218 Devilish

Even the skies around the god were packed with devils who hovered in mid-air and silently watched the life-restoring deity. When his light had fully vanished, he looked at the scene around him with an arrogant smile on his lips.

The devils who were on the ground before the deity humbly knelt before him. They knew of his power, sensed it radiating off of him, and even the most ignorant and weakest of them could easily tell that if the deity wanted too he could easily turn his powers on them and destroy them as easily as he resurrected them. In fact, destroying the devils would be much easier than resurrecting them.

The devils who floated in mid-air watched the god, cautiously and curiously. They had stronger wills than their more eager peers and though they felt immense curiosity aimed towards the incredibly powerful entity before them they also recognized his chaotic nature. Their greater awareness of the universe allowed them to sense the god's innately chaotic nature, and as they studied him he studied them in return. He stared at them all, his eyes flitting from devil to devil quite rapidly and confidently.

The devils quietly endured the prying nature of the god's vision, vaguely aware that as the god peered at them he was gaining intimate knowledge of them. They sensed his powers washing over them, studying them, examining their souls. None of them dared utter a word against it, due in part to the debt they owed the god but mostly due to their vague knowledge that he was capable of destroying virtually anyone he felt like destroying without even really thinking about it.

They all remembered what it was like to be helpless in the face of Rok's power. They felt the fear a god of chaos instilled in them on an almost genetic level and in the wake of Althos' resurrection it took them everything they possessed to not tremble, even the devils that Althos filled with his spores or caused to fall deeply in love with him. The god himself learned this as he studied them, and he began to grin, menacingly, as he learned the cause of their fear and how he reminded them of their miserable fate from hundreds of millennia ago.

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"Hello, devils. I am Althos, the god of empires." I proclaimed, channeling the pride that befitted gods, as I spoke to the devils gathered in front of me. This was one of the first times that channeling godly pride didn't really require much effort on my part. Instead, in the presence of devils, I felt the pride flow through me quite easily.

The devils in front of me, the ones who had approached me and knelt before me in recognition of my power and as a display of fealty, were a mixed group. I recognized the innate loyalty of both knight-devils and piety-devils and though I wouldn't say it in front of a crowd like this I was quietly grateful that they were innately awed by me. It would make controlling the other devils easier, even if I recognized that acknowledging them publicly would probably run counter to my current strategy.

I wanted to be recognized as an unstoppable, undeniably powerful, and supreme force onto myself. Devils were creatures that recognized and gravitated towards power, that was one of the many lessons I learned from the devils in the Order of the Heated Blade. The sooner they recognized my supremacy the sooner I would gain absolute control over this city and thus be able to expand my powers to the conquest of other cities and other locations throughout this dimension.

I looked out at the other devils who had gathered around me, some in the air, some on the ground kneeling in front or around me. More were approaching even as I silently studied the crowd that had already gathered around me.

"As the god of empires, I seek to build the greatest and last empire to ever exist. One that unifies all of existence under one emperor, one absolute ruler." I declared, my voice echoing across the city, effortlessly being heard by every single creature in the metropolis. I was met with silence, but my ability to detect any and all emotions felt by living beings of all sorts allowed me to sense the rising excitement.

"I have begun to unify the Heart of Darkness and the Mortal Realm. The conquest of Duvessa marks the beginning of my conquest of Infernius. Devils... Join me, and let's unify all of existence under one ruler... Me." I whispered, my voice both quiet and sinister as well as impossibly loud, echoing throughout the entirety of the city. My words were warmly received by all of the devils I had resurrected, but especially by two distinct groups.

Devils I had resurrected through eldritch energies were invigorated by my words. I felt their excitement infuse the air around them. Of all the devils I had resurrected the ones I had resurrected through eldritch means were the ones who were the most changed by my actions. They all had eerily green eyes and unsettling grins. There were thousands of them too, which meant I now had a standing army of eldritch entities ready to be used against my enemies within Infernius.

The second most changed kind of devils were the ones I had resurrected utilizing my powers over spores. They were all perfectly calm, identifiable only by their lack of emotion. For now, the spores within them, spores that I controlled, were working to sedate them and keep them in an unnatural state of relaxation.

