I Can Assimilate Everything

The sky was quiet.

Utterly, unnervingly quiet.

Ash drifted in waves across the Cenotaph Wild Lands, blown from the shattered mountains and the molten battlefields where Ancient Ones had unleashed their fury.

Bones of Draconic Hybrids scattered down below as they…uniquely had remained utterly still.

It was not easily seen that from their destruction…spores moves with ash and wind.

The silence after the storm was so loud it threatened to collapse into another warcry.

And at the center of it all...

Achilles Adrastia Maxwell stood unburned, unwavering, as wind howled through the cracks of the broken land. He exhaled calmly.

A faint golden glow pulsed across his skin.

The umbrella like shield of his weapon slowly folded behind his back, petal by petal retracting like a quiet bloom- its core humming as if digesting everything

Within his body, the energies swirled. Threads of celestial flame, kraken waters, radiant arrows, rune-infused draconic might, and roaring solar tides. They surged into the mesh of his Assimilations, spreading like tributaries across his Primordial Energy Source and Draconic Assimilations.

But then…

Something else happened.

Something new.

The air trembled and his blood glowed faintly.

From the depths of his being, a new core flickered into existence. Shining silver, shimmering blue, and white.

A new sea of Assimilation! It caused his blood and bones and meridians already filled with starlight…to buzz with hunger.

With greed.

The greed was much that from above, dark clouds gathered as a massive river of starlight gushed down, Achilles feeling like he…was finally undergoing the transformation to step into Astral Core Ascension!

After all, he only had access to star light from his Bloodline Refinement and absorbing Celestbones.

He had not undergone Astral Core Ascension truly himself!

And such a thing seemed to be happening now because finally, something critical was made into an Assimilated Sea!

|Organic Starlight Core – Echelon 3|

Star light.

Officially.

Undoubtedly.

Gloriously!

And its qualities…were grand.

Qualities:

Stellar Blood III: Your bloodstream now carries hyper-condensed starlight particles. Regeneration, movement, and power generation are amplified under celestial influence.

Luminal Pulse III: You can emit pulses of radiant light that disrupt shadow or abyssal-based techniques, while blinding and destabilizing lower-tier enemies.

Nebular Sheen III: Your body becomes increasingly translucent to natural senses during movement, granting evasion against precognitive or anticipatory abilities.

Orbit Field III: You generate a passive orbit of starlight fragments around you. These fragments can be used defensively or offensively in bursts.

Supernova Thread III: You may weave lines of starlight into your melee attacks, increasing penetration and temporarily disabling the regenerative functions of affected enemies.

Starbrand Genesis III: Upon being wounded, your cells can ignite with starlight, forming a reactive blast of energy that purges your body of toxins or mental control.

…!

A number of glorious new qualities.

The moment this new assimilation settled into place, Achilles smiled.

He had forged something beautiful.

His hand twitched. His halberd shimmered. And above him, the Ancient Ones stood readying more force as their expressions were heavy when they saw the constant river of starlight gushing down from above into his body!

He looked up.

Golden-winged Royal Panthera Lions hovered in formation, their manes burning with ethereal light as massive Celestbone constructs of lion heads and claws circled above them.

Mythical Dragons of obsidian gold towered like mountains in the sky, their bodies coiling around Runescripture Constructs, massive draconic Celestbones of fanged maws and tails floating like war spirits.

Atlantians stood across floating platforms of water, adorned in shining aquamarine armor.

They raised ceremonial spears toward the heavens, chanting words in an ancient dialect as titanic spectral Krakens spiraled into view beneath the land.

Solmyron and his Phoenixes were like celestials birds of scorching endings.

High Elves. Tall, radiant, emotionless.

They drew their Celestbone Bows. Bows of carved moonlight and astral spine, strings glowing with tension as stars fell into place behind the arrows.

All of them.

Looking at him.

Surrounding him.

Preparing again.

Selamira stood on a floating disc of obsidian cloud, arms crossed as she sternly saw the concentration of starlight.

"Still no regrets now?"

Achilles looked skyward, the golden glow from his new assimilation dancing in his pupils like twin stars.

And again, his answer was calm.

"No."

And then...

HUUM!

Everything fell.

But this time, he moved.

The ground ruptured.

Achilles launched himself into the air, twisting between incoming beams of starlight and flame, the petals of his umbrella-shield rotating to deflect just enough so he could slip through.

BOOOM!

Explosions trailed behind him like thunder.

A glowing arrow passed his shoulder.

He rotated.

Two orbiting starlight fragments from his Orbit Field shot out, intercepting the arrow in mid-air and shattering it into motes of stardust.

He appeared before a golden-winged Royal Panthera Lion.

Luminblood Stage.

Its body shone with pride and arrogance as it bared fangs and swiped.

Achilles ducked beneath its claw.

The Nebular Sheen activated as his outline shimmered like a ghost, slipping past the beast as if gravity could not hold him.

He slashed once.

The halberd gleamed with Supernova Thread.

The Royal Panthera Lion let out a soundless scream as a ripple passed through its body, causing its regeneration to seize up, organs convulsing.

It turned to retaliate, but...

"Assimilate."

Achilles whispered it into the wind.

And the body of the Lion caved inward.

Like a vacuum had been formed within its ribcage, its flesh, organs, and blood began to spiral toward Achilles, pulled into his body like nutrients to a dying star.

The light in its eyes faded as its body collapsed.

…!

Finally, a sense of shock came!

An Ancient One was dead!

And so quickly at that!

"…"

But they didn't even have the time to allow the shock to settle.

A second Luminblood Ancient One charged.

This time, a Mythical Dragon.

Achilles used Stellar Blood to burst into blinding speed, dodging the swipe of the draconic claw before spinning with his halberd.

The dragon roared.

He pierced its side.

Flared Luminal Pulse.

And while the beast flailed, blind and stunned…

HUUM!

"Assimilate."

Its insides and core vanished in an instant. It fell.

Below, on the cracked battlefield, more Ancient Ones roared.

Elven arrows rained down. Krakens slapped tidal waves. The Lions unleashed burning roars of Primordial Might.

But now…

Achilles danced.

Between fire.

Between death.

He dodged, parried, and glided, his weapon flashing between offense and defense.

The Orbit Field shimmered with starlight bursts.

A wave of arrows clashed into them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He let the force spin him forward. He deflected another tidal spear with his halberd and teleported a meter to the left with Nirvanic constructs swirling around his feet.

He pierced another Luminblood Ancient One!

"Assimilate."

It crumpled.

Selamira watched all of it.

Her expression did not change.

Only her eyes narrowed. Just slightly.

The battlefield had changed.

What they believed to be a ruler stubbornly clutching power...

Was a predator.

Moving through their ranks like a growing sun.

Achilles stood still for a moment after his latest kill.

A third Luminblood body collapsed beside him.

His body hummed.

Starlight spun within.

And the Ancient Ones, all across the broken horizon, grew quiet again.

He looked up at them, his eyes burning with star light as he bellowed out…

"No! Regrets!"

HUUM!