Chapter 370 - Morpheus's Life-Attribute Dungeon Conquest 16/30: Being Overly Cautious Isn't Bad

[Day 212]

The dream that I had last night was very confusing, but at the same time, when I regained my consciousness and memories, I had an inner understanding of the Life Attribute.

The Skills I have obtained by eating the Life Attribute monsters and Bosses here became a single Magic Skill due to this. Each of those skills became a spell inside this Skill, which I was able to cast easily.

I wondered what utility the manipulation of Life Attribute could bring. If I could infuse Life Energy more freely on things, perhaps I could convert Undead in living organisms? Though I do not think it would as easy.

As I woke up, I was contacted by Levana, The Demi-Goddess of Bat Beastmen, granddaughter of Agatheina and Morpheus's sister.

She hurriedly informed me about this Demon Demi-God, who was once part of the Demon Gods Pantheon that created and controlled the Thanatos Kingdom. He was exiled after trying to use the other demon races created by its allies as sacrifices to increase his strength, his children were taken by the other demon gods while his physical body and soul were heavily damaged, losing a big part of his soul.

He became an ally of the Beast Demi-Gods not long after, telling them precious information about his former demon god allies, only to end up betraying the Beast demi-gods, bringing their mortal children as an offering to the demon gods.

However, this guy seems to be incredibly unlucky, because the demon gods accepted his gift but predicted that he would one day betray them, so they destroyed more parts of his physical body and soul and then throw it out for the raging beast demi-gods to destroy.

The beastmen that he offered to the demon gods were taken into the Thanatos Kingdom and used as food and sacrifices for their children, the beast demi-gods couldn't do anything about that, as their mother forbid them of messing with other Pantheons, bringing unnecessary problems.

So, the pent up all their anger in Megusan. They destroyed his physical body, tore his soul into tiny pieces, and then sealed them all into a powerful artifact so he could one day amend for his sins…

However, it seems that things didn't go as they expected, as he had recently woke up, with barely any of his former power and has manipulated the race of Giant Snakes in the desert biome to do his bidding, encroaching the Giant Snake Empress and improving her strength.

Now he plans to use the Sphinx as sacks of Experience Points for the Empress, his future physical vessel. His soul was torn apart and the beast demi-gods weren't able to kill it even after cutting it into countless pieces, and he slowly recovered back.

However, he should be without an intact mind, he probably had forgotten a lot of his knowledge and he doesn't even possess a quarter of his former power. Though it is suspected that he still has some leftover Divine Energy.

Worried about the possibility of this Demon God doing things that I couldn't expect, I used my Body Manipulation to generate hundreds of Slime Clones that shapeshifted into phantoms and other forms, scouting the entire Desert Biome, its ten floors. It would be best if I manage to find his hideout and then kill him right away. I will be betting on it with the Divinity Devouring Skill and the information about him being greatly weakened.

If it still doesn't work as I plan, I will seal him once again and place it inside my Item Box, until one day I can eat him.

It should take some hours for my Slime Clones to bring some clues, so for now I began other plans before the artificial sun raised on the horizon of the Dungeon.

As I would be leaving this place and move to other villages, I must leave this place well protected, if those Snakes try to get in here again and there is nothing to protect the Sphinx, it would be very troublesome.

Using the long-named Skill [Transcendental Element Creation and Manipulation; Golem Materialization], I manipulated the Sand surrounding the entire Village and compacted it into solid rocks, which I converted into golems. Then, I raised long, fifty meters tall walls all around, a special gate was then placed in the entrance, that would only open to Sphinxes.

Predicting that Snakes could come from the underground as well, I converted around two hundred meters deep into a giant Sand Golem, peacefully resting bellow the Village. This golem will attack any intruder that comes in here, crushing them to death. I made sure to infuse a lot of Magic and Soul Energy, so it was strong.

Perhaps they could come to the air as well, so I placed a transparent ceiling made out of Illusion Magic and Solidified Magic elements, which I converted into Golems as well. Several traps were also placed underground and over the walls.

I saw that even with this, things could still become bad, so I released a hundred or so more Slime Clones while eating a ton of meat with my body shapeshifted into a giant Slime, then, by using [Synthesis], I merged the slimes with the walls, the ceiling golem made out of solidified magic and the underground sand golem.

