The stronger his subordinates are, the better for him. But according to Helios's information about the gods of the plane, the available divinity from killing all the gods won't be enough for all of the demon dukes to reach the half-divine rank. Rarely is any resource enough. That's why there is a need for competition and the survival of the fittest. So only the best will get divinity.
The mortal plane is the demon duke's playground for now. They will return to their appropriate battlefield when they are done here. He will test them thoroughly there and those that he finds wanting will pay with their lives to boost their betters.
Elsewhere All Around The Plane. Immediately Aeternus Entered The Plane.
The plant spirits guarding mana entities transforming into demigods all received the same order from the tree father. They are to kill their charges and move on.
The plant spirits executed the order immediately. Each one of them killed the mana entities that they are guarding and took back the crystal fruit containing divinity that they are trying to digest but had been failing to do. Then they left the place.
Mana entities are not supposed to be able to absorb divinity because they don't have the right existence to fight the divine will within the divinity. The bodies, minds, and souls of mana entities are divided so they can't fight against an intangible force like the will of a god. The divine Will in the divinity will resist any changes to it and can only be absorbed by mana entities if the divine will within the divinity has been suppressed. As long as there's no resistance, even mana entities can absorb divinity.
The crystal fruits belong to the Tree father so the divine will contained within it belongs to him. The tree father allowed the ant queen to digest it for a purpose. The tree father didn't let these mana entities absorb it for the same purpose. He just made it seem like they are absorbing the divinity.
The ant queen needed to draw the attention of the gods and give Helios the opportunity to get away from the constant supervision of the sun god. The sun god wouldn't let him leave the sun city without a heroic quest issued by the Celestial Supreme. Meanwhile, all these mana entities are meant to draw attention and fool the Celestial Supreme into believing that they will become demigods. It was easy to do because it has happened once before and because SWIFTESCAPE the plant dragon did a good job of making it seem like so.
Since it has happened once with the ant queen and it had disastrous consequences, the Celestial Supreme would do everything to prevent it from happening again such as scattering his forces all over the plane to eliminate them. These mana entities have performed their purpose now that the Celestial Supreme has divided his forces throughout the plane and his strongest vessel has been sacrificed for the good of the plane by Helios.
The plant spirits absorbed the crystal fruits and embarked on their second mission. They have been instructed by the tree father to attack the separated transcendents of the church of order. They can kill them if possible but their major aim is to delay them and stop them from regrouping. It will not be a good thing to have the strongest force in the mortal realm, the zealots of order, regroup and join the fight against the demons.
It is because of that order that SWIFTESCAPE killed the giant mother boreworm, took the divinity, and left the tunnels in the ground. His form dispersed into vines that slithered onto the surface where they combined into the green plant dragon. He roared and took to the air.
SWIFTESCAPE found the team that has been sent to kill him quickly. They are two Behemoths and some ancient giants all clad in Stigmata armor. They were rushing back to the church headquarters when they sensed him gaining on them.
"What do we do?" One of them asked the other.
His partner, a female replied. "We fight and we win. Then we return to base. We must not fall here. The mortal realm needs us."
The male slammed his fist on his armored chest and said, "May Order be with you."
She responded with the same gesture, "And may it cut down all Chaos that stands with you."
The two of them resolved their will and informed their team of ancient giants. They prepared to face their prey and kill it. It was, after all, their previous mission. If they can't kill it then they are in trouble. They formed up ranks with the behemoths in front and ancient giants flanking the annihilator in the middle. Said annihilator is currently charging.
SWIFTESCAPE closed in on them like a force of nature on the horizon. He flapped his giant vine wings while his eyes eyed them below him with contempt. They are but land-cursed beings while he is a creature of air superiority. What chance do they have against him?
He noticed the annihilator but he doesn't care about it. It is not that he is ignorant of its purpose. He may lack knowledge of the way of the world but the Tree father has taught him what he needs to know for him to achieve his mission. So he knows what an annihilator is.
He ignored the annihilator because he finds it difficult to take transcendents and mana entities that can't fly seriously. If they cannot counter his aerial superiority then they are doomed. He will pick them off one by one and toy with them as a cat on a full stomach will toy with a rat.
The white missile was shot out from the annihilator and went straight toward him. He swerved and tried to evade it but the white orb of light followed his movements as if locked on him. The giant that fired it is controlling it to keep up with him with his vision.