One of the single greatest aspects of being an ascendant being was the speed at which I could do things. In the three weeks that followed my victory against Noshtex and Renora, and the acquisition of a plethora of new resources, I significantly revved up the speed at which I operated and pushed even my mind to new heights.
In the wake of my ascension, my becoming a manifold ascendant being, I decided to operate at my maximum capacity. This was the first time since I had become an ascendant being that I had done so, and the results were as dramatic as I had expected them to be.
The first thing I had to do was solidify our hold on the Staneeth Expanse, the massive region surrounding the fallen remnants of the Etherscape Empire, in order to both protect my new territory and to ensure that members of the ascendant alliance couldn't cause mischief elsewhere in the multiverse. In order to do that I had to effectively and efficiently transform the region into a portion of my dominion.
I began to do that by ordering various existing vampires to go to the Expanse and begin collecting essence, as well as by spreading the gift of vampirism to elite members of Etherscapian society so that they could also collect essence and govern more effectively. The collection of essence was an essential part of spreading my dominion. Thanks to my potent powers over essence and the power of my vampires it only took a few days to begin converting areas into new portions of my dominion. This had the added effect of boosting my overall power, as well as feeding me truly vast quantities of essence.
My vampiric legions didn't just spread across the very outskirts of the remains of Etherscape, they also began to covertly spread into the Nine Circles. I effortlessly converted the fiendish lair of Noshtex into a portion of my dominion, and thus gained a foothold within the mysterious third circle of the hellish dimension from which I could launch a more methodical and careful invasion of the rest of the circle.
In the depths of the dark third circle, named for the sin it embodied, Gluttony, my minions began to prepare themselves for a slow and stealthy invasion of the rest of the shadowy dimension. We found Nocturne and restored her to a state beyond her former pinnacle, securing the fanatical loyalty of a universe-shakingly powerful goddess who I enhanced by turning into one of my alpha vampires. Not long after meeting me face to face and presenting me with the Cyberauric Augmentator, she marshaled my forces in Noshtex's lair and they began a steady invasion of the rest of the circle.
My forces met with great success during those early days, bolstered by a healthy amount of my attention even as they met and overwhelmed natives of the circle throughout its vast expanse. They were even able to recruit entire legions of shadowy oni and mysterious rakshas, as well as take over potent spots of power such as the infamous Arid Haunt, a vast, dry, seabed that was overlooked by a castle where a mighty fallen deva who, at the height of her life possessed deific levels power, once lived before suffering an exceedingly painful death at the hands of a vile curse.
Fortunately for her, I was able to resurrect her and break her curse with ease thanks to my powers as an anael. I transformed her into one of my vampires and converted her historic castle into a potent part of my dominion. She now eagerly and devotedly served me, running her castle in my name and devotedly marshaling more of her kind, immensely powerful fallen angels who lurked throughout the Nine Circles, to my banner. Together they took over numerous dark beacons, lighthouse-like structures that facilitated safe travel through the dimension for those who needed to see and thus were stymied by the circle's immense, perpetual darkness.
In the other two circles I had footholds in my forces also began to move. In the 7th circle, that of the sin of wrath, my forces began to sweep the rest of that larger-than-a-galaxy-sized dimension. My minions, which on that circle included the former servants and worshipers of Gorgomuth that I had long since tamed and turned into my footsoldiers, forcefully and violently swept much of the place without a tremendous amount of difficulty. Though many enemies fought them, I devoted a handful of my personal soldiers, including the newly converted Renora, to that campaign.
With the aid provided by Renora's limitless healing, which was significantly empowered thanks to his conversion into one of my vampiric spawns, my soldiers were able to take places like the mythic Mount Phlegethos with ease. The mighty mountain was home to many ponds of lava-like draconic blood which was the life fluid of the impossibly mighty dragon named Echnida, herself one of the mythical dragon monarchs. My forces were able to wage a blitzkrieg war against the mountain's mighty guardians, a war that even I participated in by using some of my greater megapowers and my "Seduce the world" ability on the mountain itself and various flaming springs found atop its peak.
As a reward for the fierce, short-lived war, I had my soldiers bathe in the flaming springs at the mountain's highest peak, a process that Renora facilitated and ensured they survived thanks to his potent healing. By bathing in the blood of Echnida they were able to become vastly empowered and thus some of my strongest servants were the ones who fought in this campaign. We also gained many servants by taming the mountain, servants which included the mighty erinyes's who were themselves empowered by the mountain.
