DDBIII -Chapter 1 (WIP)

# Chapter 1: Angelic Army

\

\

\

\

\

\

“How do things look?” I asked Alice, head of the Twilight Battle Maids, and my Akashic Records Keeper.

We were standing on the roof of the Obsidian Starlight Palace in my soul realm, gazing up at Hyperion’s artifact soul constellation in the distance.

While a traditional weapon soul was the manifestation of a martial artist's mastery of a weapon, an artifact soul was the sentient consciousness of a weapon.

Hyperion could think and mentally communicate with me; not that he actually said much.

It had not taken long to bond and assimilate with his artifact soul, but it did take a week to merge his soul realm with mine.

During that time, I also cultivated all of the condensed divine energy I received from the Bronte Clan in exchange for not gaining Xane’s soul realm after the martial challenge. It was enough energy to create a Tier 1 divine source, but still less than half of what I would’ve gotten from Xane’s soul realm.

I had stood frozen still in my courtyard for the entire week; Pandora and Eve had to calm the frantic Luna and Aria, recognizing my meditative trance for what it was.

I hadn’t told anyone about the conversation I had with the voice yet. I honestly didn’t know if it was real or some sort of fever dream. It revealed a lot about me and said it was still watching, waiting for me to meet it at Tier 9.

“The realm has grown substantially, my god.” Alice responded, her purple eye turning blue as she accessed the Akashic Records.

“The main solar system has expanded in response to your swelling source star and gained several comets and meteors. Hundreds of new stars have appeared around the galaxy, and I’m detecting new stellar and lunar aspects among the spiritual beasts.” She continued.

As she spoke, a chilly comet streaked overhead, leaving a tail of dust in its wake. It traveled on a wide and eccentric orbit, vertically around my source star and Aoife Island.

Hyperion’s soul realm had some very interesting stellar, lunar, creation, and destruction concepts. I had yet to do anything with them personally, but that didn’t stop my denizens or the spiritual beasts.

His soul realm brought over primordial and quasar energies. I would be able to deepen my concepts, and perhaps I would be less exhausted the next time I attempted the primordial lightning technique that killed Xane.

“Additionally, all of the phase elementals have broken through to Rank 2 and Azumi has reached Rank 3. Unfortunately, Lilith is struggling to keep up with the other battle maids without ambient nether.” Alice added.

I knew that would be an issue. I didn’t have a source to produce it, and didn’t know where I could find some. The Golden Sea Realm was filled with aether but no nether at all as far as I could tell.

“I see,” I said, deep in thought. “We’ll figure something out. I won’t leave her behind.”

“Thank you, my god. You are so good to us.”

“And they are?” I asked, looking at the seven beautiful women giggling in my palace garden.

They were wearing traditional maid uniforms, and each had my black orchid sigil, in the center of their chest.

“Nymphs,” Alice smiled. “They spawned on Aoife Island after the influx of divine energy, and I’ve taken the liberty of making them your personal maid staff.”

I did make her head maid, so that last part made sense. However the first part.. “Nymphs?” I asked dubiously. “They just spontaneously spawned? No origin sources or DNA templates required?”

“None, my god. Other types of nymphs have begun spawning on your planets as well. They are being spawned from aspected natural energy as natural spirits.” She explained.

“So far I have detected,” Alice began counting off on her fingers, “wood, plant, river, sea, fire, magma, cloud, sky, desert, mountain, ice, and glass nymphs.”

“I see,” I said tapping my chin. “And these seven are the only ones spawned by divine energy?”

“Yes, my god. Neither I nor Genesis know why.” She said.

“Okay,” I teleported the giggly nymphs in front of us.

They all went silent in wide-eyed confusion before Alice scolded them. “What did I tell you about how to act in the master’s presence?!”

The nymphs fell over themselves to bow, blushing furiously. “Greetings, master. How may we be of service?”

Walking around them, tapping her celestial pen to her obsidian tablet, Alice checked their postures. The cute purple-haired goth one got a smack on the butt for not being perfectly 90 degrees.

I didn’t know Alice ran such a tight ship.

“It’s fine, since you’re going to be my personal maids, I’m going to give you all names.” I said, starting from left to right.

**”I name you Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Valor, Faith, Hope, and Charity, known together as the Virtues.”**

They shone in a subtle celestial light and a white halo sigil appeared above my black orchid on their chests.

That was a first.

All seven of them looked like different variations of my ideal woman—when I was a teenager.

Prudence was the big titty goth girl. Justice had manic pixie energy. Temperance was the most MILF a girl in her early twenties could possibly look. Valor was a muscle mommy. Faith had an uncanny submissive innocence to her. Hope gave Eve and Aria a run for their money in the hips and ass department. And Charity had a redheaded girl next door vibe.

Alice clapped excitedly. “That was amazing, my god. Those are beautiful names, thank you.” She said, urging the Virtues on.

“We thank you, master.” They spoke in unison.

They were a special existence, similar to Genesis in that they were a part of my divinity. They were rankless, wouldn’t generate faith energy, and seemed to be bound to Aoife Island.

