I suppress a shudder as my avatars close in on the orbs. I feel my power about to crescendo again, and I have to work to not smile.

Fortunately, given the grim thing I am listening to, it is easy for me to not smile. At the moment my wives are taking turns discussing their homelands and the cultures they consider their own. And one of my wives has an especially grim tale to share with the rest of us.

“My homeland was destroyed, My Emperor. I am a princess in my own right, but my kingdom, the kingdom of Kelri, fell to our foes; an army from the nation of Belen.” Says Atima, a fair-skinned woman dressed in rags. I hiss upon hearing this, the sound inhuman and striking in both its alien beauty and also in the threat it conveys to those who are responsible for it.

“We were invaded three years ago. It took Belens, a much larger nation, about two months to destroy us. Our nation had an alliance with Juttun, but the distances between the countries made it impossible for your father to send troops in time. Nevertheless, upon hearing of the war we were in you yourself helped oversee my rescue and helped smuggle me here to the palace.” Atima tells my wives and I. I remember this, of course, but I am still faking my amnesia.

“I spent over a year in this palace as a ‘Slave’. During the day I would pretend to be one of your servants, and at night I would be lavished with luxuries befitting my royal birth. We kept this charade up until we were sure that the leaders of Belens had given up on capturing me. I continue to wear these clothes because…” She says, before hesitating. I gently motion for her to continue speaking, and she is heartened by my actions.

“Well because I like this. I suppose I just am naturally submissive, and the thought of giving myself totally to someone, in all things… Thrills me.” She confesses, a soft blush spreading across her cheeks as she speaks. I smile at her, well aware of the truth of her words. But I am not as happy as my smile would lead someone to believe.

Now that I have power, I must decide what to do with said power. An ally of Juttun was attacked, and destroyed by foes who arrogantly pursued the princess of our ally. I could sit idly by and allow that attack to go unanswered. After all, it went unanswered for years already. But that was before I had the power that now infuses me…

Years ago I would have had to risk the lives of the men and women of Juttun to exact justice for the people of Kelri. Now I could make the leadership of Belens pay without having someone else so much as lift a finger, and without punishing a single innocent citizen of Belens.

I allow my mind a moment to ponder the consequences of both action and inaction. It doesn’t take me long to realize that inaction would render me unworthy of my status as a royal. If I let my allies be destroyed when I have the ability to protect them a lot is said about my qualities and trustworthiness, and none of what is said is good.

I gaze at Atima for a moment. As I peer at her I am quiet, and my mind is racing. I am searching for the right thing to say. My divinely enhanced mind is stimulating millions of possible responses for me to utter, and I am using my enhanced intellect to hypothesize Atima’s likely responses to each of my own responses. Thankfully since I possess something akin to pseudo-omniscience it is easy for me to eventually think of something fitting to say.

“Atima… Kelri was our ally and we shall avenge them. When the time comes for our empire to turn its attention outward again, I shall be one of the hands that attain justice for the people of Kelri. For your family. For you. Allow me to restore Kelri, and to exact a long-awaited justice for your people.” I tell her, sincerely.

I mean it, and the look in my eyes communicates that as succinctly as I do. Atima meets my eyes and she smiles as she hears me say something I bet she has long wanted me to say. Tears fill her eyes, but she doesn’t utter a response to me.

At the same time my avatars walk within arm’s length of the orbs that they were created to touch and claim.
In the depths of four divine realms, the beating aetherial hearts of the dimensions begin to softly glow. Each of the orb-shaped hearts of the realms are being approached by four identical beings.

The four creatures, who have the features of idealized representations of masculinity, are all avatars of the same super-entity. As they close in on the orbs they again hear the same messages that the things just told them, repeated verbatim.

“Greetings Chosen One. It is a delight to see the one chosen to inherit the triune mantle and the deific heart created by the son of Perandor, approaching the wills of his predecessors at last.” The messages begin. They all start out the same.

“It’s about time you arrived. I have had it up to here pretending to be kind!” Utters one of the orbs. Curiously, it is not the orb of the being known as The Devil that says this, but actually, the orb situated in the middle of the tropical room. The orb that once belonged to The Creator.

“I thought they said it’d only take you a few millennia to arrive here. It took you five!” The voice says, admonishing the avatar of the super being who sent the creature to claim The Creator’s mantle in the first place. On the other hand, the orb belonging to The Devil is very different.

“Dearest nephew, I am truly sorry I cannot be there in person to greet you. But that is one of the terms of the compact the four of us signed.” Another voice tells the avatar in the chthonic underworld known as “The Pit”.