And even then, I felt like things could somehow fail, so I also summoned a tireless and powerful Undead Army of Skeletons armored with bone weapons and dark armor. And for the Sphinx food, I summoned a few hundred Familiars and other delicious monsters.

I also feed their Oasis with fresher water and added fishes. I blessed their corps and made the plants grow immediately as Plant Monsters, who obediently sat down, waiting for someone to eat them. 

"Phew… this should be enough"

The sun had already raised from the sky and the Sphinxes were admiring my work as if it were god's work.

"Ah, wall to protect us… an army outside and even food! Countless amounts of food…!"

"Do we even deserve such benevolence, Goddess-sama?!"

"Of course, you will become my future citizens, so wait in here until I resolve the issues in the dungeon, conquer it, and then I will make you move to my Empire"

The Chief of the Dry-Stone Village of Sphinxes, Tyrodes, and her daughter Acathea, who was Ailine alongside her mother thanked me deeply.

"Thank you very much, Kireina-sama!"

"Thanks for your blessings! We will make sure to worship you"

"Yes, we will build a statue and also a small church"

"Wait, no, there is no need… there are already three churches of me in my Empire… really, there is no need"

"Another church would never do any bad to you!"

"The more the merrier, isn't it?!"

"Yes… I suppose"

"Nehimi-sama and Morpheus-sama will be very happy about this, I'm sure of this," said Tyrodes's wife and Acathea mother, who resulted to be the apostle of their church.

As we had breakfast in a large table with a plentiful variety of preparations. I got to know more about the origin of Sphinxes and the relationship Morpheus had with his concubines, and also about Nehimi, their Holy Mother.

"It was said that Nehimi-sama was a very lovable woman that always cared for her children, even after she had hundreds of them, she always remembered their names and faces," said Acathea mother, with a bright smile.

"Morpheus-sama was also a very protective father, or so says the ancient scripts… From time to time, we receive their blessings, but their contact with us as becoming dimmer" lamented Tyrodes.

"Oh? So Nehimi is a Goddess?"

"Indeed, thanks to her mother, Maeralya-sama and Morpheus-sama aid, she raised into godhood, becoming a Living Deity Species, a mortal who had gained an ageless body and a small divinity," said Acathea's mother.

"It is said that she was taken into her mother's Divine Realm, but our Holy Mother still keeps an eye on us… Although her strength may not be enough to interfere in the events happening, sadly" said Tyrodes.

"I see… But isn't she in a relationship with Morpheus?"

"That… we don't know," said Acathea's mother, as she glanced at the sky.

"We presume that gods have very loosened relationships… but what we are sure about is that both of our parents love us deeply, to send Goddess like Kireina-sama to help us, its already clear that he cares for us," said Tyrodes, comforting his wife.

"Well, such things are not of my concern anyway, thanks for sharing the knowledge you had about your gods"

As the breakfast was enjoyed by everyone, I received a message from my Slime Clones, alerting me from another attack in the nearest Village of Sphinxes.

A large group of Giant Snakes was traveling through the underground sand, the nearby Slime Clones were ordered to hold them back before we reached there… I cannot let my future citizens be eaten alive by these monsters.

We hurriedly left the Sphinx Village, Ailine and Vudia seemed a tad bit saddened to leave their newest friend so fast.

"Acathea-chan, please take care… Snif…" lamented Vudia.

"I will, Vudia-chan! Don't cry, we will meet again soon" said Acathea, caressing Vudia's silky brown hair with her cat paws.

"When you finally move to our Empire, we will train hard, so you grow strong, Acathea! There is a big dungeon near home, it is very good to get EXP and delicious food" said Ailine, as she hugged Acathea. Her body was smaller than Acathea, who was a Sphinx, so her torso was elevated over her big cat body. Acathea liked to pat the two of them with her cat paws in her human hands.

"Sure! It will be a lot of fun! I hope that everything goes fine, please be careful" said Acathea, as she saw my daughters fly through the skies. I had transformed into a giant metallic dragon, so everyone was over my back.

