I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 645: Choices! I
The moment after the three of them received the coordinates, the Absolutes above them disappeared.
And yet, even though they were gone, the skies still seemed to be filled with the same level of oppression. The weight of their presence lingered like bruises on reality itself, pressure that made every breath feel like labor and every thought feel like swimming through tar!
As if they were so heavy in pressing down on all of them here that they could not breathe.
Beside his lone figure, Rose appeared as she held the unconscious figure of THE Endless Dream in her arms. The silver-gold radiance of Eyyanah had dimmed to almost nothing, her consciousness having fled rather than face the crushing authority of four Absolutes simultaneously. Rose looked toward Achilles with eyes of concern, obsidian depths studying his expression with worry she could not hide.
Achilles at this moment was thinking about far too many things.
But most of all, he was trying to understand how the spread of Chaos, the choice that he made, could have potentially led to all of this. The connection was undeniable. They had opened Apatheia and released Primordial Chaos across Observable Existence.
Cause and effect, stretching from his decision to this catastrophe.
Because his gaze was heavy with weight that went beyond physical sensation, Rose appeared beside him and nudged his shoulder with hers. The gesture was small but deliberate, warmth pressed against warmth as if she wanted to tell him that he should not be thinking this way.
That the guilt settling into his bones was misplaced.
But really, it was ridiculously clear how all of this came to be.
After this moment of wondering, his existence buzzed with focus as the reality of their situation demanded response rather than reflection. Since circumstances had evolved into this terrifying state, he had to look toward the future and how it could be rectified.
He looked up toward the figure of THE Resplendent Paradox and saw her gaze was one of complexity that he couldn’t fully grasp. Her contradictory features shifted through expressions too rapidly to track, processing implications that her ancient mind could barely accept.
He couldn’t help but call out.
"You wouldn’t happen to have another body that is at the level of an Absolute or stronger that can get us out of this?"
He already knew the answer to the question even before he asked. But he had to ask it anyway, had to eliminate possibilities before moving forward with whatever desperate plans his mind was beginning to construct.
THE Resplendent Paradox looked at him with eyes that constantly changed colors, blue becoming gold becoming green becoming obsidian in cycles that held no pattern. Moments later, she simply shook her head.
No secret weapon held in reserve.
No easy solution to the impossible situation they now faced.
After her gesture, her gaze cleared as she looked up toward the distance where the Absolutes had disappeared. When she spoke, her voice carried the weight of someone who had existed since before the Age of Collapse.
"Adversity was never a thing in this stunted Existence. We struggled against each other, collapsed each other’s Civilizations, fought wars that lasted eons. But true adversity, the kind that forges or breaks without compromise, that was absent because Chaos was absent."
Her contradictory features settled into something approaching solemn acceptance.
"Chaos has spread, and adversity came down in an unbearable manner. We now have to see whether anything decent will come out of this adversity, or if Observable Existence has entered a period of darkness and oppression under a force we do not understand."
The moment after she said this, she waved her hands as tendrils of golden Paradox leaked from her form and snaked under the bodies of all those who had lost consciousness nearby. THE Corpse Hierophant and THE Slumbering Genesis and the others began stirring as her authority nudged them toward awareness.
Achilles looked at her for another few seconds, processing her words and her actions. Then light of Chaos wrapped around him and Rose and THE Endless Dream as they disappeared from this region of Tian.
It looked like THE Resplendent Paradox would begin the job of gathering and waking the other entities who had achieved THE Civilizational Scale of Existence. Someone had to organize the response to the coordinates they had been given, and she was the only potential Absolute their Observable Existence possessed.
Since that was the case, Achilles wanted to make his own preparations. He needed to understand exactly who these enemies were who came with such an overabundance of hardship. He needed to determine whether the words of THE Resplendent Paradox would prove true, whether something decent or grand could potentially come out of this immense adversity.
This body of his alongside Rose and THE Endless Dream arrived inside a Sea of Thalassara. This was the protected Sanctuary that held the other Adrastia Emperor Kings who had panicked when they found him and Rose missing after her experimentations with the Corrupted Growths had led them into Apatheia.
Thalsian and Adras and the others looked up with relief that quickly transformed into concern when they saw the expressions their descendants wore.
When it came to what Achilles wanted to do at this moment, he turned to Rose with eyes that held decision already made.
"I do not know the extent of the brutality of the enemies we currently face. Their power vastly outstrips ours in ways that make planning nearly impossible."
His voice was steady despite the weight pressing against his chest.
"To prepare, I will bring everyone into my Inner Dominion. It should be unique enough that even Absolutes would not be capable of finding out about it. You all can be safe within while I try to understand exactly who has come into our Observable Existence, and if there lies any decent chance out of this."
...!
Even as he said this, the figure of Rose frowned as she looked into his eyes with an expression that held defiance rather than acceptance.
"What do you mean everyone?"
...!
"You plan to also have me enter your Inner Dominion? For you to go do all of this alone?"
She shook her head with motion that brooked no argument.
"No. No."
She repeated herself firmly twice, the words landing like stones dropped into still water.
But Achilles shook his head even more firmly, his eyes pulsing with determination that matched her own.
"Alone I can do many things. I can take many more risks. I can move without worrying about whether my actions endanger someone I cannot bear to lose."
His purple-gold eyes held hers without flinching.
"I cannot do that if you are beside me."
Even as he said this, he still saw defiance burning in her obsidian gaze. She was not accepting his reasoning. She was not backing down simply because he had spoken with authority!
He went to her and embraced her, pulling her close until their transformed bodies pressed together with warmth. He put his forehead against hers.
"I do not know about these enemies."
His voice dropped to something tender despite the weight of their circumstances.
"I do not understand their power. I do not know what they are capable of or what they might demand. I do not want them to dishonor you or do anything or say anything that will make us choose between life and death or shame."
His hands tightened on her shoulders.
"I just want to protect you."
...!
He laid out what he was thinking clearly.
But Rose’s eyes burned with fearsome obsidian Chaos as she pulled back just enough to meet his gaze directly.
"So do I."
Her voice held the same tenderness wrapped around the same steel.
"I also just want to protect you. How would I feel if you are forced to choose between life and death or shame while I hide safely within your Inner Dominion? How could I live with myself if something happens to you while I am tucked away like a treasure too precious to risk?"
Her hands came up to cup his face, stellar obsidian against stellar obsidian.
"You can make the choice to protect me and do all of this alone. But I cannot make the same choice? My love for you is somehow less valid than yours for me? My desire to stand beside you in danger is somehow less important than your desire to shield me from it?"
...!
Her eyes were defiant.
She did not back down!