I had no idea what I was going to do with seven angelic nymph maids, but they seemed happy and Alice wanted a maid staff. There were enough rooms in the palace so it was fine, I guess.

“Great, you ladies listen to Alice, and I’ll see you later,” I said, shaking my head.

I had work to do.

I teleported high above the nebular obsidian disk that was Aoife Island, its blue, white, and silver veins pulsed calmly in rhythm with my burning divine source star below.

In the shadow of the Obsidian Starlight Palace, I begin crafting.

I took the design of the villas from the Golden Palace Seminary, and created five thousand villas made from obsidian and moonlight glass.

I gave them black marble floors, walkways, and fences.

They stretched far out beyond Eterna, Glade of the Calida Seraphim in neat rows, creating a diamond-like grid.

Each villa had a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, a courtyard, and a small pond.

As I worked, Genesis, my origin tree spirit, appeared next to me, filling in plants and vegetation without me having to ask. Each villa gained a garden of black orchids and white grass.

She also added black koi fish to the sparkling white, celestial ponds.

**”Moonlight Villas.”**

I spoke with divinity, bringing them to life in a bloom of celestial light as they were interwoven in the authority of Aoife Island.

The villas became extensions of my palace, with direct portals to the training chamber and the design of the rooms could now be altered with a thought.

I nodded to myself before looking at Genesis. “Are we good to go?”

“Yes, master.” She responded, dipping her head.

We teleported to Eterna, where we found Pandora, my celestial fairy goddess, Eve, my void elf goddess, Aria, my spectral flame seraphim, Luna, my five-tailed chaos fox, and Rhea, my sponsor from the Ivy Clan.

They were having tea in one of the chaos marble gazebos. It was a big deal for a deity to enter the soul realm of another. It was a display of total trust because I had near infinite control over the laws that made up the realm.

“Master!” Luna squealed, catching sight of me.

She ran in for a hug, and I complied, running my hand along her fluffy tails as she turned.

“You really outdid yourself with this place, brother Aeon,” Rhea said cheerfully. “I really can’t get over how beautiful it is, I might just have to move in.” She teased.

Pandora and Eve looked at each other with hidden meaning, and Aria laughed.

“You’re always welcome here, sister Rhea,” I said. “You can pick out a room in the palace if you want. Most of them are free but check with Alice, she has taken over logistics.”

Aria cleared her throat.

I smiled, stepping over to kiss her cheek. “With the assistance of my lovely seraphim here, that is.

“Oh, oh. I just might do that.” Rhea chirped.

Aria nodded. “If Alice is your assistant here, I can be your assistant in the natural world.”

“I don’t really need—“ I started, as her gaze bore unblinkingly into mine. “—I mean, yes, that’s a great idea.”

Pandora chuckled. “Why are you interrupting tea time?” She asked. “You made poor Genesis here, up and leave us.”

“Oh? I’m sorry Genesis, I didn’t know you were busy. I didn’t even check.”

Genesis’s face flushed red, “No, master. It’s nothing. I sensed you working and came to do my part.”

“I felt the island rumbling, what have you been up to?” Eve asked.

I smiled mischievously. “It’s time.”

Aria hopped up. “Oh already? Well come on, what are you waiting for?”

“Exciting, exciting. Tea and a show.” Rhea joked.

We all walked over to the spectral flame tree. It was an extension of the origin tree, and took on its duties for Aoife Island.

“Ingrid, Olga, Celty,” I called.

“Yes, my lord?”

“Ay, big guy?”

“My lord?”

They appeared next to us. Ingrid and Olga were dwarven twins and my blacksmiths. Celty was a dullahan and my seamstress.

“Once they spawn, I want you all to get measurements for clothes and armor.”

“Of course, my lord, leave it to us.” Ingrid said giddily.

Olga saluted, and Celty curtsied for some reason.

“I’ll have the divine ore and gems over to you soon,” Rhea said from behind us.

We thanked her and turned to watch the show. With a flourish, Genesis took over and 2,000 angelic fruits began ripening on the branches of the spectral flame tree.

I had given her the valkyrie, fury, and muse origin sources. My expansion principle was only able to multiply them by two, but both angelic races and divine beasts were naturally born at Rank 3 with the ability to withstand the pressure of divine realms.

When the fruit reached maturity, they burst open in gentle explosions of light, and my shield maidens to be descended gracefully, carried by radiant waves of divine energy.

2,000 blonde-haired valkyries kneeled before me, all nude angelic females with white feathered wings. Their poise was an effortless grace; the very definition of power and beauty.

My excitement was explosive as Genesis ripened 2,000 furies next. Their fruits burst and they descended next to the valkyries.

Their presence was fierce as they kneeled, all beautiful women with dark eyes, slowly writhing hair, and flaming wings.

1,000 muses were up next. Their origin sources were a part of Aria’s birthright in the secret chamber of her destroyed clan home.

