I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 612: Seas of Tian I

In that space between spaces where the golden gateway stood as testament to secrets that THE entities had killed each other over for eons, THE Endless Dream waited with expression that combined anticipation and concern.

Eyyanah looked at the massive doorway with a very tight gaze, her jeweled eyes reflecting the golden radiance that emanated from its impossible geometry.

Behind it were likely THE Corpse Hierophant and the others, even though Achilles had mentioned that he had not been able to find them anywhere in the regions of Tian he had initially explored.

Just what would their power be now after spending time in that Primordial Realm? And would she and Achilles be enough to stand against them if confrontation became inevitable?

The questions churned through her consciousness as she calculated scenarios and prepared contingencies for possibilities she couldn’t fully predict.

As she was thinking this...

HUUM!

She felt an utterly suffocating aura of a THE entity descending upon this space between spaces, pressure so immense that it made her newly restored Depth feel insignificant by comparison. Her gaze changed greatly to alarm as her instincts screamed to run, to flee, to put as much distance as possible between herself and whatever was approaching.

But moments later, the aura felt familiar in ways that made her freeze mid-preparation for flight.

And it wasn’t just one presence, but two?

Eyyanah turned around to see Achilles and Rose materializing from folded space, their figures radiating authority that pressed against reality with weight she had not expected.

She stared at them in shock.

First, Rose becoming a THE Surface Depth entity was ridiculous enough. The woman had been Pre-THE when Eyyanah last observed her, still working to claim the Civilization of Alchemy through consumption of its scattered authority.

And now she stood there emanating copper-green luminescence that spoke of genuine THE distinction, her presence solid and heavy in ways that only fully realized Civilizations could achieve.

But Achilles...

Why the hell did he feel so heavy?

It was to the extent that Eyyanah had genuinely thought the billowing aura belonged to someone at a higher Depth than her own. Not Surface Depth but something approaching Intermediate, weight that exceeded what any entity should be able to accumulate in the span of mere hours.

Seeing her ashen expression, Achilles developed an apologetic look as he smiled while reigning in his aura with visible effort. The suffocating pressure diminished to something more manageable, though echoes of that immense weight continued rippling through the surrounding space.

"Sorry about that. I have to adjust and control it every few minutes as it keeps climbing..."

He said such words calmly, much to the continued shock of Eyyanah. She knew she wanted to ask how his power feeling like it did was even possible. How had he advanced so dramatically in such compressed timeframe? What had he been doing that could possibly yield such results?

This question in itself was hard to answer without extensive explanation, so Achilles simply pointed toward the golden gateway.

"When we go through there, you will understand."

THE Endless Dream squinted her eyes with disbelief before she nodded slowly, accepting that explanations could wait until circumstances permitted. She looked at Achilles and Rose as the three of them turned toward the massive doorway that had been the prize of wars spanning eons.

Together, they entered the golden gateway.

WAP!

The sensation of traversing the threshold was disorienting, reality inverting and reverting in patterns that tested even THE perception. But within moments, Achilles had another body arrive in Tian, this one accompanied by his Rose and his ally.

Golden clouds stretched in all directions beneath impossible sky, their surfaces shimmering with THE Civilizational Authority so pure that simply existing here felt like nourishment. River passageways of liquid gold flowed through the atmosphere in networks that defied conventional geometry, and floating mountainous landscapes crowned with crystallized Phonemes gravitated across different regions like celestial bodies drifting through cosmic sea.

Rose and Eyyanah looked around in absolute shock, their eyes wide as they felt the pure authority wrapping around them with warmth that promised elevation beyond anything their stunted Observable Existence could provide.

"This is..." Rose couldn’t find words adequate to describe what she was experiencing.

"Tian," Eyyanah whispered with voice that held reverence she rarely displayed. "THE Resplendent Paradox’s secret. This is where she found her power."

And yet moments later...

HUUM!

Everything nearby trembled as familiar presence manifested from the golden atmosphere itself. The visage of The Groundskeeper appeared before them, his golden crystallized form radiating authority that dwarfed everyone present. His gaze was a frowning one as he looked specifically toward Achilles with an expression that held clear disapproval.

"You divide your attention with clones and other bodies, spreading your consciousness across multiple locations simultaneously."

His voice carried weight that pressed against all three of them despite being directed at only one.

"This means the entirety of your Depth is not concentrated in one place. If you wish to succeed in The Cavern of Existence, you need all the commitment. Full dedication. Complete focus." His golden eyes narrowed. "Not fragments of awareness playing tourist while the rest struggles through trials designed to break those far more powerful than yourself."

...!

As he heard such words of admonishment, and while Rose and Eyyanah became grim with concern at the implications, Achilles actually smiled.

"Sir Groundskeeper doesn’t need to worry."

His voice carried respect without subservience.

"I’ve been having an easy time crossing The Blind Depths so far, so I thought I could sightsee with a minor part of my consciousness. Nothing major."

BOOM!

Sightsee?

An easy time?

He lied slightly, as The Blind Depths were definitely hard. The constant vigilance, the brutal combat, the need to consume creatures that resisted his Assimilation with every fragment of their collapsed beings. It was far from easy in any conventional sense.

But he could handle them. And that was what mattered.

The Groundskeeper looked at him silently for long moments, his golden features unreadable as he assessed the audacity of someone claiming to find his trials manageable while simultaneously dividing attention across multiple bodies.

In this silence, Achilles pressed forward with question that had been burning since he first learned of what lay beyond the gateway.

"Is The Groundskeeper able to speak on the fates of a cluster of Collapsed Existences that passed through Tian? They held The Civilizations of Necrocracy, Life, Alchemy, and others."

He spoke so calmly that it could throw one off, his tone suggesting casual curiosity rather than intelligence gathering.

The Groundskeeper looked at him with a gaze that suggested he saw through the pretense entirely but chose not to comment on it.

"The average THE entities are sent to the Nine Seas of Tian to help with the cultivation and maintenance of all of Tian." His voice held weight of information that could reshape Achilles’s understanding of this realm. "Their presence contributes to the stability of this Primordial Realm while they benefit from its abundant resources. A symbiotic arrangement that has functioned since before you learned to count time."

He paused, golden eyes fixed on Achilles.

"You wish to go there as well?"

...!

Such a question was asked with weight!

Achilles smiled brilliantly with an expression of eagerness and calculation.

"That... we would very much like, Groundskeeper."

...!