Chapter 257: Conqueror

A month later, we had all gotten into a system of things. 

The anchor platform was constructed right next to the temple and the ship rested on it. 

Isabella and Cassandra got along surprisingly well when apart.

They had come to know one another so well that they were best friends who never argued at all. And as head wife, Isabella took responsibility for her sister as well as both Masina and Stella. She was surprisingly okay with it.

Masina became more accustomed to her role as our resident goddess.

She adored her new eye color and all of us made efforts to practice combat together. I wanted Masina to be on a similar level to what we were.

It would be really useful to have a goddess fight by our side with a permanently sanctioned supreme form, so I'd already put in a request with the Artificer for such a thing as well.

We were waiting on him to clear it.

Then...

Something else happened...

* * *

I was alerted as soon as things calmed down.

The Enforcers gathered and I went to speak with both them and Iris. They awakened their third Aspects.

The three stood in front of us and smiled, beaming with pride. Iris did the same and seemed to puff out her chest.

"Alright...so what happened, exactly?" I asked.

Carlos was the first to speak, surprisingly.

"Our third Aspects awakened. Oddly enough, they were all the same thing. An Ultra Aspect called: The Ascendant," he said.

"The Ascendant...? What does it do?" I asked.

"It exponentially raises the potency of our other Aspects. It also permits Aspects to reach a higher potency cap much more quickly," Carlos said.

"Aspects have limits on potency...?" I asked curiously.

Iris stepped forward.

"It's not commonly known because Enforcers never last long enough to reach it, but yes. There is a limit to how strong your Aspects become. It varies based on the Aspect and the person, however," she said.

"Do we have limits on that...?" I said.

"Maybe not. You have those legendary heart stones, right? If they can hold seemingly infinite amounts of power, that probably lets your Aspects grow as well. Anyway, these three are like...waaaay stronger than me now. Probably on a higher level than even the Oracle's Faithful."

"That's wonderful. So they're Ascendant Enforcers, now?" I said.

"Mhm. I said the same thing! Like how Leiso is now called the Ascendant Iron Tsunami!" Iris said with a wide grin.

"Lady Iris..." Leiso said.

"Let me have this, Leiso! This is so coooool!!!" 

Ignoring Iris' normal behavior, This made me very happy. Because now, the strength of our forces had once again increased exponentially.

My beloved family members, the Enforcers, were no longer a liability. They would be indispensable for future operations. And since the Enforcers finished awakening their Aspects...now it was time to create my own brand of Enforcer.

"Iris...remember when I asked for your assistance training Masina?" I said.

"Ugh...yes... I do... But would you believe me if I said I thought she was really creepy...?"

"Absolutely. But why?"

"Mizik, Masina and her friends used to bully me a lot. Seeing Masina affected by your mind control is just...unnerving to me..."

"Hmm... Understandable. But she thinks you're her best friend. Why not just take the win? You have a new friend and I have a new ally."

"Hey Mizik, you can understand why she's nervous, right? Having seen someone's memories rewritten right in front of you is really disturbing. Especially when you've known them for years," Jallah said.

"It is reminiscent of the methods used in Nexus, to say the least..." Leiso said.

"I understand and I don't care. The Oracle wanted a weapon that would stop at nothing to complete his work. And that's exactly what I plan to do. I'll kill and destroy everything that stands in my way. I'll steal, I'll manipulate, and I won't let things like honor and morals stop me. I am at peace with who I am. With what I am. Even if she creeps you out, just do it. You don't have to talk to her ever again if you don't want to," I said.

"Eh...if you Insist..." Iris said.

"On that subject, you'd think I might get a bit of gratitude for getting rid of a fucking bully that constantly tormented someone important to me..." I growled angrily.

Iris slumped her shoulders.

"You have a point... Thanks for that...even if I disagree with the method..." Iris said.

"Not a problem. Please meet with Masina at your earliest convenience."

"Yeah...I'll get it over with..." She said.

We left the room immediately after that.

Everything was coming together now.

* * *

Once Iris finished training Masina, she left to go look for Johann. Masina checked the compatibility of all of the heart soldiers shortly after.

With the addition of the fragments from the Blessing of the Creator bestowed upon everyone by the Artificer, all of the heart soldiers had enough compatibility to become Enforcers.

Rastair did as well, but...

I didn't want her to be a soldier on the field and neither did she.

Instead, six heart soldiers would be selected. Three from the men and three from the women.

Of the women, Stella, Nemari, and Mikoto had the highest compatibility. They were positions, 1, 7, and 9, respectively.

Of the men, it was Sato, Takeru, and Gin. Positions 1, 4, and 8, respectively.

They were organized in order of compatibility and time it would take for their Aspects to awaken.

These positions were as such:

Seat 1: Stella

Seat 2: Sato

Seat 3: Mikoto

Seat 4: Nemari

Seat 5: Gin

Seat 6: Takeru

These would be my most elite soldiers.

And I had a new name for the type of divine Aspect warriors they would be.

Since they would be assisting me in subjugating worlds for the purpose of defending against the Corruption...

And since they would also help me take back lands infected with it...

I named them...Conquerors.

Masina was very upset that she couldn't use her divine power to make me one of her Conquerors. 