The fruit burst and they descended behind the valkyries and furies. Their appearance was a surprise, all beautiful women, but closer to seraphim than what I would’ve originally assumed. They had four feathered wings, warrior builds, and long black hair.

**”I am your lord and god, Aeon. You are my angelic army, and you shall live and fight for me and the rest of my denizens.”** I commanded excitedly.

“We accept you as our lord and god. We swear to worship and fight for you until the end of time.” They responded in a unified chorus.

Shining in a bright divine light, my black orchid sigil appeared on their various body parts.

Divine energy swirled around them, and they immediately began resonating with my concepts.

The valkyries connected with my lightning concept. Their hair grew longer and shifted to a snow white with layered silver streaks. The feathers in their wings hardened, becoming more metallic and sharp.

The furies touched my astral concept. Their hair nearly congealed, gaining a gel-like consistency. The flames of their wings cooled, transforming into a shadowy black, behaving more like water.

The muses, unsurprisingly resonated with Aria’s spectral flame concept. Their four wings and hair combusted in rolling hues of spectral fire.

“Woah,” Aria whispered.

I wouldn’t exactly say I was giddy with excitement; but everyone who was looking at me right now might.

This was an amazing feeling, there had been several moments in the last few months where I really felt like a god, and this was absolutely top three.

Just the thought of creating my own army of angelic shield maidens had excitement pouring off me in waves.

“Is he going to be okay?” Pandora whispered to Eve, giggling.

“Let him have his moment.” Eve said, smiling.

“Yes, yes, he was very serious when he said he liked shield maidens.” Rhea teased.

“The muses are so cool, do you think they can play instruments?” Aria asked.

**”Freya, of the Valkyries, Megaera, of the Furies, and Calliope, of the Muses, I name you and declare you queens and generals. Freya, you shall lead the Lightning Corps, Megaera, you shall lead the Astral Corps, and Calliope, you shall lead the Spectral Flame Corps. Serve me and my army well.”** I declared, pointing out a woman from each angelic race with my sigil on their forehead.

They glowed subtly, and each gained crowns on their heads. Three small black diamonds appeared on their necks, just below their left ears. The diamonds created a pyramid, with the top one slightly larger than the bottom two.

“We obey, our god.” They said in unison.

I had instructed Genesis to spawn 2,000 winged dragons, 2,000 phoenixes, and 1,000 alicorns from divine energy near Aoife Island’s nebular mountain ranges. I envisioned them as mounts for my angelic army, but that was probably a ways off.

The winged dragons had two wings and four strong legs. The phoenixes resembled a fusion of eagles and peacocks, with very long tail feathers.

Alicons were an enchanting combination of unicorns and pegasus’, also known as winged unicorns.

After the martial challenge, I also received the DNA templates of wingless dragons, wyverns, drakes, wyrms, fenghuangs, humas, thunderbirds, and firebirds.

Wingless dragons were equal in tier to their winged counterparts, just a different subspecies with whiskers, four legs, and obviously no wings.

The same was true for fenghuangs and phoenixes. Fenghuangs were a mishmash of other birds in appearance. It had the head of a pheasant, the body of a duck, the tail of a peacock, the legs of a crane, the beak of a parrot, and the wings of a swallow.

How it made all of that still look graceful, I’d never understand.

Wyverns, drakes, and wyrms, on the other hand, were all types of lesser dragons.

Wyverns had two wings, two legs, and barbed tails. Drakes had no wings, large bodies, and four legs. Wyrms were very long with no wings, and no legs.

Humas and firebirds could be considered lesser phoenixes, with thunderbirds as a distant electric cousin.

Humas had two wings and no legs, firebirds looked like falcons with large plumage, while thunderbirds resembled very large hawks.

I told Genesis to spawn them all with natural energy across my planets.

I may add some of the more beautiful lesser phoenixes to Aoife Island at a later point in time. I had the divine energy to do it, but I wanted to birth the celestial phoenix and void dragon origin sources first.

After using part of their energy to create bodies for Pandora and Eve, I wasn’t actually sure if they would have the same physiology when they were born.

“There appears to be a pattern emerging, brother Aeon,” Rhea said, smirking.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You have a very high number of female denizens.” She replied.

“Do I really?” I asked.

“Yes!” Pandora, Eve, Aria, and Rhea answered together.

I laughed. “Anyway, let me show you what all the rumbling was earlier.

I shifted us all to the Moonlight Villas.

“Very organized,” Eve commented.

“They’re so pretty,” Pandora added.

“This is your new home, the Moonlight Villas.” I said, creating simple robes for the angelic races. “Once you get your measurements and weapon choices taken down from the Astral Seamstress and Obsidian Twin Smiths, you may choose any villa available.”

I tapped my chin. “Actually, Alice.” I called.

“Yes, my god.” She appeared quickly.

“This seems like a logistics thing, can you help—“ I started, but was interrupted by Aria

“I’ll help too.” She said quickly.

I chuckled. “Thanks.”

There was one more thing I wanted to do today. “Genesis, with me.”

“Yes, master.” She replied.