Obsession inducement: Obsession is one component of high-end power over l.u.s.t. l.u.s.t is an intense desire for someone or something, and when desires get too intense they can become obsessive. As a dark divinity with power over l.u.s.t you now have power over obsession. You can cause someone to become obsessed with someone else or with something. This obsession can be controlled and manipulated by you and can take on a number of different forms.

Obsession detection: You can detect what someone is obsessed with. This power allows you to better understand mortals in question and also allows finer manipulation of them.

Obsession destruction: This synergistic power takes from the subdomain of healing and allows you to free people of obsession if you wish.

Obsession aura: You can radiate an aura that causes people to become obsessed with you. This power is actually a synergistic one that intersects the eldritch domain and the sin of l.u.s.t. This is an eerily fast-acting aura that can have a life-long impact if people are exposed to it for even a few moments. Its effects are especially p.r.o.nounced and dramatic when they affect evil people.

Apathy inducement: You can cause people to lose interest in something or someone. This power is an exceedingly dangerous one that can cause families or communities to fall apart if targeted carefully and thoughtfully.

Apathy aura: You can project an aura that can be used to cause targeted creatures around you to become lazy. Targets within a few meters of you cannot become hostile towards you unless you attack them, not attacking you even if you attack their friends and family. Such creatures also become highly suggestible, lacking the willpower to resist the suggestions of a G.o.d. This power doesn"t work on the strongest willed enemies, but many mortals and extraplanar beings would succ.u.mb to it.

Apathy attack: You can infuse apathetic energy into your attacks. These strikes do not do physical harm but instead, they fill those struck by them with apathy.

Despair inducement: You can infect someone with the idea that there is nothing worth doing or worth fighting for. This power causes them to wallow in sadness and become listless.

Despair aura: Creatures you target that are in your presence are overwhelmed by despair. They may cease efforts to resist you or even begin to turn to you in hopes that you"ll kill them, or be merciful and rid them of this feeling.

Despair attacks: You can launch attacks that cause your enemies to feel a sense of overwhelming despair. This fear is often enough to drive mortals to surrender to the cause of it if they can identify you.

Exhaustion inducement: You can induce exhaustion in targets. This power can be used to cause someone to fall asleep for as long as you wish and enter into a dreaming state that is entirely controllable by you. It can also be used to slow someone down or make movements take longer.

Exhaustion aura: You can project an aura that saps the energies of selected creatures.

Numbing: You can numb someone, draining them of their capacity to feel. This renders pain less harsh and even inhibits their ability to feel positive emotions. It also slows their reaction time.

Obedience: Creatures affected by sloth based powers are highly unlikely to resist commands given by you or your followers. They lack the willpower to resist you or those who venerate you.

Paralysis: You can induce paralysis in mortals and in the undead. This paralysis is dangerous, targeted, and also numbs people"s minds.

Sleep inducement: By synergizing the domain of dreams and the sin of sloth you can cause creatures to fall asleep. Victims of this power dream dreams you have utter control over.

Sleep aura: Only the strongest-willed creatures can stay awake in your presence if you activate this power.

New corruption domain active powers:

Sloth sphere: Once per hour you can create a fifteen meter wide and high area wherein anyone in it is immediately sapped of all of their energy.

Contagious Obsession: Once per hour you can induce a contagious obsession in someone. This is a synergistic power fusing the disease domain and the sin of l.u.s.t and it allows obsessions to spread in a manner similar to a pandemic.

Sloth blessing and curse details:

Slothfully blessing someone enables them to resist sloth more effectively. It also grants them resistance to the negative, wasting effects of sloth. Cursing someone with this sin burdens them and affects them similarly to how depression affects mortals.]

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Reading through the notification filled me with confidence. These new powers were... they were something else. I felt them within me, and was cognizant of their dark capabilities from the second I began to read them.

I didn"t often use my powers over l.u.s.t itself. I did from time to time but I wasn"t an especially l.u.s.tful creature and I preferred to leave desires of the flesh to my followers so when I did use my desire-based abilities it was often for fun. That said, obsession... Obsession was something I could begin to make use of. And sloth was quite nice too.

I thought about possible applications for my new powers and the truth was that there were many possible ways I could use these powers. One of the easy ones was that I could mix sloth"s powers with civilization and law to reorder societies and instill authorities that I liked in positions of power. Another simple application of these powers was that I could use them to destroy societies I didn"t care for. Such usage of my powers would be quite simple.

If I felt like being benevolent I could even use this power to topple dictators and to get them to step down. All I had to do was fill them with apathy or despair until they decided to abandon their responsibilities. Or to stop evil-beings from behaving evilly by exhausting them. The potential of these new abilities was immense.

"Corruption is so... powerful." I thought to myself, even as Sombra reached me and wrapped her arms around me. She began to proclaim how much she missed me, and how powerful she had gotten. I heard her and smiled idly at the demon, but my mind was elsewhere. When I turned my attention to her, I decided to perform a simple test of my abilities.

I studied the shadowy witch and activated one of my newly acquired abilities: "Obsession detection". I was surprised when the silky voice of the sin of l.u.s.t whispered into my mind.

