Ascendants had a level of freedom that was largely unimaginable to non-ascendant beings. As an emperor who spent a healthy portion of my time in my own territory, guiding others or slowly empowering myself in a litany of ways I didn't usually take advantage of that but as I and a fairly sizeable party of followers teleported from one of my utopian worlds in the center of the Hacivat Galaxy to the depths of Hell, I prepared to truly enjoy the freedom I had as an ascendant being.
Over the course of roughly one half of a second, my chosen party and I went from standing in the depths of one of my palaces to standing in the depths of the primary Hell of my native universe. We had teleported to a flat, featureless infernal plane three kilometers away from a gigantic gate that was so tall that of the people in my party, only me with my nearly endless vision could see its peak, several kilometers in the sky of the strange cavern we were inside of.
We were in an utterly enormous cavern, one that I knew even as my mind assimilated tons of information all at once was larger than an entire solar system. The gate, made of various hellish metals, served as the entrance to the endless city of Sodom, the very same city recently conquered by the Archduchess.
As I gazed at it some of my greatest passive powers were at work, including my visual psychometry power, and my rank 3 "Know Secrets" greater megapower. My mind was filling ambiently with dark, critical, infernal secrets, and with but a motion I bade my followers begin the march towards the gigantic gate.
My servants, including members of the same order that Maria was a part of, silently obeyed me. We weren't a large group by any means, as large groups had difficulty traveling from place to place. We began a quiet hiked to the foot of the gate, effortlessly traveling across the flat plane that stood between us and our destination. As we made our way across the vast, eerily empty area that stood between us and the city I activated one of my mighty greater megapowers: "Boongiver".
My allies began to glow as they felt the effects of my power. Their muscles expanded, their strength increased, their senses sharpened, and their minds were heightened as they were given potent, permanent buffs to their bodies that were beyond ultrahuman in scale. They all quietly gasped as they felt the potency of the buffs they had just received infuse them with the sort of power, invulnerability, and energy that they could have scarcely imagined ever feeling before this very moment. And I myself decided to boost my abilities as well.
Manifold ascendant beings were tremendously rare. It took a truly absurd amount of powers and resources to become even one ascendant being unless someone possessed an eldritch soul as I did. And that meant that the number of resources it took doubled, tripled, and finally quadrupled before someone reached even the possibility of being in the same "Ballpark" as me, as Earth's humans would have put it. In my case, I had a number of factors going for me that enabled my success.
The real secrets to my truly unimaginable amount of success were my statuses as the true anael, as the grandest adonis, and as a supreme celestial of life. All three of those things made me incredibly powerful individually, which was why I had been able to achieve the level of success I had achieved to date. As I approached the massive gate that would lead me into Sodom I closed my eyes and decided to forcefully step onto the next rung of power.
The first thing I did was invest a portion of my personal power into attuning to the final draconic element that I had yet to attune to that of the storm. As I did, I felt my body begin to radiate electricity and chuckled. With that, I had become an exceedingly rare sort of dragon lord who had attuned to all eight draconic elements and I felt my ambient power surge higher and higher. But I wasn't done yet.
I only rarely focused on my nature as a cosmic divinity but as I made my way closer and closer to the city of Sodom I did something unusual: I opted to hone my power as a cosmic divinity to its maximum possible level of power. I focused and invested a healthy portion of my soul's power, the power it had gained as a result of the conquests of my military throughout the galactic supercluster the Hacivat Galaxy was inside of, into the various power sources that fueled and empowered cosmic divinities.
Cosmic divinities were empowered by a number of things. The first was our own ambient, innate power. I began by maximizing that, and the instant I did I felt my own inner stores of power surge and skyrocket, delighting and exciting me. Worship was the next power source possessed by cosmic divinities. I maximized it, despite having previously invested in it and a number of other power sources as a cosmic divinity, and felt yet another incredible rush of power fill my veins and cause my power to surge and swell due to the tremendous number of beings who worshiped me.
