Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-149

[Day 137]

Today in the morning I decided to equip the soul-bond item [Ancient Relic of The Wyvern Guardian of Sands], an item that was once equipped on the Sand Wyvern High Overlord Boss on the [Forsaken Labyrinth] dungeon.

The item is very interesting, it seems that the moment I obtained it, it was already soul-bonded to me, but the effects wouldn't trigger until I conventionally equipped it.

The item gives +1500 HP and +500 of Strength, Magic, and Speed. However, because I am not a Sand Wyvern species, the stats are reduced by 50%, meaning I only obtained +750 HP and +250 Strength, Magic and Speed instead… Which is not bad at all either, I never thought I would be able to surpass the one thousand HP, but I actually managed to do it with this item.

I wonder if there is more of this type of equipment out there… Although I would like to equip them, they could also be useful for my wives, especially those who lack combat stats. Hm, now that I think about it, I should unequip this item on the tournament to make things fairer for my servants.

After spending some time training with my children, Gaby and Adelle, the tournament was resumed.

The next fight was a very anticipated one. It was Kekensha versus Evan, Kekensha has trained Evan since I enslaved the future Light Hero. Both of them have grown into good friends and companions and Kekensha is looking forward to Evan's growth.

Just as I expected, a fight between two warriors in which affinity is Light was very blinding, sometimes their attacks would intercept each other into massive rays of light, that would barely make people see what was going on.

Kekensha body size was now that of a giant, and his physical power was overwhelmingly high, alongside this, he was also good with long-ranged magic and had superb defenses, he is like an all-rounder immovable fortress. His fangs flashed at light speed as they bit and crushed any attack Evan throw at him. If he ever was about to receive any attack, he would easily block them with his amazing Light Magic Shields.

However, because of Evan's blessing and him slowly awakening his true potential, he managed several times to break through Kekensha's defenses. He blended his Golden Blade as he ran through the battlefield with impressive speed and reflexes, several times completely dodging Kekensha's attacks. Even more, he was able to take on his physical hits without many injuries, perhaps because of his body "evolving" while going through life and death training, where his body would receive heavy injuries and then be healed once again.

Evan was also able to use multiple techniques at the same time, which created a barrage of consecutive hits, resembling the power of Arts and surpassing Ultimate Techniques for the most part. In the middle of the fight, he wielded an Axe alongside his Sword, dual-wielding while using a masterful combination of fighting styles, resembling Truhan in some instances, Palami, Kizuato, and even Kekensha.

In the end, Evan lost. Even with all his new strength and power, Kekensha was a powerful evolved monster classified as Overlord, even with all his efforts, Evan was going to lose no matter what. However, he fought incredibly well and didn't let Kekensha hold back at all.

The next fight was an interesting one, Wagyu versus Nephiana.

Since Wagyu evolved, he gained a giant body and two more heads, alongside a snake tail that its capable of spitting corrosive venom. His powers increased through the roof and resembled a demon straight from hell, nothing at all like his original form, which was an ordinary-looking Crimson Wolf. Due to Nephiana being a strong opponent with ever-growing strength, he used a lot of his powers on this fight.

Wagyu had various abilities I've never seen before, his heads were able to spit different types of spells, from Dark Ice, Dark Fire, and Dark Thunderbolts. And while doing all of this, he had the power to attack with his overwhelming strength and sharp claws, devastating the battlefield without holding back at all. Even with all of Nephiana's strength, she was completely overwhelmed.

The Harpy Girl used a lot of her powers on this fight, giving an amazing performance of flashy wind magic and physical techniques. She was able to attack with her talons reinforcing them with a strong wind coating, increasing her speed and strength. Nephiana also could throw powerful tornadoes just by flapping her wings and could fly at amazing speeds, far surpassing Wagyu.

Due to the strength of both of them, the fight was prolonged for several hours until Nephiana couldn't keep going anymore and collapsed. As she lost consciousness Wagyu was still just fine, almost not tired at all, and was actually expecting to keep on fighting.

