His voice echoed through the broken halls, out into the scorched plazas, the shattered temples, the strangled gardens of Thornveil.
The word rang out like a prayer and a war cry.
Chains rattled. Eyes opened.
And across the Capital, thousands stirred.
In the broken barracks, Dharma Manifestation warriors twitched, their bodies aching from toxins and control seals—but their minds… awakened.
In the fruit-bleeding fields, where Ethereal Physiology workers labored beneath the sneers of Ancient Ones, blood began to rush faster in their veins. Fingers clenched into fists. Vines responded to their will.
Even the corrupted Overseers of the Thornveil Watchtowers that were half-dead, half-souled…trembled as old memories flickered and bloomed in the rising roar of their King.
In the Garden Hall, Velmira of the Thirteenth Root recoiled, golden silks flaring like tendrils of flame.
Thorndike's collar snapped, shattered by vines bursting from his own chest.
Stars pulsed in his blood, not as bright as Malgorith's by any account, not refined or compressed…but growing.
His voice rang like a thunderbolt.
"I AM THORNDIKE—KING OF THORNS!"
"You bound and chain me and my people…but no more!"
Everywhere across the Capital, his people stood.
And descending from the skies like glorious heralds, Achilles' Draconic Hybrids roared in answer.
They attacked relentlessly and gloriously, seemingly not even worried of their own lives!
Wherever an Ancient One struck them down with heavy Primordial Energy or gravitational blasts, their bodies would shudder, crack…
White flames erupted around them.
Nirvanic Phoenix's Healing Flames III pulsed through every Hybrid's core, reigniting fractured wings, sealing torn flesh, and mending shattered crystal.
The Astral Core Ascension Ancient Ones- particularly those still only at the Luminblood Stage- began to get enraged as those weaker than them continued to come back up again and again, their bodies even beginning to release waves of Miasma!
Ethereal Physiology Draconic Hybrids, blessed with evolutionary adaptations and backed by Primordial Empowerment and Planetary Strength, pressed forward.
Dozens locked into formation, gliding through the skies in fluid motion. Every time they were brought down, they rose in bursts of light and wrath.
Their synergy was perfect.
Each wave was a strike.
Each strike…a message.
A message from the Adrastia Emperor King of how terrifying his infected Draconic Hybrids could be!
In the northern district of the Colony Capital, a trio of Dharma Manifestation warriors, previously shackled, now fought back with newly gifted gauntlets formed from the body shards of fallen Hybrids. They rode vine-surfing beasts, cutting down twisted overseers.
In the southern district, a former Ethereal Commander screamed into the heavens, unleashing wave after wave of Thornveil Song Techniques alongside Draconic Hybrids in protective formations.
One by one, the enslaved rose.
The momentum shifted.
The cries of children turned to chants of war as they hid in torn buildings.
And at the center of it all, King Thorndike charged through a spiral of burning vines and flaming petals, his fists crashing into Velmira's defense field with enough force to collapse many things…but her defensive field did not shatter as she stared forth coldly.
"You spoke of slaughter," he growled, "but I am the thorn that does not bow."
Velmira's expression was angry and unamused as she reeled back, a draconic hybrid colliding with her from above to knock her as many more swarmed here to provide support!
Outside, across every platform, every floating altar, every corrupted tower, a new war was being written.
Above it all, Achilles saw.
Even as he clashed again with Malgorith, absorbing another direct hit from a Celestbone and retaliating with a burst of solar flame and draconic lightning, he saw the changes in the Colony Capital of the Thornveil Dynasty.
He saw Thorndike rise.
He saw bound humans pick up weapons and lift one another.
He saw the newly established court of Ancient Ones in the Capital burn.
He saw the impossible happen.
He breathed hard, violet-gold light pulsing from his core.
Achilles retained his calmness in the face of this terrifying adversity as he looked at the Titan before him, High Zenithar Malgorith, with sharp eyes.
But with something deeper.
Conviction to do whatever it took!
And yet, terrifying golden bones that were unbreakable swirled all around him as if trapping him in a cage.
They burned with star light as any quality he threw at them did not break them!
He was different from everone else.
He was the Adrastia Emperor King.
He had abilities, but this was not all he had.
He had the capability…to assimilate everything.
So…would Celestbones that were unbreakable be excluded?!
The next Celestbone came faster than sound.
The golden Humerus, with trailing rings of collapsed starlight and wrapped in spirals of gravitational spin, descended upon Achilles with terminal force- enough to obliterate mountains, reduce matter to mist, and collapse even celestial constructs.
Any Luminblood Stage Astral Core Ascension entity hit with this may just fold and collapse in horror!
Achilles did not move.
He planted his feet in midair, his golden wings flaring wide with glorious resistance.
His left arm surged outward, wrapped in Impenetrable Scales V, Planetary Forcefield IV, and Crystal Manipulation V, forming an armored gauntlet fused with the raw essence added with the grandeur of the Nirvanic Sun and Moon Phoenix.
Above him, the Celestbone spun.
It struck his arm- bone to flesh, star to will.
Energy flared. His flesh made of Primordial Energy tore. Blood sprayed.
Teeth clenched. Muscles howled as he felt his lineage and star light coursing through him. The air collapsed around him, caught in the terrifying inertia.
And through that pain, through the tearing of heaven and body…
He grabbed the Humerus- one of the multiple Celestbones from High Zenithar Malgorith!
And he bellowed out deeply within himself.
Blinding light flared.
And…everything changed.