Strategic Thinking

As a Living God, I had a quirky relationship with many things. I did not need to eat, sleep, or even blink, though I at least feigned doing all of those things. And so the second day of my true life, my life as a Living God, felt incredibly long. Nevertheless, time slowly but surely advanced.

Hours after I planted agents across the planet the day had come to an end. I found myself back in my mansion, my allies and I gathered around the large pool next to my home. This seemed to be a spot that we all quite liked.

Rebeza was gracefully swimming in the beautiful pool, and I lazily watched her. I was seated in a cozy seat overlooking the place. Titania was seated next to me, enjoying the warm transition period between the day and the night. Imani was lounging on a floatation device near the shallow end of the pool. Cecilia was standing over a grill and was cooking some burgers. The scene was a familiar one, but one that I quite liked.

Servitors were here as well. The beautiful and handsome creatures mixed quite well with the other servants who did the day-to-day housekeeping needed to maintain the mansion. The others had been surprised when I had introduced both Rebeza and the servitors I had created, but they hadn't been overly surprised. They, in their fanaticism, were aware of my potent might and my ability to attract a range of allies. My acceptance of Rebeza had gone a long way towards making her an acceptable ally, though her own beauty also helped there.

While I watched the scene unfolding before me I quietly luxuriated in the potent sensations of the activities my followers throughout the world were undertaking in my name. I sensed a litany of essence and power directed towards me flowing into my metaphysical veins. I sensed everything from corruption spreading in places like Los Angeles and Santiago, to devotion funneling pleasure and the energy of a Grand Adonis into me from the Middle East. It all felt extremely good, and it made me want to do nothing more than laze around my pool.

The power flowing into me was tremendous, due to the sheer array of power sources that were active all at once. I had fully maximized every power source, from my methods of acquiring essence to the potency of each instance of a domain of mine occurring throughout a range as vast as the multiverse. Because of this, I was acquiring power at a truly fast rate, enough to feel even my Grand Adonis abilities already increasing in scale.

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Of all of my power types, the Grand Adonis powers that I possessed were some of my most odd. Some of them were entirely focused on sexual things, such as the ability to have sex with someone and share copies of my powers with them, while others were decidedly less sexual. As a Grand Adonis, I had a litany of standard abilities such as a sort of flat-out immunity to harm and super speed that were truly mundane, even if they operated on scales that were legitimately incredible.

I was fond of my Grand Adonis powers, though certain aspects of them were less pleasant than others. I was capable of bestowing an unbelievable amount of pleasure, with a thought, but in turn, any and all sex I had was so unbelievably ecstatic to my partners that it made them fill with loyalty to me. This was further magnified by my status as the lord of sex, which was a title that independently amplified my sexual skills and was one of the powers I had bestowed upon myself earlier today.

Due to the mind and soul-altering nature of laying with me, I felt the need to make sure anyone I laid with knew what was going to occur ahead of time. Nevertheless, this was a potent thing since any sex I had also empowered me far more dramatically than most other sources of power would.

That said, some of the powers I possessed purely due to my nature as a Grand Adonis were incredible. I could forcibly manifest spiritual avatars for any inanimate object and even for non-intelligent animate objects such as stars, black holes, and other cosmic bodies. Due to my powers as the Anael and the Grand Adonis, or even my nature as a Living Hyperion and an Archdemon I could then fill the avatars with loyalty towards me and thus acquire the object's assistance and servitude.

That itself came with various advantages, depending on what sort of object I had just taken given a spiritual avatar. If I did it with an ocean I could control the ocean through its avatar, if I did it with a building I could control the build through the avatar, and so on.

Being a Grand Adonis was remarkably powerful, though it was all up to me to decide how to actually use these powers.

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"What's on your mind?" A voice asked me even as I mused internally about my powers. I turned in the direction of the voice and was pleasantly surprised to see Rebeza seated next to me. She was also in the pool. Rebeza was making use of "True Shifting" due to her nature as a dark bride. I chuckled and kissed her cheek, before beginning to reply to her question.

"I was considering my various powers." I explained, even as I utilized my "Creation" ability to create an apple in the palm of my hand. The object was a real one complete with seeds that if planted would grow into an apple tree. Rebeza gazed at the object and chuckled.

"I see. Have you given much thought to your nature as a Grand Adonis? Due to your innate nature as a Living God, it's somehow a title of secondary importance, but it's not an unimportant title or facet of your powers." She remarked, curiously. I nodded in response to her question and took a bite out of the apple before beginning to speak.

"I actually have. And it's... frankly, it's a hell of a font of power." I admitted, appreciating that reality but also being aware of how it touched and flavored any actions I took from this point on. That reality was reinforced now that I was more seriously considering each font of power I had made a part of myself. Rebeza, and Titania, both nodded when I said this.

"Your powers are going to make you an attractive prospect, as well as a target. Those who target you are foolish individuals but they will target you nonetheless." Titania said, not bothering to acknowledge Rebeza. I wasn't in the habit of suppressing the free will of my allies, especially trusted ones like Titania, so I was permitting her to feel less than enthused about Rebeza. If I had wanted to I could have suppressed that, but I didn't want to do something so needless. Rebeza continued to nod when Titania spoke, acknowledging the truth in her words.

"She's right. Even with the resources at your disposal, and the powers you command, there are ambitious, stupid, and delusional people who feel that they can take you on. When your presence is revealed to the greater omniverse there will be factions that seek to hurt you." Rebeza added, firmly.

"How you deal with them, and how you choose to come out to the worlds beyond Earth, is up to you. That said... I recommend you do what I did. Gather up a harem. My harem includes incredibly powerful women, which is part of why I was never recaptured by angels in the wake of my fall from grace. It is also a part of my... dowry to you." Rebeza told me, her smile turning into a smirk. Titania chuckled at that and nodded before beginning to speak.

