Hold over Myriad of Worlds

While I was still buried under the mountain of paperwork, a knock on the door to my office sounded, announcing the coming of a guest. After giving permission to enter, I was surprised to find Astraea in the doorway.

~"Astraea?"

-"What? Unhappy to see me?"-She asked with a smile.

~"No, a little surprised, but I am certainly happy to be visited by you."

-"How are you doing?"-She sat on the sofa as Lin, who was working the day, poured her tea.

~"Good, if I were not to count that."~I pointed at the mountain of documents.

-"Then you should be even more happy after hearing what I'm to talk about."

~"Oh? Color me interested."

-"We, Duty, finally completed the recruitment and training of all low-level officials. Though only half of the middle-level positions are filled, the administrative process of Hold can now finally operate without you keeping it all on your own."

~"You can't imagine how much I have been waiting for this."

-"This is also why I'm here. The Duty is still under restructuring, and while it should be done before the next Hold's Court meeting, I would like you to ask to pick officials for the Palace as this will require your and Keqing's cooperation."

~"Officials, huh? Let Fuxi and Nuwa be in charge of it. Just make Kequin confirm their choices later. After all, those two sisters are my secretaries, so it'll be them who will have contact with those Palace Officials most of the time."

-"Any restrictions?"

~"No one in Inner Palace aside from My Family. The rest is up to you and them, but try to give those from Terra a chance, as they are the majority of our population now."

-"Of course, around 70% of recruits are from Terra. The rest is mixed between Elysia's Eerth, Nobu's Japan, especially more peaceful Yōkai, and some from Xianzhou Alliance."

~"Seem healthy. At least there should be no excluded group."

-"With this out of the way, now it's time for the second issue why I'm here. Loki asked me to deliver you this."-Astraea passed me an envelope.

After picking and opening it, I found a letter and an intricate emblem made from divine iron. Quickly reading through the letter, I got some basic understanding of Loki's plans and then focused on the emblem.

At first glance, it was a simple item depicting an eight-point star with runes covering its surface, but after a closer look, one could quickly see that there was something wrong with this thing. Smiling slightly, I put it on my desk while returning my gaze to Astraea.

~"You should know what Loki's plan is. What is your opinion?"

-"Gods now fear you. A 'mortal' who possessed strength great enough to resist them now became something beyond their understanding. While I would prefer we could resolve this peacefully, Loki's plan is much more reliable."

~"I can understand the logic, but what I want to know are your feelings, Astraea."

-"Sigh... I don't want gods to wage war again."

~"Then that'll be it. I'll resolve this in a way that no divine blood is spilled nor any mortal life harmed."

-"This..."

~"Don't worry, I might not be good at scheming like Loki, but I'm not stupid. Since I got all this power, I should use it not to leave any regrets for you. All of you."

-"Just keep yourself safe. I don't want you to harm yourself for me."-Astraea sighed internally, seeing that I've made my choice.

~"Then please give this back to Loki."~I returned the envelope, now closed with both the emblem and new letter I just now penned.

-"She'll be pissed."

~"I'm aware, but I'm also tired of playing with the ego of gods."

-"I'll put some good word for you to her."

~"Thanks."

-"No, It's me who should be thankful to you."-She leaned over my desk and kissed me before leaving the office.

After she left, I lost my smile and called out to an empty room.

~"Maiev."

-"Your Majesty."

~"Pass my order to gather all Dragon Aspects."

-"Yes."

~"Also, ask Winter and Elune to also be present for the assembly."

When I finished speaking, my reliable Shadow disappeared. Meanwhile, I returned to the documents in front of me.

I stayed in my office for the rest of the day, leaving it only in late evening.

As I had already agreed to Jeanne's request, I made my way to the [Knights Aromory], though after Hestia remodeled Hold's Palace, it could be called a fortress by its pure size.

Similarly to before, the main entrance to [Knights Aromory] could be found right by the entrance to the Palace inside the [Great Hall]. But now, what lay behind that entrance was a smaller hall where Palace Guards would gather, not the armory itself.

From there, one could take one of three passages. The first leads to Palace Guards Quarters, as now Palace Guards expanded to include over two hundred members. All of them are part of Astraea familia, as for obvious reasons, it was decided that only those directly under Five Principles can enter the Palace armed.

