346 Pride is Not Needed ----- In the Divine Realm of Agatheina, where plants, pools, and even the sky was red like blood, Levana, the Demi-Goddess of Bats, and one of the Great Goddess of Beasts Ova daughter, flew towards her grandmother's palace, which was located in the middle of this space. Levana's appearance resembled a creepy young lady. Her hair was pure black and so long that it reached her feet, her face could not be seen, only her mouth and sometimes the glint of her scarlet eyes. She wore gothic dresses that were usually black as well. Her feet were covered in black fur and resembled the foot of Bats, while her arms were covered in fur as well with large claws in her hands that formed into bat wings, she had two long black colored bat ears over the top of her head and her skin was incredibly pale, like candle wax. As the young Demi-Goddess entered Agatheina's palace and ignored the Living Deity Vampires who tried to calm her down, she flew towards Agatheina's room, where she found her resting over her bed while being constantly fed with her descendants' blood. "G-Grandmother!" shouted Levana, with emotion in her words. "Ah… Levana…" murmured Agatheina, she was still rather weakened by the wound that Kireina inflicted in her. "Grandmother, what has happened to you? The Demon Gods didn't know anything about you since you released that roar of pain in the Realm of Vida, just what happened? I-I was so worried…" Agatheina had seen several times how emotional was Levana, such emotions that she had left back when she was a mortal, since she ascended to godhood, she became cold and senseless, however, something deep inside of her heart awakened after seeing her granddaughter crying because she was too worried about her safety. She felt both embarrassed and frustrated but also had slight happiness. This happiness, as much as the Goddess tried to suppress it, she couldn't, perhaps due to her large wound, she wasn't able to suppress emotions as she did before, becoming emotionally vulnerable like the young gods and mortals. "Levana, my granddaughter… I… I thank you for your concern… But I am fine, this wound isn't lethal, but it stings, so I need to rest for now" As Levana saw a slight honest smile on her grandmother's beautiful face, she released a sigh of relief. "I'm glad… D-Do you need my blood as well? I am a Demi-God, so it should be more effective!" asked Levana, offering her wrists to her grandmother. "No… Don't worry about me, Levana, if you were to lose much of your blood, your Divine Energy would be drained, and you can't do that at such an early stage of development, my descendants here were raised to have a high Blood Vigor, so don't worry" The Living Deity Vampires surrounding Agatheina, who had their wrists opened and released large quantities of their blood inside of Agatheina's blood vessels, nodded. "Indeed, we will be fine, and grandmother as well??? "Please, relax" Levana glanced at those she considered her true family and decided to sit down in a nearby chair. "Grandmother… who did this to you?" Levana seemed angered, whoever did this to her grandmother was already an enemy that needed to be exterminated. Agatheina sighed as she glanced at the ceiling of her room, which depicted various decorations and paintings of Vampires and Bats, alongside rivers of blood and a bright crimson moon. "I can't really lie to you neither keep secrets from my granddaughter… It was the irregular" Levana's eyes widened as she released a bright crimson glint. "T-The irregular?!" "Yes, despite all of my efforts and those of my descendants, the Cilane Kingdom was taken by her, and all of the Vampire Nobles were killed or enslaved… When I tried to directly support the two surviving Vampire Nobles, I threw an arc of my Divine Energy so they could use it to increase the power of their Divine Beast Flesh… But before it could even reach them, a large black sphere hit the arc of Divine Energy and with a strange effect, my Divine Energy was drained and then sent back to me as a Chaos-Attribute attack that I couldn't suppress" "C-Chaos Attribute?! S-Send back?! How could a mortal wield such an Attribute and also absorb Divine Energy to the point it can send it back as an attack?!" Levana was bewildered, she couldn't believe what one of her most trusted figures in her life was saying right now. "It seems as if it were pure fantasy… But it is true…" Agatheina began to touch her cicatrized wound with her fingers, "This wound, was made by her… The irregular wields a Skill capable of damaging gods… this breaks everything I've ever believed…" "Impossible! I can't…!" "Levana, calm down… I will not let you do anything that would endanger your life, so I won't let you go and confront her, we cannot damage mortals directly anyways, thanks to the System rules" "I don't care about the rules! Even if I am punished, I will destroy this mortal…!" "LEVANA!" Agatheina shout released a powerful and thick pressure, which made Levana instinctively cower in fear and sit down again. "B-But grandmother… How could you let that mortal