The two devils I had targeted with "True Resurrection" were not yet here. They were approaching me from the air, and they too heard my words. I felt their minds beginning to become changed by my words, something which brought a smile to my face.

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One of the devils who had been chosen to receive a "True Resurrection" flew through the darkened air on matte black wings. The creature in question heard the words of the dark god responsible for his resurrection and shuddered, but in delight.

The creature was a greater devil, a being who stood at the top of the infernal hierarchy that dictated the day-to-day lives of devil kind. He was in fact one of the last devils to be promoted to the remarkable ranks of the greater devils prior to the extermination of all of the last eight archdevils. This made him relatively young compared to the other greater devils, a fact which during his first life had bothered him immeasurably. But now... Well, now he was proud of his youth, at least in comparison to other greater devils.

The devil listened to the words of the young god and began to smile. The more the youthful deity spoke, the more ambition was kindled within the vizier. And the more ambitious the vizier felt, the more he began to innately turn towards his savior, the creature who very literally gave him his life back.

High in the air above the city, the devil's mouth began to open. And words began to spill out. Words of piety, gratitude, and praise.

"Oh dark lord, he who brought back Duvessa... Please, listen to my prayer." The devil began, his sickly sounding voice extending far from his body.

"I humble myself before you and give myself to you. I shall endeavor to see your will made manifest and to see you crowned the fell-king of our twisted home." The devil told his new, dark master. His words were true, but he was curious if the creature he called the "Dark Lord" would take him up on them. And if so, the god didn't reply, in the most direct sense anyway, immediately. That said, Salender shivered as he felt the god's attention turn, momentarily, towards him. That in and of itself was a sort of reply, though one a bit more frightening than the devil had expected.

The vizier devil was a large, almost reptilian thing. He stood several meters tall and was covered from head to toe in dark blue scales. His wings were a touch darker than his scales, and in the night-like sky above the city the devil blended in quite well with the dark sky that embraced him. He had two massive arms that ended in early human hands, which themselves ended in nails so sharp they served as claws.

The devil's face was quite draconic, complete with a long snout and vertically slitted eyes. His snout was filled with long, sharp, sharklike teeth, and there was a look of casual cruelty on his face idly as the vizier devil was more violent than the average member of his branch of the infernal hierarchy. He was also especially proud and thus his pride was his personal vice. Normally this would inhibit his ability to feel fealty, but when he came back to life this strong sense of pride latched onto the fact that he had been chosen to be fully resurrected, thus giving him cause to believe that maybe the dark lord had special plans for him.

Eventually the devil heard something. A private message intended only for his ears. One that caused him to spring into action. He heard his god. His savior. His god whispered one word, powerfully, into his mind.

"Come." The god whispered. The devil didn't bother even trying to resist the command and instead gleefully obeyed it, beginning to fly towards his new master at an impressively speedy pace.

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"Arise. We have much we need to do." I commanded, speaking to the few devils who had knelt already me. I chuckled and began to feel a bit excited. I was now presented with the opportunity to further expand my powers, and I could do so quite quickly.

By working in Infernius, by lording over this city, I could easily advance some of my most intriguing abilities. Indeed, I was already beginning to scheme up a simple plot that would grant me the second tier of influence over the law domain. One I set in motion with a simple and empathetic declaration.

"Devils! Tomorrow we will hold an election, an election to create a new government to lord over this city." I said, my voice echoing throughout the city. I was met with silence, which lasted for a few moments before a new sound began to resound throughout the city. The sound of cheering. Infernal, hellish, empathetic cheering.

A smile crept across my face. I could feel myself inching ever closer to becoming a greater master of the powers of law and order.

"Now... Now we celebrate! We celebrate the future! We celebrate life! We celebrate... Me!" I declared, almost shouting, my voice filled with excitement, as I felt the love and worship I had gained from the devils. They gravitated towards my power, towards my vision, and their fear of me was not enough to keep them from worshipping me.

As I did that, I turned my mind elsewhere. I turned my mind to other places, ones where my power was felt and where Althonians were active.