Chapter 921 Get Used To It [Top Five in Golden Tickets Bonus]
Sylas stood there for a long while. His approach to things was slowly changing.
He felt that if he was going to truly change things, and if he wanted to stop getting caught off guard like this, he had to skew things in his favor more.
Trying to be stronger than everyone was nice. He liked the feeling. He would keep pursuing it.
But that didn't mean that he didn't need backup plans. And then backup plans for those backup plans.
For example, he was thinking about going to System Cities one by one to conquer them, dealing with this lingering danger in one sweep. But how long would that take? And as the City Lords continued to grow in strength, wouldn't he just be slamming his own head against a wall?
Why not take a different approach?
If the System Cities were truly as he speculated and just secret methods for them to fail the Summoning rather than helping them pass it as they should, they were certainly linked to the core of Earth in some sort of way.
Logically speaking, there was likely some way to destroy them all at the same time, but he hadn't even considered it before.
If they could connect and work together to throw Earth off its designed path, there was no reason he couldn't do the reverse.
But because of how focused he was on growing more powerful as quickly as possible, he didn't even consider such a path. Sometimes, a change in mindset was more important than anything else.
Ideas just like this one flooded Sylas' mind one after another, his thoughts bouncing and rebounding off one another in a continuous wave.
Until a pair of feet drove into his back.
Sylas took one step forward and shook his head.
Cassarae collapsed to his back in a pile of bloody snow, but didn't seem to care.
"You need to work on your drop kick," Sylas said casually.
"And you need to work on not being an asshole. You know, the wrinkles in your lips aren't supposed to pucker up like that. I swear I hate you with everything I have."
Sylas raised an eyebrow and looked back. A hoard of Serpentes was following Cassarae along like she was some sort of empress, but she was still complaining.
"Come on. I'll bring you back to Casstle Main. There's something I have to do."
"Don't touch me!"
Sylas swept her up by her waist and shot into the skies.
…
Hours later, Sylas set Cassarae down on the Casstle Main walls. By now, her anger had faded considerably. Though she had already understood that Sylas had definitely gone off to do something important.
In the end, she could only shake her head. She wasn't strong enough.
Yet.
She clenched and unclenched her fists as he vanished into the distance.
'Next target… Florineth…'
Sylas thought a lot about how to help those around him, but how could she not as well?
She didn't know anything about the Florineth, and the Nexus had no information about them either. That could only mean that they were far beyond the purview of Earth.
For them to have put Sylas in such a bind, they were beyond the E-Grade without a doubt. So how was she going to claim the next upgrade of her Class?
There was no way she could put that burden on Sylas, and then what would happen beyond that when it was finally time for the Legendary Leg? How much crazier would the requirements be then?
She needed another way to deal with the Florineth…
But while she was intelligent, she was no Sylas. She had no idea how to scheme out such a victory.
'There is another way.'
She looked at the notification that popped up on her screen.
—
[Invitation Received]
[The Petals of the Seeing Thorn]
[Join Trial?]
[Yes][No]
**
Sylas quickly returned to a familiar pool of blood. Staring at it now, he wondered just how many heroes of Earth had fallen here.
There were no signs of Archibald, Nathan, or even the heroes of Earth that had survived. The altars were empty now, and Sylas had no way of knowing where they had gone.
All he could do was trust Archibald. But just the same… he trusted himself the most.
He sank into the bloody waters and returned to the familiar warmth of the core of Earth.
His mind swam with several thoughts… including that of the barrier he had seen previously.
'When I placed my hand on Earth's core before, there was a system message that triggered even though it shouldn't have. That means that the choke point through which the System Cities are fed is most definitely right here. Which means, if I want to destroy all of the System Cities at the same time, the secret should be here.
'The question, then… is how? How would I go about doing that?'
The idea was good, the execution was another matter entirely. If the solution was so obvious, even in that previous mental state of his, he would have thought of it.
Sylas raised a palm and three crowns appeared. These were none other than the treasures the Monarchs had been relying on. It was also the way they formed the barrier that trapped Nosphaleen and kept him out.
Sylas had been able to break that barrier for two reasons: Beacon and his Progenitor Flame Abilities.
The barrier was a displacement through time. Trying to break through it was like punching in the past. It was at too high a level for Sylas' Progenitor Flame Ability to see through, but by using Beacon as a guide to connect to Nosphaleen, he could find the location with greater ease and then force a Rune through.
Connecting the displaced time with the current time was what forced it to shatter.
In that case, since such a powerful barrier already existed for him, he would use it.
Not just that… but wasn't every System City filled to the brim with that special energy-dense liquid?
He hadn't found a method of use for it… until right now.
'It's about time we break free from these shackles. I'd like to see… what the true power of Rune Spark is.'
The three crowns shuddered and Earth went completely still.
"Are you very angry?" Sylas spoke out, his mouth seemingly moving on its own as though the grievances of Earth were speaking through him instead. "Get used to it. This is just the first."
The World Trembled.