Just two months after I had undergone my latest true apotheosis and became the mighty lord of sex known as the Anax of Anal I found myself standing in the courtyard of one of several palaces that had been erected for myself and my harem in the months since I had unofficially conquered Hasperburg.
At the moment the sun was slowly descending, making its way towards the horizon. The light of the setting sun made the courtyard of the palace I was in sparkle and glimmer beautifully, which served to enhance the radiant beauty of the two bodyguards who were beside me, and my other senses were also being delightfully tickled as well. I could smell the heady scents of oils and perfumes, as well as pheromones. I could hear the distant sound of soft music. I could even faintly taste food on my tongue that was being prepared in the kitchens of the palace, far off from where I was.
The courtyard was also filled with various mortals who were working to do the tasks needed to keep the palace operational. I could hear guards both milling about and also practicing with various weapons, more than a few of which were beyond anything they could have ever imagined just months ago. I could hear messengers pacing the grounds of the courtyard, their minds working to remember the exact contents of the messages they were tasked with rallying to assorted superiors.
I silently blessed the hardworking messengers and errand-doers, boasting their cognitive abilities and their memories with ease. I also did so without filling their minds with a notification that alerted them to the source of their enhancements. I wasn't seeking credit, I was just seeking to make things slightly easier for them. And of course, since I didn't seek credit I could see that only a few individuals even remotely noticed their enhanced cognition, which made me smile even if it also made me momentarily rethink my choice to not seek credit.
If I had wanted too I could have given the messengers telepathy, but that was a rare gift among the people of Hasperburg. I wasn't about to give out a power that potent so rapidly, even if I occasionally wondered what it'd be like to slowly and steadily increase the potency and might of a species, which was something that many cosmic gods opted to do.
A trait possessed by cosmic deities was the ability to dub a species their "Favored species". Cosmic deities who dubbed a species their "Favored species" were able to uniquely and potently empower members of that species, and in exchange for those empowerments and enhancements, any worship or other efforts to empower their patron that came from those creatures was uniquely empowering to the god or goddess who had boosted them.
I had yet to do that, for two primary reasons. The first reason was that I didn't want to be seen as "Playing favorites" since I was the emperor of an empire that was home to quadrillions of different species. The second reason I had yet to do that was that I wasn't sure what race I'd select, if I opted to go down that route, which I knew I'd eventually do, even if it was in the distant future.
There were a number of interesting options I could choose from at the moment if I decided to dub a species my "Favored species". If I opted to not select a group of draconic beings, such as the legendary "Mythic Wyrms", then I was left with seemingly lesser choices such as orcs, humans, or even only slightly lesser choices such as any one of a veritable smorgasbord of types of giants or the mysterious but mighty phoenixes. Curiously enough, as an archdemon I could also select a demonic race to favor and be a patron of. With regards to that I was fond of selecting a race such as the succubi or incubi, which would befit my unique status as a grand adonis and god of sex.
The truth was that I did want to dub a species my "Favored species", and beyond that I didn't want it to be one of the obvious choices. During my travels I had met many kinds of creatures and of all of the species I had met to date one of the ones that more fascinated me was a surprise to the few who knew of my affinity for them. I was fond of orcs! There was something about them that I was simply quite fond of, though I wasn't sure what it was.
Orcs were a moderately common humanoid species that could be found throughout my empire. Though it was difficult to apply broad generalizations to an entire species, the majority of the orcs that could be found throughout the empire were physically powerful humanoids who lived in tight-knit communities and formed civilizations based around the ideals of "Might making right", and as such were civilizations that were easy for me to sway and influence, due to my own overwhelming might.
A small part of me enjoyed the idea of selecting orcs as my "Favored species" and uplifting them in a variety of ways, including in terms of their raw physique. I knew that if I selected orcs as my favored species I'd be able to more easily sway the orcs in my empire and beyond, and transform them into potent ultra-human beings who'd fanatically serve me and patriotically protect the rest of the empire. That said orcs weren't the only fascinating option.
Another fairly common species that was an option for this sort of divine power were elves, or rather various kinds of elves. Of the common types of elves the ones that most stuck out to me, for the purpose of this, were the high-elves, which included Margarita. If I selected high-elves as my favored species then I could more easily begin to move towards gaining access to the magic domain, in addition to increasing the devotion such a potent species felt towards me, as high-elves tended to be beautiful, dexterous, and were often innately gifted with regards to magic and psionic power.
That said the best option for something like this were probably either the dragons or the giants. Dragons and giants were both among the least common groups of species in my empire, aside from beings like genies and angels, and were also both incredibly, innately powerful.