I already manifested two Aspects and was essentially an unbound Enforcer.

I offered for Iris to make Enforcers to replace the three she lost out of my heart soldiers, but she declined.

She didn't want to replace Dante and also...

She had become permanently weakened as a result of her connections to Michael and Gavin being erased. The residual power within them never returned after being thrown into the Void. Likely, it had been lost forever...

Iris could no longer hold six Enforcers as a result. She would be able to make one more at most, but chose not to.

To Iris, only a child of Ignitus could understand what it truly meant to serve under her as an Enforcer. It was a decision I respected greatly after having done just that during my time on her world.

There was also the problem of Attendants...

Naturally, I wanted all of the heart soldiers to possess some Aspect to enhance their powers even further.

After all, the same technique that Iris used would be made to grant all of them The Ascendant Aspect. The Conquerors would have three Aspects each with the third being The Ascendant, while the remaining soldiers would possess two Aspects. The second once again being The Ascendant.

Although this ability to obtain an Ultra Aspect despite technically being Attendants was only because of their higher compatibility and use of heart stones in the first place. 

Someone like Rune had still been unable to get an Ultra Aspect. She opted out as a result because it would be pointless.

Rune wasn't really a soldier anymore and Jallah wanted to make sure she stayed safe.

I had no idea what their Aspects would be...but I was excited.

Everything was truly coming together.

We had a military force aboard this ship that could obliterate any army imaginable.

Each one of our soldiers was a weapon of mass destruction.

And as we finished preparations to awaken all of the Conquerors and Masina's Attendants, I recalled something else.

I couldn't use Vengeance to subjugate entire worlds and kill innocents without a proper cause.

Nor could I command the other wielders to do the same.

We needed weapons to use in place of the Deus Arms in order to continue following their philosophies. Because of this, I made my way to Leiso.

* * *

"You're requesting weapons for all of us? If you can enchant them, I'm more than happy to help. But why?" Leiso said.

"All Deus Arms wielders are prohibited from using their swords for the sake of subjugating or destroying worlds. They are only to be used in self defense or for the sake of safeguarding creation," I said.

"Seems contradictory considering how you used it on Ignitus. Why are we needing to subjugate worlds?" Leiso asked.

"To cleanse the Corruption. And most of the time, they were used in either self defense or with the purpose of protecting your world. But not all of my earlier actions were completely in line with Vengeance's wishes."

"I see...but do you expect us to simply be okay with killing innocents and conquering these places?" Leiso asked.

"I don't. If you refuse, I won't hold it against you. It's good that some of us still have humanity. As for me, I'm well past that point."

"Ah...that again..."

"Sorry if that makes you dislike me, Leiso. But I have to do this in order to safeguard creation."

"It doesn't make me dislike you, Mizik. I'm just sad... I wish things didn't have to be this way."

"I understand. But I have to do this. I'll save creation from the Corruption...or destroy it before Difar can consume it. Either way, everyone will be spared from the Abyss."

Leiso smiled cheerfully.

"I guess that's as much as we can ask for. Now...back to the weapons. I can make whatever you desire, but I can only provide the metal base for each item. Is that acceptable?" 

"It is. I would like the best type of metal you can come up with. I don't care how long it takes to make them, either. I'll be doing some simple enchantment experiments as well. I'll also be requesting materials for the other parts of the weapons from the Artificer."

"Very well. Write up a list of the things you want me to create."

"I'll get right on it."

And with that, I got up and left.

* * *

After getting a feel for what weapons to give everyone, I sent Leiso a list and began making preparations to enchant them.

Not all of us needed weapons, but some of us still wanted them.

Cassandra didn't need anything but wanted a dagger if I was going to enchant it because a gift from me was precious to her.

Masina didn't need anything either, but also thought the same way. She wanted a dagger to keep at her side.

The Enforcers didn't want weapons and most of the Conquerers didn't either.

Except Stella, of course...who requested a Gladius to allow her time to practice with Faith while she couldn't use it. As well as being a gift from me.

In the end, only a handful of them were created.

The Artificer promised to grant us weapons he constructed as part of the onboard armory. I wanted to request legendary weapons with special effects. Only the best for my subordinates.

I made a list based on the specifications everyone had.

Along with what I planned to enchant them with. They had to be strong enough to withstand our power, so it would be a heavy enchantment process.

Me: Scimitar(Elemental Affinity/Energy Drain)

Isabella: Longsword/Shield(Density/Durability/Taunting)

Cassandra: Dagger(Piercing/Death Marking)

Masina: Ornamental Dagger(Augment Spellcasting/Moonlight Energy Gathering)

Stella: Gladius(Multi-slash/Alchemical Weapon generation)

Since Masina already had a staff, she requested an ornamental dagger that would give passive buffs.

I hadn't known this until Masina explained it, but gods that resided over worlds across creation were given special armaments to show their status and power. They were called Divine Arms weapons. 

Iris' scales were a Divine Arms weapon and so was Masina's staff.

Even Novak's whip and Abbadon's Lance.

Although, when the god using a Divine Arms weapon dies, their weapon would disappear with them.

Nevertheless, our preparations were nearing completion.