CHAPTER 379: TABOO! II

The silence that followed was heavy.

Finally, the White Smith Star’s voice dropped to its gravest register.

"But of course, the worst of all, the thing that’s taboo to even mention..." Her eyes darted around the observation platform as if speaking the words might summon retribution.

"The Hamartolos. The Taboo. The Scourge Emperor King...the Adrastia Emperor King!"

HUUM!

The words hit Achilles, though his expression remained perfectly controlled!

The White Smith Star’s features had taken on an almost manic quality, fear and revulsion warring for dominance.

"That name...even hearing it in these regions requires reporting to the Sovereign Void Imperium! You’d be lucky to survive the interrogation process. They...were the Sinners of the Star Seas, the most vile creatures ever birthed across all the cycles of cosmic history! The bloodbath they carried out...the trillions they killed across Worlds and Planes of Existence....ugh!"

She looked around wildly, as if speaking the forbidden name might have attracted the attention of vengeful powers.

Her earlier confidence had evaporated entirely, replaced by the primal terror of prey animals sensing predators in the dark.

"They destroyed anything...any power, any technology, any living being. Nothing was sacred to them, nothing was off-limits. They consumed entire civilizations not for resources or territory, but simply because they could. The stories..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "The stories say they turned stars into weapons, that they could reach across dimensional barriers to drag their enemies into pocket hells of their own creation."

Achilles absorbed every word with the stillness of deep water, his thoughts turning to his father’s warnings about enemies who had orchestrated his lineage’s extinction.

To think that their very name had become a curse, a boogeyman used to frighten even powers into compliance!

The White Smith Star fell silent abruptly, as if the weight of her own words had suddenly become too much to bear. She moved away from the observation platform without another word, leaving Achilles alone with his thoughts and the vast emptiness beyond.

"..."

He resumed his assimilation of Space-Time, but now each particle that joined his being carried the weight of legacy- both the terror his ancestors had inspired, whether false or true, and the burden of being the last to carry their name.

He.

The Last Adrastia Emperor King!

---

Unknown millions of miles away, in a region of space where stellar bodies danced in complex orbital patterns, a different kind of terror was unfolding.

Two suns burned in synchronized rotation, their gravitational embrace creating tidal forces that painted aurora streams across the surrounding void.

Three moons orbited in perfect harmony, their surfaces reflecting the binary starlight in patterns that would have been beautiful under different circumstances.

At the center of this celestial wonder floated a world that gleamed green and white, a Large World whose continents bore the unmistakable marks of advanced civilization.

Cities sprawled across its surface in patterns that spoke of careful planning and centuries of peaceful development.

But peace, as always in the Star Seas, was a temporary luxury that could be revoked without warning.

Above the world’s atmosphere, like a malignant constellation, hung the forces that would end that peace forever.

Crimson Shroud Vortexes drifted in loose formation, their tentacled forms pulsing with hunger barely held in check. Among them moved sleeker vessels bearing the insignia of King Edmond’s forces- ships designed for conquest rather than exploration, their hulls scarred by countless battles across the void.

On the world’s surface, in a kingdom that rose from emerald plains like a jewel carved from starlight, the first of what would be the final battle had already begun.

The capital city was an architectural marvel...towers of white stone and gold that spiraled toward the sky like frozen wonders, their surfaces inscribed with flowing script that pulsed with its own inner radiance.

Magic flowed through every structure like lifeblood, creating a harmony between technology and mysticism that few civilizations ever achieved.

But that harmony was being shattered by forces that recognized no beauty save their own power.

Above the gleaming towers, King Edmond floated with the casual arrogance of a titan surveying his domain.

His ocean-blue hair moved with currents that existed in dimensions beyond normal space, while his simple crown caught and reflected light.

Behind him, space itself seemed to bend away from his presence, as if reality found his existence distasteful.

Below, the defenders of this world fought with desperate courage and remarkable skill!

Figures in flowing robes and pointed hats moved through the air on vessels that defied conventional understanding- some riding what appeared to be simple brooms that moved with the agility of bullets, others wielding similar implements as weapons that channeled forces capable of shattering stone and bending space.

Their wands blazed with multicolored light, each gesture releasing miniature stellar phenomena that crashed against the invading forces like concentrated stars.

Some conjured gravitational anomalies that crushed Crimson Shroud Vortexes into dense matter spheres!

Others called forth temporal distortions that aged King Edmond’s vessels into rust and debris.

For a few precious moments, it seemed the defenders might actually succeed in repelling the invasion. Their magic was sophisticated, their tactics sound, their courage unquestionable.

King Edmond laughed, and the sound carried across barriers to reach every consciousness on the world below.

"What a delightful intermission," he called out, his voice carrying the casual cruelty of someone discussing the weather.

"While we search for that troublesome Plane of Existence, you’ve provided such charming entertainment. But really, this rudimentary expression of power grows tiresome. Wands? Brooms? The fuck is that?!"

HUUM!

He raised his hand toward the sky, and the very fabric of space began to convulse around his gesture.

"Allow me to demonstrate how power should truly be expressed."

HUUM!

Reality screamed as something impossible began forming in the world’s sky. A sphere of absolute darkness took shape above the capital- not merely black, but the complete absence of light, matter, and hope.

It grew with terrifying speed, expanding until it rivaled the Kingdom itself in size.

A black moon. A concentrated mass of entropy and destruction that pulsed with gravitational forces strong enough to crack planetary cores.

Below, the defenders’ magic faltered as they stared up at their approaching doom.

Wands trembled in hands that had never known defeat! The elegant spires of their city creaked under gravitational stresses they were never designed to withstand.

King Edmond’s smile was a thing of cosmic horror as he contemplated the terror he had created with such casual ease.

"Half of you," he announced, his words carrying to every consciousness on the world below, "kill yourselves now. Do this, and perhaps I won’t destroy this entire land and the hundreds of millions who call it home."

The silence that followed was the sound of hope dying and despair taking its first breath.

And yet...

High above, undetected by any sensor or art, a Stellar Harvester continued its approach through the void, carrying with it a passenger whose very name would become a legend soon!

Whose presence would soon transform this tragedy...into something far more complex!