The last fight was one requested by me, most demi-humans didn't want to join on the tournament as they were scared by the strong participants, however Erathe the Hellhound and Makesia the Amazone woman was different, these two were incredibly excited about showing off their strength and have the opportunity to fight against such strong opponents, and immediately asked me to join. And because they were the last two, I made them fight each other.

Erathe is the only Hellhound of the Demi-human group, being a variant of werewolves and wolf demi-human, however, she is a rare species, her body is as tough as steel and her strength are overwhelming. Her powerful fire powers can also devastate an entire forest and turn it into an inferno of flames.

Erathe's power has developed quickly due to her training every day, becoming stronger and stronger. Truhan and Jorogumo have been the biggest influencers on this, as she has learned both techniques and fighting styles from them, polishing her own combat style while gaining new techniques. She ultimately fell in love with Jorogumo, in which Jorogumo also corresponded with her crazy love. It is quite the explosive interspecies couple… Well, who I am to talk to?

As Erathe was getting ready to fight, Jorogumo cheered for her on the back.

Makesia is one of the humans I enslaved back then, she comes from a small Tribe of Amazon women that lives very far away, she is very simpleminded and has a strong fighting spirit. She became an adventurer only so she could find more "excitement".

Just like Erathe, she has been trained by Truhan and Jorogumo, alongside other fighters like Yukan, Palami, and even Evan to some extent. Her power has increased a lot and she has gained proficiency in various heavy weapons; however, her weapon of choice is still a giant Axe, which she can wield in one hand. Sometimes she wields a giant Claymore on the other hand, without being slowed down at all. Her combat style is a combination between powerful weapon techniques and a berserk-like approach, trying to overwhelm her enemy with pure strength. I've seen her being quite close with the Black-Haired Swordsman, but I cannot confirm anything, yet.

Now that I think about it, both Erathe and Makesia are quite similar…

Their fight was just as one would expect, completely chaotic and overwhelming. The two blazing berserkers fought as if their lives depended on it, using all their techniques and skills. Ultimately, the battlefield was a complete mess and even the floor began to melt, creating a scenario similar to Truhan against Jorogumo.

In the end, Erathe had a superior physique, techniques and unpredictable wild combat style, overwhelming Makesia, and making her lot consciousness by blood loss and some broken bones.

After healing Makesia and saving her from almost sure death, I quickly gathered all the winners and congratulated them, giving them special prizes, which were [Unique] class accessories made by me that I specifically crafted for each one, boosting their strength and alleviating their weaknesses.

After everyone had their prize, I assigned the next fights.

1) Erathe vs Truhan

2) Zehe vs Kekensha

3) Palami vs Asure

4) Kizuato vs Wagyu

5) Nesiphae vs ???

Because Nesiphae was clearly the strongest, I left her for the last, the first four teams will fight and the four winners will fight each other again and again, until only one is left, this one will fight Nesiphae, and the winner of it will fight me. Simple enough, right?

The next fight was Erathe against Truhan, although she had just fought and was quite tired, I quickly haled her to max Stamina with enough food and healing spells.

Truhan has been craving for more fights and was looking forward to his pupil's growth. Erathe was also excited to fight her senior which she respected a lot due to his strength.

The fight was incredibly chaotic and destructive, Truhan really went all out to test Erathe's growth, pushing her limits. He wielded his [Legendary] Axe without any mercy, slashing and smashing the ground around her to make her react in time. Meanwhile, he accumulated fire on his throat and threw powerful scarlet flames from time to time, that we're able to even burn the [Fire Immunity] on Erathe's body. Probably due to Truhan's blessing.

Erathe had to dodge a lot on the fight, pushing her senses and strength to her limits. The Hellhound young woman used several body-boosting abilities at her disposal to increase her strength, durability, and speed, exceeding what she has thought possible. As she danced around while evading Truhan's devastating blows, she would sometimes catch him off-guard and hit him on the back with a furious onslaught of consecutive techniques, surprising the Fiery Oni.

In the end, Erathe lost due to Truhan incredible endurance and devastating moves. However, she gives quite a fight before going down and made the Fiery Oni proud of his pupil.

