It Started With Devils & Artefacts

All can I say is that we are victorious and the worm has been removed.

~~~

While such discovery gave him some idea of what to expect, the unknown factor of how they perceive his creation hasn't dulled down.

The inventor wanted to see what these Klaxosaurians think! How do they see his Assimilator? Or do theyn't, but they have this feeling of being watched? What is it that affects them like that?

He has no answers to all those questions!

Marcus continued to ponder as he rewatched the video at least ten times before storing it away as the first-ever proof that Klaxosaurians have the means to communicate vocally.

Well, it was his first-ever proof. They could have had means to communicate for hundreds of years if not thousands of years, but it's his first-ever video of them talking.

So it has value to him.

After storing it away, he went to find the triceratops on which he was going to use the evolution serum.

"What is that?" Erina asked him as he was holding a needle with yellow serum inside of it.

"Evolution serum, I want to see if we can turn these horned dinosaurs into prehistoric cows." He clarified to her what he was planning to do.

"...Okay…" She understood why, but at the same time, experiments like that… umm…

"What? Please, don't give me that whole moral stuff now. Considering how humans slaughter chicken, cows and sheep for food and stuff." 

He rolled his eyes.

"I know— I know…" 

After a short moral dilemma, Marcus did do it.

"..."

"..."

"Nothing happened, " the chef girl said in a confused tone. She watched closely as the horned lizard behaved like nothing had happened!

"Well, duh, it's evolution serum, not mutation serum. That means their children will be affected, not them. 

The serum, for a while, will negate incest-based shortcomings until this new Triceratops variant has enough numbers." He explained to her as he handed away the needle. 

"Oh…" the girl blushed in embarrassment for a second, thinking he would cause the animal to feel some sort of pain!

"Oh, indeed. Now, let go and watch what our dearest Klaxosaurians are doing." 

"Klaxo—saurian?" Erina looked confused. Did he name the sapient dinosaurs?

"Aurora figured out their language, and they call themselves Klaxo or people of Klaxo. So I decided to add saurian as in the 'lizard'." He said to her that as they left the storage block of the triceratops, they took a Graviton shuttle to the main animal control area and then took the lift to the observation floor and the central command of the Assimilator.

For now, they watched how the first civilisation rose from primitive tribes, the first clay or mud-like buildings, and the construction of first-like temples, which are shaped similarly to pyramids.

This was similar to what Marcus remembers from Mesopatamians, but there was something else…

And that is the monoliths similar to the one he left many years ago.

That Monolith has left a genetic memory to these Klaxosaurians!

Marcus smiled when he saw that, but just like everything, certain things come to an end—the fall of civilisation. The number of people living in the ancient city was too great, and famine struck. This led to the city's weakening and another city that was rising conquered it.

The city ended up being destroyed by a lesser… less developed society.

"So that's the fall of Klaxia." Erina looked sad to see a city that had existed for nearly a thousand years vanish like that.

People scattered, and their achievements fell into the sea of time.

When Marcus saw it, he realised how similar this was to human societies and the fall of empires.

There are a large number of people, not enough food, questionable leadership choices, and the fall of roles in men and women—all signs of a failed society.

"No worries, the city will live on in my archives." 

He reassured her, and with a snap of fingers, a couple of knights entered the observation floor.

"I want that city recovered and stored away." 

"Yes, Supreme Commander."

The pair of knights saluted before leaving the place.

"How long do you think it will take for Klaxosaurians to recover the lost progress? We saw a high level of society, from priests to rich merchants, all of that in an early technological society where everyone lived in mud-like houses." She asked him as she saw how the ones who invaded lived in worse cities!

"Give a couple hundred years. As long as the ones who lived in that city are still alive, the tales will remain with them.

Eventually, the advancement will return and surpass. What's what biological life does."

As he said, they continued to watch, and the number of Klaxosaurians continued to increase, the places where they lived spread out more, and the number of small civilisations continued to grow.

With that, more wars popped up, and more destruction followed.

Erina was both horrified and impressed by the ability to destroy and recover. However, with each fall of society, the next civilisation will be greater. 

Eventually, a higher form of weaponry is introduced, like iron. With iron, greater defences, bigger walls, and bigger siege equipment are created.

Of course, greater societal activities and distinctive languages followed by writing, mythos, and religion.

"Let's go. It's time for us to get close and personal." He smiled as he noticed the first proper large temples.

"Right. I do want to see what they are worshipping." 

The pair descended into a far different world from what they remember last time.

There are cities of marble and stone, klaxosaurians wielding weapons of metal, and buildings that look like large temples and fortifications similar to castles.

Not only that, but there are domesticated animals, like variants of Hadrosoridae, which are used as mounts, and Cerapsidae, which are used as cattle for milk, leather, and meat.

But what attracted their attention were huge towers in which large flyers were kept as flying mounts!

"I am jealous," Marcus said as he realised what this was. 

"You have an interstellar empire— no, an interstellar time and space empire, and you are jealous of species who don't have a rice cooker?" Erina joked with an eye roll.

"I don't have flying mounts." He reasoned.

"You can genetically create big birds. What's your point?"

"And? I can create, not tame like they do. Honestly, our era is garbage. We don't have smilodons anymore, or megalodons or big snakes. Nope, the only thing we have is big whales." Marcus ranted at the injustice of his modern times.

