Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-496

"And what about your children, Hephaestus?" asked Zeus.

"My children…? Palikoi was the only reckless and infuriating one, my children would never betray their own father!" roared Hephaestus. Like Zeus, he had a large number of children, smaller Demigods that participated in the pantheon of gods in the central continent.

"Stop, let us not point fingers at each other for now, this is exactly what that monster wants after all. We must remain together as the family we are," said Athena.

"But sister, what can we do now? Without the artifacts being produced in time…" muttered Apollo.

"We can't do much, Apollo, we must keep going with our plans and adapt to them as we can. We are still nourishing the Azuma Empire, and the mortals in there have finally begun to notice our presence," said Athena.

"Do you think that I am going to sit in here and wait?! I am going directly towards that monster! I will break her apart into pieces with my hammer!" roared Hephaestus.

"Don't be a fool, my son! As much as I want to do the same to that monster, we cannot be reckless in our decisions… for now, we must plan accordingly. Remember that she has gathered many gods already at her side, fighting against them will greatly deplete our energy and might end up in our ultimate defeat before she even falls," said Zeus.

"Father, Palikoi is my property and that Dream World is mine as well! Do you think I will let that petty thief do as she pleases?! I will teach that mortal a valuable lesson!"

"Think about it carefully, Hephaestus! Doesn't that monster have a full divine authority now?! She isn't a mere and defenseless mortal now… even more with her ability to damage gods despite using mortal skills, spells, and techniques…" added Apollo.

"Argh! B-But…! I did not have much resentment against that monster before… but now that she had dared to come and steal my properties, she had gained a vicious enemy! If it weren't because of this know-it-all whore that couldn't predict such a thing being the Goddess of Wisdom, nothing of this would have happened!" roared Hephaestus, running away to his Divine Realm.

"Wait, Hephaestus! Hear your father! Argh…! Hopefully, he does not go and do some stupid thing!" muttered Zeus.

"But what can we do after all?" asked Apollo.

"It is not like we can do much either… if my brother wants to die so hard, he should give it a try! I don't have any interest in a man that insults me freely as if I were a mere whore!" roared Athena, enraged over her brother's badmouth and running away to her Divine Realm.

"Athena!"

Zeus followed his daughter to her Divine Realm, leaving Apollo alone on his Divine Realm…

He stood still, motionless.

His eyes then changed to a crimson red color.

And a smile blossomed on his flawless face.

"It seems that the main body is doing many crazy things… I should report her this immediately… seeing the faces of these fools so desperate… it is indeed quite delectable," said Apollo, his face becoming a tad bit devilish and feminine out of the sudden.

Since he was attacked by Kireina, his soul was slowly eroded by one of her split souls, which synthesized itself into his soul and slowly assimilated him entirely by forcefully digesting him and itself using 'Uroboros'.

His soul completely taken over just a few days ago, but the main body of Kireina did not acquire any divinity because this split soul had become something similar to a Slime Clone, separated from her body, and not like a true body clone that shared her soul and consciousness.

However, it still held the same memories as her, her personality, and her desire to protect her family and Empire. After assimilating Apollo, she gained all of his memories and using her amazing acting skills, even Apollo's own father and siblings could not see through her act.

The ability to communicate with the main body had become slower, but it was still possible to transfer knowledge and memories with enough time and effort…

Much like his siblings, Apollo had children as well and even some wives that were still alive. After becoming an alter ego of Kireina, Apollo considered what to do about them… using their bonds to brainwash them or parasitize their souls could be beneficial.

But if he were to do this too recklessly or suddenly, it might awaken the attention of others, for now, he decided to act just like the original Apollo and do all of his schedules, to the point of convincing itself that he was still Apollo, making his act even greater.

Meanwhile, as these events unfolded, in the Divine Realm of Thanatos, the Demon God of Everlasting Darkness, the Demon Gods present grimaced what had happened to Geggoron.

"It is just as we expected… I suppose," said a floating and fleshy brain with tentacles, Kinesis, the Demon God of Brains and Telepathy.

"That fool had what he deserved! Though I hate to feel that it would have been better if he escaped… Didn't that fairy become even stronger after defeating him? Did he really just… ate him?" asked a floating mass of countless eyes, Oculus, the Demon God of One Hundred Cursed Eyes

"Yes. She did. I can still feel the dim presence of Geggoron, but its nature had been completely warped and it is different… it seems to have been converged with Megusan's remnant presence, they're inside of the fairy," said a grotesque voice that cracked and resonated through the entire Divine Realm, a giant wearing a full set of dark armor, which was, in fact, its exoskeleton, Thanatos, the owner of this Divine Realm.

"Conveniently, she is taking care of the trash… but not if she gets stronger through that, isn't it?" asked a mass of palpitating flesh and fat, Milmeloth the Demon God of Rotting Flesh.

