Chapter 3: Chapter 2: The Quiet God

The power of love and lust are exhilarating. That’s the only way I can begin to describe how much of a rush it is to feel the might of an instance of either domain when they are triggered by people looking at me.

Right now, there are dozens of eyes on me. The emotions those who possess those eyes feel as they gaze at me invariably revolve around a domain, or a sin, or even both emotions at the same time! Men gaze at me both admiringly and enviously, while women who look at me feel both love and lust for me.

I can feel the power of the emotions of the brave men and women I have come here to protect, and it excites me. The intensity of their feelings affects how much energy is generated by the instances of the domains and sins, as well as how much of an unusual pink energy is generated as well. The curious pink energy, which I couldn’t perceive before, is the power of sex, sexuality, and sexual desires, and other such related things, and as a Grand Adonis such energy is perceivable and gatherable by me.

The energy wafts off the people who generate it and flows towards me, drawn to me by my nature as a Grand Adonis. Other energy slowly flows towards me as well, no doubt drawn to me by the fact that my “Ambient Power Draw’s” range is multiversal, allowing me to feed on the power generated by all instances of the energy this power feeds on, regardless of how far it is from me so long as it occurs in this multiverse. This is the result of one of my “Power Sources”, but one that is unique to a Grand Adonis instead of being accessible to ascendants like souls, or worship.

As the Grand Adonis I am an embodiment of sex, pleasure, love, lust, fertility, and life. Because of this I possess unique power sources and can even charge my ascendant powers with the innate mastery of lust and passion that I possess, allowing me to do unique things with my domains that I fully intend to do in the days to come to protect the people of this valley.

The daemons I am here to protect are surprisingly human looking. When I hear the word “Daemon” a more frightening picture comes to my mind than humans with bright red skin, horns, or other often cute animalistic features, but that’s what the people around me look like.

The daemons also reveal how strong willed they are. They can’t bring themselves to be hostile to, or even suspicious of, me they still possess the firmness of mind to manage resisting the urge to bow before me and ask to do my bidding.

The power of my physical attractiveness is so intense I had wondered if it’d be enough to make those who beheld me desire to be my servants, so this is a pleasant surprise. I’m a bit impressed, honestly. That said, with every passing second my attractiveness continues to grow… Regardless, I quickly regain my focus and turn my thoughts to the matter at hand.

The persona I have elected to adopt in the context of quests like this is that of a strong, quiet but not silent, hero. Prior to my ascension I was not a bubbly, charismatic person so this is very much in keeping in line with the person I was before I became powerful.

I often feel it is easier to be cool if you are quiet and let your actions speak for themselves. That is very much a philosophy I intend to embrace to inch towards the completion of my goals, such as acquiring territory to rule over and power sources to milk for the sake of growing stronger.

I silently study my surroundings and allow my influence over my domains and the sins I possess mastery over to seep into my vision. Doing so allows me to see a dyed perception of reality where recent instances of domains and sins are revealed to me by hazy auras that color the areas where they occurred. I cannot use this to draw energy from instances of my domains or sins that occurred before my ascension but I can use this to learn about events that I missed.

As I study my surroundings, I begin to see instances of domains that are not as direct and literal as the names of the domains might suggest. I see bright areas where selfless heroes and heroines have acted out of love to protect their village, or their people. I also see areas where magic was used to safeguard or take lives, and I can begin to piece together some of the strengths and weaknesses of this place’s guardians and native inhabitants.

The daemons possess a fierceness unmatched by either of their enemies. They are immensely powerful on a purely physical scale, easily outmatching their foes, but their foes have technology far beyond what the daemons do. The daemons can do things like create melee and simple ranged weapons, but the orenar possess technology just a bit beyond the technology of the humans of Earth, with things like hover ships and ray guns that make it so that they don’t have to fight daemons one on one.

The village is simply constructed, mostly it’s several houses built in circles around the town square. I first appeared in the middle of the central town square, but now I’m heading towards some of the houses that make up most of the buildings in this tiny town. Along the way I notice that there are no children here, which makes enough sense… After all, no one wants their kids to be raised in a war zone, and it seems that this conflict has been raging for a few years now.

