394

Chapter 394: Side Chapter; Athena's Schemes

Epic of Caterpillar

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In the Pantheon of Jupiter, the Father of the Sky and Great God of Light and Stars, Apollo was being treated by several Gods that were present.

Due to the alliances with the Supreme Goddess of Life and Origin Pantheon, some Gods that possessed Life Attribute Magic and Healing Magic were present, with their help alongside some other Gods that were knowledgeable in Soul Attribute, Apollo was finally put into an induced sleep, its pain grew dimmer as the internal injury on its soul was barely healed.

Fufluns, the God of Fruitful Life, and subordinate God of the Goddess of Life and Origin cleaned the cold sweat that dripped from his forehead. He had the appearance of a young boy, with yellow skin and flowers growing over its head as if they were hair, alongside dazzling emerald eyes.

"It is stable now… I still can't understand what attacked him… Did someone closer to Apollo felt any strange presence lurking around him?" he asked.

The gods surrounding him, some who had come to help and others that were just watching as bystanders began to speak with each other, all of them said that no anomalies were happening in the Divine Realm.

If such a mysterious presence lurked inside, Jupiter would have been the first to detect it, as this is its Divine Realm, an extension of himself. Most Gods are usually omniscient in their Divine Realms, and a Great God such as Jupiter was not the exception.

"No… there wasn't any strange presence at all, I can assure you of this… whatever attacked Apollo was through space itself" confirmed Jupiter, hiding the truth about him suspecting Kireina to be the cause behind this attack.

Europa, Jupiter's eldest daughter and the Goddess of Moonlight, nodded in agreement.

Even if they were blatantly lying, any god below their position would never dare to doubt their words.

"Fufluns-sama… what exactly happened to Apollo's Divine Soul?" asked Venia, the Demigod of Holy Righteousness. He was the closest to Apollo when this happened but never felt any ominous or dangerous presence lurking around. He was shocked by the events and thought that if he had been unfortunate, such a thing would have happened to him instead.

"Simply put… Apollo's soul was chopped…" said Fufluns, his emerald eyes glancing at the sleeping God of Light, who had the appearance of a young man in his early twenties with blonde hair and aquamarine eyes.

"C-Chopped?!"

"Y-You mean…"

"It was bitten?"

"Who could do such a thing… to bite a God's soul?"

The Gods were bewildered, fearful about this new menace lurking around, capable of eating a god without it even noticing.

"Yes… the shape of his soul seemed mostly healthy, aside from the wound on its side, it had the marks of fangs, like those that a beast leaves over the flesh of their prey… the open Soul's wound also seemed to be cursed with a Regeneration Inhibition Curse… it was hard to lift it out, but Apollo's soul then naturally regenerated back to normal," said Fufluns.

"Such a curse exists?!"

"A curse that inhibits the regeneration of our souls…"

Feronia, the Goddess of Wildlife and Abundance, a subordinate God of the Supreme Goddess of Life and Origin decided to speak.

"Aside from the direct damage into his soul, his physical condition was healthy and fine… nothing else on his physical body was damaged, it was only his soul… The most frightening part is that the part that was bitten was chopped off from his Soul, making Apollo lose a little bit of Divine Energy and a part of its Divinity" she said.

"Could it be…? When Apollo was about to lift off the Blessing of one of his chosen Champions was the time when he was 'attacked' by something…" analyzed Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and sister of Apollo. She resembled a mature woman in her later twenties, with long blue hair, golden eyes, and an owl resting in her left shoulder.

"Athena-sama… do you mean?" asked Fufluns.

"Indeed… It could be the 'monster', or perhaps, one of her abilities… although this is only my conjecture" she added.

The gods surrounding the Goddess of Wisdom gasped.

Athena had also blessed her own Champion, Ismena, the Princess of the Athetosea Kingdom, which was later brainwashed and stolen by Kireina.

Athena thought that Kireina's actions were unforgivable as she saw how she made her champion her sex slave and afterward her concubine, impregnating her with her devil's seed. When Ismena evolved into a Fairy-type Chaos Human, she lost all connections with Athena.

As she saw how her brother was damaged after trying to lift the blessing put into one his champion, which was seduced by the 'monster' daughter and then blessed by Kireina,

she feared that if she tried to do the same with Ismena, she would receive a similar fate.

The excruciating pain of having one's soul bitten and cursed, which made even Gods, who are above all mortals scream in pain pathetically.

