371 Side Chapter; Megusan When the war between Gods happened, the Demon Gods worked together to survive the ordeal and the catastrophic destruction that it brought. Some of its siblings perished, but most of them survived, and others even grew stronger from it, by consuming the divinity of gods and true spirits that were involved in the war. Together, they saw the destruction of their world, where they were born, grew and developed into gods, and then… its rebirth, into countless Realms, by the cooperation of several Supreme Gods and the entity that called itself the 'World's Will'. With other gods who used to be their enemies, they formed a pact of non-aggression and settled themselves in the Realm of Vida. While another group went to different Realms Being recommended by the World's Will to give birth to mortal children to repopulate the world and worship them, Megusan mated with monsters and its 'siblings', giving birth to his own race of demi-humans, Insect Demons, and Snake Demons. He grew attached to his children and saw the potential in them one day overturning the world, he learned the power of prayers. By being worshiped by its children and given hundreds of strong sacrifices, it gained Divine Energy and grew stronger, gaining Ranks and leaving behind some of its siblings. On its hunger for more power and its greed, it made its children sacrifice the children of its siblings, unleashing the collective rage of them, who punished him greatly, more than he expected. They weren't his siblings anymore, they have grown weaker and attached to their new ideals, he thought that one day they would understand him and sacrifice beings together, growing stronger… But he was punished, and his children were taken away from him. Lost in the Realm of Vida, he was taken by the benevolent and na?ve Beast Gods, they obtained valuable information about the Demon Gods from him, and trusted him as a valuable ally… but his personality couldn't change, the way his mind was structured, everything. He planned a scheme and sold the children of his new allies, only to be punished by his former siblings that he thought would forgive him, they didn't even trust him anymore. And after being left weakened and pathetic, he was attacked by the raging Beast Gods, his entire physical body was destroyed, and his soul has been torn apart into pieces. His soul pieces were then sealed in different artifacts inside the dungeon of Morpheus, one of the most benevolent but na?ve gods. He thought that it was possible for his atonement after thousands of years. But he was wrong. No matter how hard Megusan tried to change, he wasn't able to. It was on his nature to be cunning, to betray, and to be scummy. He was born like this, grew like this, and his divinity only amplified such behavior. Megusan then went into a long slumber, as the pieces of his soul were sealed separately… but after a few hundreds of years, the Divine Energy that he had left inside of his soul awakened him prematurely. He sensed the other pieces of his soul scattered in the dungeon, but he couldn't move, the piece of a soul that he was couldn't move its spherical body. But by using its small leftover divinity, it called upon the beings related to the Poison Attribute, and after years of waiting, a suitable servant appeared, a Giant Snake Empress, curious about the powers within the mysterious crystal ball, it touched. The moment it did, Megusan took a hold of her soul and parasite it, talking with his grotesque voice inside of her mind, guiding her and making her stronger, blessing her with his leftover powers, she evolved several times and became a Giant Venomous Lamia, with her power and authority, Megusan was finally able to move freely as she carried him, and he ordered his army of Snakes to take over the dungeon, kill the children of Morpheus and grow stronger. A suitable vessel for him was being slowly nurtured as he gathered the pieces of his soul. Each artifact was hidden in underground chambers, but with his large army of Snakes, he was able to meet with each part, only two remaining for him to go back to a 'complete' form, whenever that was to happen, he would possess his vessel, the Giant Snake Empress and take a hold of the entire Dungeon and then the world, bringing retribution to its siblings who betrayed him and the hideous and na?ve Beast Gods, who he hated for their good nature. As Megusan ordered the destruction of the Sphinx Villages, he gathered a large army of his children, the Giant Snakes. However, the first attack was a failure due to some strange invaders. Assuming that they were mere mortals, Megusan continued its plans, attacking the nearest Village, wanting to nurture his army with delicious food and Experience Points. The other pieces left to finally reform his soul were in the hidden chambers bellow the two Sphinx Cities, and he saw them as its next target on his greater scheme. There were several loopholes in the 'god's rules', a set of rules that the strongest Supreme Gods had left in the Realm of Vida and other Realms. Such as not killing mortals, which was often considered a taboo, but this usually only included intelligent species, not monsters or animals. However, those who dared to break the rules would be punished by the Supreme Gods… that's it if they were to know about it, and even Supreme Gods were not all-powerful and omniscient. In fact, several of them barely cared about mortals or even other gods, and some were weakened after the War that separated the Realms. There are Gods like Omgramid, the former God of Sand, and Earth who couldn't damage a mortal because he was abiding by such rules and feared that a Supreme God