trample over you…?" "Sigh… You young gods are always so reckless and careless… You only see things through one perspective and cannot manage to think about the whole picture" "T-The whole picture?" "Indeed… I have changed my mind, I will… curry-flavor… the irregular" "Curry… flavor? What does that mean?" "It's a phrase I learned in the past… It means that I'm going to give her a hand, so she sees me as an ally and a friend, that's it" "Eh?!" Even the surrounding Living Deity Vampires became bewildered, however they didn't say any word, unlike Levana. "That's right… It has to be done, what would I do if I keep interfering with her plans and I end up getting on her nerves? All of my people would get killed and enslaved and then whenever she ascends to godhood when will come for my head" Agatheina, who was known for her short temper surprised everyone with her thoughtful and conscious decision. "Grandmother… but your pride as the Vampire Goddess…!" "Levana, pride is something that should be left away alongside emotions, it doesn't help on ensuring one's survival… I've gone through countless hardships in the past, when I used to be a mortal, such experiences made me learn and realize the truth about humans nature… Pride is venom to people, it only makes them die easily, it is not needed" "Grandmother…" Levana was left without words after hearing her grandmother, who she saw as an untouchable being, saying the words of someone scared for its life. "Do you understand, Levana? It is not too late, I will try to get into her side… probably by blessing one of her family members… Whenever she ascends to godhood, the entire world will shake, so it's better to get into the winner side beforehand" "I understand…" Levana was saddened, but no matter how much she thought about it, she understood her grandmother's decision and also the small philosophy in her words… To ensure one's survival, pride is an obstacle, no matter how strong or high you are, there will always be someone that can trample over you, fighting those will be a death sentence, so pride is unneeded, as it would hinder one's survivability. Agatheina was also worried about her descendants and her granddaughter, even when she was often cold and calculative, and even sacrificed her descendants if they could bring her benefits, she didn't like to mindlessly throw away their lives, and after getting to know more of Levana, her cold heart had begun to warm up, and she had developed greater bonds with her and a higher appreciation over the life of her descendants. Kireina was not only a threat for them, but for her as well, so there wasn't anything she could really do… However, there was another factor that Agatheina did not want to share. After receiving the powerful attack from Kireina, she not only felt fear for her life but excitement. Such a strong mortal made Agatheina feel… flustered. She couldn't understand exactly why that was, but she had developed a slight attraction to this mortal, she wanted to meet her and talk to her, and even make Kireina her Champion. She was interested in more ways than God should allow itself to be. As Agatheina entrusted on Levana more of her knowledge and experiences, the Goddess of Blood wondered how was Kireina in reality, as she also knew that everything she was doing was for the best of her own family, just like Agatheina, they were rather similar in some things. 'Could I one day be part of her family as well…?' wondered Agatheina, but she moved such unsightly thoughts away, focusing on recovering. Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm of Morpheus, as he was accompanied by his various siblings, they spectated how Kireina destroyed the last Vampires in Cilane alongside exterminating the traitor King Hepharios. They also spectated how Kireina damaged an Agatheina, The Goddess of Blood, and a slightly cold sensation rushed through their spines. Even Morpheus did not know about such an ability and was a little bit taken aback. "Incredible…" "To think that the mortal is capable of such things…" "She is really the Champion of the System Master…! She possesses an ability that can damage gods!" "Did you see? She can also cast a strange Attribute that I've never seen before…" "That Attribute… according to old records… could it be?" "Its Chaos Attribute Magic…" Dozens of Beast Gods were talking with each other as they considered and calculated Kireina's strength. There was one thing that they all agreed upon. 