Epic of Caterpillar

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When Kheseerad was caught by Zehe, Ismena, Mady, and Nanako and almost eaten by me on the first try, he released himself from the imprisonment by unleashing four of the Divine Souls of Gods that he had stored inside of his Divine Realm.

Through the knowledge I acquired by eating half of his Divinity and physical body, I learned a lot from what he has been doing and planning. Such as his plan on saving several Divine Souls from Gods, and waiting for the moment when he could learn Divinity Devouring to eat such Gods.

The four gods he released, which I addressed as 'Unnamed'… well, I knew their names the moment I acquired Kheseerad's knowledge. But I didn't feel like saying their names as they were simply cannon fodder aside from Hydros… and well, this mysterious guy.

Although I am rather curious about where could the other Divine Souls that Kheseerad had sealed on his Divine Realm, because he escaped, they are most likely with him and Zudig and Begudhur… Perhaps they might eat them now that they can and strengthen themselves at least by a bit.

The god in front of me was one of the four gods that he released, there was one of Fire, of Thunder, of Water, and… one of Earth.

This God resembled a large mass of mud twisting around into a sphere, but when it got spotted by me, it revealed itself from within the small illusion he was creating with his Aura and a few spells.

He seemed to not try hard in hiding from my presence, nor he tried to escape as I thought, so when he began to chase us, I assumed he wanted to become my ally, as if he were to run away, I would have caught him and ate him.

But as he followed me around without fear, I let him tail me from behind until I ended up wanting to see what he was up to, as he kept being silent even after several minutes.

I confronted it as it laughed eerily…

"Fuhihi… It seems that I was found out" it said with the voice of an elderly woman, like a grandma more than a sexy elder woman like Maeralya or Agatheina.

Perhaps it was a female? I could not tell, it was simply a lot of mud.

These Gods have stripped off their physical bodies and Divine Cores, meaning that they lacked physical strength and also the ability to enter their Divine Realm, stagnating their cultivation and also lowering their Divine Energy production tremendously.

If you wanted to seal a god, it was the best way to do it by stripping them from these two things, and this is how Kheseerad did it quite efficiently while selling their physical bodies and divine cores at great prices in the Interdimensional Merchant Shop.

Due to being her bare soul, and it being of the Earth Attribute, she showed herself as a large mass of floating mud.

When I talked with her, she showed a more humanoid figure, but it was hard to tell.

"Indeed, you have been found out. Now speak, Geie," I said.

"Oh? It seems that what I assumed is true! Do you acquire knowledge from what you devour? The gods, I mean! Is it right? Fufu… Is this why you know my name?" she said while laughing.

Indeed, 'she' was named Geie. And she was an Earth Attribute Rank 1 God/Goddess that was captured by Kheseerad as one of his first prey. Its Physical Body resembled a large mud golem, and its divine core was an enormous piece of rock… both were sold by Kheseerad, of course.

I do not know much about her/his past anyways, I only know that Kheseerad bought information about it and then slowly planned the invasion into its Divine Realm. Geie was a good prey as it was a Lone God without connections, and it did not possess many riches, nor power, nor divine techniques, ending in an easy catch by Kheseerad's part.

"I assume that you want to join me if you have been following me around? You could have tried to run away at any moment if you wanted to survive, you know?" I asked.

"Fufu, Kireina-sama, it is obvious that I would have assumed that you might try to eat me whenever I did… The most logical thing was to stay at your side and beg for mercy whenever you had free time…" said Geie.

"You're quite sharp, but how do you know my name?" I asked.

"I just heard it as Kheseerad yelled it a few times alongside the other two gods you ate," said Geie.

"I see… Are you aware that they survived and escaped?"

"Indeed, I am fufu. I am also well aware of your connection with someone quite important to me… Due to my bad luck, I ended at Kheseerad's claws, but I was supposed to do something else than stay as a Lone Goddess… Now that I am freed, I am given the opportunity of either be eaten or join you, and of course, I choose the one that can keep me alive!" said Geie.

"Would you care to share some of what you're talking about? Connection? To whom?" I asked.

Geie moved her mud body near me as she shaped herself into a womanlier figure, it seemed bigger than before, at least reaching almost ten meters, her chest was large and her hips wide, with long hair. Although she was still made entirely out of the mud.

"I am… fragmented…" she muttered, as she then began to change her shape again.

"I used to be the mother of the earth… but now, I am cut into pieces, the other pieces… you have one near you, don't you? I can feel it…" said Geie.

"Fragments…? I still don't know who you are and what fragment you're talking about" I said, I had an idea, but I didn't want to let her save any secrets.

