I Can Assimilate Everything

The Sea of Thalassara had become witness to something unprecedented…three Adrastia Emperor Kings, grandfather, father, and son, standing together!

The luminescent waters around them seemed to pulse with the weight of this impossibility.

Thalsian looked between his son and grandson, his massive frame radiating the kind of authority that made space defer to his presence.

When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of someone processing revelations that rewrote millennia of understanding.

"So let me affirm what you've just told me," he said, his blue-gold hair moving in currents that shouldn't have existed.

"We now know the true identity of the manipulators…these Outsiders, these Nar'Thyss, who have been steering events for thousands of years like we're all characters in their shitty plays."

His expression darkened, becoming something that would have sent armies fleeing.

"And the Founders, Aurelius and Vexthar, those bastards are still alive after all this time." A smile crossed his features that had nothing to do with joy and everything to do with anticipation.

"Okay! This is a lot to kill!"

His eyes pulsed with a sense of brutality that had made oceans themselves retreat in fear during his prime.

Across from him, Achilles and Adras shared similar smiles…three generations of Emperor Kings united in their appreciation for the violence to come.

Then Thalsian's expression grew serious, the warrior-king assessing his forces before battle.

"What power do you two currently hold?" He asked, his gaze sharp as it moved between them. "I need to know what we're working with before we start planning the wholesale slaughter of beings who think themselves untouchable."

Achilles straightened, his form radiating confidence that transcended arrogance and entered the realm of simple fact.

"I've advanced to Tier 6 of the Null Scale of Existence right now," he said, the words carrying weight that made the Sea around them ripple.

"Though that's... a conservative assessment given some recent developments and thr uniqueness of my power. I would likely be able to even play around with Tier 7 Existences in the Null Scale of Existence."

At his grandfather's questioning look, Achilles continued, settling into the role of teacher with natural ease.

"Oh, the Scales of Existence work like this: imagine reality as a building with multiple floors. We're currently in what's called the Null Scale, Level Null, which contains nine tiers. Most beings in the Star Seas exist in Tiers 1 through 3, living their lives never knowing there are heights they can't even perceive. Tier 4 and 5 beings are your generals, your masters of single Regulations, those who can reshape portions of reality."

He gestured to his father. "Father currently stands at Tier 5, which puts him among the most powerful beings in conventional understanding."

Then to Thalsian. "You, Grandfather, are actually at Tier 6…or will be once you recuperate from your wounds. That places you in extremely rare company. Most beings take millennia to reach Tier 6, if they ever do."

Achilles paused, ensuring they understood the magnitude of what came next.

"Above Tier 9 of the Null Scale is Level Zero: Pre-Civilizational Existence. That's where beings transcend the normal rules entirely, operating on principles we can barely conceptualize. And above that... well, its hard to conceptualize right now. The scales extend upward into realms that might as well be different dimensions of existence entirely."

Thalsian absorbed this information with the focused intensity of a strategic mind cataloging new intelligence. His fingers drummed against his armor in a rhythm that suggested calculation.

"Our enemies?" he asked after a moment. "Where do they stand on this scale you describe?"

Achilles's expression grew complex, mixing assessment with anticipation.

"The lesser Nar'Thyss, the ones managing individual Fables, range from Tier 4 to 6. The constellation-class Nar'Thyss, their leadership, sit at Tiers 7 through 9. The Founders, Aurelius and Vexthar, are solid Tier 9, at the absolute peak of the Null Scale."

He paused, his next words carrying particular weight.

"And then there's Syl'thessara."

The name hung in the water like a curse given form. Both his father and grandfather went still, different emotions playing across their features…Adras with confusion, Thalsian with something between rage and sorrow.

"The Mother of our Lineage," Achilles continued, his voice carefully neutral. "The Ancestor that the First Adrastia Emperor King laid with, who bore the child that would become the Second Emperor King. She who betrayed everything for the Nar'Thyss's games."

His expression shifted as new information flowed through his consciousness from his various perspectives.

"She stands at Tier 9, nearly at the peak herself, and…oh?"

Achilles stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening as prompts materialized in his awareness from his Constellation form that had been tracking her movements.

His expression shifted from surprise to something colder, more calculating. A frown carved itself across his features as he processed what he was seeing.

"It seems," he said slowly, each word placed with careful precision, "that the Betrayer of our Lineage, the Mother of our Lineage, is actually trying to find us. Or really, who she believes is the current Adrastia Emperor King of this era."

The silence that followed was electric with possibility and threat.

"She's navigating through the Star Seas with purpose," Achilles continued, his consciousness tracking her movement in real-time through perspectives that existed outside normal space. "Her path is leading her... here. To my Sea of Thalassara."

HUUM!

Thalsian's reaction was immediate and volcanic. Water around him began to boil from proximity to his rage, creating clouds of steam that rose like the ghosts of his murdered subjects.

"She dares?" His voice was thunder given words. "After everything, she dares approach us?"

Adras placed a calming hand on his father's shoulder, though his own expression held edges sharp enough to cut starlight.

"Perhaps," he said quietly, "this is opportunity presenting itself. If she comes to us, we don't have to hunt her through the Star Seas. Though she is powerful for us currently…"

Achilles nodded slowly, his mind already calculating possibilities, narratives, potential outcomes.

"She may havs been sent by the Nar'Thyss to investigate something," he explained. "At this point, they should sense something has changed but don't know what. She's their scout."

He looked between his father and grandfather, three generations of power united in purpose.

"The question is: do we let her find us? Or do we find her first?"

Thalsian's smile was all teeth and anticipated violence.

…!