Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-723

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[Kireina] has gathered the sufficient amount of required Experience Points!]

[Kireina] Level has increased from Level: 146 to Level: 172!]

[Current Level: 172/250]

[Kireina] acquired the [Demi Divinity of Ocean Floods (Water) (Kabeiro)]!]

[Kireina] acquired the [Divinity of Grace and Beauty (Life/Light) (Aglaia)]!]

[Kireina] acquired the [Divinity of Fire and Blacksmithing (Fire) (Hephaestus)]!]

[The acquired Divinities have been integrated into current Divinity!]

[Kireina] gained +220.000 Main Class Skill Points and Subclass Skill Points!]

[Kireina] gained +410.000 Dungeon Points!]

[Kireina] gained +50.000 Soul Stats, +10.000 HP, +15.000 MP, +3.000 Stamina, +6.000 Strength, +4.500 Defense, +5.500 Magic, +4.500 Resistance, +4.000 Speed, +10.000 Charisma, +10.500 Blood Strength, +5.000 Dungeon Power, and +200 Luck!]

[Kireina] acquired the following Skills]

[Transcendental Oceanic Floods Water Attribute Source: Level 1]

[Brilliant Soul of the Ocean Nymph: Kabeiro: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Delicate Physique of the Beauty of the Oceans: Kabeiro: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Transcendental Divine Grace and Beauty Source: Level 1]

[Eternal Charming Beauty and Grace: Aglaia: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Heavenly Brilliant Soul of Beauty and Grace: Aglaia: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Divine Physique of Eternal Beauty and Grace: Aglaia: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Transcendental Divine Blazing Blacksmith Source: Level 1]

[Hephaestus Heavenly Blazing Aura of Eternal Flames: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Divine Fiery Soul of Blazing Rage: Hephaestus: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Divine Blazing Physique: Hephaestus: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Divine Summon Magic: Heavenly Phoenix of Eternal Flames Divine Beast: Level 1] (Assimilated by Superior Unique Skill!)

[Divine Realm of Volcanic Fire: Level 1] (Assimilated by Fragmented Divine Realm Skill!)

[Divine Realm of Graceful Life and Light: Level 1] (Assimilated by Fragmented Divine Realm Skill!)

[Divine Realm of Oceans and Purity: Level 1] (Assimilated by Fragmented Divine Realm Skill!)

[The Levels of Several Skills have increased!]

[The [Divine Aura of Aberrant and Chaotic Amalgamation Grotesqueness: Nightmares, Venom, Life, Light, Parasitism, Space, Fire, Wind: Level 4] Skill has evolved into the [Divine Aura of Heavenly Aberrant and Chaotic Amalgamation Grotesqueness: Nightmares, Venom, Life, Light, Parasitism, Space, Fire, Wind, Water, Grace, Forge: Level 4]!]

[The [Abyssal Divine Lineage; Bloodline of the Divine Demoness Mother of Lustful Venom; Level 10] Skill has awakened into the [Heavenly Abyssal Divine Lineage: Bloodline of the Transcendental Devourer of Gods: Level 1] Skill!]

[The [Universal Crafter, Alchemy and Forge Grandmaster Recipe Book: Level 10] Skill has awakened into the [Universal Divine Creator God Grimoire of Recipes: Level 1] Skill!]

[The [Divine Energy Comprehension; Level 10], [Divine Energy Vessel; Level 10], [Divine Energy Conversion; Level 10], [Divine Capacity Expansion; Level 10], and [Divine Body Adaptability; Level 10] Skills have merged and awakened into the [Heavenly Abyssal Existence: False Godhood: Level 1] Skill!]

[The [Calamity Abyss Demon Skin; Indestructible Armor of the Six Chaotic Fiends; Level 10] [Skin] Skill has awakened into the [Chaotic Abyssal Demon Indestructible Metallic Scales and Skin of the Underworld: Level 1] [Skin] [Scales] Skill!]

[The [Calamity Abyss Demon Hair; Spectral Phantom Threads; Level 10] [Hair] [Threads] Skill has awakened into the [Chaotic Abyssal Demon Spectral Soul Threads and Hair: Level 1] [Hair] [Threads] Skill!]

This battle was incredibly arduous…

We somehow made it through.

I had to literally use everything I had at my disposal.

For several moments, I thought I was a goner.

Being completely turned into ashes is no joke.

Although this body is but a True Body Clone, I would simply go back to the body at my Empire if it were to be destroyed.

But the amount of Stats I would lose would be tremendous.

