I Can Assimilate Everything

Purple, gold, and white flames raged without mercy!

The skies trembled from his emotions alone.

Golden Aeonic Chains rippled outward like titanic serpents of order, latching onto the clouds and sky itself. They clanked and groaned as if pulled straight from the foundations of the world, each one etched with ancient Primordial authority.

Yet even in the face of this stellar fury, the figure of the Primordial Light of Darkness laughed.

Not the chuckle of a jester. The regal amusement of a being who knew too much, had done too much.

"Until next time," he intoned.

HUUM!

And just like that, he vanished. Selamira followed a heartbeat later as his shadowy hand was on her head.

And the skies just burned with authority.

No trails. No sound. Only empty, flame-lit skies.

Achilles remained alone.

His crown hovered, regal and magisterial.

His sun spun, majestic and untouchable!

He stared forward, eyes like two sharpened blades of memory and foresight. They were cold, royal, and alone all at once.

The aftertaste of a heavy battle clung to the air. But no one else stood there anymore. Not even the Ancient Ones who had defied him.

He thought.

How had the Primordial Light of Darkness learned about Rose?

The details were too precise. Too invasive. Either this being had been watching for some time, far longer than Achilles had suspected, or someone had given him that knowledge.

Both options made his eyes burn with fire.

There was no clear answer. Only suspicion.

More importantly, he now stood openly in the eyes of the world.

Not just the humans who rallied beneath his banner. Not just the enslaved or liberated cities. Now, he was known by the Ancient Ones.

They had seen him. Felt his power today.

Feared him

The Triarcan Keep had changed things as there would be no going back. From it, they learned of the threat from the Stars, and Achilles was already sifting through the memories of the Luminblood Ancient Ones he assimilated to find out even more information.

In the dying light of the skies, he looked to a far-off point and nodded.

"Sun."

A flash of gold broke the lingering quiet.

The Monkey King floated over slowly. His golden fur gleamed beneath the remnants of celestial fire. His vibrant tail swayed behind him with tempered control.

He didn't speak immediately.

Instead, he examined Achilles. Up and down. Measuring not just his healing wound and strength, but something more than that.

He then let out a heavy sigh.

Then Sun, the Monkey King, spoke.

"I remember…when he first appeared," he said, voice soft, words heavy with age. "Long before the Long Slumber. Back then, the Ancient Ones did not kneel. Not to each other. Not even to Destiny."

His golden gaze drifted across the flaming chains overhead.

"But to him...to the Primordial Light of Darkness? They did. One by one, the strong fell in line. It wasn't because he was righteous, but because he would not stop. He used whatever means he could. Curses. Contracts. Sacrifices. Dark methods the rest of us tried to forget. He was brutal and calculating."

Sun's tail flicked with a soft crack.

"And he was strong. Strong enough to make some like that Human Empress who was waging war against Ancient Ones before, Selamira, to follow him willingly. Strong enough to sway whole Supreme Forces. His reach became terrifying. Not just among beasts or Ancients..."

He looked directly at Achilles.

"But among humans, too."

HUUM!

His reach was prevalent even among Humans.

Achilles' eyes flashed brightly as he wondered…which Humans were already under the control of the Primordial Light of Darkness right now?

Silence lingered between them.

Achilles held his stare, then nodded slightly.

"Thank you."

It was not empty gratitude. But a type of gratitude that carried weight as Sun had been one of the few descent Ancient Ones.

Then he turned.

A wave of his hand tore light into existence as from below, The Vessel of Adrastia emerged once more.

Its radiant forests stretched wide. Golden rivers cut between lush glades. Vibrant, pulsing fruits hung from crystal-kissed branches- Primordium Evolutius Fruits that were alive with surging energy.

He offered it calmly.

"If you ever change your mind about joining me," Achilles said, his voice steady, "just speak near this vessel. I will know."

Sun looked at the immense floating landmass in silence.

He didn't answer right away.

A being like him had too many threads pulling him in every direction. And he liked to be free and uninvolved in conflicts!

But finally, he nodded once.

He floated toward the Vessel. Landing lightly on a high bough of one of the great trees, he plucked a single fruit. Its surface shimmered like dawn trapped in crystal. Purple gold brilliqnce cascaded around it as it contained the light of Biological Nurturing from Achilles!

Achilles, still silent, allowed light to gather around him.

The light of teleportation of the Nirvana of the Sun and Moon rose in blooming arcs.

He looked across the shattered battlefield. Flattened hills. Torn skies. His Draconic Hybrids lay devastated across the ground.

And yet…it seemed that he hadn't used them.

The Ancient Ones had never stopped to ask why.

He smiled coldly beneath his anger.

His enemies believed he had simply pushed back.

They were wrong.

As the light of his teleportation began to consume him, his eyes flared.

Because if one could peer through his sight, if they could view what he saw…they would see them.

Millions of tiny spores.

Barely visible. Not even to the eyes of Neuronova Stage Ancient Ones.

They were scattered across the skies and buried in earth, clinging to flames and lingering mana.

Each one a piece of him. A future hand. A future trap. A seed of war.

The stronger Achilles became, the more terrifying his spores became.

More silent. More invisible.

The fighting Ancient Ones who were here were breathing in these Spores or having them land on their scales and fur!

Even though they retreated, his war with them was in no way done.

He was not finished.

The light took him.

And then he was gone.

But his spores remained. Spread out and waiting!