Athena had blessed another Champion previously, which was born in one of the Vast Plains Nomads Tribes but was eaten by Kireina, even when it was a mere child.

Athena only saw Kireina as a repulsive monster that pleasured herself in the suffering of others. Unaware of the fact that Kireina does atrocities only to ensure her safety and that of her children, eating the nomads was 'necessary' to grow stronger. Although she would not be able to deny that she was curious about their flavor.

"My daughter's divinity is Wisdom itself…! The 'monster' probably did this to my son! I knew it! I knew that Apollo's recklessness would one day bite him back… sigh, my foolish child" muttered Zeus, he was both angry, sad, and a little bit happy after seeing Apollo get 'what he deserved'… He hoped that his 'foolish son', could learn something from this, and help him defeat the 'monster'.

Jupiter and Europa decided to intervene, interrupting the theories of the gods, which already began to be the same as theirs.

"Athena, Flufuns, Feronia, that's enough. Those conjectures are only that, conjectures, theories, we cannot confirm anything for now, as we don't have the meanings to do so. Whatever attacked Apollo must be investigated, yes, but it should be done after the meeting is finished. And after asking our master's about such a course of action. Supreme Gods possess abilities that surpass nay common sense that we gods have, they may be able to find clearer clues than us"

Athena nodded, but deep inside she knew that Jupiter and Europa were trying to cover up the truth for some underhanded reason.

("Could it be? Does Jupiter want the 'monster' to only be killed by the Supreme God's champions instead of us intervening and finishing the 'monster' quickly? What kind of mentality is this? Are they prioritizing the fulfillment of the Supremes instead of our lives? Why are they so sure of their victory…? Or perhaps… the System Master is moving the strings? Even with my Wisdom Divinity and my Transcendental Skill 'Calculation', I cannot guess everything if there isn't enough evidence… What kind of deal is the System Master having with the Supreme Gods?!")

Athena was rapidly using Divine Energy to activate her Transcendental Divine Skill 'Calculation', which lets her calculate the possibility of hundreds of events using the evidence, and knowledge that she has accumulated.

However, there were many possibilities of what the truth could be… The System Master having deals or moving the strings was a big possibility, especially because it was already known by most gods that he was supporting Kireina for some reason.

But it could also be the Supreme Gods being arrogant and not caring enough about mortals to even put intent into defeating them personally or by using other Gods… This is because Gods have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, their lives are so long compared to mortals that the mentality of the "letting them do chaos until they die" was always present.

Only gods of the second generation who were incredibly young compared to the rest had warier personalities regarding mortals, and usually still held bonds with them and deeply cared about them, even if there were countless other Realms were more mortals roamed.

Just as Jupiter had said in their meeting, if they were to just intervene, waste Divine Energy, resources and power while risking other innocent mortals just to defeat a single being in the millions that exist, they would come out as selfish, foolish, and paranoiac.

Kireina's existence did not mean the end of the world, neither of the Realms, Supreme Gods who were in charge of several Realms knew this already. Several other individuals similar to her had existed before, but they never caused the end of a Realm, neither that of the world, at most, civilizations would be wiped out, but that was within their expectations.

Through their long lives, the gods have seen civilizations rise and fall constantly, seeing one fall again due to a Realm Menace triumphing in a Scripted Event was already something normal.

However, that Kireina could damage God's was something dangerous, but as long as they didn't interfere directly with her, they would be fine… just as the Demon Gods, these Gods decided that their best course of actions was… to do nothing.

However, those Gods that still held great grudges against Kireina couldn't be calmed down with words of wisdom, they wanted to take justice by their hands. Some like Zeus and Athena were so enraged that they would even disobey a Supreme God orders if they were given the chance to kill Kireina on the spot.

Though Athena and Apollo lacked much combat experience as they were raised by Gods and never had hardships neither trained their powers or skills to their fullest potential.

Just because they are Gods doesn't mean that they can fight better than Kireina. If they were to try to kill Kireina by descending to the surface, Kireina would most likely have some hardships but would come out as victorious and end up strengthening herself by devouring them.

Of course, even the Goddess of Wisdom saw this as a possibility with her 'Calculation'. She couldn't be reckless like her brother. She had to plan and to train if she ever wanted to make justice with her hands…

The Goddess of Wisdom was sharp, cunning, and intelligent, but she feared fighting. And ultimately decided to nurture her new champions as well, blessing the Supreme Gods wouldn't do it for her.

