Luminous and Non-Luminous Stellar Body Echelon 3- Solar and Lunar Generation III, Innate Solar-Lunar Barrier III, Energy Teleportation III, Energy Empowerment III, Reflect III, Solar and Lunar Aura III, Miniature Star III, Solar and Lunar Constructs III.
Out of all of it, one power stood out like a flare in the dark neon brilliance- Energy Teleportation.
It wasn't just an upgrade, it was something far more terrifying!
Achilles felt like he could literally blink across miles of distance, so long as energy or light existed at the destination. If there was a spark, a glimmer, a photon? He could be there.
The rest were retained qualities and new ones that were itching to be tested.
But the one that really caused his eyes to glimmer was…Solar and Lunar Constructs.
The moment his eyes caught those words, his mind buzzed. He dove in, mentally poking and prodding the power of this flaming sea, trying to figure out how it worked, what it could do, and what he could do with it.
And he found his mind expanded as the forms of Solar Constructs and Lunar Constructs that looked like massive celestial soldiers filled his mind!
Time? Yeah, Achille lost track of that entirely.
He only snapped back when his Ecological Empathy III pinged, telling him that something had changed.
Rose walked into the bedroom, freshly fed and half-dazed, only to pause in the doorway as she blinked.
Her gaze locked on him- on the shimmering waves of silver and gold solar and lunar auras rolling off his skin.
Achilles looked like he belonged in a museum at this moment- utterly ridiculous due to the Supernatural Beauty granted by the Empusa!
Of course, this was just him testing out the aftermath of his new combination assimilation.
But when Rose saw his current figure, verdant flames that scorched the floor rose as the silent cry of a Phoenix erupted.
Her eyes burned with heat, actual heat as green flames pulsed from her pupils and wings of verdant fire exploded from her back.
She looked like a Phoenix who had just spotted prey on a silver platter!
And Achilles? He barely had time to blink and say anything before Rose swooped forward, flames dancing across her skin as her intent was unmistakable- her figure tackling him down onto the bed.
Meanwhile, below Fort Cape of Hope.
In the Colony City of Neon, a haunting melody stretched out across streets and skies. It echoed from floating cars and rooftops and whispered from alleyways and sky bridges.
It permeated across the still Aerial Vessels and Warships, along with the tall Skyscrapers that seemed to stand solemnly at this moment.
The entire city had come to a standstill.
People lined the neon-lit roads, each one holding a glowing lantern that swayed gently to the rhythm of their grief.
Voices and hums echoed out across the Colony City of Neon.
"Although you are gone~"
"You will be remembered~"
"Although you are gone…"
The humming wasn't just sound, it was a feeling, a collective mourning that flowed from the slums to the skyscrapers- something only those from the Colony City of Neon had as part of their culture whenever disaster struck.
Children stood in silence, many of them crying, holding the hands of Lunarian Social Workers. Some had lost their parents. Some, everything. Flowers were laid on digital frames that displayed the smiling faces of the deceased.
At the heart of the city, a gathering of tens of thousands stood beneath a giant hologram made from synchronized drones that projected the figure of King Primal- the one who had faced down the Evolutius Beasts and saved millions.
The hymn and deep hums continued.
"You will be remembered~"
The chant swelled again, filling the air with sorrow and hope.
People came forward one by one to lay flowers, to give their respect, to remember, and to hope that someone like him would stand tall again when the next Leyline Fractures struck.
And the night stretched on in Neon.
Far from the crowds, in the Overseer's Observatory atop Fort Cape of Hope…
On a large bed of silver sheets, Achilles lay still, with Rose tucked against his chest, already lost in her dreams.
Even with her ridiculous level of beauty, he could swear that he saw a little bit of drool on the side of her lips!
But his eyes remained open. The energy inside him burned so brightly now that sleep felt optional- something he could easily skip for years.
And yet, it was still comforting to close one's eyes. To pretend, even for a moment, that he was fully human.
Not half human, half Adrastia Emperor King.
So he closed his eyes to pretend.
And just as sleep took hold of him…
A pulse of light flashed from his body, a ripple of ancient energy that hummed with the weight of a grand lineage lost across space and time!
And just like that… he began to dream.
But this wasn't just a dream.
It was heavy. It was real.
The voice tore through the dreamscape, jerking Achilles awake into another reality entirely.
Flames surrounded him as…no, not flames.
Plasma. Crimson gold waves of burning Plasma as far as the eye could see.
He realized he stood on the surface…of a star.
He floated above plasma, calmly suspended above the surface of a Sun where temperatures soared past five million degrees Celsius. And yet, to Achilles, the heat felt like a warm summer breeze.
Then came the pain, and it was not from the heat.
It exploded through his back and chest as he looked down.
A crimson blade had pierced through him, coated in his own golden blood. The blade pulsed with corrupted Runes- poisonous etchings from the Cores of dead stars themselves.
He had been stabbed in the back.
But even stranger than this, he wasn't himself.
He looked at his hands. His body. His voice. Everything belonged to someone else.
And he recognized it.
It was the body of his Father!
And ahead, across a burning field of solar flame, stood a man in a white robe. Another blade, identical to the one inside him, dangled from his hand. Beside him stood a woman, regal and cold, a flaming crown spinning slowly above her head.
"WHY?!" Achilles'- no, his father's voice cracked as it roared out, filled with betrayal.
"I treated you like a brother, Kaisar. Like my own kin! I gave you everything. Everything! And you throw it all away…for what?!"
Kaisar didn't answer. His expression was unreadable. Stoic. Empty.
The woman beside him smiled sweetly, draping her arms around Kaisar's neck like it was all just a game.
"Why does anyone do anything, O Adrastia Emperor King?" she said, her voice soaked in venom. "It's all for the complexity of Existence. But you… you went beyond that."
"You have the blood of millions on your hands. Millions! Do you know how many Zakarians died because of you?"