would punish him if he descended by himself to crush Kireina from stealing his Dungeon. Also, descending upon a mortal's Realm would consume great amounts of Divine Energy, and if they were to be seen by other Gods who protected such mortals, or were watching over and then alerted to a Supreme God… then things would become worse for them. This is why despite what mortals could do, they were mostly safe from the damage that a God could inflict upon them… Unless they were to choose a mortal vessel to possess. Their original powers would decrease, and they would have to expend great quantities of Divine Energy, but they would be able to kill mortals without being seen by other Gods. However, gods have long lifespans and they see time different than mortals, if any mortal were to even give them trouble, they would be patient and rest as if nothing, expecting the mortal to die of old age eventually. And also, because Kireina was part of the Epic of the Realm of Vida, her death by the hands of a god would be punished by the gods supporting her and also the ones supporting the heroes that were fated to kill her. Not even the World's Will could just go and try to kill her as if nothing, there were dozens of Realms more than Vida, each one with their problems, menaces, and heroes, the World's Will couldn't be as biased just because it saw something that slightly affected the fate placed upon the Realm. The only exception to this rule would be if she were to travel to another Realm, were other gods governed with their own rules and did as they pleased. The authority of the gods protecting her or protecting her family would be useless there. Megusan did not know about Kireina's true identity yet, neither her part in the great Epic of the Realm of Vida, but it knew that such loopholes could be abused. He had already been weakened so much. His plan was simple, he would regroup the pieces of his soul and then quickly possess the vessel that he had been nurturing for years, the Giant Snake Empress. Be undetected as a Mortal and raise to godhood through this vessel again while using the inherited powers of his former self. Megusan was expecting to stir chaos as a mortal, destroying the Thanatos Kingdom and devouring the demons there, growing stronger and stronger, even more, powerful than his former self. Through Genesis's new System, growing through Life Walls (Levels) would be even easier than before, and the acquisition of Skills was easy as well, which Megusan saw as powerful abilities that could even surpass the powerful Martial Techniques or Magic Spells, which were the ways of fighting in the past, before Genesis's Game-like System existed. Certainly… Megusan was not the only one who had fantasized in such ways, and the Demon Gods in Thanatos had already prepared the Greedy Queen as the vessel of them all, although she was completely unaware of this. "Consume these lowly kittens, my children… and grow stronger…" However, just as Megusan fantasized about his victory, his children came rushing towards him, alerting of an unexpected outcome… The Giant Snake Empress that was holding the artifact were he was stored was bewildered. "E-Empress, strange Slime-like monsters are blocking our path towards the village, hiisss!" said a purple-colored Giant Snake with red eyes. "They are no ordinary Slimes… they are crimson-colored and possess outstanding magic abilities…!" said a smaller brown colored Giant Snake with golden eyes. "What are you two incompetent fools talking about?! That's impossible!" exclaimed the Giant Snake Empress, who was a beautiful Giant Lamia. "No… It's possible, my servant…" muttered Megusan through the Empress's mind. "W-What?!" "That intuition that I had earlier… could it be?" Megusan used his powerful mind to instantly connect the dots and create a feasible theory. "So that group of foreigners… Those strange crimson eyes that I felt glancing at me from faraway… could it be? Another God, or a Demi-God? What is it doing here?! Damn it! It will ruin everything!" "Please, my dear Master, calm down…" "There isn't time to calm down, change of plans! Retreat the army, make them come back here! Quick!" The Empress quickly gave the same command to her children, however… "It's impossible! They are already there, hiss…!" "Our siblings are being massacred, hisshaa!" "WHAT?!" Megusan quickly changed the plans that he had on his mind, already leaving the troops perishing aside, he quickly ordered the Empress to move towards the nearest Sphinx Cities, even if their army lacked strength. "But Master…!" "Silence! We must quickly gather the last pieces of my soul, no matter the cost…! Did you hear me?!" "Y-Yes, my Master! Change of plans, gather the troops, and move them to the west! We will invade the Sphinx cities in the following hours!" The Snakes were bewildered by the quick change in plans, but they obeyed without doubting their mother's words. Meanwhile, in the Iron-Stone Village of Sphinx, a bloody slaughter was being unfolded. A large group of Giant Snakes was being cornered by the sand itself, shaping into giant arms, tentacles, and walls, while countless projectiles fell from the sky. The sand moved as if it were alive, entangling around the Giant Snakes, crushing their bones and making them vomit their innards. The sharp projectiles of multiple colors rained over the unfortunate monsters as they impaled them from all angles. The Sphinx Village was just about to be destroyed by this large army, but a strange group of red slimes held the snakes off for some minutes, until a giant dragon appeared from the sky, blocking the sun itself it rained judgment upon the Snakes. The Sphinx glanced at the