"I think you're like me." Rebeza stated, confidently. There was a proud smile on her angelic face as she spoke, and her words forced Imani and Titania to stifle a laugh. We were walking towards the prison in the distance.
"You seem to want to expand your influence, but not through especially violent means. I like that. It says a lot about someone as powerful as yourself when they chose not to indulge in wanton destruction." The fallen angel stated, expanding on her earlier statement.
The sun shone down on us as we made our way closer and closer to the prison. The ground around us was cleared of any debris or obstructions, and in the distance, I could see guard towers that allowed the prison's staff to have a bird's eye view of the area. I knew that the purpose of the towers was to give snipers atop them a clear shot in case of a prison break. There were multiple towers all of which surrounded the prison, a squat, square building not far from my companions and me. Rebeza wasn't done speaking and continued to talk.
"Regardless you need to think about how you want your influence to spread. You may not be a conquering sort, but as a Living God, you're going to want to have powerful allies and servants. Have you given thought as to how you'll make them?" She asked, glancing at me curiously. I chuckled at her question, openly, unlike my other followers.
"I have. I can imagine a variety of paths I might take to walk towards the future. Time itself is one of my allies and servants. When I am further armed with knowledge I can position myself in such a way that I can take over kingdoms and empires with little more than a thought." I explained, cryptically. Nevertheless, I wasn't wrong, nor was I exaggerating.
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Manipulating time was all but impossible aside from for the very strongest creatures in the pleniverse and even then little could be done to time by most of the few creatures who could manipulate time. Nevertheless, I was not as limited as other beings were when it came to time. I was a true time manipulator, capable of using a variety of powers in deadly ways to alter time to my benefit and to the detriment of any foes of mine.
By using powers such as "Presence", "Hypnos", "Causality", and "Truewarping", I was fully capable of potent time manipulation. Those abilities were only further empowered by my ability to instantaneously learn everything about a person or a thing with nothing more than a furtive glance. If I ever utilized my time control abilities to their fullest extent I could rewrite history. And indeed, in time I fully planned to do so.
All I needed was more knowledge and an appropriate target, as I was not eager to randomly act on this scale for my targets were going to be entire empires and civilizations. I was in no rush to make moves this huge in scale.
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"As an Omega Lord and a Living God... time is my mine to control. And in time, when knowledge begins to obey me, I will use my power over time to build myself up as an unassailable leader and master of entire galaxies." I proclaimed, confidently. I was telling the truth, and I knew it, having seen glimpses of my own future while using "Causality", a future in which I was a subtle infiltrator who manipulated time itself to acquire more and more power.
"Oh? And how will you do that?" Titania asked, looking at me mischievously. I chuckled and looked at her with a bright glint in my eye.
"By raising us up. In time we will become emperors and impresses of vast civilizations. We will unify worlds and star systems. I would do it all with you by my side." I told her, a proud smile on my face. My words made her smile, and she lightly squeezed my hand as we walked closer and closer to the prison. I could tell that my words were comforting to her, especially since she was deeply confused about Rebeza's sudden appearance. I knew that she had questions and in time I intended to answer them.
We approached the prison and as we did a prison guard motioned for us to step forward. I glanced at him, a portly man in an ill-fitting uniform, and sighed.
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Internally, in one of the little theaters in my mind's eye, a menu was clearly visible. The menu asked me a simple question; "Do you want to enhance Titania?" The thing asked.
The menu was asking a question about one of the powers I possessed due to my nature as a Grand Adonis. The power in question, "Empowerment" referred to a potent ability that I possessed which allowed me to vastly empower those I had sex with. It even worked retroactively, which was why I was able to use it.
"Empowerment" was a tremendously powerful ability that when utilized allowed me to enhance the physiques of those I laid with. The first time I laid them I was able to bestow upon them a truly tremendously powerful empowerment that multiplied their physiques multiple times over. For someone as already innately powerful as Titania, that meant that the boost would be utterly gigantic.
I was not hesitating to say yes, I was just waiting for the right moment. Once I did this Titania's life would change forever, as this sort of boost to her power would make her comparable in might to her mother, a full Titaness and one of the old gods of light. This sort of boost would allow her to effectively undergo an ascension of her own, and allow her to reach levels of power possessed by young archdemons, even putting her in the same realm occupied by Rebeza when the queen of the fallen first fell.
This power was one of my secret powers and was why a large part of why those who knew about the Grand Adonis knew to fear him should he ever prove to be more than a myth. An army of women who had been blessed by the Grand Adonis and received usages of his potent empowerment would be able to combat legions of gods.
The Grand Adonis, as a rare male overdeity of love and sex, would be an extremely potent foe for any enemy to face. And I was readying myself for the day that I began to become the sort of potent super-being I was dreadfully destined to become.
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"Hey, put any metal you're carrying in here." Said another prison guard, once we were just inside of the prison. He looked at us curiously and motioned to a series of trays located beside a conveyor belt leading to a metal detector. I nodded at him and walked to the place while followed by my companions.
