When I had acquired the second tier of influence over the beginner schools of magic I had gained many different, enormously powerful abilities. And I had also come to the realization that one of the domains I had acquired was a truly, life-changingly powerful domain, even for me.
Perhaps the most powerful domain I had acquired influence over to date was the domain of emotions. And by sheer, dumb luck when acquiring power over emotions I had also acquired power over the emotion of love. The real reason why the domain of emotions was so powerful for me was that I had started it off by coupling it with love rather than another emotion like sadness or anger.
Love, in my hands, was the sort of power that I could use to change countries or even entire planets. However, the real reason why love was worth mentioning in the context of the magic was that it gave me an assortment of abilities that were quite fun. One of the most immediately useful powers I possessed, at least in the context of the dream of Nathan was having that those that I summoned were called to me and automatically fell in love with me, as well as becoming loyal to me.
In the moments after I told Nathan that I had seen everything he had ever been and that I had accepted him I quietly sent a spark of power into Infernius, specifically into a tiny brothel in the city of Duvessa. The brothel was populated by a cabal of devils who had offered themselves and their building to me. And now I had need of the services of two of the pleasure-devils who inhabited it. I utilized one of my new abilities "Spontaneous Summoning" and I pulled their souls from their comfortable brothel to the dream of this burgeoning celebrity.
I felt my power disregard space and time and traverse a distance that was truly incalculable. When it reached the pair of extraplanar entities it struck their soul and coursed through them, bathing them in my power. The power they had been washed in was so immense that it effortlessly overwhelmed their minds and caused them to feel a number of things.
That said, this power wasn't just the sort that changed how a creature felt. My power also conferred new powers. And as it wrenched the two devils from their comfortable home to a new world it also bestowed them with new powers. And in an instant, the two devils appeared sitting on the same couch as me.
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Ariel and Jezebel were sisters. And the two of them had once been popular consorts and escorts in the city of Duvessa, in the time before the mythical apocalypse that destroyed the entire surface of Infernius. Upon the revival of the city of Duvessa the overseer of the brothel they lived in, a powerful greater devil, had offered both himself and all of his possessions, including the brothel, to the literal god responsible for the salvation of the city.
Days had passed since Althos resurrected the city and their new god had been largely silent. Althos was constantly at work, and he wasn't the sort to overly manage his toys, or even fully utilize the considerably immense resources at his disposal. Oftentimes he created new resources as opposed to using existing ones, but the devils didn't know that. And so, after a few days, the city of Duvessa began to slide into a new sort of normalcy.
Each day more and more devils were resurrected and were able to return to work, filling the city with more and more creatures and resources. Some devils, the smarter of the bunch, immediately began to theorize that this was the work of Althos. It was. The god had not been as silent as their less intelligent ilk had suspected.
Althos had quietly begun to unleash robots and other such resources that could explore the ruined, irradiated landscape of the surface of Infernius and he used those resources to find bodies in the wastes, and bring them to Duvessa. No devil to date had correctly guessed that this was how he was doing what he was doing, but because of this there was a perpetual influx of new arrivals to Duvessa. The god quietly planned to return to his city, soon, but for now he was quietly building it up and restoring it to its former greatness.
Ariel and Jezebel were two natives to Duvessa, and they were the first of the devils who'd be able to serve the future tyrant-king directly. At the time that they were summoned by Althos they had been smoking devil-grass, a cheap, Infernian, recreational drug, and they had been seated on a pair of silk cushions in their own private chamber.
The pair of devils were both strikingly beautiful, as befit devils of their type. They both had milk-white hair, surprisingly tanned skin, and were lithe women. At the moment they had been called neither had been wearing clothes, their fully naked bodies on display for any with the power to gaze into their inner sanctum.
Althos' power rocketed into their souls and forcefully grabbed a hold of the two entities. His power over conjuration, having exploded in potency when he acquired the second tier of influence over the domain, coupled with his powers over love, seized and distorted the souls of the devil.
For the women themselves, this felt positively euphoric, as though someone who possessed skilled, speedy, dexterous fingers were caressing every centimeter of their souls. Althos' power wasn't based on his ability to cause pain, but as befit a god of lust, was centered around causing creatures to experience mind-bending amounts of pleasure. Althos' magic seeped into them, causing both women to be unable to hide their pleasure and release erotic moans.
