Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-249

In the higher Realm area where the God of Sand and Earth resides, his [Divine Presence], glanced over his Dungeon, which was located between the [Realm of Vida]'s [Lower Realm] and [Surface].

The God of Sand and Earth was a being made of Earth and Sand itself. His body resembled a colossal mountain that could pierce the heavens. His eyes were giant holes between the mountain, that shined in bright yellow light, as they were filled with what was called [Heavenly Golden Jewels] a [Divine Material] of [God Rank].

His seemingly gigantic body had humanoid features as well, although its head had a long nose, and wise golden eyes, it possessed a torso made of countless rocks, stones, and minerals filled with millions of gemstones of various colors. Two massive arms floated in the air, having four fingers each. Bellow the God's torso, there was a massive white diamond, that was gigantic, easily bypassing two hundred meters of diameter. It seemed to lack legs, as it floated through the special space where he resided.

His [Divine Realm] was in actuality part of his own body and formed by his [Divine Core]. Gods lived inside of their own Realms, formed after refining their [Divinity], generating a piece of land and creating their own space inside of their [Divine Souls], which resided in their [Divine Core]. This is why, no matter how much a mortal looked for the existence of a God, they would never find them in person, as they lived inside of their [Divine Realms] and would barely go out, staying safe inside for thousands of years.

However, Gods would visit others sometimes, and if the owner of the [Divine Realm] accepted their visit, he would create a small Gate through Space, letting them inside.

Today, the God of Sand and Earth was having some issues with his Dungeon, the one he settled hundreds of thousands of years ago. A strange existence, named as Kireina by the [System Master] itself, came to his dungeon, not intending to defeat the last boss and gather treasures, as if that was the case, the God wouldn't mind her at all, her real intentions were already deciphered by the wise God. Kireina's real intentions were to conquer his treasured Dungeon through her incredibly rare skill [Dungeon Snatch].

However, even before this happened, the God had already seen something that in his entire life thought never possible. His Dungeon's first Boss, the Girtablilu Empress, was successfully refined and enslaved by a mortal, taking her away permanently from the [Samsara Cycle of Reincarnation] that the God had made for his [Dungeon Monsters] and [Dungeon Bosses].

Through the special magic designed by the [Supreme Goddess of Reincarnation], Gods could create their own Dungeons, inserting Mortal souls inside and by using the [Samsara Cycle of Reincarnation], they were able to make them reincarnate (or Spawning) an endless amount of times inside of the dungeon, becoming effective mobs and Bosses for other mortals to kill for EXP and dropped items.

Not only it came by surprise to the wise and old God, but it also gives him a headache that hasn't happened to him in several hundreds of years. However, things similar to this had happened before, due to the incompetence of the God. Like the [Ancient Light Spirit] Nefertiti, escaping its position as a Boss and inhabiting the higher floors of the Dungeon, or the [Ancient Sand Wyvern] Zakon, who developed abilities that could absorb the Dungeon energy and evolved into a threat, slowly weakening the Dungeon while the God could only wait for something to come to his help.

And now that Kireina, the [Realm Menace of Lust] and the wielder of the [Blessing of the System Master], after destroying Zakon's menace, made the God think that she would be a nice "customer" to his Dungeon. However, he couldn't be so far from the truth, Kireina, in reality, intended to steal his Dungeon away. After obtaining the Skill [Dungeon Assimilation], she had already planned this, and now that she obtained the [Dungeon Snatch] skill by "chance", she had finally decided on doing it without hesitating.

"Could it be…? The System Master has given her that Skill, specifically for her to steal my Dungeon?! But why?! Isn't that against the rules?! T-This is unfair! I am a God, a higher existence than that pesky mortal! I could crush her with my bare hands and see her weak mortal body struggle in pain as I see life slowly escaping her eyes! If it wasn't for the rules… and those damned Supreme Gods..."

Dungeons are precious sources of [Divine Energy] for all of the [Divine Existences]. Without this Energy, Gods will lose their powers and could even lose their [Divinity] partially, becoming [Fallen Gods] and losing their sanity. The only [Divine Existences] that are immune to falling into a [Fallen God] are [Supreme Gods] and the [World's Will] itself.

