In the depths of the pitch-black forest knelt a single, powerful, solitary being. The odd creature was quiet, silent even, as tens of millions of thoughts ran through his mind all at once.

The being looked peaceful, serene even, as he contemplated the nature of power. Or rather as he contemplated the nature of his power. At the moment his mind was wholly devoted to understanding his new powers, as well as the strange new secrets, thoughts, and memories that lurked in his mind, many of which were not originally his but instead belonged to his victims, the losers of a vicious war that he had not initiated but that he did forcefully and swiftly end.

The serenity on the face of the strange and powerful being was at odds with the information he was sorting through. This information revealed to the god that he was now a being of far more terrifying and sinister powers than he had been even minutes ago.

Some of the dreadful upgrades to the repertoire of the deity had names that revealed just how potent and direct they were. These included things like "Sadness inducement", "Hatred mastery", and "Absolute anger", all three of which were some of the new powers he had added to the already incredibly potent domain of emotions.

Other new powers he had acquired had less direct and more enigmatic names. A few examples of this included powers like "Urges", and "Eldritch kiss". Both of those powers had simple effects, but neither had especially direct, or specific telling names.

The strangest set of powers he had just gained weren't eldritch powers, war powers, or even demonic ones. The god had also gained incredibly expanded powers over physics. These powers included tremendously powerful abilities, ones that even at a glance were obviously powerful, with names like "Distance manipulation", "Size manipulation", "Kinetic force manipulation", and "Reach manipulation" which with even a thought could be understood as being immensely powerful.

"Emotions... Physics... Even 'Blackhole mastery' and 'Blackhole physiology"... Incredible," I muttered, as I mentally sorted through the new powers I possessed. There was a smile on my face as I spoke, a calmness I wouldn't have demonstrated before.

After a few moments of kneeling in the Blackened Boscage, a place I'd need to spend significant time in in the future, I knew I needed to test my ability to gain mortal worshipers in my capacity as a demon lord. I closed my eyes again and began to turn my mind towards the sorts of worlds I had categorized as "Key" worlds, ones with high populations and with fascinating resources.

"Key" worlds were ones that were ripe for formal induction into the Althonite Empire. Examples of those worlds included every world in my native solar system and Htrae. "Key" worlds had been, by and large, where I had spent most of my life until now.

I selected one of them where I already had a cult present, a minor cult of life that was secretly overseen by a pleasure devil who worshiped me as the tyrant of tyrants, the emperor of emperors. After selecting that planet I silently began to study various countries throughout it, utilizing one of my most powerful star domain powers, "Stellar Awareness". I also began to utilize a number of newer powers, including a corruption power that allowed me to mark people and creatures who had a specific personal vice on my not-so-mini-map so I could more easily identify easy targets for my cults. 

It didn't take me long to select the country that I'd be teleporting to. Once I had, I vanished from the depths of the Blackened Boscage and almost instantly found myself standing outside of a small shack inhabited by a lone, repulsive creature. And it was that knowledge that drove me here in the first place.

I got up off of my knees while feeling the light of this world's sun hit me in the face. So shortly after becoming a demon lord of darkness, it felt odd to feel the bright light of a world's sun hit my skin, but not painful or anything, just odd. That said I chuckled and smiled and walked the short distance I needed to walk until I stood in front of the shack owned by the repulsive creature I had come to recruit into my cult.

The small shack that the crone I had come here for lived in was made of wood, which was the same color as an old oak tree, and it stood a bit away from a village off in the distance. I walked up to the surprisingly tall door the small shack had was made of solid wood and I loudly knocked on the thing. The sound of my fist on the door resounded throughout the area as the plains I was in were largely empty and thus sound traveled quite easily.

The sound of me knocking on the crone's door startled her, which I could tell because I could hear her quietly cuss and express her displeasure in the form of almost violently sighing. She took loud steps towards me, and when she reached and yanked the door open there was an instant where there was a look of immense displeasure on her face. It only lasted an instant though.

