Epic of Caterpillar

Within a world of endless volcanic landscapes, enormous oceans of lava with large isles of lava rock and red crystals, where enormous draconic and wyvern Divine Beasts roam everywhere, the figures of three small humanoid people seemed to be fighting an enormous creature.

The creature in specific was a giant serpentine dragon covered in red crystal scales and possessing three gigantic heads with enormous jaws filled with razor-sharp fangs and six eyes in each head.

It had an enormous tail with a spear-shaped metallic tip that could slice through anything, and it swam through the lava masterfully!

This was a Rank 7 Demigod Realm Divine Beast, the Three-Headed Tyrant Volcanic Dragon!

However, albeit it was being very fierce, it was already on death's door!

The three figures moved through the air masterfully!

One of them coated itself in golden and emerald winds beautifully, flying like a bird soaring in the skies, unleashing a shower of projectiles charged with its Aura that exuded a certain amount of Divinity, each projectile was shaped as daggers and kunai!

Flash! Flash! Flash! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions of charged emerald and golden auras exploded over the three-headed dragon, tearing apart large pieces of flesh from within its long body!

"GRRRRRRAAAAAARRR…!"

The Divine Beast groaned in agony, as another figure coated in an aura of water emerged, muscular and with large claws, it used its gigantic claws and gauntlets to unleash an enormous barrage of fist-shaped aura projectiles, which it moved like rivers of water around, showcasing masterful use of its powers, which also seemed to have a hint of Divinity.

The fists and claws made of power, high-pressured water fell like enormous cannons over the Divine Beast, tearing apart its flesh even more, as one of its head exploded into pieces like a watermelon falling off a cliff!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"GRRRYAARRR…!"

And then, the third figure emerged, coated in blue and red flames, its draconic look resembled that of the Dragon-type Divine Beast itself in a humanoid form!

The figure unleashed its powerful blazing divine aura, shaping it as giant draconic heads one by one, unleashing several breaths of fire towards the Divine Beast!

Although it was a Divine Beast of fire, it did not mean that it was immune to fire.

Perhaps mortal attacks would not be effective, but any attack with divinity would be capable of damaging to an extent!

Amongst Divine Beings, none could be immune to the other due to the nature of Divinity being capable of bypassing any immunity, but Divine beings could be, perhaps, weaker, or stronger against each other depending on their elements!

Nonetheless, these attacks were simply fired against a fire-type Divine Beast, how could it do any substantial damage?

However, against normal expectations, the searing flames started to roast the dragon-type divine beast alive!

The flame breaths also worked as powerful lasers, blasting away the beast's body into pieces, disintegrating it through its enormous power!

As more attacks fell over the creature, it ended up being torn into countless pieces, falling over the sea of lava!

Clash!

The monstrous and powerful Divine Beast was not even a challenge to this trio… the amount of power they had attained was something, not even their past selves would have believed.

The three figures reached a large volcanic isle within the sea of lava, glaring at the pieces of the Divine Beast melt away…

"What a pity, I would had liked to pick the pieces…" sighed one of the three, a youthful and handsome Fox-kin Beas-man, with long emerald hair and eyes, a slim and tall physique, and a calm expression, wearing ninja-like clothes beautifully decorated with many green and golden ornaments, precious equipment above Heavenly Rank. He was Kaze, one of David, the former Elemental Knight of Fire from the Athetosea Kingdom's servant.

"Maybe Blaire-chan could go, I am pretty sure Lava wouldn't affect her as much, but I fear to burn my hair if I dive into it… Well, as we are now, I doubt we would even be affected by lava…" said another of the three figures, the taller and most muscular of the three, a beautiful Lion-kin Beast-woman with long blonde hair that resembled a mane, lion-like ears atop her head and a tail below her hips, she wore a full light armor over her body which shined with aquamarine and golden colors, wearing large, draconic claw-like gauntlets, her smile was confident and her golden eyes blazing with conviction. She was Leonia, another of David's servants.

"You are right… every bit of materials will help us go back to David-sama…" said a beautiful and youthful girl, the third figure within the group and despite her size, she seemed to be the leader, her skin was red, and she was covered in red scales that resembled metallic armor all around her body, alongside that, she possessed large hands that were perhaps the size of a wyvern's claws, with enormous claws, which she used to slash through anything.

