121 Destroying The Symbols Of The Pas (1/2)
As I actually sat down and read through the notification I received for the fungi subdomain I realized something important. With the power given to me by the fungi subdomain, I had received a potent weapon in the fight against slavery that doubled as a an appropriate method of punishing slaveowners.
I was also keenly aware of the darkness of punishing someone with this power, but at the moment it was hard for me to care about that. Dark crimes would naturally merit dark punishments. If someone chose not to care about how their actions stole someone else's freedom, one could say that I shouldn't care about how my actions stole their freedom. And there was no guarantee I'd use this against them anyway.
The ”Parasitic spores” power opened up a whole new world to me, and it was also one of the few powers I possessed that could affect virtually any target. There was something incredible about that to me since plenty of my powers were currently restricted to working only on mortals.
The more I thought about it, the more incredible that power seemed. All it took for me to win a battle against a creature vulnerable to this power was for me to get close and activate my aura. I didn't doubt that powerful enough creatures could resist the spores for a few moments, but with my powers, I could stop an enemy in their tracks if I wanted too and then just wait.
I could also create new limbs for myself and use them to directly infect enemies. I could create the proboscis that some animals used and inject my spores directly into creatures I wanted to infect. This one subdomain gave me a wonderful new list of toys to play with. As much fun as it was to consider how to play with toys I had just been given, I focused on my current situation and wondered what I should do next.
To best do so, I turned inward. I felt the world around me slow to a crawl as I mentally went to the place where all of the domains and subdomains lived, deep within my mind.
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”There are so many fun routes forward.” I told myself, now fully inside my own head.
The defeat of Ygaynth and the conversion of the gigantic dragon into an Althonian was a significant victory. It might not have been as cinematic as I was expecting to gain the dragon as a follower, but it was every bit as culturally and historically significant as I could have hoped.
The world beneath Puerto Rico was already reacting to my declaration that the dragon had found religion. I was receiving dozens of prayers a second from creatures both skeptical and in awe of my powers. I wasn't surprised by the skepticism if I was being honest.
”Since some creatures still cling to their ideas that my powers aren't as powerful as I say they are, and even appear to doubt the system, maybe it's time for a more dramatic demonstration...” I muttered, an arrogant smirk on my face as I did so.
Of the domains that had offered me quests to acquire influence over them, there were still a few I had yet to complete. One of the most interesting ones was the domain of destruction. All I had to do was destroy an object or building that was over 5,000 years old. And one such building immediately came to mind. A certain dark-elven mansion.
The mansion in question was an object dating back to the mythic age. It had once been the seat of power of the clergy of an ancient demon-lord and now served as the hub of a bureaucratic network that helped the city of Aronms function. The mansion on my mind was the Morothonian mansion.
When I had first learned of the quest I needed to complete to acquire the first tier of influence over the destruction domain, my mind had immediately turned to the mansion. It was easily the most recognizable building that fit the criteria that I had come across to date.
The only thing that had kept me from destroying it then and there had been the busyness of the next day. Thankfully I now had some free time with which I could focus on gaining new powers and followers. And I intended to do precisely that.
I refocused my attention to the world outside of my mind and swiftly teleported myself to the city of Aronms. I chuckled as the mansion, an immediately recognizable and imposing landmark, came into view.
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I found myself floating in the air above the city of Aronms. I considered making myself invisible, but then quickly realized that I didn't really care if people saw me. I didn't doubt that in a matter of minutes people would recognize my floating form as that of their god.
Off in the distance, I could see the dark mansion of the demon lord whose words had been enough to bring people to the side of evil. There was something admirable about being that persuasive even though his mansion itself was a bit of an eyesore. Thankfully I intended to fix that, today.
I studied the imposing building for a few moments. My sensory powers were strong enough that even in mid-air and over an entire kilometer away from the gigantic building I was keenly aware that it was inhabited. More importantly, I knew how many people inhabited the building. And I chuckled.
”I know the building is always inhabited. It's still annoying though.” I complained, speaking aloud even though no one was close enough to me to hear me. That said, this did present me with a good opportunity.
The purpose of the Mansion was to serve as the hub for all bureaucracy in Aronms. I didn't doubt that within its depths important documents were safely stored away. The part of me that was influenced by the domains I held some power over recognized the importance of those documents as historical records and as critical legal documents. I didn't want to destroy them.
