Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 253 (Patreon)

Chapter 253 – Preparations

Of course, while GodNet existed, not every god was a part of it. After all, you couldn’t join until you had met another god. My own experience had proved that much.

However, a search of GodNet showed that the Earth section was full of placeholder sections for the various gods. There were so many, in fact, that things were subdivided into smaller categories, separating out deities from divine entities. Divine entities would be demigods and other primal forces that are divine in nature, but are not exactly worshipped like gods. From what I could tell, most kami would be divine entities, since they were more like the spirits of sacred or venerated places or objects.

Looking further into things, I saw that Susanoo was listed as a god, while Sun Wukong was listed as a divine entity. That didn’t mean that either side couldn’t cause a shit-ton of trouble, if they put their minds to it, but it did change the way the System viewed them. Both were listed as semi-active, and had not yet been introduced to the wider godly realm.

That was both good, and bad. While they weren’t fully active, they did not have access to the full measure of power a deity or divine entity might have. However, until they met another god, they would not be listed as Active, and the System’s full restrictions wouldn’t be applied to them, because the System would not fully recognize them until they were fully in the godly realm.

What that meant was slightly different for gods and divine entities. For gods, it meant that they did not have their full range of powers, but that they could more freely exist in the material world. The information I could access implied that this was because gods who had not fully ascended yet would not be able to control their full power, and were often still mortals, or at least demigods, who were still doing the deeds that would see them rise to godhood, eventually.

This meant that, for the most part, a god that had not met another god in person would be able to walk the world as they wished, but they would not be able to go and manifest before their followers wherever they might be. If I had been just a god in the making, instead of being a dungeon, then I would not have been able to move around the Earth as I wished, but I could never have gone to Atara to offer my counsel and conspiracies with the dungeon there, unless I got on a ship and physically flew between star systems. It was the dungeon planting a shrine to me that allowed me to visit him, after all.

Divine entities, on the other hand, had no limits on their powers, but were somewhat restricted in where they could go. Until recognized by the System, they were treated as spiritual projections, and limited to certain areas important in their creation. Once they were introduced to the divine realm, the System limited their powers, but allowed them to move freely.

Another little thing that getting the System to fully recognize these gods would do was to ‘lock in’ their abilities. So, once recognized, the Monkey King would not be able to then gain the powers of his anime homages. That would take away one of the biggest concerns that Mercy had regarding the entity.

The problem was that I actually was a god, recognized by the System. Which meant that I couldn’t just go around anywhere I wanted. If I wanted to manifest my avatar and do things in the real world, I needed to either be near my shrines, my followers, or my dungeon, and the spikes that let me expand my dungeon influence. So, I had to figure out a way to arrange the meeting.

On a planet that had grown up with the System, I wouldn’t have needed to do something like this. The ‘local’ gods would have already made contact, at some point, if only because newcomers rising up in their back yard could cause trouble. But this was just one more problem that could be laid directly on Earth being isolated for so long.

I couldn’t just go out to see the gods and divine entities, not unless I sent some of my followers to purposefully run into them. That wasn’t a terrible idea, on the face of it, but there was always the very real chance that divinities would act with all the spite and pettiness that they were known for in the myths, and my followers were not so numerous that I could write them off as being expendable. So, I needed to get creative.

If I wasn’t going to send my followers out to purposefully run into my targets, and risk them being in close proximity the whole time, then I only had two ways of making a conversation happen. The first was to try and summon the divinity, making them appear where and when I wanted to. This had a good chance of making the divinity hostile, unless I did something to appease them. After all, anyone would get pissy if they were yanked away from what they were doing to answer someone’s summons.

The other way was to have a core spike planted near where they had been seen, and hope for the best. This was less likely to make the divinities upset, and I could have my people leave the area, once my annexation of the area was complete. But there was no guarantee that they would show up on my timeline, and expanding too much, too quickly, would cause problems for me with the local governments, as well as my fellow dungeons.

Really, there was only one choice for dealing with Susanoo. I would need to summon him, so that we could talk. While the myths of the god all depicted him as a rambunctious sort, his deeds, from what I could tell, were all more like those a drunken frat boy might get up to, if they were immune to consequences. He preferred action to thought, was fond of drink, and it was always better if one tried to point him towards some other direction, letting him expend his energy safely away from anyone or anything you preferred to be intact.