It was rather heartwarming to see my beloved little daughters get a new friend.

-----

Since it was born, it dragged its hideous body around the world of Genesis, spreading venom and death.

It wasn't born as a gifted Human, either species of Demi-Humans.

Not even as a strong monster or the descendant of a Dragon.

It wasn't even born as a mammal neither a reptile, even less a bird.

It was born as a small and long creature, covered on its own poisonous saliva, resembling a purple-colored worm.

It wasn't anything special, but as it developed itself amongst its brethren, it showed outstanding growth.

Every time it was close to falling, it would run away, gather strength and then come back to its previous challengers, crushing them and feasting on their flesh.

Its perseverance was outstanding, perhaps due to its low origins as a critter that dragged its body around the world, it had gone through countless hardships and developed a powerful will.

Survivability was everything, and as it raised in strength and mercilessly crushed its foes in cunning ways by using the tools he was given when he was born, one day, he reached godhood.

It got to know the truth about the world, and those that were above him, those with the power capable of shaping the entire world of Genesis.

It gained a cunning personality, and its intelligence grew and grew, as it raised its powers, efficiently killing its prey easily, and slowly rising to bigger and stronger prey.

It no longer dragged its body around the world but glanced over those who laughed at it from the skies, like a harbinger of death and intoxication, and it brought an end to their lives.

However, those who were stronger than him took notice of it and tried to destroy it, calling him a hideous beast that shouldn't exist, while others greedily persecuted him as a valuable source of materials.

On its struggle for survival, it found others like itself, who were called as Demons by Humans and Demi-Humans.

Their forms were grotesque and terrifying, just like himself. They were not born as talented and gifted humans, they originally were hideous creatures seen as ants by most living beings, all of them went through similar hardships than himself, and a feeling of companionship grew between them, they called each other as siblings, and formed their own group, the Pantheon of Demon Gods.

-----

[Bestiary]

[Sphinx]

The race was born from Morpheus, the Demi-God of Horses and Centaurs, and Mohini, the Living Deity of Desert Cat Beastmen.

They have the upper halves of humans and their lower halves of large desert cats, their sizes varying greatly depending on their types.

There are currently four documented types of Sphinxes currently living in the Desert Biome.

There is the Small Build Sphinx, the Giant Build Sphinx, the Shadow Sphinx, and the Light Sphinx. Usually, such types are mixed, such as Giant Build Shadow Sphinx, or Small Build Light Sphinx. However, there are those Sphinx not categorized as Shadow or Light Sphinx, so they are just called Small Build or Giant Build.

Small Builds are faster and agile, their upper halves are smaller and lighter, meaning that losing their balance while jumping around or running at fast speeds is unlikely. They possess Thief and Assassin related Classes and their agility greatly benefits of such talents. They often have larger ears, with a sharp and fluffy pointed end. They are often talented with magic.

Giant Build Sphinxes are strong, heavy, and intimidating, their lower bodies are wide and muscular, their paws can easily rip apart a monster with their claws. And their jaws are also strong, with long fangs. They trade agility for greater defenses and physical power. They are usually talentless with magic, however, there are exceptions.

Shadow Sphinxes are black colored with bright emerald eyes, they usually are Small build, and develop outstanding Shadow and Dark Attribute Magic affinities, becoming strong mages and necromancers. Giant Build Shadow Sphinxes become powerful Dark Warriors or Shadow Knights.

Light Sphinxes are white colored with bright yellow eyes, they usually are Giant build, possessing outstanding physical power and a balanced ability with both strength and magic. They have amazing affinities with Light and Holy Attributes. Whenever Small Build Light Sphinxes are born, they are outstanding Bishops or Apostles that purge the evil with Holy Light.

Sphinxes' personalities are playful and cat-like, some may result in more serious than others. Small Builds are usually more playful as they like to put on pranks on others, women may allure males only for fun.

Giant Builds are often serious and calm, they are hard workers compared to the Small Builds and their women don't go playing around with males, although some may be different…

They are an overall very cute and fascinating race of demi-humans, and both their women and men are beautiful and handsome, with charismatic personalities, although those who live in Villages may have more modest demeanors than those who live in cities.