I drew out a full Heroic Measure of power from the Hero core. As it entered my body, I turned it to qi, my ego expressed in the power of Possibility. As it left my body into the space before us, I wrapped it around a strand of Apocalypse mana. Then I increased my presence in the qi before me until it took my form, with the added demonic features of horns, wings, and tail.
Finally, I Ascended my new demon body. Dual Ascension is hard, even for me. I had to meld the concept of Apocalypse with my own self image. It helped when I realized that part of me longed for an Apocalypse. That was why I had agreed to the Hero gig in the first place. I wanted the desperate struggle, the constant danger, and the ability to blow things up without fear of repercussions. I wanted to see the world burn.
The only reason this was possible was because I had my own internal Laws, including that of Creation. I was able to make myself a new body because of the Creator Law, and was able to Ascend it because I was my own world, and could thus make an Aspect of me.
Finally, it was done. Dual Ascension apparently takes a whole lot more magic power than a normal one, as I noticed that I was down to only three Heroic Measures in my core again. My demon body was now a Demon King, a being that had Ascended to godhood. The new body had an instinct and desire to destroy everything. I would have to find an outlet for that.
Diamond and Robin stared, their gazes moving from my flesh body to my demon body. "What the heck is going on!" "Why are there two of you?"
I chuckled. "I created a Hell, and didn't want to have to constantly commute there or have a proxy ruler. So I created a second body for myself. I am the Hero and a Demon King, the Lord of Heaven and Hell. I need two bodies to express my duality, and to be able to take care of both my worlds."
The girls frowned. Diamond reached over to touch demonic me, so I reached out my demon hands and caught her hands in my own. I spoke with my demon voice for the first time. "I don't have a magical connection to you with this body, so it won't feel the same." My new voice was raspy and deep, unlike my regular baritone, and its tones promised horror, despair, and death.
Diamond looked disturbed, then intrigued. Her gaze flicked down, and I realized that Demon King me had no clothes on. Oops. I quickly shifted the mana flow, and a three piece suit formed over the body. That was a cool side benefit to a mana body!
Diamond smirked. "Why don't we see what this body can do?" Man, she was a hormonal mess. No wonder she wanted a more stable image as she Ascended. I analyzed her again. She would have to work extra hard, as she was already level twenty, her experience at increasing her qi greatly helping the integration of the power from the Hero core. Changing one's self image got harder the further into qi Ascension you were.
I stuttered. "I, uh, need to go conquer all the demons. We can explore later." I also was uneasy about my demon instincts. That body would want to break and shatter her, and I didn't. Cognitive dissonance, man.
I realized that I needed another body that was Ascended in a counter Aspect, or my instincts would get mighty confused. We all have all Alignments, and Ascending a destructive Alignment warped my personality a tiny bit.
I immediately created a new body in the VMD and had it be an additional part of me. It had an angelic form, with robes, no gender, and six wings with a built in glowing white Aura of Preservation. I created it in Heaven, and to fit my Orchard Forest Heaven's Laws, I chose to Dual Ascend it as my personal Aspect of Preservation. I thought of how I wanted things to remain the same, of how I wanted to just explore and enjoy the way things are.
My core was almost out of magical energy after that. I asked System to add five Heroic Measures, then paused. I could feel the instincts from both bodies balancing out my personality. I thought about manually Ascending my main body as my own Aspect, which is how qi Ascension works, and nixed the idea. Once you Ascend, it's very hard to change.
Robin and Diamond were looking at me. "Explain, please."
I nodded and leaned back wearily. "It turns out that Ascending only one Aspect of myself is bad for my personality. I needed to balance it out, so I created a third angelic body as my Aspect of Preservation. I am now the Creator, as well as destruction and preservation personified. I then refilled our power core." I cast rejuvenation on myself again and stretched.
Robin and Diamond's eyes were still on me. "Why did you do a mana Ascension?" asked Robin. "Didn't you say that it was limiting?"
I nodded. My demon body then walked out, blasted a few holes in the surrounding landscape, and flew off towards a third group of enemy demons. "I used qi and mana Ascension. Unlike mana, qi is the possibilities of yourself expressed in magic power. You can become whatever you want if you cultivate qi, but it has to line up with your self image. The other problem with it is that it's incredibly slow to grow in power. The entire world for generations contributes to mana concepts of Fire, Water, and so on, but qi only has your and your fellows' conceptions of what you are. The only way to speed it up is to become more famous for doing what you want to do. The problem with the 'famous' shortcut is that a qi cultivator would have to filter out concepts of himself that he doesn't want, whether it be that he's infertile or weak of arm. That's why a lot of cultivators go into seclusion and try to appear mysterious, as well as kill anyone who slights them. They are trying to cultivate the self concept that they want. They Ascend when they accumulate enough power to become their own Aspect, not tied to anything but themselves and what they believe in. The concepts they focus on, their Dao, becomes their godly Domain, and they usually gain control according to their understanding of their Dao."
"What I did was Ascend my demon body according to my self concept, and also make it an Aspect of myself, to personify my Alignment towards Apocalypse. I thus have a lot of control over the instincts that come with being an Aspect, and can also utilize the Apocalyptic powers of the Demon King. I can destroy this world, but I have enough control over the instinct to stop myself." Of course, destroying things still felt like awesome sex to my demon body, which is why I'm gonna blow random things up.
That was when System intruded. "Father, which body are focusing on making the minimap for? The map scan file keeps on being replaced."
"Mark -(bodytype) at the end of each body's scan file. It will keep them separate. I have three brains to think with, so it will be no problem." I actually could care of three things at once now.
I turned to Diamond to relieve her of her discomfort. I could focus on three things, and my wives should be one of them.