Compared to these guys! His era is boring as hell!

"Well, because of T-rex and other large predators, it took them over a hundred thousand years to reach where they are. Even then, it's because you left your monolith." She reasoned with him. 'Cool' doesn't mean great for society.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but it's a boy thing." He shrugged before taking her hand and proceeding to explore the capital of this Empire.

Erina looked around. It was strange to see a civilisation during the dinosaur period. If not for the fact that people of this land were blue-skinned and had dinosaurs for pets, she would have thought she was in a mash-up of antique and medieval times world.

Eventually, her eyes perked up as they arrived at a marketplace. Constant shouting to sell stuff has reached their ears. The chef girl ended up pulling him towards the first merchant who was selling strange fruits.

"They have raised their version of fruits. I remember much wilder ones I collected a couple thousand years ago. It is amazing what one can do after selective breeding is done properly!" The girl gushed as she was about to touch it, but then she stopped, as they were invisible for a reason…

"Well, we can think of something." He said after seeing her stop midway.

"I bet, but we can do that later. Let's go and explore first." 

With a nod, the pair continued to walk around. Paying attention to the societal structure of this place.

They did find that there is a high emphasis on martial prowess and talent for fighting, all of which are described in their building designs and activities.

Where one usually would have a theatre play, one would have gladiatorial fights here.

'So it's more like Rome than Athens.'

Marcus could see similarities between this antique and medieval society, such as the way their leather armour was mixed with metal and the buildings being made from stone and marble, which reminded him of Rome or Ancient Greece.

Wood is being used much less than he had imagined. Well, Romans used stone and marble; only after barbarians took over most of Europe did people switch to wood.

Considering how warm it always is here, he can see the attraction of using stone or marble instead of wood.

Eventually, the pair arrived at a grand temple on top of a pyramid. Honestly, it reminded him of Carthaginian or Babylonian in style. Something he can't get enough of.

The pair floated to the top and proceeded to walk around, looking for paintings or something that would give them an idea of what they were still worshipping this time around…

As they inspected the paintings, Marcus activated his holographic scanner and recorder to gain more insight with the assistance of his AI.

"Mark… they still believe in the ones who observe… I think the religion is more advanced than before." Erina said with a strained smile.

"They always watch us. Their invisible hands stretch through the infinite stars and guide us to a bright future." The cherry blonde read to him what she was seeing before her.

The AI has fully translated to her.

"How much did we interfere in their lives?" She asked him, considering that the single monolith was placed on the planet for these people a very long time ago.

"Well, my UFOs have been collecting samples all the time so that they could have helped a couple of times." The Inventor shrugged at her. He doesn't remember any specific scenario where they interfered more than necessary.

Marcus noticed something peculiar as they walked around: a metal acorn with "countless hands'.

"Aurora, do we have any idea how they can see my Assimilator?"

[There could be a specific phenomenon where gravity wells could be perceived at unique times, maybe… solar storms?]

Marcus pondered for a bit before checking more of the murals. He could see these 'hands' and 'discs' maintaining the land, removing animals or even placing them, and then saving their cattle and other stuff.

He is certain that only half of this is real. The other half is made up for the sake of 'religion'.

After thinking for a bit, he had no idea what to do next. Should he embrace the god's status? He knew what would happen to Klaxosaurians in the future. They would die off fighting those soul eaters from space, permanently fuse with their mechs and leave only the Princess as the sole living Klaxosaurian.

As he recalled the plot, he left the temple, sat down on the stairs, and looked at the city expanding in front of him.

"So what now?" Erina asked him curiously as she walked over and stood behind where he was sitting.

"Well, we can help them survive or let them die off." He said with a shrug.

"Are you talking about the meteorite?" she asked him, wondering what he was hinting at.

"No, and yes. These species will reach advanced civilisation status until they experience an invasion from alien species, " he said in a thoughtful voice.

"Oh, so you want to assist them? Is that why you began to assemble your armies?" Erina realised why he had begun to mass produce his military.

"Since you already started militarising, there is no need to hold back." She slightly shrugged at him. Since he started, there is no need to hold back.

"I guess. But this will be a long project." He smiled slightly as he stood up. Since they already started, there is no reason to hold back.

As Marcus said that, he pondered on an entry… maybe copy how Predators used to do? Landing on the top of the pyramids…

Sounds amusing and interesting.

"Long is a subjective word, isn't it? We have been here for a long time now." Erina snorted.

They have been here since the beginning of the Cretaceous, which is close to 100 million years now. They collected quite an impressive list of animals and plants.

They are quite close to leaving this place by all means and purposes, but that could change if Marcus decides to become these Klaxosaurian God…

"True. I could set a few things in motion and watch things unfold." He said that with a contemplative look, he could make a miracle or two and let the religion spiral out into something…

"Possible as well, but you need to remember that there is a threat out there for these people and maybe even to us to some degree." 

The girl reminded him of what he said before.

Marcus slightly smiled, hearing her concerned about something. He could understand why Erina was worried as she had never seen his faction in real action.

"Don't worry, I have some ideas about what to do." Marcus' small smile morphed into a smirk.

A smirk Erina is feeling is going to cause quite a commotion!