The next, related power source was that of temples. Temples were a funny one since it meant both temples devoted to me multiplied the effects of other power sources, and themselves provided me with power. When I maximized that source of power I first felt it deplete my internal stores of power, before suddenly causing them to rocket back up, overcharging me thanks to the abundance of temples that were situated throughout my empire.
Invocation was the fourth power source that cosmic divinities possessed. It referred to two separate things: both the likelihood of a divinity answering a request for power and aid and the power a divinity received from being invoked. When I maximized it I also felt my powers as a grand adonis increase and improve as well, since that meant that I'd be getting power from those who invoke my name in my capacity as a divinity of pleasure. Maximizing it also gave me the ability to exert my power over the area where my name was uttered, which I knew would serve me well in the future.
The fifth font of power accessible to cosmic divinities was that of sacrifice. Sacrifices could be any number of things, from the lives of various creatures to things of value and meaning, to even the foreswearing of certain things or behaviors. I myself had long ago forbidden the practice of sacrificing lives and encouraged the foreswearing of one's virginity unless the foreswearing swore to live a life of chastity for some reason. When I maximized the potency of sacrifices I again felt a shuddering wave of power rock into me and cause my power to swell.
Like all of the other ascendants aside from transynths, I gained power from souls themselves, though cosmic divinities only gained power from souls either fully given to them or in the afterlives they ran. I delightedly maximized this source and felt even the least of the souls in the paradisiacal afterlife I ran swell with power. The souls themselves also all cried out in joy as they felt their own power surge and swell and they chanted my name, which of course served as instances of invocation, sending power surging through me.
Rituals were the seventh font of power accessible to cosmic divinities. I maximized them as well, even though they were not especially common in the majority of the accepted forms of Raulism that had sprung about throughout the empire. That said, I also went ahead and set about fixing this by utilizing the system to reach out to and contact countless priests of mine and commanding them to come up with rituals to perform in my name. I knew that in time the increased attention to rituals would cause my power to swell ever higher.
The final font of power accessible to cosmic divinities was that of the "Favored Race". I maximized the power I'd receive from the worship of whatever race I'd eventually chose as my "Favored Race", and upon doing so I was informed by the system that eventually, upon killing another cosmic divinity, I'd be able to select another, additional race as my "Favored Race". That excited me since I knew for a fact that cosmic divinities were among the beings within the vile alliance that had shattered Etherscape! For now I simply decided to devote a small portion of my consciousness to selecting a race to make my first "Favored Race", since in time I'd be able to pick more than one race for that honor. And I still wasn't done, even though I was already swelling with power compared to before.
I focused on my nature as an archdemon for a moment. As I did my mastery of six out of all seven of the deadly sins filled my mind. I had taken the time to master every sin except for that of sloth, one of the trickier and stranger of the sins. As I slowed down for a split second to invest power in it I found myself halted by a notification from the system itself.
[Alert: Before You Master The Final Sin
You have mastered six out of seven of the deadly sins. This alert existed and was preloaded into your connection to the system because it knew that this day might come. Before you invest the power needed to master the final sin into it you ought to know that the second you spend the power needed to become an overlord of sloth and thus become a sevenfold archdemon every other sevenfold archdemon in this multiverse will know you have joined their ranks.
There are less than ten sevenfold archdemons in this multiverse. Nearly all of them serve the Dark Lord of the Nine Circles, the single greatest source of evil in this multiverse that is native to it, and the only archdemon here to have mastered the secret eighth sin: despair, a sin so potent that only one being per multiverse can master it. Only one of nine other sevenfold archdemons, Zazelu the Implacable, is openly an enemy of the Dark Lord. She, like you, seeks to become the overlord of the Nine Circles. If you chose to master the sin of sloth, your intentions will become known to the other archdemons. If you are prepared to take that risk, go ahead and invest in the sin, but do so armed with knowledge.]
