The Mech Touch

Demonic Cultivation was not an empty term.

Once Cynthia Larkinson explained the broad strokes of the cultivation method that she had designed for the Destroyer of Worlds, the god pilot became completely speechless.

This method was positively diabolical!

There was nothing benign about this method. It perverted the meaning of religion and hijacked its form to fatten up the sheep intended for slaughter!

Although the layout sounded like it could work brilliantly for the Destroyer of Worlds, the mode of operation was so outrageously excessive that it should be forbidden!

Ves looked back out of the window and gazed at the image of the Red Ocean that became subjected to a reign of terror unlike anything the native aliens ever experienced.

The spread of darkness was unstoppable. Territory after territory grew darker and darker as the Destroyer of Worlds blew up more planets and evoked even greater terror among all of the aliens that had escaped total doom.

Once the entire dwarf galaxy became engulfed in a cloud of darkness, the dominion of the Destroyer of Worlds became a lot more substantial than before.

So long as Irene made up for the remaining shortfall, she could complete her march towards the fourth major rank and become the deadliest and most destructive God King of the Red Ocean!

Cynthia sounded remarkably proud of her layout. She continued to explain the principles and the finer points of her scheme.

"What separates True Gods from domain shapers is the fact that our domains have already reached a stage of maturity." His mother spoke. "The time for shaping it is over. We must make active use of it and exercise our responsibilities as deities. Our scope should no longer be limited by mortal rules and limitations. Aspiring God Kings such as yourself must be even more willing to break the rules that have held you back in the past. You cannot make yourself worthy of this rank and title if you are not willing to dominate the entire dwarf galaxy. Let the humans and the aliens fear your existence."

Irene listened quietly to Cynthia for a time, but she couldn't hold back her silence any longer.

[Must I truly spread fear and desolation in my name?]

"You must if you wish to become a god king pilot in record time. What I have described is only part of my proposed operation. The Cult of Destruction shall be your greatest help. The faith you can harvest from killing a planet that is swayed by your cult is great, but it is nothing compared to the faith that you can obtain from the millions of other populated planets that has also become affected by the belief in the Goddess of Destruction."

Ves widened his eyes. His mother introduced another layer of her dastardly scheme!

"That... that is a fantastic idea!" He gasped. "It doesn't matter if the native aliens are initially unwilling to abandon their existing beliefs. As long as Irene keeps destroying planets, news of her massacres will spread among the alien community. The more she is allowed to destroy entire population centers with impunity, the less all of the aliens are able to sustain their old beliefs. After all, if a god pilot is able to circumvent or defeat the phase whales over and over in the process of destroying critical alien planets, the old defenders will slowly lose much of their credibility!"

God pilots such as the Destroyer of Worlds were so individually strong, yet so small and mobile that they could all engage in effective guerilla warfare!

It didn't matter if the Ragnarok was unable to defeat several ancient phase whales in a head-on confrontation.

God pilots could easily rely on the intelligence gathered by human agents as well as their powerful intuition to avoid dangerous ambushes.

It was best for Irene to target densely populated but relatively poor defended planets!

There were plenty of them in the vastness of the Red Ocean. The hinterland of alien space had especially become more vulnerable now that all of the alien civilizations had transferred more and more warfleets to the frontlines of the Red War!

So long as the Destroyer of Worlds was able to sustain her solo reign of terror for an extended period of time, there was no way for the aliens to ignore her existence no matter how much they resisted the rise of foreign gods!

Didn't this sound like an effective way to turn enormous quantities of fearful aliens into desperate worshipers of the Goddess of Destruction?

Irene didn't even have to destroy a lot of planets to effectively cement her reign of terror over the Red Ocean!

Cynthia grinned as she affirmed her son's analysis. "You can think of it as a protection racket on a divine level. So-called 'evil' gods can also be gods as long as they are able to harvest faith. If you want to harvest as much faith as the aliens are capable of passing onto a human god, then you must coerce them into worshiping you by using violence. Destroying planets while demonstrating that their alien gods are completely incapable of restraining you is an effective means of conquering the souls of the native alien population."

"That is not all." Ves enthusiastically said as his imagination went wild. "You can derive a lot of value from the Cult of Destruction. Each local cult that takes root on alien planets can transmit a lot of useful intelligence. This can help you pick the right targets or understand the movements of the native aliens a lot better. The most fanatical cultists can even be employed as assassins or saboteurs. They can take action to soften up the defenses of a planet while simultaneously priming the population for harvest!"

"A more advanced use of the Cult of Destruction is to reward and punish the aliens by measuring their level of piety." Cynthia supplied another useful idea. "The cults should measure the conversion rate of the local populations. Make it clear that planets where the belief in the Goddess of Destruction has become widespread has received her favor and is able to forestall her arrival. Do the opposite for planets where her cult has become suppressed. Punish the unbelievers who initially denied your existence by teaching them that they have made the wrong decision. The yield that you can harvest from an unsaturated planet may be much less, but the fear and spread of faith in many other planets can compensate for this inadequacy!"