However, there are some exceptions of beings comparable to Gods that can live safely without falling, these beings are known as [Mythical Spirits] and were considered the [True Gods] in [Genesis] before the world was split in hundreds of Realms due to the Gods greediness. After the Realms were created, the Spirits lost their powers and the Gods and the System enslaved them, becoming resources or servants for them.

The God of Sand and Earth envied the [Mythical Spirits] that could maintain their powers even when their [Divine Energy] was low and were benefitted by the [World's Will], as they were considered this existence's children. Perhaps they should have looked for a better way to gain [Divine Energy] than splitting the Realms and making the [World's Will] enslave them all with the [System].

Now, a respected God that represented something so important and essential as Earth, was struggling, thinking in something that he could do against Kireina, without breaking the rules, which would stir the rage of Supreme Gods who didn't believe in having a conflict with mortals neither interfering with their societies and lives personally. He wouldn't mind if he could just give away his Dungeon if he could make one after she died, but that wasn't possible, as his [Divine Energy] savings were decreasing steadily.

His Dungeon has been inactive for a long period, so almost no [Divine Energy] was generated, even worst, Zakon, the Ancient Sand Wyvern, had absorbed a big chunk of this Energy while the God wasn't able to do anything against it. Now, he was about to go through a [Divine Trial], and if he wasn't able to fight it off, he would receive a heavy wound, lost [Divinity], and probably become a [Fallen God].

"I have to do something… Even if Kireina is being benefited by the [System Master] itself! I still can do something… If I manage to kill her with my [Dungeon Monsters], my Dungeon would be secured and in some time, I could stockpile some [Divine Energy] by asking for some help to that God with Time Divinity that owns me a favor, so he could make the time on my [Divine Realm] to slow down, making the [Divine Trial] appear later…"

The God contemplated his next course of action, his wise golden eyes grimaced his thoughts. This God [Divine Realm] had a beautiful resemblance to a massive Desert, filled with dunes and endless mountains. Because this God's primary Attribute was [Earth], his entire [Divine Realm] was shaped according to this Attribute. He could feel comfortable inside, and he was able to nourish his physique and psyche easier by the natural [Earth Energy] in here.

"Sigh… If I can kill her… then everything should be fine… Hmph, even the System cannot stop me from making my Dungeon stronger, right? However, I still need some more [Divine Energy], perhaps I should exchange some of my [Divine Materials] with some Demi-Gods and Gods for [Crystallized Divine Energy], so I can have enough reserves…"

[Crystallized Divine Energy] is the [Divine Energy] solidified by a special technique that can only be done by [Supreme Gods] or the [World's Will] itself, the later uses them to reward gods when they succeed in completing a certain [Scripted Event]. These crystals can also be used to obtain [Divine Energy] directly. [Divine Existences] usually use these precious crystals as currency to exchange goods.

But what can a supreme being like a God even find a treasure? There is where [Divine Materials] come into place. [Divine Materials] are special materials harvested from nature itself, minerals, wood, water, flowers, plants, monsters. These [Divine Materials] can be harvested from beings that have a high concentration of [Divine Energy] inside, which they can naturally gather from the environment, similar to [Mythic Spirits], although in lesser quantities.

[Divine Existences] usually manage their [Divine Realms] to generate [Divine Materials] through the years, the higher their rank, the more materials they can harvest and nourish their powers. [Divine Trials] is feared by Gods not only because these events can damage Gods even with their [Immortality], but also because they usually target their [Divine Materials], which are precious to boost their Ranks and nourish their strength.

The more [Divine Materials] the God has inside of its [Divine Realm], the stronger it is, each [Divine Material] is based on elements, Gods usually concentrate on cultivating [Divine Materials] according to their [Divinity] Attribute, like Fire, Earth, Dark, Light, Holy, Poison, Ice, Water, Illusion, and so on.

[Divine Materials] can also be used to create [Divine Items], special items of the highest ranks that can work on [Divine Existences], Potions, Equipment, Weapons, etc. The strongest Great Gods are said to possess immense armories of [Divine Weapons] and countless [Divine Concoctions] and no simple Demi-God or God can mess around with them. When one becomes a [Divine Existence], mortal Skills cannot easily damage other [Divine Existences], and [Divine Materials] are needed to forcefully evolve their Skills into [Divine Skills].