The two devils felt the power of the master they had sworn to serve wash over them, and they basked in the sensation of his power crashing into their souls. The two women began to blush furiously as their god's invasive powers flooded their minds and stained their very essences with divine, reality-bending, power. And then in a furious snap of light the god whisked them from their comfortable home and teleported them across the cosmos.
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As the beautiful sisters were whisked from one dimension to another, the god's powers began to change them. During the course of the last few months Althos had grown in power, and one power he had gained was especially relevant here, as he sought to drag the pair of devils into a dream.
The god utilized one of the newer powers he had acquired in his bid to become an intermediate god. This ability, entitled "Dreamwalker's Dominion" was one that gave him the power to allow his worshipers to dream walk, as he could. To date, he had never used this power before, but his mind was running at many kilometers a minute and was planning ahead. He knew that in the very near future he'd want this pair of minions to be able to sneak into dreams as he could.
Power over dreams seeped into the souls of the devils, empowering the two as they were willingly dragged through the cosmos. As their souls were whisked closer and closer to the tyrant-god they worshiped, they were blasted by the deity's powers over love, which was so powerful right out of the gate that even extraplanar entities stood no chance of resisting them.
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Their hearts were filled with love for their master, and more so then that his powers over love were so intense that the love they immediately began to feel for him wasn't comparable to the love for they felt for anyone else, even each other. Althos' powers over love were absolute and he could effectively summon any willing creature to his side, which when mixed together were an extremely potent mix.
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The two lust-devils appeared by my side in a flash. They surrounded me on the couch, while Nathan was blinking. When his eyes reopened he gasped at the two naked beauties in front of him.
The two women were beautiful, naked, and stared at him coldly. After studying him silently for a moment they turned to me and as they did they visibly warmed, their eyes widening and fawning smiles pulling their ruby red lips upwards. The smiles were genuine, and I could feel their joy at having been selected by me to come here and serve me directly. I smiled and spread my arms around the two women. They giggled and snuggled up closer to me.
"Nathan... It's time that you met some of the others who worship me." I explained, allowing Ariel and Jezebel to learn Nathan's name, though neither of the women cared. I knew what the women liked and it wasn't Nathan, who was a handsome man but was a bit too scrawny for their tastes. And curiously enough it was a pure coincidence that I was actually far more their preferred type of man, someone large and with powerful muscles, even without my powers aiding me.
"The two gorgeous women beside me are Ariel and Jezebel. They are two angels of beauty." I told him, lying. The women heard my lie, but they didn't register any surprise despite what I had just said. That was handy for me, as I was busy elsewhere and my full attention wasn't on the scene before me.
"Angels are direct servants of the gods, incredibly powerful beings who are blessed by the gods and bestowed with immortality and a number of other powers related to both the god they serve, and their own spheres of influence." I explained, speaking surprisingly honestly despite the lie that I had started this off with. Nathan's eyes widened as he absorbed what I said. He was silent for a moment before asking me a pair of valuable questions.
"Althos... Why are they here? Why do you want me to meet them?" He asked, earnestly curious, even though he was visibly humbly by their presence. At this point my devilish worshipers began to run their hands along my chest, finding it far more interesting than the insignificant mortal whose dream they had been brought too. I allowed the two to have their fun.
"They are here, Nathan, because I seek worshipers. I seek worshipers... everywhere, which includes on this world. And I intend for you to create a cult devoted to me. And these two angels are going to help." I revealed, speaking gently. This was news to the devils, but neither of them objected. I knew they wouldn't. I was at least capable of reading them to that extent.
I was a god of many things and I didn't love forcing people to do things against their wills, but I was more than capable of reading someone to the extent that I needed to read them to know what my worshipers were willing to do. Ariel and Jezebel would have been happy serving me however I wished. And Nathan wasn't dissimilar, though he lacked the fanaticism that devils were capable of and were known for, and that the lust devils exhibited felt towards me.
That made sense as he had only just met me, but I had resurrected Ariel and Jezebel. They actually owed me their lives in as real a way as someone could.
