Genetic Ascension
chapter-387

Sylas was swift and decisive. Appearing behind Lolaleen's partner, he unleashed a swift punch.

The girl was no pushover, casting an area of effect defensive skill not too different from <Arctic Howl>. This Skill came with a pulse of light that pushed everything away, including Lolaleen.

A frostiness coated Sylas' body and seemed to want to eat into his flesh, but he clenched his fists once and shattered it apart.

His constitution was inferior to these people, but his control over Runes was far superior. Their Ice-Poison couldn't affect him so long as he dealt with it before it penetrated deeply.

'Unfortunate.'

This was Sylas' only thought as he failed to kill the girl. He had been hoping to kill two birds with one stone, but now he was about to be surrounded. If he delayed for any longer, he would lose his life here.

"Go."

He moved his intention toward Lolaleen and she had no choice but to obey. They used the momentum of the female Sylph's push defensive Skill to escape the encirclement, but they were instantly surrounded by wolves, both figuratively and literally.

It was at that moment that Sylas' intention moved once again, his Will flourishing as his Rune Soul pressed down.

BANG!

Several forming wolves exploded all at once and a large number of accumulated points were suddenly forcefully taken away by Sylas.

At that very moment, Sergan had finally caught up. Everything was happening too fast and there was hardly a moment for rest. But Sylas felt as though everything was resting in the palm of his hands. Nothing could escape his notice at all.

He commanded Lolaleen, but with his mind this time, forcing her to cast a Skill he had seen her use in the past.

His body was suddenly filled with strength and after a quick check, he realized that his Physical stats had increased by 50%, and that was on top of his 25% increase from Surge of the Die. This pushed all his Physical stats to over 260, while his Constitution became over 300.

Sylas had already taken a huge Aether hit from activating the contract and only had six units left, he couldn't allow this to continue.

'There's no way she would have cast this Skill so early on if there's such a huge drawback. Their situation wasn't nearly that desperate. That means there's a way to mitigate this sort of loss.'

However, he also felt that there was a great drain occurring on his Aether as well. It seemed that this support Skill didn't just pull power from thin air. He was actually using up an Aether Unit every few seconds.

Sylas had already taken a huge Aether hit from activating the contract and only had six units left, he couldn't allow this to continue.

'There's no way she would have cast this Skill so early on if there's such a huge drawback. Their situation wasn't nearly that desperate. That means there's a way to mitigate this sort of loss.'

Sylas activated <Maddened Enlightenment> at the same time, its Silver Mastery soaring to Gold Mastery. Suddenly, his Aether Unit usage plummeted from one Aether Unit every few seconds, to every few minutes.

Lolaleen's eyes opened wide when she sensed this. She had never seen anyone mitigate the negative effects to such an extent, but Sylas didn't have the time to indulge her as Sergan had already appeared, his eyes bloodshot.

Lolaleen was like the little sister of their group. Seeing her enslaved like this, not a single one of them wasn't absolutely infuriated. This was especially so for Sergan who failed to stop him.

PENG!

Fist and dagger met.

Sylas only managed to stop the latter for a short while before he felt his Aether skin being shredded through. Even with the stack of Basic Aetherflow, his Aether skin, the Scorned Wraps, and his own personal Constitution, it wasn't enough.

His flesh suffered moments later and Sylas was forced to retract his fist quickly. However, that only allowed the dagger to continue forward, aiming right for his throat.

Even in this life and death situation, Sylas seemed to have an endless well of calmness.

BANG!

Sergan's head went somewhat hazy as a sudden pauldron smashed against the side of his head. It appeared out of nowhere and somehow gained all its possible momentum despite having started inches from his head.

The trajectory of the dagger was thrown off and Sergan felt his ears absolutely ringing. Even with his high Constitution, being smashed over the head with an almost 50-pound weight wasn't something he could ignore.

Even without his fusion with the Basilisk King, Sylas' telekinesis with Madness activated could now display 476 points of Physical. Sylphs weren't known for their Physical stats to begin with, there was a reason the Dungeon didn't even give a Physical stat point recommendation. Caught unprepared, if not for his Aether skin protection, Sergan's head would have already blown to pieces.

Unfortunately, having lost this initiative, Sylas didn't show even the slightest hint of mercy.

His head almost carelessly twisted at a slight angle, sliding by the new trajectory of Sergan's dagger as he unleashed a fist right into the man's gut.

Sylas didn't know if the anatomy of a Sylph and a human was the same to begin with, so he didn't aim in any particular locations as he unleashed a barrage of powerful punches.

By the time Sergan awoke to the pain, he had already suffered a half dozen punches, the crunch of his bones and the cracking of his Aether skin echoing over the howls of the spirit wolves.

"Use it." Sylas commanded Lolaleen coldly again and she was forced to use a bind Skill, not on Sergan, but rather the wolf lunging at them.

Unfortunately, Sergan thought the bind Skill was coming for him so he used his counter Skill at the same time, only to punch at nothing but air.

The Stabilizing Bracelet on Sylas' wrist glowed and he cast <King's Bind> in that same instant. It landed just after Sergan's counter Skill failed and the man found himself frozen in place once again.

Despair suddenly colored Sergan's eyes. Somehow, he knew that though he still breathed… he was already dead.

He couldn't even see Sylas in those final moments, his gaze helplessly looking at Lolaleen whose large green eyes were brimming with tears.

<Psychedelic Punch>.