[Scepter of Sovereignty]
[Owner: Lord of the Aetherium Empire, the 'Divine Emperor' Kazehaya Haru]
[Type: Growth Artifact]
[Grade: Low-level Supreme God Tier Artifact]
[Description: This is an artifact exclusive to the strongest Kings and Emperors. Only the strongest Lords among thousands of planets are qualified to own it. It is a symbol of strength!]
[Divine Power: 10,000,000 Points]
[Effect 1: Can mobilize half of the power of the kingdom's subjects for the Divine Emperor to use! (Note: This effect can be improved)]
[Effect 2: Under the influence of the Scepter of Sovereignty, the loyalty of the Aetherium Empire's subjects increases to the maximum! (Note: This effect does not apply to Castle Lords and Rangers.)]
[Effect 3: …]
[Upgrade requirement: 20,000,000 Divine Crystals.]
[Next level: Intermediate-level Supreme God Tier Artifact.]
_____________
From 800,000 points of strength at top-level High God Tier Artifact and three-tenths of the subjects' power to this. This was a 12.5x increase in the Divine Strength alone. The gap between a top-level High God Tier artifact and a Supreme God Tier Artifact wasn't just a small step, it was a completely different category of existence altogether. It was similar to how the gap between a Supreme God and a High God couldn't just be bridged with quantity.
Moreover, this wasn't the primary reason why Haru treasured the Scepter. The most important part of this Artifact was the first effect. It mobilized half the power of everyone in the empire which included:
Supreme Gods x3
High Gods x43
Other Gods ≈ 200,000
Mortal Supernaturals (including Demigods) ≈ Hundreds of millions
When half of their power was channeled into him simultaneously, combined with the Sorrow of Time and the Wings of Scarlet Ruin, a fight against 'ordinary' Supreme Gods became something closer to an execution.
He upgraded it to intermediate-level without pausing. Twenty million Divine Crystals, doubled its strength to 20 million. The level up to high-level required fifty million Divine Crystals, and upgraded the strength to 50 million, surpassing the Wings of Scarlet Ruin, matching the Sorrow of Time in rank.
He checked his reserves. Just over 120 million remaining. The upgrade to top-level required 80 million Divine Crystals, and he put them in as well.
Two hours later, this upgrade was also complete. It was the longest upgrade yet, the golden light sitting over the scepter like a small sun in the palace hall while he waited.
_____________
[Scepter of Sovereignty]
[Owner: Lord of the Aetherium Empire, the 'Divine Emperor' Kazehaya Haru]
[Type: Growth Artifact]
[Grade: Top-level Supreme God Tier Artifact]
[Description: This is an artifact exclusive to the strongest Kings and Emperors. Only the strongest Lords among thousands of planets are qualified to own it. It is a symbol of strength!]
[Divine Power: 80,000,000 Points]
[Effect 1: Can mobilize half of the power of the kingdom's subjects for the Divine Emperor to use! (Note: This effect can be improved)]
[Effect 2: Under the influence of the Scepter of Sovereignty, the loyalty of the Aetherium Empire's subjects increases to the maximum! (Note: This effect does not apply to Castle Lords and Rangers.)]
[Effect 3: …]
[Upgrade requirement: Unknown.]
[Next level: God Monarch Tier Artifact.]
_____________
He held it and felt the weight of 80 million divine strength added to his own output, on top of his late-stage Supreme God Tier Divine Power, on top of the three Supreme God Tier Artifacts already in his godhead, on top of half of his subjects' strength. By now, 'ordinary' Supreme Gods weren't even in the conversation.
The next level was the God Monarch Tier. The GM had no upgrade path to offer. Unknown requirements, unknown cost, unknown methods. That was fine. The only known God Monarch Tier Artifact in the Endless Continent was the God King's Throne itself.
This suggested that the category was less "rare" and more "effectively nonexistent except the Throne". He wasn't going to be further upgrading it this afternoon.
He set the thought aside. For now, he had just over 40 million Divine Crystals remaining, enough to push the Armor to an intermediate-level Supreme God Tier Artifact, which he did immediately. The armor mattered less than the scepter in combat terms, but the gap between them had been bothering him for weeks.
He looked at what he was now holding: a top-level Supreme God Tier Artifact, and two Supreme God Tier Abyssal Artifacts feeding the source of his Abyss Law from within his godhead.
'This is just the beginning.' He thought, with the calm satisfaction of someone who has been watching a long-term plan come together.
When he saw the upgraded Scepter of Sovereignty, he decided he liked how it looked now considerably more than its previous form.
------------------
Become A Member At My Patreon For Access To Bonus Chapters Or Even Multiple Chapters A Day!
» Patreon.com/LordArchduke
Member Shoutouts (Mythril Tier and above):
Shinto (Adamantite)
PetMeSenpai8 (Orichalcum)