Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Chapter 1153 1153: The Cosmic Landlord

Rudy took a bite of his warm croissant and enjoyed the cheerful morning banter echoing across the dining hall. Suddenly, a crisp digital chime sounded from his earpiece before he could reach for a second pastry.

"Pardon the interruption, my Lord," Lu Bela reported seamlessly over the psychic link. "We have a situation at the southern perimeter. The celestial entity you dismantled has crawled up to the blue dome. He is requesting an audience and begging for asylum."

Rudy raised an eyebrow and washed down his food with a sip of coffee. He placed his mug on the oak table and stood up from his chair.

"Duty calls," Rudy told the girls with an amused smirk. "I will be right back."

He bypassed the castle corridors and teleported directly to the edge of the town. He stepped outside the impenetrable blue barrier to find Safalius kneeling in the ruined dirt. The former herald of the Divine Citadel looked absolutely pathetic.

His shining platinum armor was dented and completely caked in the grotesque purple paste of the eradicated eldritch horde. The stumps on his back bled a glowing golden liquid where his six wings used to be.

Safalius looked up with desperate, defeated eyes as Rudy approached.

"Please," the fallen angel choked out, coughing up a mouthful of mud. "I surrender. I throw myself upon your mercy."

Rudy crossed his arms and looked down at the ruined celestial being. "Ten minutes ago you were threatening to purge me. Why are you begging on my lawn instead of flying back to your shiny Citadel?"

"I cannot return," Safalius explained, lowering his head in profound shame. "The Citadel demands perfection from its heralds. Returning without my wings or your sworn submission guarantees my immediate execution. They will cast my soul into the eternal forge. I have nowhere else to go."

'He traded his arrogant cosmic pride for pure survival,' Rudy thought, finding the total shift in demeanor highly entertaining. 'Having a fallen angel on the payroll might actually be quite useful.'

"I suppose I can grant you asylum," Rudy decided, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Every grand castle requires a dedicated staff, and you are technically unemployed now."

Safalius widened his eyes with sudden hope and bowed his head entirely to the dirt. "Thank you, Overlord. I will serve as your vanguard. I will wield my remaining holy magic to smite your enemies upon the battlefield."

"Oh, you are definitely not fighting," Rudy laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "You lost to me in three seconds. I have no use for a weak soldier. I have a much better position suited to your specific talents."

Rudy snapped his fingers to conjure a standard wooden mop and a large plastic bucket filled with soapy water. He dropped the cleaning supplies directly in front of the kneeling angel.

"The compressed souls powering my heated floors and thermal baths create quite a bit of magical residue in the plumbing," Rudy explained with a wide, mocking grin. "You are the new janitor. Your holy duties include scrubbing the castle latrines, polishing the obsidian tiles, and cleaning up the monster guts currently staining my driveway."

Safalius stared at the plastic bucket in absolute horror. The divine entity processed the sheer, crushing humiliation of his new reality. He went from commanding the holy armies of the cosmos to scrubbing the Overlord's toilets with a wooden mop.

"I understand, my Lord," Safalius whispered, picking up the mop with trembling, defeated hands.

"Excellent," Rudy smiled. He turned his back on his new janitor and stepped through the blue dome to finish his breakfast.

Safalius dragged the wooden mop across the paved entrance of the Orcelona Keep. His platinum armor clanked awkwardly with every movement. The purple paste of the eradicated eldritch horde stubbornly clung to the dark stone.

He dunked the mop into the plastic bucket of soapy water and scrubbed the tiles.

"Your technique is highly inefficient," Lu Bela stated over the castle intercom. "You are merely smearing the biological residue. Apply forty percent more downward force."

Safalius gripped the wooden handle until his knuckles turned white. He desperately wanted to summon a spear of holy light to smite the talking box. But he recalled the terrifying image of the Overlord crushing his wings and quickly swallowed his pride.

"I am doing my best," Safalius muttered. He leaned his entire weight onto the mop.

"Your best is currently rated at an abysmal D-minus," Lu Bela corrected him. "The Under Blades incinerated the bulk of the mass. You only have to clean the remaining stains. If you fail to polish the driveway within the hour, I will reassign you to scrubbing the grease traps in the kitchens."

Safalius shuddered at the thought of the grease traps. He pushed the mop back and forth across the stones. The former herald completely abandoned his cosmic glory to secure his survival.

Inside the keep, Rudy finished his coffee and left the girls to their morning conversation in the dining hall. He walked down the corridor and pushed open the mahogany double doors to the central throne room. He ascended the stone dais and sat casually upon his dark crystal throne.

Punishing the cosmic parasites and enslaving an angel made for an excellent start to his day. The Overlord felt a sudden urge to upgrade his interior decor with more divine artifacts.

He extended his right hand to access his Spatio-Temporal abilities. He pulled a single strand of residual golden light from the surrounding space, seemingly the lingering holy signature of his new janitor.

Rudy used the divine thread to trace a direct path through the cosmic fabric.

He closed his fist. A massive dimensional tear ripped open in the very center of his throne room.

The portal directly connected to the inner sanctum of the Divine Citadel. A dozen towering archangels sat around a glowing council table. They froze completely in their seats. Their glowing eyes stared in absolute shock at the dark ruling god casually observing them from his earthly throne.

"Good morning," Rudy grinned, projecting his voice directly into their sacred halls. "Your herald failed to inform you. I am the new landlord of the cosmos, and I am here to collect my rent."