On the top floor of the Overseer's Observatory.
Even when Achilles sat up. Even when he told her he was "okay."
She didn't believe it. Not fully.
Not when his skin had been burning hot just minutes ago, and certainly not when his body had convulsed terribly.
Not when he said he just had a bad dream!
She knew bad dreams. She had bad dreams before when nothing in her life felt worth it. And that…was no dream.
It felt like something much more as in his sleep, he had said a name.
And the look in his eyes when he woke up… It wasn't fear, but rage. It was the kind of rage that she had never seen on Achilles before.
So she stayed with him.
She let him lean on her. Kept her arms around him like a shield made of soft feathers.
And when he finally leaned back against her chest, her voice softened.
"I'll just hold you a little bit longer, Little Fatty."
And he didn't argue this time as he nodded. He even smiled a little.
That was the part that made her heart ache- the smile he forced like he needed her to believe he was okay even if he wasn't.
As he closed his eyes again, Rose tilted her head, watching the sun's rays creep up over the Colony City of Neon.
It was a fantastical moment they had last night.
She knew the moment wouldn't last.
But for now, for this heartbeat of a second, she held him close and whispered just loud enough for him to hear.
"I'm here. I'll always be here. I'll always be wherever you go."
And she meant what she said.
Any obstacles he faced.
Any enemies or monsters he was going to fight.
She would burn it all.
She was going to fucking burn it all until not even ashes remained!
Anybody who enraged her Little Fatty like they did, they could just fuck around and they would find out exactly what would come after that!
A little while later.
Achilles stepped out of the Overseer's Observatory, sparing another glance, or maybe several, at Rose.
She looked normal enough with her skin glowing and a vibrant aura of green flames dancing around her.
Two solid Stars gleamed brightly above her, thanks to his use of Biological Nurturing IV during their...bonding session.
And yet, she now carried a fiery light in her eyes like she was ready to ignite the next thing that dared to twitch in her line of sight.
They were walking toward a Warship, Achilles having just raided Luna's collection of Evolutius Crystals and stored them neatly in his Crystal Vault IV.
As they moved, he continued utilizing Assimilation, greedily absorbing more energy from the Organic and Inorganic Terrestrial Planetary Body through his vines extending into the home of Lightning Treants within the Catacombs.
His power kept skyrocketing as nobody else could see it but hovering above his head; there were six illusory Primordium Evolutius Ethereal Selves!
Stars shaped exactly like him as their eyes blazed with multicolored brilliance, and purple-gold wings stretched from their backs.
Wings he could summon anytime on his actual body.
If his power when he had first formed the first Ethereal Self was quantified as a ten, then now…he was sitting at a solid hundred, maybe more.
While this was terrifying, it still did not seem like it was enough. He still had more to do!
Eyes locked on the ever-shifting percentage of Existence Corruption, he didn't let it climb past 25% as every time it did, he cycled Primordial Energy and Evolutius Energy.
He then burned through hundreds of Evolutius Crystals among the hundreds of thousands Luna had given him to further keep the Existence Corruption Value down.
Lost in his thoughts, he and Rose passed through the open hatch of the Enforcer Warship and stepped inside.
Luna was already ahead, guiding them toward the command room glowing with neon light and humming screens.
At the center of the room hovered a hologram that showed a fortified gate flickering in digital blue.
Inside waited four familiar faces of Major David, Eloise, Major Inu, and Selene.
Achilles didn't start throwing empowerments to any others yet as he had told Luna to prepare a larger group of Advanced Humans for a mass empowerment using Fruit Generation IV later on.
But at this time, he wanted to see what kind of monster even the Transcendent Human Monster couldn't handle.
He looked at the four standing at attention like soldiers in formation as his eyes narrowed, glowing faintly with their purple and gold radiance as he spoke out.
The warship began to rise from Fort Cape of Hope, Luna tapping her tablet with practiced ease as images blinked into view- a projection of the Transcendent Advanced Human known only as Monster.
Luna's voice rang out, calm but with an edge of warning.
"All right, everyone. I could give you a long list of things to watch out for when it comes to the Transcendent Human we're about to meet and the Behemoth she's guarding against. But your role in this fight…" She turned to the four Apex Ethereal Physiology Masters empowered by Achilles himself.
"…is mainly to observe and only move when directed. The Ethereal Behemoth we're approaching was powerful enough that even a Transcendent Human with five Solid Ethereal Stars couldn't bring it down. Once King Primal gauges it, you might get a chance to jump in. Until then, don't lose your life trying to prove something."
The message was clear from Luna. Look, learn, don't die.
The Warship soared across the skies as the dawn of a new day spread over the Colony City of Neon. People, slowly but surely, moved on from the destruction that just occurred. They had grieved already. But grief alone didn't pay bills or rebuild homes.
So, the humans of the Colony City of Neon moved forward.
And at this moment, so did Achilles.
The northern side of the city was far, but less than fifteen minutes later, they saw their destination.
Massive walls rose like titans, lined with advanced cannons and pulsing electric fields.
Obsidian-purple pillars stood tall as they were capable of unleashing ear piercing soundwaves if provoked.
In the skies above, other Enforcer Warships hovered alongside Lunaris Drones, watching.
As Achilles's ship neared, the cameras of those vessels turned toward him in silent acknowledgment as they let him through smoothly.
Maybe because of Luna. Or maybe because of Achilles himself, but it did not matter to him how the Lunaris Colony Overseers viewed him.
His eyes were locked ahead as he could already glimpse what waited beyond those walls!