My servants also recommended we take the city of Murimuria, a city established to link portals that allowed travel from the 6th circle to the eighth circle in relative peace and safety, by various archdemons of pride and greed. I ultimately vetoed that, as I didn't want to take over entire circles just yet, and taking that city would enrich me but it'd also earn me the enmity of archdemons who resided on the circle of pride and the circle of greed. I refused to incite that level of warfare just yet. At least not while I was also dealing with the ascendant alliance that had ruined Etherscape.
By turning Mount Phlegethos into a portion of my dominion I also began to feel the immense, cosmic power of my fellow dragon monarch, Echnida. It felt good to feel the power of her molten blood flowing through my veins, and it gave the two of us greater awareness of each other. After turning the mountain into a new addition to my dominion I realized that I had ensured that someday we'd have a climactic meeting, one that I quickly began to look forward to.
My forces on the closest thing to a home circle I had, the 2nd circle, were also fairly aggressive in taking over a single territory. I commanded Noshtex to lead some of the military forces that guarded my lair and to take the home of the strange, bacchanalian demon lords known as the "Shedu Lords". Though they were wanderers they had a home on the 2nd circle known as the Storm Manse, where they marshaled their hosts of demonic followers and utilized their vast powers over demonic electricity to cause mischief and gather influence over various other hedonists on the circle by being a potent source of electrical power.
I myself participated in this short-lived campaign, utilizing my "Anti-Power" ability, which was so vastly powerful that if I used it at its maximum potency it was a "Rank X" power, capable of affecting an area as large as a universe and shutting down any and all powers that weren't anything but raw, physical, biological abilities, aside from those I chose. At the end of the campaign, I directly transformed all thirteen of the mighty demon lords who lorded over the Storm Manse into my vampiric minions. Together with them I collected the essence I needed to make the gigantic fortress a part of my dominion and participated in the rituals which bond the place to my will.
We proceeded to kick out those who weren't part of my empire and had resided within the confines of the expanse to collect demonic electricity from the spirits who lived in the region. By taking over the region I became a major regional power in the area and gained vital political influence over the City of Vice, the circle's largest megalopolis, and a city I had my eyes set on but had not yet moved to claim. There were laws, pacts, and traditions that made claiming the city an impossibility at my level of power unless I opted to commit a healthy portion of my military power there. And I wasn't willing to do that, just yet.
I had quiet plans in place to take over the Nine Circles, as well as the primary Hell of the universe of my birth, but I didn't want to overextend even my own, seemingly endless forces. That said, I knew that the omniverse wasn't idly doing nothing while I focused on one place. That was why I sent my forces out throughout the multiverse of my birth, even into the outskirts of other universes, and most fascinatingly into the primary Hell of the universe of my birth, where the mysterious Archduchess was waiting to become my "friend" and "ally".
Within the bounds of the dimension I was born in I ordered my forces to expand across the cosmos. My armies, which grew and swelled with my victory over and subjugation of Renora, swelled in size and in skill thanks to the addition of Renora's forces to my own.
The black-scaled dragonkin I had ordered to go to Noshtex's lair and meet Nocturne was one of Renora's dragonkin, the result of a black drake mating with a dark elf. He had served me nobly and was just one member of a race that numbered in the billions, all of whom now served me even more faithfully than they had served Noshtex.
My forces went to the outer edges of the Hacivat Galaxy and then went beyond it in ships that effortlessly surpassed the speed of light. They were armed with potent weapons that were powered by their faith in me and had the ability to inflict wounds that could not be healed from unless I deemed it so, as well as other, unbelievably powerful items forged by myself or by Nocturne, who shared a potent ability that I and a few of my servants possessed: the power to create multiple bodies and thus be in more than one place at a time.
The military I commanded was able to effortlessly spread across the galactic supercluster we were situated within. Within days my forces had taken over dozens of galaxies, and each time we took over a galaxy I was able to utilize my own potent abilities to assimilate the galaxy in question peacefully and wholly, integrating them and gaining their devoted, steadfast, fanatical loyalty. Within weeks my forces had taken over thousands of galaxies, conquering civilizations that in some cases had technology more advanced than we had had access to mere weeks ago, thanks to our ability to turn the militaries of galaxies we conquered into forces equal to ours within minutes, which we could freely use to gain more territory.
