Year two began with consolidation.
I had 1,847 Subjects now, spread across every continent. Each one earning Points, completing tasks, building the
infrastructure of my growing empire. I'd purchased enough wishes that I was effectively a god myself—immortal,
unkillable, able to manipulate reality on a planetary scale.
But power without structure is just chaos. I needed organization. Systems. Hierarchy.
So I built it.
I established the Sovereign's Court—a council of my most powerful and trusted Subjects, each granted significant
authority to manage operations in their designated territories. Marcus became my Enforcer, leading a military division of
enhanced Subjects who dealt with threats through force. Jessica became my Intelligence Director, overseeing
information gathering and strategic planning.
I recruited specialists: scientists who used wishes to accelerate technological development, artists who crafted
propaganda, economists who designed the Point economy to maximize my tax revenue.
Chapter 6: Domination
Within six months, Earth had effectively two governments: the official ones that normal people thought ran things, and my
shadow administration that actually controlled key infrastructure, financial systems, and information flow.
The Regulator's Mundane Integration worked overtime to maintain the illusion of normalcy. To normal humans, nothing
had changed. But anyone who mattered, anyone with real power, knew the truth:
Earth belonged to the Sovereign.
And I wasn't done expanding.
I made my first move off-planet on day 856.
The Concordance had given me access to their knowledge repositories, and buried in the (heavily redacted) files was
information about other worlds under their control. Including one called Tyreth, a planet populated by a species that had
been fighting for independence from Concordance oversight for centuries.
They were losing. The Concordance's technology and cosmic power was too overwhelming.
But I saw an opportunity.
I used my spatial manipulation to teleport to Tyreth—a journey that should have taken years of conventional travel,
accomplished in seconds. I arrived in their capital city, materialized in the middle of their rebel command center, and
made them an offer.
"I can give you the power to win your war," I told their shocked leaders. "I can grant wishes that will make your soldiers
stronger, your weapons more effective, your defenses impenetrable. All I ask in exchange is that you accept my authority.
Become my Subjects, complete tasks for me, and earn Points to fund your revolution."
They refused at first. Prideful, suspicious, unwilling to exchange one master for another.
So I demonstrated.
I snapped my fingers and altered reality around us. Their primitive weapons transformed into advanced technology
decades ahead of anything the Concordance had. Their wounded soldiers were healed completely. Their ruined
infrastructure repaired itself.
"This is what I offer," I said. "Power to determine your own fate. Freedom from Concordance control. All for the low price
of acknowledging me as Sovereign and earning Points through service."
They still hesitated. So I sweetened the deal.
"Complete your revolution. Drive the Concordance off your world entirely. Do that, and I'll reduce your tax rate to 10%.
Your people can keep 90% of the Points they earn. You'll maintain autonomy in your internal affairs. I only require loyalty
and cooperation for external matters."
That got them.
Tyreth's rebellion became the first of what I called "Client States"—worlds that fell under my protection and authority but
maintained significant self-governance. Within three months, with the weapons and powers I provided, they'd forced the
Concordance into full retreat from their system.
Word spread.
Other species, other worlds suffering under Concordance control reached out to me. Some wanted liberation. Others
wanted protection from different cosmic entities. All of them wanted what I could provide: real, tangible power to improve
their situations.
I became a broker of wishes across multiple worlds. An alternative to the established divine hierarchies.
And with each new world that joined my network, my Point accumulation accelerated exponentially.
Year three brought complications.
Other cosmic entities had noticed my rise. Not just the Concordance, but rival organizations. The Entropic Court, which
believed reality should trend toward chaos rather than order. The Unity Collective, a hivemind spanning dozens of
dimensions. The Void Pantheon, ancient entities from before the current universe's formation.
All of them saw me as either a threat or an opportunity.
Some attacked. I crushed them.
Others offered alliance. I accepted, when terms were favorable.
A few tried to study me, to understand how a mortal had acquired such power. I killed the spies and sent their remains
back as messages.
The cosmic political landscape was shifting, and I was at the center. No longer a rebel to be eliminated, but a player to be
courted or feared.
And I was getting bored.
Don't misunderstand—I loved the power. Loved watching impossible things become possible at my command. Loved the
deference and fear in people's eyes when they realized who I was.
But the challenge was fading. I'd overcome every obstacle. Defeated every enemy. Built an empire that spanned multiple
worlds.
What was left?
The answer came from an unexpected source: Archon Selene.
She visited me in my palace on Earth—a structure I'd wished into existence, larger and more opulent than anything
human civilization had produced. We met in my throne room, beneath a ceiling that showed the stars of a dozen
conquered systems.
"You've done well, Sovereign," she said. "Better than I expected, honestly. You've disrupted the old order more thoroughly
than anyone in recorded history."
"And you're here to thank me?" I asked skeptically.
"I'm here to warn you." Her silver form flickered. "The Concordance's High Council is fracturing. The Hardliners are
demanding total war against you, willing to sacrifice billions of lives across hundreds of worlds to eliminate the threat you
represent. The Reformists are arguing for accommodation, but they're losing ground."
"Let them come. I've beaten them before."
"You've beaten scouts and expeditionary forces," Selene corrected. "You haven't faced the full might of the
Concordance's military apparatus. Trillions of entities, wielding reality-warping technology that makes your current
abilities look primitive."
"Then I'll get stronger."
"There's a limit," she said quietly. "Even for you. Even with your Contract. You're powerful, yes—but you're still
fundamentally mortal. Still bound by the constraints of individual existence. The Concordance is a collective entity
spanning countless dimensions and millions of years. They have resources you can't comprehend."
"Then what do you suggest?"
Selene leaned forward. "Ascend. Truly ascend. Stop being a powerful mortal and become something else entirely. There
are wishes you haven't purchased yet—ones that would elevate you to genuine divinity. That would let you exist across
multiple planes simultaneously, process information from thousands of timelines, manipulate reality not just through your
Contract but through your own inherent nature."
"Those wishes cost millions of Points."
"Then earn millions of Points. You have thousands of Subjects across dozens of worlds. Increase your tax rate. Assign
more tasks. Push harder."
I considered it. Part of me recoiled at the idea—what would I become if I transcended mortality entirely? Would I still be
me?
But another part of me, the part that had been growing stronger since the day I awakened the Contract, whispered:
Does it matter? You wanted power. You wanted to win. This is what winning looks like.
"I'll consider it," I told Selene.
After she left, I pulled up my Wish List and scrolled to the entries I'd been avoiding:
ASCENSION TIER WISHES
1. "I wish to transcend mortal consciousness—multiversal awareness, simultaneous existence across infinite parallel
timelines, quantum decision-making capabilities."
POINT COST: 2,847,391 Points
2. "I wish to become a fundamental force of reality—an aspect of existence itself, unkillable by any means because my
destruction would unmake the universe."
POINT COST: 7,993,274 Points
3. "I wish to rewrite the laws of reality itself—the ability to alter fundamental physical constants, logical consistency,
causal relationships on a universal scale."
POINT COST: 18,447,993 Points
The numbers were staggering. Impossible, almost.
But I had time. I had Subjects. I had a growing empire.
I could earn that much. Eventually.
And when I did, I wouldn't just be powerful.
I would be God.