CHAPTER 424: CONSEQUENCES! IV

Achilles nodded with appreciation.

"I see," he replied with calm acceptance. "Not that it matters, though. I wasn’t planning on keeping the charade much longer anyway."

The Emperor acknowledged this admission with movements that showed respect for tactical honesty, even from enemies whose presence threatened imperial security.

Around them, the circle of enhanced beings tightened their formation while radiating power that could have ignited gas giants.

"Would you enlighten us as to why we are all gathered here?" the Emperor asked, his tone carrying analytical curiosity mixed with growing concern.

"For you to enact such an elaborate infiltration suggests either that you lack sufficient power for direct confrontation, or that you possess other motivations that require more... subtle approaches."

Achilles shook his head with movements that carried their own gravitational authority, his mind processing the magnitude of what he was about to reveal while maintaining perfect emotional control.

"I wasn’t powerful enough then, maybe," he admitted with honesty. "It’s very different now. As for why I’m here..."

He placed his hands behind his back with deliberate calm, then took a single step forward.

The void-crystal floor responded to his movement with sounds of glory- buzzing, cracking, fractures spreading outward from his position like spider webs carved from crystallized space-time itself.

"Years ago. Many, many years ago, you chased after an already injured man," Achilles began, his voice taking on the cadence of someone reciting historical events with absolute precision.

"You injured him even more as you used your forces and power...knowing full well that if he had possessed even a tenth of his strength in his prime, he could have eradicated you all. But at that time, he was weak. So you hunted him."

The Emperor’s expression remained carefully controlled, but Achilles could see subtle shifts in posture that spoke to recognition beginning to dawn.

"You even found him," Achilles continued with relentless precision, "and spoke words that revealed the true nature of your character. For the sake of peace across this Sector, you said, please just die."

...!

The calm gaze that the Grand Emperor had maintained throughout their exchange flickered with something that approached shock, though his expression remained composed through sheer force.

Achilles smiled with satisfaction that carried edges sharp enough to cut space itself. "Oh, do you remember now? Back then, you threw everything you had at that man you were chasing. You collapsed him into a Black Hole with the combined might of your forces and those you had allied with for that specific purpose."

"You pushed that man until he vanished into the Event Horizons of layers of black holes, didn’t you? A victorious day for you. A glorious day for the Star Seas! Because on that day..." He paused, allowing anticipation to build like pressure in a stellar core approaching critical mass. "Can you tell us what you and others proclaimed back then?"

The Grand Emperor’s fists clenched against the compressed moon that formed his throne’s armrests, but his voice remained steady as he delivered words that had once carried the weight of cosmic celebration.

"On that day, we proclaimed... The Taboo of Adrastia is dead."

BOOM!

The Taboo of Adrastia.

The moment those words left the Emperor’s lips, everything in the throne room underwent fundamental transformation.

The air grew colder....and not merely in temperature!

Many feet shifted backward as primal recognition overrode training and power, terror asserting itself despite enhanced capabilities that should have provided emotional immunity.

Achilles closed his eyes briefly, reveling in this moment that he had observed a few times through applications of Cosmic Destiny Perception.

He had known what he wanted to accomplish. He had already determined what he would do. Every variable had been calculated, every possible response anticipated and prepared for.

When he opened his eyes again, they blazed with stellar fire that transformed his entire appearance.

The disguise of Marshal Ashfall began dissolving like morning mist before solar radiance, revealing features that carried the accumulated authority of cosmic lineage mixed with personal fury!

"Don’t bother trying to alert anyone or send any messages," he said with calm certainty that carried implications beyond immediate threat.

"The moment I stepped in here, I utilized something called Temporal Dominion Field. Time is flowing very differently in here compared to outside this place. While hours could pass within this chamber, outside in your citadel... only a single second will have elapsed."

The revelation struck the assembled forces with weight that transcended concern and moved into realms of existential terror.

Achilles sighed as he looked around the chamber, his enhanced consciousness cataloguing the scope of what he had accomplished while maintaining perfect emotional equilibrium.

Apart from temporal manipulation, he had done so much more...abilities from his Inevitable Entropy assimilation were proving even more terrifying than anticipated, their power ridiculously ignoring the conventional stages that others used to measure relative capability.

Within limits, of course.

Two Realms of Power above his own level remained manageable, though that boundary was constantly expanding as his understanding deepened.

The other modification he had implemented was Spatial Architecture Command, reshaping the fundamental nature of local reality so that this entire space currently existed within a stable wormhole of his own creation.

Nobody here had detected the alteration...a testament to capabilities that transcended conventional awareness entirely.

The Emperor looked at him with growing comprehension mixed with the kind of solemnity that came from recognizing threats that operated beyond calculation or resistance.

When he spoke, his voice carried cold regality mixed with hope for information that might provide strategic advantage.

"He did not die back then? He had progeny? Are you... his son?"

The questions blazed in the artificially controlled atmosphere like suspended judgment waiting for confirmation.

Achilles smiled with expression that combined filial pride with personal anticipation of violence.

Tremendous fucking violence!

"I am that glorious progeny of Adrastia," he confirmed with voice that carried the weight of stellar phenomena given conscious purpose. "I have come today... to collect some debts."

Years ago, many people had made their choices. Now...it was time to collect weight of these choices!