(Aden's P.O.V)

"Are you ready?"

I asked Gaea who was busy floating in the air above the Sconiad island. My fingers moved over the holographic keyboard hovering over the massive console attached to the Sconiad tower.

I was inputting some basic directives. Hard coding data into a compressed packet of information, observation and solutions on how to make life much better for the lives that were now depending on me for sustenance. Here's the thing, humanity destroys. The steps that mankind had taken over the last 2 centuries or so were crazy. A society backed by industrial revolution but missing one key factor.

A strong foundation. That was the reason why Earth was or rather had been on a slow trek to death. Climate change being the most impactful consequence of running before we could walk. Humanity was also responsible for why so many species had gone extinct, lost to the annals of history. I did NOT want that to happen to my realm. Gaea could probably handle it though, she was a conscious world.

So you could say, the directives I was feeding into her were a set of rules and guidelines to ensure that humanity did not get too carried away with innovation and end up destroying everything I had built.

"This feels so freeing yet so narrow at the same time. What a strange feeling."

Her voice reached me from everywhere.

"Yeah I bet it does."

She had chosen a completely blue like form, choosing to look like Cortana rather than the exotic beauty of her mental projection's form. The latter was her true self, given substance. It was glorious but dangerous as well.

I hadn't known it but after asking her why she had insisted in choosing an underwhelming clear blue instead of how she viewed herself, her answer had been enlightening.

"Just as you, Yaotl, Vaatu and Michael are wary to show your true forms to mortals, my true form would break their minds. I estimate a 98% likelihood that anyone who sees me in that form would end up with their spirits enslaved to my will."

She still looked gorgeous though. I wonder, is beauty somehow synonymous with power? More questions for when I don't have over a million things hanging over my head. My flame god form was just beginning it's announcement to the EUC and luckily I was already wrapping up everything I needed to wrap up so that the new changes would take effect the minute I stopped my announcement.

(Residential Area)

In each of the billion plus complexes housing every human, from a newborn to a senior citizen, a hologram with the Avatar symbol appeared.

On the outside, the hologram took effect as massive display above the EUC building and could be seen from hundreds of thousands away. Space seemed to impose the size of the hologram evenly throughout everywhere to the point where the size didn't change whether you were 2 feet away or a million miles away.

Humanity as a whole tuned in to see what would happen next.

The logo which was a collage of different colors that managed to communicate the feeling of perfect balance to everyone's mind, changed into a feed showing all the government leaders barring the ones who had died during Savage's Attack.

(The EUC)

"Order."

Luthor called out, his voice reaching each representative of the previous nations of earth. 'Previous' because to me, segregation meant entitlement which led to extreme nationalism which led to conflict down the line. Fuck that political bullshit.

Luthor ran his gaze around the whispering room. These politicians were nervous at my presence because they knew, democracy, laws and international relations would do them no good here. They didn't have nukes to bargain or threaten me with. I WAS the leader of this world. And it brought me endless elation to see these greedy men and women who had excelled at keeping the gap between the rich and poor caught so off guard by me.

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"Approximately 6 hours ago, earth faced it's greatest calamity. A crisis which we all felt would end when those who we call our heroes saved us." Luthor sighed.

"No one could have anticipated such a drastic turn of events. The Crisis changed from what would have been a tragedy to a living nightmare."

He went silent, as if processing what he had said.

"Earth is gone."

A somber mood gripped the whole room. Some of them were even shedding tears.

"But not all is lost. What is a Kingdom? Is it the land or the people? The people are what make it all move. A king cannot rule rocks, trees and soil. The people are the beating heart."

His words seemed to alleviate the negative feelings in everyone's heart.

"And so we will persevere. Just like our ancestors have endured for generations, mankind's story does not end with us. We will rise up once again. A new start." He looked up at me and nodded. What an intro.

"A new beginning."

