Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-144

[Unknown Location] [Divine Existence of Sand and Earth Perspective]

Sigh…

How many years has it been? Becoming a God makes you forget how time passes.

As one of the first [Divine Species] to evolve into a [Demi-God], I thought of me as a great being.

I went with others like me, as we saw the Realm of Vida as our main place to gather [Divine Energy].

Gathering [Divine Energy] is essential for us [Divine Existences], without it, we weaken and end up descending in ranks. The worst that could happen is to fall into a [Fallen God] and lose our intelligence, becoming crazed and wild beasts.

Just thinking about that possibility makes even me, a God, quiver in fear. It is no joke when a God falls… And to make things worse, someone else will most probably take your place so you can't even rank up again to your previous position.

A new generation of [Demi-Gods] has been recently popping out in these last two hundred thousand years… Some of them far surpass us in power, being guided by their parents, older gods, and given many things in advance to have a fruitful life, they are youthful and full of new ideas on how to gather [Divine Energy].

Aside from the [Supreme Gods], who can easily gather [Divine Energy] with the mortals who believe in them through their churches and religions, us Gods have to create [Divine Dungeons] to prosper and keep our position stable.

It was explained to me by the [Goddess of Wisdom] and her apprentices, who are a group of [Demi-Goddesses] when I just evolved into a [Demi-God]. Creating a Dungeon is the safest and probably easiest way to maintain your source of [Divine Energy] stable.

While using my saved up [Divine Energy], I choose a piece of land and begun the creation of a Dungeon. The piece of land that I could select was limited to my primary element, which is Earth. Places with a higher concentration of Earth naturally belong to me, however not all earth would do, as it can be polluted by other elements, becoming the domain of other Gods, only rocky and arid places belong to me.

I found a place that most mortals call [The Rocky Mountains]. The place was just fine, it was filled with giant mountains and its Earth power was absurdly high. The mountains were steadily producing minerals inside, which attracted the attention of Earth Spirits and Demi-Humans.

I decided to make my dungeon into a giant tower-like structure, as it would be easier to mold and would cost less [Divine Energy] than an intricate maze. I selected various species of strong monsters that belonged to my Earth and Sand elements as I carefully selected the Spawn zones and the bosses of each room.

By creating a Dungeon, any live that enters and dies inside will be converted into [Life Energy] which will then be assimilated by the Dungeon and then slowly converted into [Divine Energy]. The more mortals die inside, the more [Divine Energy] we can gather.

After becoming an [God] it is considered a taboo to kill mortals just to gain [Divine Energy], aside from this, it's not convenient, as the number of mortals would never suffice our hunger for so much [Divine Energy], we would end up annihilating all life and without them to give us [Divine Energy], we would slowly die too.

I filled the dungeon with mortal riches, chest, and equipment, I even put some time into forging several [Legendary] relics for the ones who manage to beat the final boss. I used to be close to humans when I was a mortal, so I also have benevolence for them and would like to compensate for their efforts. The monsters defeated by mortals will also give me [Life Energy], but only if defeated by a living being, it's quite a weird rule.

Humans have been steadily approaching the dungeon and have explored it greatly, through these last thousands of years, I've gathered a nice amount of [Divine Energy]. Each time I gather some, I can feel my entire [Divine Soul] becoming richer and stronger. Perhaps one day I could become a Supreme God too?

Recently, I've been also blessing some of the promising mortals who possess a [Epic] skill granted to them by the [World's Will]. Although it cost some [Divine Energy] to bless a mortal, most of the time it's worth it, as I show my existence and benevolence to them, they quickly created a religion for me, I was a little bit embarrassed.

With this medium-sized religion, I gain some more [Divine Energy] through the years. Religions are fragile, as they tend to be absorbed by other Gods religions if I don't bless enough mortals to show that I care for them. I started blessing the ones who participate in the church, as compensation.

Around twenty Heroes representing me have been born through these last five thousand years, I believe that I am doing quite well. Aside from this, my Dungeon is steadily gathering [Divine Energy] and a small party finally reached the final boss, obtaining some of the [Legendary] relics.

To further compensate their efforts and to make them spread the word about me, I blessed the leader of the party, he was quite surprised, that little human.

It seems that some gods have been having disputes recently, due to the changes in [Epic] skills given by the [World's Will]. It seems that it wants the gods to fight each other in wars, represented by mortals. This was quite a sudden change, but it may be beneficial at the same time, as we fight each other, our [Epic] will reward us with [Divine Energy].

Due to this, I've been investing more into mortals recently, several ones will participate in [Scripted Events] planned by us. It will be quite fun. Finally having all our preparations done, these wars are quite entertaining and we even are rewarded by completing them as they should be.

