I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 648: Know Your Place II
They were given new designations as they sat at the very bottom.
Deplorables.
THE Resplendent Paradox and THE Corpse Hierophant and others were deemed The Grot, positioned above them in the hierarchy that these foreign invaders were constructing.
The Grot.
Where these beings came from, Grot referred to microscopic organisms that fed upon decomposed matter, bacteria that scavenged the remnants of dead Civilizations and consumed the rotting foundations of collapsed Existences. They were considered useful but contemptible, necessary for breaking down waste but never respected for the function they performed.
To be called Grot was to be told that your highest purpose was to consume garbage.
And Achilles and Rose were marked to be lower than even that.
They fell silent and only looked ahead, their stellar features betraying nothing of the anger building beneath.
Among those kneeling and on the ground at this moment, the figure of THE Corpse Hierophant held a smile despite his humiliating position. Even though he was on his knees, even though his empty eye sockets blazed with shame he could not suppress, misfortune was falling upon Achilles and Rose.
That alone seemed to bring him satisfaction.
The Absolute who had been speaking looked at Achilles and Rose with eyes that demanded submission they had not yet given.
"Is that understood?"
His voice crashed against them with weight that made the crystallized floor beneath them crack further.
"Because I know faces like yours. Faces that hold themselves in high regard despite circumstances that should have taught them humility. Your current designation is to instill within your Existence that as of this moment, regardless if you have been living like kings and queens, regardless if you are ruling Primordial Realms or vast Gigaparsecs of Folds, you only fall in the hierarchy of The Master."
His burning gaze intensified.
"Is that understood?"
Achilles reigned in his budding anger, the pressure of his Inner Dominion straining against foundations that wanted to lash out rather than submit. He was about to answer when another voice cut through the heavy silence.
"Sirs, if I may say something..."
THE Corpse Hierophant raised his voice with timidness initially, his tone that of a servant seeking permission to speak before his betters. He remained on his knees, but his posture shifted into something that held eagerness beneath the submissive presentation.
The Absolutes floating on their obsidian lotuses turned their attention toward this interruption with expressions of mild curiosity.
THE Corpse Hierophant took this as permission to continue.
"That one there."
He pointed directly at Achilles with gesture that held accusation and vindication in equal measure.
"He is a shrewd and greedy Existence who does not fit in the overall scheme of working together for Civilizations. He cares nothing for cooperation or mutual advancement. He only seeks to consume and grow at the expense of all others."
His empty eye sockets blazed with intensity that spoke of hatred nursed across the time since Achilles had first consumed his manifestation!
"He brutally massacred the last Existence who held the Claim to Chaos and devoured him in a single gulp. Even though that Existence helped all of us, even though he acted in good faith to guide newcomers toward their proper paths, that taboo horrifically devoured him where he stood."
THE Corpse Hierophant’s voice grew more confident as he sensed he had the attention of beings who could actually harm the creature he despised.
"He has a horrible, terrifying ability where he can devour anything near him in proximity. Civilizations, Existences... all of it disappears into his being never to emerge again. So, sirs, you have to be careful to make sure that a vile being like him does not catch you off guard."
He leaned forward on his knees with expression that held warning beneath the sycophancy.
"He may seem weak, but this is all merely an act. He is always plotting and waiting for an opportunity to strike. Even now, I would not put it past him that he is scheming and planning on how he can catch you and The Master off guard to use his taboo ability on you."
...!
THE Corpse Hierophant, this dumb fucker, had no sense of cohesiveness even for those within the same Observable Existence.
And realistically, truly, he did not have to have any sense of cohesiveness. After all, at the end of the day, Existence was all about how one profited themselves and became grander themselves. Betrayal was simply another tool in the arsenal of survival.
But his words were ridiculous and heavy as even while he said all of this, THE Resplendent Paradox had her gaze become extremely disappointed and solemn. She stared at him with contradictory features that had settled into singular expression of disgust that she made no attempt to hide.
Other entities around them, fellow natives of their Observable Existence, also began to look toward THE Corpse Hierophant in astonishment and disappointment. Even THE Slumbering Genesis, who had fled from Achilles alongside THE Corpse Hierophant, seemed uncomfortable with this blatant betrayal of one of their own before foreign invaders.
Achilles and Rose stared coldly at THE Corpse Hierophant.
And for the first time in all these days, THE Corpse Hierophant was actually managing to look back at them defiantly. His empty eye sockets blazed with triumph that came from feeling protection he had never possessed before!
Oh, this fucker!
All because he believed the invaders here would shield him from consequences.
At this shocking outburst and reveal, the Fundamental and Absolute Depth entities looked at each other with silent smiles that held amusement rather than concern. Some of them chuckled softly, the sound carrying across the hall with weight that made several Surface Depth entities flinch.
The Oldest Sovereign of Binding Flames looked over at Achilles from his massive throne with smile that widened into something approaching genuine interest.
"So it seems you are one of those with an Anomalous Factor of Existence."
His voice was grand, his burning fingers tapping against obsidian armrests with rhythm that seemed almost casual.
"A mutation that gives you your own exclusive unique ability..."
He laughed with sound that shook the foundations of the Palace itself.
"Haha, good. Because I do not give a damn how exclusive and how grand your ability is. I actually care if you have a capability to advance and develop a grand Civilization. Because the grander the Civilizations of this Observable Existence become, the grander I will become since... all of you will be under me."
His burning gaze held calculation beneath the amusement.
"And you..."
The Oldest Sovereign turned his gaze toward THE Corpse Hierophant at this time.
THE Corpse Hierophant looked over with bright expression that held expectation of praise. He had provided valuable intelligence about a potential threat!
He had demonstrated loyalty to the new regime before anyone else had thought to do so. Surely such initiative deserved recognition!
Yet The Oldest Sovereign frowned.
"While I commend you for sharing this information, and I want all of you to be subservient to the hierarchy I am establishing..."
His voice dropped to something colder.
"A creature like you that has no baseline that you will not cross, no person that you will not betray for your own benefits, creatures like you are vile and sad ones."
THE Corpse Hierophant’s bright expression began to falter.
"You would likely never amount to much. Your Civilization would never grow beyond what it currently is because you lack the foundation of trust that allows alliances to form and persist. You are useful in the short term but poison in the long term."
His burning eyes held judgment that had been rendered countless times before across countless Observable Existences.
"So..."
HUUM! 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
The Oldest Sovereign tapped out from his throne, the motion casual and almost lazy. His chains and clasps clinked together with sound that seemed too soft for what followed.
With that simple tap, the astonished and horrified body of THE Corpse Hierophant began to unravel.
His obsidian form started at the edges, existence peeling away like ash caught in wind that had no source. His empty eye sockets widened with terror that he could not express through a mouth that was already dissolving. His Civilization, the Necrocracy he had rebuilt and recovered across eons of careful cultivation, underwent undifferentiation into nothingness.
In less than a nanosecond, THE Corpse Hierophant ceased to exist.
Not collapsed. Not consumed. Simply erased, as if he had never been at all.
The space where he had knelt held nothing but fading glimmers of ash that dissipated before they could touch the crystallized floor.
Silence reigned across the hall as every native of their Observable Existence processed what they had just witnessed.
The Oldest Sovereign of Binding Flames settled back into his throne with expression of mild satisfaction, as if he had merely swatted an insect that had grown too bold.
"Now then."
His burning gaze swept across the remaining THE entities with weight that demanded absolute attention.
"Where were we?"
