Chapter 613 - [Fated Encounters: Nyzzet"s Labyrinth Conquest] 75/?: Hydros" Story
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In the Realm of Agatheina, the Vampire G.o.ddess of Blood, a crimson-painted world where the sky was pale red, the vegetation was crimson and eerie, and there were large forests filled with b.l.o.o.d.y creatures and grotesque fiends, there was an enormous gothic-styled palace in the middle of such world.
In the front yard of such palace, a large garden filled with roses of all the shades of red and purple was harboring a small tea party where various figures of G.o.ds interacted with each other.
There was the beautiful Vampire G.o.ddess Agatheina in front of such meeting, sitting in her throne as she talked alongside the rest of the G.o.ds, some of them were rather too big, so they chose to sit outside of the front yard.
However, there was one that although he was not humanoid, was still quite monstrous in appearance.
Hydros, the G.o.d of Water Fluctuations, who resembled a slime-like ma.s.s of blue water with a large eye floating inside of its water body, was being introduced to the pantheon by Agatheina, the self-proclaimed leader of such organization of G.o.ds, which all strived to serve Kireina and her Empire.
"I am incredibly grateful for all of your hospitality… my life hasn"t been easy at all. It could be said that surviving this whole ordeal was simply Kireina-sama"s whim," said Hydros.
"Indeed it was, Hydros! You should be incredibly grateful to her for being incredibly benevolent. Our lady is often quick-witted and also voracious, she could have eaten you immediately if she wanted, but instead, she chose not to. Such an act is already immensely benevolent, the strong giving a chance to the weak to serve it is already an immensely high act of goodwill. Kireina-sama might have benefitted more from eating you, though… I am still quite puzzled as to why she did not eat you. I know that you helped her out with Kheseerad… but still" said Agatheina with a bit of jealousy.
"I-Is that so? To think that I was so close to dying… after having survived through having my physical body and divine core taking away from me… It is truly an act of utmost benevolence. I will strive to serve with all of my strength and capabilities in any area she desires" said Hydros while sweating… although it could be said that he or she was made out of sweat. Agatheina, although she was acting nicely, seemed to be unleas.h.i.+ng a bloodthirsty aura, which she used to envelop Hydros completely… she did not seem to trust him/her too much yet.
"Agatheina… could you go easy on her… or him? What is your gender, Hydros?" asked Hodhyl, the Wyvern G.o.ddess of Nature.
"Ah, Hodhyl-sama… This appearance of mine is genderless due to being my bare soul, which is simply the representation of my divinity, simple being all water… And well, I used to have a male body, as I am part of an ancestral race that went extinct in Genesis, named the Watermen. Does someone recall them? Though now that I have not a body nor s.e.x, you can choose to call me as you will… I was even thinking that if I am given the opportunity, choosing a female body might be better to appeal Kireina-sama"s tastes" said Hydros.
"Oh, the Watermen! I remember them, you"re the ancestors of the new demi-human races, are you not?" asked Merveim, the Wyvern G.o.d of Strength.
"Wait, what did you say, Hydros?! Do you want to have a female physical body to appeal to Kireina-sama?! Who do you think you are?!" roared Agatheina as she grabbed Hydros entire soul with her claws, although she was incapable of killing it, she was inflicting some damage through the tight grab.
"A-Agatheina-sama, please forgive my rudenessssss… Giiiihh! I just wanted to look appealing to our lady, so she could be happy! Nothing else! It was not an act of selfishness!" said Hydros.
"Agatheina, cut it out!" said Maeralya, the Beast DemiG.o.ddess of Felines and Cat Beastmen.
"We have a new guest, and you begin strangling her? Can you be more thoughtful? This G.o.d is someone that Kireina-sama chose as an ally, respect her decision at least…" said Morpheus, the Beast DemiG.o.d of Horses and Centaurs.
"Grandma, stop it! Do not be bad! Let Hydros-chan go!" said Levana, the Beast DemiG.o.ddess of Bats and Bat Beastmen.