I begin to wander towards the heart of the village, where the chieftain of all the communities in the valley dwells. As I do I begin to see more instances of various domains and even a few sins! Many of the sins are simple ones, like wrath and lust, such as when enemy soldiers are captured by the armed forces protecting the villages and executed or lust, such as when young daemons are conceived in the privacy of the various wooden homes that exist around me.

The homes that make up most of the buildings in the village are simple things made of living wood. It seems that the nature-oriented magic and powers of the daemons allow them to construct things from wood even without harming or killing trees! That is a very intriguing ability. I can do something like that with various powers, such as “Omnikinesis”, which is one of my “Living God” powers, but their ability to do it in a way that is more taxing is still commendable since it allows them to make use of nature without harming it.

As I approach the larger, somewhat more ornate home of the chieftain I look up at the sky and see my other local bodies floating in the distance. Both vessels silently loom over the encampments of the armies of the Guirindon Queendom and the Vaneryn Republic, the two “Orenar” nations that are currently at war over the valley.

If I desire it, I can destroy the armies of the two nations with almost laughable ease, but I don’t want to bring this conflict to a fiery end. I want this war to have a peaceful resolution that benefits everyone involved in remarkable ways.

Beyond the ships the sky shines brilliantly. At the moment it is the early evening, and the Martian atmosphere looks dark blue as the distant moon of Phobos appears high in the night’s sky. I can also see the long-abandoned Omegatech vessel known as the “Geoseeder” speeding past the visible skyline as it continues its millennia long orbit of Mars.

Even just the sight of Omegatech is enough to make my chest grow hot, as the Omega Sparks within me stir to life. I can easily count twenty-five of the things within me, though I know that the actual number is even higher than what I can count at the mental equivalent of a glance. I also know, thanks to the “Knowledge” domain subtly implanting knowledge within me, that that is an enormous number of sparks to possess, far more than any known Omega Lord was documented possessing.

I eventually reach the large wooden home, and as I approach it I can sense the still living roots tucked safely away underground, confirming that this house is just as alive as other local houses are. Many of the other houses are obviously trees, and this one is not, resembling what I consider to be a more conventional house.

Inside of place I can hear the chieftain of the local daemons having a war council. I can hear his voice, as well as the voices of the warriors who have come to his aid. It seems they are having a spirited discussion, one that is loud enough that it will drown out any mundane efforts I make to announce my presence, so I decide to be more than mundane.

I walk right up to the house and then through the front door. I don’t hesitate at all, knowing that to activate my powers is as simple as willing them to be activated and rightfully believing in my ability to do just that. I pass through the front door unobstructed by it and find myself inside of a warm living space that has been physically altered and enhanced by magic.

I am inside of a quaint living space consisting of a kitchen on one side and a living room on the other. There is a stairwell that leads both upward and downward tucked away in a corner, and a thick door at the other end of the living space.

“Is there anyway to get more of the Elurii to come here and help?” Asks a quiet voice in the distance. The voice comes from beyond the door, and it is just one of the hundreds of voices I can hear right now. My senses are so keen that I can hear conversations occurring in the two nations where the orenar attacking this place have come from! I possess potent powers that facilitate travel, and among them is the ability to understand any form of speech or communication, which is coming in handy right now.

I begin to walk towards the door, a smile on my face as I listen to them talk about the Elurii, the biological masterpieces of my past self, the “Zenith King”.

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“No, as incredible as Eosyn and her apprentices have been to us so far it would now take one of the greater Elurii handmaidens to break through the forces stationed at either of the entrances to the valley. Last I heard Aedyaseya was helping some orenar queendom stricken by an alien plague, and Evriedne was attempting to do something about ‘Sky Pirates’, whatever the Afterworld that means.” Grumbles Nestian, the chieftain of daemons who call the Skylit Valley home.

He is referring to two of the most famous of the Elurii. Ricardo learns this as soon as he hears the names of the two women, both of whom are members of the “Dusk” caste of the Elurii, and both of whom are well-known heroines to the people of Mars.

Nestian is standing in front of a large table made of the same wood as his home and stationed around the table are several other individuals. Nestian is a handsome daemon with light skin and prominent, almost regal horns jutting out of his head. He stands an imposing six and a half feet tall and towers over the other members of the war council. When he finishes grumbling a silence falls over the crowd.

