I Can Assimilate Everything Chapter 715: WHO?! I

Achilles traversed countless memories belonging to Mansa Nguna, his awareness stretching into domains that felt perilous due to the sheer density of their contents.

The knowledge he now possessed seemed infinite and majestic, far surpassing his initial expectations when he began dissecting her merged existence. Eons of accumulated experience were compressed into mere seconds of processing time as his Assimilation meticulously sifted through the archive, displaying an efficiency as something that had become significantly more adept at this task since first absorbing a Fundamental Depth Master in the nascent stages of his confinement within The Existential Lattice.

He continued his search.

His objective was to find any pivotal memories that might illuminate potential dangers stemming from his actions toward Mansa Nguna, any links connecting her existence to surveillance mechanisms, failsafes, or commitments that could precipitate an investigation before he could gain distance and cover his tracks.

He persisted in his search.

Until he unearthed a memory that caused him to become utterly still.

Mansa Nguna appeared younger in this recollection, her languid golden eyes reflecting less of the detached weariness that eons of scientific specialization eventually instill in beings who dedicate their existence to observing others rather than interacting with them. She was seated with a man whose features bore a strong resemblance to hers, rendering their relationship self-evident.

Her father.

He was a Gilded One of substantial power, his presence within the memory radiating an authority that pressed against its boundaries with the peculiar warmth of an individual who had intentionally modulated their capabilities to share space with a loved one without overwhelming them.

His hands moved with practiced tenderness as he placed a golden thread of Observable Force directly into her heart. The action was careful, precise, and entirely incongruous with the clinical efficiency Achilles had observed in every other interaction contained within her memories.

"You will not retain the memory of this afterwards, as I know you wish to be independent."

His voice carried the distinct timbre of someone conveying a message they felt compelled to deliver, irrespective of whether it would be comprehended or remembered.

"However, I cannot bear the thought of you leaving our House unprotected, so I have imbued your heart with a safeguard that shall activate at the slightest hint of danger your Ego perceives."

The golden thread settled within her heart with the natural ease of something predestined to reside there.

"Once activated, it will neutralize any assault and grant you the opportunity to escape. I shall then come to your rescue shortly thereafter."

He gently brushed her hair back from her face in a gesture so ingrained it clearly predated conscious intent, a motion performed countless times across durations that transformed the act itself into a form of silent communication.

"I simply cannot permit you to venture forth without a piece of me watching over you. You are my one and only daughter."

The memory concluded at this point, much like many poignant moments are recalled, not with a definitive resolution but with the resonant weight of emotion that requires no further narrative elaboration.

...!

Achilles felt his mind thrumming with the distinct chill of someone who had just identified a critical issue and was simultaneously computing its ramifications and his potential courses of action.

That protective measure had never been triggered.

She had never experienced an attack in the conventional manner that her father’s failsafe was designed to detect. Her Ego and consciousness had not perceived danger through the channels his protection monitored because Achilles had not attacked her directly; instead, he had integrated himself into her being via Observable Force, which she had willingly accepted. By the time his spores constituted a significant portion of her core existence, there was insufficient independent consciousness remaining within her to register that something had gone awry.

He had assimilated the protection along with her very being.

It now resided within his integrated existence, a golden filament among myriad others, having never fulfilled its intended function because the peril it was meant to counter had materialized in a form its creator had not foreseen.

The price of Assimilating her proved substantial in ways he had not initially calculated. He had envisioned remaining, even adopting her form and leaving a fabricated body to impede pursuers, utilizing her identity as a cloak to navigate the Silver Philotimo while consolidating his gains.

But now.

BOOM!

As the space fractured into a blaze of golden light, he vanished instantaneously, his decision forged in the sliver of a second between acknowledging a crisis and reaching the point of no return. He couldn't hesitate; a father's protective essence was bound to the very core of the woman he’d just consumed, entwined with a filament of Observable Force. This thread was designed to act precisely as it did, summoning the kind of overwhelming power that now responded to its sudden stillness.

He fled.

WU! WU! WU!

And then...

A heartbeat after his departure.

BOOM!

The very fabric of reality above his former location detonated with a fury that bespoke the raw difference between controlled power and its unbridled unleashing, indifferent to the structural integrity of existence. A chilling aura of immense Pride and might erupted from the rupture, manifesting with the speed of something that had instantly detected a silent thread and traversed the intervening void in less than a breath.

A howl echoed, not born of battle readiness or the calculated chill of a Gilded One confronting a foe, but of sheer agony.

"WHO DARES?!"

The voice detonated across the ruined laboratory, its unleashed force dissolving the remaining wreckage into nothingness. It was the sound of authority stripped bare, its container shattered by an uncontrollable tide of grief.

"WHO HAS TAKEN MY DAUGHTER?!"

BOOM!

An apocalyptic surge of power slammed down, anchoring itself to the coordinates where Achilles had just stood. A terrifyingly profound perception probed every inch of the space, the frantic thoroughness of a desperate search rather than the focused hunt for a mere adversary.

"Little Nguna!"

The name fractured the voice, a vulnerability no Gilded One should ever display. Hierarchy, pride, and the immense distance accumulated over eons became utterly meaningless against the piercing frequency of a parent's cry for a child who could not respond.

"LITTLE NGUNA!"

BOOM!