I Can Assimilate Everything

Near the Edge of Space, where reality grew thin and uncertain, where the Star Seas met the infinite nothing that existed beyond existence itself, there lay secrets that most beings would never discover.

The Butchering Grounds spread below like a canvas of endless conflict, but above them, veiled in folds of space that normal perception couldn't penetrate, an isolated pocket dimension hung like a hidden spider in its web.

The domain within stretched a single light-year wide…modest by cosmic standards, yet containing more concentrated power than most solar systems.

It pulsed with authorities that shouldn't coexist: gold that sang of ancient victories, purple that whispered of stories being written, and pink that hummed with narratives yet to be born.

All of it thrummed with narrative force, the very air…if it could be called air, thick with the power to reshape reality through story alone.

This was the domain of the Nar'Thyss, and they moved through it with the casual confidence of beings who knew themselves to be authors in a universe of unwitting characters.

Radiant purple butterflies, each one a Nar'Thyss in their true form, crossed a massive golden bridge that stretched impossibly through the dimension.

Their bodies were studies in alien beauty…wings that radiated, bodies that suggested rather than defined, movements that followed patterns that made sense only to those who understood narrative structure rather than physics.

At the bridge's terminus, countless illusory screens flickered with images from across the Butchering Grounds.

Before each screen floated a Nar'Thyss, their attention focused with the laid-back concentration of gardeners tending plants they knew would bloom.

They watched the unfolding Fables of countless beings…a soldier's last stand here, a betrayal between brothers there, a love discovered in the midst of horror just beyond.

With careful precision, they would spend small amounts of the Authority of Fables to nudge events: a weapon jamming at the crucial moment, a communication arriving too late, a coincidence that felt like fate.

When the Fables reached their crescendos…especially those painted in death and sacrifice, the Nar'Thyss would harvest their investment returned five or tenfold!

Emotion was currency here, drama was commodity, and tragedy paid the highest dividends.

In between the moving forms of busy Nar'Thyss, space rippled with less fanfare than a whisper.

WAP!

A new aura bloomed silently, so subtle that none of the surrounding entities noticed its arrival.

A purple-gold butterfly materialized, its form shot through with hints of platinum that suggested stories about stories, narratives that encompassed other narratives.

This was Achilles in another Constellation Dream Body, shaped to match the forms around him yet fundamentally different in ways that would only become apparent if someone looked too closely.

He had chosen his testing ground carefully…a domain led by a fairly average Nar'Thyss, powerful enough to be instructive but not so mighty as to detect his true nature immediately.

Here, he would learn their methods from the inside, understand their operations not through observation but through participation.

As his wings carried him forward with movements copied from those around him, his mind processed information that materialized in his consciousness.

Information about his own power as after he had learned of the Scale of Existence, he wanted to know more!

And so he demanded more from the Existential Authority of Fables.

The results were astounding.

|Power Analysis: Achilles, The Liberating Assimilator|

|Current Tier in Null Scale of Existence: Tier 5|

|Determining Factors: Assimilation of multiple Regulations (Spatial Tension, Quantum, Inevitable Entropy), Active Adrastia Emperor King lineage providing exponential power multiplication, Unlocked Nar'Thyss genome enabling narrative manipulation, Complete assimilation of Existential Authority of Fables exceeding standard utilization, Unique distinction as Elder Nar'Thyss Constellation surpassing normal limitations.|

|Growth Potential: Unprecedented. Rate of advancement suggests possible tier progression in days rather than centuries. Example: Power level comparable to General Lydia (Tier 3) at initial meeting. Less than one day later: Subject at Tier 5 while General Lydia remains at Tier 3.|

Another set of prompts materialized as he continued his approach.

|Statistical Analysis of Star Seas Power Distribution:|

|Estimated 99.7% of entities exist below Tier 4|

|Tier 1-2: Common beings, basic cultivators, standard military forces, Stellar Nexus Embodiment entities…|

|Tier 3-4: Generals, Masters of Regulations, legendary warriors|

|Tier 5-7: Extremely rare, typically ancient beings with multiple masteries|

|Tier 8-9: Theoretical maximum for Null Scale entities. Likely candidates include: Founders of the Infinite Radiance Sovereignty, Original architects of Void Dominion Empire, Most ancient and powerful Nar'Thyss leadership|

|Note: Beings exceeding Tier 9 would transcend Null Scale entirely, entering Level Zero: Pre-Civilizational Existence|

Achilles absorbed this information while maintaining his disguise, his wings moving in perfect mimicry of those around him.

The domain's leader, he had learned, was designated Nar'Thyss Vel'Khari'Zan…a Tier 5 existence who had been weaving Fables for longer than some stars had burned.

This would be his testing ground, his opportunity to understand how the Nar'Thyss operated at their foundational level, which types of narratives they preferred to cultivate.