There are several creatures in attendance in today’s council. Most of them are daemons native to the valley who happen to be veterans of several recent wars, with a smaller number being daemons from throughout the rest of the planet. A much smaller number are not daemons at all, with one such woman being an Elurii who isn’t a handmaiden but is the head of Eosyn’s bodyguards, and a woman who isn’t a daemon or an Elurii at all. This woman is a skilled diplomat, heroine, and purple-haired, fox-eared beauty named Jissieia.

Jissieia is the first person in the room to notice the sudden emergence of Ricardo. He silently phases through the door leading in and out of the war council’s meeting room, and when he enters the room she just so happens to be thinking of what to say to lessen the tension in the room, only to lay her eyes on the stunningly handsome dark-skinned Adonis that is Ricardo.

Jissieia’s eyes widen when she notices the mysterious would-be savior’s arrival, and two of the daemon warriors notice this and whip their gazes in the direction of Jissieia’s gaze, only to see Ricardo as well. His handsomeness disarms them, which is good because Jissieia happens to be the single most beautiful woman Ricardo has ever seen, and for a moment he contents himself by merely gazing into the heroine’s eyes for a split second before letting out a hearty laugh and drawing the attention of the council to himself.

Everyone in the room jumps back and turns to face Ricardo, who simply smiles disarmingly at the various leaders who have come together to defend the valley. Swords and spears clatter to the ground when some of the leaders lay their eyes on Ricardo, as the individuals prove to not have the willpower needed to stay hostile towards the intruder, even if they can barely resist the powerful urges they feel to kneel in his presence. Nestian, unsurprisingly, proves to have the strongest will of anyone in the room other than Ricardo himself, and he quickly manages to speak to the mysterious stranger.

“I… do not know what you are, or what you want, stranger but this is a private war council. Please… Leave.” The large daemon manages to eventually mutter, all while trying to muster the will needed to glare at the enchantingly handsome creature who has invaded his home. Ricardo turns his attention to the man and is silent as he appraises him.

While the daemon is being appraised, the Elurii who is the room can’t tear her eyes away from the stranger. He is easily the single most beautiful creature she has ever seen, as wondrously stunning as a sunset or as a full moon. His beauty is a strange but natural thing, and the young woman finds herself equally enraptured and intoxicated by his presence.

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“Are you sure you want me to leave? I can help you secure your freedom. And if you are weary of me because I am a stranger, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Zenith King.” The figure proclaims, speaking confidently and powerfully. This causes the Elurii in the room’s eyes to widen in shock.

She steps forward, her footsteps loud in the confused silence created by the proclamation made by Ricardo. She only stops when she is right in front of the figure, looking up at him. The look in her eyes as she gazes at her king is one that mixes defiance and hope, blending two often opposing emotions into one powerful look.

“You claim to be the Zenith King… How do you know about that title?” She demands, awe and hope mixing in her voice as she studies the impossibly handsome creature. Ricardo smiles at her as he begins to speak again.

“I know about that title because it is how my creations, the Elurii, including you April, refer to me. I am a cosmic god, and you are my favored race. I can hear your silent prayers. I know each of you by name.” The creature replies, even as information about the powerful “Dusk” Elurii fills his mind. What truly matters, in this moment, however, is that Ricardo has revealed one aspect of his multifaceted nature.

His explanation that he is a cosmic god stuns everyone in the room. Cosmic gods are perhaps the most well-known of the ascendants, at least in this universe, and information about their conceptual nature is well-known even to the relatively uneducated daemons who call the valley home. The implications of this revelation take a beat to wash over the assembled warriors, strategists, and the lone diplomat.

Everyone in the room quietly accepts that Ricardo is what he says he is. Not only is the charismatic power of a cosmic god of lust high enough to aid in persuading people even of a claim this significant, but it also makes sense to the assembled war council that Ricardo is a cosmic god. That explains why he felt comfortable entering the room in the first place, and why even now he is not afraid of the numerous, skilled warriors around him, as well as explaining his supernatural beauty.

“I have come home, April. And I have elected to reveal my presence to the world by stopping this war.” Ricardo explains, quite simply. That is the sort of simple, powerful decision-making skill that a being like Ricardo would possess, and the assembled crowd finds themselves heartened by the fact that a cosmic god is here, evidently on their side, and ready to put a stop to the war.

