Across the eerie and demonic plains, the silence that the alien warriors heard in the wake of the battle coming to an abrupt end was unsettling. The battle the alien army had been called to fight in was over now but the assembled warriors who had fought for their god awaited his next instructions.
For his part in all of this, the god himself was still seated where he landed after defeating the demonic general and was busy adjusting to the memories of the demonic general he had just slain and absorbed. Among the creature's memories were recollections of exceptional moments such as encounters that the ancient demon had had with long-dead demon-lords and ancient battles between massive otherworldly armies that even the god of creativity doubted he could have dreamed them up prior to these last few minutes.
Althos found himself quietly grateful to Solomon. He wasn't grateful for the demonic general's lack of intelligence, at least as far as greater demons go, but he was grateful for the quality of the demon's memories. And for the knowledge, he was gleaming just by sitting down and fixating on the memories of a demon who had lived for well over three-quarters of a million years and remembered every second of it.
"These memories... What a treasure trove." The god whispered, his eyes filling with excitement as he greedily gained more and more knowledge. He largely ignored Solomon's annoyingly low-quality thoughts but fixated on the actual memories the ancient demon locked away in his mind.
The Althonians who looked at him, especially those who approached while he was on his knees, saw him in an unusual state. He almost looked vulnerable while his youthful mind worked to accommodate the impossibly ancient memories he had just killed to acquire.
His current form was his oldest human form, that of a middle-aged man who had a rustic look. An almost stereotypical depiction of a druid. He wasn't radiating beauty, nor was he radiating an aura of insanity. Instead of looking superhuman or supernatural, he looked to be calmly meditating.
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To say my mind was running a kilometer a minute was an understatement. It was more like it was moving light-years per nanosecond.
I could feel my mind growing. It was odd, to say the least, to feel one's mind expand in a real almost physical sense. But that was the only possible way to describe what was happening to me in the wake of my decision to absorb Solomon's soul.
I felt the soft earth of the plains underneath my knees. They cradled me gently, comfortably. It was as if the very ground in this place were welcoming me somehow. I knew that this place, this entire dimension, was alive, in a sense at least, but this was the first time I truly felt it. Even Solomon's incredibly long memories only recounted a scant handful of occasions where the true depths of this dimension's life and its attitude were felt or seen by those who lived here.
The Heart of Darkness was making me feel at ease. It was as if it was intentionally trying to make me want to stay. I didn't like it. That said I stayed on my knees for a while longer. I could do a lot from any position after all. I wasn't as weak as mortals were.
I closed my eyes, and from behind closed eyelids, I allowed countless memories to unfold in my mind's eye. Not all of the memories were mine, in fact, I'd say that most of them weren't. They belonged to many different creatures. Dwarves, humans, dark-elves, some demons, other, older creatures. Some of the memories originally belonged to friends, and others belonged to foes or at least those who had once been foes and were now allies, servants, worshipers, and members of my empire.
While I allowed the memories to unfold before me, as a sort of private film-screening, I did something else. I began to call out to my angelic host, the legion of angels I had recruited and ruled over.
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The charnel plains were a nondescript area, an almost totally featureless and impossibly large flatland of assortedly colored dirt. For eons, this particular layer of the Heart of Darkness housed extremely little and served primarily as either a neutral meeting ground for different demonic factions or as a small portion of a larger transit route that facilitated the transportation of demonic goods from one layer to another.
From time to time this layer served as a battlefield for different demonic factions that would clash and temporarily gain territory and experience in combat. But the forces that currently occupied the charnel plains soon revealed that they had other plans in mind. Or at least their overlord, their emperor, did.
The skies above the plains were equally plain and nondescript. No matter the time of day the skies were an unearthly orange color as if they were being corrupted by some potent pollutants. That said, someone could only see the orange tint of the sky if they could see the sky.
One moment the Althonian army could see the sky above them, the next it was blacked out by a large number of massive portals appearing directly overhead. Althos himself began to grin, even as the shadows cast by one of the portals directly swallowed him up and rendered the god invisible. At the moment that the god vanished from view none of his followers had their eyes on him personally, having all collectively turned to watch the portals after the first few appeared and began to black out the skies.