"Agatheina, I think that you might be going a bit too hard… Hydros-chan hasn"t done anything bad… And also, we all strive to be appealing to our beloved master" said Kaggoth, the Demon DemiG.o.ddess of Carapaces and Aquatic Invertebrates.
"Sigh…" muttered Agatheina, letting Hydros go as she ran out of her sight, moving behind Merveim"s huge body.
"A-Agatheina-sama is way too scary!" she said, although she was supposed to be an old G.o.d, Agatheina"s impact on her already tired and traumatized soul was way too much.
"Sorry about that newbie, that"s how she is sometimes. Don"t worry, when she calms down, she is surprisingly nice" said Merveim.
"Surprisingly nice?!" asked Agatheina.
"I-I didn"t say anything!" said Merveim, averting his gaze from Agatheina, although he was an enormous and muscular, black-scaled wyvern that shouldn"t even fear a tiny vampire like her.
"Anyways, Hydros, you said that you used to be a Watermen before becoming a G.o.d?" asked Morpheus.
"That is right, Morpheus… Well, most of you seem to be young G.o.ds born in this era, so you perhaps never got to know the old world of Genesis, when it was still a spherical planet floating in the cosmos" said Hydros.
"Yeah, I wonder how was that time? Was the temperature different? The landscapes?" asked Marnet, the Beast DemiG.o.d of Canines and Dog Beastmen.
"They were turbulent times, back then… it was even more of a dog-eat-dog world than now," said Hydros.
"Due to the system, the world stabilized a lot since the past Genesis… and although there were still conflicts of large scale, mortals usually have peaceful lives… well, at least those strong enough to not have their lives taken away by monsters," continued Hydros.
"In the Genesis of the past, there were more than simply humans. Humans were in fact, quite the minority, but had somehow created strong empires with the help of their ancestors who had raised to G.o.dhood and were rather talented. However, those that governed the world were the Families such as the Dragons and t.i.tans… And there were also the combined factions of demi-humans, the Watermen, Firemen, Feathermen, Rockmen, and more. I still remember my times as a mortal… I was born as in the Watermen Empire of Skanda as the sixth prince, my mother used to be the concubine of the King… it has been so long, yet I remember it all quite well. Let me tell you, being born in royalty didn"t mean that things were easy,"
"Woah! It must have been nice to be a prince, I remember being born in poverty as a mortal! However, a fortuitous encounter allowed me to cultivate using a mysterious Technique named Dawn of the Day," said Nomera, the DemiG.o.ddess of Dawn.
"Did you? I used to be a fisherman living in a house made out of straw… Until I came across a strange inheritance where I acquired the Eclipsing Sun Cultivation Technique" said Bovdohr, The DemiG.o.d of Eclipses, as he recalled his past.
"You two really had lucky chances, didn"t you?" asked Morpheus.
"Going back to the topic. So, Humans had a disadvantage in the previous Era? Dragons and t.i.tans governed? That is remarkably interesting… I wonder how both of such families are standing now in the current Era…" muttered Levana.
"Well, that"s quite easy to tell, Dragons died a lot, and they had scattered even more since the new era started… Meanwhile, t.i.tans had stayed quite strong even after the losses because there are many Supreme G.o.ds that are t.i.tans who are maintaining their families, although they did scatter a lot as well, creating their own factions to an extent or joining others non governed by t.i.tans… However, Humans seem to be equal or almost a bit stronger than t.i.tans…" said Agatheina.
"And where do we fare in this situation?" asked Levana.
"Well, before joining Kireina you and your mother were part of the Supreme G.o.ddess of Life and Origin Pantheon of the Central Continent, so you were in the human"s side, which ended up absorbing all of the other factions aside from the Demons and part of the Dragons," said Agatheina.
"And now that we are with Kireina…" muttered Levana.
"And well, now that we are with Kireina, we all belong to the Demon side, even if we are not the allies of any other Demon G.o.ds. This side is the enemy of all factions. And we are despised by everyone" said Agatheina.
