Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!-Chapter 189

“Well then, bottoms up!”, I chuckled, chugging the entire mug down in seconds. “Mmm, this spiced ale is amazing, but the temperature could be a bit better. Let me fix that.”

Using ice magic to carefully lower the liquid’s temperature down to fifty-two degrees Fahrenheit, I poured myself another drink and verified that it was perfect now. Sampling the ale for himself, Kodlak gasped blissfully as the mug parted from his lips.

“Now that is what I call a damn good mug of ale!”, Kodlak laughed, nodding his head approvingly. “Alright everyone, have at it.”

With Harbinger’s approval given, a sea of people rushed over to claim a mug for themselves. Moving out of their way, I wandered over to Lydia to speak about her missing equipment when several familiar voices called out to me. Looking toward the city gate, the mortal forms of Sanguine, Sheogorath, and the other seventeen Daedric Princes greeted me with joyous smiles and hand waves.

“Victor, it is so good to see you again, my friend.”, Sheogorath howled, waving a tarnished bronze goblet around. “You should have let us know you were coming to town. We would have been here to welcome you back with open arms.”

“Yeah, we would have brought plenty of booze and women to celebrate the occasion.”, Sanguine cackled, raising a half-empty bottle of Honningbrew Mead. “How is it going, my good man?”

“I am doing well; how about all of you?”, I replied, hesitantly looking back at the locals to see if anyone else was hearing or seeing this. ‘This is not good; one of the priests is bound to recognize them, and all hell will break loose.’

Noticing my concerns, Hermaeus Mora assured me no one was going to recognize them here. Having used powerful warp magic to make themselves look like ordinary humans, only I could see their true forms right now. Relieved to hear that, I began walking over to formally greet them.

“Not to be rude, but how exactly are you able to manifest in the Materium now? When we last met, all of you were bound to the warp space around Nirn.”, I remarked, trying to understand what was going on here.

“It is all thanks to you, our valiant champion. Crippling Nurgle and wounding Slaanesh has greatly weakened our ancient bindings.”, Meridia answered, running up and hugging me tightly. “Not only are we able to manifest ourselves in the mortal realm now, but we are also able to wander the surrounding twenty thousand miles of warp space freely. The Nine Divines are less than thrilled about our newfound freedoms and partially restored powers, but so far, we have managed to avoid going to war with them. Given all the effort we put into cultivating Nirn, all of us are adamant about allowing it to continue flourishing.”

“I would also like to personally thank you for another reason as well, Victor. While our shackles may still be partially in place, many other Lesser Chaos Gods and the like have been freed completely. Several dozen have had the misfortune of crossing into our newly expanded domain, giving me plenty of foes to vent my destructive urges on.”, Mehrunes Dagon chortled, beaming with unbridled excitement, “After all these years of keeping my urges mostly in check, I have finally been able to cut loose and let it all out. Sure, my victims are none too happy about it, but I do not give a shit about it, HAHA!!”

Surprised to hear that my scuffles with the Chaos Gods had weakened their enchantments to this extent, I suddenly realized that my actions may have far more consequences than I initially considered. Assuming only a small portion of Lesser Chaos Gods and the like had nurtured their prison worlds, most warp entities that would be set free by the fall of the Big Four would likely go on a gluttonous killing spree after eons of starvation. Realizing the universe needed the Aesir and other pantheons more than ever now, it was imperative that I remedy their situation as soon as possible.

“Victor, who are you over here talking with?”, Lileath questioned, walking over with her family as they sensed something was off. ‘Hmm… why do I feel like I have seen these people somewhere before?’

“No fucking way, all of you people are still alive?”, Vaermina said, honestly shocked to see the former rulers of the Immaterium before them. “I thought that voracious slut devoured all during the fall of your pantheon. How did you survive, and what are you doing here on Nirn?”

“The majority of the pantheon was devoured by her; Cegorach, Isha, Khaine, and Vaul escaped that grim fate. When Victor cut that bitch’s head off, many of the souls she devoured were set free, including all of us.”, Lileath said, rushing toward me and placing herself between the Daedric Princes and myself, “As for why we are here, the four of us are working with Victor to rebuild our pantheon. My future husband has been working ceaselessly to make that happen.”

“I believe you meant OUR husband, my dear daughter.”, Isha corrected Lileath, sliding in next to her while Cegorach and Vaul looked at one another with a smirk.

Blinking several times, the Daedric Prince’s jaws fell open upon learning the two goddesses were interested in me romantically. Unsure how I managed to garner the affection of their former, snobby overlords, Sheogorath began to laugh uncontrollably while Sanguine offered me a high-five.

“Victor, I must know, how do their divine temples compare to the mortal ones you have been regularly entering?”, Mephala questioned, purposefully asking to get a rise out of the two goddesses.

“Yes, please do tell. Spare us no details!”, Sheogorath pleaded, getting in on the fun as well.