'We need to get into her side!' It's all they thought the moment they saw her abilities. Morpheus was then given some Divine Energy Crystals from his siblings, so he could once again contact Kireina through the Realm of Dreams services offered by the Goddess of Dreams and Nightmares Freyja. He had the intention of congratulating her for her efforts and also introducing her to her other siblings and their tasks, alongside the rewards, which were essential to make Kireina work. After having a busy day, Kireina was sleeping peacefully while being surrounded by her wives, the twins were not present as they did not want to share beds yet, as their royal wedding would occur tomorrow. Kireina's consciousness drifted through her dreams, she was having once again a happy dream with her family and children but was interrupted and then driven to another dreamscape. There, Kireina heard the familiar voice of a Demi-God. "Kireina, I thank you for your efforts and work" "Ah, Morpheus? I was expecting you to contact me by now…" "Yes, I'm very grateful for your help, my children are finally safe, and it seems that thinks not only went back to normal but became even better, as they had begun to pray for me and my mother more often than ever" "Ah, yes, I used some tricks to pump up their beliefs, I'm glad they helped you out" "You are free to take as many wives as you want from my descendants, and also my Dungeon, which had been rather abandoned by them due to their lack of training, they had grown too weak to be able to complete more floors…" "Oh?" "Y-Yeah… I remember creating that dungeon so they could harvest resources and food from the monsters and plants living there, but it seems that I made it too strong and my descendants became weaker and weaker through time, so it ended as a medium level dungeon that was too hard for them, abandoning a very precious resource point, it has been infected by outside monsters and corrupted Mana now, so its difficulty level has probably increased even more" "Well, I will make sure to train your descendants enough so they aren't such weaklings, I will also enjoy a slightly difficult dungeon, I hope the bosses taste good" "Ah, I'm glad you're looking forward to that… And…" "Hm?" "There is another thing… Kireina, me and my siblings have been thinking about… asking you for more tasks…" Kireina had already been informed from the Beasts Demi-Gods intentions, so she was already waiting for them to come and ask her. "I see… I could consider it… But if they are too many, you need to organize yourselves… Also, rewards and prizes should be offered right away, if possible" "Yes… right away, I've done that work already, and I will present you to my two Siblings, the Demi-Goddess of Feline-type beastmen, Maeralya, and the Demi-God of Canine-type beastmen, Marnet…" As Morpheus's voice dropped these two names, two different voices resonated inside the dreamscape, a strong yet feminine voice, and a calm and gallantly manly voice. "It is nice to meet you, Kireina" (Maeralya) "Nice to meet you" (Marnet) Kireina was a little bit flustered over talking with even more Gods now… but she didn't show such things in her voice. "Nice to meet you. You are the gods who gave birth to the Cat Beastfolk and Wolf beastfolk?" She asked, politely. "Indeed, we did… My children are rather varied, I'm knowledgeable that you have some of them as your citizens" (Maeralya) "Yes, although my children were not werewolves, those are born from monsters… However, they are welcomed in my family nonetheless" (Marnet) "I see… I do have quite a large group of wolves in my Kingdom" "Oh yeah, the Crimson and Ice Wolves? I've known about them through the eyes of some of my Wolf Beastmen that had met them, some had evolved into werewolves, it is rather surprising" (Marnet) "Marnet! We are going off-topic, we don't have much time, get to the main thing!" roared Maeralya. "Oh, right…! Sorry, it's just that it has been so long since I talked with a mortal, they always bring interesting topics… Anyways, back to the main point" apologized Marnet. "Yes, Kireina, we have come to ask you for your assistance…" (Maeralya) "We are sorry for this suddenness, but we can't take it anymore, how our children are killing each other…" (Marnet) The two gods then explained Kireina about the issue with the Moonfang Kingdom and the Sunclaw Kingdom, and how both Kingdoms, who had peacefully treaties and constantly exchanged resources had suddenly exploded in a war a few hundred years ago. A strange figure had appeared from the shadows and has manipulated both Kingdoms to hate each other. "We suspect that it might be a Loner or an Evil God Pantheon member…" (Marnet) "You mean… another god?" "Yes… You had already scared away Agatheina, so I don't think you will have much difficulty with this rascal" (Maeralya) "I scared her…?" Kireina considered her time and saw the opportunity of owning even more Vassal Nations, and after the two gods offered her their Dungeons, which were of Medium Level as well, but were recently corrupted to High Level alongside their Kingdoms, resources, and such, she agreed but told them that she would take a small break in her Kingdom to rest and get ready. "I'm fine with it," said Maeralya, with a relaxed tone in her voice. "Yes, as long as you don't break your promise, we can endure a bit more of time, no worries," said Marnet, with a carefree tone. The two gods seemed rather relaxed now that Kireina decided to help them. And before she could ask more questions, the communication was lost. "It seems that they ran out of time? Is this dream communication like telephones? Well, they had already told me everything I needed to know" -----