Upon reading the notification I chuckled and went ahead and invested in the sin. I felt my power deplete, but then also felt my mind swell as I filled with a new sort of strength. I was also granted dominion over the domain of dreams and felt my mind race as I immediately processed the new powers I had just earned, some of which were extremely intriguing to me.
Before I could do anything else I felt more power surge into me as my mind filled with the knowledge of strangers who swore oaths of enmity against me, due to my open desires to rule all of existence including the Nine Circles. I also felt Zazelu's mental eyes find me and gaze at me, as well as those of Echnida herself, and I realized that she must have also been a sevenfold archdemon which brought a smile to my face. My actions here had surely caught her eye, and I looked forward to meeting her one day.
And at last, I had just one activity to do before I had finished maximizing my personal power. Acquire the last ranks of the greater megapowers. Greater megapowers, which were abilities that were accessible to every ascendant, had four ranks. The first three ranks of these powers had a fairly limited, relatively speaking, range. They tended to start off with ranges that were usually planetary or solar-system sized, then jumped up to entire galaxies, and then became galactic supercluster sized, for the first three ranks of these powers.
The fourth ranks, which were the highest ranks, were capable of affecting entire universes and were only able to be purchased by cosmopotences. I had become a cosmopotence not long after I started building my empire, but until now I had largely focused on taking things slow and steadily building up my forces and my personal power since each purchase of the fourth rank of a greater megapower would be incredibly costly. That said, I was now at the point where I could invest in myself and purchase the almost-mythical fourth rank of the variety of powers I possessed.
I began by investing my power in the fourth rank of powers such as "Invulnerability", "Glorious Presence", "Super Strength", "Ascendant Blast" and "Super Speed". I felt those powers cause my own ambient strength and speed to go up, and I chuckled. The next ones I earned my mastery over were "Boongiver", "Cursegiver", and "Elemental Mastery", causing my ability to affect others to sharply increase. And as impressive as those boosts were, the first truly improvements to my powers came when I made my next investment.
The next powers I selected were the "Know Secrets", "Alter Reality", and "Creation" greater megapowers. When I gained those powers I felt my nigh-omniscience skyrocket in potency as my mind filled with over a quintillion facts and secrets, as my awareness and my senses were suddenly elevated to levels far beyond anything that I could have ever imagined in my wildest dreams, and I could abruptly sense everything in this universe, aside from things going on in strongholds lorded over by ascendants who are somewhat close to my level of power.
I could suddenly hear the conversations and thoughts of every demon in this dimension, including those of the Archduchess herself. I suddenly gained access to truly secretive information, including the fact that this place was where none other than Melonie, the queen of vaginal sex and reproduction was being hidden, by the Archduchess herself. That information brought a truly maddening, enormous grin to my face as it meant that by coming here I had come much, much closer to becoming the Lord of Sex.
I went ahead and continued purchasing the remaining fourth ranks of the greater megapowers and when I was done I felt well and truly stronger than I ever had been before. I was armed with a truly incredible new set of abilities and could operate on a scale that was far beyond my previous maximum thanks to the power I had invested in myself, and as a surprise gained the ability to influence various domains that were tethered to the different schools of magic, and magic itself.
As my allies and I made our way to the front of the gate that would allow us to venture into Sodom, I reached out across the galactic supercluster that surrounded the one that housed the Hacivat Galaxy was located and began to make use of my new abilities, now able to effect entire universes at once.
In no less than four galactic superclusters, each of which bordered the Auric galactic supercluster, where the Hacivat Galaxy was located, a number of things occurred all at once. These events also occurred within the Auric galactic supercluster, within the galaxies that had yet to join the Raulian Empire.
The first thing that occurred was that all diseases, sicknesses, and viruses were instantly cured. It didn't matter how dangerous they were, how infectious they were, or whatever their cause was, even in cases where a god, demon, or other such being was responsible for the illness in question.
