Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-270

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As we saw ourselves in the middle of floor 104, we encountered massive fish-like reptiles living inside of extensive Lava Pools that now made 2/3 of every floor. They freely swam around while snacking on smaller prey, being the Fatty Red Demons and Fire Wyverns, even Colossal Lava Frogs were in their menu as these fish-like reptiles had sizes of over sixty meters each, and due to the vastness of these Lava Pools, there were around thirty. Their bodies resembled sharks, but their heads were clearly reptile-like, resembling water-adapted dinosaurs from Earth.

These beings were named Titan Lava Whales, although the only thing resembling a whale in them was their fat bellies or perhaps, the colossal sizes. Taking in one of these was a puzzle by itself, as they would immediately swim away the very moment their lives are threatened by a stronger being, even when they were the strongest in this place, they seem incredibly intelligent.

Their bodies are covered with several thick layers of skin and scales and they possess over twenty fins to swim around, their long tails looked like those of wyverns, their mouths were incredibly large, they could fit a small town inside.

Their incredible sizes and tremendous strength had me already interested in them, as I flew around with my family at my sides, everyone was capable of flying by the use of [Levitate] or Wind Magic, so even Oga and her group didn't have trouble coming with us.

We chased several of these Whales, managing to kill the first one after some effort. The best way to kill such big monsters was by raining it with penetrating magic attacks. Their thick flesh couldn't protect them from our powerful Thunders and Storms and the first one died, floating over the lava with its body pierce thousands of times.

After instantly saving it inside of my Item Box, we proceeded, after an hour, six more were killed without many troubles, and the rest of the Whales already noticed our presence. Growing weary of us, they submerged themselves in the pools to hide until things could clear out. Over this, we had a brilliant decision, I connected my MP with Aarae, Vudia, Gaby, Ailine, Amiphossia, Mady, Rimuru, Zehe and Adelle and conjured a powerful magic circle that summoned a massive flood of the oceans, flooding the entire Lava Pool.

The Lava, getting hit with such a high quantity of cold water instantly turned into stone, and the Whales and other creatures were buried alive. Then, with some Wind and Thunder Magic, we blasted the rocks inside until the grilled Whales showed up, ready to eat. What an efficient way of killing these things.

There were so many, and all of them were so big that I ate around five me by using my Red Slime shapeshifting. The meat was incredibly fatty, tender and smoky, with a hint of both spiciness and sweetness, there wasn't any need to add any seasoning outside of some salt, and thin slices of it went incredibly well with rice. Nesiphae, Nixephine, Valentia, and Amiphossia ate one each by themselves, while the others were shared, with tons of leftover meat for later.

Any other monster, after seeing such a catastrophic showcase of magic, was completely terrified, running away, even the colossal frogs ran away.

[Kireina] gained 2.674.830.600 EXP]

[Kireina] gained one level!]

[LEVEL 051/250 EXP 0.836.841.549/5.300.000.000 EXP]

[Kireina] learned the following Skills]

[Lava Whale Blazing Firestorm Breath]

[Kin Command]

After such a fulfilling feast, we continued, reaching floor 105.

As if these colossal monster weren't enough amusement for my family, floor 105 showcased a unique ecosystem, a tremendous and tall forest made up of trees, the tree barks were incredibly hard and filled with minerals, their leaves were red and released powerful, almost undying flames, each tree was forty meters tall, and there were thousands, creating an environment that you would only find in the depths of hell.

"Ah! We got these in the Lower Realm!" Said Oga as she approached me with a confident grin.

"These trees are filled with precious metals that we harvest to make our weapons and armor, we also make houses with them, they are named Inferno Barks… This brings back the memories"

"By the way, Oga… If you miss your home so much, why did you guys wanted to go to the surface in the first place?"