~~~~~~???~~~~~~

It was time for prayers. The Grand Priest Dalulu gathered his followers in the Grand Temple of the City of Koria.

"Today, we gathered here to pray for guidance and to ask our Great Observers to show us a sign that the tragedy of Klaxia and the famine that ended the great civilisation of Klaxia won't repay itself!" 

The old priest continued to mumble about asking for guidance. Today, he asked for guidance on how to survive Famine, tomorrow for prosperity, and so forth. There is a list of thoughts on prayers.

But then, a dense pressure descended on the whole city, and a golden ball erupted before the metal 'acorn' with many arms.

It was a golden armoured being with golden red wings. Its aura makes people struggle to breathe.

The Great Priest's eyes bulged out as his pupils expanded. 

"Oh, Great Observer, is that truly you?" 

Instead of saying anything, he raised his hand, and everyone in the hall saw images of the monolith and the huge acorn and what they had been doing here.

The gathered people were made to understand the acorn and its purpose. Just revealing that it was one of many made their knees give up, as this being's faction was absurd, to say the least.

He was the leader of an absurd faction, and just one of these beings was worshipworthy, but when they got the call answered by the leader himself, it made their brain stop functioning for a second.

Instead, they were forced to see images of the future.

"N-N-No! We can't die off!" They saw themselves becoming metal giants as they fought off the invaders.

"Then do you follow me?" The armoured being asked, his voice was magnetic and deep, making them stick to each word like glue!

"Yes! Bring salvation to our kin, oh great Observer!"

"You may call me the Supreme Commander." 

But that word was foreign to these people. They only had Rulers, like Kings, Lords, and Emperors. They used to call their celestials Observers, as they were beings who watched their struggles and, from time to time, 'assisted'. But this was the first time that the greatest Observer decided to answer their call!

