Chapter 2184: The Fragile Nature Of Gods
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We followed the Arachne, who seemed to be a monster that had evolved through Lolth’s new divinity into something much closer to the actual Arachne Demon Race from the Demon Continent. To our complete shock, the once lugubrious palace had completely shifted into a glorious castle of pure white and gold. Small golden and white-colored Arachne monsters, the previous uglier versions now evolved, walked around wearing neat maid dresses.
As we continued forward we finally met with the rest of my friends and family. We ran toward them and looked outside together, seeing a huge, beautiful garden, a sparkling fountain, and elegant statues of their goddess. Many more Arachnes walked everywhere, diligently cleaning and maintaining the place.
"The entire dungeon became something like an open-area castle? This is a first," Alice said in amazement. "I have... a hard time believing how things changed so quickly."
"The Nature of Gods is... fragile," my grandfather said while regaining his composure. "I believe that Gods like Lolth long ago discarded their physical bodies and became pure spiritual embodiments of their Divinities. This means that whenever their Divinity is strongly affected, they themselves are affected as well. Sylphy, you used your stronger Divinity to completely manipulate hers. This has caused Lolth... to mutate in order to embody her new title."
Suddenly some of my Familiars appeared beside me.
"It’s kind of like when you name us or something," said one of them. "But boosted thousands of times, I guess."
"Yeah... never do that to us please," Beelzebub said firmly. "I’m happy the way I am!"
"Me too!" Armageddon nodded nervously.
"Aw, you guys are perfect the way you are. Don’t worry!" I giggled.
"I wouldn’t mind..." Furoh coughed quietly.
"What’s that?" I asked.
"N-No, nothing," he shook his head quickly.
"Okaaay..." I then looked at Nephilim, who was examining the surroundings with clear curiosity. "What’s wrong?"
"Lolth’s curse is gone from almost everything except from master... and yet it’s not completely gone?" she wondered aloud. "Lolth’s previous power... still remains somehow? It is as if she has been divided."
"...Divided?" I asked. "What... what does that even mean?"
"It feels like she has become similar to me in some way," Nephilim explained. "But it will be better if we see that for ourselves with our own eyes. Let’s keep going."
I agreed and we continued moving toward our destination.
As we walked, Aquarina stretched her arms high and yawned, clearly feeling hungry.
"Did we sleep for like a whole day?" she wondered. "I’m starving."
"Here’s some fruit," an Arachne said as she passed by along the ceiling, handing us a large basket of freshly harvested magic and spirit fruits that carried a gentle hint of divine energy and were completely free of any curses.
"Wow, these look mighty tasty!" Aquarina said as she took a big bite from a large apple-like fruit. "Hmm! Sweet and juicy!"
"Yeah!" Zack was already eating from a pink banana and a bright red pear. "Wow, these are packed with spirit energy too!"
"I can feel my body growing stronger just by eating a few of them," Lara said with a smile. "Awesome!"
"Hm..." Luck nodded thoughtfully. "And they harvest all of these inside this new Divine Dungeon? Divine Land? What exactly is this place now?"
Alice looked at Luck and nodded in agreement. "Good naming sense. Yes. It seems that what Sylphy did not only instantly conquered and modified the dungeon, removing it from the Evil God of Dungeons’ control. Because the dungeon was so tightly tied to Lolth herself after she took it over, everything changed... its very nature expanded and... fused with the surrounding world. It might be the first dungeon of its kind."
"It’s a Dungeon filled with Divine Power because it is bonded directly with a God," Yggdra said as she appeared by my side in her small fairy form. "Perhaps it’s similar to ours in some ways? Though even our own dungeon is different from this one. I’d say the high quantity of divine crystal dust in the environment, combined with whatever Lolth had secretly stashed away, served as the main fuel for this transformation, along with your own divine power, master. The Dungeon is now open rather than a separate closed space. It seems to have fully merged with the surrounding mountain, turning the entire area into one filled with spiritual forests and gardens."
"Could this almost be called a new country?" Zack wondered aloud. "I mean, look — there’s a huge population of these spider people... and there are armored guards over there, maids everywhere, and... wait, are there any kids?" As he spoke, a pair of little Arachne children ran across the walls while happily chasing a glowing butterfly. "I guess that answers it!"
"Maybe..." my grandfather said thoughtfully. "But all of this happened from one moment to the next. I suppose... this is the incredible power of Divinities. They can quite literally alter reality itself."
"I am more curious about Lolth herself," a familiar voice suddenly echoed from another corridor as a group of people intercepted us.
"Mom!" I called out. "Are you alright?"
She was walking with the rest of our parents and the other adults.
"Yes, we’re all alright," she nodded calmly.
"This place..." My dad looked around in surprise. "I can feel his presence... how?" He sounded truly shocked. "Flamie’s presence... How is this possible?!"
"Your... dragon?" Shade asked carefully. "But he’s... not here, right?"
"I don’t know what’s going on," my father admitted. "Let’s just keep moving for now."
We continued walking, admiring the beautiful castle and the surrounding lands, finding everything incredibly elegant and well-made.
Although all of this was amazing, I knew I needed to be careful about how I wielded my Divinity from now on. It seemed the world had become especially volatile and sensitive to divine power.
When two gods’ powers were connected so directly... it could easily cause quite the mess.
But at the same time, this was incredible. It made me want to explore just how much more was possible with my abilities, and with other dungeons as well.
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