I placed all of the metal on my person in the tray, including my bank card and my "cell phone" which was actually the body of the Siren AI at the moment. As I did I dragged the tray to the conveyor belt.
The next thing I did, as I walked towards the primary metal detector and got in position for it to be used was activate my powers over time and sped it up with little more than a thought. I watched as others around me began to speed up, not actually moving faster but rather my powers over time causing them to seem to speed up. As I did this I heard the quiet voice of Rebeza whispering into my mind.
"It's intriguing to see your powers at work, Antonio..." She whispered, her voice a soft purr. I chuckled as she spoke into my mind.
"I never imagined I'd actually be able to see the day when a Living God bent time before my very eyes." She continued, speaking slowly and sensually. I could tell that she was enjoying the sight and sensation of my power. I suspected that she could only sense my powers due to her own potent connection to me.
Nevertheless, it was good for me to learn this early on that she was somehow able to sense my powers. My companions continued to, in my eyes anyway, speed around me even as the metal detector finished doing its work and I was able to step through to the other side.
"As I previously stated... time itself is my servant. In time, all things will be." I replied, still feeling my prior confidence. I was beginning to develop a bit of a godly persona, bit by bit, as I felt essence seeping into me and filling me with mighty power.
Everyone I dominated supplied me with a small, perpetual amount of essence due to them "owing" me everything. This was a mighty font of essence for me, essence which I knew I'd use in the eventual battle I'd fight against Felmoco in the days to come. And they were not the only mighty source of essence I possessed.
I had maximized all five possible fonts of essence, which meant that any essence that my vampires would have created (and been unable to use themselves due to their being lesser beings) would flow into me instead of being wasted and vanishing into nothingness seconds after its creation. The most important aspect of this was the mighty essence source that was "Oaths". Anyone who swore promises to myself or to my vampiric spawn continually sent me small amounts of essence. This itself was something that informed and shaped who I turned into vampires, since this meant that certain businesses were capable of producing vast quantities of essence.
Many of the people I turned into vampires were crime bosses and people in careers like law or banking since they frequently used things like contracts to enforce "Oaths". I was benefiting from the massive quantities of essence flowing into me, even minutes after I turned many people throughout the Americas into my spawn. The constant flow of essence made it easier for me to feel confident and proud.
"I can see that a bit more clearly now... I wonder which of the dual paths you'll choose, in time." She mused while turning to me and smiling even as she stepped towards the metal detector.
I knew of the "Dual Paths" she was referencing. They were two parts of a grander philosophy that was created by potent immortal beings, especially ones like the two of us who had powerful ties to things like sins and virtues. One of the paths was that of "The Conqueror", and was a warrior and war-oriented point of view.
The other "Path" was that of "The Emperor". It was a powerful path that focused less on military matters and more on softer, more subtle things like culture, integration, and non-violent aspects of civilization. Both were thought to be equally valid by those who contemplated the philosophy, but historians, according to Rebeza's memories, seemed to favor the path of the emperor.
When Titania, the last of us to pass through the metal detector, stepped to the other side and joined Imani, Rebeza, and I, the guard manning the technology turned to me and began to speak. "Hey, where are you all heading?" He asked, curiously.
"We're going to see Warden Jeffrey. I have an appointment with him." I replied, causing the man to nod at us and point us towards a long hallway that would lead to a waiting room. I nodded back and began to guide my companions towards our destination. Manipulating the past to make my words true, as well as transforming the warden into one of my vampires took nothing more than a mental twitch since with every usage of my powers the intersection of "Power Matrix" and "Eternal Ascension" ensured I grew in skill with my own abilities.
We began to enter the long hallway that separated us from the newest person to join my faction, even as I began to speak into his mind.
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The good warden, a man who was destined to play a decently important role in this early stage of me building my faction, was seated at his desk when he felt my potent power surging into him and transforming him into one of my servants. His every cell was touched by my dreaded, foul power, and he let out a snake-like hiss as his body was transformed and touched by my vampiric power.
While he was experiencing the might of my power and it was transforming his very soul, I began to share with him a few more of my powers. He was to be the immortal overseer of this place, which I planned to transform into one of the first of a series of "Essence farms" which were going to be dens where I raked in essence for the sake of efficiently transforming various places into parts of my dominion.
I gifted the strange warden with powers of mine such as psychometry and the ability to turn people into thralls to boost the amount of essence they gave me. He was going to oversee a very efficient operation, and to do that I was going to help him along.
"Punish the guilty. Feed on them and nourish me. Protect the falsely imprisoned, while feasting on the guilty." I whispered into his mind, even as I felt his will and soul becoming dyed in the color of my power. I heard his mind sing of his obedience and of his newfound devotion to a twisted version of justice, a sort of altruism that he had never shown before now. Nevertheless, it was good for me that he was so easy to turn into one of my servants.