Most of them are past Valkyrie of Schicksal, with the rest consisting of previous members of Astraea familia, the whole Artemis Familia, those members of Atena familia that the goddess brought, and some people revived by me in that Bubble World.

The second entrance leads to the armory itself. All arms and armor Guards carry are from there, and as such, they benefit from unique bonuses of [Knights Aromory]. Due to the importance of that place, only five Palace Guards Leaders can open it aside from Astraea and me.

Those leaders are: Alise Lovell, the leader of Palace Guards and capitan of Artemis Familia. Durandal, the strongest of Palace Guards and my Herald. Gojouno Kaguya, deputy leader and vice-captain of Artemis Familia. Reanna Brigantia, the second strongest Palace Guard. Li Sushang, the third strongest but, as Hua's half-disciple, she had the best mastery over techniques, only lagging behind Cultivation and level-wise.

The Palace Guards right now are mostly focused on training to achieve greater strength, so if not on duty, they would spend most of their free time either Cultivating or training. To facilitate that, behind the third passage are training grounds, fully at their disposal. Be it using simulations to fight or directly modify some laws, they could train in every scenario one Simulated Realm was able to create.

Thanks to that, Palace Guards are the unit closest to ascending into the ranks of Holds elites, where Nobu's Generals, Flame-Chasers, and Heroic Spirits are currently.

But leaving those things aside for now, I focused on the reason why I came here today. After entering, I was instantly noticed by Palace Guards as they saluted me. Permitting them to stand down, I approached Jeanne, who was on the side with two girls wearing Palace Guard's clothes.

-"My Lord."

-"Your Majesty."

~"I apologize for making you wait."

-"No, It's our honor to be noticed by Your Majesty."-Yae Sakura spoke seriously.

~"Let's change the venue of our talk so that we do not impede others."~I spoke while opening a portal to one of the small realms made I med so that I could entertain guests there.

Jeanne and the Yae sisters followed me there, and after I found a place to sit, I asked Yae Sakura to show her talent. At my command, she disappeared from here, and as I began to check, I noticed that I couldn't detect her using any conventional power I possessed. Even when using Paths, only my Ordiantiona and Enigmata could locate her, with Erudition, Elation, and Finality being able to find her traces but not pinpoint her location.

~"Such talent... This changes things. Yae Sakura, I will ask you a question that you must answer truthfully."

-"Yes, Your Majesty."

~"I'll promise you to care and keep your sister safe, and, in exchange, you'll give me your everything, becoming a blade at my disposal. You'll complete every order, give up your every sentiment, get rid of morality. Do you agree?"

Hearing me, she looked up from her kneeling position, surprised by what she heard, but that quickly changed into conviction as she spoke decisively.

-"Yes, I agree."

~"Good. Jeanne, please take Yae Rin to Yae. Explain to her that I want her to become a Miko."

-"Yes."

-"Your Majesty!"

~"Yes? Feel free to speak up if you need something."

-"Can I also stay with Your Majesty and my sister?"

~"I promise not to make your sister stay away from you, but as you should know, you don't have a talent for fighting like her. If you become a Miko, you'll be able to help your sisters with your powers then. How about that?"-I explained to the girl, who was no older than seven.

-"This... Can I do this?"

~"Of course, while you don't have combat talent, I feel that your spirituality is much beyond even talented mystics, so after some training, you'll become a great Miko."

-"I'll do this!"

~"Good. Jeanne."

-"Yes, let's go, Rin."

After those two left, I sealed this space and looked at the pink-haired girl still kneeling before me.

~"From now on, you'll become my Guard, but in addition to that, you'll be given additional responsibility that no one else but us two will know. In my name as Emperor of Hold, I, Yue, hereby gave you the position of executioner. Under my order, you are to kill the target, no matter who it may be. You are to leave no trace, and after your mission, I'll erase your memories and the Karma of that act."

-"I'm at your orders, Your Majesty."

~"Good, then after we leave this space, you'll be Yae Sakura, my Guard, and Kasumi, my blade pointed at Hold. As this task might lead you to betray those who you will fight by your side, if you have any wishes, tell me them, and I will fulfill them."

She continued to look at me for a while before speaking carefully.