“I am claiming Mars as my world. My property. And I shall see to it that those who live here live paradisical lives, so long as they follow my rules. I have come here to address this injustice, and to restore all that was lost.” Ricardo utters, even as his eyes transform into blazing white spheres of cosmic light and power.

“You all have lost much… Allow me to begin my reign by restoring that which this war has taken from you.” The cosmic god says, softly, even as his voice fills with power. His skin begins to glow and the light emanating from him slowly begins to increase in intensity even as it begins to slowly exit his body and fill the room.

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I watch Nestian’s eyes widen in awe even as the light that explodes out of me fills the room. As it does, I draw upon my powers over life and one of my powers as a “Living God”, [Heaven’s King] which is a power that is all about afterlives and souls, to project my mind into the blank afterlife that exists for daemons and begin to pull souls out of it.

All it takes for me to learn about a being is to glance at them, and in the nondescript afterlife that claims daemons when they perish, since as it turns out daemons do not go to the Afterworld, where orenar and viyas, another Martian race, go when they die, daemons merely sleep for eternity. I can look at the thousands of sleeping daemons and easily pull them from this place without anyone trying to fight me.

Over the course of the war hundreds of daemons have perished. I am able to effortlessly identify them in this defenseless, eerie location and retrieve those I have come here for. As I yank them out of this place they begin to reappear in villages throughout the valley, near their families and friends. When they are restored they all know that “The Quiet God”, who they know to be a cosmic god, is the one who has saved them, and they are filled with reverential gratitude they direct at me.

I am also looking for one specific daemon. When I find and resurrect her I know that Nestian will fall to his knees in gratitude, and become one of my worshipers. I refocus a part of my attention on where I happen to be physically and speak just once.

“Friends, look outside.” I mutter, before refocusing on my mental surroundings. As I tell them to look outside I telekinetically open the door behind me and the door leading outside that is further away from me, allowing my companions to watch as some of their deceased friends begin to return to life in the village. I hear gasps and exclamations of inarticulate joy as I perform this miracle.

This miracle also fills me with powerful surges of energy as I am creating instances of a number of domains, most notably the domains of life, love, and light. That last one is a bit weirder, but “Light” in this instance is not literal but rather refers to light in the conceptual sense. The light domain is also the domain of goodness, and so kind acts that selflessly improve lives or the world are instances of light.

I perform this miracle for several minutes before I begin to find fewer and fewer casualties of the war in this white, featureless afterlife. I eventually call upon the knowledge domain itself to help me find the final individual I have come to this place in search of: Kynjet, Nestian’s daughter. The domain is receptive to me, and eagerly points me at a distant, lonely woman in the depths of the afterlife.

She is by herself near the edge of the place, sleeping and floating in a pool of white liquid. She is an enchantingly lovely woman with hair that is both blonde and black. A pair of massive, cooper-colored horns jut from her head, and she has soft features. She looks perfectly at peace, and I smile as I mentally pull her soul out of this place and back to the land of the living. When I do she reappears next to me, and gasps as she is suddenly restored to life by the impossible powers I possess.

The first thing she sees is her father’s back. He is not far from her, standing just outside of his own home and gazing at the sight of countless daemon families being reunited with lost loved ones. Kynjet cries out, her voice echoing as she runs towards her father. She knows she died, she was one of the first casualties of the war, and she knows that her father missed her. Upon hearing her voice Nestian actually freezes, shock and disbelief paralyzing him even as Kynjet dashes to his side and hugs him.

“Kynjet…” Nestian whispers, loving awe filling his voice as he turns around and wraps his arms around her. Big tears stream down his face, as he is reunited with his daughter. I walk to the reunited father and daughter and smile at them.

“I will restore what was lost. And I will build new wonders as well. I swear that I will give you and your people the peace and joy that you all deserve.” I tell them, speaking with perhaps more seriousness and sincerity than I have ever spoken with before. It takes me a beat to recognize how natural all of this feels to me… There is something remarkably easy about both using my powers and about being a dramatic, powerful figure. It all feels right, for reasons that escape even my powerful awareness.

Nestian suddenly turns, so that he can face me, and he hugs me. I am taken a bit aback by this, but after a second I chuckle and listen as he sobs quietly. He eventually releases me, and in doing so allows Kynjet to see me for the first time. I don’t need supernatural knowledge to know how my appearance makes Kynjet feel.