Indeed, when the True Body Clones are destroyed, my stats lower.

But it's the only way I could fight against Hephaestus, simply slime or flesh clones wouldn't have done it.

I had to do a lot of insane things, perhaps some that I never thought possible of me…

I fused with my wives and finally got through it all…

Hephaestus was an insanely strong guy…

For real, he was right.

I had been fighting only trash, a true godlike him was absolutely no joke at all.

He was able to resist my devouring!

The thing I always thought was somehow invincible.

Hahaha. I was a fool.

A complete and utter fool.

Devour or Uroboros, is a great tool for my survival, but strong enough Gods can simply resist it.

After all, it is not a superpower that defies everything, in the end, it still exists within this world's laws, it was made by these laws after all.

That it let me eat gods as a mortal was pretty amazing, but it should not have made me think that it was all-powerful.

I had to try out many different strategies, I had to run around while being burned alive constantly…

Even my soul, which I can regenerate through Uroboros was taking a lot of damage, and when Hephaestus got the Helios Fragments going… the soul damage began to be faster than the regeneration.

If this continued for a bit more, my soul would be too weakened, and I would have… lost.

Perhaps I would not die due to being at my Empire, but my wives… I do not know what might have happened to them if I 'died' here.

…

But in the end, I somehow managed to do it.

It all thanks to my wives, and my strategy.

Having Apollo and Cyrene in here was very useful as well.

I managed to use them to eat Kabeiro and Aglaia right in front of Hephaestus.

After eating these Goddesses, my power increased a lot, and I finally managed to get to some level of a degree similar to the intensity of the bastard of Hephaestus.

However, I am still in debt with my wives themselves, fusing with them gave me an impressive boost, way more than I had ever imagined.

And at the last seconds, Rimuru came in with her amazing development, finally giving us the advantage and defeating Hephaestus.

Ah well, he escaped.

But I was not going to let him escape.

This is why I brought Apollo after all.

I used my Apollo Clone and followed Hephaestus.

He still believed I was the real Apollo, how foolish…

Through Apollo, I managed to eat him entirely, and even his Divine Realm was eaten by the clone, the clone just came here, touched me, and transferred me all the power.

Well, my wives were still fused, so they got an enormous boost to their power as well.

Oh, did I forget to mention that they can eat Gods now?

Although I still possess Kabeiro's Divinity, I have given a large portion of it to Rimuru, who has awakened her Water Dao, something like a super affinity with water that only water gods have.

Hephaestus was so shocked when we fought using Rimuru's power, that he thought she was Poseidon for some seconds.

Sigh…

It was quite intense.

But we triumphed.

I cannot believe how relieved I feel.

But this, not the end, it clearly is not.

We have to hurry up, my Empire is currently being raided by a Demon Army led by miss Greed herself.

And inside of Agatheina's Divine Realm, she is fighting against a few Demon Gods alongside the other Gods, as they're trying to distract them so they can't interfere in the war outside…

There is little time to do anything, so I quickly defuse and look around.

"Main body, what do we do now?" asked Cyrene, appearing through space.

"Should we go consume the other two children of Apollo?" asked Apollo.

"Please do, anything can help us out at this point, make sure to make it swift if possible… Don't eat their physical bodies nor Divine Cores, and make Clones out of them… Here, have this Soul Mass to compensate," I said, extending my hands (in my fairy form) and granting Cyrene and Apollo an 'upgrade', where they get to share some of my newly acquired power.

"Very well then, we shall go," said Apollo.

"Make haste, main body," said Cyrene, as both she and Apollo disappear inside their Divine Realms.

"We did it Masta! I feel so strong now!" said Rimuru.

"Indeed, eating a God is something else entirely… So my Soul is finally a Divine Soul?" asked Brontes.

"Ah, is this how you feel, honey? It is… quite overwhelming. It really feels as if our souls had become something else, almost transcendental…" said Zehe.

"That's right, though I believe that eating some God related to the poison would be good for me…" said Nesiphae.

"That's right if we can manage to get gods that can fit your affinities, you would be able to awaken something, similarly to Rimuru," I said, glancing at Rimuru practicing her new Divinity of Water, moving enormous waves of water all across her, which left glittering sparkles of light around, showing their Divine Power.

Jorgrakog who was near us seemed in silence.

"Err…" he muttered.

"I already know everything through the memories of Apollo and Cyrene. You're welcome, Jorgrakog… However, I cannot trust you enough, even after having helped me," I said, glancing at the giant God as he began to shiver a bit.