Her hair was long and crimson red, and her eyes gleaming with orange colors, however, her left eye seemed dark and purple… and within her stomach, she had a large black tattoo, as if it were contaminating her body, but was indeed part of her now.

Although she had changed a lot after evolving and learning many new things, she was David's priest, Blaire, the Blazing Salamander Priest.

Blaire jumped head-on into the lava, surprising the two a bit, as she dived through the melting stone and grabbed the several pieces of the Divine Beast they defeated, saving them inside of her Item Box and then jumping back to land.

"Let's make sure to feast on it to grow a bit stronger," she said with a firm nod… her nature and personality had changed a lot since back then, and it could be said that she had matured greatly.

Since the day that David was possessed by Zudig… and his soul was eaten alongside the dragon within his bloodline…

Since that moment that Blaire, Leonia, and Kaze were taken by the three Dragon Gods who wanted to use David as their ideal vessel, and they were made to train and grow stronger to become their new "Heroes" and fight against Zudig to get back David.

After making them undergone countless trials that enhanced their souls to greater levels while feeding them with special, Divine Elixirs and other items through experimentations to how far could a mortal soul go before it could achieve divinity, the Dragon Gods managed to let their Souls evolve.

After such experiments which they had been investigating for thousands of years before these events, they managed to let these mortal's souls evolve, becoming Pseudo-Divine Souls.

And then, after the Heroes awakened their Epics and such powers adapted to their new souls, they acquired the power to draw energy and divine power from Divine Materials, increasing their strength exponentially since then.

Each one of the three was taught new ways of fighting and wielding powers, each of the three Dragons taking one of them as their Hero.

Blaire was taken and taught by Brulzrayn, The Dragon God of Blazing Breath.

Leonia was taught by Qondress, the Dragon God of Sea Snakes and Waves.

And Kaze was taught by Nymbais, the Dragon God of Harvest and Feasts.

After blessing these three mortals, the three Dragon Gods underwent extreme training with them to awaken all of their hidden potentials, as they were the wielders of Epics connected to David.

They forced them to unlock more powers within, completing more challenges and undergoing many trials, until today, where they had finally become able to defeat Divine Beasts just as carefreely as they did now…

They had surpassed the limits of mortals and had acquired Divine Souls, and only a week ago, they had even raised to godhood, all for the one they loved to finally get him back…

Although they were still Living Deities, each one of them had a strong divine aura and possessed several times the strength that a Living Deity could have, even rivaling Gods.

However, against their masters, the Dragon Gods, they were left hopeless after having their souls modified before even raising to godhood.

And today, was the "last meeting" with them, where they would finally be given the plans to take back David!

The trio walked through the volcanic landscape, as they chatted around.

"It really has been a long time… I never thought I would become a Living Deity myself…" sighed Leonia.

"Me neither, it is all thanks to the Gods… They had been incredibly nice with us, without them, we would be long lost… perhaps even dead," said Kaze.

"Indeed… I had even managed to control and strengthen this curse within my soul, making this darkness my own power… without the help of the Gods, I would have never been able to do such a thing," sighed Blaire.

The three Dragon Gods showed themselves as gentle and good people, teaching the trio everything they could, and always correcting their mistakes as if they were second parental figures to the mortals.

Even after becoming Living Deities with great strength, they still saw these Gods as superiors…

After walking around, they reached a large temple, entering it, as they were guided by Fire Dragon-kin towards the large hall where the Gods were waiting for them.

As they entered, three enormous figures greeted their sight.

Brulzrayn, The Dragon God of Blazing Breath, a large, red-colored dragon, with twelve crimson eyes and six scaled wings, he had a large red orb on his chest, as he stood up in two legs, he had two arms which ended in long claws made out of red jewels.

Qondress, the Dragon God of Sea Snakes and Waves, a dragon with the body of a long sea snake, covered in blue scales, with five blue eyes and several blue jewels encrusted on its body, he had large gills and fins and a long jaw filled with sharp teeth, resembling a barracuda.

Nymbais, the Dragon God of Harvest and Feasts, a large, fatty dragon, covered in golden scales, had a large belly and he seemed to be resting in the ground, barely moving its small arms and wings.

