I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 652: Something Unnatural! III
The processions within the Palace were done as all of them were divided.
Well, Achilles and Rose were divided.
Achilles was told to follow a group of Absolutes alongside THE Resplendent Paradox to another section of this massive Palace. Their destination lay somewhere deeper within the obsidian structure that had been constructed from concentrated Chaos and Existential Authority.
And Rose and all others were told to follow an Absolute and more than a dozen Fundamental Depth entities outside of the Palace entirely.
---
Rose floated above the shattered landscapes that surrounded the Palace, her stellar form pulsing with a calm Chaos that she kept carefully suppressed beneath surface compliance. Around her, the other natives of their Observable Existence gathered with expressions that held varying degrees of fear and resignation.
THE Slumbering Genesis hovered nearby with his massive draconic elephantine form, verdant scales dimmed by the oppressive atmosphere. THE Sovereign Catalyst’s liquid-metal features rippled with patterns that suggested anxiety he couldn’t fully conceal.
Others filled out the group, Surface Depth and Intermediate Depth entities who had been deemed Grot in the new hierarchy.
The leading Absolute smiled brutally as he looked down upon them with burning eyes that held no warmth.
"The job for all of you right now is this."
He waved his hand, causing the eruption of his Civilizational Authority with force that made several Surface Depth entities stagger backward. In his palm, he revealed an obsidian dipyramid that pulsed with light that seemed to absorb rather than emit.
He flooded his authority into the dipyramid object with casual ease.
And shockingly, moments later, seas of Corrupted Growths began to emerge from that unique construct. Geometric wrongness bloomed from the dipyramid’s surface in waves, corruption manifesting from nothing as if the object was a doorway to something that should never be accessed.
Multiple more dipyramids emerged from his authority, floating outward to hover before Rose and THE Slumbering Genesis and the others. Each one pulsed with the same hungry light.
"Your job is to go to various corners of Observable Existence and flood your authority into this object. Allow the continued emergence of these Corrupted Growths across every region you can reach."
His brutal smile widened.
"Do your job well enough and release the most Corrupted Growths, and you will climb the hierarchy quicker. Understood?"
His burning eyes swept across them with warning that needed no elaboration.
"Oh, and don’t fucking touch the Corrupted Growths. Leave them alone. If you are found disrupting them, then..."
He paused for effect.
"Well, that’s when death comes."
...!
Rose grasped the dipyramid as it floated before her, her stellar fingers closing around the construct with grip that betrayed nothing of her internal calculations.
She looked at it with eyes that could perceive the codes of Existence in all things.
The jobs of many across the Seas of Tian had been to purify Corrupted Growths. THE entities had spent eons cleansing corruption from the golden waters, maintaining the balance that allowed advancement to occur.
But these invaders wanted to spread them endlessly?
Just what exactly were they planning?
Corrupted Growths contained trace amounts of Primordial Chaos within their geometric wrongness. She had discovered this herself through her experiments that had ultimately led them to Apatheia. If someone was deliberately spreading corruption across Observable Existence...
Were they trying to saturate reality with Chaos beyond what had already been released? Or was there something else entirely that she was currently missing?
Were they harvesting something from the corruption that others couldn’t perceive?
With sharp gaze, she hiddenly studied the Absolute and Fundamental Depth Prisoners here. Their obsidian garments and broken chains marked them as beings who had served under The Oldest Sovereign for longer than she could estimate.
Their movements held the confidence of those who had performed this task before.
She turned to look at the natives of her Observable Existence with expression that revealed nothing.
She would follow along just like them for now.
She would continue to learn about these enemies, their methods, their goals, their weaknesses.
And soon enough, she would burn them all to cinders. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
As she thought this, she began putting her authority into the dipyramid in her hands. The construct responded to her Chaos with eagerness that felt almost hungry, and she watched the emergence of Corrupted Growths with eyes that studied every detail of the process.
How did they form? What patterns did they follow? What was the connection between the dipyramid and the corruption it produced?
The Absolute clapped his hands with sound that echoed across the shattered landscapes.
"Alright, get a move on! Groups of you will follow one Fundamental Master as they will keep an eye on you where you go. Work hard for The Master to make...OUR Observable Existence grander now, okay? Huhu...Haha!"
He waved dismissively.
"Now shoo."
...!
---
Achilles followed THE Unyielding Tempest through corridors of the Palace that seemed to stretch across dimensions rather than simple distance.
THE Resplendent Paradox floated beside him with contradictory features that had settled into expression of guarded neutrality. Her golden-obsidian-emerald eyes constantly shifted color as she processed their surroundings with perception that exceeded his own.
They arrived in what seemed like an entirely separate domain within the Palace, a region that held different atmosphere than the crystallized hall where they had first paid their forced respects.
And there, floating in the center of this domain, was THE Prisoner himself.
The Oldest Sovereign of Binding Flames was looking at something that demanded attention simply by existing.
A massive and intricate obsidian-gold Dyson Sphere spun before him with terrifying light that pulsed from its core. The construct was miles across, its surface covered in patterns that seemed to shift and reform constantly. Authority radiated from it with weight that made even Achilles’s enhanced foundations tremble slightly.
As they arrived, THE Prisoner smiled with expression that held anticipation beneath the calm.
"Hmm, the Keys of Chaos and Paradox."
His burning eyes fixed upon them with intensity that demanded obedience.
"Come close now."
...!
