Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-169

As the Athetosea felt yet another loss on their [Epic] users' repertoire with the death of the Champion of Black Flames, Beatrix Poisonthorn, the leading figures were concerned about their future and that of their people.

As Nanako Maki worked very hard while concentrating all her mind and powers over the Magic Circle she has conjured bellow the entire battlefield, she felt the loss of yet another companion, as if the death of Gustav wasn't shocking enough, Beatrix just came after him, filling the Half-Dodomeki woman heart with terrible fear.

Although she wasn't in exactly good terms with them as they were neither her friends or family, she used exploitation with the two and managed to pull them towards her side, becoming another piece in her scheme.

Now with the death of both, she felt immense fear. What could even kill such strong and reliable individuals like Gustav and Beatrix?

As Nanako pondered these thoughts in her mind, a massive army of demi-humans started to assault her troops, in hopes of stopping whatever she was planning to do with that Magic Circle.

"Those demons are quick to catch up…! Lust is probably the one who told her servants about my important position… Tch!"

As the thousands of soldiers that worked for Nanako Maki fought desperately against the invading army of demi-humans, a giant Rainbow Slime Maiden with deep black armor and black weapons pounced towards the army, quickly devastating it with her massive weaponry and magic spells.

A beautiful spectacle like that of fireworks appeared the massive multi-colored explosions and the sliced humans were scattered everywhere, generating a delightful contrast.

Meanwhile, a giant lizard man which body was completely covered in rock-like scales, known as Ganjo, jumped towards the battlefield, manipulating the earth, it generated countless earthquakes and sinkholes, while also throwing a shower of boulders towards any human who dared get closer to him.

To add to the spectacle, a beautiful Squirrel Demi-Human with blonde hair and three golden tails, who was wearing an enchanting red kimono, was calmly analyzing the battlefield, while commanding her allied troops to proceed with the onslaught. While she was doing this, the woman, known as Kaguya, activated her red scarlet orb as thousands of white and red colored flames were released, massive fireballs rained over the battlefield while decimating anyone who stood in their way.

The army protecting the Champion of Psychic Eyes was her entire organization, who swiftly joined in the war, although they were designed to protect her, after every human in both sides became crazed berserkers, these were probably the only army truly in her side, and her last stand.

While Nanako Maki was pressured by the countless troops of Demi-Humans, the Hero of Raging Winds flew at great speeds while tracking the origin of the fragrance, looking for the Red Slime that took the life of the Elemental Knight of Gemstones before his very eyes.

However, every time he managed to get towards its position, it would suddenly disappear alongside the subordinates that were at his sides, leaving the death of another Knight or Champion.

Now the Hero was in a completely crazed state, with tremendous impotence and rage, after receiving the notification of the death of the Elemental Knight of Shadows, there was only one Knight left, while the other nine were completely annihilated, without their corpses nowhere to be seen, not only they were killed, but their valuable equipment and bodies were also stolen, probably already devoured by the wild and savage Demi-Humans that Hammond hated so much.

His patience has been already lost as he wiped any Demi-Human or crazed human out of existence with thousands of tiny slicing winds, tearing them apart into a puddle of blood and minced meat.

When the Hero noticed the death of the two Champions, Gustav and Beatrix, his rage had no limits, as he yelled in impotence and rage. He suddenly flew at immense speed while masterfully manipulating the winds around him, towards the origin of the fragrance, while doing this, he devastated anything that came to his vision, while releasing terrible green winds that sliced even the earth in half.

"That damned demon!!! It taking everything from me! All those years wasted gathering all of those people, just to get them all killed today!!! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!"

As the war intensified, another battle was unfolded between the forces of Athetosea and the Realm Menace of Lust.

The first wife of the demon that represents Lust, Zehe, was battling against the Half-Dryad Champion of Emerald Trees, Aldoris Ferne.

Although Aldoris held the advantage in speed and aim, Zehe overwhelmed him with her masterful magic and defensive spells, alongside unconventional ways of fighting, like manipulating the gravity surrounding the Half-Dryad man or completely reversing it, giving him a very hard time while dealing with her.

As the two fought, Aldoris quickly received the notifications of all his comrades and friends dying, and a terrible feeling of grievance filled the calm descendant of the spirits of the forest.

As someone who has lived for so long, Aldoris appreciated the bonds he created with others, and even when they left him at their time of death, he appreciated their friendship and held them, dear, in their hearts, never forgetting their personalities, names, and attitudes.

He has seen so many people die before him, that he was accustomed to the death of his friends and family, and only prayed to the greater gods for their souls to be forgiven of their sins, while allowing them to join the circle of reincarnation.

At the age of 283, Aldoris suddenly awakened his [Epic], giving him new power and abilities. Although he was strong, he never saw himself as an adventurer, and only dedicated himself to protect his land and the human villagers, who called him the "Sacred Protector". Aldoris never enjoyed fighting in the first place, and always preferred for things to be resolved peacefully, he held dear of any life, and thinking about pointless deaths over such nonsensical conflicts was something he hated.

However, his [Epic] told him his destiny, and what he needed to do to save not only his Village but the life of all the humans in the entire Realm of Vida. He, a pacifist, was forced against his own will to fight monsters and demons for the greater benefit.

Although he held his beliefs clear, he slowly accepted his fate as he trained his body and techniques, due to his experience in hunting and surviving in the wild, he grew stronger very quickly and completed several monster subjugation tasks given by his [Epic].

