I Can Assimilate Everything Chapter 721: Persevere! II

His Inner Dominion fractured, not in a controlled expansion, but with a violent shattering of its structure as if subjected to immense, unbearable force.

Lines of blazing light split open the Realm of Assimilation, revealing gaps through which torrents of light poured. Within these territories, once home to consumed existences and integrated memories, the very foundations of his advancement were now overwhelmed by something vastly superior to anything they had previously contained.

The fracturing intensified and spread. His internal essence began to dissolve at its periphery, the borders between his Realms blurring. The immense pressure from the ongoing integration demanded more space than his current Inner Dominion architecture could provide, necessitating a complete, from-the-ground-up restructuring.

Simultaneously, a profound sense of power surged through him, accompanied by an unprecedented desolation. It was the feeling of something vast and fundamental making contact with something comparatively insignificant.

He had to roar! It was a primal necessity, his very existence demanding vocal expression to prevent utter implosion!

"Persevere!"

BOOM!

The command echoed internally, and white flames erupted throughout his Inner Dominion with blinding speed, searing through the fractured and melting architecture of his being. This was not a destructive fire; instead, it purified and elevated everything it touched.

Behind the advancing flames, the fractures sealed, reforming into a grander structure. His Inner Dominion's architecture was rebuilt, expanded beyond its previous limits by the power of this fire, which was connected to THE Primordial Source itself.

His foundations were thoroughly purified by the white flames, an absolute cleansing far surpassing any deliberate cultivation. Accumulated impurities and inefficiencies from his rapid, sometimes unrefined Assimilation practices were incinerated, leaving behind a purer, more potent core.

His elevation surged! His Existence—its depth, its immensity, its very glory—ascended!

Externally, his expression remained a mask of taut stillness, betraying none of the cataclysmic reorganization occurring within!

The purifying work of the white flames continued unabated.

"Persevere" was a word of truly unique power. Even now, having uttered it once and felt its effects coursing through every part of his Inner Dominion, Achilles felt he had only begun to grasp its profound meaning. It wasn't a technique or a conventional ability like his other powers. It felt more akin to an answer that predated the question, a force that met adversity not by eliminating it, but by ensuring the individual facing it remained standing, no matter the cost.

By invoking this word from THE Primordial Tongue, one could recover from damage that should have been irreparable. The user would heal and then reinforce their existence beyond its previous state, the cost drawn directly from their own Source with each use. He should have been able to use this power only three times via the relic Vireth had given him. However, by Assimilating the relic itself, he had unlocked its use indefinitely, contingent only on his Source's ability to withstand the repeated expenditures.

He was still experiencing the initial surge of this power when it happened.

HUUM!

The obsidian plates enclosing him shattered. They didn't crack or dissolve gradually; they simply opened along previously seamless edges with an efficiency that bespoke the completion of their purpose rather than their failure. The isolation they had imposed ended as abruptly as it had begun.

A profound sense of vertigo washed over him as his awareness reconnected with the external flow of time. It was the distinct disorientation of someone whose internal perception had spanned minutes while the outside world had experienced hours, time having flowed at drastically different rates on either side of his confinement.

His senses struggled to bridge the gap, his core essence reaching outward to re-establish severed connections, now needing to reform across the accumulated distance and time of his transit.

He looked upward.

An endlessly vibrant, azure-gold sky stretched above, adorned with golden clouds that drifted with an otherworldly grace, clearly shaped by forces beyond mere wind. Rivers and seas of golden Observable Force permeated the entire environment, flowing through the atmosphere itself rather than along any surface, saturating reality with a concentration that made the Silver Philotimo seem utterly modest in comparison.

His entire being pulsed with jubilant energy, his very foundations resonating with the abundant Observable Force surrounding him. Every fiber of his altered physiology recognized this environment not just as a place of potential growth, but as an inevitability for any who possessed the capacity to absorb it.

Vireth descended, her form hovering above him, a weariness in her expression that spoke of the significant toll the journey had taken, even on her immense power. She let out a sigh.

"Alright, little weapon."

Her crimson hair danced in unseen currents of Observable Force that swept through this realm like celestial weather.

"Though you are but a Bounded Lifeform and typically wouldn't be allowed passage, I welcome you to what is known as THE Braneworld Observable Existence. It is among the more significant Observable Existences that fall under the dominion of the Gilded Ones."

Her gaze, a striking blend of crimson and gold, held the sharp focus of someone delivering a crucial briefing rather than engaging in casual conversation.

"Within a lower Observable Existence, nested inside this very Braneworld Observable Existence, is where THE Osmontian currently resides. We, along with others soon to arrive, will be joining a Legion of Ira Gilded Ones dispatched to that lesser realm. Our arrival is timed for the period when THE Osmontian began to divest Infinity from the Gilded Ones."

...! The unspoken weight of her words settled upon him, absorbed by a facade that betrayed nothing of the internal impact.

Achilles yearned to concentrate on the lingering effects of Persevere, still coursing through him, still completing its inaugural deployment across his reconfigured Inner Dominion. It was reinforcing foundations that had been fractured, molten, and meticulously rebuilt into something far grander than their original state. This process, unfinished, demanded a level of internal focus he couldn't fully commit while simultaneously grappling with the staggering reality of his present predicament.

Which was this:

He had traversed from his own Observable Existence, then to the Silver Philotimo Observable Existence, and now found himself within THE Braneworld Observable Existence. Three distinct realms in a span of time his internal chronometer struggled to quantify. Each realm successively more magnificent than the last, rendering each prior stage feel like mere preparation rather than a true destination. With each step, he was propelled further from all he had ever known and inexorably closer to a confrontation with the entity that had consumed Sororis Prima. A confrontation he desperately wished to avoid, seeking any means of escape at the earliest opportunity!