So they can't call him Observer anymore since he is interacting, not observing! They can't call him whatever he is asking as they don't understand what a 'commander' is in the first place, but they know what Supreme is.

"Supreme Emperor! As you wish! We shall call you—"

"GOD-EMPEROR! Grand Priest Dalalu, how can we call our great Observer a mere Supreme! It's a heresy to use such a mortal name! He can only be our God-Emperor!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

The devoted followers proceeded to chant his new title, the God Emperor of Klaxia.

The golden armoured being was out of words as he simply stared at what had just happened.

'How did this happen?'

Marcus and Erina, who were at the back, were staring at this development with bafflement.

The inventor used a Psionic projection to make himself appear as a Dinosaur-like deity. Well, dragons are mythologically the closest thing to a dinosaur.

"So, now you are god?" She didn't even sound surprised anymore. Hell, their current place has warped her common sense to the point that she is questioning what common sense is.

"I guess…" He was not certain either way. But this was an important part of his future designs, which were to build up a force to face those space vampire spirit thingies.

He won't throw his resources into this until Klaxosaurians are fully exhausted. 

Hell, he finally has a civilisation that is going to follow him. The only thing he needs to add to this is a proper foundation that is obedient to him.

'Yes, I think I got an idea.'

His suit reacted as nanites proceeded to pour out from Diamond Heart Engine.

At the same time, his projection raised his hand forward, making a declaring motion.

"In that case, those who follow me shall be rewarded." A golden avalanche of 'energy' blasted from him.

In truth, it was from his suit, from behind. A wave of nanites rushed and fused with the group of Klaxosaurians, giving them by all means 'supernatural' powers. The nanites will make them stronger, according to what Marcus desires. After all, he doesn't easily share power, especially those who are not cute girls.

Not that he needs more 'soldiers'. He can make them, he can design them, and he can arm them. But this situation? One could say that this is a hobby. He wants to see how far this 'game' can evolve. Can these people impress him enough? Sure, he liked the new title, but they need to show him that they are worthy of being kept around.

"I have given to you my blessing. The power of this blessing will depend on how strong your belief is. Worst case, if you disappoint me… the consequences will be severe."

The gathered followers looked at their hands as they felt… lighter and far more vigorous! Whatever their new Emperor did has surely worked!

One of them tried out. He took his sword and tried to bend it. 

"Impossible!" the blue-skinned Klaxosaurian exclaimed in disbelief as he saw his sword bend awkwardly and his hand, which he had cut, heal up nearly instantaneously!

The rest of them started to inspect their new power-ups!

After a short while, the Klaxosaurians returned to kneeling before him, waiting for directives.

"First, your kin has to unite the world. It's the only way to focus on a single enemy. Those soul eaters do not know that we know they are coming to us. We will use this to our advantage."

The gathered people gushed at such an idea. In a martial society, a strategic advantage is something one can acknowledge and look up to.

"With our new abilities uniting, the world conquest will be a child's play, oh Great God Emperor."

"Then see to it." 

With the golden bust, Marcus' projection and oppressive presence disappeared, making everyone feel much lighter!