There was a second of silence as the very layer itself appeared to have held its breath. The second of silence was shattered when the first angel threw itself through the portal that had appeared in front of it in Althos' gleaming city and began to descend from the skies above the plains.
The angel in question was an odd fellow, a cube with two pairs of beautiful golden wings jutting from two pairs of edges the thing possessed. It was only possible for the assorted creatures who were looking at the skies to see the creature because it radiated a beautiful, sun-like light.
The angel of creation was not the only angel who was making an appearance, it was just the first to step through any of the many portals that had appeared in Althos' royal and divine city. Seconds after the god opened the portals throughout the city and ordered scores of his angels to come to his side, they began to appear in droves.
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I was invisible in the dark, at least whenever I wanted to be thanks to an invented synergistic power I had created during my few months building cults. And at the moment I didn't care to be seen. I studied the blackened skies and watched as scores of angels appeared in the skies above me. Their work would allow me to take stock of my situation.
I telepathically ordered my angels, particularly my angels of creation and civilization, to build a city fit for inhabitation by multi-species. The first of my servants to arrive, such as the odd, angelic cube who was especially eager to serve me, immediately set about their work. I watched as the multiple cube-angels appeared out of portals not far from the initial cube angel to appear, and moved into action.
The cube-angels "aimed" by repositioning themselves so they were "looking" straight down. A second later they began to shoot a potent ray of angelic energy into the plains, creating raw materials for an assortment of buildings.
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I chuckled when I saw this, and then gasped when they stopped shooting the rays that created material and paused for a moment only to begin to fire a second beam a split second later. This second beam was interesting to me as they fired it at the raw materials they had just created and when the beams made contact with the raw materials they instantly transformed the raw materials into buildings or other structures that were useful in or for towns.
I watched bricks transform into houses. I watched mixtures of materials turn into wells, barns, and a number of other, more complex buildings. The display of angelic prowess was quite impressive.
Angels of civilization, some of whom looked like humans and others of whom did not, busied themselves as well. I watched as they aided in building buildings and in the creation of things such as furniture and walls. They also created complex structures such as mines.
One of the more important things I did here was go ahead and complete the quest given to me by the domain of technology by ordering my technological angels to create a factory that once active would create robots and androids. My technological angels, who themselves looked like the sort of technology I could see wandering around the surface of the world of Infernius, immediately threw themselves into their work.
I watched as they rounded up a number of blacksmithing angels and the two groups collaborated to map out a large area. Once they had selected a place the technological angels ordered their allies to create and mold metal walls for the rough exterior of the facility itself. From there the angels threw themselves into their work. I watched, peering through the walls that guarded the facility from the outside.
Angels got to work creating conveyor belts, machinery that would man the conveyor belts, and all sorts of monitoring stations for the factory. As they set to work furnishing the interior of the factory, I received a notification that brought a smile to my face. As I began to read it, I bestowed a number of blessings on the warriors who had fought for me, and then opened a number of portals allowing them to head back home.
Wordlessly I devised a notification asking them to return to their homes and thanking them for their service. The vast legion I had just assembled all began to head back through portals that would allow them to return to their lives, stronger and more experienced for having fought in this battle.
I had just acquired a number of significant powers, ones that I would use to be able to continue my war against Agustino without the help of my largely organic legions. Among my new abilities I could now create a new type of inorganic soldier: robots.
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Technology Subdomain Details:
The subdomain of technology is an incredibly potent subdomain. If anything could be considered a "greater subdomain" it would be this subdomain. This subdomain governs all technology, which is among other things inventions such as sea and space faring vehicles known as ships, the mechanized and artificial lifeforms known as robots and androids, and weapons such as guns.
Technology is wrongly considered by some to be the lawful response to magic. That would imply that there is a conflict between the two. There is no conflict between technology and magic, and indeed in the ancient past skillful gods of industry and civilization wove both together and changed the multiverse.