Stella proved herself time and time again as she utilized the power of the Starmazon Armada and the powers I had given her to effortlessly defeat countless armadas of enemies. At one point her portion of my forces found and defeated a civilization that had mastered the art of cloning mortals and that was something that also served to bolster my forces.
Stella prayed and asked me to clone her and some of her most elite starmazons so that she could both use the cloning technologies of the alien civilization to their maximum potential and continue her vast conquests in my name. I granted her wish and she and her forces quickly departed, while stationing an army of clones produced by my power for the sake of utilizing the potent cloning technology to create an endless army of forces to police the empire.
Meanwhile, once we had taken control of the Staneeth Expanse, I ordered both experts of the cloning technology and copies of the technology itself to be sent here and elsewhere throughout my empire. My order was obeyed and with the arrival of the cloning technology, I was able to far more effectively create a blockade around the rest of the ruins of Etherscape. That had the effect of alerting the alliance to my presence, but thankfully they saw fit not to try and push back against the blockade, partially since they were distracted by events set in motion by the tel'Noras.
The freedom of the tel'Nora family from the clutches of the ascendant alliance set in motion a series of disruptive strikes that rippled across the territory of Etherscape that was still under the alliance's control. Agents of the tel'Nora hegemony, armed with the intelligence of the tel'Knox hegemony and backed by material support from Raul, who had defeated and corrupted two ascendants by himself in two-on-one combat, launched countless surgical strikes against some of the resources of countless lesser ascendants throughout the colonized area still controlled by invaders, which in some cases crippled the operations of the least powerful ascendants who were within the alliance.
The ascendants arrayed against Raul did not have the power he had to twist emotions and to make himself be seen as a welcome hero and as a savior. Instead, members of the ascendant alliance were seen as invaders, as mortal enemies to be fought against and repelled by everyday citizens of Etherscape. Raul freeing an entire hegemony, and gaining the support of countless members of another, inspired the victims of the alliance to rise up, even as he and his forces mostly proceeded in every other direction but deeper into the territory of the alliance throughout the universe to gain more and more materials to hurl at the alliance.
The alliance quickly and quietly declared Raul a powerful enemy, which itself further empowered the sanguinarch, but barring a truly unprecedented show of unity they lacked the resources to bring the fight to him, something which he knew and planned to take advantage of. His forces, unified by a number of his potent abilities and possessing a staggeringly diverse array of powers, were able to inspire and incite revolution and rebellion. In some cases, they were even able to turn citizens of Etherscape into things like novas, vampires, and other sorts of potent warriors who could singlehandedly crush local governments.
Raul was able to take advantage of the chaos to free various members of different hegemonies, leaders of the infamous thronemaidens, and to spread portions of his influence into what was left of Etherscape, claiming towns, cities, and even a few megalopolises as parts of his dominion, which alerted the alliance to the reality that Raul was a sanguinarch, an unpleasant fact about Raul that very few of them had known previously. This simple fact forced them to reconsider their strategy, but they knew then that they had made significant errors in their plans and plots against the unbelievably powerful emperor.
The potent and ambitious deity was not afraid of the alliance any longer. That he was no longer afraid of the alliance didn't mean that he was foolhardy or needlessly aggressive but it did mean that he lost his former hesitation. He eagerly delighted in chances to use his nigh-omniscience to stymie their plots and schemes and to take territory from the alliance that, to anyone of less power than Raul, would be indefensible.
Raul himself utilized some of his powers to harass and harry his foes, often delighting in using minor powers such as his "Hand of death" greater megapower to antagonize his foes by ending the lives of their minions. He never did it to any especially important forces, but often targeted expeditionary groups of enemies, such as scouts or spies, which eventually his foes silently accepted as necessary losses or learned to stop sending such groups near any territory known to be his. His efforts earned him the enmity of numerous specific ascendants, all of whom had sworn quiet oaths of vengeance against them before they learned he was a sanguinarch and thus empowered by such oaths.
And at the end of the three weeks, as events, including the war against the alliance, proceeded apace, Raul himself acted on an invitation he had received some time ago. One that would lead him to a vast, seemingly endless city in the depths of Hell itself. Or rather the primary Hell of his universe, where a sixfold archdemon such as himself could wield truly vast and seemingly endless power. An invitation from the mysterious and ambitious Archduchess, who eagerly sought to make an alliance with the mighty archdemon, especially now that he was a lord of six out of seven of the deadly sins.
