On a massive, illusory platinum-colored screen floating within the Sea of Thalassara, two Emperor Kings watched as the remaining Nar'Thyss were frozen, rooted where they stood, still processing the decimation and collapse of the strongest among them.

A Tier 9 Existence….Mor'dantius the Harvest King!

In the stupor that followed, the platinum screen showed their descendant, their son and grandson, holding the head of the woman he loved. He kissed her forehead lightly, a gesture of impossible tenderness amidst cosmic carnage, before his voice, a low thrum, echoed from the screen.

"Give me another second."

Thalsian and Adras watched, their own forms tense with anticipation. The image on the screen shifted!

Achilles turned, and his eyes…a swirling vortex of platinum, purple, and gold…fixed upon the thousands of remaining Nar'Thyss. A terrifying expression of power radiated from him, a pressure so immense it could be felt even through the narrative projection.

In the next instant, he tapped a single finger forward.

Countless platinum lines of narrative authority, filled to the brim with the Existential Authority of Fables, shot out from him. They moved with impossible speed, instantly traversing space to connect with every single remaining Nar'Thyss.

The frozen shock and stupor of the invaders turned to abject horror as he whispered calmly once again…

"Assimilate."

BOOM!

"My son…" Adras breathed, his hands clenched into fists. "He is…"

The scene on the screen was a masterpiece of cosmic brutality!

Thousands of Nar'Thyss began to shake and tremble violently. Their elegant, butterfly-like forms convulsed as they were instantly liquefied, dissolving into a thick, silvery ichor of pure narrative essence.

This nutrient-rich fluid was then drawn into the platinum lines Achilles had cast out. In the next moment, a glorious and terrible sight unfolded as all of these liquefied nutrients flowed back into him in a torrential river of assimilated existence.

The screen flickered, showing more and more.

And they watched!

Until the screen flared with a final, monumental prompt, its platinum letters so bright they seemed to burn through the very fabric of the void as they showed what Achilles saw.

The scene on the screen continued. The Titan-Primus, Shal'garon, approached Achilles and Rose, followed by the remnants of his people.

His resonant voice, filled with awe and gratitude, echoed through the Sea of Thalassara. "Thank you for jumping in to save us. We will not forget your help!"

Adras nodded in approval. "A good alliance to make. Those titans are powerful."

The scenes continued!

The two Emperor Kings watched as Shal'garon paled on the screen, as Achilles offered the titans a desperate chance at salvation, as they knelt before him, begging for rescue.

They watched as the Quantum Star of Nothing formed, a beautiful, paradoxical sun of possibility and absence.

They watched a mass exodus, an entire civilization abandoning its home, its history, its very song, to flee into the unknown.

Then, they watched as Achilles and Rose veiled themselves in The Void and disappeared.

"…"

The screen held on the empty, silent space for a moment. Then it trembled.

BOOM!

Three figures of impossible power appeared, their presence shattering the nearby citadel into dust. The screen captured their every word, their cold, callous decree.

"...Turn this entire Star Sea upside down…cleanse every lifeform within it, as it is now marked for death! And we shall send word above…"

BZZT!

The screen went black as if it would be found out if it displayed any more!

For a long moment, the underwater castle was silent. Adras and Thalsian stood motionless, processing the weight of what they had just witnessed.

Their son, their grandson, had single-handedly rewritten the fate of a Star Sea, but in doing so, had condemned it.

"He heard them," Thalsian said finally, his voice a low rumble of concern and pride. "He heard those monsters mark an entire sea of stars for death because of his actions. How is he faring with that?"

Adras's expression was a mixture of deep pride and profound worry.

He called out!

"Achilles!"

HUUM!

Reality rippled. A Constellation Dream Body of Achilles, wreathed in soft platinum light, appeared before them, Rose's watery form materializing at his side.

"I saw everything," Adras said, his voice gentle but firm. "Are you…okay?"

Thalsian stepped forward, his massive frame radiating a protective aura. "That weight is not yours to carry alone, little one. The choice to cleanse that Star Sea was made by those… things. Those Nar'Thyss. They are the ones swinging the blade. You merely acted to save those condemned to death. There…is a difference."

…!

