'Hm… it really is a subsidiary…'
Sylas had only thought of this possibility so that he wouldn't leave any stones unturned, but he hadn't thought that it would be the truth. How had they managed to speed-run city building like this?
'I'm too naive about these matters,' Sylas thought as he looked down at the Madness Key. Once again, he couldn't ask it any questions before the lowest bar was now a Gold Gene. This was really the most inconvenient time to suffer this problem.
For all Sylas knew, the outside world had streamlined the city-building process and had perfected their own metas long ago. Much like in Earth's video games, there was almost certainly a path of most efficiency to take.
The more Sylas thought about it, the more he thought it was a worthy explanation. Now, he was very curious about what this path was.
He reached forward and received a prompt to conquer the subsidiary city. He didn't, instead destroying it.
However, when he didn't receive a prompt for being the first to destroy a city, his eyes narrowed.
'Could it be…?'
He checked the leaderboard again.
—
[Quest Leaderboard]
…
[7. Sylas Grimblade - 15,360]
—
'I see…'
The first time he checked, Sylviaa Paige and Emperor Eurapeia were both at exactly 15,000. He hadn't thought much of it back then, but he had noted it.
Now, he had gained exactly 15,000…
Were they farming their own Subsidiary Cities to gather Silver Genes? But how?
Sylviaa Paige, he didn't know who that was. But he did know Emperor Eurapeia. He had very clearly told Archibald to kill him, but it seemed that he didn't.
It was also a bit odd that his name appeared like that. Had he changed his first name to Emperor through the system?
Sylas shook his head and pressed those thoughts down. This wasn't the most important part. The key here was that it might make sense for the others to know of this strategy even if it didn't quite make sense to Sylas just yet. But how did someone from Earth know it?
Logically, they shouldn't have been ready for this even if the others were.
'The Sylph must be relatively nearby if his Subsidiary City is here, right? I'll just need to find it and ask some questions.'
Sylas turned and left.
…
Aurion cut down a beast, but before he could act to take its core away, he frowned.
A notification popped across his screen.
—
[Your Subsidiary City has been Destroyed]
—
'That quickly…?'
There wasn't even a beacon or warning. The gap shouldn't be large enough to allow that. Had a King Beast appeared this early?
In truth, that city was out there as bait. It had already crossed a threshold where he could exchange it for 15,000 Silver Genes. He hadn't because it was a buffer city, and climbing the leaderboards right now wouldn't be of any help to him. Otherwise, he would have taken Ulrik's second place already.
That said, this didn't exactly fill him with confidence either. The strategies that he had access to as a Sylph would likely pale in comparison to what a Thryskai had.
The fact Ulrik was second likely meant that he was setting up something for the long haul.
Sylas was right in saying that this was a Quest that should last years. Sometimes it cost the participants decades of their life. At the highest echelons, even centuries and millennia weren't impossible.
World War Quests like this one were highly sought after for one reason and one reason only…
They were one of the rare chances for a World to upgrade.
This was a chance to birth a new Silver World.
At least, that was it on the surface. There was a deeper layer to all of this, one that involved stealing favor from the system…
However, this was something that maybe even the participating Thryskai didn't know about.
Aurion looked down at his hands, a pale blue aura radiating around them.
The snow beneath him seemed to melt, and a puddle reflected what happened to his Subsidiary City.
'Is that so…'
Although Sylas had undergone a great number of changes since the last time he saw him, Aurion recognized him nonetheless. This was the man that had taken his spot to enter the Frostbane Dungeon and ruined a great number of plans.
Not only did he kill the Clypsians they had stored away for so long, but he had even stolen one of them.
Aurion already knew that this was a potential flaw of their plans.
'Powerful, and so quickly at that. Is it his armor? A Rune Armor? How can a Rune Armor give him so many stat points…?'
In the image, Sylas suddenly came to a stop and looked off in a certain direction.
For a moment, through the mirage, their gazes met. It was just the briefest of instances, and Sylas pretended as though he hadn't sensed anything, but Aurion knew what he saw.
'He sensed me. Just how high is his Luck?'
Aurion's eyes narrowed.
Sylas definitely knew where he was now, but what Aurion was trying to understand was just how he had managed it.
Methods to improve Luck were incredibly rare, even on a Summoning World. For Sylas to sense him from so far away, and through one of his techniques at that—especially while they were so suppressed—his Luck had to be at least 1, maybe even as much as double that.
'It seems that there's a second opportunity here worth fighting for…'
Rather than dismissing his technique, Aurion kept watching as though he hadn't noticed the oddity either.
He waved a hand and the puddle rose from the ground. Then he began to move, his mind churning with thoughts of how best to trap an opponent that was this powerful.
There was a calmness about him that couldn't be wavered. It was as though the entire world itself was in the palm of his hands.
Soon enough, everyone would know who Aurion Stormveil was.
Killing a Titan wouldn't be a bad start.