"Hmph, if this damned System didn't stop me from killing mortals, I would descend right now, and wielding my [Divine Weapon] and [Divine Skills], I would completely slaughter that insolent Mortal!"

Interestingly enough, the [System] does not forbid [Divine Existences] to kill each other. However, it encourages alliances and teamwork through the [Divine Existences] [Epic] Skills and [Epic Tasks]. This is why [Divine Existences] are always in peaceful terms and fights barely happen. However, [Divine Existences] are always wary, they are at the end, wise beings that had lived for thousands of years and usually only trust their allies, from the [Divine Pantheons] that they belong to, even fewer strangers.

"I need to sell some of my precious [Divine Materials] it seems, even the ones I am cultivating on my body could sell quite well… Hmph, if I could find some weak [Demi-God] that didn't belong to a [Pantheon], I would quickly kill it and steal his [Divine Materials]… I don't want to risk it though; I am not as strong to bully the weak without repercussions. And the small amount of [Demi-God Rank] [Divine Materials] of a [Demi-God] wouldn't be enough for what I need…"

Indeed, Gods, in the past, used to hunt weaker Gods for their [Divine Materials] and even [Divine Skills] and [Divine Relics], creating massive God Wars know as [Ragnarök], where the [Divine Existences] fought desperately for resources. Now with the [System] generously giving [Divine Energy] through [Epic Tasks] that a God successfully completed, not many Gods are suffering from poverty and the [Pantheons] had created a seemingly [Era of Peace] for [Divine Existences].

However, this is only for the strongest [Pantheons], as sole [Gods] that do not want to join a [Pantheon] and abide by their rules have to work themselves into gathering [Divine Energy] through small Dungeons that they can create or harvesting [Divine Materials] from their [Divine Realms]. Or even, go to higher ranked Realms in Genesis and hunt for the scarce resources, risking their lives as they could be seen by other Gods who are looking for the same resources, or even [Pantheon] members that had proclaimed these zones as their own.

The God of Sand and Earth opened a [Divine Sense] that called to several [Demi-Gods] and [Gods]. Several [Divine Senses] answered to his call, and a small auction for his resources quickly began. Some hours later, the God had gathered 54 [Crystallized Divine Energy]. It wasn't near as much as he needed for his task, but he thought that he could somehow manage…

He saw with regret as his [Divine Realm] was now completely empty, the golden dunes, the animals, the monsters and the massive mountains, everything had disappeared, he had to sell everything to gain a measly 54 Crystals of Divine Energy, which had a bluish color, resembling the most beautiful of sapphires.

If he wasn't a god that had lived for many years and didn't have a body completely made of stones, rocks, minerals, and jewels, he would cry tears of remorse, the things he had cultivated for so long were now gone, and he could feel a lot of his power decreasing.

However, the God only looked at the horizon on his [Divine Realm] as he devoured the Crystals of Divine Energy with his giant rock mouth. A powerful spark of [Divine Energy] quickly filled his entire colossal body, his golden eyes shined in an almost blinding light.

"I have to kill this ant no matter what…"

With all of its Divine intent, a wise and old being, classified as a God, was now using all of his resources that he had accumulated through the years only to kill a mortal… If he were to tell that to other gods, the reputation that he had barely built for himself would shatter into pieces and the Gods would only look at him as some pathetic and incompetent God.

"If he's such an incompetent God, he deserves to become a [Fallen God]!" Some would say. Any connections that he built over time would get destroyed and without the support of any Gods, he would fall into a [Fallen God] no long after, becoming a crazed beast, he would lose all of the dignity of a God and rampage mortals aimlessly. An [Scripted Event] would activate and settle him as a menace, the entire [World's Will] would get rid of him by creating hundreds of mortal Heroes, ganging on him until he releases his last breath, dying.

"I cannot let this happen…! Never…!" Said the God, as he infused all of his [Divine Energy] into the connection that he had to his Dungeon through his [Divine Soul]. Using his [Divine Senses], he slowly began to manipulate the Dungeon while inspecting Kireina's movements, and creating thousands of obstacles on her path…