Epic of Caterpillar

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After having defeated and eaten the Divine Trials, Great Divine Trials, and the Heavenly Calamity, the amount of new power I received should be enough for me to reach Goddess Rank, which reflected itself in the System.

But shouldn't I had evolved?

Wasn't I going to evolve every Rank?!

Well, whatever…

Oh yeah, I fell unconscious…

When I got all that power I felt like my soul was going to burst, as usual.

But then I feel drowsy and fell asleep.

As usual.

…Well, not really.

Am I dreaming again?

I wander around this space, it seems dark.

I walk directly into it, as I find that the darkness begins to twist around…

And then, I feel the presence of something.

It seems to be directly looking at me.

I glance upwards, forward, to the left, to the right, and below me…

But I do not find anything…

Just what is that?

I can feel it.

It is there, I know, it is there.

I can feel this presence…

I have to…

Dig deeper into the dream…

Come on, the divinity of dreams, do not fail me now…

I begin to activate my Divinity of Dreams, as I manage to get through.

And I find it again… this feeling of pure dread, of something inherently chaotic.

I met it again… Chaos.

Chaos, the Primordial Entity of Chaos, which was chained by I don't know who.

It resembles an enormous spiraling vortex of darkness, red, purple, and other dark colors.

It looks like an endless abyss.

It notices me, as it speaks rather softly.

"Ah… My child… Welcome back. It seems that you have finally reached a new level of existence… Albeit that is only the starting point…" it said.

"Starting point…? Why did you call me again? Do you want to finally tell me who chained you? Or what are your true intentions to begin with?" I asked.

I had to be bold and ask.

…This thing, I do not really know what it really wants to do with me.

Nor do I know why it keeps calling me its child.

Wielding chaos magic does not make me your child, got it?

I have already seen some other being using it… do you call all of them your children too?!

"My intentions are primordial… I am Chaos. I bring change, even if it has to be forced. And even if it has to bring suffering to endless amounts of lifeforms… This is how I am… But my entire nature is also a problem for others…" said Chaos.

Wait, what?

So Chaos is telling me that it is Chaos and that it brings change… Well, yeah, pretty obvious.

But what about "even if it has to bring suffering to endless amounts of lifeforms"?!

I mean, what are you up about?

And then it says something about its nature is a problem for others…

Who, the ones that chained it?

Ah, this is…

"Who chained you?" I asked.

"…So you desire to know the truth. I believe The One has already given you a brief introduction about how this universe works, right?" asked Chaos.

Well, kind of.

He explained to me that this universe was complex and that there were immense amounts of worlds, parallel worlds, galaxies, universes, and stuff.

He also told me about dimensions, compositions, and more, but it was all rushed.

He also said something about a race of beings who surpass all worlds and live anywhere, and whose strengths are above him…

Overseers…

Are these guys the ones that chained Chaos?

"More or less…" I said.

"That's good. At least he has told you something of value. Indeed. I was chained by someone you might already know… well, more like a group of beings… Overseers…" said Chaos.

"But what are Overseers to begin with?" I asked.

"Overseers are those that oversee creation. They are beings who have transcended the lesser planes where we live… And have ascended into greater planes of existence, over these universes. They can freely travel through any universe, new or old, through their Infinite Origins, and possess immense power… For starters, they are stronger than me, or The One, and could even come to end us if they wanted. But they are obsessed with keeping the universes in order… And killing us would make things unbalanced," said Chaos.

Beings that transcend everything?!

And what about lesser universes?

Wait, I live in a lesser universe?

Then are there higher ones?

So I live in a low-quality one or something?

Damn it, sucks to be me I guess.

…

Wait for a second, stronger than Chaos?!

And The One?!

The guy who is eternity itself… is weaker than these shady-sounding guys?!

Well, maybe his powers cannot transcend outside of the universe we live in, so he might be extraordinarily strong, but to Overseers who have Infinite Origins and can travel anywhere and transcended these lesser universes, perhaps he is really nothing much when you compared him to these ridiculous guys.

Damn.

I mean, the whole Origin thing is a big issue if I want to travel through worlds, but these guys just have Infinite Origins!

They can do just whenever they want.

How can you even achieve an Infinite Origin, to begin with?

"As you can see. They suppressed me due to my nature. In this Universe I was born as the personification of all Chaos, making this Universe dangerous due to my constant primordial chaos bringing constant changes… Although I have been here since the creation of the universe and I also helped to create it, it seems that they still saw me as something dangerous, and have chained me using their powers," said Chaos.

"Chained… so you don't do more Chaos? Well, those guys are pretty stupid, aren't you like making it possible for this universe to exist?" I asked.

"Indeed. I make this universe exists, just as The One and Azathoth, we are the three Primordial Pillars, or Titans… we have many names…" said Chaos.

