CHAPTER 386: THE LAST TRUTH OF KINGS I

The throne room had become a mausoleum of power, its crystalline walls reflecting the aftermath of cosmic violence in fractal patterns.

Fragments of stellar matter drifted through the air like luminescent snow, the residue of energies that had reshaped the nature of local reality. And at the center of it all, King Edmond lay broken!

His breathing came in shallow gasps that spoke of internal damage beyond any healing art’s ability to repair.

Where once he had radiated the casual authority of a being who could conjure moons, now he seemed diminished...not just physically, but existentially, as if some essential component of his presence had been torn away.

When he tried to speak, damaged tentacles emerged weakly from his throat, organs of consumption that had once devoured stellar matter now reduced to twitching remnants of their former glory!

The words that escaped around them carried the weight of genuine bewilderment.

"I... do not... know you."

The confession hung in the air between them like an accusation waiting for judgment.

In those broken syllables lay the crystalline truth that had defined this entire confrontation...King Edmond truly had no idea who Achilles was, no understanding of what had brought this catastrophe upon his head!

To him, this had been nothing more than a random encounter, a territorial dispute that had somehow escalated beyond all reasonable proportion.

Achilles knelt beside the fallen king with movements that carried their own gravitational authority, his enhanced senses observing the extent of damage inflicted by the White Smith Star’s enhanced capabilities.

The Stellar Genesis Star that had served as King Edmond’s heart was indeed shattered, its nuclear fires reduced to barely flickering embers that would soon gutter out entirely.

"Yes," he said quietly, his voice carrying the patient understanding of someone explaining a complex concept to a confused being.

"It’s true that you do not know me. But I know you."

HUUM!

His words fell into the silence like stones dropped into still water!

"I know how you met with the Crimson Shroud Vortexes to locate a certain Plane of Existence. I know how you devoured a dying member of their species to gain memories about that same plane. I know the tribute you planned to pay to the Sovereign Void Imperium, and the percentage of populations you intended to consume for your own enhancement."

King Edmond’s body began to convulse as the implications of those words struck him with the force of revelation.

His enhanced consciousness, even in its damaged state, immediately grasped the connections being drawn. The Plane of Existence they had been seeking together...the hidden world that had vanished behind defensive barriers, the prize that had driven their alliance- somehow, impossibly, this unknown enemy knew of their plans!

More than knew them, he spoke with the certainty of someone who had observed those plans being carried out!

"But..." Edmond whispered, confusion and terror warring in his fading voice. "Why? How could you know of-"

Achilles studied the dying king’s face with the detached interest of a scholar examining a particularly fascinating specimen.

Behind King Edmond’s confusion lay the fundamental assumption that had governed his entire existence...that actions should have consequences proportional to intent, that enemies should emerge from comprehensible conflicts, that the universe operated according to rules that could be understood and manipulated.

"Just because you did not meet me," Achilles said with the profound gravity of someone delivering judgment, "does not mean you did not become my greatest enemy. Next time, if there is one for you, try not to devour Planes of Existence or Worlds so freely."

The words carried finality that transcended mere threat or warning.

They were an epitaph being written in real-time, a summation of choices that had led inevitably to this moment of reckoning!

King Edmond’s eyes widened as understanding began to dawn, but before he could voice whatever realization was forming in his consciousness, Achilles brought his hand down in a gesture that seemed almost gentle.

"Mercy!" The word tore from Edmond’s throat with the desperation of someone who had just glimpsed the true scope of their situation.

"Please, I don’t understand, I can change, I can...!"

But mercy was a luxury that Achilles could not afford to grant, not when the alternative was the eventual discovery and destruction of everything he held sacred.

His palm made contact with King Edmond’s forehead, and in that moment of touch, he spoke a single word that carried with it the weight of law.

"Assimilate."

WAP!

The sound was wet and final, like reality itself exhaling in relief.

King Edmond’s entire form crumpled inward like paper being crushed by invisible hands, his stellar matter compressing and flowing into Achilles’ enhanced physiology with the efficiency of a force of nature reclaiming scattered elements.

What had once been a cosmic power capable of terrorizing entire sectors of the Star Seas was reduced to raw material, absorbed into the growing constellation of abilities that defined the last Adrastia Emperor King!

Behind him, Stellarix pressed himself deeper into his throne, his enhanced senses registering power flows that defied every law of space he had ever studied.

This wasn’t merely victory through superior force...this was the complete negation of an opponent’s existence, their essence claimed and integrated as if they had never been anything more than a particularly complex meal!

Achilles rose from beside the empty space where King Edmond had been, his movements carrying satisfaction that went beyond mere tactical success. A weight had been lifted from his consciousness, a thread of future possibility that had threatened everything he valued now severed permanently from the timeline.

The Elder Crimson Shroud and King Edmond...dead!

The threat that had hung over the Ancient Ones of his home plane for centuries, eliminated in a matter of days.

All it had required was proper preparation, careful manipulation of existing conflicts, and the willingness to act decisively when opportunity presented itself.

This was why his lineage had been feared. Why entire coalitions had formed to hunt down and eliminate every Adrastia Emperor King throughout history!

They possessed the capability to accomplish what others would consider impossible, to reshape cosmic power structures through methods that transcended conventional understanding!