He was a pile of oozy black sludge, similar to petroleum when it surges from the earth, he was covered in thousands of enormous bones, like those of ancient, fossilized beasts. He had a rather interesting complexion.

"A-Ah! Yes! Please, I would gladly do anything to prove my allegiance… You killed one of the Gods that sealed me, so I of course am very inclined to serve you, Kireina-sama…" said Jorgrakog.

"Do you have any enmity against the Gods residing in here?" I asked.

"Eh? What Gods? Oh… those ones? No, in fact, I was extending my domain and mutating the beasts so I could create a place where I can stay. As you can see, I can exist on the surface as long as it is covered in my miasma," said Jorgrakog.

"Interesting… Well, that's that… Now, stay still. We don't have much time to talk, so let's get this done with," I said, pointing my hands at Jorgrakog as he seeped paralyzed in place.

I then combined several Skills together, such as Thread and Hair of the Calamity Demon Body Parts, the Sealing Skills, Soul Parasite, and more, creating something similar to a Soul Contract, that not even Gods should be able to break down so easily.

Of course, if God is unwilling to take it, they can run away or struggle, easily destroying the contract in the process, but because Jorgrakog was willingly taking it, it all went smoothly.

My soul generated ethereal dark chains that began to entangle the God's Soul, tightly grabbing him entirely, even connecting with his Divine Core.

Jorgrakog felt a bit of pain, but he seemed incredibly complacent, how did he change so much?

We were completely neutral and then we were supposed to be enemies, yet he had decided to simply serve me forever.

Maybe something in my Enlightenment encroached his mind… Oh well, I have heard that he is quite close to the Chaos Attribute, so he might see me as a figure of authority or something that he wants to follow.

"Unnghh…! I-Is it done?" he asked.

I closed my hands, as the chains slowly became invisible, yet they remained within my soul and his.

"It's done… This is a safety measure I have come out with to make sure for Gods to never betray me again… I name it 'God Enslaving Divine Abyssal Chains'. Your soul and Divine Core are now enslaved directly into my soul, and I can decide at any time to devour you if you try to betray me… So don't try anything funny," I said.

Jorgrakog, however, seemed rather happy, as if the chains were something like a hug or a prize I gave him.

"Yes! Yes! I will, Kireina-sama!" he said.

…He reminds me a bit of Agatheina's fanatism.

Anyways, I quickly flew up the sky alongside my wives and my new God Slave, glancing around the Dark Steppes…

Everything was turned into a dark wasteland… most of the plants were now mutated beasts, alongside any other life.

"You did all of this?" I asked.

"Y-Yes… At first, I was very excited about finally going out, but I guess due to the circumstances given, and seeing that those gods affected are your allies… I apologize, Kireina-sama…" said Jorgrakog.

"Well, what's done is done… Hm?"

As I floated around looking for the Gods, I noticed a place where the barriers they had made were.

And atop the barrier, the Gods called me from within their Divine Realms.

"She… she really defeated Hephaestus!" said one.

"Impressive…!"

"I told you that she was crazy strong, right?"

"Amazing!"

"B-But wait for a second, the barrier is trembling!"

"Wait…!"

I flew towards them with my group, asking them what they were talking about…

And then I felt it.

It was as if the entire earth was trembling while releasing immense waves of fluctuating energy…

"Just what was that?!" I asked, glancing down below, guarded inside the barrier that the Gods created, something deep underground laid.

"That's…!"

"But we can't…!"

"Fools, she saved us, just tell her!"

"V-Very well…"

The gods discussed a lot, but at the end, the Goddess is known as Ghiotl, the Demon Demigoddess of Treacherous Venom, who seemed to unify their group, spoke.

"Kireina-sama, thanks for coming to our assistance… Thanks to you stopping Hephaestus and… enslaving Jorgrakog, the barrier managed to resist the power surging from below… We are deeply thankful for what you have done! …Although what lays down below, might be something that could be too dangerous to approach, even for us Gods," said Ghiotl.

"Eh? That much, guu?" asked Rimuru.

"What is it? Speak already," I said.

"It is way too complicated to explain things through words, and I am sure that you're in a hurry, so please, accept this," said Ghiotl, giving me a sphere of glowing white light.

"A Memory Capsule, please consume it so you can see what we have discovered down below, and its transcendental secrets…" said Ghiotl.

"This…"

I felt like something very important was about to be revealed to me.

Everything was being more and more mysterious… For real, what was this to be with and why did they guard it so much?

I grabbed the Memory Capsule with my hands, and put it on my mouth, eating it as a stream of images and knowledge filled my mind.