The two beauties were listening to me and I felt their acceptance of my commands in their hearts. My empathy was powerful enough that I could understand the truth behind the emotions of every being, even extraplanar entities, without any doubts or concerns. I knew that to them, in their hearts, I was a tyrant-god and that was what they wanted me to be. Devils innately sought to serve the strong, and a god of tyrants as powerful as anything that they could imagine.
"Nathan... I am going to make you someone important. You are going to be one of my head priests, and I will give you power and powers that fit you and allow you to serve me more effectively." I told the human, whose eyes widened in awe at my words. He was extremely willing to serve me, and I knew that that'd persist even when he left this dream.
I pointed at the human and began to boost his charisma. His charisma was, rather unsurprisingly, his highest stat, and I went ahead and boosted it significantly to give him a serious increase to his ability to recruit people. He shivered as his soul was touched by my powers, and as his stats were buffed thanks to my ability as a lesser god. I also went ahead and boosted his intelligence, not his lowest stat but one of them, which would do many things but most notably it'd give him an improved ability to remember his lines as intelligence and memory were linked.
Tears began to stream down the eyes of the mortal man. It wasn't a deluge of tears, but it was a constant stream. The man was overwhelmed, and he was grateful to me. I chuckled and also continued to speak.
"Nathan... As a god I possess many powers. And I possess a far greater number of servants than you could ever imagine. I seek for all to worship me. I seek to be known to all. You will help me achieve my goals and in turn I shall help you with yours." I tell the man, smiling at him.
"You shall lead and create a cult that worships me as a god of creation and the arts. And in exchange for your worship and service, I shall make you a truly legendary actor." I tell Nathan, not actually thinking that I'd just take over his life. I had the power to elevate his skills in his chosen field and I could easily utilize my abilities to make him the best actor in this world. If he served me faithfully I'd be more than happy to use my powers to make him better at his job, which would help me anyway since the more famous he was the easier it'd be for this cult to infect the Htraean art community.
My hand was still pointed at Nathan. And a second after I finished speaking, a symbol appeared on his shirt. This was the Rainbow Emblem, the symbol I created mere minutes ago. The symbol warmed him and when he felt it first appear he gasped. I chuckled as he looked downwards, where he felt the warmth emanate from.
"That is the symbol of the cult you shall start. I am bestowing you with the power to create copies of it, and it itself is not without... Power. But that is for you to discover." I tell the man, speaking cryptically all while smiling.
I don't speak for a moment, but I am not silent either. Instead my next messages are for the siblings beside me. I don't turn as I speak, instead I merely lean back and begin to ready myself to teleport the siblings to Nathan's home.
"Your duty is to seduce the man and to appear to the public as a doting wife. I want you to keep Nathan under control and to keep him focused." I tell Ariel, my mind connecting with hers and forming a link through which we can speak.
"Your duty is to manage the cult. When it is fully created I shall send you all some funds, among other things. Your true duty however is more important than that of either Nathan or Ariel... I am going to create a portal to Infernius in a place you shall purchase. When I create that portal you and a few other devils shall be tasked with managing it." I explain, speaking to Jezebel.
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I am going to become an archdevil soon. And before I do I want to begin to place devilish infrastructure in the worlds I can influence. A portal to Infernius is the perfect piece of devilish infrastructure for me to begin with, because I have territory in both the mortal dimension and Infernius, as well as followers in both dimensions who can guard and manage such portals. Even in other dreams I'm currently in I'm laying the groundwork for portals to Infernius.
A portal to Infernius is also perfect because devils are loyal and fierce enough to protect such places, and the devils under my control as of right now are also happy to enter the dimension of mortals and have a chance to begin to sway souls towards being lawful evil. It's time that I begin to connect the different dimensions I have influence over.
I would continue to speak to Nathan for a few more minutes, at least minutes in the dimension of dreams. Time in the dream dimension wasn't quite the same as time in the mortal plane. But eventually the man began to awaken, and as he did I teleported the devilish siblings I had recruited to his apartment in Htrea. They'd wake up quite soon. I bid the man adieu and I told him I'd watch him carefully. He smiled at me as he awoke.