Sylas looked at the timer by his notification screen. There wasn't much time left, just six hours.
But it was enough.
Sylas turned to find a surge of existences rushing toward this location, more seas of black filling the already dense black region.
He could have left with ease. He could teleport anywhere on Earth whenever he wanted.
But why did he need to?
He didn't even bother to scan their stats. His Will washed over them one after another and he reached one conclusion.
Weak.
It didn't matter if they were of the F-Grade or E-Grade; the conclusion was the very same, showing not the slightest hint of change.
These were without a doubt the fodder of Legacy. Sylas had long concluded that it must be Legacy; there was no other organization with this depth.
If there was, then maybe Earth was more screwed than even he thought. But…
He highly doubted it.
Slowly, Sylas raised a hand.
The Aether on Earth right now was especially sparse. It was to the point that skills were very difficult to cast with the help of the system. Unless you had at least Bronze Mastery in a skill, it was a useless deadpan line on your status screen. And unless it was at least Silver Mastery, you would be better off using your hands and feet than wasting the Aether in casting it.
That meant one other thing…
Sylas' telekinesis was King.
A world in a dormant state couldn't limit Sylas' Will even if it wanted to, resulting in telekinesis without the same boundaries and limitations.
Sylas snapped his fingers.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
One head after another exploded. In an instant, dozens of existences, many with the power to rival City Lords and lost Patriarchs and Ancestors of hidden families, found themselves ruthlessly massacred.
Sylas only stopped when their eyes were filled with so much fear they didn't dare to step forward any longer.
There were still rushes of existences coming in from all directions, but it wasn't until now that the true powerhouses started to appear, and among them were two that Sylas recognized.
According to the Thryskai, the woman was chosen over him by Legacy. Aki had truly thought that that would make him angry, but as far as Sylas was concerned, that just meant that he was better at hiding himself than this woman was.
She had a delicate beauty to her and looked so petite that a wind might blow her over. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall flat, but she had a stern sort of calmness to her. Due to that, rather than looking childlike, she gave off the vibe of someone mature beyond her years despite only being what should have been a year or two younger than Sylas.
It was hard to tell anything about her. The clothes she wore were incredibly plain; she didn't seem to be wearing any sort of treasures or equipment at all.
And then there was the man. The so-called E-Grade Race genius.
His presence was lofty.
He must have stood at seven feet tall at least, a strong contrast to the woman. He was wall-to-wall rippling muscle, but not in a bodybuilder sort of way, being far more lean and explosive than big and bulky. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
And for some reason, despite Aki describing the woman as the clear superior…
The necklace was around the man's neck.
Sylas raised a hand the moment he saw it. It definitely hadn't been there before, or else he would have taken it before he even got off of the altar.
But he didn't have the time or care to think about why this might be.
However, he had only just raised his hand again when he paused. He didn't trigger his telekinesis, but he could feel that if he tried to, it would fail.
"Fail? Why's that? A treasure?"
Sylas looked down at the blue Runes that surrounded the place he stood on.
"Oh, I see. They're pumping Aether Stones into it so it can begin to show its real strength without the support of Earth's Aether alone."
Sylas looked up from the formation to find himself surrounded from all sides. If he was that sort of person… he might even find this kind of thing amusing.
It didn't seem they were aware of how worthless an endeavor this was.
"Who are you?" the rough and grating voice of the E-Grade Race man spoke.
Sylas didn't respond to his question.
"The necklace around your neck is interesting. Why do you need it? And why was it given to you instead of her?" Sylas asked directly, pointing to the petite woman.
The man frowned. "This isn't any of your concern. Return the obelisk and allow yourself to be—."
"You are Sylas Brown?" the petite woman interjected.
Her voice was a bit deeper than one might expect, carrying a slight baritone in an alto. If she was a vocalist, she would certainly be a dream of choir instructors across the world. A woman with such a feminine, but wide and deep voice was rare.
But Sylas was more surprised by what she called him. How long had it been since anyone but his family called him that?
"I am."
"Can you take me away from here?" she asked.
Sylas tilted his head to the side. "I can. Why?"
Before she could respond, the man interjected again.
"You can? Is that a joke?"
Sylas didn't respond once again, still looking at the woman.
"They betrayed Earth. I have no desire to be with these people anymore."
"Is that so? Or are you just saying that?"
"I only allowed them to take me in because I felt like they were doing something bigger than myself and I wanted to be a part of it. I want to be in control of myself, not the dog of someone else."
"And you think you'll be able to control yourself around me?"
"Maybe not for now. But it was the same here."
"In the end you asked for my help, though. So why are you so confident?"
"I can leave myself. It would just take more time. Half a year, give or take."
"Is that so? Prove it."
The woman blinked and tilted her head slightly.
"I don't want to."
Seeing her deadpan response, Sylas didn't react like others thought he might.
"Okay."
"What is this joke? Where the hell do you get off thinking you can help others in this situation?"
Sylas stepped forward, walking until his nose practically touched the barrier that surrounded him. Just when the man was about to sneer, there was a pulse in Sylas' pupils as the formation unravelled.
As though a doorway was opening up for Sylas to step through, the sheen of blue swirled and spread, forming a passageway.
The eyes of the man widened, but Sylas had already raised a hand and then pressed down.
BANG!
He fell to his knees so hard the sickening cracking of bone echoed through the silent atmosphere.
Sylas stepped in front of him, reaching forward with his clawed nails to take the necklace off of his neck. But before he could, the petite woman called out.
"Wait!"