At the age of 288, Aldoris awakened once again, gaining the Title of [Champion of Emerald Trees], and was granted a [Legendary Equipment Set] alongside a [Legendary Relic], [Eternal Charm of the Forest], a beautiful bow that was able to create magic arrows using his native Nature Magic.

He was quickly recruited by Hammond, the Hero of Raging Winds, and became the third Champion in the Athetosea Kingdom, swearing his loyalty to the King and the Kingdom, he became a renowned Champion, and slowly gained fame due to his peaceful and forgiving nature, if he were given the task to subjugate bandits, he would only capture them and sent them to prison, without killing them, he hated pointless massacres and taking the life of other humans.

As he gathered his own riches, he never kept them for himself, as he donated the money he gained to different conventions, churches, or his Village, which he held the people there very dear. As they were all descendants of his old friends, which he promised to protect.

However, as things went by, he got to know the real conflict inside of Athetosea and its two opposing sides, he didn't understand such greed on people, that made them fight each other for money, a material thing, that held no importance and didn't compare to what was most precious for Aldoris, life.

Although he tried to make the Nobles enter in reason and repent from their sins, his influence was minimum, and he barely managed to form some connections. In the end, Nanako Maki, the Champion of Psychic Eyes, recruited him in her organization and gave him enough influence to help cold down the constant conflicts that could break in a war at any time.

As time passed, Aldoris was slowly manipulated by Nanako to do her biddings and became another peon in her plans.

However, Aldoris knew about that, he wasn't a fool, a man that has lived for so long naturally knows the dark side of people, and can quickly understand their true intentions. But still, he kept silent, as he understood Nanako's point of view, and her intentions weren't truly bad, but the methods she used to accomplish them.

Nanako only wanted a safe place for her family, and Demi-Humans, while finishing the conflicts between Nobles and possibly help the population that was suffering from poverty, for that she needed to dominate over other Nobles and their influences and even dirty her hands, killing those who opposed her in the shadows. Aldoris also desired those things, and slowly accepted Nanako's points of view, helping her however he could.

However, things quickly became heated once again, and even when he and Nanako tried their best to calm down the Nobles, they resembled brainless zombies as they kept their pointless disputes. The issue quickly slipped off their grasp and now they were involved in a senseless war where they had little influence.

And now, Aldoris, the son of a Dryad and a Human man, desperately tries to survive in a fight he was never prepared to unfold. Although his heart is full of benevolence and love for his people, he has to nasty his hands once again, to protect what is precious to him.

The Champion used all the techniques and skills he had learned on his entire life, spreading his Nature Domain while absorbing the energy of the environment. However, due to his environment being a place filled with blood and death, the natural energy in the place was of very low quantity. His strength began to quickly decrease as his movements became dull and predictable to the six-armed demoness Zehe.

Each of Zehe's hands was used for a different conjure, she played around with Aldoris as if he were just a toy, changing the gravity to her advantage while manipulating the direction of the Half-Dryad arrows. Even as strong as he was, he always specialized in support, healing, and long-ranged surprise attacks, fighting head-on against such a skillful and overwhelmingly strong mage would easily lead to his death.

As Aldoris jumped around the ground while manipulating the ground to generate countless vines to protect himself, Zehe manipulated his gravity once again, sending him through the airs like a plaything. The usually serious Ashura was now showcasing a playful and mischievous smile, as she commanded Aldoris movements with her own fingers.

Suddenly, Aldoris released a strong Nature aura, which opposed Zehe for a small moment, this small moment was everything he needed to get outside of her Gravity Manipulation range, as he summoned countless Magic Circles and conjured giant vines that trapped Zehe in place. Due to the strength of the vines and its sheer size and amount, she was taken by surprise due to laying her guard down to play around with the Half-Dryad man.

Although Zehe's body was strong, sturdy, and filled with slim muscles, she wasn't at all specialized in fighting like her son and was easily overwhelmed by the strong entanglement of the giant Magic Vines. Her Shadow Domain did little damage against them and her Shadow Cloak barely protected her enough to not burst like a balloon.

She quickly began to cast countless of spells that she shoots towards Aldoris, from massive Shadow Meteors to Black Holes capable of absorbing matter into nothingness. However, because of the Magic Vines' incredible Magic Resistance alongside its massive size and mass, even if she could slowly diminish its mass with her small Black Holes, it wasn't enough for her to destroy it before she died from asphyxiation.

She tried to trap the Half-Dryad man with her Black Holes in the ground, releasing giant eldritch beast that attacked anything that came their way, however, even then the Champion showed his skillfulness as he quickly got rid of anything on his way.

As Zehe's mind started to become dizzy, she lamented her naivety and seriousness in such a place, however, just at that moment, a Red Slime surged from her equipment, which quickly divided itself in two, one piece of it spread through the massive vines and began to digest them like lunch, at this, the vines struggled but ultimately let loose of Zehe's grasp, which allowed her to escape.

As Aldoris noticed his vines being slowly consumed by a spreading red liquid ooze, he quickly called it back inside of the Magic Circle to heal back. However, as the vines entered a strange space inside of the Magic Circle, the red liquid ooze also entered, beginning to quickly consume the entire vine creature that Aldoris sometimes called for help.

While the Half-Dryad thought about a new strategy to deal with Zehe, a Half-Dwarf girl with pink hair and brown eyes quickly clashed on the battlefield like a meteor. With a giant Axe and a Mace, it was another of Kireina's wife, Lilith.

Lilith dedicated herself to protect Zehe while she was being healed by Kireina's Red Slime Clone, as Aldoris was once again pressured by a strong fighter, however this time, Lilith wasn't going to play around with him.