Due to this, she and other Gods who thought like her gathered together later that day in her Divine Realm, peeking over the Azuma Empire…

But they were surprised after seeing that Kireina had already put her claws over them and was silently spreading her influence and grotesque Slime Clones.

The Gods grimaced.

"Even the Azuma Empire…?!"

"No… look closely… the Empress and the Heroes are working hard to defeat her influence, silently, without her noticing…"

"They have not been brainwashed by her yet and are resisting…"

"We should give them a hand then if we could strengthen the Heroes and Champions in this place… maybe…"

"Athena-sama, is your calculation giving you any insights?"

"Yes, there should be a possibility, and I will grasp into it no matter what. Those who want to make justice by yourselves, follow my orders, and those who fear the lazy Supreme Gods, who think that our champions are mere ants, you can leave, I won't hold any grudges against any of you, whatever your decision is" said Athena, her golden eyes glowing in a determined light.

"It is just as my daughter said…"

Zeus was present as well; he was one of the Gods that wanted the demise of Kireina more than anything and decided to support her daughter's decision without a hint of doubt.

Zeus still desired Alice… even after she became a Vampire.

He would purify her body and resurrect her as a Living Deity. He wanted to eradicate Kireina and her entire Empire of misfits and disgusting demi-human and demons.

According to Zeus and most of the Gods, Humans should be the only ones who should thrive in the world.

Athena was not as wicked as her father but also desired the demise of Kireina, and perhaps retrieve Ismena, convert her back into a Human, and raise her as a Subordinate Living Deity of Wisdom.

The other gods didn't have thoughts as far from them either… If their believers were to see their true intentions, most of them would lose their faith and stop worshipping them. Such wicked minds shouldn't be considered 'good' at all.

What they didn't know was that Jupiter, Europa, and the Supreme God of Star Ocean already knew their movements and their intentions but decided to witness everything in silence.

"Even Gods are filled with foolishness, to have such thoughts…" muttered Europa.

"My daughter, Gods are more complex than you think, especially if they were raised in luxury and pleasures, filled with everything feed to them in a golden spoon," said Jupiter, one of the Gods that raised from a mortal, he had undergone several hardships and grew as a man with firm values.

"Let them do as they please… and whenever their demise comes, let it be a warning to the other Gods, who dared to disobey my words and orders," said the voice of a young man, its voice was filled with wisdom and knowledge, they resonated inside of Jupiter and Europa… this was the Supreme God of the Star's Ocean.

"After all, it may be beneficial for master's if some Gods are taken away… and that Kireina, she is indeed useful as well," said Europa.

"Indeed… Her existence is special, a tool for us" said Jupiter.

"I'm beginning to understand the System Master's plan… Kireina is ideal to eradicate our true enemy after all."

"Master, what about Isaac?" asked Jupiter.

"My Champion, Isaac… He's nothing more than another tool as well, but I'll let him be blessed by these fools…" muttered the Supreme God.

"Eternal life is rather boring. I hope he can give me some amusement. I wonder if Kireina can defeat anything that is thrown towards her. Can she prove me her worth?" said the Supreme God of the Star's Ocean, as he glanced at the Realm of Vida, his eyes were those of millions of dazzling stars, his body like an endless nebula.

"Your Champion will be certainly strong by the time Kireina fights him, Master," said Jupiter.

"Could it be that Master is just completely uninterested if both sides win or destroy each other?" asked Europa.

"I do care, a little. Whoever wins shall inherit the other powers and become my tool… if both end up dying, they were never worthy of my attention. I will have to wait a few more thousands of years then."

"As always, Master is aloof," said Jupiter.

"Well, this is just what is happening in the Realm of Vida, the System Master is not a fool to leave and bet everything into one single individual, countless other mortals are raising from within the Realms… those with the souls of different worlds. Things are finally getting exciting. Don't you think? Hmm, in what should I bet on?" said the Supreme God.

The Supreme God of Star's Ocean had other plans, that not even other Supreme Gods were knowledgeable of.

Breaking Destiny… and the existence that can hold even the Supreme Gods back… how could Kireina accomplish such things?

Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm of Zeus, Apollo slowly opened his eyes… however, the aquamarine colors had become slightly darker, a change almost unnoticeable.

Even the god himself did not know that something else had merged with his very soul…