I Can Assimilate Everything

Just what could cause the Monkey King, a Mythological Ancient, to bellow in shock and fear?

The answer came in the twitch of his vibrant golden tail. A shiver ran through it. His fur stood on end!

Because Sun, the Monkey King, had seen this light before.

No, not light. Not exactly. Not something so simple.

It was a paradox. A light made of darkness. A shadow formed of radiance. A presence that should not be!

Only his eyes, those honed over many years, capable of seeing threads of Destiny, allowed him to catch it now. And even then, what he saw nearly made him retreat. Nearly.

His golden pupils dilated.

A whisper of memory struck his mind. An ancient battlefield. A plane of ruin. And that same flicker of wrongness, moving between breaths.

He feared it then. He feared it now.

His roar, "WATCH OUT!", cracked the sky.

BOOOOOM!

Thunder followed as it felt like this was a sovereign decree of the skies themselves. The boom traveled hundreds of miles, sweeping across the fractured remains of the Cenotaph Wild Lands here.

And then…

Frigid darkness fell.

Not a gentle eclipse. Not a veil of mist or cloud. It was utter, profound, Darkness.

It dropped like a guillotine across the land.

The battle froze.

No wind.

No noise.

No movement.

A heavy silence stretched so taut, it felt as though sound itself had been murdered.

Sound…murdered!

Night. Sudden. Unnatural. Complete.

Even the stars above were devoured. The Domain that fell over this battlefield was not just one of darkness, but of reverence. Of dread.

And then, after just a fee seconds, like a blink had passed, it lifted.

Light returned, but it was cold and muted. Like the world itself was holding its breath.

Sun, the Monkey King, stood a mile from the heart of battle, his tail swishing in violent tension. Golden flames curled at his fingertips as he narrowed his gaze while he felt the heavy beat of his heart.

And he saw it.

A figure.

Not quite there.

Not quite absent.

A humanoid form of pure darkness, its body pulsing in and out of stability with every passing second. It did not walk forward. It existed forward, as though reality itself was simply choosing to permit its presence for now.

And then, across the field…

Blood that shone with crimson gold allure.

Achilles looked down in a calm gaze.

To the left of his torso, just beneath the ribs, there was a… hole.

A gaping hole.

His left side had been pierced clean through. The wound cauterized by the sheer intensity of the attack. Yet it bled still- golden blood laced with starlight trickling down his side.

His many defenses.

His countless Assimilations.

Qualities that had kept him alive through the assault of Selamira and the Neuronova Ancient Ones.

Pierced.

Even after he had sensed it.

Even after his senses had screamed.

Still- this strike landed as it was too fast!

Achilles slowly raised his head.

His gaze locked onto the approaching figure. He said nothing. He didn't need to.

Because a voice, dark and majestic, answered first.

"I was actually aiming for your Heart."

...!

The voice was not loud. It didn't need to be. It rang with such clarity, such power, that it drowned the battlefield in silence once more.

"Who knew," it continued, "that even from a surprise attack, you would possess such terrifying defenses?"

The being tilted its head. The shadows that composed its body pulsed once.

"Is that truly an actual miniature sun floating protectively around you?"

BOOM!

The impact of that voice was not just auditory.

The air warped around it. Ancient Ones- beings who had not knelt to anything in an unknown number of years trembled anf in the next moment…bowed.

Everywhere.

Atlantians.

Phoenixes.

Mythical Dragons.

Neuronova Stage Ancients.

Even the arrogant, battle-hungry Crown Prince of the Royal Panthera Lions lowered his head.

Selamira did more than that.

She moved forward, shedding her White Tiger form. Her humanoid figure dropped to one knee, her head bowed deeply, hands placed over her chest in a sign of utter reverence.

"Master," she said, voice trembling. "You grace us with your presence! We were just about to corner the Blasphemer-….!"

She could not finish.

A hand.

Shadowy. Regal.

It brushed her head and stroked as if she were a child.

"You would not have cornered him."

His voice carried a smile now.

"The chance was there, before whatever change allowed him to birth a stellar body."

He turned to Achilles.

"Nothing in the Astral Core Ascension Realm can easily defeat him now. Not when he has manifested... a genuine Astral Body."

The words rang like thunder.

Astral Body.

And behind Achilles, that burning Sun- the Imperial Sun of Adrastia- spun slowly, its gravitational might subtly distorting the battlefield.

Achilles breathed slowly.

What had just happened now and what words were just uttered were extremely critical things.

The words just uttered by the shadowy being were that since the moment Achilles had an astral sun emerge around him, no Astral Core Ascension entities could defeat him!

Such words filled with confidence came from an enemy.

But they did display one thing clearly.

Imperial Embers Initiation, the first stage of Bloodline Refinement for the Adrastia Emperor King Lineage…granted one a genuine miniature sun that made them unbeatable in Astral Core Ascension!

This…was what his lineage granted just on the first stage of Bloodline Refinement!

That was how terrifying his Lineage was.

That was how unfathomable his expectations for the future could be!

Then, there was what just happened.

"…"

He felt the heat of his wound that was actually healing slowly.

He felt the pressure of the being who was responsible for it.

And still, he stood tall.

His fingers flexed.

His halberd shimmered in his hand, petals of light rotating silently behind him. His purple-gold Crown spun slowly above his head.

His gaze did not break.

His voice rang out, steady, calm.

"You must be the Primordial Light of Darkness I keep hearing so much about."

...!

The air tightened.

He narrowed his eyes.

"I thought for sure you would continue hiding behind Ancient Ones... and not show yourself."

BOOM!

And with that, glorious wonder bloomed!