Genetic Ascension
chapter-614

Sylas looked up at the long, winding staircase, feeling somewhat confused on the inside. As far as he could see, there was no pressure on him, at least not like there had been on the path to make it here.

So where would the danger come from?

"Let's go," Sylas said coldly, taking a step.

"Wait!" Lara seemed to have snapped. Her tears from the incident still hadn't dried, and though her husband tried to hold her back, she couldn't control her emotions any longer. "Don't try and stop me, Cole! If we're going to die at his hands, we might as well die now!" Cole was taken aback by his wife's sudden snap. He had known her for over twenty years, and the instances of her losing her temper could be counted on a single hand for him.

He wanted to tell her that it wasn't worth it, that they just had to endure, but the words seemed constrained in his throat by a mysterious power. And this power certainly wasn't coming from Sylas... it was his own dissatisfaction.

Sylas looked back at that moment, and Lara felt as though her furious tempest of rage was stifled all at once.

There was an overbearing presence coming from Sylas, and it was only now that they seemed to realize that the Will they couldn't even stand beneath was one that Sylas had taken on for the sake of all five of them at once.

If they couldn't withstand that Will, how were they going to withstand Sylas'?

Lara grit her teeth, her anger bubbling in her chest with nowhere to go, but she was having a very hard time even finding the words to speak right now.

"Don't delay me," Sylas said coldly.

With a step, Sylas began the trek up the mountain. Quickly, he was already in a run.

Alex followed after him and the family could only shudder as they realized they really had no choice in the matter.

"Mom... come on," Jake said weakly. "It's not what you think."

Jake's body still felt weak, but he grit his teeth, standing to his feet and pulling his mother into a run as well.

Cole took a breath, looking at his son's back.

As Sylas had speculated, Cole's Will was actually beyond that of his wife's. The only reason she had withstood the pressure better than he had was because he gave her the lion's share of their Will so that she could hold up.

As such... he was far more in tune with the changes to his son as well.

Maybe... Sylas had a purpose for what he did. Cole could make up the deficits of his wife, but he couldn't share stats with his son. If Jake remained too weak, then if not now, their son

would just end up dying the next time they ran into such a challenge.

But like this, Jake had more capital to protect himself.

Plus, his wife was too hysterical to see the subtleties, but after Lauren stopped Sylas the first time, the situation seemed hopeless already. Even if another person had had Sylas' plan in mind, the moment a hiccup like that happened, it would have been natural for them to

abandon Jake and cut their losses at that point...

But Sylas hadn't.

He put his life on the line for the sake of saving his son, not because Jake would be some trump card he could use, but because he was a man who had his own principles.

That was what Cole had seen when he first exchanged the golden token with Sylas for their lives, and it had borne fruit now.

Cole took a breath and looked toward Lauren's group that was quickly approaching from the distance. He would have to find an appropriate time to explain these matters to his wife. Did he like it? No.

How could a father ever be alright with their son's life being used in a gamble?

But ultimately... maybe it was because they were unwilling to do so that Jake had ended up in such a rut. Maybe they were harming him more than helping.

Clenching his jaw, Cole chased after them.

...

Sylas' steps were swift. He maintained a level pace, one that he believed the family should be able to keep up with if they pushed themselves a little bit.

At the same time, he maintained a high level of vigilance.

There didn't seem to be a catch to these stairs, but he hadn't thought that there was a way to make it here with the platforms either, only to be proven wrong.

He knew that he still had a lot to learn about these matters, so he was now always on the lookout for the other shoe to drop.

But there was nothing. Even as they raced up and around the chest of the statue, reaching its neck, and then increasing their pace beyond, there was nothing.

And then Sylas finally laid eyes on it.

The dungeon that all of this was here for.

...

Lauren and her group landed on the stairs finally. In the end, they had actually ended up on a much lower starting position than Sylas and the others.

The group's best trump card against the red Will was Lauren, but unlike Sylas, Lauren hadn't been able to use them to replenish the stamina of her Will. As such, she was completely useless while her teammates protected her from the rain and even saved her life.

When they finally got to the stairs, she was completely pale. But she quickly took a seat in meditation, circulating a skill to replenish herself.

Her teammates looked down with a somewhat worried expression. They knew that Lauren would be fine. But that Sylas Grimblade...

Why were his abilities so shocking?

Each and every one of them thought themselves to be standing at the top of humanity. But... what was this?

The two men and two women stood side by side, their eyes glowing with a fierce light of

competition.

There wasn't a single member of Legacy that was normal. They were the savants of Earth, and suddenly running into someone who made them feel so inferior...

Made their blood boil.