[Enough.] Irene spoke with a bit more force in her emotions. [I understand the gist of your ideas. We can explore these details later. What I need to know is what I must personally do in order to make it possible to harvest these gains, no matter whether the aliens are willing or not. It is also unclear how this strategy relates to my god mech.]

There was only so much that she was willing to hear. The upheaval generated by her god kingdom clearly signified that she was anything but comfortable with all of these 'helpful suggestions'!

"I will need time to compose a suitable method based on demonic cultivation techniques." Cynthia said. "It shall be difficult to adapt it to a powerful god pilot such as yourself, but I am confident that I can produce a cultivation method that will serve your needs. This will be an interesting exercise for me. The only issue that we must determine in advance is who shall bear the resentment and the negative karma that comes with harvesting the faith of your unwilling victims by force. Excessive killing and exploitation of intelligent lives will lead to progressively greater consequences. At a certain scale, not even your fabled willpower will be able to remain unaffected."

[How can I resist this corruption?] Irene frowned.

"You cannot. What shall come will come. However, you can contain the corrosive influences of resentment by isolating it in one of your three selves. This is your greatest gift. If you want to preserve your rationality and prevent all of the negative repercussions from clouding your judgment, you can designate your god pilot, your god mech or your companion spirit as the sacrificial vessel. As long as the other two sides of yourself remain pure, you should be able to maintain control over yourself."

Ves had been wondering about how his mother proposed to deal with all of the negative karma. This... was another brilliant solution. If done the right way, then it should truly prevent the Destroyer of Worlds from paying the heaviest price for all of the excessive killing!

However, in order for Irene to make this work, she needed to make an extremely difficult choice.

Which aspect of herself should she designate as the dumping ground of all of the corrosive resentment from her victims?

[I will not allow my god pilot side to become corrupted.] Irene quickly decided. [My willpower must remain strong and pure in order to maintain control. It is the foundation of my god kingdom and my most original source of strength. Compromising it will lead to devastating consequences.]

Neither Ves nor Cynthia objected to this argument.

Ves gazed at the large and powerful companion spirit resting on his lap. "I cannot bear the thought of corrupting a cute and lovely cat, but if you have to make a choice..."

Irene looked pained as she seriously contemplated this objection.

However, Cynthia had a different suggestion in mind.

"No. That is not a good idea, Ves." The authoritative True God said. "Both Irene and Emma possess the strongest ego and personality among the three. Emma can serve as a good template for an evil goddess, but it will be difficult to prevent any negative influence from spilling over into Irene. The best possible candidate is the Ragnarok."

"The god mech?"

Ves initially did not even consider it as a valid choice. It was the least lively and personable of the three components that made up Divine Irene Mox.

The mother knew what her son was thinking.

"The Ragnarok is the most inhuman and mechanical side of Irene. It possesses the least ability to think human thoughts and experience human feelings. Its sensitivity toward the negative impact of resentment is much lower. Its nature as a machine also makes it much easier for it to isolate the corrosive influences. At most, the god mech will look and feel much more evil than before."

Ves blinked as he tried to imagine such an evolution. The Ragnarok would probably gain a more ominous air. Clouds of darkness and the wailing of unwilling souls might start to surround the mech frame. Sharp and malice-filled spikes might spontaneously grow out of the god mech as its overall shape and contours gradually shifted into an edgier and more aggressive design.

As a mech designer, Ves considered such a transformation to be sacrilegious!

The Ragnarok in its current form was a grand work and one of the most impressive mechs created by the mech industry!

For such an exquisite mech to become subjected to so much corruption was like ruining a cultural treasure by splashing the contents of a septic tank onto the masterpiece!

However, Ves could reluctantly accept this choice if the alternatives were worse. He looked down at Emma and could not bear the thought of the companion spirit growing dark and evil!

"Don't change, okay?" Ves hugged the large spiritual cat. "You are too precious for us to lose."

Irene meanwhile tried to understand the repercussions of letting the Ragnarok bear all of the resentment of killing so many weak and helpless aliens.

[How will this choice hinder my god mech, Cynthia?]

"The form and function of your god mech must match the expectations of your worshipers, no matter whether they are willing to believe in you or not." Cynthia replied. "Under normal circumstances, resentment and other negative influences will induce changes that will allow you to adapt to the new status quo. This process is not as efficient when it acts on a powerful material object such as a god mech. You will need to actively instruct and guide the Star Designers to apply the physical changes to your machine in order to control and optimize changes. Neglecting to do this will result in severe consequences."

"What will happen if you leave the god mech alone?" Ves couldn't help but ask.

"You do not want to know the answer."