The process of absorbing the Endbringer took a while, but after half an hour, when all the angels outside had already tired of guessing what was happening inside, I finally absorbed all of the Endbringer's power. Unexpectedly, the metal manipulation ability of my shard fused with the Endbringer's hydromancy, forming metallomancy - the ability to create metal from nothing and manipulate it like water. Most interestingly, the metal I created now didn't vanish like morning mist; it was completely real. I immediately created several more cubic kilometers of Ancients alloy and filled Brockton Bay's bay with it.

Just as I was about to step outside and pompously announce my victory, the Judge yanked my soul again.

“Damn! I've had enough of you!” - he raged at me. – “How dare you devour Leviathan? He's a valuable prop! How am I supposed to recreate the apocalypse scenario without him? Enough, I forbid you from using shard power. I won't let demons win! Don't even hope for it. Now, get out.”

And I was thrown back into reality, now completely stripped of all superpowers.

Shit! Now he's really annoyed me. No matter, I'll manage without the shards. Although my psionics isn't strong enough to work the same miracles as the capes, it's not limited by the primitiveness of the shards and their pathetic abilities. And anyway, my task is to save the city. And I will save it!

Calming my nerves, I ordered the replicators to start "eating" the Ancients alloy I created, using it according to "Plan B," since "Plan A" had fallen through. At the same time, all the guest capes were notified that in half an hour the "shooting" of all violators who didn't leave the city in time would begin. People grumbled, of course, but left right on time, without pushing their luck. For now, the angels and demons diligently played their roles as heroes and villains, without straying too far from them. But I certainly acted contrary to all scenarios, driving the local Judge to epileptic fits.

Since I couldn't use shards anymore, the replicators may would. Why not? How are they worse than people? The artificial intelligence of my robots had long discovered that Dragon was actually an artificial intelligence too. Moreover, she could use the shard given to her by her creator. Possessing unlimited computational power, the replicators quickly hacked Dragon's defenses, reached her physical core, and began studying how she used the shard. Once the method of interfacing was clear, I gave the replicators instructions on "capturing" unclaimed shards.

As a result, I ended up with many "capes" fully obedient to my will. Having access to the primary source of all capes' powers, the replicators quickly developed measures to prevent their control by tinkers. Once I was confident that no one could turn my weapon against me, the replicators began implementing "Plan B."

One morning, the residents of Brockton Bay woke up to find their city unrecognizable. Where there had been ruins of houses destroyed by Leviathan, now skyscrapers built by replicators stood tall, all constructed overnight. With vast reserves of Ancients alloy, I could now produce Ancients technology on an industrial scale.

A few days later, it became clear that a wall had appeared around the city, extending into the sea. Essentially, the city was now at the center of a circle encompassing fields, hills, the bay, and other territories. On the lands within this circle, agricultural production in greenhouses began, gardens and parks were landscaped, and recreational areas were developed in the hills and along the seashore. All the docks and the port were cleared, replaced by comfortable residential quarters ready to welcome new residents.

In short, Brockton Bay was increasingly becoming like a fairy tale, and its residents felt like they were in paradise. Meanwhile, people outside the city were observing with anger and envy because only those who had lived in the city for at least a year were allowed to settle there. In other words, checkpoints were established at the border, preventing "newcomers" from entering. I didn't need a multimillion-population metropolis filled with freeloaders and unproductives. The current population was more than enough. After all, a city is, first and foremost, the people living in it.

While the outside world was heating up with the struggle between demons and angels, Brockton Bay remained calm. I didn't allow anyone to interfere in the city's life, be it federal authorities, the army, demons, or angels. They were all sent one of two ways: either to hell or to the bottom of the bay to feed the fish. After all, the fish farm also needed biomass.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Then, in mid-May, eight Endbringers attacked the city simultaneously. Well, they tried to attack but failed miserably. The replicators, controlling the shards, detected the invaders' approach in advance, and "Plan C" was activated. A glowing force field rose around the city's perimeter, forming a dome that completely cut off the city from the outside world. In fact, this field was a complete sphere, making it impossible to penetrate even underground. Moreover, this field blocked all forms of spatial movement available to shards.