"Well, it is hard for me to tell you directly due to the seals put into my soul… I can only give you clues, because if I reveal everything to you, such seals, put by gods even higher than Kheseerad, would trigger and make me fall into a slumber which I had just recently woke up from… One of such pieces is near you… and because I have no other way of surviving, I also want to join your Pantheon… I am willing to pay you however you desire, as long as it is not my life what you want," said Geie.

"Seals? You have way too many secrets…"

It seemed that this random Goddess/God was way more than I had expected, her past seemed greater than a simple Lone God, and the humanoid womanly figure she showed to me… was it from someone I met?

The more I glanced at her, the more I got this mystical feeling that something more than what I thought was happening right now… But what else could it truly be?

I felt a bit frustrated, but in the end, I just decided to let her get into the pantheon, she is not even a threat, and I have scanned her soul a few times already, there is nothing inside either.

I could ask her for a Divinity Fragment as an entry pass… but she is on her bare soul state, much like Hydros, if I asked them for a piece, they would weaken too much, even if it were a little one, and would end up falling unconscious.

"I will see what I can do with them, for now, I will let you slide without asking you for anything. If I were to ask you for a Divinity Fragment, you would weaken way too much, isn't it? You have been faking it way too well, but you're in the middle of fainting, are you not?" I asked.

By scanning Geie's soul I immediately could tell that it was fairly weakened, and it had barely any power left, unlike the other Gods who had enough strength to rampage around, she was particularly weakened for some reason.

"Sigh… You seem to have seen right through me…" muttered Geie.

"Masta, is she joining the other gods?" asked Rimuru.

"Are you sure? Maybe she wants to do something sketchy!" said Gaby.

"Perhaps she wants to infiltrate and then sell information of the pantheon!" said Nesiphae.

"Shouldn't you just eat it?" asked Adelle.

"Girls… I know that you are cautious, and believe me, I am even more than all of you combined. And I even have a Skill named Schrodinger Law, which makes me see many possibilities across my actions… And in none of them, there is one where she betrays me,"

Schrodinger Law ended up being a pretty god lying detector, quite unexpected from its original purpose. But as it gives me the possibility of seeing the percentages of various events that I can imagine happening, if the one I am trying to trust has no percentage of doing an act that could betray me, it can be trusted, although I won't put all my trust into the skill alone, it is enough to convince me for the time being.

Geie then approached me slowly as she shaped into a smaller size, she was feeling lethargic, barely resisting falling into a slumber, she felt even more tired than Lazuli herself for some reason.

The mass of mud in the form of a beautiful woman fell into my arms as she glanced at me.

"Thanks for… trusting me, despite not knowing anything about me… I will make sure to reveal the secrets… when the time comes" she said, falling into a deep slumber.

I moved her inside of my Inner Realm, as much like Hydros, her weakened state was to the extent that she could even move inside my Inner Realms that would usually not let gods enter, or be unsuitable for gods to enter.

She was carried by an Aura Clone and then sent to the Agatheina and the other Gods inside their pantheon so she could take a nap inside a Divine Realm.

"So mysterious, I hope that you can tell us who she is later on," said Zehe.

"Don't worry, in a few days from now I will approach her again" I said.

We continued flying towards Nannet as I thought about what she meant by these words.

Fragmented? And her appearance… was she trying to tell me something?

She looked motherly and beautiful, almost like the mother of all life.

She was also enormous, like a titan…

Was there any Titan in the tales I have heard that matched such descriptions? And if I add the Earth Attribute into it…

She is Gaia, isn't it? Her name itself is quite suspicious already… 'Geie' as if it were not any more obvious already.

I heard from what Agatheina had told me, that Gaia was split in two, one of her split souls was sealed inside a large piece of the original Genesis, where she was made into the Realm of Aztlan… I do not know if that split soul is even alive anymore.

And then there was the other split soul, which simply disappeared. Where could she have gone?

I suspected that it could be the Phantasmal Shield I acquired of the same name, Gaia. But it is way too convenient for me, why did I even get her to begin with? Am I THAT lucky? Well, my Luck stat is high, but no way everything would go so smoothly until now…

This is perhaps much more than I am imagining, the strings of fate and destiny… Now that I have acquired the ability to change the fate of others more, it seems that I am constantly changing how everything is happening, and how everything is unfolding, and through these powers, more and more events that involve the world around me are constantly happening.

But if that shield is Gaia, then which part is this Geie? And why was she put into a different and more special seal of not revealing her true identity? Who did that, to begin with?

So many mysteries, well, only time will tell.

Although I will try to destroy the seal for her whenever I am free, so maybe a few days will tell?

But what will happen when I… let her reunite with the other split soul? What will she want afterward?

This is leading to some unprecedented events. But it might also lead to new allies and perhaps… new prey. Interesting.