I added, rising up from my throne, set above the Secretary's chair. My body must have cut an impressive figure. Dressed in a long flowing robe with it's sleeves cut, standing head and shoulder above everyone else and my skin glowing golden. They all sat up straighter, eyes comically wide with awe.

I did not need to add any effects to the glow that suffused the entire room, it just happened naturally. My lesser divinities working through the flame god form to display various effects. The light touched upon them and healed their broken souls and weary bodies. I held nothing but contempt for politicians but my compassion and kindness for those who were hurting outweighed that.

"The future is never written in stone. Your fate is yours to carve. No one can take that right from you, not anymore at least."

I stopped in midair, standing on nothing yet completely sturdy.

"Let me officially welcome you all to my paradise."

I spread out my arms and allowed more of the light to leak out.

Gasps rang out through the whole room.

"Kami..."

The Japanese representative whispered to himself and I immediately begun to sense a torrential downpour of faith energy get funneled into my core. Speaking of which, there wasn't a tab to show me how much faith energy I had. My reserves were a mystery.

I cleared my throat.

"When calamity struck, your gods abandoned you. They were not fast enough to stop the servant of the god of evil from taking everything you have ever cared for, away from you."

"I heard your plea. Your souls, your futures calling out to me. To save you and what you hold dear. And so I did. Not out of duty, or out of a need to be worshipped but because just as you believe in gods, I chose to believe in humanity. To believe in your complex moral attunements. To accept the bad and the good and seek to preserve this special thing you have been gifted. LIFE."

The entire room was almost blinding as my majesty beared down on them. My lesser divinities were feeding on the belief I was gaining. The trust these people looked to me with.

"No more shall people be homeless. No more shall sickness be a problem, no more shall pain take a hold of you and lead you down a path of self destruction. No more shall others hurt you because of jealousy, sadism or running away from their own pain. I bring with me the promise of a true paradise."

They were entranced by now. I could feel their souls resonate with my words. Their hearts believed, their minds released dopamine from the anticipation of satisfaction. I had them right where I needed them. In the palm of my hand.

"No more shall you struggle to find food, shelter and...pleasure." the last word was said with a sinful expression on my face.

"I encourage freedom, love, care. You can choose to be who you want, however you want. Work towards your goals and you will achieve more than just survival..."

I held out my palm, showing them a swirling ball of spirit energy, roiling around in my hand.

"you will achieve fulfillment. You will achieve uniqueness, power, you will achieve Greatness. "

Their eyes stared at the power I held in my hand almost obsessively.

I closed my fingers into a fist and absorbed the spirit energy into me. Everyone blinked, some gulping in greediness at what I had just displayed. A look at Luthor's face and he knew exactly what I had done and why I had done it. I had chained humanity to me.

My reasoning was simple. Humanity is an unsatisfied, conflict ridden species who turned out the way they did because of how evolution works. The need to keep moving is what separates them from any other creature.

With nothing much to do inside my realm, the fear of survival dramatically decreased and having access to technology greater than what they had, they would be bored and someone bored is arguably even more dangerous than someone determined.

So I settled on a 'kill 2 birds with one stone' idea.

I would introduce something to keep them occupied, a rare chance at learning a power system and gaining new abilities.I was going to turn humanity into a cultivator race. Why? Easy. I knew the next step to elevating Gaea to the next level. To a Realm that spanned the lengths of the universe.

And that next step was creating a sapient species that was native to the realm itself. Basically, I was going to use humanity's innovative minds to refine the genetic make up of the energy intensive Quintes. To make them better in all possible ways by observing how humans used spirit energy.

When I was done, Quintes would be the most powerful race ever and I...I would truly stand above it all. I remember the mission the system had given me. To be above it all. Above all the deities, above all the cosmic beings, above the Overvoid. But for all that to happen, my realm needed to be upgraded further. Gaea was my strongest asset.

All that was far off mind you but the first step is always the hardest and I had done more than take the first step...I was already halfway there.