The term "Giant" referred to a number of different species throughout my empire and beyond, and like dragons and genies they tended to have innate powers over or related too the classical elements, earth, water, air, and fire, and also powers related to the environments they could be found in, such as mountains, swamps, and arctic wastes. If I selected a species like the "Fire giants" then I'd gain the eternal devotion and worship of a species that was known for building truly tremendous architecture in the most surprising of places, such as inside of volcanoes and even, in some cases, around stars, such as Dyson swarms and spheres.
Dragons... Dragons were definitely the least numerous somewhat "common" collective of species in my empire. They were lorded over by governments of their own making, though many were effectively singular agents of change in whatever regions they lived in. Some dragons swore allegiance to the now surprising number of dragon lord ascendents who called my empire home, and more than a few of them worshiped me, which I knew was resulting in me inching closer and closer towards becoming a dragon lord ascendent myself.
If I selected one of the pinnacles of dragon kind as my favored species, such as the fire dragons or the gold dragons, I'd be making a powerful statement about my desires for the future. It'd also be seen, rightfully, as me taking steps to emphasize my eventual destiny as a lord of even dragons and my acquisition of power and influence over pride and anal sex, both of which were surprisingly important in various different types of draconic culture were also steps I was taking to make myself more popular among dragons.
Fire dragons and gold dragons were incredibly powerful beings who possessed tremendous amounts of pride and wrath, as well as remarkable wisdom. Gold dragons were known to be vicious beings whose wrath was only placated with offerings of the thing they were named after, and fire dragons were glorious beings who were kind and merciful most of the time, but when enraged had the ability to burn entire continents before either dying as others defended themselves or cooling off and returning to their usual, serene states.
One day soon I'd make a choice about what species to favor and begin to uplift. I could only hope that when I did, I'd have the wisdom to choose a race that would serve me well, which I could uplift in a meaningful, positive way, so that together we could make the omniverse itself better.
While I had mused about what species to possibly uplift, in the future, I had wandered back into the palace I was residing in at the moment and in doing so happened to cause a rather curious scene when one of my bodyguards interacted with one of the newest citizens of my empire. A scene that I watched with mild amusement.
"I... don't agree with your position, Ranthor." One of my bodyguards, an orcish woman named Magna said, as she glared at the person in front of her. Ranthor, one of several dragon lords who had come to serve me in the weeks following my apotheosis chuckled but didn't otherwise reply to her. The dragon lord, who was currently shape-shifted to look like a massive red orc, instead merely ogled her. She huffed and tightened her grip on her spear,
Ranthor's true form was that of a massive earth dragon, one the size of a small mountain. At the moment he had adopted his current form so that he could converse with me inside of the palace he had built for me and my wives, for the sake of discussing our strategy with regards to the invasion of the fallen empire of Etherscape. After he gazed at Magna for a few moments he began to speak again, his voice reminding me of the sound of an earthquake.
"I hold the position that draconic scholars and philosophers have held for eons. I am steadfastly devoted to this idea, and to all of my positions. Your disagreement is noted, but that is not an argument against my position." The dragon lord pointed out, rather bluntly. Magna glared at him and then spoke, her own voice impressively velvet-like.
"When you arrived here, you presented one of your own daughters as a present to Raul. He is the Anax of anal sex. He has had anal sex with myself and hundreds of the women of the order I am a part of." Magna began, staring directly, angrily, into Ranthor's eyes.
"Raul is the lord, on a conceptual, omniversal level, of anal sex. He is also a deity and archdemon of pride, and therefore dominance. When you put all of those things together, that easily suggests that he will someday have anal sex with your daughter. And yet you think that anal sex is inherently about dominance and submission. So... are you saying that your daughter is submissive?" The female orc asked, pointedly. Ranthor chuckled and immediately began to reply to the orc.
"In my culture anal sex is indeed, very often if not always, about dominance and submission. I do not care if Raul sexually dominates my daughter, I brought her here because she wanted to come and meet the Anax of Anal and then asked to join Raul's harem purely of her own choosing. What they do in bed together is not my business, nor are my daughters sexual behaviors. She is a grown woman, herself a dragon lord, who upon meeting Raul approached him of her own volition and he accepted her with open arms. Regardless of whether or not my daughter is submissive, what matters to me is that she is happy." The dragon replied, responding in a surprisingly positive, open-minded manner given his tendencies to adhere to tradition.