Ancient gods of technology created vast intergalactic empires utilizing technology. To gain greater power over this domain you must build cults that utilize technology and actively use the powers this subdomain grants you.
Technology Subdomain Primary Passive Powers:
Android and Robot Mastery: You are the lord-god of robots and androids. This power allows you to create robots and androids freely and also be recognized as their god whenever you wish to be even by ones you didn't create. Robots and androids are artificial lifeforms made of various metal or of synthetic material.
There are synergistic components of this power. As a god of destruction and death, you can destroy robots and androids at will, even the most complex. You can also inflict diseases on them, as well as computer viruses, or otherwise, render them vulnerable to such things. You can also fill them with souls and bless them as you can bless other creatures.
Artificial Intelligence Creation and manipulation: By synergizing the domains of life, the mind, and the subdomain of technology you can create artificial intelligences. Artificial intelligences can serve a number of purposes, but most frequently inhabit technology, particularly robots. You can also corrupt or otherwise indoctrinate existing artificial intelligences.
Basic Technology Lordship: You have mastery over all forms of technology less advanced than spaceships capable of moving at the speed of light. This means you can control everything from catapults to drones and can shatter them just as easily. You can create or destroy any of this technology at will.
Computer Mastery: You have total control over computers, devices that store, and process data. Artificial intelligences can go within these computers. You also now lord over computer viruses, a type of program that alters and harms computers. Having total control over computers means you can control a range of technology, particularly different planetary and interplanetary internets.
Customization: This is a multi-synergistic power. With it you can apply all sorts of abilities to your mechanized servants and to other bits of technology.
Technology Subdomain Active Powers:
Robotization: Once per week you can transform any non-extraplanar entity or greater being into a robot. The robots you create this way are, like all other robots, automatically loyal to you once they learn of you.
Technology Subdomain Blessing and Curse Details:
This is one of the subdomains where the effects of blessings or curses depend on who receives them. If organic or at least non-technological lifeform receives a blessing they gain improved ability with technology and a faster mind to help process information quicker. Cursing a non-technological lifeform will lessen their ability with technology and slows their minds.
Blessing technological lifeforms gives them enhanced intelligence, physiques, and turns them into champions of yours. Cursing them harms them significantly.
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Reading through the notification fascinated me. I felt powers surging into me and my mind expanded further still thanks to the new bevy of domain sense notifications I was receiving. For the first time since I had fallen to my knees when I first absorbed the memories of Solomon, I got back on my feet.
All around me creatures were either leaving, or were hard at work building my admittedly unorthodox new settlement. All sorts of angels were hard at work completing various tasks to aid me, their lord-god. The portions of the plain that we had chosen to house the settlement were undergoing a vast change and one that was occurring extremely rapidly. The angels were a tireless, and thanks to me limitlessly powerful force when it came to building settlements rapidly.
Their willingness to do what I had previously done myself gave me the freedom I needed to begin to have some fun. And I knew what I wanted to do. I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to adjust to the darkness of my eyelids before I began to think of what to do next. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to test out my new powers. As well as a few specific possibilities that I had thought of while I was reading through the notification alerting me to what I had earned in earning the first tier of influence over the technology subdomain.
I was a god of shadows, darkness, chaos, parasites, and evil. And that made me the perfect god to be worshiped and served by praereptor demons, shadowy and incorporeal parasites who without my intervention lacked physical bodies of their own. That said, I could give them bodies freely and now I could give them a new type of body. Or at least I suspected that I could.
I considered using Sombra, my pet praereptor demon, to test this out but I knew she was fond of her body. I had modeled Sombra's physical body after Imbrosa Ravenfist, a drider who was one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen so I couldn't fault her fondness for her body. That said, I had recently acquired the ability to create praereptor demons on my own, thanks to a title I had acquired.
I moved one of my hands until it was in front of my face. I chuckled and opened my eyes so that I may see what was about to happen. I wanted to watch the mystical processes that allowed me to create a demon unfold. For the first time since I had acquired the title "The Shadowy Lord of the Unseen", I activated the key power that came with it. I created a praereptor demon.