Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-528

In a Divine Realm covered in blazing forests, seas of boiling lava, and a sky covered in gray, dark, and red ashes, two gods relaxed inside a pool of lava.

Their appearance was demonic, to say the least… their bodies were covered in red skin and dark spikes. One of them was three meters tall, while the other was a bit smaller, only reaching two and a half meters.

Their bodies were manly and packed with muscles, shining brightly, and sweating heavily. The larger one had long white hair, three black horns poking from his forehead, and a third eye in the middle of these horns. He had two white tusks poking from his lower jaw, yellow eyes, and a face that seemed always angry… but he was mildly worried while trying to calm down.

"Sigh… Would it really work?" it muttered.

"Don't worry big brother, that Kireina is very open-minded!" said the smaller demon-like man, his hair was dark-colored and his shoulders were covered in red spikes, while he had a single horn on his forehead, he also had smaller white tusks coming from his lower jaw, and a face that seemed always angry, like a furious oni of Japanese mythology.

However, both of these 'demons' used to be humans before becoming gods.

"Yeah Gravern, but she also ate Ymir indiscriminately, she is an incredibly chaotic being… we cannot really predict what she is thinking or planning, all of our predictions would be futile… even if we try to show her our goodwill by blessing her children, which seems to have Ymir's reincarnated soul, she might think that it could be… something similar to a threat?" asked the larger red-skinned demonic god, Smirkes, the God of Burning Battles.

"But aniki, you gotta be more optimistic! If we just think that we worst will always happen, how do you plan to live in peace? We have to trust on Kireina's judgment and Ymir's soul that is one of her new offspring" said smaller demonic god, Gravern, the Demigod of Undying Burns.

"Hmmm… I hope so. Ah, I will just take a nap, this Divine Lava is very relaxing to the muscles…" said Smirkes.

Smirkers and Gravern were the two gods that once blessed Ymir, the Ashura King that reigned over the fallen and assimilated nation of the Ashura race that lived in the lower realms.

Ymir was an exceptionally talented individual, his strength surpassed any mortal and he had been born as a Divine Species, a race of mortal beings capable of controlling Divine Energy and also capable of leveling incredibly faster to raise into godhood.

The two gods, who are brothers, and who were one of the few gods that inhabited the Lower Realms with their Divine Realms and everything, saw on Ymir great potential.

They saw that Ymir could become their third little brother with such an incredible talent, and they needed some more gods in their group if they wanted to one day form a strong pantheon of gods and dominate the Lower Realm.

They gave Ymir their blessings the moment he was born and spoiled him with oracles of his greatness and future accomplishments while gifting him items to increase his growth into godhood.

Ymir was very close to do so… but Kireina appeared.

She conquered Ymir's nation, by using the exiled brother, Ashura, to lead her through the territory. Kireina helped the measly mortals from Ymir's tyranny and gained their love. While Ymir tried to run away with the help of the gods towards their Divine Realm, but Kireina was too fast, catching up to him.

They thought that perhaps Ymir would have an opportunity by transforming and channeling the strength of the two gods through their blessings, but it was futile, it was just a mere joke in front of Kireina, she ate him like a snack, without even putting any effort on her endeavor.

However, through Kireina's power, Ymir soul was recycled inside her Inner Realm: Soul World Skill and was reincarnated against her will and unknowingly to her into one of Mady's children, Marduk.

"Ymir is now called Marduk… but his strength is perhaps even greater than when Ymir himself was born, isn't it, aniki?" asked Gravern.

"Indeed, Marduk is an incredibly talented child that has channeled the power of Ymir's soul… but his memories were whipped out, as he seems to have been merged with other souls and was 'cleansed' while being inside his egg…" said Smirkes.

Gravern and Smirkes were human gods that were raised into godhood before Genesis was split into realms, however, they were always lone cultivators that took care of each other as brothers.

After seeing the reconstruction of the Realm of Vida, they flew towards the underground world made into it by accident and mere chance and decided to settle in there, away from the conflicts between other gods.

Of course, many other gods saw the potential in living peacefully in the Lower Realm, so many other gods moved in there, since then, there have been very few disputes, as all the gods down here had the same intentions of 'living peacefully'.

But with Kireina suddenly getting to know about the Lower Realm… they were all quite afraid and concerned. Even more when various of her citizens would sometimes come down here to explore, and she had also left a giant undead named Hekatoncheires, roaming through the Lower Realm for some reason.

This undead giant was immensely strong and could easily wipe out nations if it wanted, but instead, it dedicated itself to hunt the giant monsters that roamed this world, and in fact, ended up making the living inside this place even safer for mortals.

Many gods considered that Kireina had specifically told the giant to not harm nations and demi-humans… and began to comprehend her benevolence in some ways.

Though on Kireina's mind, she did this so Hekatoncheires could grow strong to suffice as a force against her enemies and to protect her Empire, while also cleaning the Lower Realm from pests because she was planning on taking over it at some point. Because she wanted the people living here as citizens, she told Hekatoncheires to not harm them nor get into their disputes or approach their nations if possible.

Considering what the gods believed as truth, Gravern and Smirkes decided to be the first ones to show their 'goodwill' to Kireina by blessing their child, which was also Ymir, so it was fairly easier for them to bless the soul again, especially because it still had their original soul's effects mixed and converged into his soul.

