Genetic Ascension
chapter-482

The blade cut through Sylas' Aether Skin and into his neck, only a mere split moment from severing his head completely.

Sylas only had time to open his mouth and unleash an <Arctic Howl Mutant>.

The sneak attacker was already within range of his defense and couldn't be repelled. However, there was still a brief instant of a pause.

Before the sneak attacker could counter the freeze, Sylas' hand had already flashed over, grabbing onto the blade.

The sneak attacker hidden in the shadows couldn't help but feel like Sylas was in his death throes. Although he had reacted much faster than expected, grabbing onto his blade with his bare hands was the most foolish thing he could have done. After all, this was a Lv30 Bronze Grade treasure. Its sharpness was on an entirely different level.

Still, the sneak attacker was a consummate professional. He didn't let down his guard and activated his counter, ready to twist the knife and sever Sylas' fingers.

But for once, the Scorned Wraps weren't so bad to Sylas after all. He felt a great pinch in his palm, but the blade couldn't cut through the Scorned Wraps as well. If not for the jagged pain of the flesh beneath, one would have thought that he was gripping onto a butter knife.

Sylas didn't try to rip the dagger out with his hand. Instead, he held it in place and took a fierce, but slightly curved step backward. His body followed the arc of the blade perfectly, minimizing extra damage.

Blood flowed out like a fountain. Sylas could already tell that an important artery had been severed. He was having trouble breathing, and he was quickly bleeding out faster than his Aether could help him recover.

And yet, there was a deathly coldness in his eyes.

He abandoned the flag behind him, and his suppressed Will suddenly burst forth. His grip on the blade only tightened as the sneak attacker twisted, expecting to easily take the weapon back... only to be shocked when Sylas' hand was still intact.

Could Sylas' Constitution really be so high? No, that was impossible. Otherwise, his neck wouldn't have been cut so easily.

The sneak attacker's gaze flashed as he noticed the wraps around Sylas' hand. Then, remembering the reports about Sylas never using weapons, he seemed to deduce something.

The hidden man's pupils constricted, but it was too late.

BANG!

A pauldron slammed into the back of his head, making him see stars. It had come out of nowhere. He hadn't been prepared for Sylas to suddenly take the initiative to attack like this. No normal person would make such a choice with his life bleeding out from his neck.

The sneak attacker hardly had time to think before an elbow slammed right across his chin. <Arctic Emperor's Domain>.

Sylas was truly going all out, pouring everything he had. If not for the fact he knew it would fail due to his injury, he would have even taken the risk to fuse with this Arctic Emperor Cobra at that same time.

Plumes of icy fog came out of his neck, and suddenly half his face, down his neck, and even through to his shoulder, was covered in a thick mask of ice that restrained his movement down one side a bit, but stemmed the bleeding to an extent nonetheless.

All the while, he unleashed a barrage of attacks.

He focused his visualization on a small region, still holding onto the dagger tightly as he unleashed fists, elbows, and knees.

However, for an assassin, the sneak attacker's body was shockingly resilient. Sylas felt like he wasn't doing much damage at all despite unleashing everything he had.

At that moment, Sunniva finally reacted, and her daggers flew out toward where she felt the invisible man should be standing.

To her astonishment, her blades flew right through as though Sylas was truly fighting against the air. Before she could attack again, she was forced to retreat as Sylas' <Arctic Emperor's Domain> began to affect her as well.

Sylas didn't have the time to mind her at all; the light in his eyes was only growing more ferocious as he felt his body growing weaker.

Fight. Fight. Fight.

The words echoed in his head again as his moment of weakness in the volcanic world replayed in his mind. He refused to bend like that again.

The sneak attacker seemed to have recovered from his earlier daze, and he began to defend against Sylas' blows while sending out strikes with his free hand and attempting to wrestle his dagger back.

A strength exploded from his palms, and Sylas felt like this man's strength stat was well beyond his own. If not for his earlier daze, thanks in part to a sudden pauldron attack, he would have taken it away already.

Sylas knew that he couldn't allow this. The man was too hard to track. It was only after shrinking his visualization to just two meters that he could finally see a faint outline of him. But that range was too easy for the sneak attacker to slip out of.

He wanted to end this.

Now.

The sneak attacker ripped the dagger free and took a leap backward. In that same instant, Sylas popped a Transmutated Beast Pill into his mouth.

In that brief moment where the sneak attacker thought that Sylas was trying to recover, a large beast suddenly fell from the skies above.

Sylas' Beast Totem bloomed, and the Arctic Emperor Cobra's might shot through the roof.

ROAR!

The heft of the Arctic Emperor Cobra's large body fell right onto the sneak attacker.

The man had already slipped out of Sylas' two-meter range. But using his connection with the Arctic Emperor Cobra, Sylas was able to tell exactly where he was pinned beneath its body.

His gamble had worked. Although the man was outside his range, the cobra's body was over two dozen meters long. If it fell in a tight coil, it was bound to hit something.

SHIIIIIING!

Sylas was only just running forward when the Arctic Emperor Cobra's body was cut in two.