As the demon lord of falsehoods, lies, lust, and art, I had made a decision to perpetually have on the full, radiant effects of powers such as "Absolute beauty", which effortlessly washed over the crone and caused her to become enamored with me.

The crone herself was a surprisingly small, human woman. She had a drooping face, long, gray hair, a lazy eye. and a general countenance that suggested anger and other negative emotions were especially common ones for her to feel. That said, not even extraplanar entities could resist my powers over emotions, and some of my other, stronger, and stranger abilities. The crone was easily calmed by my powers over emotions and swayed from her bad mood just by looking at me. 

"Oh? And who might you be? You... Aren't from the village... No, I'd recognize such a good looking fellow." She cooed, shortly after appraising me for a second. I chuckled and studied her for a second, more than enough time for me to learn everything I ever needed to know about her. Her entire life was known to me, the instant I studied her. One of the perks of being a god of both knowledge and souls. 

"You may call me Althos, Irina. And I am a friend." I told her, speaking in her native language with ease. There was a gentle smile on my face as I gazed at her. Her eyes were the color of maple syrup, and she met my gaze with a look of confusion when she heard me say her name. The look of confusion was on her face longer than her earlier look of displeasure had been. When she next spoke to me it was after a long moment of silence had passed. 

"Well... I suppose it'd be rude of me to keep a friend outside. It's a bit chilly today, after all. Would you like to step inside?" She asked me, I nodded at her and she stepped back to give me the room I needed to step into her small shack. I stepped into her space and gazed inside. Her shack was tiny and had no windows, it also smelled faintly of alchemical substances and of the tiny quantities of magic needed to efficiently create potions, poisons, and other alchemical products. 

I stepped all the way into the shack and once I was in Irina closed the door behind me, pulling it shut as she stepped back into the shack as well. She turned to me, and had a confident grin on her face. 

"What does a strapping young man like you need? If you know my name then someone must have recommended me to you. You're a good looking man, so it might not be a love potion... Maybe you need some help with financial matters?" She asked, quickly trying to get down to business. She was the direct sort. I didn't mind that. But her smugness on the other hand was amusing to me. I shook my head at her and immediately met her arrogance with my own. 

"Actually, Irina... I am not here about me. I am here about you." I told her. There was a grin on my face as I spoke. I rose my hand and utilized my powers over creation, which were now demonically amplified, to create a glass vial and to fill it up with a strange liquid, an elixir which was the same color as liquid gold. Irina's eyes widened when she saw this, and for a moment she was stunned, unsure of the true nature of what she saw in front of her. When she reached out to touch it, I instantly used my powers of destruction, also demonically amplified, to cause it to vanish in front of her. 

"What...?" She asked, dumbfounded when she saw the alchemical marvel vanish instantaneously. I chuckled for a brief second and began to speak to her. 

"Irina... I'm a friend. A very powerful friend. I know you, even if you don't know me. I've come to give you everything you've ever wanted." I told the crone. She looked at me as I spoke, and began to feel a wave of anger fill her, directed at me, because she thought I had just created an illusion of an elixir. I sighed and silently diffused her anger utilizing my ability to manipulate anger. I diffused it instantly, as I didn't feel like dealing with her anger as I normally would. When she next spoke, she didn't so from anger but from a place of confusion.

"What are you? What was that illusion you showed me?" She asked, looking at me with both confusion and curiosity visible in her gaze. 

"Skepticism. Smart. That said..." I replied, chuckling as I activated another of my handier powers. I didn't feel like convincing her that I was a demon lord in the usual way. Nor did I want to drive her insane. Instead I used one of my lawful abilities, "Ascension", to instantly demonstrate my power to her. 

The instant I activated my power, a menu appeared in my eyes that asked me whether I wanted her to recognize me as a god, or as a demon lord. Funnily enough this wasn't something that appeared before, because even when I first acquired this power I was already a god and an elemental overlord, but I silently sighed and selected the "demon lord" option.

A split second later my power took hold over Irina's mind, allowing her to instantly recognize that I was a demon lord and allowing us to skip a lot of unnecessary conversation. She gasped when her mind was gripped by my power and took a step back away from me, bumping her back against the door she was facing away from. 