The two gods hoped that things could go well… but were also aware that many other gods in the Lower Realm might try to do the same thing as them.

"Should we approach her more aggressively? I mean, like trying to talk to her or at least the gods that are with her" considered Smirkes.

"Perhaps we should, aniki… she doesn't seem to even have noticed our blessings as much…" said Gravern

"Now that I think about it, haven't various gods gone directly to her pantheon to join her? I remember reading from some information sellers about the two wyvern gods and then the gods of the central continent" said Smirkes.

"Ah! You are right, aniki! Perhaps she isn't as aggressive as we think?" asked Gravern.

"I hope so…" muttered Smirkes, still undecided.

The gods then decided to sleep for a few hours in their pool of lava, relaxing their muscles tension, of course, both were completely naked.

Smirkes and Gravern were blood-related siblings with different mothers, that were once part of a small cultivation village when Genesis was not pieced into realms and there was not a System.

They went through many hardships in their lives, and at first, they did not go well together, but slowly fought shoulder to shoulder against enemies and threats, raising through the ranks of the mortal cultivator.

Because they were never 'righteous' and committed various crimes such as the assassination of moronic young masters, stealing spell and technique scrolls, and also cultivation materials, they were known as a pair of bandits and demon/devil cultivators.

However, as long as they had each other, they never cared much about what the world thought about them. And through their research and always getting into trouble to increase their cultivation level, they acquired a special cultivation technique that helped both of them cultivate by exchanging the three primordial energies (Magic, Life, and Soul Energy) with each other.

But this cultivation also came with their change in appearance, their appearances mutated and they became more and more demon-like until they were often thought to be roaming mythical beasts in the shape of humans, or one of the varied species of demi-humans in that time, such as Blazemen.

They later found out that Blazemen were the ones that created this technique and it carried on the curse of transforming any of those that were not Blazemen into monsters similar to their appearances.

However, the brothers didn't care either, the world already saw them as demons, so might as well look like one… there wasn't anything to lose at all, and through this cultivation technique, they became so strong that none of the mortal sects of their contents were able to stand against them.

After the excruciating hardship of defeating the Divine Trial, they touched the realm of gods and became Living Deities of Rank 1.

Although they were originally humans, they did not look human at all, and when they became gods this appearance remained with them as it had become impregnated on their souls permanently.

But it was fine for them.

Their talent immediately called the attention of the 'immortal cultivators' or gods and was invited into a Pantheon filled with Demon Cultivators, where they worked hard to gain contribution points by doing various tasks.

Smirkes managed to become a God, while Gravern was very close, being a Demigod.

However, the peace broke out as the Ragnarök started, the largest sects or pantheons, led by who would be the future Supreme Gods raged war against each other for territories, materials, and power.

They did not even survive barely while seeing countless gods fall to their demise, but they also saw the world being destroyed.

And then… being reborn.

A spectacle that could only be described as disbelieving and baffling.

The World's Will, a powerful entity that existed all across Genesis revealed its intentions and existence as a conscious being, and ordered the Supreme Gods, with its overwhelming power as an entity beyond Supremes, to reconstruct the world they destroyed.

And so, if they did not want to die, the gods did as they were ordered.

Gravern and Smirkes joined hands with their former enemies, those that had once slaughtered their allies in their pantheon, and chose a large piece of arid stone and minerals, 'repaired' it, and granted it an atmosphere, a sea, vegetation, mountains, life and death, and day and night.

When the gods finished, they were exhausted, many gods across all the realms created celebrated their new age of change, a new age of peace.

Gravern and Smirkers decided to travel to the Lower Realm and to lay low, to try and settle down for once after such a life filled with hardships and adventures.

But the world kept changing… the System was created and alongside it came an explosion of new races and beings, of new monsters and worlds, of new powers and gods, of new societies and pantheons.

A new age of change, mortals raised incredibly quickly to godhood through the System and many gods began to appear alongside the 'old gods', with different and fresh ideologies and ideas.

Although the system was made for the weak and small population to thrive, it helped them way more than the World's Will imagined, overpopulation became a common thin in every realm after a few hundred of thousands of years…

The gods and the World's Will tried to take down the System after it had fulfilled its purpose, but it was too late. Not even its creator and the one that represented it were able to do anything.

Through countless years, the System was assimilated by the world's and the universe's laws and became one with it. If it were to be taken out or 'destroyed' the entire universe and the existence of genesis would tremble and fall into pieces, like having one of their legs taken out. The System had become something that supported existence as a whole.

Perhaps most of the gods would survive… but there would not be anywhere to go anymore, nowhere to exist and nowhere to be, nor there would be mortals to reign over, to teach, and to love.

The System was left as it was, and as time went on, it became more and more engraved in every living being, in the very fabric of their universe, even gods could not escape from it, being assimilated by it and given a status.

Gravern and Smirkes were those that saw all these world-changing events while hiding in isolation, and after meeting with a being such as Kireina, they decided that the world had begun to near its next age of change, an age of chaos, where not even the World's Will or the Supreme Gods would be able to do anything to stop it, the world would reform as a whole… they needed to be in the winner side, of course…. And many gods thought this as well.