The latest [Scripted Event] was about a Demon Overlord representing the Sin of Envy. Which was given the title of [Realm Menace of Envy] by the [World's Will]? It was a beautiful half-elf woman who managed to evolve into a [Unique Species] and became the representative of the Sin.

Using our [Heroes] and [Heavenly Commandments], we must stop this [Realm Menace]. There are also other gods backing up the [Realm Menace] and its companions instead, whichever side wins, is compensated, the losing side doesn't get any compensation and neither a punishment, but they still lost a lot of [Divine Energy] by investing into the character, and may fall into a [Demi-God] and then [Fallen God] if they don't recover quickly.

Most of the time the human side always wins, so I always bet into it, blessing various [Heroes] and they're [Legendary Team]. Things have gone quite well and now I possess very stable storage of [Divine Energy].

It has been a couple of thousands of years and things have been slowly decaying on my Dungeon…

Fewer people are entering as it has become almost forgotten… The dungeon is also being slowly covered on a rocky coat created by the dungeon own energy, which influences the growth of minerals in the mountain that I put it in.

I shouldn't have selected such a location… What was I thinking?

My stupidity has doomed my only Dungeon, and now the monsters inside keep spawning and devouring each other, quickly growing in power and evolving outside of the rules. A certain Sand Wyvern boss has been quite intelligent, and has even devoured a boss, obtaining all its [Life Energy] and evolving.

This damned Wyvern has managed to absorb the Energy of the Dungeon and has been slowly growing in power while devouring the endless supply of food. Through these years, it has grown into an unimaginable size and has evolved in an [High Overlord] class monster… He even managed to obtain its own [Legendary] relic that increases his stats even higher.

I seriously need this thing to be slain and my Dungeon to be opened once again!

Sigh… But I can barely do anything, it's against the rules to kill my dungeon monsters.

[Thousands of years later]

If things keep going as it is, I will soon fall into a [Demi-God]…

This Wyvern… If I ever fall into a [Fallen God], I will make sure to hunt it down… Even if I lost all my intelligence and become wild, it will be something that I shall have engraved on my soul.

…

Hm?

What?

Someone found my Dungeon… After so long… Who are these mortals?

Demi-Humans… Oh, those monkeys, they have grown quite strong lately, I never expected them to evolve so strong like this, what is the meaning of this?

[Realm Menace of Lust]? To think that another Menace would appear at the same time than others! This is a never seen event, three [Realm Menace] existing in the same Realm, while the fourth one managed to escape towards another Realm…

This [Scripted Event] is very interesting… And quite chaotic… [Realm War for Supremacy] …

And by adding the existing [Heavenly Commandment] and that [Holy Mother] … Things are final changing, the [World's Will] is changing everything we know, and its evolving, there are now existences beyond [Heroes] and others equal to [Realm Menace] …

And this [Realm Menace of Lust], who is it?

Kireina? Hm?! Blessed by the [System Master]?! What is the meaning of this?! That existence, which represents the [World's Will] has been developing a personality recently, and it seems to be doing as it pleases…

With the help of the [Supreme God of Space] and the [Supreme God of Time], he has been dragging countless souls from parallel worlds into ours. More and more [Epic] is surging, giving new powers to these otherworldly beings through the years.

There must be a hidden meaning, but even as a [God], my position is very low, I cannot find enough information.

Impressive, that [Realm Menace] is an incredible existence, it has already fairly surpassed what its original power was supposed to be. I have discovered that the [System Master] has granted her the special ability that should only belong to the [Realm Menace of Gluttony] to her, [Devour]. But he is sneaky, he knows that both skills cannot exist at the same time, as [Gluttony] is still alive in a distant Realm.

What he did was fusing [Devour] into his own Blessing, appearing as if it were just an extra effect of his benevolence. Even more, he has managed to make [Devour] a shareable trait, meaning that the existence known as Kireina can share a small amount of [Devour] to her servants and slaves. And all of this without [Devour] having its side effect of making the user slowly lose its sanity and decay into a wild and hungry beast.

This [System Master] is bending all rules as it pleases… He has now created something that shouldn't even exist. Plenty of Gods have begun backing this existence, quickly understanding that it is the favorite toy of the [System Master].

And now that her team has defeated such an annoying being like the Sand Wyvern, I may as well compensate her and get into good terms with her, perhaps the [System Master] could give me some benefits…

I noticed her taste for Liquor, so I have given her a [Legendary] class liquor that can increase her stats. I hope this is of her preference… Oh, I also gave her the [Legendary] relic of the Sand Wyvern, which was immediately linked to her soul.

She has been of great help for me, I hope that her people keep visiting my Dungeon from time to time, I will make sure to compensate them greatly as well.