Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1809: Piss Poor

Sylas ripped at his chest again, and again. He sank into more wildness, more unbridled madness and chaos. His Demonic Will suddenly began to spill out, and what he couldn't sense before became clearer and clearer.

This wasn't Mixed Martial Arts. It was Mixed Demonic Arts.

By its very nature, it was gruesome and violent, relentless and fearless. It sank into his most depraved and oppressive self, the self that wanted to rip his enemies to shreds, to instinctually understand said enemies to their baser levels until there was nothing remaining of them outside the ash pile he had left them in.

Never once had Sylas allowed this aspect of Mixed Demonic Arts to shine. He always suppressed his Demonic Will, and he lived life so clearly to his own whims that the number of times he had had to deal with a Demonic Will flare- up could be counted on just two fingers alone.

But once again... Mixed Demonic Arts was something that he had grasped while gaining the Great Ape Lineage. That feral part of him was what it was tapping into, a part he rarely, if ever, let free.

But when he had used the Monkey King Armor, it had displayed its might for the briefest of instances-a moment that shook the world, a moment that the Seeing Eye Guild was presumably still dealing with the ramifications of.

Those thoughts, those moments, though, had nothing to do with Sylas. Right now, he only had one thought in mind, a single goal, a single purpose, a single intent.

What was his would be his. He could accept Madness slipping because it would only be a matter of time before he increased his understanding of himself enough that it would progress. But he had no easy path to improving Mixed Demonic Arts. If he accepted it as-is, it would be over, and he would never be able to improve it again.

On top of that, Mixed Demonic Arts was arguably the most important of his Comprehensions. Without it, he had too many Skills and it would be too difficult to find the time to maximize all of them.

Though, with Seeing Weaver, it would be much easier than in the past, it wasn't yet worth Sylas' time to invest in this way.

However, now, in the midst of this chaotic energy, Sylas was beginning to realize that maybe it was precisely because he only wanted to use Mixed Demonic Arts to bolster his own Skills that it had fallen all the way to Bronze.

He could use it for so much more. He could swallow Comprehension and Skills-an ability he had never even tried to use.

Granted, that was because he already had too many Comprehensions and more than enough Skills, but...

What about Will Abilities?

Sylas had never tried to do that either, but he had known for a very long while that he could swallow Will Abilities with Mixed Demonic Arts. It was just that he had too many abilities that relied on his own Will already, and Will Abilities, in general, were so rare that it wasn't like he was running into such individuals every day.

In fact... had he ever?

But the point of all of this was...

Mixed Demonic Arts was about far more than he had treated it as. In fact, Mixed Demonic Arts was perfect.

It would be the guiding light for the next evolution of the Grimblade Bloodline when the time came.

That was what the foundation of his Grimblade Clan would be. To take what they wanted, to rip apart their enemies, to see the ceiling of the world and still dare to pierce a hole through that sky.

There would be nothing that could stop them, nothing that could slow them, nothing that they couldn't devour, nothing that they couldn't understand.

To Be All-Powerful.

To Be All-Knowing.

BOOM.

[Mixed Demonic Arts (Legendary)]

[You are the center of your own universe. Your body is beyond a temple, carrying the radiance of an infinitely small point of light, and yet encompassing a vast array of potential far beyond.] —

Sylas unleashed a roar that formed a cyclone of black that tore through the skies. However, something inside him was somehow still changing and swirling.

He felt it pulling him further and further into an abyss, one that he couldn't escape no matter how far he tried to claw himself out.

But then it all suddenly arrived to a stop.

This void... he was too comfortable within it. How could it drag him anywhere he didn't want to be? It might have been more uncomfortable since it seemed to be something of the E-tier while his Comprehension of the Void was still at the F-tier, but it was enough.

And then he saw it.

[Mixed Chaotic Arts (Sacred)]

[A concentration of potential so potent it floods outward, exploding with a fervor that desires to swallow the universe and all it has to offer. No knowledge is too grand or Taboo, no method too abstruse and untouchable.] —

The descriptions-whether it had been Mixed Martial Arts, Mixed Demonic Arts, or Mixed Chaotic Arts-each and every one had been short, simple, to the point... It almost felt like their secrets were hidden in plain sight, or rather that they had already shown everything they were meant to be... the rest of its story was meant to be filled out by its user.

Sylas' roar tore a hole through the world. Beyond it, a ceiling of crimson lightning flashed, and within it, a shadow that had been caged for countless years seemed to shift.

It peered down from beyond a veil, seemingly taking interest in Sylas.

It was a scene Sylas had seen too many times now... first from Arcane Madness... then from the Champion Knight... then from the Monkey King... and now from whatever existence this was.

He was getting very tired of entities who thought themselves greater than himself looking down on him.

"Piss off."

His roar layered in his fury.