Chapter 294: The Weakness of Gods

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As Veronica and Ervas' group finally made their way back home, Araba began to feel rather weakened within the outside world.

In fact, he did not felt particularly weakened but felt as if the world itself was rather not very good for him.

It was as if everything around him was pressuring him a bit…

"Oof… I am spending energy like crazy…" said Araba.

"Hm? Why is it?" asked Ervas.

Ervas and Veronica were currently inside of the castle, finishing dinner.

"C-Can I go back to my crystal ball end explain afterward… Pretty please?" asked Araba.

"Sigh… Very well," said Veronica, raising the crystal ball as Araba jumped in.

"Phew, way better in here…" he said, communicating through the floating, brown-colored crystal ball.

"Eh? That neet! He went back to his crystal ball?!" asked Kireina with a bit of anger.

"Oh, the lazy god…" said Ismene.

"Why is he so lazy? Can't Gods be more productive? I mean, aren't they immortal and all?" asked Anna.

"I believe there should be another reason other than simply being lazy… I am sure… Although, I suppose that being lazy should also be included…" said Jason.

"My lords, shouldn't it be good to punish this lazy Dragon for its laziness? You have saved him, and he goes right back to sleep! Unacceptable!" said Lilith, as her crimson nails grew larger and her eyes glowed eerily.

Araba noticed her glare and could not help but shrink a bit.

"W-Wait a second! I am not going to sleep or anything, it is simply that we Gods have to spend a lot of power to exist outside…" said Araba.

"Hmm… Like in my world? Usually, in Genesis, Gods are pressured by the lack of Divine Energy in the environment, so to survive outside they have to spend Divine Energy… Is it kind of like that?" asked Kireina.

"What?! Y-Yeah… It is exactly like that…! You… Do you really come from another world? Unbelievable…" said Araba.

"Well, you better believe it…" said Ervas.

"So Gods get weakened in the outside world? So how do you even survive? And why do you even get weakened, to begin with? Aren't you Gods?" asked Veronica.

"Being Gods doesn't mean that we are all-powerful or something, please don't use such misconception with us…" said Araba.

"Okay then… You possess quite the weakness to think of yourselves as being atop the world though…" said Veronica.

"Well… I have never considered myself atop the world… Those are also misconceptions. I am just trying to survive like everyone else… I can maintain myself quite fine inside of the dungeons I create, but whenever I get out, I get hit by the strong Miasma that covers this world, even though it is not as strong as other areas of Kritias… All of this Miasma must have been brought by the Demon God King…" said Araba.

"Miasma? Why does it not affect us?" asked Ervas.

"Clearly, if we are mortals, it should affect us even more than a god-like you, right?" asked Veronica.

"That's simple, mortals have a simpler body composition, and your bodies are capable of taking on the Miasma of this world and adapt to it… Especially some of the races such as beast-kin and demons, who thrive in places with a high concentration of miasma. However, for us Gods, it is a bit different. Although I am sure that this rule varies depending on God in particular… But I used to be an Earth Dragon before becoming a God, the moment we become Gods, we spend a large amount of power into raising our souls into a Divine State, namely Divine Souls. Although we become very strong, our Souls become… well, how to put it? Part of this world? In a way…" said Araba.

"Part of this world?" asked Ervas.

"Yes, to raise to godhood you must sacrifice a lot of power to reach a state of change in the quality of your soul… After I reached Rank 17, I could not grow stronger anymore due to the immense amount of EXP I needed, so I ended up doing this to finally progress to the next stage… Although I ended getting a lot of amazing abilities, I also got a few weaknesses… Divine Souls are very susceptible to changes in the environment due to us being connected to the world… After all, when our Souls become Divine, we are connected to this world's attributes, and we can even exert our power to maintain them... Although I am not doing that because it is a tiring work that only Gods that get worship do," said Araba.

"Well, that's quite the story… So to resume, you suck?" asked Kireina.

"W-Why are you so mean?!" asked Araba.

"Kireina, don't be so rude…" said Ervas.

"Okay, okay, sorry… I just find that this guy is killing our vibe here…" said Kireina.

"What?! What is vibe?!" asked Araba.

"Nothing… A terminology of our world… That's all…" said Ervas with a bitter 'smile'.

"Anyways, so in resume, you gods get some amazing world-defying abilities, but you get that weakness?" asked Veronica.

"There might be some more. If we don't get enough worship and we waste around our power, we might end up falling asleep out of nowhere," said Araba.

