"You said before you did not have any gods. Because of this, I would instead like to make contact with your strongest ‘blessed’."

The woman steps forward again. "Sir, that, uh, was the strongest hero…"

"Very well then. Since he had no noble soul, he could not have been the one to shape the vis in this dimension. But that alone tells me there is in fact a god here. Perhaps this is a job for the Deity Hammer." I open a flux rift to my study and have Winter carry out the Deity Hammer to the street. "Whatever god is listening, I suggest you come down now before this thing obliterated you." Nothing happens for about 5 minutes. Very well. "In that case, why don’t I simply begin charging it here? Nothing here can stop me. Praetors, protect me while I power up the device." I anchor the Deity Hammer to the street and begin charging it as the praetors and my companions keep people away from me.

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A few hours after I’ve started the charging process, the sun sets behind a skyscraper. I notice them that military vehicles are approaching, along with several individuals dressed similarly to Muon. Some arrive with the military, and some appear from alleyways and rooftops, presumably having been watching from afar until now. The praetors stand firm, denying the militiamen access. "Drop your weapons and stand down, now!" A soldier barks. The praetors do not. When the soldiers shoot at them, they find their bullets ting helplessly against the armor of my protectors. Thaumium metal is incredibly strong, as are all my magical creations. When they realize bullets won’t work, they fall back to their trucks and send out the "blessed heroes" I was told about. I use to be sick a comic book nerd, but now that I find myself in a world with actual superheroes, I don’t care. I surprise myself. As the heroes’ hands start to cackle with energy and they crack their knuckles, the other blessed that did not come with the military move to stand in their way.

"You’re not going any further," says a woman in a red mask. "This man took down Muon! That bastard was way out of line. As far as we’re concerned, he’s with us." She draws a revolver and points it at my would-be assailants. Several other blessed stand beside her. I telepathically signal for my praetors to let the natives of this dimension fight each other as to not have any unnecessary losses on our side. It turns out to be a good call. As soon as they withdraw, a massive battle between the two sides breaks out. It seems at first as if my protectors have the upper hand, but one of the military hummers deploys some sort of sonic weapon that incapacitates my benefactors. Inconvenient.

"This is your only warning. Do not impede my work." All heads turn towards me. They do not listen, and continue their approach. So be it. "Winter, kill anyone who tries to attack me or the Deity Hammer." Winter’s massive mechanical figure steps between my enemies and myself. One daring hero attempts to fight him, but even the blessed’s superhuman strength cannot best the sheer thaumaturgical might of a 9-foot tall sentient golem. Some of the soldiers speak into a radio, and soon enough the hostile blessed and government trucks take their leave.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The now capable heroes that protected me step towards me. I signal for Winter to stand down, and his eyes flash red in compliance. "We want answers," says the woman in the red mask. "We just protected your ass from those fucking rat g-men. I think it’s only fair you tell us what you’re doing and where you came from."

I slowly turn my head towards her, my palms still placed in the slots of the Deity Hammer. "I’m here to kill your god," I say. She looks confused.

"What? You mean God? Jesus? That sort of thing?"

"No, but that God is real. I’m talking about whatever god wove the magic in this dimension in such a way that it gave birth to superheroes."

"We’re still not really sure what you mean… wait, does this mean when that thing fires, every blessed in the world will lose their powers?" She asks frantically.

"Most likely, unless the deity constructed some sort of device to maintain it in their absence. I doubt that, though. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only one capable of doing such a thing." The heroes look at each other with a concerned air around them. "It’s almost showtime. Watch closely."

The moon is directly above us in the sky. After another 15 minutes of charging, the Deity Hammer begins whirring and I yell at everyone to get back. I watch as the still beautiful stream of chromatic light ejects itself from the tall shaft and pierce the space that separates our current plane from any higher or lower planes. The position of the moon makes it look like the hammer has completely shattered it. Eventually, the loud hum and stream of light come to a halt.

As I expected, a smoking figure had fallen out of the now-closed flux rift. When it hits the ground, all the heroes gasp. I have the praetors bring the corpse to me. At a glance, it appears to be a middle-aged man with a mustache and red-checkered clothing, including a fedora of the same pattern. He must have been quite mad.

As I extract his soul, I note that it is significantly more potent than most other noble souls I have collected. This should bring the amount of souls that I need to power the Gate of Heaven to 94%. One more excursion and all of our hard work will finally pay off. One more thing, however…

"Excuse me," I ask the woman in the red mask, who is still gawking at the corpse. "This may sound like an odd question, but… would you happen to be from another world?" Her head darts towards me. She pulls out her gun and points it at my head. All of my praetors draw their swords at her.

"And how the fuck would you know that?" She asks. I can’t help but laugh. I laugh hard and uncontrollably.

"I see. Fate has a way of bringing people together. I believe someone from a piece of fiction I once enjoyed called it ‘gravity’. Many statistically improbable things have happened on my journey. This is one of them. I offer you a proposal. This god is the one that summoned you here." I gesture to the corpse. "He unjustly threw your judgement day out of line, and now your soul is imperiled for it. I offer you a chance at reaching Heaven with myself and my companions. What do you say?" I extend my hand. She puts her gun away.

"I’ve never believed all of that Christianity stuff. You guys have fun on your insane crusade." Her answer deeply disappoints me.

I pull her close enough so that my speech device is directly next to her ear and whisper, "That is your choice, but I strongly suggest you reconsider." At this, I open a flux rift back to the tower and signal for everyone to return. As we leave, I look back through the rift to see the woman scratching her chin as it closes without a trace.