Chapter 915 One Final Step
The two landed in the Africor Continent, stepping through portals to return to the Glass Territory seamlessly.
The feeling of being in control pulsed around Sylas once again.
This Territory was under his full control. After all, he had been a Warlord not just once over… but twice.
As for what the situation was in the Woodland Territory right now, he truly wasn't sure. However, he had set himself a priority list.
The first was to make himself and Casstle Main as strong as possible. Everything else could wait… including the System Cities and a potential Demon invasion.
Unfortunately, at this point, Earth was in a situation where Demons might be the least of their worries.
As for the System Cities… there were simply far too many of them. According to his math, there were at least a hundred thousand of them, maybe double that, across all of Earth. And by now, the City Lords were probably at least Level 50, probably beyond, having broken into E-Grade.
Worse than that, unlike the fallen E-Grades of the previous Summoning, these E-Grades wouldn't be so weak nor would they be susceptible to his Crown.
As much of a victory as he had claimed, whether it was the governments that remained, Legacy, the System Cities, the Demons, or the schemer still lurking in the dark…
Earth was still dealing with too many problems, and there was only one real solution to address them all…
Become stronger.
Ideally, he would like to figure out how to improve his second Class. But since he couldn't, this Silver Grade City was the next best option.
Sylas also hadn't forgotten that he had a ticket to challenge for yet another Bronze City as well, something he had received from a Quicktime Event long ago.
Back then, he hadn't felt ready, the danger being far too great. He felt that he could likely succeed now… but the risk to reward wasn't worth it.
It sounded crazy to say that about a Bronze City Stele challenge, and then come and try to claim a Silver City… but this sort of Madness was exactly what Earth needed.
However, standing there, right before the city once again…
He couldn't help but feel small.
The feel of Cassarae's hand kept him somewhat grounded, but looking at the large looming building of Glass, the billowing snow hanging all around him, he just couldn't take that step forward.
The risk was too high.
'It seems that I… was over ambitious.'
He also felt something else. The difficulty now felt higher than it was in the past.
There were two explanations he could think of for that.
Either it scaled with his Level, or maybe… it had lowered the difficulty when it sensed his Glass Aether Mancy Path.
But now, he was no longer a pure Glass Mancer. He was a Glassvolt Mancer, deviating from the Path of Glass.
Sylas already had the answer before he even fully completed the thought. The city was unhappy with his choice, and as such, it raised the difficulty.
'In that case…'
Sylas' body began to transform, beautiful crystalline scales coating him from neck to toe, his skin becoming much fairer from its usual deep brown tan.
The pressure coming from the city lessened considerably in the moment he fused with the Glasirith, but the aura was still far too much.
Sylas sighed. 'If we can't clear this challenge now, then what do we do instead? There isn't enough time to clear the System Cities. Even if there were, I only know a path to make it from Casstle Main to the Africor Empire and back. I don't have any other portal maps on me. Plus, with the integration being triggered by the Lost City of Greed, Portals will probably stop being reliable very soon…
'In that case, maybe the best thing to do is…'
There were only really two options. Going to the Woodland Territory to see what was going on and returning to Gralith to learn about the next layers.
Those two were probably the most efficient use of his time, with the latter being the most cost effective, and the former likely having the most potential rewards should he strike gold.
The Demon hoards were a sea of potential Treasures. He only had one Demon Treasure on him, but it had been far more useful than he ever expected. Who knew what he could do with more?
Plus, there was his new Junior Primate Class that was almost certainly related to them. And, of course, dealing with the Demons now would give Earth one less problem to deal with.
But, that was a risk. By extension, Gralith was practically a sure bet.
Sylas was about to make a decision when his eyes narrowed.
The city before him rumbled.
At the center of it, there was a familiar obelisk, a perfect replica of the very same one in the jade on his person. Sylas was sure that this was the second of the Forges he needed to gather to upgrade the one in his possession. But he also couldn't activate it without conquering the city first.
'Someone is trying to take it without clearing the city first?'
Although it sounded like Sylas and Cassarae were right outside the city, they were actually a great distance away. It was just that the city was so large that even while standing on a mountain range dozens of miles away, it could be seen even through the snow storm.
Sylas' eyes widened.
"Stay here."
He shot off.
"FUCK YOU!" Cassarae called.
The moment Sylas shot into the air, she shot down the mountain. She might not have the telekinesis to fly, but she had her legs, dammit.
Sylas saw this, but there was nothing he could do to stop her. With her pace, he would just have to hope that she was slow enough that her stubbornness didn't ruin things.
…
In the far off distance, standing high above the City of Glass, the three Monarchs of the Africor Continent had droplets of sweat pooling across their foreheads.
While the rest of Earth had been fighting for their lives, they had come here.
Now, everything was prepared… all that was left was this final step.