"Then what's the point of chaining you if you maintain this universe? They are contradicting themselves… Don't they?" I asked.

"…They have other motives. These chains not only make my powers limited… but they are draining my power. They are nourishing their own power by slowly absorbing my own… Lesser Universes like ours are mere materials and resources for them…" sighed Chaos.

What?!

We are materials and resources?!

That's…

Well, it makes sense in some ways.

I cannot deny that I also do think of lesser beings than me as materials and resources to grow stronger or benefit my daily life but…

This is a bit…

But… why was I even called here?

What can I even do?

Maybe I got into Goddess Rank, but Chaos itself said that it was a mere 'starting point'…

I am not even Supreme Goddess and I already believe they are not so much before Chaos or The One… Just how many strong beings exist in this lesser universe?

Just thinking about how such a universe as this is considered lesser makes me shiver when I realize just how terrifying might be the universes they call 'normal' or 'higher'!

So even after reaching this point, it still feels like I am at the bottom of the barrel…

"Why did you even called me here? Knowing all of this won't change anything, you know?" I asked.

I was weak for all of this, I stood no chance.

Why was I even called here then?

"…My child, your strength is way more than you believe. And… My death will soon arrive. I want you to inherit my power before that happens…" said Chaos.

…

Eh?

What?

This is literally the second time I met her (I am going to call Chaos her because her voice sounds like a mother), and she wants me to…

She must be joking.

How is this even possible?

And she said I was stronger than I BELIEVED?

I am pretty sure I was just a normal human's soul before getting into Genesis, all the strength I got there was due to effort… my soul evolved and all due to that too, there is no way I got some hidden new power within me that was sealed all this time or something, right?

Because if it is, I am going to scream!

"What do you mean? Are you serious? I am even less than an Ant in front of you, yet you tell me all of this? Chaos, are you good at jokes? Because this one is about to make me laugh," I asked.

"…No. I don't call you my child without a reason…" said Chaos.

"Eh? What?! You are a Primordial Entity! Why are you being so close with me?" I asked.

"…Perhaps it is time to tell you some of the truth. No ordinary being of your level would be able to even speak to me, you know? …Even less come to talk to me through a dream… Wielding chaos magic does not mean that you are my child either… There is something, deep and transcendental that you seem to not have been aware of. But it is a major factor of your exponential growth," said Chaos.

Eh?

But I thought that the growth was due to the various perks I got from the System!

What kind of terrible plot twist is this?

Okay, I have to calm down.

Maybe I am just imagining everything right now.

Yeah, there is no way this is actually happening.

Haha, silly me.

Time to wake up.

Yeah…

I will wake up in bed and everyone will celebrate with me that I defeated the Divine Trials, then we will eat and all.

This is just a dream, part of my imagination!

Even this Chaos here is just a pretty good recreation of it.

Maybe because of my Dream Divinity.

Yep.

…

"…I've been trying to keep your privacy, but let me tell you that I can more or less read your thoughts…" said Chaos.

"Eh? Y-You are just a dream! Come on! Time to wake up! No way in hell I am everything you are talking about! I was just… a normal human being…! Right? Yeah! All those memories are so vivid! I was totally not… whatever you were about to say! …Yeah," I said.

"It is important for you to understand that this is not a dream… Well, I am the real Chaos, although we are talking through a dream, this is reality… My child, you have to believe my words," said Chaos.

Aaahh!

No, no, no!

I do not want to hear you anymore…

Get out of my head, right about now!

I do not want to be your child or whatever, I have my own mother!

I have… my own family!

Ugh… Why does it feels so weirdly familiar when you call me your child?!

I liked being a normal human you know. I liked my humble beginnings!

Now you are saying that I am not exactly that?!

No way in hell I am listening to you anymore…

I-I am not what you say I am!

I AM… ME!

"Making a tantrum will, sadly, not resolve anymore, my child… Listen to me, you are-"

Stop!

Don't… you dare say it!

I don't want to know!

I don't want to hear whatever lies you're going to tell me!

I am… I was a human!

My name was…!

My name…

Eh?

…

Why I…

I do not…

I don't remember my name?

I…

I always thought I knew it!

I always thought I knew it…

Why?

Why is?

Eh?

Eeeeeeh?!

But those memories…

I am pretty sure I was…

I was someone!

I…

Did you delete my memories?!

Don't you know how precious my past life is to me?!

Why are you doing this?!

Stop messing with my head!

Ugh, so this is how it feels when I brainwashed those people long ago...

Fuck, what a way to get a taste of my own medicine.

"…No, I have not manipulated your mind, my child. You do not remember who you are because… That life… was never real…"

…

And at that time is when I felt like my entire world was crumbling over me…

…Who was I?

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