Aftermath (1)

As I was expecting, the Core World was breached several months later. After the death of Warlock Sovereign Xaunyuan, basically, the entire Warlock Path could be considered extinguished, and this was exploited by other factions, especially Weissman's Dresden Arcanum Empire, which launched a massive invasion into the warlock-controlled space, or at least what has remained from it and started conquering the planes which were still under Warlock Control or were under its influence.

After Ajuka and Mephisto finished the construction of the Dimensional Gateway to the Core World, once again connecting the Core World together with the Surface World, surviving Warlocks couldn't withstand the combined might of the Chthonian Empire of the Baator, and they were swiftly killed, leaving none alive.

Thus right now, 8 months later, the entire Canghzi Plane was under the control of the Chthonian Empire of the Baator. We have already started mining resources, finding treasures, Inheritance sites, and practically anything of some value.

Of course, the entire Baatorian Jihad and its end created big waves across the whole Astral Boundary Universe, mainly because Baator was a relatively unknown plane and Chthonian Empire was an unknown faction.

But right now, those unknowns practically conquered and destroyed one of the oldest and strongest factions in the Astral Boundary, and it fell, together with Tier 12 Hegemon, who was killed on his own home tuft by his own plane.

Especially those with Tier 12 Hegemons were paying attention to the Chthonian Empire, namely Blood Covenant of the Divine Blood Plane, Dragon's Lair of the Dragon's Lair Plane, and some old fossils that were slumbering in the Ancient Eternal Star Region.

Another strong reaction, this time that of fear rather than intrigue, came from the Divine Star Region, as countless Supreme Gods and Myriad God Emperors watched the development in horror and shock. Their main reasons were simple, even if Warlocks often attacked their planes for resources, the abhorrence they had for Gods was way lesser than that of Arcanists or Chthonians.

Watching how the Dresden Arcanum Empire assimilated one plane after another must have hurt them a lot. Especially considering that the Universe may witness another Crusade, this time though against Gods of the Divine Star Region, and this time it would be initiated by the Arcanists.

I got that information directly from Weissman, as right now entire Empire is in turmoil, and countless Noble Houses and even Emperor himself petitioned Weissman to declare a Crusade against the Gods of the Divine Star Region in a few centuries.

Mainly because the Gods of the Astral Boundary were practically leeches. Because they depended on Faith to increase their strength, and thus every plane which had Gods was backward, weak, and under total control, which in turn significantly weakened the entire Universe.

Because of that, Arcanists always strived to purge the God Path from the Astral Boundary, as this type of God Path was slowly but steadily destroying the Astral Boundary as a whole.

In truth, I told Weissman that if he declared Crusade against the Gods in the Divine Star Region, the Chthonian Empire would support it with all of its available forces.

Now that the Baatorian Jihad ended came a relative time of peace, as everybody was focusing on digesting the gains we obtained, which was Grade 1 Plane and countless other planes, from which some would be left as they are, while some would be assimilated into the Baator, but at the later stage, every plane would be incorporated to the Baator, as I planned to transform Baator into my own Universe.

I already realized my path to the Exarchy, and not only to that, but I had a hunch about how to become a Primarch, which as Realm after the Exarch Rank, corresponding to the Great Old One start of Power in the Astral Boundary.

Additionally, by infusing the entire Baator Universe with me, I would become a stronger version of the Divine Throne Expert and would have better chances to ascend as Paragon later on. Another reason for creating something so insane as cultivating your own Universe, which I planned to fuse with my very own being, was that, so I could artificially, later on, help people elevate to Tier 13, the Primarch Rank.

I knew very well that some of my wives would hit the limit with their talent or that, for my direct descendants, or just to increase the overall strength of the Empire, when I planned to achieve my End Game... which was the Singularity.

Being, a Divine Throne expert, didn't mean that person was stronger than Primarch; there were countless cases in the Void where Primarchs easily killed those on the Divine Throne Level, just Thrones could effortlessly resurrect, and in their home universes, they were very, very strong.

But for me, becoming just an ordinary Divine Throne wasn't enough because I wouldn't be in control. From what Deus Ex Machina told me, the moment someone fuses with the Divine Throne, he would partially be restricted to the Universe and be forced to defend it even with his death if such a situation came.

The Divine Throne itself was a manifestation of the Will of an entire Universe, meaning it wouldn't give it for free. Just like the Planes have their consciousness, Universe had one too, and it was strong, cunning, and intelligent, not inferior to any genius.

I wasn't really fun of fusing something with my soul that has the remnant will of Universal's Will on it... because of that, I considered it as a flawed path that has more restrictions than benefits, but greed is usually overcoming logic.

Though, I know why some people would still fuse with the Divine Throne even if they were made aware of such flaws. There are countless people who reached the pinnacle of their strength but wouldn't dare to set foot outside of their Universe and enter the void in fear of dying.

It was twisted irony that the strongest people have the strongest fear of death.