I Can Assimilate Everything

Her expression shifted then, something heavy flickering behind the controlled facade of command.

"The only pain I truly know is that of orphans. Of children who become fatherless and motherless constantly due to wars they had no part in starting. Children who wake up one day to find their entire world changed because someone, somewhere, decided that violence was the answer to a question they didn't even understand."

She stood then, not in aggression but in emphasis, moving to the wall that showed a vista of a battlefield frozen in time…ships torn apart, worlds burning, the debris of lives scattered across the cosmic void.

"Right now," Lydia said, her voice carrying the exhaustion of someone who had counted too many casualties, "there are thousands upon thousands of kids becoming orphans every year. Every month. Every day. All because their fathers and mothers are being eaten up in Butchering Grounds…cosmic meat grinders where beings fight for reasons that stopped mattering generations ago."

She turned back to face him, and Achilles could see in her amber eyes the weight of every orphan she had failed to save, every child whose parent she had ordered into battle knowing they wouldn't return.

"I look at all of this," she gestured to encompass not just the room but the entire structure of perpetual conflict that defined the Star Seas, "and wonder... how can it be stopped? How can we break free from this endless cycle of death and revenge and more death? Surely endless death cannot be our purpose. Surely there must be something more to existence than just finding new ways to end it."

She returned to her seat, settling back into the chair with the weariness of someone carrying weights. She lifted her glass again, taking another sip of the ancient Stellar Nectar as if its fire might burn away some of the exhaustion.

"Based on what my Mentor told me," she continued, her tone shifting to something more analytical, "he suspected that all those years ago, the conflict between the Taboo of Adrastia and the Infinite Radiance Sovereignty and the Void Dominion Empire was a result of manipulation by the Outsiders."

The word 'Outsiders' carried weight that made the air itself seem to recoil, as if even speaking of them invited unwanted attention.

"The little I took from that," Lydia said, watching Achilles's reaction carefully, "was that first…before all the blood, before all the betrayal, we used to be allies."

...!

The word buzzed between them like a revelation wrapped in accusation.

Allies.

Achilles smiled at this word, though the expression held no warmth, only the sharp edge of irony honed by generational trauma.

He leaned forward, his crown tilting at an angle that caught light in ways that seemed to cut through the air itself.

"Allies," he repeated, tasting the word like poison he was considering whether to swallow. "Allies don't systematically ethnically cleanse other allies' bloodlines. Allies don't hunt children through the cosmos because of the blood in their veins. Allies don't celebrate when they finally corner and kill the last member of a lineage that once fought beside them."

HUUM!

General Lydia paused at this, her controlled expression cracking slightly to reveal something that might have been shame…not personal, but inherited, the kind that came from being part of organizations that had committed atrocities before you were born.

She sighed, the sound carrying the weight of histories that couldn't be undone.

"They were allies," she said again, not as argument but as historical fact. "And Outsiders found it beneficial to tear them apart…especially to target the Taboo of Adrastia. The question that my Mentor could never answer, the question that haunts those of us who know even fragments of the true history, is why?"

She set down her glass and fixed Achilles with a gaze that demanded honesty.

"Why did they specifically target your lineage? What made the Adrastia Emperor Kings such a threat that Outsiders would orchestrate their complete destruction? And more importantly…where is your anger towards them? The Outsiders who manipulated all of this into being?"

Achilles considered her questions, his fingers drumming a rhythm on the table that seemed to echo through dimensions. When he answered, his voice carried the calm certainty of someone who had thought through every angle of their vengeance.

"I am plenty angry at the Outsiders," he said, each word measured and precise. "Their manipulation, their schemes, their treatment of entire civilizations…they will face reckoning for all of it."

He paused, his purple-gold eyes flickering with internal fire.

"But I feel the same for those who betrayed my lineage. The schemers who orchestrated from shadows and the ones who acted with their own hands…both bear responsibility. A weapon and the hand that wields it are both guilty of the wound they create."

His smile returned, sharp and dangerous.

"Does it not seem like justice for all of them to burn together? The puppets and the puppeteers, the betrayers and the betrayed who became betrayers in turn? Fire doesn't discriminate. It purifies everything equally. And I have someone who loves to burn things…"

General Lydia stared at him silently after this.

The silence stretched between them, not uncomfortable but heavy with the weight of futures being decided.

Finally, she spoke, her voice carrying a quality of someone making a decision that would reshape many things.

"My Mentor," she said slowly, "is currently holding one of the Seats of the Chancellors who lead the Infinite Radiance Sovereignty. If you work with me…with us, we can meaningfully make change."

…!

Change.

The word settled between them like a promise and a challenge.

Achilles reflected on it, turning it over in his mind like a gem being examined for flaws. His smile grew slightly, and he looked towards Lydia with an expression that suggested he was waiting for something specific.

She met his gaze and continued, understanding that this was the critical moment.

"There are many powerhouses within the Infinite Radiance Sovereignty and the Void Dominion Empire," she said, her words careful but direct. "If you say you want to kill, I will even help you kill. The corruption runs deep, and some wounds can only be cauterized with violence."

She paused, ensuring her next words carried their full weight.

"But the only thing for me is... those people hold seats of power. They help defend against Outsiders. They help protect more children from becoming orphans. If you kill them, will you be able to replace what they do? Their power? Their knowledge? Their networks of defense?"

Her voice took on an edge of challenge.

"Or will you simply kill wantonly and leave power vacuums that will only embolden Outsiders? Will your vengeance create the very openings that our true enemies need to destroy everything…not just your lineage, but all lineages?"

…!

Will he be able to replace those he kills?

The magic words had been spoken.

Achilles heard them echo through possibilities, through futures he had already seen, through plans he had been refining since learning the truth of his inheritance. His expression shifted to something that might have been satisfaction.

"Oh?" he said, his voice carrying amusement that danced on the edge of danger. "I can definitely replace those I kill though? Even make them more powerful?"

…!

BOOM!