Magna glared angrily at the dragon lord, who gazed back at her coldly. Their interactions were becoming famous for being heated, given their very different philosophies regarding anal sex, and the fact that they were both deeply fond of that particular sexual act. Ranthor's daughter was indeed a member of my harem, and she was also approaching us, having just reached the door into the planning chamber so when she spoke up her voice rang loud and clear in the small room we were in.
"Magna, why you and my father arguing about sex, and me, again? I've told you over and over to stop using me as part of your argument to my father." The white haired dragon lord uttered, her husky voice a welcome sound. Both Magna and Ranthor immediately paled, and I turned and smiled at the potent dragon lord, one whose personal strength dwarfed her fathers but who lacked the resources that he possessed.
The dragon lord who had just stepped into the room was one of the few beings I had met that I believed could actually kill me, had she been one of my foes. Her humanoid form was that of a fairly petite elf-like being with long white hair and tan skin. She wore a simple summer dress and her eyes were filled with a desire to cause mischief and elicit strong emotions in people, which she had an almost vampiric ability to feed on. She smelled like sunflowers and had a calm smile on her face, even though there was some annoyance audible in her voice.
I stepped towards her and wrapped her in a warm hug, smiling as I welcomed her without words. Of all of the new women to join my harem she was one of the most adventurous and had distinguished herself by being both an ascendant and also an adventurous sort who, like Fara and Stella, enjoyed going on adventures. After a few moments I kissed her hair and began to speak.
"Good evening Ranthia. I'm glad you're coming with us. Your father was getting into a fight about anal sex again." I explained, before watching her roll her eyes at me. That said she was holding back a smile.
"I know Raul. I can hear... well, not quite as well as you can." She explained, before smiling at me. To be fair, she was telling the truth. I could hear conversations taking place in other, nearby worlds, and I could effortlessly hear every single conversation occurring in this world as well. Even things like the vacuum of space weren't able to block my hearing, since my senses were divine. She approached us and then motioned for us to take our places around the vast, hologram-projecting table that took up the majority of the room we were in.
This room was a replica of my own strategy room in the castle that was where I and many members of my harem "lived" insofar as we could be said to "live" anywhere. The vast table came to life as we approached our seats, and began to show holograms of various other individuals from throughout my empire, all of whom were high-ranking military officials such as Stella, grand venuses, or other ascendants who had pledged themselves to me over the past few weeks. When all of us were connected and could hear each other I smiled and began to speak.
"Good evening, morning, or afternoon everyone. I greatly appreciate you all joining me so that we can finalize our plans to invade the fallen empire of Etherscape, and begin the work of reassembling the Hundred Hegemonies." I said, succinctly, before utilizing my technopathic powers, which were among the many powers of mine that had been boosted by me regaining the powers I possessed in my past life.
My technopathy connected me to the holographic display, and all of the other holographic displays that my companions were using, and effortlessly allowed me to transmit virtual files to each of the holographic projectors I was connected too that summarized the history of Etherscape, as well as what was known about "Ether". I watched as each of the individuals at this meeting began to speed-read the files I had sent them and chuckled softly.
"We are beginning our invasion by prioritizing the rescue of one of the 'Princesses' of the Hundred Hegemonies, a woman named Mirella tel'Nora." I informed the various individuals who made up the upper echelons of my military, shortly before the holographic display at the center began to project a hologram of Mirella, a tan-skinned, black-haired woman with the eyes of a skilled tactician.
"According to Rayne," I began, before Rayne, who was one of several women whose holograms were being displayed, smiled and waved at everyone.
"Mirella is a skilled strategist and her particular hegemony is one of the most militarily inclined in the entire empire. And beyond that, the tel'Noras were some of the last to stop fighting the ruinous alliance of ascendants that invaded Etherscape. Rescuing their princess and freeing their hegemony would likely excite the rest of the hegemonies and also put a damper on the mood of the ascendants throughout the remains of the empire who continue to sack and pillage it." I explained, causing my followers to begin to murmur and look to each other in curiosity. It was a minute before one of them, an orc who had been turned into a vampire months ago, spoke up.
"Creator, while I do not disagree with your choice to go after a military hegemony first, what sort of resistance are we to expect? Do we know anything about the nature of the occupation of that particular hegemony's territory?" The general, a handsome and muscular orc, asked me. His scarlet eyes filled with excitement as he thought about testing himself against whatever forces awaited us in the occupied territory we were discussing invading. I smiled at him and willed the displayed projection to change.
"Actually, we do. Fortunately for us, the tel'Noras were one of the hegemonies that policed the border of Etherscape and so their territory is both difficult to police and also less packed with ether than most of the rest of the empire. And it is the territory of these fellows." I stated, even as the displayed image changed to show the faces of not one but two different ascendants.