"Although we got plenty of minerals down there, food is scarce as the monsters that we can hunt are extremely strong. Edible vegetables, plants, and mushrooms are very rare as well… With our group, we promised my old man that we would bring food and vegetables from the greenery on the surface. I've heard that there are plenty of weak monsters up there, so it would be easier to hunt… But now that I'm serving Master Kireina, we will all be able to go to the surface and prosper!"

"I see… So, the living conditions in the Lower Realms aren't really that good… Anyways, these trees, they would be incredibly valuable in my Kingdom if we could somehow harvest them in the surface"

"Oh, that's impossible, Inferno Barks only grow in places with immense temperatures, they also need to be constantly fed with fresh lava to grow big and healthy!" Said Oga, while nodding with her usually confident grin.

"What a peculiar plant…"

Perhaps, I don't even need to worry about harvesting them in the surface, I can just plant them all in this dungeon and then make my servants harvest them and transport them to the surface. Of course, I will need to first take over this place.

As I admired the blazing forest and my family took a break, a sudden tremor appeared, a hundred monsters rushed towards our position. The first monster of this floor finally showed up, and they were… peculiar.

Five-Headed Wolves, with blazing red fur and eight horns in each head, they also had a long, draconic-like tail covered in red scales. Their paws were also reptile-like, but the rest of their bodies seemed to be of conventional wolves. Each wolf was twenty-five meters tall, majestically overlooking us with their five heads.

"Grooowwwll!!!"

"A-Ah! M-Master Kireina, I recognize those wolves, they are the terror of the Lower Realm… Not so strong independently, but if together in packs of over a hundred, they ravage villages after villages… Five-Headed Demonic Hounds…"

"Oh? They look pretty interesting"

With a single swipe from my hands, a powerful flood of storms was released, hitting the leading wolf on three of its five heads, dazed by the sudden attack, it falls to the ground while trying to recover, only to be sliced in half by a massive water blade released by Rimuru.

"I got it, Mastaa! Guu!"

Afterward, seven more wolves approached us with the intent of eating us in one bite, only to be once again thrown away by my storm attacks being released from my Aura, which drew its power from the three armors and three attributes that made up the Storm Shark Armor.

I then flew over the heads of multiple wolves, ravaging them with powerful blows, slices, and techniques enhanced by my Aura and Magic, one by one their countless head were sliced and rolled to the ground. Due to the monster's amazing regeneration capabilities, they could even regrow new heads with ease, forcing me to cut the five off in one go.

Flash!

By manipulating my tail, a powerful penetration attack impaled a wolf's head, while my claws sliced the other four. Afterward, three more wolves tried to avenge their kin, only to be received by my voracious Aura, that shapeshifted in the form of thousands of giant sharks, devouring the wolves alive. Energy flowed through my body, armor, and aura as I felt my senses being enhanced once again.

In a killing spree, I rushed over my prey's heads with the intent to kill and devour, a sudden feeling of satisfaction filled my heart as I killed and ravaged these colossal beings, I was already long lost into my monster desires.

When everything ended, the whole pack, made out of over one hundred monsters was killed, around 3/5 was done by me alone, while my family enjoyed their hunting with the rest. Oga and her group had also killed plenty with their teamwork, of course, with the support of my shielding spells and my family.

My entire armor was bathed in blood, and I couldn't help but leave a satisfied smile. I then drank most of the blood scattered around, recovering my MP and energy even more.

"Phew"

Suddenly, I felt a strange force surging from within my soul.

Ding!

[Kireina]'s Soul has reached Rank 4!]

[Soul Mutation Unlocked!]

[Soul Mutating…]

"Mutation?!"

Ding!

[Kireina]'s Rank 4 Soul has Mutated into [Bloody Chimera Soul of Scarlet Chaos: Rank 4]

My usually yellowish colored soul suddenly became incredibly twisted and moved wildly as if it had gained consciousness of its own, my body and armor kept it in place as I used my Aura to oppress it with my powers, after some time, it calmed down as I assimilated its powers.

[All Soul Stats have increased by +200!]