“Hehe, for all their talk of making him their husband, they have yet to get past the handholding stage.”, Cegorach snickered, adding fuel to this fire, “Lileath faints at the slightest glimpse of his bare skin, and Isha is adamant about not outshining her daughter. While I find it all adorable, if they do not make a move quickly, they are going to get left out in the cold.”

Peering around me, the two women glared at the Laughing God with burning hatred. Knowing full well what he was attempting to do, they warned him to shut up or they would throttle him worse than the other day. Hiding behind his bodyguards, he began to laugh and say that they were absolutely adorable.

“I see, well if that is the case, allow me to express my desire to make you my partner, Victor.”, Meridia proclaimed, to the dismay of Isha and Lileath. “You have used Dawnbreaker to spread my light to an otherwise darkened universe. Even now, word of your many accomplishments spreads across the Imperium of Man and other galactic nations like a wildfire. Their renewed hope for a brighter tomorrow has breathed fresh life into the universe, and it granted power far beyond anything I have wielded in my prime. Words can begin to describe how grateful I am to you, so please allow me to show you for the rest of eternity.”

“Give me a piece of that action. I want you to be my husband as well.”, Boethiah laughed, “Everywhere you have gone, you have routinely shaken the old, stagnant order to its core. Unlike most leaders, who will look the other way for a modest sum, you do not accept the status quo. You have massacred whole bloodlines of corrupt nobles to show your displeasure for their heinous acts. Every time you do so, it excites me like nothing else.”

Casting their hats into the ring as well, Azura, Nocturnal, and Vaermina expressed their interests in pursuing relationships with me. Stating that they would make far better partners for me than they ever could, the Daedric Princes recommended stepping aside now before they got hurt. Adamantly refusing to back down, Isha cracked her knuckles while Lileath attempted to mimic the fighting stance she watched my wives use during their training.

Wanting to stop this before Whiterun became a crater, I looked to Cegorach, Vaul, and the other Daedric Princes for their assistance. Instead of helping me, aside from the always levelheaded Vaul, everyone began chanting the word “fight” repeatedly to egg them on. Before I had a chance to reach for Stormbreaker, an unexpected ally walked over to make her displeasure known to everyone present.

“What in the nine realms are you fools doing? This is supposed to be a celebration, not a damn bar brawl!”, Loki snapped, walking over with Balder and Fandral in tow.

“Shit, you even have three Asgardians in your company?”, Malacath gasped, startled to see them after countless millennia of their absence in the universe. “Just how fucking busy have you been out there?”

“Dear lord, that she-devil has returned to the mortal realm! Back, foul beast!”, Sheogorath shouted, splashing a foul-smelling liquid from his goblet onto her face. “Be gone!”

Watching the veins on his sister’s forehead bulge, Balder immediately began backing away out of a healthy amount of fear. Having seen her temper boil over on numerous occasions, he knew she was seconds away from losing it.

“What did you just sully my face with, mongrel…?”, Loki questioned through gritted teeth.

“That is a good question. I forgot what I put in this before I left the Shimmer Isles. It was supposed to be fine wine, but clearly it is not.”, Sheogorath chuckled, sampling what remained in the goblet. “Oh right, it was sheep’s blood. They still use that in Nordic parties, right?”

“No… that went out of style in the First Era…”, Hermaeus Mora sighed, “I suggest you start running now. I fear the Asgardian is going to permanently reduce our number to sixteen when she gets ahold of you.”

Drawing her blade, Loki screamed like a banshee as she lunged for the Prince of Madness. Laughing like a madman, Sheogorath took off running for the gate with a very enraged Loki in hot pursuit. Using the opportunity their fight created, Lydia attempted to slip into the crowd to temporarily avoid scolding she knew was coming. Reaching out and grabbing her should, I gave her a smile and inquired where my housecarl thought she was running off too.

"Some of the meats are ready. I... I was just going to grab some.", Lydia told me, beginning to sweat a little.

"Uh huh, you sure you were not trying to run away from me? I mean, you did miss place your communicator and failed to alert me to the Stormcloak invasion.", I said. "You going to tell me what happened?"

"Well... I... Uh...", Lydia stuttered, unsure how to break the news to me. "During a brutal heatwave several months ago, I left the doors and windows open to cool the house down during the daytime. Well, during one of my trips to the market, someone broke in and pilfered several items from the house. In addition to the communicator, they stole three silver candelabras. a wheel of cheese, a bronze basin, and a damn roasted chicken. I intended to send word to Valerica about it, but by the time I got around to it, the city was under lockdown due to the looming invasion."

Rubbing my nose in frustration, I was thankful that I had not put any technology into the house yet. Deciding to make a crude HVAC system for the vacation house with enchanted items and souls gems, a few methods to achieve the desired effect were already coming to mind. Telling her to grab a plate of food for both of us, I headed to the Breezehome to start working on it.