His attention was drawn to the center of the golden bridge, where a singular massive illusory screen dominated the space.

While individual Nar'Thyss focused on personal dramas and small tragedies, this screen displayed the entirety of a massive stretch of one of the Butchering Grounds…thousands of square light-years of conflict, millions of lives in constant struggle, all visible in crystalline clarity.

Before this master screen floated Vel'Khari'Zan himself.

The Tier 5 Nar'Thyss was magnificent in the way natural disasters were magnificent…terrible, beautiful, and utterly indifferent to lesser concerns.

Twelve pairs of wings spread from his form, each one displaying different scenes from the Fables he controlled, like living televisions broadcasting suffering.

His body existed in more dimensions than the three normal space required, occasionally flickering into configurations that would have driven lesser minds to madness.

Above his head floated not one but three crowns, each one representing dominion over different aspects of narrative control.

His eyes…all seventeen of them, arranged in patterns that suggested sacred geometry- blazed with vibrant attention as he studied the screen!

When he spoke, his voice carried the cruelty of someone discussing tea while planning genocide.

"Ah, how Existence weaves itself," Vel'Khari'Zan mused, his words causing ripples in the narrative fabric around him. "We have now seen the soldiers of our lesser kin pushing back against the forces of the Void Dominion Empire. A Void General has even fallen, and now two more Generals were sent in its place. The dramatic escalation is delicious, but..."

He paused, several of his wings fluttering in what might have been anticipation.

"At this time, let us change up the story and give these puny beings a sense of victory. When they begin their incursions and assault into the defensive lines of our soldiers, we shall allow them to eventually break through and even claim the life of..."

His many eyes scanned across the illusory screen with the precision of a conductor choosing which instrument should carry the melody.

The screen showed radiant armies of butterfly-like entities who were not as powerful as the Nar'Thyss in this domain, but still of the same lineage, the same fundamental nature.

They fought with desperate beauty against the encroaching forces, their deaths painting abstract art across the void.

Vel'Khari'Zan's gaze locked onto a particular figure…a Nar'Thyss whose power resonated at levels similar to General Lydia, a commander of their forces who had served with distinction for centuries.

"It seems that General Shi'La'Ma has served his lineage well," Vel'Khari'Zan continued, his tone carrying the fond dismissal of someone choosing which pet to sacrifice.

"He can be the one to take the ultimate sacrifice to elevate this Fable into one of loss and mourning."

Invisible waves of Existential Authority of Fables pulsed from his form, each wave carrying narrative weight that would reshape reality below.

"With his death, the forces of the Void Dominion Empire will be rejuvenated from claiming the life of an Outsider General…something so rare, so impossible, that it will kindle hope across their ranks like wildfire."

His wings spread wider, displaying potential futures that would unfold from this single narrative decision.

"They will believe that with one general dead, perhaps, just perhaps, they might be able to make more headway and wipe out these horrific Outsiders. In that hope, their hearts will look toward the future with renewed determination. And in this way, we can harvest even more narrative authority!"

HUUM!

The laughter that followed had no humor in it, only the satisfaction of a chess player who had seen twenty moves ahead.

"And they will come to find eventually that their belief…that somehow killing a single Outsider General would give them lasting hope, is sorely wrong. We have legions of such forces. The despair that follows false hope is particularly rich in narrative potential. Hahaha!"

As his words echoed through the domain, they transformed from speech into command.

The Existential Authority of Fables flowed from him like rivers of invisible ink, sinking into the illusory screen and through it into reality itself.

Below, in the Butchering Grounds, events would begin shifting to match his vision. Coincidences would align, mistakes would be made, and General Shi'La'Ma would find himself in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time…all of it feeling perfectly natural, perfectly inevitable.

If his manipulations succeeded, Vel'Khari'Zan would harvest returns that exceeded his investment by orders of magnitude.

The hope, the triumph, the subsequent despair…all of it would generate narrative energy that would strengthen him further, allowing him to weave even grander Fables.

Achilles watched this display with eyes that had gone cold as stellar void.

His wings continued their perfect mimicry of movement, but behind his disguise, his consciousness catalogued every detail.

This was how they operated on the larger scale…not just nudging individual lives but orchestrating entire war fronts as narrative exercises.

They sent their own kind to die not from cruelty but from artistic vision, seeing death as nothing more than a particularly effective plot device.

The casual monstrosity of it transcended evil and entered the realm of fundamental wrongness!

They weren't even treating lives as worthless…worth implied they had considered value and rejected it.

Instead, lives were simply components, ingredients in a recipe for narrative energy that they consumed with the thoughtless appetite of forces of nature.

But Achilles was learning. Every gesture Vel'Khari'Zan made, every pulse of authority he sent forth, was being analyzed, understood, and improved upon.

The Nar'Thyss thought they were the ultimate storytellers, the final arbiters of narrative in the Star Seas!

They were about to discover how fucking wrong they were!