After healing Erathe, she thanked Truhan for his training in a nice manner, while saying that one day she will surpass him. She has grown a lot mentally too, she used to be very wild and barely talked, but now she is more interactive and expressive with her emotions other than by fighting, perhaps her relationship with Jorogumo has helped her develop this.

After all, despite her fighting style and overwhelming strength, Jorogumo was the most intelligent of the Hairy Spiders, as she commanded the troops that survived the Three Emperor War to escape before being annihilated by my troops. Well, most of them were still annihilated when I went back to their nest, but she still managed to make a lot of them survive until now.

The upcoming fight was an anticipated one by me, it was Zehe against Kekensha. I have always wondered if my wives were as strong as the wolf pair… Now it's a good time to find out, a pity that Rimuru and Brontes cannot participate, but the two are having a lot of fun watching the battles at my side.

When the battlefield was all cleaned from the Lava and Fire, it was finally time to fight.

Zehe has always been talented on Shadow Magic, and according to Herbell, she was a very talented girl with a lot of passion for magic. She was born with her blue color due to being a very rare variant of Trolls, named Troll Magus. She is the only one who has been reported to be born as one, a prodigy.

After going through many hardships and meeting me, her power has skyrocketed since then, at her second evolution she has become a powerful species of Six-Armed Ashura, having six arms, each one having the ability to cast spells, her range of attacks covers almost an entire radius of more than fifty kilometers around her. There is very little that can escape her grasp.

And against her, there is Kekensha. Considered by others as a "complete opposite" to Zehe due to his affinity with Light Magic instead, however, both of them are good friends and don't have any rivalry whatsoever.

Kekensha used to be the oldest of the Crimson Wolves. Although he once thought that evolving for him was an impossible thing and that he has already reached his limit. Things turned around as he evolved and gained new strength and youth. Motivated by his new strength, he worked hard on my community and administrated a lot of groups and troops, training them and teaching them the basics of survival with his plentiful experience.

After evolving for the third time, he has become a giant species and a rare variant of wolves, having the capacity now to fly while being covered on a powerful golden fur that can even reflect swords, he has become a reliable warrior and someone that can keep his allies alive.

Their fight was certainly overwhelming, Kekensha went right for Zehe's body as he flew at Light Speed, which Zehe barely managed to keep away from him while transforming into shadows. However, this is exactly what Kekensha wanted, as she would become susceptible to strong Light Magic like this, taking heavier damage than usual.

However, Zehe has a lot of aces bellow her sleeve, summoning shields of protection and manipulating the gravity around Kekensha, slowing him down while throwing him aside. From time to time, she would summon a giant black hole that would absorb any type of attack thrown at her and then reflect them against Kekensha.

The Golden Wolf didn't want to give in as he fought relentlessly. His high defenses helped on the tanking of magical hits for the most part, however, as the fight prolonged, Zehe's blessing started to affect her magic as it became stronger, being able to easily sneak through Kekensha's shields.

However, Kekensha had a blessing of his own, which make both of them contrast each other on frantic fighting of light and dark. It was so amusing that very little people were remaining conscious while watching it.

Ultimately, the one with higher defenses and regeneration rates won, exhausting Zehe's magic and cornering when she was distracted by his unusual techniques. He even used his own shields as projectiles. However, I would say that Kekensha won by just a slight amount of difference and that Zehe if going all out would probably be able to kill him, there are plenty of Shadow and Dark magic spells that she didn't use because of their high lethality rate.

After congratulating Kekensha for his win while also giving him a prize, I decided to leave the rest of the tournament for tomorrow, as the night had already fallen. These two battles really did last very long, some extending for hours…

Alice has contacted me, she told me that the war provocation has gone smoothly, but that it will take some more time. However, any of the sides are on her control, so she has begun to contract Adventurers as war potential for the war. And there is where we will infiltrate ourselves, using our identity as the Scarlet Butterflies, we will infiltrate on the war and pick all the tasty meals scattered around.

Hm, I can't wait…

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