”How could I most swiftly see to it that the documents within the building are safely removed from it?” I asked myself, eager to get this boring part of the task ahead of me out of the way.
I wasn't oblivious to the potential this moment had for me to make use of one of the newest subdomains to fall under my limited control. This definitely felt like a moment in which an army of people controlled by spores would shine: doing simple, menial labor. That said, there were permanent consequences to me using my newfound powers on mortals and I didn't intend to do that to them for so simple a reason.
I was also cognizant of the reality that a horde of undead, led by a single, educated necromancer would shine here. And though this solution felt rather tempting as well, I wasn't sure I wanted a horde of undead just inside of the Mansion, at the command of a necromancer who knew this place well enough to order them to successfully clean it out.
I spent a few minutes ideally hanging out in midair before coming up with a solution I liked. It was also, unsurprisingly, one that involved an ability I was growing increasingly fond of: my power to send alerts and notifications to non-higher-beings.
I spent a few moments thinking about the sort of message I wanted to compose. It didn't take me long to come up with one that struck the right tone. Once I had the contents of the message just right, I targeted all of the people in the mansion and sent the message with a flex of a mental muscle.
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[Alert: Letting The Past Die
Althos has come to the Morothonian Mansion. He intends to destroy it, but he isn't seeking to kill any dark elves or to destroy anything of value.
The Morothonian Mansion is a symbol of a bygone age, an ugly monument to the distant past. Althos desires to destroy it, and in doing so to smash any lingering fantasies about that period in history that people may cling too instead of turning to him.
It is not Althos' desire to see any dark-elven lives ended, or for anything that has actual value to be lost as he destroys the city's biggest eyesore. He will give the people who work within the Mansion an hour and a half to empty it of valuables, legal documents, and historical artifacts.
At the end of the hour and a half, the mansion will be destroyed. Do not be within it.]
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The next hour and a half passed by in a blur. Moments after I transmitted the message the first dark elves who had been within the Mansion dashed out of it, documents in hand and a look of fear on their faces. They placed the documents not far from the mansion, in some cases even placing them on the floor.
The dark elves had wisely chosen to believe me. They had immediately moved to act when they received the eerie message I sent them, warning them of the Mansion's destruction. Their speedy decision-making had no doubt saved them valuable time and enabled them to be as successful as they'd end up being with regards to saving the assorted documents and other items within the Mansion.
The next ninety minutes were filled with scenes like this. Dark elves worked in unison to empty the Mansion of valuables, opting to cooperate out of an understanding that the documents in the Mansion were worth saving. It was unusual behavior, but I didn't hate it so I silently watched it happen.
In the end, the dark elves stopped entering the mansion just under seventy minutes after I sent them the message. They all waited around the building though, evidently curious to see if I would destroy it, and if I did, how I intended to do so.
During the time that the dark elves were hurriedly trying to empty the building of valuables, I had given this some thought myself. Ultimately I had come up with a solution I liked. It was one that involved a power I had never used before. When I came up with the idea to use that particular power I immediately knew it was the right way to do what I sought to do.
When the ninetieth minute passed, I immediately focused my vision on the building. I quietly activated a potent destructive power I possessed and chuckled as my vision took on a bird's eye view. It only took me a moment to center that bird's eye view on the Morothonian Mansion.
When my top-down perspective was centered on the building I was able to activate the chosen power in full. And in doing so something never been seen happened within the dark cavern that housed the city of Aronms: luminous, white light appeared within it, and that light was centered on Morthos' most holy Torunian temple.
The potent power I had activated was the mighty destructive ability known as ”Disintegrating radiance”. This incredible power was the first offensive ability I had been granted due to my influence over the light domain. And right as it began in full my vision went from being top-down, to my normal, impeccable vision.
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I wasn't near the Mansion when my attack struck it. I was actually quite far away, over an entire kilometer away in fact. That didn't change the fact that I could see the destruction of the imposing building.
Due to its imposing size and centralized nature, everyone could see the Mansion from virtually any point in the city. Thousands of dark elves were able to see a thick pillar of radiant light that appeared out of nowhere and illuminated the Mansion itself.
For the first time in its history, the Mansion was bathed in light. Anyone with sight would have been able to study the fine craftsmanship that went into making the ugly building. For a few moments, they would have been able to see every edge, every sharp corner, of the building's bizarre and unholy architecture.