The second thing that occurred was that all manner of powers were suddenly and utterly shut off. Everything from the simplest magical spells, to the most potent telepathic networks, was suddenly and totally shut down by a staggeringly powerful usage of the "Anti-Power" greater megapower. Even technology wasn't spared, though any technology that was needed to keep people alive was, thankfully, spared.
The third thing that occurred was that each and every inhabited world in the galactic supercluster was momentarily covered in illusions that showed how prosperous the worlds could have been. Even the harshest inhabited hell worlds were momentarily covered in illusions that showed the planet as a vibrant, joyful paradise. Every single inhabitant of any world got to see how beautiful and paradisiacal the planet they called home could have become.
The fourth thing, and one of the most dramatic, was that every single mind in the four galactic superclusters was suddenly linked to each other and to the one responsible for these events. Everything from lowly insects to deities themselves were tethered to this incomprehensibly vast web of minds. Raul himself was within the web and he chose to stay silent, at least at first.
The fifth thing was that the militaries of every single civilization in the four galactic superclusters suddenly lost their wills to fight. This was Raul's doing, as a god of peace, love, and magic, and he did it to speed up something he knew was a foregone conclusion.
The sixth thing to occur was that Raul performed an unprecedented mass resurrection, resurrecting as many dead beings as he could all at once. These creatures, themselves beings of power ranging from insects to full-blown deities, were also drawn into the mental web that connected every other mind in the four and a quarter galactic superclusters.
The seventh and final thing to occur was that every single mind within the unfathomably large web of minds was filled with incredible, permanent happiness. Raul reached out and touched the minds of every single being within the truly vast mental body and personally filled them with the sort of permanent happiness only he could instill in others, wiping out suffering, hatred, and bigotry in all of its forms. They felt the soul-altering power of the joy he could induce fill every fiber of their beings, and the sort of soul-melting bliss he could safely induce. And they never wanted to stop feeling such a wonderful, strange, pleasurable sensation. Fortunately for them, they'd never have to.
Raul quietly sent them a notification via the system, shortly after tethering their minds together.
[Alert: Do You Wish To Join The Raulian Empire?
The mighty cosmopotent entity known as Raul Medrano has demonstrated his power to you in the form of the strange miracles you have just witnessed, namely the triumph of life over diseases and death and the triumph of joy over suffering and hatred. At the moment his empire is expanding across the cosmos and spreading the glory of his worship as well as the gifts of his powers across all of existence, but he wanted to come to you peacefully before sending his vast military your way.
Raul is the Anael, a spirit beyond classification that is capable of inducing endless happiness and prosperity. You have seen his cosmic power and he wishes for you to join him and his vast empire of your own accord. If you decide to join him he will empower you, and turn your home into the prosperous wonderland that it could be.
If you wish to join him, he will know. He is listening to you even now and can feel your minds as surely as you can feel each others. All you have to do is desire to join his empire and he will know. Please make the correct choice and join the powerful emperor as he seeks to spread peace, love, pleasure, and joy throughout the multiverse.]
I was unsurprised to note that within seconds of sending out the notification every single mind within the gestalt mind-web I had created was eager to join my empire. That knowledge filled me with joy and I eagerly accepted my "Neighbors", on a cosmic scale, into my empire.
I immediately began to convert untold trillions of beings, of every species, into vampires and felt them fill with knowledge about essence gathering and the importance of turning places into part of my dominion, by spending a small portion of my essence to convert creatures very far from me into my vampiric servants. Those of them selected for the honor of becoming vampires began to hungrily gather essence so that their homes could become connected to my dominion and thus linked to the rest of the empire.
I quickly sensed essence beginning to slowly pour into me from throughout the cosmos, and I smiled as I opened my eyes in front of an entryway through the massive gate that stood between myself and the city of Sodom, where Melonie, and the Archduchess herself were both located. Armed with newfound power I confidently approached the demonic guards stationed at the foot of the gigantic gate, who policed and monitored entry into the unfathomably large city.