Instead of celebrating that their God had descended, everyone looked serious as they received their first true divine mission!

~~~

"Aurora, you can remove the camouflage on the Assimilator; we no longer need it." Marcus watched as everyone started to organise and prepare for a coup and a revolution.

[Understood, sir.]

"Well, it appears the situation has become…strange." Erina chipped in as she saw the whole thing.

"It is what it is. If they want to be saved, they need to do it themselves." He replied with crossed arms.

"You are planning to help them either way?" 

"I am planning to get rid of soul-eating aliens, yes." He said with a nod.

"That's a broad reply with many possibilities." The cherry blonde, who already understands how he works, knows he can take many options in dealing with these aliens.

"Precisely, I have no idea when they are coming, but we will have a while." He said while stroking his chin.

'Since I am planning to keep this world, I do not care about the meteorite.'

"Aurora, I want you to build an early warning system for the solar system." 

[But sir… if we do that, the butterfly effect bar…]

"Since we are helping Klaxosaurians, we need to accept that there won't be a humanity here." 

'For Zero Two, I will need to visit an alternative version of this Earth,' Marcus thought, as he already had an idea once the highway was complete in outside time.

[Understood, accessing the memory banks, locating blueprints.]

"So much for that." Erina realised that he would be changing history fundamentally. Not that she had much opinion on this since she found this ancient world interesting, and it was not truly her world to begin with.

"Come now. It's going to be interesting." 

"I am not sad or anything. Since I knew something like this would happen, " the chef girl said with a knowing tone. She knew that Marcus was looking for a way to have fun, and now he had an entire civilisation to play with.

"Ha. That's my Erina. Now, then, let's go. I need to create a 'research tree'." He joked briefly as the pair flew out from the Grand Temple towards the sky.

By this point, people were pointing at the sky as there were highways and other constructs.

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~

Quinella looked at massive constructs being assembled outside the Carboniferous Assimilator. The information relay, which was a huge communication dish, was already in operation, and Marcus had already sent a data package to establish a permanent link.

By this point, she is already synchronising with other Assimilators and solidifying the comms link.

"Mistress, we are getting strange data from two Assimilators." One of the officers notified the Assistant.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"The Jurassic Assimilator has an absurdly high Butterfly Effect percentage." the officer showed to Quinella.

"At a global scale? What are they doing!? Those stupid bedwarmers!" The platinum-haired girl started to rant. She can't believe what they did after Marcus trusted them with a tiny bit of his power! And this is what they get?

"Mistress, Aurora has updated the datalog. According to it, the maids fought among themselves for the privilege of collecting the top 3rd dinosaur in the list. It erupted into a battle. Mistress Sirin took control after and arrested them."

"Oh? And of the dinosaurs?" Quinella had a feeling this was not a simple arrest but a power grab. The Herrscher was quite similar to her, after all.

"Mistress Sirin collected all of the top entries in the bingo book related to the Jurassic period."

"Fufufu… thought so." Quinella had an annoyed look. Such a competition is…concerning. 

"And regarding the other matter, it's from Cretaceous Earth."

"Marcus' Assimilator? What happened!?" The Assistant's expression morphed into worry.

"Its not that… its the Butterfly Effect bar… it… broke." The officer was confused.

"I am sure it's an error in the communication relay…" she tried to reason, but Quinella walked over with a small frown.

"Impossible, we are working with quantum computers. The OS auto-fixes itself. Such fundamental failures are beneath us." The Plantinum haired assistant clarified that error is fundamentally impossible to them.

"Then…"

"What you are looking at is what is happening on that Earth."

'What are you doing? Marcus. Is your new game more valuable than the humanity in that world?' 

Honestly, as an Artificial creation, she doesn't have much attachment to the human race, but she cares because Marcus… used to care.

"So, Supreme Commander, on purpose, is breaking the set events?" The officer came to the conclusion.

"Precisely, now the question is, what is he doing? Are there any updates? Request an update if they need support. We do have a fleet on standby." She smirked as with Assimilator's impressive shipyards, building an armada is only a matter of time!

"I will do so." The officer proceeded to send a message to the Cretaceous Assimilator.

…

…

…

"Mistress, Aurora has replied to us. Currently, the Supreme Commander has encountered a sapient species of dinosaurs; he proceeded to tailor them to his needs." The officer needed to double-take what she was reading.

"Sapient Dinosaurs?" Quinella asked, imagining a T-Rex reading a newspaper. She was having a hard time seeing sapient dinosaurs!

"I see. Now, it makes sense. Why he is doing that." She concluded that Marcus would sacrifice modern society for something like that.

'No surprise there. He is like a small child when he finds something interesting.' 

The girl sighed to herself before continuing to exchange information.

As this happened, technocracy continued to strengthen its presence outside time, and the Assimilators array dish's OS was constantly improved to ensure that the beams of energy reached the Assimilators.

At the same time, the designs for Assimilators improved as nanotechnology improved the communication dishes. An extra piece was designed that would work as a receiver dish for lightning-fast communications.

"Mistress, we received confirmation the fleet can leave."

"Good. It appears Marcus is thinking of proper military action."

'But I doubt he needs that much for a simple invasion of a primitive civilisation. No, there is something more there. Pity I can't leave this place and assist him.' Quinella pondered as she ordered the fleet to leave towards their first assignment. 

With that in mind, sometimes she is annoyed that she has such a high status in Technocracy.

'Maybe being a simple bedwarmer from time to time is not a bad thing.'

A small sigh escaped from her lips as she returned to organise the Highway's creation and the Main Base's construction. The thing will be as huge as Mars! Considering that an Assimilator with all its parts in one place is a big USA…or Pluto.

For now, she needs to make sure that when he returns, the base is in pristine condition and ready for the last part of the trip, which is the collection of talent for his school.