"You're a..." She began to stammer, experiencing an understandable reaction to the sight of a demon lord. Interestingly, I wasn't a god of fear, yet, so I couldn't quite do anything about the fear she felt. 

"Yes, I am. I'm also a god, but honestly here and now that doesn't quite matter as much as me being a demon lord. I have chosen you, Irina. I want you to serve me." I told her, grinning as I spoke. My eyes transformed from almost human-like, mundane blue orbs, into strange, jet-black orbs. Irina fell to her knees, and I felt the keen fear she felt washing off of her. I rolled my eyes at her and continued to speak.

"Irina... I am not here to hurt you. I am here because of all of the people in this little world I've chosen you to become one of my servants. If I wanted to hurt you I could have, quite easily, and all without revealing myself to you. But instead I am here, revealing who I am to you, and utilizing my powers in front of you." I explained, reminding her of the reality of the strangeness of this situation had I wanted to hurt her. I felt her begin to mull over my words, and begin to see their logic. Her eyes slowly shrunk to return to their normal size, but she was still more than a little bit afraid. 

"So... How can I serve a demon lord? If you could have chosen anyone in this world, why me?" She asked, curiosity and doubt audible in her voice. I laughed audibly at her humility in this specific scenario. 

"It's very curious how all of a sudden you're so curious when earlier you were inspecting me so leacheously." I remarked, a jovial smile on my face as I spoke. That said I was clearly speaking lightly so Irina didn't feel any more fear due to my remarks. 

"What I want, Irina, is for you to worship me. I want you to serve me. In exchange for that I'll give you greater power than you currently possess. I can give you so many things, things you deserve." I whispered, speaking softly now. 

"I can give you a longer life, in a younger, more beautiful body." I told her, knowing that sort of thing often appealed to the elderly. It was an easy, cheap thing for me to offer. And funnily enough, of all of the ways that I could already give someone some variation of immortality, I had gotten a new way to give mortals immortality, through gluttony. Not that I needed it. 

"If you worship me, and serve me, and I find your service and faith sufficient than I could easily allow you to live forever." I said, even as I created the illusionary form of a younger, beautiful Irina. I also used my powers over lies and falsehoods to convince her I was telling the truth, which I was but I didn't feel like trying to prove myself to her. The illusion was taller than Irina was now, her hair longer and darker. 

"What I want is simple. I want worshippers. I want mortals to be devoted to me. And I want people like you to lead other, lesser mortals, in the advancement of my goals. And in exchange I'll answer prayers. I'll grant magic. I'll perform miracles. The things done by gods and their kin." I remarked, smirking as I spoke.

I could see Irina beginning to consider my words. I could see her doing some sort of mental calculus in her head. She was like Andrea in the sense that she was a logical sort. But Irina wasn't as wise as Andrea was. 

"I..." She stammered, since taking in everything. I shook my head. 

"Irina... You're thinking too much. You're an alchemist. A skilled one. But you're hated by the people of the town you're closest too. Sure, they come to you when they're desperate, but what's in front of you is a business opportunity. One you'd be foolish not to take." I told her, knowing everything there was to know about her. There was a calm look on my face, and a self-assuredness in my voice that caused her to fall silent. 

"I am a demon lord. I don't care for things like mortal money. I mean it has its uses, sure, but you and I are alike in the sense that we prefer other sorts of deals. I am offering you power, conditional immortality, and a chance to enjoy the world in a new, younger body." I told her, beginning to smile more broadly. 

"Althos... I know of demons. I know of the odd things they desire. If I were to accept your conditions... how would I demonstrate that I worship you?" She asked, her mind clearly trying to build as much of an understanding of me as possible before she committed to anything. 

I looked at her and I spoke softly. "Irina... I am the hungering void." I told her, referring to myself as my title for the first time. "I want so many things. And for now, what I want is you, your soul, and for you to lead others to me." I told her, before starring into her eyes and activating a power given to me thanks to new powers I had acquired thanks to my ascension to the status of an Ascendant Great Old One. I plunged the elderly woman into a hallucination.