Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-499

In a Divine Realm covered in thunderstorms and long peaks, a large dragon rested, a giant thunder dragon with twelve golden eyes, purple and gold scales, long yellow jewel horns, and two pairs of wings, his size being around sixty meters.

"Hm… When will I get in contact? It has been… two days already" he said.

This imposing dragon was the Dragon God of Thunder, Nyzzet. He was once part of the original pantheon of dragon gods created by Tiamat, the Great Dragoness Goddess of Fertility and Motherhood before leaving the Realm of Vida.

However, due to various circumstances, like not sharing the same beliefs as his brothers, he decided to leave on his own accord.

Nyzzet was not an evil dragon god, but he did not want to help the human gods of the central continent either.

He just wanted to protect his children, the Thunder Dragonoid, half-human and half Thunder Dragon demi-humans that had outstanding potential and once had a large civilization in the Vast Plains. However, due to the schemes of Demon Gods, his children were almost stolen by them.

Due to this, he decided to raise his children inside his Divine Realm, seemingly making it seem as if the Thunder Dragonoid civilization disappeared from the Vast Plains, only leaving the ruins of their buildings and the dungeon he created to nourish them.

Making sure to nourish his children while multiplying them, he gained a large amount of worship from them and was capable of maintaining himself through them. He both loved them dearly and also needed their support.

His dungeon was, several years later discovered by Athetosean Humans and Human Nomads, who made a large town surrounding it and constantly sent parties of adventurers to explore its depths.

Nyzzet had designed a large dungeon that randomly sent its visitors to different floors and biomes, as he liked his dungeon to serve as trials to strong warriors. Randomly throwing them into different and unexpected trials was his style.

There were many different biomes as well as bosses, and although his children could not visit his dungeon anymore, the humans and demi-humans that lived around it did so.

As the world kept developing, he lived in peace inside his Divine Realm. Nyzzet didn't desire wars either to seek strength desperately…

But recently, Wandering Lone Gods had become more aggressive and bloodthirsty and using strange means, they began to team up and attack other Lone Gods Divine Realms… Supposedly, a certain Lone God was moving the strings, with an ability capable of breaking through space and open a portal to Divine Realms.

Many of the Lone Gods Nyzzet once had contact with perished this way. They were peacefully living in their Divine Realms until invaders from the outside broke in, stealing his divine materials, mortal children, and then their lives.

Nyzzet was… an overly cautious dragon, he liked peace above all else, and did not like that there was a possibility that he could be next on the chopping board.

Until he got to know about a strange pantheon that was being built… around a mortal.

This pantheon was exceedingly strange, as it held many gods from different origins, but all of them worked together to help this mortal.

The mortal was Kireina, the one who stole a dungeon from Omgramid, the God of Sand and Earth, that killed and ate a sealed the Demon Demigod Megusan… and that had recently begun her attack against Geggoron.

In all this time, she also damaged The Vampire Goddess of Blood, Agatheina, and helped many Beast Demigods.

Although many of the central continent gods talked about how atrocious Kireina's behavior was, Nyzzet could not help but see security below her command. She not only successfully helped many gods but also gained their trust. Both Gods and she protected each other.

And she was also extremely dangerous, possessing the ability to kill gods despite being a mortal and to obtain part of their powers. She was a fearsome opponent and even the gods in the central continent feared her to an extent.

Nyzzet kept seeing as more gods joined her… and how she accepted them all in her pantheon.

If he wanted the protection of Kireina and these strong gods, he had to join her party.

But coming out of nowhere was not his style…

Until he realized that some of her acquaintances and servants were exploring his dungeon.

He quickly devised some strategies and trials and made them quickly fight the last boss.

After some days, they managed to do so, and then he decided to contact the two strongest warriors within that party, Wagyu and Kekensha.

He was surprised at first, as they were monsters and not demi-humans… but they were surprisingly intelligent and brave.

He gave them the last trial before trusting them, making them fight against the Secret Boss, which they defeated rather easily.

Finally recognizing their strength, Nyzzet blessed the two, despite not having an affinity with the two wolves at all, he was still capable of blessing them… and by blessing them, he also acquired a connection with them and Kireina, who had blessed them beforehand.

"A mortal that can bless?" he wondered.

Then, he decided to ask the wolves for a meeting with their Master, but it seemed that she was in a hurry fighting Geggoron and needed strong warriors.

He decided to lend them hand, teleporting the whole party to the surface, as long as they promised to tell Kireina about him.

And now, two days have passed since then… Not much at all, especially for dragon gods who slept for centuries sometimes.

Nyzzet quickly got some news about Geggoron being defeated by Kireina and then presumably eaten by her.

A chill ran through his spine. He would not want to be in that unlucky guy's shoes.

"Hopefully… she doesn't think of me as an opportunist… though I am" thought Nyzzet.

As he sighed while sleeping atop thunderclouds, a sudden message popped up on his shop located in the special space of the 'Interdimensional Merchant Shop' Skill.

"Hm? Aga… theina? Agatheina!���

Nyzzet knew that Agatheina, after being practically face-slapped by Kireina, became one of her most loyal and fervent servants.

If he were to be contacted by her, it most likely meant that he would have the opportunity to talk with Kireina as well.

He quickly received Agatheina's message and contacted her through the small 'will' that she left on it.

