chewed such kind hearts up and spit them -out.
Of course, they still had some awareness of it all. That was why they understood the implied threat to stay within the Grimblades... and that was also why they had all tacitly agreed not to mention their struggles the last time Sylas visited.
Elara leaned her cheek on a palm, shifting her gaze toward a pair of men.
Her grandfather and another man she didn't recognize at all.
Elara sighed with a tone that seemed much too mature for her age. "It seems that that time has come already."
BANG!
A once invisible dome flickered with life as a shadowy figure slammed into it.
Elara watched indifferently as the man slipped down the barrier like a bird that had just crashed into a window.
Indeed... Your environment decides just as much about the person you are as your innate tendencies do...
And Elara's environment was decided by Sylas.
...
Lucius' gaze was frighteningly cold and bloodshot. He learned about what was happening practically before anyone else.
He tossed his sleeping robes to the side, revealing a body toned, robust, and filled with scars of its own. But it was quickly covered up by armor.
He picked up a sheathed sword by his bedside table, walking down the hallway with vigorous
steps.
Soon, he had made it to the foyer of his home, but his gaze sharpened as he looked to the side and found Nathan leaning on a pillar.
"What are you doing here?" Lucius asked.
The family took back control of talents, so he hadn't seen Nathan in a long while.
"This is an unexpected change." Nathan said instead of responding. "What did you do to piss
him off?"
Lucius' expression changed. "I've done nothing."
"Is that so? I hear his little sister isn't going to school anymore."
"She disrespected the teachers several times and has shown no promise."
"Or, she has a badass for an elder brother and didn't want to accept the trash Professions
you're handing out."
Lucius' eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to stand against the Grimblades?"
"You were intelligent." Nathan said slowly. "Although I didn't agree with your decision, I could see the logic behind it. But these last few weeks, you've slowly sunk into depravity.
"Maybe that's only natural. It's easy to be calm until the reality of your failure truly sets in."
"I'll ask you again. What. Are. You. Doing. Here."
Nathan didn't reply, instead tossing something over.
"Maybe if you use it, you'll have a chance of surviving. Good luck."
With that, Nathan disappeared.
'... A hologram?'
Lucius caught a cube out of the air, his brows furrowing.
What was Nathan playing at?