Chapter 922 Break. [Ko-Fi Donation Bonus Chapter]
Sylas could feel the world quaking around him, but he had reached a state of absolute focus.
His crown shimmered into existence above his head, and his connection with Earth's core seemed to have touched upon a new level.
Chi. Chi. Chi.
A barrier solidified around the region.
Part of Sylas hoped that this would be enough. So long as he encased Earth's core in the time barrier, the difference in time would cause a lag in the Runes connecting the System City to this location. Once that dissonance grew great enough, the connection would be shattered.
At that point, one of two things would happen. Either the connection would slip and break, or the reaction would be even more violent than that, causing a backlash that quite literally destroyed the cities.
Neither happened.
However, Sylas wasn't fazed. This was what he thought would happen, but he didn't believe that someone intelligent enough to cause and trigger all of this would make the mistake of leaving such a flaw.
It wasn't just the ability to target the Earth's core itself that was the problem, but the fact that Sylas wanted to use the crowns, almost certainly formed by this individual, to complete it was a pipe dream.
That would be worse than lifting a rock and using it to crush your own foot. It would be what was at least centuries of planning going up in smoke.
While it would have been nice for it to be so easy, Sylas almost preferred it this way.
He took a breath, his telekinesis controlling the crowns as his Aetherflow poured into them, keeping them activated.
He slapped his palms together, a violent pressure pouring out from him in waves as his Will manifested.
One after another, the Runes of a familiar formation began to take shape. This was the very same formation that his Domain Skill was formed from. Just by following the patterns, he had been able to spontaneously comprehend such a powerful Gene Skill.
But the formation itself was even more impressive.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The trembling of Earth grew more feverish. Mountains rocked and tsunamis crashed against shores. If one stood amidst the stars, it would be possible to see swirling masses of clouds pooling into violent hurricanes, the borders of lands shifting, cracking, and reforming.
Trenches deep in the ocean opened further, seas began to froth or spontaneously freeze, while ice caps sublimated into tall, foggy pillars of ice.
Sylas understood why it hadn't worked. Ultimately, the system was present here in Earth's core and in every one of the System Cities. Everything was dictated by this impotent system.
Why wouldn't the system be able to easily see through shifts in time? It didn't affect the system in the slightest, so how could this alone disrupt the network of System Cities?
But what if he did disrupt the system?
This was something that the individual had never considered happening.
Why would there be an artificial cap on Will? Sylas had thought a lot about it, but the answer was never too obvious until he learned about Progenitors and how interconnected their strength was with their Will… to the point that even Gralith mistook his Progenitor Flame Abilities for Will Abilities.
His Progenitor Flame itself was birthed from his Will being Sparked. Without reaching that level, he would never be acknowledged by Earth.
But even that… was only part of the reason.
Without strong Will, there couldn't be strong Rune Masters. Without strong Rune Masters, there wouldn't be anyone capable of breaking free of this cage. Even the strongest Rune Master Race on Earth, a puppet of this individual—the Dogons—were only capable of reaching this level because they were granted a Unique Gene to do so.
Sylas, though…
Had done this with his own hands.
His intelligence was the reason he could stand here today, and it was the real reason for his change. Had he not reacted within split seconds of Nosphaleen leaving, acting immediately—just an extra few seconds, and they would have been gone.
It was because of the sharpness of his mind that he had a chance to turn the tides… and he could never take that for granted again.
The formation solidified beneath Sylas.
'It's not enough…'
Sylas closed his eyes.
Sacrifice.
A shocking pair of six eyes thrummed to life in the depths of Sylas' mind. They exuded a chilling red aura…
The Scorpion Warlord.
Sylas' eyes opened with a flash.
—
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 1]
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[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 2]
—
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 3]
…
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 10]
…
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 20]
…
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 30]
…
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 40]
—
Earth caressed Sylas in its hands like a mother coddling its child. It shouldn't have been so easy for Sylas to Level up, not even remotely. With his foundation and his power, he was a monster amongst monsters.
There was no doubt that under normal circumstances, if Sylas wanted to reach Level 50, killing E-Grades would be a minimum requirement, and they would certainly have to be far stronger than the E-Grades he had come across now.
Either that, or he would need to face off against the truly powerful F-Grades of the universe.
But right now, Earth could feel the tipping point of the situation.
Just like Szorn had said, when a world was at the end of its rope, facing the loss of its Sovereignty, it was willing to do anything…
Even if that meant granting a single man all of its accumulated energy for the next decade.
Earth had been heavily injured and broken, shackled by its own poor Runes and forced to regress from its former stature all the way down to the Bronze Grade of worlds. It truly didn't have much left to give after fighting for so long.
But this time, it was taking one final risk.
So how could Sylas continue to be selfish?
—
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 50]
—
—
Power spilled out of Sylas and his mouth parted slowly.
"Break."
The echo of shattering glass poured over the world.
An illusion Earth had been trapped in for Nine Summonings broke to pieces, the System Cities crumbling one after another along with it.