“There is a healthy likelihood that you are confused right now, Living Perandor. In case that is the case, please allow me, Theodosia the Second, a chance to address your confusion. This was never meant to be a divine realm for the emperors, empresses, and other imperial children of Juttun. It was meant to be the true divine realm for an immortal emperor, a true god.” One more voice whispers to one of the avatars. This voice is retelling the incredible story of the circumstances behind the empty divine realm of the imperial family.

“Long before you were born, before the empire had even had its second emperor, an agreement was signed between three gods, Perandor, The Devil, and The Creator, as well as the first child of Perandor, a demigod of prodigious power.” Says the gentle voice of the first empress of Juttun, a woman who lived millennia ago and was named after her grandmother, a powerful sage from the region that would eventually become Apothenia.

“The terms of the compact were simple. The Creator and The Devil would aid their family member, their son and their brother respectively, Perandor, in divinely protecting the empire, until the day came when an emperor arose who could acquire power on his own. That emperor, you it seems, would ascend on their own and then be awarded the resources and mantles of the trinity of gods who bless Juttun. If you are hearing this message then the other part of the compact has been fulfilled and this tomb has been abandoned.” The voice says, mysteriously.

“In exchange for this solemn and hefty promise, upon the ascension of this prophesied emperor the deceased members of the imperial family and the worshipers of the imperial cult would leave this afterlife behind. They would follow the trinity of gods who signed this ancient pact with the first emperor of Juttun to… somewhere else. And from there they would be the first servants and worshippers of Perandor’s family. We are gone, oh little successor, but we took it upon ourselves to do you one vital service.” Theodosia explains, softly.

“We know not what kind of being you are, little imperator, but we hope it is one who listens and learns. If it is, then hear and know this: this place is empty but it is not without utility. We gladly bequeath you lordship over this divine realm. And, more importantly, we share with you our own mantle. The mantle of artificial godhood.” The avatar’s ancestor reveals, dramatically.

Mantle. That word is repeated by all of the different messages the avatars are overhearing. In each case it is a different mantle. The Creator confers a “Celestial” mantle to the Living God. The Devil confers a “Demonic” mantle to the entity he views as a nephew. And Perandor himself grants his descendant a “Terrestrial” mantle.

“Come touch the orb and claim what is yours. Claim your mantles, and be given a reward for your ascension that befits the enormity of what you have done.” The orb of Perandor’s divine realm whispers.

“Fulfill the oath your ancestors made, little emperor. Come and acquire resources befitting your power as someone who walks the line between inheritor and self-made. Come and take the mantle.” The stern voice of The Creator utters, haughtily.

The four avatars, having again listened to the odd summary of a long and ancient pact between gods and their descendants, extend their hands and touch the massive hearts of the divine realms. As soon as they do the orbs begin to be absorbed by the divinities!

“Hmmm…” The avatars sigh, in eerie unison. While the creatures sigh information enters their shared mind. Information revealed to them by a familiar voice; their very own!

“You have acquired lordship privileges over several domains by taking on the mantles of three gods and your own family. The greatest of those domains are the domains of life and death, but they are hardly the only supreme domains you have acquired.” The voice tells the creature, in the shared mind-space that the avatars and their creator can all access.

“From The Creator you have acquired the domains of life, fate, creation, nature, knowledge, light, truth, virtue, abundance, and the sky.” The voice continues.

“The Devil, on the other hands, has given you the domains of death, dreams, destruction, lies, tyranny, sin, beauty, luck, and madness.” The avatars and their creator learn, as they subtly reel from the influx of knowledge.

“Your direct ancestor, Perandor, has given you great power as well. From him you have earned power over civilization, justice, art, rulership, war, law, wealth, dragons, and marriage.” Reveals the voice. For a moment there is a pause, one long enough that even the divinity acquiring the mantles wonders if the voice is done.

“And from your family, you have acquired the domains of minds, trade, the afterlife, faith, technology, and magic. Do not underestimate the domain of technology, as the right technology can replicate the power of the gods themselves.” The voice whispers, cautiously. Zachary smiles as he feels the powers flowing into him, and his senses detach from his physical bodies for the first time.

“Originally you were exclusively a Living God. Now you have become something more; you are a hybrid, with the powers of both a standard god and a Living God. Among the powers that come from being a standard god, are things such as ‘Domain Sense’ and ‘Worshiper Awareness’.” The voice explains to the subtle divine being.

“‘Living Gods’ are to gods what gods are to humans; a much more powerful and wholly separate kind of being. Living Gods do not attain power from worship and do not subsist on it as actual gods do. Those who follow Living Gods do so because these beings are the incarnations of power, perfection, and other concepts. But standard gods… Standard gods have symbiotic relationships with their followers. As a hybrid of the two types of beings, you have gained the peak powers of both.” The voice reveals, filling Zachary with excitement even as his mind expands.

