There were some crazy people out there.
Those were the words Rose uttered before her flame-wreathed figure, radiating a scorching heat, took a step and appeared in the skies where Achilles sat atop the shoulders of Solareth.
She wore a pouting expression as if she wanted to be mad at Achilles but couldn't quite manage it. He hadn't done anything wrong, and she knew better than to let her own craziness go completely off the rails.
So she simply sat on the other shoulder of Solareth and muttered in a pouting tone,
"Now if anyone wants to pull up a veil, at least we'll be locked in the same place together…"
Her words brought a light smile to Achilles' face as he glanced around, observing the distant Warships and Vessels inching closer to their position. No doubt they would been stirred into a frenzy over everything happening here.
He beckoned toward a distant, still-shocked Luna, then turned to Nyxaria.
"Brief Luna on the logistics- we'll be moving out soon enough. I'll see you all back at Fort Cape of Hope."
This time, he didn't bother taking the Enforcer Warship.
Instead, he patted Solareth's shoulder, and the Solar Construct rose serenely. His radiant wings vibrated before he shot forward like a beam of golden light, answering Achilles' thoughts.
Myxilith followed close behind as silver and gold streaks cut across the sky above the Colony City of Neon, heading toward a distant floating fort far faster than any Enforcer Warship could manage.
They left behind a composed Nyxaria Moonveil Lunaris and a now-alert Luna, who snapped out of her daze and got straight to work.
Behind her, Major Inu, Major David, Eloise, and Selene, who were all instructed to observe, looked at one another in disbelief. Was that really it?
The battle. The takedown of an Ancient One. It had all happened so fast that it felt like Achilles had just flexed his overwhelming power and steamrolled everything!
As they processed what had just occurred, Lunaris Drones and Aerial Vessels transmitted video feeds of what was once a major threat to the Colony City of Neon. And now? Swiftly handled and gone!
News spread like wildfire across the other Overseers of the city. The name "King Primal" once again surged through every radar.
And yet, none of them knew the truth, that this very being was already planning to step outside the Colony City of Neon for the first time in his life.
Beyond the protective barrier that kept out the monstrous entities of the Cenotaph Wild Lands.
At that moment, he returned to a floating island in the skies, still sitting atop a titanic construct of pure solar light.
He needed to focus on the fusion occurring within his body- the continued assimilation of the Organic and Inorganic Terrestrial Planetary Body.
The recent absorption of the Skyflame Tyrant, and the combination brought on by that being's strange nature that pushed the Combination of Sea Reptilia Testudines with Organic Platyhelminthes Dracaris…all of it was pushing him beyond Nine Illusory Stars.
He could feel it. He was nearing the leap into a single solid star.
A Solid Primordium Evolutius Ethereal Self!
While Solareth and Myxilith descended toward the serene, grassy fields on the Fort Cape of Hope, Achilles looked inward.
"What did she want?" Rose finally asked.
Achilles turned to her, speaking thoughtfully.
"Help in killing someone," he began, as rays of sun and moon radiated from Solareth and Myxilith, cloaking the skies above them and obscuring their figures and their words.
"She wanted help killing her father, the Lunaris Throne. Someone who's been leading massacres and twisted experiments on men, women, and children in the Slums... by fusing them with Evolutius Beasts and Ancient Ones."
He gave Rose the short version as even this caused her expression turned dark.
"Why can't people just live without being absolute pieces of shit?"
Her voice crackled with fire. The words men, women, and children replayed in her head again and again.
The disgust in her eyes was unmistakable, and Achilles understood.
"We're going to help?" she asked, voice softer now. "I... I know we're not some powerful saviors who can fix everything. I just…"
Her eyes burned with a fiery green light as even with all her madness, she had the heart to empathize- especially with those who lived in the Slums like they once had.
The poor kids and women were always the easiest to exploit. Just thinking about it made green flames spark and flicker around her.
Achilles nodded and looked upward, to a sight only he could see- nine dazzling illusory Primordium Evolutius Ethereal Selves spinning above his head, converging into one solid form.
"We'll help. We're not saviors, no, but we're not heartless either. If we can make things a little better and a little safer for people like we used to be... and even those we don't know? That's enough."
He placed a hand over his chest as he said it, feeling the blood of the Adrastia Emperor King coursing through him.
He was becoming more attuned to his bloodline as time passed. It even seemed to react and offer impressions and thoughts depending on what was happening around him.
And right now, it spoke clearly.
[The Emperor King dislikes needless killing.]
His lineage traced back through unknown years and lost origins. It seemed to have its own doctrines and its own will.
That recent impression brought thoughts of his father- of what he must have done hundreds of years ago.
To defend his home and protect his people, the Adrastia Emperor King had once been forced to slaughter untold numbers of Zakarians, an ancient unknown race, to end a brutal war.
That was his father's legacy.
Achilles wondered…would he one day face the same choice? Would he repeat the same actions as his father?
His mind churned with questions as the complexity of his existence settled higher. Two massive flaming seas within him fused, birthing a new one while above him, a dazzling, Solid Primordium Evolutius Ethereal Self took shape.
By the categorization of others, Achilles had stepped into the realm of an Apex Ethereal Physiology Master!
Of course, what his power could actually withstand... was another question entirely!