"This praereptor demon is obsessed with you. You did defeat her, but also you gave her a physical body and considerable power. She whole-heartedly, obsessively wants to serve you and be useful to you. You can manipulate this obsession if you wish." The voice informed me, telling me something I had already unconsciously come to know but hadn"t yet fully unpacked.

This confirmation of what a part of me had suspected for a while was unsurprising. But it did confirm the usefulness of my new powers. My scheming mind was already hard at work thinking up ways that this information could be used to advance plenty of schemes. That said, I had things I wished to do.

"Sombra... I see that you have grown powerful while you were enacting my will." I told the demon who was hugging me. I wasn"t fond of physical contact that I didn"t initiate, but allowing her this little encouraged her and so I opted to permit it for now.

"Yes... Yes!" She said, excitedly. Her scarlet eyes were lit up with fascination and she was quite excited by my recognition of her advances in strength. I quietly began to run my fingers through her hair, and I was surprised when she began to make a noise that was similar to a cat"s delighted purr.

"Do I... deserve a reward for my work? I think I do..." Sombra whispered, her voice reminding me of a moment in the past wherein I once spoke of taking her and called it a "reward" that she hadn"t yet earned. I grinned as I considered the sort of reward that she had in mind. It was one of a... carnal nature.

As before, a part of me wanted to give in to the temptation of her flesh. Even some G.o.ds weren"t immune to l.u.s.ts. But also as before I still had work to do. And she hadn"t yet done what I tasked her with doing anyway. I sighed and shook my head.

"You have not yet done what I once tasked you with doing." I informed her. She hissed, sounding almost comically cat-like and glaring at me.

"You told me to go and harvest the secrets that man kept! I did!" She said, annoyed with my resistance. I chuckled at her display.

"When I first crafted your body, I told you I sought to become a demon-lord. And that I wanted you to become a powerful and charismatic cultist in my service. One who leads a cult who worships me as a demon-lord." I told her, harkening back to some of our earlier interactions. Her eyes lit up as she remembered those moments.

"Yes, but I have been obeying your commands! I do as you bid. All I want is a reward for my service." She reb.u.t.ted, rightfully pointing out that she was doing as I commanded.

I fell silent and I began to consider her words. After a few moments I felt the weight of them, and quietly opted to reward her.

One of the powers I possessed was the ability to generate wood anywhere. This was a power I gained when I acquired influence over a healthy number of life-based subdomains when performing the miracles through which I acquired countless worshippers across the solar system. I activated this power with a mental flex, and a thin, brown stick that ended in a sharp point came into being in my hand, the one that wasn"t running through Sombra"s hair.

"I have a reward for you, it is just not what you think." I told her, opting to deceive her. She looked up at me longingly and excitedly and I chuckled. She had fallen for my lie. Mostly because she wanted to believe it.

The branch I held, by itself anyway, wasn"t much to look at. But that didn"t remain true for long. I silently activated my ability to alter objects and bestowed a few alterations onto it.

The first alteration that I bestowed upon it was the power to absorb spiritual energy and lifeforce. This was a potent power that allowed the instrument to drain spiritual and thus magical energy from those it struck, as well as serve as an external power source for some spells. It also meant that she could heal from injuries simply by attacking nearby creatures.

The second alteration that I bestowed upon it was a limited power to bend elements. With this power Sombra could manipulate fire, water, earth, and air. It wasn"t perfect, and I"d definitely need to teach it to her, but this was a power that made the gift I planned to give her considerably stronger.

My final alteration was to imbue the stick with corruption, making it sensitive and receptive to evil. This powerful alteration made it more like Sombra and also ensured that the evil demon would also remember her who it was that she served.

When I was done with altering the stick it was a thin instrument wreathed in shadowy and vile energies. It wasn"t an exceptionally powerful wand, but I knew that in time I would make it something truly incredible. It was thin and light in my grasp and I gently motioned for Sombra to turn around. She did as she was bid, releasing me from her hug, and gasped in delight when she saw the instrument.

"This is an artifact I have created. You fulfilled a mission I sent you to accomplish. I am not going to reward you what you do not deserve, but this is a tool with great power. One that I have created to reward you for your service and for the time you spent interrogating Christopher." I told her, even as she stared longingly at the instrument in my hand. She began to reach for it, a covetous smile on her face.

"This is a wand that is connected to me. It is one with a number of powers and in time I may bestow even greater powers onto it. This is an artifact you are to use in service to me." I told her, even as I began to slowly inch the wand closer to her. She nodded, her scarlet eyes filling with greed as she moved closer and closer to the instrument I had created for her.

She reached it as I spoke once more. There was a cunning smile on my lips as I let go of the tool and she grasped it, before beginning to shiver in delight as the wand"s own darkness seeped into her.

"I seek to become a G.o.d of all things. Magic is one of those things. I already possess the most minor amount of influence over magic. I can create tools like this with ease. Service to me guarantees that you acquire other instruments of great power." I told her, excited to be making use of my powers over magic.

