Chapter 482: Grandfather! III
When he spoke, his voice carried the authority of someone who had seen enough futures to know which ones were worth fighting for.
“I understand your wishes, Grandfather. The guilt you carry, the weight of their deaths..I won’t minimize that or tell you it wasn’t real, wasn’t devastating.”
He moved closer, the water parting around him with unnatural ease.
“But let me tell you something about the enemies who did this to your people. They still exist. They still laugh about this victory. They still tell stories and narratives about how they broke the great Thalsian, how they destroyed his precious underwater kingdom.”
Thalsian’s head rose slightly, something dangerous flickering in his ancient eyes.
“You can have the chance to eradicate them,” Achilles continued, his voice gaining intensity. “To decimate them so thoroughly that their very names will be forgotten. I can take you to the current time where you can observe all of this happening…watch as every conspirator, every betrayer, every creature who contributed to this massacre faces justice.”
BOOM!
He paused, ensuring his next words carried their full weight.
“After that, after you’ve seen them pay for what they did here, if you still wish to return to this moment, to this grave you’ve made for yourself…I’ll bring you back. But at least give yourself the chance to see justice delivered before you decide to die with your guilt.”
Thalsian’s eyes blazed at these words, purple-gold fire erupting in their depths with such intensity that the water around them began to steam.
For a moment, the broken king was gone, replaced by the Emperor who had made oceans bow to his will.
Then he sighed, the sound carrying eons of exhaustion that gradually transformed into something else…purpose, perhaps, or at least the memory of it.
“Ho,” he said, a ghost of his old smile crossing his features. “Thank you for reminding me just what our lineage means, little one.”
His massive hand reached out, stroking Achilles’s purple-gold hair with surprising gentleness.
The gesture was purely grandfather, purely family, transcending their roles as Emperor Kings.
“We don’t just lie down and accept defeat, do we? We rise, we fight, we make our enemies regret ever learning our names.”
His voice grew stronger with each word, authority flowing back into his frame like water filling an empty vessel.
“Even when we’re broken, especially when we’re broken, we stand up one more time.”
A sharp light of terrifying power erupted from his form, making the ruined empire around them tremble.
“Okay,” he said with finality that could have carved mountains. “Let’s go.”
BOOM!
The proclamation sent shockwaves through the water that would have shattered normal matter.
But Achilles was already moving, wrapping his grandfather in the same quantum authority that had brought him here.
The tunneling process began immediately, reality blurring around them as they pushed forward through time.
The sensation was different with a passenger…like the universe was questioning why there were two of them violating causality simultaneously.
The resistance increased exponentially, probability storms raging around them as paradoxes tried to form and were forcibly prevented by Achilles’s will.
They witnessed the empire’s ruins age, watched as ocean life slowly reclaimed the devastation.
Years blurred past…decades, centuries. They saw hints of their lineage continuing despite everything: the Eighth Emperor King rising, falling, rising again. Wars that had seemed eternal from within passed in heartbeats from their perspective outside time.
Colors that shouldn’t exist blazed around them as they pushed through temporal distance that wanted to snap back like a rubber band stretched too far. But Achilles held firm, his power creating a bubble of stability in the chaos of quantum probability.
Finally, with a sensation like breaking through a membrane that separated then from now…
They emerged in the Sea of Thalassara, its luminescent waters welcoming them with warmth that the ancient oceans had never possessed!
The transition from ruined past to vibrant present was jarring, like stepping from a cemetery into a celebration.
They appeared directly near the Eighth Adrastia Emperor King!
Adras turned, his expression shifting from alertness to confusion to absolute, devastating recognition in the span of a heartbeat.
…!
There was a buzz of energy and immense silence momentarily.
And then…
“Father?” The word emerged as barely a whisper, disbelief and desperate hope warring in his voice.
The Eighth Adrastia Emperor King, the man who had commanded armies and reshaped continents, trembled like a child as he lunged forward, catching his father in a bear hug that would have shattered mountains!
BOOM!
Thalsian laughed…deep, heavy, genuine laughter that filled the Sea of Thalassara with joy that transcended sound.
His arms wrapped around his son with equal force, two Emperor Kings embracing across death and time, proving that some bonds transcended even existence’s most fundamental laws.
“My boy,” Thalsian rumbled, his voice thick with emotion. “My stubborn, brilliant, impossible boy. You survived. You survived and had an even more ridiculous son!”
HUUM!
The Sea of Thalassara itself seemed to pulse with satisfaction, its waters carrying the resonance of a family that had refused to accept the tragedy written for them, choosing instead to write their own story!
Thalsian pulled back slightly from the embrace, his ancient eyes studying his son’s face with the intensity of someone memorizing features they never thought they’d see again.
“When I sent you away,” he said, his deep voice roughened by emotion, “watching that ship disappear into the void with you hidden in its cargo hold…I thought that was the last time I would ever see you. I prepared myself to die knowing I had at least given you a chance, even if I would never know if you survived.”
His massive hand gripped Adras’s shoulder with the desperation of someone confirming reality through touch.
“But…”
Both of them turned to look at Achilles, who was observing this reunion with a smile that held satisfaction deeper than personal joy.
Adras nodded, his own voice thick with pride. “Yes. I was lucky to have an amazing son.”
Thalsian nodded at this, studying his grandson with eyes that blazed with approval.
Then his expression shifted, the emotional grandfather transforming back into the Emperor King who had made armies tremble.
His booming voice echoed through the Sea of Thalassara with sudden predatory interest.
“Okay. What are the enemies we’re looking at? Is that fucker Aurelius still alive? Vexthar?”
Achilles’s smile took on edges that could cut reality itself at the mention of those names!
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