-"This life was given to me by Your Majesty, so it's natural I'll give it up for Your Majesty. Your Majesty also took care of my sister... I don't dare desire for anything. It is I who is thankful to Your Majesty. If it's a wish of mine, then it's only to dedicate my whole being to Your Majesty, the Soul, heart, and... body..."-She lowered her head as she spoke her last words.

-"I see. Your Soul belongs to me from the moment you agreed to my previous question. I'll wait for the day you truly give me your heart, and only then will I take your body."

-"Yes."-She answered, slightly disappointed yet revealed at the same time.

~"I'll give you the power to achieve the tasks in the future."~I spoke as I extended my hand and placed it on her head.

As soon as I touched her pink hair, a grimace of pain appeared on her face. I began remodeling her body using Path of Abundance, imbuing it with the pure [Darkness] of Svartalheim. Moments later, Yae Sakura was covered with sweat, as blood dripped from her lips due to her biting her tongue not to scream out.

The pain of changing a living person's Destiny is something unavoidable. It's quite literally shattering what one is into pieces and rearranging it, so even I can't prevent this kind of pain. But when I was done, Yae Sakura became a Spirit, retaining her will because of her endurance.

After smoothing her pain, she collapsed from exhaustion, so I brought her to the rooms my Guards used in Inner Palace. I left her in the care of Cellinia, who was resting in their joint lounge. Meanwhile, I moved to the Moon Palace, where Elves and Dragons were already waiting for me.

-"Yue."-Ysera was first to greet me when I entered the hall of Moon Palace.

~"Good to see you all."

~"I'm also happy to see you, but why did you call us?"~Winter asked from her throne.

~"I'll need your assistance and cooperation."

~"Hou? What happened?"

~"Let's just say that I'm slowly getting annoyed by Orario gods and their egos."

~"Ah, them. Tyrande complained about that at length when we last talked."~Elune covered her mouth and chuckled.

~"What do you plan to do?"~Winter returned to the main subject.

~"Flip the board when Loki's plans arrive at the point of breaking into divine war."

~"Weren't you in favor of her plan before?"

~"I was and still am to some degree. The only difference is that rather than playing around with them later, I plan to directly force them with power."

~"Good, don't let those selfish gods jump all over you."~Elune nodded, agreeing with my stance on the matter.

~"My idea is simple and direct. Establish a Pantheon that they won't be able to question or undermine. Loki's talks with Oracle confirmed that they consist of some primordial deities, but the negotiations came to a stalemate as there is no primordial god in our ranks."

~"Let me guess, they plan to give you position while restraining you to appease other gods below."~Winter rolled her eyes.

~"Yes. As their restrictions are nothing to me outside that world, I plan to agree with them, but that would make some gods jump at the chance to strike at me and people close to me, so first, I need to establish prestige high enough to dissuade them."

~"And here we come in to play. By building Pantheon with five aspects and three of us, you will become a force no existing group of gods there can rival."

~"After their wars, most Pantheons are in shambles, if not directly dissolved, so with our strength, we can easily carve out a place for ourselves in the control over the world."

~"I'm not opposed, but how will you gain divinity for them?"~Winter motioned at Dragon Aspects.

~"The divinity is given by a world or taken from it. As World Spirit, it's easy to negotiate with other worlds, especially as I now control Abundance."

~"What will the limits and restrictions of those divinities be?"

~"As it's divinity from that world, outside it, the power it can exhibit depends entirely on you. As for restrictions, those are the usual ones."

~"And what is the said power?"

~"Authority over the domain of the divinity. But the reason why I wish to get it for you is that I plan to research it and form divinities in my world to slowly start creating gods."

~"Then so be it."~Winter agreed to my plan without any issues.

~"Same here."

-"So we will regain some power we let go with our authorities back then?"-Malygos asked while in thought.

-"Well, moving around after a rest is not bad."-Neltharion sighed while stretching his arms.

Nozdormu, similarly to Malygos, was in deep thought, but he didn't even have the focus to spare and talk.

-"We'll help you any time you need, Yue."-Ysera smiled at me.

-"Exactly. While we are grateful for the peace you gave us, we even more want to be useful to you that lay in our nests."-Alexstrasza also spoke up.

~"Thanks. We will act tomorrow, so be ready."

Hearing my words, everyone nodded, each having expectations for the day to come.