"Master..." She whispered, pleasure seeping into her voice. She was thoroughly delighted by her reward, and grat.i.tude began to seep from her. It was at that point I that created a portal in front of the two of us.

The portal that appeared before us was in the shape of a door made of magic and it showed us a fascinating sight. On the other side of the door we could see a battlefield, and a sizable force of dwarves in metallic armor getting forced back by an advancing legion of orcs dressed in furs and wielding machetes. Sombra looked at the battlefield and her eyes began to shine with excitement.

Without even waiting to be commanded to do so, she walked forward and through the portal. I followed after her, and stepped onto the raging battlefield.

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We stepped through the portal and emerged off to the side and on a ledge overlooking a raging battle. We could both clearly hear raging roars and mortals on death"s door whimpering in pain. I could smell the distinct scent of freshly shed blood, as well as the disgusting scents of blood, bowels, and sweat mixing together into one unclear scent.

We were inside of a cave that had formed naturally that had been occupied by dwarves at some point in the past and had long since been transformed into their home. Behind the dwarves, I could see tiny homes built into the cave"s innermost depths. The cave was dimly lit by a number of torches, and some of the orcs themselves used flaming weapons that illuminated their fierce countenances as well as those of their enemies when the orcs successfully a.s.saulted their tiny foes.

The din of the battle was too much for anyone to notice us immediately. That said I didn"t intend for that to last long. I rose a hand that had previously been laying against my side and commanded the earth underneath my enemies, the dwarves, to rise up and attack the ones unlucky enough to be at the back of the rows upon rows of dwarven defenders.

The earth obeyed me, and tilted slightly so as to trip the dwarves who were clamoring for a chance to defend their peers and their homes. But that wasn"t all my attack did. I quietly infused the indirect attack with despair, and I chuckled as I felt the hearts of those who were tripped sink due to my divine interference. At the same time I used my other hand to point at another group of dwarves closer to the fighting. Sombra noticed this and grinned savagely. She was a demon, a creature of chaos and evil. Battlefields like this were one of her homes.

"Use your wand to unleash a wildfire on those dwarves in the middle." I commanded her, wanting to get the praereptor to practice with her wand. Her grip on her instrument tightened and she pointed it at the same area I had pointed it. She closed her eyes and began to gather magic deep within herself for the spell she was about to use.

This took her a second, but then she abruptly opened her eyes and unleashed the spell. As she did so a thin line of bright red energy shot out of the wand and sped towards the area the weapon was aimed at. I watched with satisfaction as her wand properly unleashed the explosive spell Sombra herself was quite fond of, Wildfire burst.

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The dwarves had been faring as well as they could hope to fare against the orcs. Plenty of the brutal, pig-faced monsters littered the floor, but so too did plenty of dwarven bodies. That said, their efforts to defend themselves against the brutal and seemingly random a.s.sortment of enemies had distracted them from a true threat they could have never predicted: a G.o.d and his servant.

Althos had appeared off in the distance, overlooking the carnage. The battle was too fierce for anyone, dwarf or orc to look up at the ledge and see him and his minion there. But they quickly felt his presence.

The G.o.d"s first move was to convince the earth itself to strike some of his foes. He was here to aid the orcs, hone his mastery over his new skills, and to allow Sombra to practice her weapon. He did that right away.

The cave t.i.tled slightly, causing the dwarves at the end of the formation they were in to stumble forward. This, coupled with the G.o.d"s power over the earth itself, qualified as an attack and the G.o.d eagerly also applied his powers over despair to those struck by this blow. Even as the dwarven warriors, all of them battle-hardened veterans, were in mid-air, their hearts were clutched with a supernatural yet irrepressible fear of failure, death, pain, and war. But that wasn"t all that happened.

A few moments later Sombra took aim with her wand and shortly thereafter, her instrument of vile power unleashed a thin, heated line that raced from the tip of the wand into the cave-floor, where plenty of dwarves had been inching for a chance to vent their fury on their foes. They never got the chance. Sombra"s spell caused a conflagration to appear, as if from nowhere and begin to scorch her foes.

The explosive sound of the sudden wildfire that magically came to life in the middle of the dwarven troops was enough to unnerve the warriors on both sides enough that there was a pause while they all looked to see what had just happened. During this pause in the action Althos commanded his minion to stay there, and walked towards where the fighting had been the heaviest.

He did so in an instant thanks to his ability to move at the speed of light, suddenly disappearing from beside Sombra and appearing where he intended to be. As he did so he activated two of his newly earned auric abilities, sapping his foes of both their will to fight and their energy in one fell-swoop and cleared his throat so that everyone could turn and lay their eyes on him.

Behind him, the weapons in the hands of the orcs clattered to the ground as they stared at him in a mixture of shock and awe. The simple-minded creatures knew that he was responsible for the fire that raged on the battlefield and was claiming the lives of dwarves.

Althos had arrived on the battlefield and he was ready to experiment with his abilities. He gazed at the dwarves in the manner in which a wolf might gaze at a chicken"s coop, eyes filled with hunger and delight.