I Can Assimilate Everything - Chapter 566

Capítulo 566: A Civilizational Crusade! III

How do you fight against a much more powerful enemy when combat would result in instant defeat?

Or really, in Achilles’s case given his unique capabilities, he just needed to establish physical contact with enemies who were much more powerful than himself. If he could make that critical connection through touching their existence directly, he could test out Perfect Resonance Integration and determine whether his Assimilations would truly be instantaneous even against supremely powerful opponents whose capability exceeded his own by orders of magnitude.

As he saw the scorching attack descending toward him with speed that suggested the skeletal dragon commander wasn’t particularly concerned about him evading, his eyes shone with sudden ingenuity as he actually did not move or raise any defensive authorities. He instead released a single sentence calculated to traverse the distance between them in the span of an instant before the flames could consume his form.

“This is just my clone here. If you destroy it, then what?”

…!

His words were rapid and heavy with implications as they echoed across the sanctuary, and the shocking scene that unfolded in the next moment demonstrated exactly how terrifying these commanders truly were.

The scorching flaming attack from the Living Necrocracy actually proceeded to stop midway toward him despite having been launched with killing intent, and the pillar of obsidian flames hung frozen in space as if time itself had paused.

An entity of this caliber possessed such terrifying level of control that even a casually thrown attack like pillar of scorching flames could be halted at a moment’s notice without any visible strain or concentration required.

Achilles observed this demonstration, and his eyes shone even brighter as if he was further emboldened

“You were sent here to collapse my existence and eliminate my Civilization completely, I assume.” His tone was conversational despite dire circumstances.

“If you turn a single clone to ash and destroy this decoy body, I’m not sure whether that will really help you achieve your objective apart from forcing whoever sent you to expend additional resources trying to locate where my actual body is currently hidden.” He paused for emphasis. “Are you all certain that you’re going about this correctly?”

…!

Above him, the Draconic Skeletal Living Necrocracy had their eyes pulse with sense of lividity at being questioned by their designated target, and the Commander roared with a voice that made the surrounding seas ripple from sheer pressure.

“Shut up!”

But even as it delivered this command, the dragon was looking upward toward other terrifying Commanders that were descending into the sanctuary. The gesture suggested it recognized the validity of what their target had said and was seeking guidance from peers about how to proceed given this unexpected complication.

Multiple Living Lives and Living Necrocracies entered the Sea of Thalassara with coordinated movements and stared coldly at Achilles from various positions, while he simply looked back at them as if he was having a pleasant picnic rather than facing overwhelming force that could erase him from existence.

He even smiled and waved with an infuriatingly casual gesture that made several Commanders visibly bristle at the disrespect, and the grimness and solemnity that had shown in his eyes moments before was entirely gone.

He had figured out exactly how to play this situation to maximum advantage, and his demeanor shifted accordingly to project confidence that would make them second-guess their approach.

In the next moment, the pillar of scorching flames that had been stopped transformed into obsidian chains that instantly shot out and began wrapping around Achilles with binding force. They wrapped around him completely until his limbs and legs became bound tightly against his body, and the chains proceeded to force his restrained figure to float upward toward the assembled members of both Civilizations.

The Commanders of these two opposed forces exchanged looks with each other as if they were having silent discussion about how to proceed, and one of them finally spoke aloud to vocalize what several were thinking.

“The heathen is correct in his assessment. Destroying a clone accomplishes nothing meaningful toward our objective of complete eradication.”

Another Commander added with grim tone, “We need to extract information about where his main body and base of operations are located before taking any irreversible action.”

From among the assembled commanders, a radiant Living Life adorned in paladin-looking armor that gleamed with concentrated authority stepped forward. He looked like a regal emperor whose mere presence commanded respect and deference from those around him, and his power was astonishingly one of the highest present if not the absolute peak among all assembled forces.

His armor appeared grown rather than forged, with living metal that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. Verdant-gold radiance emanated from his form in waves that made lesser beings instinctively lower their heads in his presence.

He looked at Achilles up and down with analytical assessment, and from behind him another commander asked with respectful tone that indicated clear hierarchy.

“Sir Atraides, how shall we navigate this situation?”

Atraides.

That was the name of this terrifying being whose capability exceeded even the other impressive commanders present, and he continued his examination of their captive before speaking with measured authority.

“We have the heathen who offended both our Civilizations in custody, and locating his main body and base of operations will be significantly easier with a living sample we can extract information from.” His voice carried weight of judgment. “Rather than acting hastily and potentially losing our only lead, we should proceed with a proper interrogation.”

He looked over toward the obsidian flaming skeleton that currently held Achilles bound in chains, and his next words carried implications that made several Commanders tense with awareness of what he was proposing.

“Since neither of us can bring him to our respective Sanctuaries without violating the temporary truce we’ve established for this operation, and since maintaining custody in neutral territory presents logistical complications…” He paused before delivering his solution. “How about we transport this creature to the Shattered Primordial Territories where remains of multiple collapsed Civilizations exist in ruins that neither Life nor Necrocracy currently claims?”

His reasoning continued with practical logic.

“Since we have both received mandates from our Civilizations authorizing this cooperation, we can continue working together to ensure complete eradication of this Heathen’s false Civilization while operating from neutral ground that doesn’t advantage either of our forces.”

After his words, the powerful commanders present looked at each other. Nobody raised immediate objections to Atraides’s suggested course of action, and the silence stretched for moments before general agreement seemed to settle across both groups.

In the next moment, Atraides waved his hand with a casual gesture that belied the tremendous power behind the technique, and radiant green-gold rings manifested from concentrated authority to wrap around Achilles even tighter than the obsidian chains already binding him.

The combined restraints compressed his form with force that made bones audibly crack under the pressure, and any normal being would have been screaming in agony from such treatment.

But Achilles retained his outward calmness as he looked at these terrifyingly powerful beings surrounding him and calculated his next moves with analytical precision.

He was captured and bound as they intended, but this outcome actually served his interests rather than representing defeat.

If these beings truly brought him to one of their bases of operation in the Shattered Primordial Territories, he would gain invaluable intelligence about how both Civilizations operated at higher scales.

And more importantly, the moment that one of them came into direct physical contact with him, or if he managed to utilize an ability to release extensions of himself similar to how he’d employed vine-like tendrils during his earlier developmental stages…

He would be able to Assimilate an entity operating at CQ levels three, four, or even ten times higher than his current capability!

What a tremendous bargain this would represent, and at this moment he decided to further cement their conviction that he was worth keeping alive, well, and to also piss them off.

He looked at the assembled beings with am expression that combined defiance and contempt, and he spoke with a voice designed to insult their cooperation.

“How hypocritical this scene truly is,” Achilles said with tone that dripped calculated disdain.

“The sworn eternal enemies of Life and Death, forces that have been locked in conflict for eons beyond counting, now walking hand in hand like lovers.” He smiled with infuriating pleasantness.

“I wonder what your respective Civilizations and other Civilizations would think about seeing you all cooperating so smoothly with beings they’re supposed to view as existential threats?”

…!

1/1 Onwards!