174 A Darkened Fores

I silently approached the sinister door. It was the color of the bark of the tree. The closer I got to it the more I felt the sinister energy it was bleeding out into the forest that surrounded Glendale. When I was right in front of the door, it began to creak and groan, the noise filling the forest and sounding disturbingly like the wailing of a grieving parent.

The tree began to vibrate once more. I watched and listened to the tree as it vibrated violently, and as the keening sound continued to fill the air. This lasted for a full five seconds before the door in front of me finally reacted to my presence. It reacted to me by spontaneously generating a doorknob where none had been before. I shook my head and chuckled, and then I placed my hand on the doorknob. As I did, I felt some of the domains within me react to that decision.

I heard audible sighs, some in delight, and some in annoyance. I also heard peals of laughter and the sounds of an excited audience. I grinned, and then I spun the knob in my hand, opening the door towards me and gaining my first view of the Heart of Darkness with my own eyes and not through the memories of my demonic servants.

The area on the other side of the door was a sinister and darkened reflection of the forest I was in. I took a deep breath and then I stepped through the door, taking my first steps into another dimension and into the land of chaotic evil, the dreaded and infamous Heart of Darkness.

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When I stepped through the doorway I had created into the place of malignant chaos known as the Heart of Darkness, I stepped into a lightless forest. I pulled the door shut behind me, even though the actual portal I had created was one-way and even if I had left it open demons wouldn't have been able to use it to escape into the mortal dimension.

The forest stretched out before me was darkly beautiful, a true and primordial forest that lacked anything even vaguely resembling a path. Vast trees reached high above me with jet-black canopies and I knew that the only source of any true light that may shine in this place would be light I created.

"So this is one of the layers that demons themselves come from huh?" I asked, speaking audibly but also directing my question internally. I quietly turned on my powers over love and beauty, as well as a plethora of anti-violence auras. I had come here to make allies, not to kill demons.

I let go of the door behind me and took a few steps forward. As I did I heard the trees around me begin to shudder, and I grinned savagely. I looked at them and assessed them using the power of the knowledge domain.

[Plant assessment underway...

Plant assessment nearing completion...

Plant assessment complete!

Plant type: Ebon Oak

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Upon learning this I gazed at the trees in awe, and I walked over to one of them. I gently placed a hand on it, and felt the tree. It was solid to the touch, but it was also cold and I could sense its great age. It had lived, in the sense that unawakened and unevolved plants live, for a long time.

This forest stretched out as far as my senses, unaided by any potent powers like "Stellar awareness" could sense. A few dozen kilometers in every direction. I sat down in front of the tree I had just touched, and I summoned my aid and companion Sombra to my side.

The shadowy demoness appeared next to me and was standing. She was immediately cowed by the power of my auras and my powers over love and desire, and I felt her heart turn further towards me. This was fitting, because I had plans for her, plans which would be all the easier if she were totally loyal to me.

I motioned for her to move in front of me and then sit down. The witch did as she was told, eagerly obeying me and in less than three seconds we were eye to eye. I stared at her, and smiled for a moment, before I used my powers to pull her into my arms. As I did, I spoke.

"Sombra... I suppose, in the end, there is only you and I." I told her, while I activated all of my loyalty and obsession based powers and without any hesitation further turned her mind towards me. The dark-elf-like demon blushed in my arms, turning her head bashfully away from me. I chuckled, and I then tilted her face back towards mine. We gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, and then I pull her face towards mine deftly and gently, until our lips connected. I smiled as I felt her lips brush against mine.

Sombra leaped forward the moment our lips were touching, closing the distance between us eagerly. I wrapped my arms around her and grinned even as she began to kiss me repeatedly. I felt my ultimate power, "True love's kiss" wash over her, and I felt her gleeful, manic acceptance of it wash over me. Her feelings towards me only grew in intensity, becoming even more of a raging fire than they had been before.

After a few moments, I stopped her from further kissing me. There was a grin on my face as I did this, and I chuckled, at the sight of the corporeal praereptor demoness. I still held her in my arms, I just prevented her from further closing in on me and peppering my face with her kisses. I wanted to begin to inform her of the plans I had for this place.

"Sombra... I want you to listen to me now." I told her, speaking sternly and as the creature who she served, using her brand to emphasize my point. She hissed at me but did indeed quiet down, and I chuckled at her.

"It is time that I slowly begin to stretch the tendrils of my power across the universe. I am going to begin to exert my power even here, in the 'Heart of Darkness', and you are going to help me." I told her, speaking confidently. She gazed at me, nodding in response to my words as if it were that were the most obvious thing in the world. And for a moment I thought about how she could best help me. It didn't take me any more than a second to come up with what I told her next.

"And Sombra... I want you to become the queen of your kind." I told her, a confident smirk on my face as I spoke. This caught her off guard. She was silent for a moment, as she considered my words. I could see the gears turning in her mind, but I also sensed her ambition being appealed too. She was silent for a moment, before speaking.

"Patron... If it is your wish that I become a queen, or even the queen, of my kind... I suppose I am in no position to refuse this long-term quest am I?" She asked, before beginning to smirk. There was a smug satisfaction radiating out of her, that I didn't hate. But then her face darkened as she began to think a bit more deeply.

"What are your goals in this dimension?" She asked, studying me curiously. I heard her question and I chuckled.

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There were a number of different types of higher beings. I knew of some of them, and I even was some of them. At the moment I knew that I was a god and an elemental overlord. As far as I understood it, gods stood at the top of an old and now nonexistent hierarchy of power with regards to higher beings.

Other sorts of higher beings I knew of, including demon-lords, arch-devils, and arch-fey. I possessed the capabilities to become other types of higher beings, without losing previously acquired powers. I had a few goals in mind here.

I wanted to acquire more demonic servants, especially rarer types of demons, and I wanted to begin to gain power within this strange dimension. Even feeling the air ambiently here felt different from the air of the mortal world. For a creature like me, of an innately chaotic disposition, the air here was wonderfully disorderly.

The way this place smelled and the way everything felt, was much better suited to me than the cleanliness and orderliness of the plane of mortals. I wanted to rule this place. I wanted to become the one who was acknowledged and served by all, the one who stood at the top.

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I looked at the demon before me and chuckled.

"Well Sombra... I want everything. I want power, and I want to be the one who stands at the top. I want to become the next and possibly the last demon lord." I told her, smirking at the shadowy demon. She considered my words for a moment, before beginning to laugh. She spoke a moment later.

"I suppose it makes sense for a god to want power. And it definitely makes sense for a demon lord to want it." She told me, beaming at me.