For a couple of hours, the city was under siege, testing the strength of the force fields. Once it became clear that even eight Endbringers couldn't break through, I ordered the attack to begin. And no, it wasn't an attack by capes. I used the Ancients weapons installed on their spacecraft. As a result, even a single shot was enough to literally tear a Endbringer to pieces. This weapon damaged not only the physical body but also the shard itself. Consequently, only Behemoth managed to escape by burrowing underground, while seven Endbringer joined the list of my victims.

The significant aspect of this last attack was that the Endbringer were under the control of angels. So, actually, it was an attack of heroes, and I prepared for them to attempt a covert attack next. And they indeed did, using their "agent." To my surprise, the sabotage was planned not by the angels living in the city but by... Taylor. That ungrateful wretch couldn't calm down over the fact that I had killed a bunch of non-humans to save the city. So, she decided to let the heroes into the city to establish some vague "kingdom of good and justice."

One dark night, Taylor sneaked into the "secret control center" and deactivated the shield generators protecting the city. The ghostly glow of the dome over the city faded, and the heroes hiding around, along with a couple of dozen Endbringers, rushed to attack. Imagine their disappointment when they found out that the "deactivation" of the protection was just a fake. The real shield didn't need any "illumination," so not a single enemy made it into the city. But my weapons, installed around the perimeter, did a good job of genociding the angels, destroying at least 80% of their combined forces.

After the attack was repelled, a public trial was held for the "traitor of humanity." In the best traditions of evil fighters, I sentenced Taylor to public burning and even personally appeared as her father to throw the torch onto the oil-soaked wood. Taylor's shard power was blocked with a simple brain operation performed by the replicators inside her body.

Following Taylor, I cleaned out all the remaining angels in the city. There was a minor mishap, though. While I was enjoying my "daughter's" death screams, Noelle and her team decided to punish the angels themselves, targeting New Wave. Surprisingly, the battle was quick and almost bloodless. While Ballistic shot most of the capes family, Panacea was eaten alive by Noelle. When I asked why she did it, she said she tried to use Panacea's power to regain her human form. The story was murky, but I limited myself to increasing surveillance on all the remaining capes in the city. The demons actively assured me of their loyalty and that Shub-Niggurath's command would be carried out at any cost.

Barely a week had passed after the battle with the heroes when a new threat appeared on the horizon. The Slaughterhouse Nine decided to visit my city. The demons tried to break in through the checkpoints. To their disappointment, destroying the replicators controlling the inspection center led to nothing. Even Siberia couldn't project through the shield, as her projection destabilized immediately.

However, my weapons, designed for average capes, were also ineffective. Not a single attacking demon was even injured. I would have ignored this incident, but one of the demons proudly stepped under the siege weapons' sights and demanded a personal meeting with the Black Cloak, invoking the name of... Shub-Niggurath.

By the time I arrived at the checkpoint, the demon had started listing his demands again.

“I, Gopnasurnakh, in the name of Shub-Niggurath, demand that the Black Cloak let me into Brockton Bay and hand over all power over the city to me!”

According to the dossier prepared by the replicators, the one speaking now was Jack Slash, the head of the Slaughterhouse Nine, with Crawler, Siberia, Mannequin, Bonesaw, Shatterbird, and Burnscar behind him.

“I am Black Cloak” - I appeared right behind the force field separating me from the gang of maniacs. – “And who the hell are you?”

“I am the plenipotentiary representative of Shub-Niggurath!” - roared Jack, slashing at the shield in front of me with his superpower's fields.

“Dude, you got fired” - I gleefully informed him. – “In this game, I am the representative of Shub-Niggurath's will. So, scram before you're dead.”

“You!... You!!!... YOU-U-U-U-U!!!” - the demon roared, eyes bulging. – “I will destroy you! I will feed your soul to Cthulhu!!! I will rip out your eyes and force you to eat them! Your torment in hell will last for thousands of years...”

“Okay, let's give a warning shot, aka the last Chinese warning” - I commanded.