I am stunned by the intensity of the instance of the love domain that I am suddenly responsible for. The very instant that Kynjet sees me, her awe and awareness of the miracle I have just performed mix with the powerful impression my raw attractiveness elicits in people, and create a staggeringly powerful instance of the love domain. This creates a significant amount of pink energy that wafts off her skin and, to her anyway, floats invisibly towards me. I turn and look at her, and smile.

“Hello Kynjet. I am Ricardo, the Zenith King and the Quiet God. I have come here to bring peace to the valley.” I explain, simply. I can see how firmly she believes in me, and I can feel the power of her love increasing the raw power of her worship. She smiles at me when I am done speaking, and I can feel the purity of her belief in me. I don’t doubt that she would do anything I asked her to do without a shred of hesitation. There is something heartwarming about the purity and intensity of her beliefs.

“Alright… Now that I’ve introduced myself to one faction… I guess I ought to reveal just how I intend to force our foes to come to the bargaining table.” I say, after gazing into Kynjet’s eyes for a few moments.

During these moments people have begun to turn and face me, gazing reverentially at me. I raise both hands and point them in the direction of the two mountains that allow people to enter the valley without using teleportation magic or technology. I am pointing them at the [Shadowblanked] ships, but no one knows that yet, even as people turn and stare in the directions I am pointing in.

A few moments after I point at the ships I modify the [Shadowblank] affecting the ships. [Shadowblank] is a highly useful power because it is not just true, virtually undetectable invisibility, it’s selective invisibility. I can, with an act of will, tweak any of my instances of [Shadowblank] and allow anyone I want to see whatever I have cloaked.

I do that now and allow the villagers and their foreign friends to see what the vast, city-sized ships that loom over the mountains. I am delighted when I hear the awed gasps of the people whose hearts I am claiming. The ships are stunningly beautiful vessels, and it is nice to see other people have a chance to see them as well.

I peer through the senses of the ships and use them, coupled with knowledge, to ascertain the locations and numbers of enemies in both of the encampments I am determined to defeat. It only takes me a second to determine exactly how many enemies I am facing, and armed with that bit of knowledge I can easily prepare one of my weaponry [Transystems], the armaments I possess as a transynth.

As I do this I use [Elemental Mastery] and [Divine Spellcasting] to create pools of water in the air above each of the villages in the valley. These pools of water do not show distorted views of the skies above the villages, but are actually scrying pools linked to the enemy encampments, powered by my nature as a [Metamagus] and as a cosmic god of magic. They show the enemy bases in real time, and allow the daemons to see just how many foes we have.

I quietly charge up the least fatal of the weaponry [Transystems] I possess, smiling all the while. The two ships begin to glow subtly, and when I am prepared to launch my attacks canons on the bottom of the ships unleash a payload of azure colored energy from the prepared canons. As the pair of [Transkinetic Nullifier] blasts are unleashed on the two encampments I feel a smidgeon of energy seep out of me, but only a small amount and I almost immediately regain what I had just lost.

The colored beams explode out of the canons of my ships and slam the encampments, but are only visible to the daemons I have come here to protect. As they do every single person in both encampments are abruptly frozen in place, the power of the transystem nullifying all of their energy in one hit. This stuns the daemons as well, who are quiet for a moment before what has happened fully washes over them.

When they realize that their hated foes are no longer moving, indeed not even breathing, they cheer as one and I can hear their raucous, delighted voices fill the valley with the sounds of joy. I smirk, and exhale softly as I use my control over my two ships to be absolutely certain that I got everyone in my blasts.

[Transkinetic Nullifier] is a powerful weaponry system for stopping but not killing foes. It can do things like paralyze people, wipe out energy stores, and nullify all sorts of special abilities, so long as my targets are below the level of more heroic and powerful demigods. That said, this was my first time using its power so I am pleased to see that it works exactly as well as I was told it would by its description.

With this I can force the two nations that seek to colonize and claim the valley for themselves to the bargaining table, since I now hold their forces hostage. This will also prevent the armies from further harming each other, or the people of the valley. My smile softens and becomes more gentle when I see that I have stopped this conflict in its tracks.

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