~~~~~~Meanwhile, Reality Away, in Jurassic Earth~~~~~~

"No way! He is doing that!" Sirin, who finally learned what Marcus was doing, jumped out of her seat. 

"He created a civilisation and is now overseeing it!?" The girl exclaimed with a jealous voice.

As someone with a Queen Complex, having literal subjects who worship—or could worship—her is something she can't miss!

"But, I thought we won't interfere with locals and all that stuff." Hisako frowned when she heard that.

"Indeed, but the world he arrived in is different from normal. I can assume that it happened naturally." Sirin reasoned as she crossed her arms.

"Any news about my Lady?" the chef girl asked. She hoped that Erina was at the base outside time and not Marcus…

"She is with Marcus the whole time."

"T-The whole time?" 

'But that's close to a month!'

"Yes." The Herrscher nodded before smirking at her. "What? Are you afraid she has fallen deeply for him? You know, as a master of biology and the human body, he could easily make her addicted to him and his touch." Sirin whispered like a devil to the assistant chef.

Hisako imagined a couple of scenes from a questionable manga she had accidentally seen in a store. It made her cheeks heat up.

"Y-You think he would abuse his powers on a simple girl?" Erina's Assistant questioned with concern.

"Her? A simple girl? Someone with that talent can't be considered simple; she even has impressive looks." Sirin recalled Erina's burst size. That girl was created to be a mother. The Herrscher is even slightly jealous of those melons. They are as big, if not bigger than that red-haired teacher of Kiana or Raiden Mei.

"...But still, Marcus has Goddesses going after him…" Hisako reasoned.

"And yet he made me and all those ship girls. He follows a different set of rules regarding the status of Females." The white-haired girl brushed her hair before looking at the waiting guard.

"Sent, a word, I want all those top rankers to be stored in my newest ship. We are leaving for Marcus' Cretaceous Earth." The Herrscher made up her mind. She can't allow that chef girl to hoard Marcus to herself.

If she is to wait any longer, they could develop a deeper bond. And she is well aware of what bonds can do!

"Understood, Mistress."

"We are leaving?" 

"Yes. All the animals that were in the top 50 are secured. There are only stranglers left—" Sirin then realised something.

"Oh, and Aurora, tell the troops that criminals should be moved to my new ship as well. I will present them to Marcus as a gift." The girl giggled as she stood up from her seat. She finished her tea and was ready to 'set sail'. The Jurassic Earth has been drained of all its valuables. She is certain they will return at some point, but the most valuable resource has been 'drained'.

~~~

Meanwhile, Marcus watched closely how his latest experiment spiralled out of control.

What he is watching is Klaxosaurians purging all the 'heretics'… the only spare ones are small children and females. Sometimes, even male children are slaughtered.

Honestly, for a second, he forgot how ancient societies can be this hardcore. Such a slaughter from locals to locals is something he has not seen before. It's different when an invader does all the killing, but these are the locals who rose against their rulers and non-believers.

"Isn't it a bit too much?" Erina exclaimed as she placed her hand on her mouth when she saw this.

"Well… what can I say? A bit of power can take one far." He said with a strained smile.

"...Yeah…" The girl looked down at her chest where the triangle device was.

'If a simple boost from nanites can do that, then what about this?'

~~~

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