The answer was obvious the moment Sylas thought of it. At that moment, he took a leap. BOOM!
The location he had just been standing on exploded. Had he been just a second slower, he would have truly been screwed over.
A howl of laughter came from behind Sylas, and a figure with shadow-like speed appeared behind him in a blink.
Sylas twisted in the air, using the momentum to slap at the danger coming from his back. This person had actually managed to hide from his visualization, and the moment the dagger moved, it felt like death's whisper had come to his door once again.
However, Sylas was frighteningly calm. Even when he recognized the face of Alex Renolds, he didn't react in the slightest. It was as though he understood that even the slightest distraction had the possibility of ruining things for him, so he didn't even give it a chance to do so.
Alex was surprised the moment the tail landed because it actually felt like he was about to lose an arm. His shoulder almost popped from his socket, and he grunted, reeling back.
It had to be remembered that he was in the air as well. For Sylas to actually have the strength to blow him back despite the fact that both of their momentums were going in the opposite direction, it was a testament to just how strong he had grown.
However, none of this stopped them from falling toward the water below.
A chilling, howling wind came at the both of them, and the raging waters made it difficult to get a hold of their balance. Walking across lava had already been difficult, but walking on the less viscous water was several times more. However, taking that a step further and walking on raging waters that were constantly forming peaks and valleys...
Both Sylas and Alex almost slipped out.
Even now, Alex didn't seem to have recognized Sylas. Although Sylas' face wasn't covered in scales, he did have them on his cheeks and up his throat. At the same time, his eyes were different, and there was a difference in his demeanor that hadn't been there before.
Even if the real Sylas and his current self were placed side by side, it would be difficult to align them. Though, it might be possible to say that they were related.
If Alex had better attention to detail, he might have drawn that line. But the memories that he could retrieve from his clone after its death were foggy at best. In addition...
Had he ever been a details-oriented guy?
Sylas, though, recognized Alex instantly, and the first thing he noted wasn't that he was somehow alive, but rather that he was using daggers rather than the axes Sylas had known him for. It seemed that everything about the Alex he knew was nothing more than a facade.
Even now, Sylas couldn't see through Alex's stats. It was obvious to him that there was some sort of treasure that both he and Lauren had used to escape detection by the system, but that much was fine.
What Sylas really cared about wasn't the sneak attack or Alex's skill; he was more concerned about what they had done to the cobra Emperor. There was no doubt that whatever was happening down below was related to them.
But right now, Sylas was locked in a battle with Alex, and there were also still the government military men and women on the other side of the shore that might interfere at any moment. This matter was becoming more and more troublesome to deal with, but he was already nearing the end of his rope.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn't possibly escape this region. But even if he won in the end, would he still have the strength he needed to flee?
The moment Sylas had these thoughts, he threw them to the back of his mind. He was going back to his old ways of thinking, his old ways of thought.
Nothing else mattered right now but taking another step forward. Nothing else mattered aside from crushing the enemies that were right in front of him.
Alex's betrayal could be said to be the first he had faced in this world, and it could have cost him his life had he been the slightest bit careless. Back then, Alex had obviously had the intention to continue staying in Castle Main. Had Sylas not exposed him, he would probably still be there now, doing who knows what.
But now that he was here, if Sylas could capture him, he could finally get some real answers about what happened back then.
There were too many secrets in this world, but he could only tackle them one at a time... Starting with why they needed Cassarae's treasure so badly that they would actually go so far. A fast victory. He needed one that was quick, decisive, and left no room to maneuver. The moment he made this choice, he exploded forward. The water beneath him warped, and
as a result, the effectiveness of his speed plummeted, but he seemed to have already expected
Through the air, his Gluttony Seed and activated at the same time, mitigating the loss.
Alex was taken aback, not expecting such a decisive attack after they had just started probing each other, but his own reactions weren't slow either.
He cast a skill, but this time, his treasure couldn't stop Sylas from picking up on it. It was a defensive skill that could be used as an attack. It stored strength and then exploded with it as a counter. It relied on Dark Aether to work, and this could be considered the second time that Sylas had run into such a thing.
However, seeing through the method of attack, Sylas was impossibly calm. The fist that he was planning on attacking with was retracted and he landed on the water's surface heavily.
At the same time, his tail whipped out, slapping against Alex's side and sending him flying.