Chapter 900 70%
As Sylas walked forward, his thoughts only grew more complex as he tried to maintain two chaotic systems in his mind at the same time. But oddly enough, at least for most others, he wasn't struggling with this.
So much so that he was actually paying attention to something else entirely.
70% of Earth was covered in water. All his life, he had heard about just how little they knew about them, but he never really thought about whether this was natural or not.
Other planets… were they also covered in so much water?
Honestly, he didn't know the answer to that question yet. But what he did know was that it was only natural that a species like the Clypsians rose to dominate so early on.
It was an Overlord Race, both dominant on water and land, capable of thriving in both regions. And yet, somehow, Earth only produced one of them for some reason?
Why did dinosaurs become the following Overlord Race and not some ancient oceanic creatures? What about colossal squids? What about blue whales? What about creatures lurking so deep below that the Human Race hadn't even unearthed them yet?
There were so many variations of creatures in the ocean, but somehow, aside from the Clypsians, every other Overlord Race of their world was some variation of a land creature. What sense did that make?
It made sense that Earth lost the last Summoning because of the ocean.
It wasn't that Sylas didn't want to shore up that weakness, but he had simply never had the time to. Honestly speaking, this was clearly not his victory alone.
There was a lot of effort put in by others. As much hatred as he had toward some of them, they had done their part.
There had to be a reason that the oceans hadn't overrun Earth yet, and it certainly wasn't him.
Likewise, there had to be a reason nothing came of the notification he received about his Woodland Territory. Maybe the Africor Continent wasn't as useless as they had made themselves out to be.
Though, he had no way of knowing for certain until he went to check himself.
But there were other things he had neglected. There were large strips of barren land on Earth, enormous continents of ice that mostly remained untouched.
Someone had to have been responsible for keeping them in line.
As Sylas walked forward toward a central table beneath the moving constellations above, his thoughts considered all of this in earnest. And then he reached one major conclusion.
There was certainly someone or something helping Earth. As much as they had suffered at the hands of others, there were also currents moving with them as well, someone or something that was invested in their success.
Maybe it was the impotent system, as Arcane Madness called it. Or… maybe it was something else.
'After the First and Second Summonings, it's likely that Earth never had a natural Overlord Race emerge again…' Sylas suddenly reached a stunning conclusion. 'For our enemies to choose to step in not after this first mysterious Overlord Race, and only after the Clypsians, it's quite likely that Earth's oceans are what truly make it special.
'A world that is 30% land and 70% water… how could the bulk of its evolutions not also be hidden in the depths below?'
Sylas placed his palm down on the turn table.
BANG!
The top layer completely shattered under the might of his Aether. Rune Spark took shape.
Nosphaleen appeared behind him and placed a palm on his back. Semi-Fusion activated, and Sylas felt Siren's Call in earnest.
Water Aether fell to his beck and call. Though less efficient by far than when Nosphaleen used it, this was something that only he could do, so it couldn't be helped.
However, while he didn't have Water Aether, he had a strong grasp of Ice Aether. They functioned very differently, but the foundations that built their Runes were very similar—similar enough that it wasn't long before Siren's Call began to help Sylas improve by leaps and bounds.
Runes always listened to him, but how—Water Aether began to flow so naturally that Breath Mastery Runes began to appear spontaneously.
Sylas was a bit stunned, honestly.
Siren's Call was ironically one of the few of Nosphaleen's abilities that weren't actually related to charming humans, but instead charmed Water Aether itself. It increased her affinity by severalfold.
But it was also the ability Nosphaleen used the least… in fact, Sylas couldn't remember her using it ever at all. That was mostly because… they never really fought on the water.
Sylas could only suppress the thoughts. The synergy between Siren's Call and controlling Water Runes would have to wait. Because right now, he felt something big was about to happen.
The observatory shook and the speed of the shifting celestial bodies above increased.
Right then, they flowed in reverse, and Sylas almost felt like he was watching the wheel of time be peeled back, spinning backward faster and faster until, suddenly…
BANG!
It all came to a stop.
The celestial bodies locked in place and no longer moved.
At the same time, the Water Aether that Sylas was manipulating on the turn table stopped completely as well. Even under Siren's Call, it didn't shift at all.
And then he heard it.
He was certain it was a rush of water. Violent and fast, it rushed in from four directions.
Sylas' eyes narrowed, but he didn't panic.
"Come." He took Nosphaleen's hand and pulled her into the Hibernation Realm. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he Fused with her.
This was the first time he was going to do such a thing, and he wasn't sure what would happen when he Fused with a woman.
However, the process was no different.
Wings sprouted from his back, silvery blue scales coating his body. His face became fairer and slightly more delicate, but in the end, he was still very much Sylas Brown.
And then the water hit him.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He was swallowed whole, sinking into an endless darkness.