I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 646: Choices II

The Ninth Adrastia Emperor King, Achilles, had no answer as he looked at the fiery woman before him whose eyes were buzzing with Chaos.

He held her tightly for a moment, feeling the warmth of her stellar form against his own, before he gave a light nod. The gesture was small but it carried acceptance.

She looked at him firmly, her gaze holding his without wavering.

"The mapping on Apatheia is almost done. We have been exploring that Primordial Realm while all of this has been unfolding, and the percentages should be approaching what you need."

...!

"You can Assimilate the Primordial Realm which held all the Chaos of our Observable Existence. The power from that may provide you with yet another answer, another foundation to add to your Inner Dominion that will make your Depth grow beyond what these foreign Absolutes might expect."

She paused, her expression shifting into something more contemplative.

"As for me, what those Absolutes said stuck with me. They spoke of the Four Aspects of the Oldest Paradox as the Keys of Civilization. Keys. Not aspects, not pillars, not foundations. Keys."

Her obsidian eyes sparkled with light that promised experimentation.

"If they truly are keys, then we now hold them. THE Resplendent Paradox holds Paradox itself. That is two of the four already within our grasp, and we can try to see what type of power or might can come from them."

She tilted her head with expression that Achilles recognized all too well.

"I will try and understand Chaos more. Maybe experiment a little to see if I can grasp the Code of Existence of these supposed Keys of Civilization. If they unlock something, if they open doors that have been closed since differentiation itself, we need to know what lies on the other side..."

...!

Achilles looked at this unfathomably gorgeous creature before him who was thinking about such things even in such a predicament.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding as she said she was going to experiment again.

Her last experiment had led them into Apatheia and resulted in their transformation into Jötunn life forms and the release of Primordial Chaos across Observable Existence.

It led to glorious results, really. And after the choices they made, they were now here!

But hey, her experiments should only lead to good things, right?

For now, they had to finish their preparations.

He nodded and closed his eyes as he felt the transfer of millions upon millions of lifeforms who were within the Sea of Thalassara and into his Inner Dominion. The process was unlike anything he had experienced before, consciousness expanding to encompass populations rather than individuals.

For now, into the Realm of Assimilation.

The sensation was unique beyond description. Having lifeforms enter effectively the inside of his Existence created awareness that went beyond physical sensation. It was like gaining an extra organ that he had never possessed before, new cells integrating into a body that had always had space for them without knowing it.

And yet at the same time, due to the Inner Dominion’s nature as isolated space within him, it felt both invasive and not. The lifeforms were inside his Existence but separate from his consciousness, inhabitants of territory he controlled rather than parasites infesting his being.

It was unique. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

When he opened his eyes, his Father and Grandfather and the other Adrastia Emperor Kings floated up before him with expressions that held concern they could not hide. Their newly elevated THE Surface Depths radiated worry that made the surrounding waters of Thalassara churn in response.

His Father, Adras, asked somberly.

"What... has happened?"

...!

What had happened indeed.

---

Across Observable Existence.

THE Resplendent Paradox moved like a shepherd herding sheep as she gathered THE Existences across the Seas of Tian. Any existence who had achieved THE Civilizational Scale of Existence, whether Surface Depth or Intermediate Depth or the rare Fundamental Depth entities who had managed to claw their way to that stage despite the stunted nature of their reality.

Their numbers after all these eons across the Seas could be considered abysmal.

There were actually a few hundred.

A few hundred.

Both an abysmally low and a relatively large number depending on the context. For a stunted Observable Existence that had been missing Chaos since before differentiation completed, perhaps it was good that any had achieved THE distinction at all. Or perhaps it was a tragedy that only this many had managed what should have been achievable by thousands or tens of thousands across the same span of time.

But at this time, THE Resplendent Paradox led the way with authority that her contradictory features somehow enhanced rather than diminished. Solemn and somewhat hesitant THE Civilizational Scale entities followed behind her like a flock, their varied forms and Civilizations trailing in her wake as they moved toward coordinates they had all received.

The closer they neared their destination, the more their existences paled.

They felt auras of beings they never imagined could exist, pressure that made even THE Corpse Hierophant’s recovered Surface Depth tremble with instinctive terror.

THE Resplendent Paradox’s gaze changed as she sensed what awaited them. Her contradictory features actually settled into singular expression of grim acceptance.

Multiple more Absolutes than the ones they had seen in Abzu.

Many more.

It was a despotic situation as they arrived in a region swirling with the newly spread Chaos outside the weavings of a long Shattered Fold. Rivers of obsidian Chaos flowed through the void in patterns that seemed almost deliberate, Primordial Authority that had been absent for eons now saturating regions that had never known its touch.

Pieces of shattered landscapes floated in the void around them, remnants of Folds that had been broken during the Age of Collapse now drifting aimlessly through space that Chaos was slowly beginning to heal. Some fragments were larger than Star Seas, others smaller than mountains, all of them bearing the scars of conflicts that had occurred before most of those present had even existed.

And as they arrived, they saw that in the distance, Existence had been transformed.

Existential Authority was being utilized by Fundamental Depth entities and Absolute Depth entities to design and enact a massive obsidian Palace. The structure rose from nothing, authority woven into physical form with skill that spoke of civilizations far more advanced than anything their Observable Existence had ever produced.

Spires twisted toward heights that seemed to pierce through dimensions rather than simply occupying space. Walls formed from concentrated Chaos that had been shaped and solidified through methods none of them understood. Gates that radiated authority heavy enough to collapse Surface Depth entities who approached too closely.

This was the place they were told to come pay their respects.

To bow their Civilizations to another.

And as they watched the Palace continue to form, as they felt the weight of dozens of auras that exceeded anything their reality had ever produced, the full scope of their situation became undeniably clear.

This was not a negotiation.

This was not an alliance being offered!

This was subjugation, pure and simple!