"There isn't much we can do… we don't have the necessity of attacking her. And even if she devours Demigods, as many as she ate, she should not be capable of surpassing the strength of a God. If she ends up fighting a God, she might die or be greatly damaged, giving us time to unleash our plans… it is convenient that she is always facing such danger, killing Geggoron might end up making other gods grow concerned, and a group of reckless gods might come for her head… well, if that happens we just have to reap benefits when both parties are weakened," said an aberration, an insect with a colorful exoskeleton that took the form of a beautiful demon woman, Primidone, the Demon Demigoddess of Deceiving Beauty.

"Still, Primidone, wouldn't it be too dangerous? If she managed to steal Geggoron's divinity… she might be capable of controlling dreams," said a pile of countless floating bones covered in phantasmal essence that took the shape of a curvilinear woman, Varilok, the Demon Demigoddess of Phantom Bones.

"Controlling dreams? Do not be a fool, sister Varilok. The fairy is a mere mortal, to be capable of handling divinity takes thousands of years of practice and mastery, even if she has such power, it might end up being uncontrollable and the benefits that it brings to her might be minuscule," laughed Primidone.

"Hmm… even then, she had the strength to kill a demigod. That is not a fact to be taken lightly, Primidone," said a giant bull of over eighty meters that had one hundred heads, legs, and tails, Jozrath the Demon God of Brutish Savagery.

"So what do you want us to do, brother? Do you want us to cry out loud in fear? To become desperate and attack her, waste energy, and possibly be killed by the gods protecting her? Being worried won't bring any benefit to our cause," said Primidone.

"Primidone is right, we can't just sit here and complain, neither be recklessly concerned about her and go crazy trying to kill her. Let us follow our plans and nourish the mortals and our vessels," said a floating sphere made out of fangs and claws covered in red flames, Drostranith, the Demon Demigod of Burning Desires.

"Hmph, I was just saying," muttered Jozrath.

"For now, let's watch things closely… and talking about mortals, one of them had recently caught my attention," said Thanatos.

"You mean Anabella Down, that witch? Yes, she had recently awakened her dormant Epic and seemingly evolved it. The hero that she revived become her legendary party member… it is rather funny how the roles changed, as she used to be one of his party members instead" laughed Primidone.

"Oh, that mortal,"

"She seems promising,"

"She might be a good force for us to use,"

"Indeed, I was planning on giving her the task of reviving more Heroes from previous generations as Undead. Sol, the Hero she revived as an Undead holds great strength after undergoing evolution several times. If she can manage to do the same with the heroes we once blessed, we might be able to create an army of Undead Heroes who hold admirable strength," said Thanatos.

"Although some of them were revived by us as Living Deity or Heroic Spirits, they are too few… but their souls had been already cleansed and reincarnated randomly in the realms through the Reincarnation Cycle. If they were to be raised, they would not be capable of carrying all of their original strength," said Kinesis.

"There isn't any need for the souls to match, according to her experiments. It should be possible to put the soul we have in standby of the heroes or admirable warriors that perished in these last two hundred years," said Varilok, the Demon Demigoddess of Phantom Bones.

"If sister Varilok blesses Anabella, it should be possible for her to raise undead more easily… I've also thought about giving her my blessing as well… we could also divide pieces of our soul, as Geggoron does, and possess these undead vessels, forcefully evolve them and make them into suitable warriors," said Milmeloth.

"Hmm… have you two considered having children? Phantom bones and rotting flesh might give birth to an undead race, fufufu," added Primidone.

"…Eh? You perverted old woman!" roared Milmeloth, a bit flustered, despite being a mass of rotting flesh and fat.

"N-New race? W-With Milmeloth-sama…?" muttered Varilok while flushing… despite being a mass of bones and phantasmal essence in the shape of a woman.

"I never thought about it, but you two are rather compatible… if that new race can be strong, you should give it a try" said Thanatos.

"Good one, Thanatos-sama! I knew you were into it!" laughed Primidone.

"No, I am not 'into it', Primidone…" muttered Thanatos.

Milmeloth and Varilok glanced at each other.

"Varilok… you don't have to feel forced to this… I…" muttered Milmeloth.

"No, let us do it! I never created a race… so it is the time! It is my responsibility as a demigoddess!" said Varilok, filling herself with bravery.

Milmeloth was then dragged by millions of bones and phantom essence towards Varilok's Divine Realm.

"Wait for a second, Varilok!" cried Milmeloth.

"They will be busy tonight, fufufu," laughed Primidone.

"You perverted old woman… look what you cause with this!" roared Drostranith while spitting blazes.

"What so wrong about a bit of fun between us? It is incredibly dull in here, let them have some fun! Perhaps a strong race might come out of their passionate intercourse," laughed Primidone.

"Haahh…" sighed Thanatos.

"There is no point discussing, she will be always the same," said Oculus.

"Well, thanks to her strange ideas, the different demon races were born from us, so it is not like she hasn't come out with great things," said Kinesis.

"I suppose…" muttered Thanatos, like an old man, too tired of his mischievous 'little' sister while being comforted by those near his age.