"That's... actually not a bad idea. Though I'd personally take it a step farther than what Rebeza has suggested. I say that you should build up your own empire. It's true that building up an empire of yours is scary and would draw attention to yourself, it'd also make it clear that you intend to be a power in your own right. Plus in building up legions of followers you gain warriors who'd be willing to fight and die for you." Titania told me, speaking seriously for a moment.

"Your status as a Living God and Omega Lord carries significant power and indicates that you are the biggest threat to the omniversal status quo in existence. And every passing second you grow in power. The longer you exist, the less likely enemies will be to attempt to stand up to you." Titania explained, her mind having been filled with greater and greater knowledge during the time between me recruiting the warden and now.

"All of that is true, and is why I don't disagree with Titania. That said, building an empire is quite tough. Fortunately, you could do something else... You could coopt existing empires." Rebeza suggested, slyly. Titania smirked at this suggestion and waited for Rebeza to expand on her thoughts which surprised the potent archdemoness a little.

"Hmm... No commentary? Interesting..." Rebeza began, causing Titania to laugh quietly. I could slowly sense Titania becoming more open-minded towards the surprisingly political archdemoness.

"There are various empires in existence, even in this multiverse, that could do with some corruption. Off the top of my head the empire of Kleosheba the ascendant queen of desire, and the Empire of Etherscape come to mind." Rebeza revealed, causing my mind to fill with memories and knowledge she had of both empires. As it did I began to smirk.

"A queen of a vast multi-universal empire who solely desires to revel in lust and the power of desire... What an ideal target." I proclaimed, aware that in the case of dealing with her the hardest part would be just getting to stand in front of her unless I simply utilized my vast powers to do so.

"And Etherscape... I am already a Nova. Becoming their emperor might be fun." I uttered, aware that with a single, simple usage of "Planeswalker" I could effortlessly visit the divided and leaderless empire. Etherscape was a place of vast lusts, unfettered ambition, and incredible greed. Nevertheless, those weren't the only places for me to consider. One of the rare exiles of the empire had come to Earth and posted information about it while pretending it was fictional, and I had opted to give myself the powers those who hailed from it might have.

Some of the powers were actually very interesting. Annoyingly, the more interesting ones tended to be related to sex, such as a power that allowed me to recharge the special energy resources, such as magical energy, or even the ether, of anyone I had sex with, but I could also do other things now. I could create objects out of ether, the powerful energy source which suffuses Etherscape, and I could manipulate technology with my mind, which were non-sexual and very interesting powers.

"There's also the possibility of him just forming his own empire that is distinctly his, Rebeza. His status as the Grand Adonis makes him an irresistible prospect for many powerful women. If he builds up a harem he could use the combined resources it provides him to begin an empire all his own." Titania countered, having clearly considered this on her own.

"There are women all over the omniverse who would be open to wedding someone who was both an Anael and a Grand Adonis. An overgod of love and happiness is a partner that most anyone would jump at the chance to marry." Titania added, aware of the truth of her words. And that was before considering my nature as a Living God, which would only increase my attractiveness as a partner to most wise and powerful beings.

"I could also just take control of other worlds." I mentioned, opting to interject for the first time in a little bit. This caused the eyes of my companions to turn to me, curiously.

"Yeah... I could just take control of other planets. I could utilize my own power, be it my personal power or my surprisingly vast resources, to take over other worlds." I stated, bluntly. This, due to my nature as a largely indirect individual, caught my companions off guard. I chuckled as I watched them consider my words.

"I don't need brides to build an empire. Now... I don't especially want this route, but I am simply stating that my power allows me to easily take over vast swathes of territory. The idea that I need the power or resources of anyone else to rule is an idea that is not based in reality." I uttered, quietly. These words, much firmer than my usual words, caused both of my brides to look at me apologetically. Curiously, that wasn't the only emotion either of them felt.

I had absolute empathy and was deeply attuned to Titania and Rebeza specifically. Both of the women at my side felt a sort of heat due to my words and the casual reminder that my power was my own. I was not powerful due to my connections to others, I was powerful because of my innate nature as a Living God, and hearing me remind them of that stoked a fire in them. I could see the blush creeping across their cheeks, and could hear their blood rushing to sensitive places.

"I... I do agree with the assessment that the two of you share. There is wisdom in me moving to truly create my own omniversal faction, a legitimate empire of my own." I stated, aware of the power of their words and the knowledge that if I didn't do something analogous to that I'd only be ensuring that I and my allies were the targets of hostility, ignorance, and fear.

In creating an empire and gaining the recognition of other forces and empires I'd be able to persuade those who fear me solely due to my origins that they shouldn't. I'd also be able to expand my influence across greater and greater spaces. The truth was that the creation of an empire was an ambitious but exciting prospect. And one that I was just now fully committing myself to.

There existed an infinite multitude of worlds beyond Earth. Not all of them contained life, but all of them had resources that could be utilized, that could be extracted, and that could be owned. I... could take them all. And in the depths of my heart, I knew that I had probably always wanted to take them all, ever since I first learned of these powers.

As a child, I had had virtually nothing. Now that I was an adult I had the ability to take... many things. And in doing so I could make them better. I could use my intelligence and my wisdom to be a ruler deserving of the authority and privilege that came with being a ruler. I could change things for the better, even while living a life of luxury. I could actually have it all! I... would have it all.

And so on my second day as a Living God, minutes after the sun had set, I committed myself to my goals; to the building of an empire, and to gaining even grander power. I would build an empire made up of my own conquests, and the integrated empires of others such as Etherscape and the lust-based empire of Kleosheba.

Now armed with a goal, I was far more dangerous than I had previously been. And I was determined to act upon my goals and to advance my own plots ever so slightly.