scene unfold with eyes wide open, they didn't know if they should be terrified of the Snakes or the giant Metallic Dragon in the sky. From the dragon, a group of beautiful maidens descended, a white-haired Lamia with her tail covered in white and purple scales, wearing an outfit made out of white fabric covering her chest and hips approached them, as the beautiful maidens that followed her gave the Sphinx gentle smiles. "Hello, is there someone wounded? Perhaps someone has caught a disease?" The Sphinx glared at the beautiful Giant Lamia as their cat ears over the top of their heads twitched. "Could you be a goddess?" "Perhaps the sister of Morpheus-sama?" "It was said that he had dozens of siblings of different appearances…" "N-No, young lady, there aren't wounded… but there is a group of people that could use your help… please, follow us" "Alright, my name is Amiphossia by the way, my mommy is right there in the sky" "Y-Your mother is that giant dragon?" "Yes! Well, she is not always a Giant Dragon… sometimes she gains tentacles, eyes, mouths, or more heads, and sometimes she is just a bewitchingly beautiful fairy!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖 "I-I see… Please, this way" "Ah! So many people like Acathea-chan!" said a beautiful blonde girl, Ailine. "Hello! You are now saved! Hehe, I never expected that we would become heroes now" said Vudia. "Mommy is really weird, sometimes she asks us to be merciless, and other times she asks us to help others…" said a giant Mershark covered in dark scales with dragon-like features, Valentia "Well, didn't she said that we should protect our future citizens? Her mentality its rather clear," said a young and beautiful short-haired Mershark girl… boy, Aarae. As the rescue of the Iron Stone Village of Sphinxes was a success. A large group of over one thousand Giant Snakes gathered in a massive underground cave section, being commanded by their supreme Empress, who was being controlled by a weakened and sealed Demon Demi-God. They stealthily moved through the underground caves that they have constructed with Earth Attribute Magic, being led by their Empress from behind, who was armed with powerful golden armor and magic enhancing accessories, alongside a large golden halberd. Meanwhile, Megusan, the Demon Demi-God behind this, used his mysterious powers to erase their presence, creating a formless, purple-colored atmosphere. Their destination, the Shadow Sphinx City, a place where thousands of Sphinxes gathered and lived together in harmony. Inside of their large laws constructed with hardened stones mined from within the dungeon undergrounds, spacious streets showed up, filled with a lively atmosphere. Sphinxes of all shapes and sizes walked through their city, attending their regular daily works. Some delivered items through carriages moved by themselves, while others sewed clothes, cooked delicious food, or constructed magical artifacts using Alchemy and Blacksmithing. Their houses were carefully constructed with a special type of large bricks, and the streets were decorated with giant palm trees. These people leisurely lived their lives, unaware of the shadows the lurked behind the scenes. In the center of the city, a large castle-like structure rested, its residents, the Royal Family of Shadow Sphinxes glanced at their city. "Morpheus-sama and Mohini-sama have blessed us with yet another wonderful and sunny day, isn't it?" said a beautiful Sphinx woman, wearing almost transparent Arabic-like pieces of clothes. Her skin was brown like chocolate, with emerald eyes and long black hair, reaching her feet. Her lower half was also black colored, covered in golden tattoos, with its tail decorated with golden accessories of all types. She was the wife of the current Pharaoh of the Shadow Sphinx City, Vajrara. Her beauty was known across all of the Oasis of the Desert Biome, everyone envied the Pharaoh for having such a beautiful maiden as his loyal wife. "Yes… my beloved wife…" said the Pharaoh, Dorargos, whose lifeless emerald eyes gleamed in an eerie light… something odd was happening to him. Vajrara released a playful chuckle as she watched her husband's current state. "Fufufu… The awakening of Master is close…! He's coming here, we must receive him with open arms, and offer him sacrifices, isn't it, my beloved husband?!" she said, with an almost fanatical look in her beautiful emerald eyes. The truth of her behavior and the current state of the Pharaoh were behind the existence of the Relic which stored a piece of the Demon God, Megusan stored in an underground chamber in the city's Royal Castle. Megusan was actually unaware of his own Split Soul pieces, who had awakened on their own, and developed personalities similar to him, like the split minds of Kireina. Using their mysterious powers, they tempted the people around them. In the Shadow Sphinx City, Vajrara was tempted by one of such Soul pieces and became a worshiped of it for several years, the soul guided her through the dark path of demons, and she offered him sacrifices for his blessings. Vajrara then brainwashed her husband with her newly acquired powers, and the rest of her family and servants, moving the strings behind the shadows. Now, a large piece of Megusan's soul was currently moving towards them, it was the fateful day that they had always waited for. The cult of Megusan that had been formed in the Shadow Sphinx city rejoiced as their Demon God approached… "Ah~! The resurrection of our beloved Master, Megusan-sama is approaching! Rejoice, everyone!" Vajrara celebrated alongside her cult members, unaware that a dozen bat-like, slimy ghost creatures were observing her. -----