Sylas felt a huge rejection the moment he stepped foot into the maze.
One would have thought that it was easy, and even a child could think of what the plan might be. If he was in the maze at the same time as Matriarch Valeria, then the latter would be vulnerable while he was not.
While Nosphaleen had been the one to fuse with the Unique Gene of the Petals of the Seeing Thorn, Sylas had obviously not, so how could the maze affect him?
But if the Seeing Thorn Maze could be handled so easily, then it wouldn’t exist in the first place.
The reason the maze itself existed was to eliminate human error. Something like having to get anyone who stepped into it to have the Seeing Thorn Unique Gene first was precisely the sort of human error they would want to avoid.
If that was the case, then any enemy who crossed into their territory could make it to the maze and go through it without obstruction, while their own people would be helpless within it.
Again, if things were so easy, the Petals of the Seeing Thorn would be foolish and not nearly as well respected as they were.
Sylas experienced that immediately.
The Unique Gene wasn’t just there to hide the exact location of the Petals of the Seeing Thorn. It was also a form of protection for its people.
The Seeing Thorn wasn’t just any moniker, nor was it just a clever play on words fusing the intelligence gathering aspects of the organization with a metaphor about the women that graced their halls. Though… it could be that as well.
The Seeing Thorn was one of the most powerful plant existences in the Sector. They were an invasive species known for their ability to swallow entire planets whole and mutate ecosystems to their own liking.
The Seeing Thorn Unique Gene caused the maze to mistake you as one of it. When it wasn’t on your person, it treated you like everything else…
Something to devour.
This alone would be something that was shocking enough. But, this was only the tip of the iceberg for the Seeing Thorn. The creature’s description didn’t do it enough justice.
What did it mean for something to be capable of swallowing a planet? It meant that it could overtake its function, suppress its Core, overwhelm it and become, in effect, its Progenitor not by right, but by force.
This sort of concept wasn’t something that most could even wrap their heads around. Even if it took a Seeing Thorn millennia to accomplish such a thing, it was more than capable of doing it.
But there was one thing that would make its prowess as clear as day.
The Seeing Thorn was a B-Grade Race.
Chi. Chi. Chi.
Gogo had only just appeared when his body was torn in a countless number of ways, ripped and torn to near shreds. His body was so large that hundreds of thorns shredded his scales apart.
Every ounce of pain was felt by Sylas, and he would have raised his head to the skies to roar, if it wasn’t for the fact the thorns had already grown vines to fill up Gogo’s throat and lungs.
In another instant of time, they would be dead.
But Sylas was more than prepared for all of this. He knew that exactly this would happen because he had information. If he hadn’t planned out every meticulous detail, he would have never dared to take this step at all.
Just as the vines pulled and were about to shred Gogo to pieces, Sylas pulled hard on his connection with Nosphaleen.
Semi-Fusion.
The thorny vines froze in place, confusion rippling out from it in waves. It pulled out, and as it did so, a shuddering pain racked their bodies. But Sylas knew that this was important.
He needed this much blood and gore left behind here, he had had no choice but to allow Gogo to be injured to this extent. Otherwise, he would have activated Semi-Fusion long ago.
‘Just enough… just enough…’
Sylas held onto his Will, gritting Gogo’s teeth so hard it felt as though they might snap.
Finally, the last of the thorns were pulled out from his body.
There was a moment of silence before Sylas collapsed. Then he began to feel his consciousness fading a bit as the Unique Gene tried to take hold and blur his mind.
But it was also clear that the connection was far weaker than it was normally. While Sylas’ mind was fading away somewhat, it wasn’t to the point that he had completely lost it.
This was a combination of two main things. The first, Semi-Fusion. Because the Fusion wasn’t full and whole, the impact of the Gene wasn’t as deep and resounding as usual, making it more manageable.
The second thing was the fusion of Sylas’ and Gogo’s mind. It was much harder to play on their consciousness when it was trying to act on two opposing minds at the same time.
‘It worked.’
Gogo coughed up mouthfuls of blood, their hole-ridden body laying limply on the ground.
Slowly, they began to inch forward, leaving trails of blood in their wake until they saw her.
Matriarch Valeria walked forward in a daze. Her senses were sharp and strong, and the aura she was radiating was so powerful that Sylas knew that even if she just stood there without any defenses at all, he would have a hard time even harming a hair on her head.
But he had no plans on even trying to.
He just squeezed by, struggling all the way. He only turned back once, just to see Matriarch Valeria absentmindedly walking through the trails of blood, her body soaking it up as she acted no differently from how the Seeing Thorn would. In fact, by now, the blood and flesh at the locations Gogo had just been were probably long gone.
Perfect timing, indeed.
As for what Sylas’ plans were, it was likely only he knew.