"Oh, I wonder if you would be bothered for that one though…" said Kireina.

"I am no lazy! I was just being cautious!" said Araba.

"Cautious… got it," said Kireina.

"Nonetheless, Araba, you're very interesting. There is also a lot we would like to ask you, could you answer our questions?" asked Ervas.

"Sure thing!" said Araba.

"Nice, first of all, do gods need to go to the bathroom?" asked Kireina.

"What?! Of course not! …Well, maybe some? There are various types of Gods. Some like me combine their physical body and soul into one, becoming Ethereal that can also materialize. Some others retain both their bodies and soul, and some are a pure Divine Soul of tremendous power, such as the original Gods of Kritias, the Dark and Bright Gods… The Demon God-King was one of those that had both Physical body and Soul Body… Maybe that's why he was so hard to defeat- Wait, did I just answered something like that!?" asked Araba.

"You really did, but the info you offered was quite useful," said Ervas.

"How odd, I wonder where we stand in here then?" asked Veronica.

"Huh…? What do you mean?" asked Araba.

"Oh right… We remember having spoken with Ratatoskr…" said Ervas, as he and Veronica told Araba about their meeting with the Beast-kin Gods.

"I see how it is… So she said that your souls are… strange? Like those of Demon Gods… can I see them?" asked Araba.

"Feast your eyes!" said Veronica, as she and Ervas released their souls out of their bodies, combining them into a monstrous spectral being that encompassed almost the entire castle, its appearance was vastly grotesque, covered in several strange body parts, large masses of flesh, dark scales, blue flames, black ooze, and glowing crimson eyes.

"T-That's certainly… Something!" said Araba fearfully, as Ervas and Veronica quickly called their souls back.

"So?" they asked together.

"Well… To tell you the truth… I have no idea what you truly are. To begin with, your souls are of a Divine aspect, but you clearly inhabit mortal vessels… Also, you seem to have a strange Divine construct attached to them that gives you a strange power. Also, you can use Anir and Kelsus fragments as if they were part of you… That's incredibly odd! I have no idea how is that possible!" said Araba.

"Fair enough…" said Ervas.

"Well, we didn't expect you to come with a solution or anything…" said Veronica.

"They're just an oddity, a special kind of oddity. A beautiful one at that" said Kireina.

"Well, thanks, that might make us feel a bit better," said Ervas.

"N-Not like we needed that!" laughed Veronica.

"My lords are perfect as they are, don't let a lazy dragon's words affect your minds," said Lilith.

"Indeed, don't hear the idiot," said Anna.

"W-Who are you calling an idiot?!" asked Araba.

"Anyways, what are those Divine Constructs you said?" asked Ismene.

"O-Oh…" said Araba.

"Oh, could those be the Samsara System that Ervas always talks about?" asked Jason.

"Yeah, that should be it…" said Ervas.

"So they're all deep into our souls?" asked Veronica.

"Samsara System? Well, indeed, those Divine Constructs seem engrailed into your souls, they had already become a part of them at this point…" said Araba.

"What are Divine Constructs?" asked Jason.

"Like Mana Constructs but made by Gods," said Ervas, showing his father as he constructed a simple Mana Construct, an amalgamation of magic circles and runes formed into circuits.

"It is like building a computer out of divine power," said Kireina.

"Compu… ter?" asked Ismene.

"Ah, never mind," said Kireina.

"However, compared to the ones I can make… to make a System, the Divine Construct needs to be incredibly complex, only very high Gods can do this…" said Ervas.

"Hmmm~ There might be a way for you guys to be able to share that power soon… Though not now, as I need to develop these powers I regained," said Kireina.

"Oh? I am looking forward to that…" said Veronica. 

"Oh right… you evolve, didn't you? I didn't realize, you are still the same…" said Ervas.

"Yeeaaaah… I don't change that much, I guess I am already a thing that can't evolve that much further!" laughed Kireina.

"I am a bit intrigued about this fairy, who is she really?" asked Araba.

Araba has then explained Kireina's origin, which left him a bit baffled.

"An… otherworldly invader?!" asked Araba.

"Haha, she's quite the spectacle," said Anna.

"Kireina is quite simple-minded for being an alien," said Ismene.

"Lady Kireina is a good woman, her cooking is quite good," said Jason.

"I am still not quite fond of her… I don't like how she's always near our lords…" said Lilith.

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