The patrons of Blaire, Leonia and Kaze gently lowered their heads to glare at their Heroes.

"You are here… Hm, indeed, you have finally grown strong," said Brulzrayn as he inspected the trio.

"Thanks for calling us here again, Brulzrayn-sama, Qondress-sama, Nymbais-sama," said Blaire.

"Yeah, it has been a few weeks since we didn't saw you three, we were training all these days intensively," sighed Leonia.

"Is it finally time to act, Brulzrayn-sama?" asked Kaze.

Brulzrayn glared at Kaze, Blaire, and Leonia with a greedy expression, however, as he had the face of a dragon, they were not able to easily detect such intentions…

"(Hmmm… They are ready to be harvested… I have always wished for a better and younger body…)" said Brulzrayn through telepathy.

"(That's right. All those annoying days teaching and helping them get through everything will finally pay off… even after getting the jewels that can give Divinity Devouring, I knew it wouldn't be enough to acquire the same power as Zudig… but with them, it should be possible…)" said Qondress through telepathy.

"(A new and slim body that can move way more than this one would do me a nice favor! Being a dragon is nice and all, but nothing beats feeling young once more)" said Nymbais through telepathy.

"(Then it is decided, let's do it now…)" said Brulzrayn.

The three Drago Gods glanced at each other as they nodded together.

"Blaire, Leonia, Kaze, now that we are approaching our main mission to save David, please, take these artifacts we crafted for you, specifically made for your powers, so you will become able to channel our strength and become even stronger," said Brulzrayn, using telekinesis to give all three of the mortals these new bracelets, necklaces, and rings…

"Amazing, I can already feel my strength surging…" said Leonia, equipping her items.

"Thank you so much, my lords…" said Blaire.

"Truly, thank you for all your help in all this time," said Kaze.

"Now, activate them so you can see the great strength you can acquire," said Brulzrayn.

Without even doubting the Dragon God, all three of Blaire, Leonia, and Kaze activated their accessories, as auras of fire, winds, and water encompassed them.

"Amazing…! Huh? Something… feels off…" said Blaire.

"So this is the power of- Hm?" wondered Kaze, as he really did not felt… any change at all.

"Yeah! I can feel like… Eh? I don't feel anything…" said Leonia.

"Good job! You had worked very hard, Blaire, Leonia, Kaze! Now, it's time to finally pay us back for all those efforts and time we spent on you!" laughed Brulzrayn, as he and the other two Dragon Gods' souls emerged from their bodies, as the accessories catalyzed their power, sucking their souls inside of the bodies of the three heroes!

FLASH!

"B-Brulzrayn-sama?! No! Wait, it hurts! My soul…! My soul is being… eaten?! Nnghh…?! Nnggyaaaaaahh…! David-sama… Sniff…" cried Blaire, as she fell over the floor and felt as if she was both being eaten and fusing with the Dragon God's soul!

"W-Wait, what are you doing?! Nnghh?! NGAAAAHH…!" cried, Leonia.

"S-So this was… your plan all along…! Unngh… I should have… realized it sooner…" muttered Kaze.

"Succumb to our power, and become one with us, mortals!" laughed the Gods, taking over the souls of the heroes they nurtured for so long once and for all!

Suddenly, everything fell silent, as Blaire, Leonia, and Kaze stood up once more as if nothing had happened… they were smiling mischievously, their smiles and expressions were unlike what Blaire, Leonia, and Kaze usually showed.

"We did it!" laughed Blaire.

"Haha! Yes, this body is so good! It feels so young and refreshing! I was so tired of being a giant serpent! Humanoid bodies are truly convenient, especially a muscular one such as this!" laughed Leonia.

"Indeed! We were Dragon Gods without the ability to take humanoid forms… but now, such a limitation is no longer there!" laughed Kaze.

The three then glared back at the corpses of their former bodies…

"Now, let's devour our former bodies and draw all the power of our true selves!" laughed Brulzrayn through Blaire's mouth, beginning to tear his former body apart to be eaten…

The other two began to do the same, as their plans finally, after so long, came into fruition.

Meanwhile, Blaire, Leonia, and Kaze's minds fell into a coma, completely taken over by the God's powerful wills…

"David… sama…"