Wills was an extension of someone's mind. Gods created a will by expending a small amount of Divine Energy, and such wills could be used for a variety of purposes, such as helping the conjure spells and techniques, to talk far away, to contact mortals, and more.

They were something similar to Kireina's Split Minds, but less independent.

Gods were able to place them in various places and objects, one such case was leaving them in the Interdimensional Merchant Shop through messages.

If both parties agreed to talk, wills could even be used as telephones in a sense.

"So you're Nyzzet? It seems that you have chosen a good path, my dear dragon god companion. We shall be good acquaintances!" said Agatheina through her small will, which had the appearance of a droplet of bright crimson blood.

"And you must be Agatheina. It is an honor to be able to speak with you… Since a long time that I considered this, and after seeing how some Lone Gods were suddenly attacked by groups of Lone Gods, I was fearful that it could happen to me in the future… so I chose to join Kireina's pantheon," said Nyzzet, he was being as honest as possible.

Agatheina laughed mischievously.

"Oh! I see! You are a highly intelligent man, aren't you? So you want protection from us? In exchange for support Kireina-sama?" asked Agatheina.

Nyzzet knew that he could not lie before Agatheina, she was known for being a crafty woman with many facets, no one could slip through her sharp senses. The only way to gain her trust was by praising Kireina and being as honest as possible, even if it sounded shameless.

"Yes, I shall support her and all of you as much as I can… as long as I don't enter in direct fights… I am sorry if I sound cowardly, but despite what I might look like, I don't like fighting" said Nyzzet.

"I see! Fighting is not everything in the world, my dear Nyzzet. Now, now… Kireina-sama's benevolence knows no boundaries. She does not ask you for your children, neither your treasures, neither your techniques nor Divine Energy to join her!" said Agatheina.

"S-She doesn't?"

"No! She only asks for one single thing from any god that wants to join her pantheon. What is it, you must wonder? A large fragment of your Divinity! That is the price~" laughed Agatheina.

"M-My Divinity…?"

Nyzzet felt a chill run through his spine… giving a piece of his divinity meant… slicing a chunk of his own soul, something extremely painful. And despite his appearance, he did not like pain either.

Nyzzet faltered before Agatheina.

"Hm, well, if you cannot afford the price, there is no helping it," she said, slowly leaving from Nyzzet's presence.

Nyzzet realized that he began to doubt too much, for the safety of himself and his children, going through a bit of pain and losing a bit of divinity was not much.

"Wait, I will do it…!" said Nyzzet.

Agatheina's lips curved into a mischievous smile, her scarlet eyes gleaming eerily. However, through her will, her perverted expression could not be seen.

"Good! That is the spirit, my dear friend! There are some instructions on how you must process the fragment of your divinity. Create Divine Glass and mold it as a flask. When you had the large piece of divinity cut off your soul, extract its entire essence, and convert it all into a dew-like liquid. Pour it inside the flask and close it. And voila! A Divine Elixir ready for consumption will be left!" said Agatheina.

Nyzzet extended his divinity and soul, which were attached and merged, like many other gods, their divinities were merged with their souls. However, some gods who had strong bodies also stored their divinities in their physical flesh, such as Nyzzet's scales, muscles, and bones.

However, he decided to not go through that pain, and do it quickly by extracting the divinity on his soul.

Nyzzet's soul seemed to be made of sparking electricity. The dragon god bared his long and sharp claws, and at the speed of thunder, he sliced a large piece.

"Unngh! GAAAA!"

Sharp pain, like if he had detached a limb off his body rushed through his entire being. The god roared on his Divine Realm, and his children felt his pain as well.

"Our father!"

"He's crying!"

"This must be a prophecy!"

"Something is happening!"

Due to his pain, the Thunder Dragonoid began to pray intensively, knowing already by his own words that he could grow strong and heal back wounds if they prayed to him every day.

Nyzzet was comforted by the strong faith of his children, and the pain quickly dissipated as his mind settled down.

"Haahh…"

He used Divine Energy to create a flask made out of Divine Glass. Then, he crushed the piece of divinity with his large claw and poured the dew-like liquid inside the flask.

"Agatheina… it is done," said Nyzzet, giving the flask of divinity elixir.

"Well done, Nyzzet. I shall now bring this to Kireina-sama, and after a few minutes, I shall let you inside our territory. For now, please wait outside the barrier of the Grand Forest," said Agatheina.

"Yes…"

Nyzzet slowly moved with his Divine Realm through space, reaching the outside of the Grand Forest.

Opening a small peephole, he glanced down below. A large Empire that extended around the entire Forest was revealed to him, the buildings were beautiful and modern, the streets were well-paved, there were many shop districts, plazas, and many facilities.

The number of different races living together left Nyzzet almost baffled.

"So many beings of different origins living together in harmony… even monsters? This is… the only one that managed to do something like this was that Wyvern that lived in here before… but even him didn't manage to reach such a length before being sealed…" thought Nyzzet.

Kireina's Empire was a utopia for any demi-human race and even humans. But Nyzzet could not see any human because they had already mutated into Chaos Humans and resembled demi-humans of various races.

Suddenly, a small hole opened inside the barrier that the Gods of Kireina's Pantheon were generating, letting Nyzzet inside.

"Haah… it was a bit painful, but I managed to get in…" he muttered, slowly moving his Divine Realm inside.