The emperor feels his mind filling with a truly vast amount of information. He is acutely aware of every birth, every death, every skirmish, and more happening across the entire planet thanks to his newly acquired divine traits. He is also keenly aware of every true worshiper of any of the deities whose realms he has acquired across the entire world as well.

A passive chorus in the back of his mind whispers to him every single activity concerning the domains he has just acquired influence over. As he listens to the strange chorus he also explores the newly created portion of his mind that stores information about the worshippers of the deities from whom he has acquired mantles.

Worshipers of Perandor, The Devil, and The Creator, are all known to Zachary. Every worshiper of those three deities is known to the twenty-something-year-old. So too are his worshipers, those who worship the imperial family directly. Millions of people worship each of those deities, their faith once empowering the potent gods but now merely funneling additional power into the divine being who inherited their resources and divine estates.

At the same time as this is occurring the odd creature’s brain begins to adjust to possessing power over both the hosts and the realms of the gods whose estates he has inherited. Each of these realms is a powerful location housing the souls of thousands of people, and comes with a host; a powerful divine army crafted to the specifications of the god who lords over the realm.

“A set of tools with which I can begin to exact justice against my foes…” One of the avatars mutters as what he has for a mind scans the information surging into him about the forces under his command that hail from “The Pit”. And this prompts the lone inhabitant of the room to flutter a bit closer to him. The scaled pit fiend dares to approach his new lord, curious about what he has just heard.

“My lord… Did you say that you have foes that you wish to exact justice against?” The creature asks, opting to learn what the new master of The Pit is like. Zachary’s avatar turns and smiles at the creature.

“Why… Yes, I did. Do you have insights that may help me achieve my mission?” The vessel of deific power asks the pit fiend, a powerful devil, curiously. The reptilian eyes of the massive creature light up in sadistic delight.

“My new lord and master… I do indeed have insights that can help you bring your foes low. If you deign to seek my assistance, I would gladly be your chief agent in this matter. I have been stuck guarding this room for many centuries now. I wish to stretch my wings. Please, command me.” The creature asks, with surprising sincerity. Zachary listens to this request, and as he does his powerful eyes peer into the depths of the creature’s soul.

The pit fiend is an example of a “Greater” member of a divine host. In his case, the pit fiend is a member of the host controlled by The Devil.

The armies and forces of the gods are divided up into a basic hierarchy that studies their capabilities and assigns them ranks based on their skills. “Greater” members of this hierarchy are the second highest rung of these forces, below “Exalted” and above “Standard” and “Lesser” entities. As a “Greater” member of such a host he is a terrifyingly powerful being capable of fighting even dragons on his own, and Zachary knows that and more.

Zachary’s eyes, infused with powers over justice, fate, and even death, are capable of penetrating all sorts of defenses to gather an array of information. One thing he gathers with as little as a glance is the sum total of one’s morality, including how someone practices their morality.

The Living God powerfully studies the morality of the pit fiend with a single penetrative stare. And for a long time, he is quiet. It takes him almost a minute before he breaks his silence.

“You are certainly interesting Rangos.” Zachary states, revealing that he knows the devil’s name. As the lord of The Pit, Zachary knows a lot more than just that, and Rangos knows that as well. He then shakes his head, a smile on his face as he begins to chuckle gently.

“Hmm… Yes, I believe I have use for you. I would like to deploy you to a small village in the nation of Belens. From there your mission will be to go to the capital, but as you are traveling I would like you to lay the seeds of corruption in the hearts of those you interact with. Until you make it to the capital. Once you get to the capital I will command you more.” Zachary decries, deciding his plan as he speaks. The predatory pit fiend begins to smile joyfully at his new master.

“Freedom from this place, at last… And I get to corrupt people in the material plane!” The monster says, gleefully. He sounds as though he is a child in a toy shop who knows he gets at least one new toy.

He is still for a brief second before he abruptly vanishes, having used his terrifying power to go to the material plane unaided. This is an impossible feat for “Standard” tier entities from his host, but possible for this particular pit fiend thanks to his mastery over infiltration techniques.

As he vanishes from view Zachary chuckles, knowing full well the evil he has unleashed on his foes. He is fully determined to make the forces of the nation of Belens pay for their acts against Kelri.

And while this is his first real external act, it is not the only one. He has all the time in the world and plenty of resources with which to enact change. He is eager to subtly mold the world into a shape more to his liking.