Chapter 860 Other Foot [Top Five in Golden Tickets Bonus]
"You don't regret that?" Nathan asked, taking a seat at Mortimer's old desk.
"What is there to regret?"
"Isn't he your son or something?"
"My grandson."
"And?"
"He hath lived his life, yet knew not when to yield. A chance I did grant him, yet he didst persist in clinging to power. The world beyond is vast enough, yet to strive for dominion over so small a corner, even at the cost of sinking the vessel, is naught but pitiful. Such a blight must needs be uprooted."
"And you're different?"
"Mine aim is not to lead; mine purpose is to grant Earth a chance to endure."
"Sylas doesn't seem to believe so."
"Sylas trusteth me not, for he knoweth naught of me."
"I don't think I know much about you either."
"Mayhap. Yet Sylas treadeth a path apart. Leadership is not his calling from the first. I shall not marvel if ere long—"
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[Affiliation Head Transferred]
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[Affiliation Head Assigned]
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[Grimblade Lineage Head: Cassarae Grimblade]
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"—Well, there it is."
Nathan blinked at the notification screen. "That's possible too? Where are the restrictions?"
"In the eyes of the system, they art wed. 'Tis wholly reasonable and well within the bounds of the rules and restrictions."
"I didn't think that he was a man who would trust others with so much power. It seems that I've misjudged him."
"Those who knoweth how to delegate tasks art the most fearsome of all."
"Now what?" Nathan asked.
"Now 'tis upon thee to sway him to yield the Metarock. Whether we sink or swim shall rest upon his compliance."
"Do you think that's going to be easy or something?"
"Thou art a negotiator. I place mine faith in thee."
"Do you ever do anything but tinker? I have a feeling we're all in this situation because you're lazy."
"We shall all have a chance to endure precisely because I am not. Now go and prove thyself more than a wretched descendant who doth vex me to mine utmost limit."
"Yes, yes. Right away."
Nathan sighed, rubbing his face. He was very much not looking forward to this.
The last time he brought up Metarock to Sylas, he almost lost his head to a glance. He did not want to meet that gaze again, but here they were.
That said… Nathan knew that this time would be different. All of the cards were in Sylas' hands, and there wasn't much room left for Earth to maneuver.
Sylas was smart enough to know what he should do.
Earth was at the point where even if Sylas managed to reach the E-Grade, they were unlikely to survive.
He was going to have to rely on others; otherwise, they were all going to go down with this ship.
And who else if not family?
Archibald Grimblade was on their side.
**
Sylas took a deep breath, the head of a T-Rex hanging from his fingers before he tossed it down to the ground.
The Bone-Tailed Lizard appeared again, devouring it.
The walls of Casstle Main weren't in good shape. That said, there was something that was much better now than it had been before.
His Demerits.
The moment he saw the T-Rex, he knew that he had actually been granted a great chance. He had gotten a Bronze Demerit due to the Demons, and he thought he might have to deal with it for a while. After all, it would take 100 Quasi King Beast deaths for him to offset that.
What he didn't expect was for Bronze King Beasts to suddenly start appearing in such large numbers.
He had already killed seven of them now. With just three more, he would be clear of his Bronze Demerit.
This also went to show just how annoying Lucius' method had been. It shouldn't have been so easy to accumulate a Silver Demerit at all, since even losing an entire Territory only led to a fraction of that cost.
Though, it also helped that the King Beast Auras of these creatures were useless against him. As powerful as they were, they weren't members of the Overlord Race of Earth, and as such, their Crowns were countered by Sylas' own.
As a result, it wasn't like Sylas was fighting King Beasts at all, but more like he was just fighting beasts with souped-up stats.
Sylas had been fighting against those with stronger stats than his own for what felt like a lifetime already. Now that his stats were finally catching up to the best of the best, they stood even less of a chance.
With a step, Sylas landed on Casstle Main's city wall, his breathing finally returning to some semblance of calm. He had gone all out to make it back here as quickly as possible, and that had obviously come with its own costs.
It was a bit annoying that his Combat Mount wasn't more useful than it was, but unfortunately, it was much faster for him to fly with his telekinesis than it was to bring out the Symbiote Peacock.
It was just too slow for him now.
"You didn't receive any Quests?" Sylas asked with a frown.
"No Quests?" Cassarae frowned in return. "What do you think all of this is? Do you think you can just randomly upgrade your city and subordinate cities as you please? There are costs, challenges, and battles to fight, you know? These T-Rexes didn't just come out of nowhere. They appeared because of you!"
"Is that so?" Sylas asked. He really hadn't known. But… this was an opportunity nonetheless.
He waved a hand, and four Gene Cores appeared.
If they were going to speed-evolve the city, they might as well speed-evolve its people too.
"Is the alchemist cooperating?"
"She hasn't stepped out of line in a while."
"Then she's already mastered the Gene Elixir formula?"
"Yes."
"Then it's probably time to take advantage of this before the other foot drops."
"The other foot?"
Sylas looked up.
Cassarae was startled and followed suit.
Her eyes opened wide.
"When the fuck did that get there?!"