Chapter 383: Mind Games and Death! IV

“I couldn’t have imagined all this playing out so smoothly!”

The White Smith Star came to hover beside Achilles, whose arm continued to show the effects of his ongoing assimilation.

To her enhanced perception, it appeared that he was simply enduring the black moon’s assault through pure stubborn will- an impressive display of fortitude, but nothing that suggested the fundamental alteration of reality occurring as he assimilated it!

Without warning, she released the full fury of her pulsar enhancement.

White-hot energy erupted from her form in waves that could have ignited gas giants, striking the black moon King Edmond had conjured.

HUUM!

And in the next moment…

The artificial satellite of destruction simply… ceased.

Not destroyed in any conventional sense, but unmade, its constituent matter scattered across space until nothing remained but rapidly fading gravitational echoes!

Silence descended over the battlefield.

In that silence, King Edmond’s voice carried with the desperate edge of someone whose calculations had been thoroughly upended.

“What is this?” he demanded, his handsome features twisted by confusion and growing rage. “There is no enmity between us! Why would you declare war against the Five Kings of the Virgo Stellar Expanse?”

The question was seeking explanations for violence that seemed to have emerged from nowhere!

But the White Smith Star’s response was as sharp as stellar fire.

She pointed directly at Achilles, her smile carrying the weight of malice. “You pissed off someone even more vengeful than me.”

King Edmond’s gaze shifted to the figure beside her, and Achilles could see the moment when casual dismissal transformed into genuine concern.

Here was a being Edmond didn’t recognize, someone whose presence had somehow orchestrated this entire confrontation.

Achilles met that stare with eyes that held the cold depth of deep space, his expression revealing nothing of the satisfaction that flowed through his consciousness!

When he spoke, it was not to address King Edmond directly but to provide final tactical guidance to his temporary ally.

“Remember,” he said to the White Smith Star without looking away from their target, “his attacks will follow predictable patterns. A Stellar Moon Cascade to limit your mobility. Solar Flare Barrage to test your defensive capabilities. Gravity Well Implosion to draw you into close combat where his physical enhancements provide advantage.”

His voice carried the certainty of someone who had observed these tactics across multiple timelines, who had watched King Edmond fight dozens of battles through the lens of Continuum Vision.

“For his final gambit, he will feign depletion of authority before manifesting a Sun of Carnage….a technique capable of inflicting serious injury even on beings of your capabilities.”

…!

The White Smith Star’s smile widened until it seemed to stretch beyond the physical constraints of her face. “I know. I know! I believe you completely now!”

Without further discussion, she launched herself toward King Edmond with acceleration that left trails of stellar fire in her wake.

The space between them erupted with forces that could have reshaped planets as their cataclysmic battle began in earnest!

At the same time, King Edmond looked towards Achilles in horror as he asked himself…why the fuck did that guy know about all his attacks?!

…!

But Achilles was no longer watching their conflict. His attention had turned toward the world below, where millions of beings had just been granted an unexpected reprieve from extinction.

They would see him as their savior, the mysterious figure who had arrived at their darkest hour to drive away forces beyond their ability to resist.

They would be wrong, of course. But their misconception served his purposes perfectly.

Since the moment of his arrival, invisible spores had been dispersing through the world’s atmosphere.

Every breath taken by the planet’s Empyrean Star Nexus Transcendents drew his influence deeper into their systems, creating pathways for future control that would remain dormant until activated.

He felt no guilt about this deception. No moral uncertainty about the methods he employed.

His intervention had prevented the deaths of billions. His presence had saved a civilization from complete extinction at the hands of cosmic predators.

If he claimed compensation for that service…if he harvested resources and established influence networks in exchange for salvation, then that was simply how business was conducted in the Star Seas.

Charity was a luxury that only the powerful could afford, and even then, only when their own survival was not at stake.

Beings who attempted to act as pure altruists in this environment didn’t thrive.. they became resources for others to exploit!

Achilles had no intention of becoming anyone’s resource.

The alternative was clear enough.

Fail to gather sufficient power, and his enemies would eventually locate him.

They would descend upon Ethemia with fleets that blotted out stars, weapons that could crack planets like eggs, authority that rewrote the fundamental regulations of space according to their whims!

Rose would die. Arya would die. Everything he had built would be reduced to cooling atoms scattered across the void.

That future would not be permitted to occur.

So if the Star Seas demanded that he become the monster his name suggested, then he would embrace that transformation with all the cold calculation it required.

He would become the Taboo they feared, the Scourge Emperor King whose very existence sent civilizations fleeing into the deep void!

But he would do so on his own terms, for his own reasons, in service of goals that transcended mere conquest or destruction.

His descent toward Aethermoor’s surface began with movements that seemed almost gentle, as if he were simply drifting rather than actively flying.

Around him, figures in flowing robes began ascending to meet him- sorcerers and witches whose lives had just been spared, whose civilization had been granted another chance at survival.

“Thank you, sir, for your assistance!” one of them called out, her voice carrying gratitude that would have moved him if he hadn’t already calculated the price of that salvation.

Achilles regarded them with the calm assessment of someone evaluating assets.

When he spoke, his voice carried the quiet authority of one accustomed to having his words carry weight.

“Don’t thank me just yet,” he said simply. Then, turning his attention to the figure who radiated the most power among the ascending group…

“Archon Stellarix Morwyn. Let’s talk.”

…!

The silence that followed his words carried the weight of possibilities…some bright, others dark, all of them leading toward futures that would reshape the balance of power in this corner of the Star Seas!

Onward!