Genetic Ascension

1618 Two Moves for One [Bonus]

[Bonus thanks to Lost]

Leia felt her head turning before the spike of pain ran through her. Her body wasn’t sent flying, and it could even be said that the strike was weak-much weaker than the attacks Nosphaleen had managed to land on her-and yet… It somehow stung just as much.

Her staff swung out, yet Sylas was already gone, a heel driving into the back of her knee. Her leg buckled, and her weight almost collapsed beneath her.

She managed to recover in time, slamming the butt of her staff into the ground and using it like a third leverage point. She leaned onto it and kicked back with all the force she could muster.

BANG.

The air exploded, but the game of cat and mouse replayed itself. She missed entirely, streaks of exploded wind rippling through the air and yet not touching the slightest hint of Sylas.

Another fist landed on Leia’s face, a knee to her gut, a foot that planted right on the center of her back.

She roared out in fury, the mane of her Emperor Lion Armor rippling as though solar flares of the sun itself.

Chi.

[Leia Analei (???)]

[Level: ???]

[Physical: 433,387 (Adjusted)][Mental: 522,777 (Adjusted)][Will: 510,799 (Adjusted)]

Leia reacted as though a sledgehammer had suddenly split her skull in two. The Will was so invasive that it was like someone had slipped their fingers into her skull and palmed her brain with both hands at once.

Her body shook, and she spun around toward Sylas’ direction, her eyes returning to normal as though she had been snapped out of a concussive state.

For the first time, she could see Sylas clearly. Truly see him.

To her shock, not only had her stats just been read, but she could feel Sylas’ presence far more clearly when she wasn’t using the Analei’s Pupils.

What ability was Sylas using that his ability to feel reality superseded her own? That was impossible!

Her expression became serious, but she also realized one very important thing.

So long as she didn’t use her special eyes, Sylas wouldn’t be able to trick her senses nearly as easily, and though his Will was powerful, his other stats were far from on par.

She stomped a foot and surged forward.

This time, however, Sylas didn’t make a move to evade. His ability to see and react in a battle was far beyond anything that Leia had seen from any other F-tier. The moment he felt her dismiss her eyes, his tactics changed.

His eyes unleashed a wave of pressure, the world twisting around him.

Leia’s fist was already before his face when her Emperor Lion Armor suddenly collapsed.

Her power dropped, and it felt like something had ripped a chair out from underneath her. While her actual stats didn’t change, she was almost like a deflated balloon hanging in the air.

In one moment, she had all the power in the world, and in the next it dropped by more than half.

Sylas almost carelessly sidestepped her attack, swinging out a foot toward her extended ankle. With a grab of her wrist, she flipped through the air.

A danger the likes of which Leia had never before felt in her life shook her to her very soul. Despite her shock, she managed to react quickly, using telekinesis to rip some control back and away from Sylas and avoid disaster.

But as though he had already expected as much, Sylas had already vanished, his free hand having found its way to Leia’s staff in her distraction.

Leia had been expecting to fly up into the air, reacting too late to suddenly being tethered to Sylas through her own weapon. It was impossible for her to choose to let go —no warrior worth their salt would ever so easily abandon their weapon.

She was yanked back, and Sylas released her wrist, slamming an elbow right into the bridge of her nose.

This time, Leia felt every bit of it. There was no Armor anymore, no protections, and all she could do was meet an elbow with smoke-black fog radiating from it.

Blood spurted out of her nose, the sounds of bones fracturing echoing through the air.

Her vision swam, her body collapsing back to the ground. Her head snapped back on impact, and she tried to swing her lower body back toward Sylas in some vain attempt to attack.

Sylas simply stepped to the other side of her staff, pinning it to the ground and raising a kick high in the air. He smashed down an ax kick with the momentum of a meteor streaking across the skies, space folding and a glow of emerald and gold rampaging through it as though a burning fury had manifested into reality.

BOOM.

Leia felt as though her skull was being crushed. If not for the boost in Constitution her treasure armor had, maybe that was exactly what would have happened.

Fighting Sylas felt like battling someone who could move two pieces for every one you did on the chessboard. It was suffocating, oppressive, and everywhere she turned her head, he was already there.

You didn’t beat someone like this with similar stats, or even slightly superior stats.

Leia coughed up a mouthful of blood, her chest convulsing, but Sylas had already raised a palm high into the skies. Aether howled, streams of black and green swirling into a massive lance that filled the skies.

Even with her vision blurred, unable to see clearly, Leia could feel the danger, her pupils constricting into pinholes.

“WE WILL ALL DIE,” she roared.

Fifth Prince Sona’s lip twitched when he heard this. He understood the implication. If they didn’t have an explanation for what happened to Starell, they really would all suffer.

That explanation had to be Sylas’ head.

“Fuck me,” Fifth Prince Sona mumbled.

However, his mare’s maw had already opened wide, a roar of straight teeth glowing red- gold as the heat in the region skyrocketed.

He knew he had to give Leia a chance to recover. Clearly, she had underestimated Sylas, and the moment Sylas took control of a battle, he wasn’t the sort to give it up.

This battlefield needed a reset.