Achilles looked at his father and grandfather, at their concerned faces, and a complex smile touched his lips. "I know. I understand the choice I made. I don't feel guilt for saving our home, for protecting our family. I feel… responsibility. For the titans I saved, and for the countless others who will now suffer because of the Nar'Thyss's cruelty."

Rose's water-form hand found his. "They were always going to suffer, Little Fatty. The Nar'Thyss were always going to find a reason. You just changed the script of their suffering."

"Existence is a series of choices," Achilles said, his voice gaining a cold, hard clarity. "The Nar'Thyss have made theirs for eons, treating trillions of lives as characters in their sick, parasitic Fables. I have made mine. I chose to save one civilization and, in doing so, inadvertently focused the authors' anger upon them. It was a choice with consequences, good and bad. And I will continue to make choices. I will tip the scales. I will disrupt their narratives until they can no longer treat existence as their playground."

His eyes blazed with a fire that seemed to burn through dimensions.

"Now that one Tier 9 Null Scale Nar'Thyss has fallen, I will be even more aggressive. I will hunt others. I will assimilate their stories, their power, their very meaning, until I gather enough strength to escape the shackles of the Null Scale and enter the Level Zero Scale myself! Only then can we face the true authors of this tragedy!"

BOOM!

His declaration hung in the water, a promise of revolution!

Thalsian and Adras looked at each other, a silent understanding passing between them.

Their descendant was not weighed down by guilt; he was fueled by purpose.

"Then we need a plan," Adras said, his strategic mind kicking into gear. "A grand strategy. Not just for hunting, but for ascension. How do we strengthen ourselves, dismantle their network, and evade their most powerful entities all at once?"

Achilles turned to Rose, and a shared, dangerous smile passed between them. It was a look of two beings who had spent the last hour doing far more than just resting.

"We have a path," Achilles and Rose said in unison, their voices creating a strange and powerful harmony.

Achilles began, laying out the grand design.

"Phase One: Fortification and Ascension. Father, Grandfather, you are both Emperor Kings, but you need resources to reach your peak potential. The Sea of Thalassara will be your training ground. I will provide you with assimilated narrative authority from the Nar'Thyss I've consumed, along with other materials to Assinilate. Your task is to reach Tier 9 as quickly as possible. We need al of the Adrastia Emperor Kings and their power at its absolute peak."

Rose continued, her watery form shimmering with intellectual brilliance. "While you ascend, I will focus on my own role. As the Primordial Genome Empress, I will analyze the genetic structure of the Nar'Thyss from the samples Achilles has provided. I will create more than just poisons. I will engineer narrative viruses, biological weapons that can be seeded into their Fables, designed to corrupt their stories from within and make them more vulnerable to assimilation."

Achilles picked up the thread, his voice laced with predatory excitement. "Phase Two: Asymmetrical Warfare and Narrative Corruption. While you ascend, I will hunt. I will use my Constellation Dream Bodies, veiled by The Void, to move between the Star Seas. I will not engage in open war. I will be a ghost, a rumor. I will assassinate their Tier 9 commanders, one by one, always in a different Star Sea, always leaving a different, confusing trail. I will plant my narrative spores in their lower-level operatives, turning their own network into my intelligence-gathering system."

…!

"And the titans?" Thalsian rumbled.

"They are the start of our alliance," Rose explained. "The Quantum Star of Nothing is currently taking them to a secure pocket dimension I've created within The Void. There, I will work with them. With their permission, I will use my Empress's Prerogative to enhance their lineage, making them resistant to the Scourge and even more powerful. They will be the first legion in our army against the storytellers. Led by a Tier 9 Null Scale Entity we can try to to also elevate to Level Zero Scale."

…!

Finally, Achilles outlined the most critical phase. "Phase Three: Evasion and Escalation. The Level Zero entities are the true threat. We cannot face them yet. Our entire strategy is designed to keep them guessing, to make them believe the Nexus Deviation Point is everywhere and nowhere at once. We will use The Void as our sanctuary, my assimilated authorities as our shield. We will grow stronger in the shadows they cast, and by the time they pinpoint our true location… it will be too late. We will be ready."

The plan was audacious, impossible, and utterly brilliant.

Adras and Thalsian stared at the two of them, at the perfect synergy between their son and the woman he loved.

They looked at each other, two ancient kings who had just been given a new war to fight, a new purpose to live for.

A shared, savage grin spread across their faces.

"Let's get started!"

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