My soul was now a mixture of deep dark and scarlet colors, spinning as if it were an endless chaotic void. Incredibly negative energy was released from my Soul, quickly nourishing my flesh beyond my previous capabilities. My Aura mutated as well, assimilating the new power of my Soul, it turned deep dark, with small tones of scarlet. A chaotic and eerie atmosphere was generated each time I released it.

[Strength has increased by +50]

[Defense has increased by +50]

[Magic has increased by +70]

[Resistance has increased by +60]

[Speed has increased by +60]

[Charisma has increased by +100]

[Luck has increased by +20]

[Blood Strength has increased by +50]

"T-These are the benefits of Soul mutation?! Even more absurd stat boosts… So Amiphossia who has mutated it twice had probably gained all of these bonuses but twice, my daughter is very talented…"

I was already in a bottleneck on my Soul cultivation, but it seems that after such a grind fest with the wolves, and by constantly nourishing my body and soul with my Aura and the energy obtained by eating with it, I finally managed to break through and rank up to rank 4, and immediately mutating my soul afterward.

There weren't any new Skills coupled with this Soul mutation, but my overall physique had increased exponentially, and the power of my Skills, if they use my soul as fuel, would end up becoming strong as well.

I felt as if my Soul was both chaotic but incredibly vast, like an ocean… Is this how Amiphossia feels? It is indeed a very calming feeling, I feel like I would fall asleep at any moment over such a relaxing feeling, the chaos spreads through my entire body, but it has such a high affinity with me that it just ends up constantly nourishing my flesh, bones, and blood.

Incidentally, my flawless white skin gained a little bit more of color, my hair and eyes were also shining brightly in purple and scarlet light as if I had born anew.

After relaxing for a few minutes, we butchered the decapitated corpses and ate countless of them. The flesh of these five-headed wolves was thought and rather bitter. But if boiled with enough herbs and spices, it would end up with a delicious taste, while being incredibly tender as well.

Of course, we didn't cook all the hundred or so corpses, although I ate a few with my Aura, I also ate around thirty with my Red Slime shapeshifting. A burst of energy will always flow through my body each time I devoured such big prey all at once. I felt with the ability and mass to create over a thousand Slime or Phantom Fox Clones now.

[Kireina] gained 2.122.905.000 EXP]

[LEVEL 051/250 EXP 2.959.746.549/5.300.000.000 EXP]

[Kireina] learned the following Skills]

[Forbidden Summoning Magic; Five-Headed Demonic Hound Pup]

[Draconic Claw Barrage]

After eating our fill, we decided to rest and ended up sleeping until the next day. Although it was very hot, most of us have some kind of Fire Resistance. However, some of the humans didn't, so I had to use [Heat Manipulation] and [Water Manipulation] to change the temperature of the whole floor, the lava rivers and pools were frozen with the help of Geraldine, Amiphossia, Ailine, and Rimuru, and the remaining hot steam was absorbed with my [Heat Manipulation] and with [Water Manipulation], I created a temperature similar to that in the surface while at night, afterward, we had a good sleep.

[The Skill [Charming Empress of Lust Hundred Lovely Arms of Demise; Level 9] has reached level 10!]

[The Skill [One Hundred Venomous Gemstone Hammer Barrage; Level 9] has reached level 10!]

[The Skill [Overwhelming Lava Hammer; Level 9] has reached level 10!]

[The Skill [Charming Empress of Lust Hundred Lovely Arms of Demise; Level 10] has evolved into the Skill [Chaotic Overlord of Lust's One Thousand Destructive Arms of Annihilation; Level 1]

[The Skill [One Hundred Venomous Gemstone Hammer Barrage; Level 10] has evolved into the Skill [One Thousand Corroding Diamond Hammer's Onslaught; Level 1]

[The Skill [Overwhelming Lava Hammer; Level 10] has evolved into the Skill [Tyrannical Hellish Blaze Hammer; Level 1]

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