However, to summon him, I would first need to go someplace that had some kind of symbolic connection to him. While not strictly required, the more symbolic links you added into the summoning ritual, the easier it was to perform the summoning, and the better disposed the god would be towards you. Thankfully, he was known as the God of the Sea, amongst other things, so all I needed to do was go out to the coast, and that would suffice for a strong link. And I was close enough to the coast that I could go there in my mortal avatar.

The second thing I would need is offerings. A suitable offering would provide another link to the god you wanted to summon with the same effects as a symbolic link to the ritual site. A poor offering, however, would decrease the success rate of the ritual, making an unfortunate accident more likely, and likely leaving the god completely pissed at you when they showed up. That was not a recipe for a long and successful life, obviously.

Given the stories, I decided on three offerings to put in the ritual circle. First, a bottle of sake, to appease the riotous nature of his that caused Susanoo to go on legendary rampages. Second, some rice straight from the field, as he was known as a god of the fields, as well as storms. And third, a blade made by my own hand, to offer as a gift. It would not be a divine artifact, not unless he infused his essence into it, but it would be a gift that he could easily appreciate.

The third, and final, part that I needed to summon a god was their name. That might not seem like much, but it was more complicated than one might expect. Especially when gods changed their names over time. This was less an issue with Susanoo than with the Monkey King, but even so, Susanoo had several names, if you counted the different honorific prefixes attributed to him in the texts.

However, a consultation with Silver Mercy gave me the name she deemed most appropriate, which was Susanoo-no-Mikoto. However, she also cautioned me to speak respectfully, and to use the meaning of the honorifics in the ritual when I was calling to him. This would keep from insulting him, which was something I wanted to avoid.

Of course, I wouldn’t just start doing things like this without telling anyone. My dungeon was close enough to Miami that people there would be able to sense the magic I’d be invoking, to say nothing of those living in Swamptown. And that was assuming that there weren’t any surprise storms, or other such things. This wasn’t something I could just keep silent about, and hope no one would notice.

Which meant I was going to have to put out some kind of announcement in Swamptown, and send a copy of it to the Adventurer’s Guild in Miami. That way, people would know it was coming, and it would also allow me to have the guild’s help in clearing people away from the ritual site. I’d have my own mercenaries supplying security for the actual site, but having the Guild warn people off in advance would be helpful.

Actually, that was the easiest part of the whole affair. After all, the leaders of Swamptown were all beholden to me, in one way or another, so having my priestesses make the announcement would be fine. And the new leader of the Miami Guild that took over when Miguel became the leader of the American Guild as a whole was already one of my followers, so she would listen to what I said, and take it seriously. Between them and the mercenaries who answered to me, I was sure we wouldn’t be bothered during the ritual.

Gathering the offerings was only slightly more difficult. I had fields not connected to the main dungeon or the Breeding Halls, where my minions would tend crops, growing them in the mana-rich area. I’d started the project when I talked to the brewer in Swamptown about making more and better alcoholic beverages, but expanded the fields to include crops of all types when I decided that Swamptown ought to be completely self-sufficient. The rice fields were not the largest part of my agricultural works, but they were large enough that I could take some rice without it being missed.

As for the sake, I just purchased some when I was in Japan, making sure to get a version that was made according to traditional recipes. I also went for one that was higher rated, rather than one that was more expensive. While I could never be considered a connoisseur of sake, that didn’t mean I would fall into the trap of foolishly thinking that the best drink was necessarily the most expensive. My experience with American alcohol had proven that conclusively wrong.

At last, everything was in place. The ritual site had been prepared. The circles were drawn. The offerings were laid out. And the closest people to the site were my mercenaries, keeping the perimeter at half a mile away.

Stepping into the proper circle, I began calling out the words of the summoning ritual I found through the System. The chants soon built to a crescendo, and I called out to the sky that was quickly filling with clouds, “I call out to the God of Seas and the Storms! The Swift and the Brave Susanoo-no-Mikoto! Come now, and accept these offerings, and parley with me!”

Thunder answered me, and then the thunder was given voice.

“Who dares call me to these foreign shores?”