"It could also be said that we are part of the Faction of Kireina, a unique Faction that is different than Demons. We do what Kireina thinks is right. Those are our rules, pretty much… Demon Factions, or at least those that are more unified such as Thanatos, all work for the same shared goals, and those that do not share them are expelled or even killed… I don"t think Kireina would kill any of you if you disagreed with her though" said Hodhyl.
"I see…" said Levana.
"Although I used to be part of a faction of demi-humans that were not simply demons, now I am being called one because my faction was absorbed by the Humans. How hypocrite are they? And just when they used to be part of the oppressed side, we gave them our hand multiple times… and now this is how they repay us? Although I was not captured by them but by that Lone Demon G.o.d of Kheseerad, so I guess I should s.h.i.+ft my anger towards him?" said Hydros.
"Well, that"s how the situation in our world is anyways… We can only slowly change things as Kireina-sama moves and grows" said Morpheus.
"I kind of have this little question in my mind but… Why exactly would you prefer to have a body of a woman, wouldn"t it feel weird to go from male to woman, Hydros? I know that you want to be appealing to Kireina-sama… But this is a bit…" muttered Marnet.
"I don"t really mind, I"ve been sealed for a few hundred years like this, I have lost a lot of my sense of self… It would be nice to have a change in appearance… but could it be even possible to acquire a new physical body? I would have to gather many Divine Materials and so on, and I am currently broke" said Hydros.
"Kireina-sama is a miraculous woman, her powers are wondrous. I am sure that you can find a way for that to happen if you ask her nicely. She had even created children amongst many G.o.ds, three eggs that are resting inside of my Divine Realm. Their presence exudes the power of a G.o.d despite she is being a mortal. And her children alone seem o be a new type of beings in between mortals and G.o.ds. Even better than Divine Species" said Maeralya.
"I see! I knew that there could be a way… Perhaps Kireina-sama could mold me to her tastes…" said Hydros as she imagined a few lewd things… Her fascination with Kireina had grown incredibly fast, and her level was reaching that of Agatheina, where she desired Kireina to do anything to her body.
"I-I see… well, good for you," said Marnet.
"Hydros, you"re being quite rude once again… What makes you think that- Huh? Kireina-sama? Oh, yes! Yes, immediately, my lady… Ahem, it seems that there is another member… I hope it is less insolent than Hydros-chan…" said Agatheina as she was called by Kireina, she immediately left the tea part and opened a portal to the outside world from within her Divine Realm, where an Aura Clone with the appearance of Kireina emerged from within carrying the figure of a beautiful and voluptuous woman made entirely out of the mud.
"And who could this be?" asked Hodhyl.
"Ah, that"s Geie, another of the G.o.ds like me, that were captured by Kheseerad… I thought she was eaten or something, I guess she survived… though she seems to have fainted for some reason" said Hydros.
"Is she okay? Let me help her" said Hodhyl.
"Me as well," said Morpheus.
"I will give a hand," said Maeralya.
"And me, she looks cute," said Marnet.
"Me too!" said Levana.
All the G.o.ds of the Life Attribute gathered around Geie as they glanced at her status, she was lethargic and in a deep slumber.
"She seems incredibly weakened…" muttered Morpheus.
"Are those seals? Is her soul sealed somehow?" asked Levana.
"They"re not of Kheseerad, Kheseerad only put seals that could capture us, but that seal seems deeply seeped into her very soul…" said Hydros.
"Let"s infuse our Life Attribute Mana into her so she can acquire a bit more energy," said Hodhyl.
All the G.o.ds of the Life Attribute granted Geie a bit of help, as she seemed to have improved a bit, but was carried towards Morpheus Divine Realm to rest atop a bed of flowers.
"I guess we will have to wait for introductions when she finally wakes up," said Morpheus.
"Indeed… Although didn"t she had a mysterious aura? Something was odd about her" said Hodhyl.
"Her Aura reminded me of Gaia, I can"t believe I would remember that t.i.taness from just sensing Geie"s Aura… Could she be a descendant?" asked Agatheina.
"Perhaps… We"ll ask Kireina-sama when she is done with her things" said Maeralya.