Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-367

As a series of unfortunate events made the tribes of Centaurs inhabiting the Dungeon made by Morpheus lost contact with each other for years, in the large and vast Desert Biome, where the Sphinx inhabited, a certain group of monsters was being commanded by a mysterious figure that they called their Empress.

A powerful being that had evolved after countless hardships and was now planning on conquering the Desert for herself. Calling her children, the Giant Snakes, she sent them out to accomplish the simple task of exterminating the small Sphinx Villages.

And unfortunately for the small Dry-Stone Village of Sphinxes, they were the closest ones to the Snakes.

A young Sphinx girl by the name of Acathea, with short brown fur in her lower half, tanned brown skin in her upper half and emerald eyes was attending the small crops that the Village planted surrounding the medium-sized Oasis were they lived. This month seemed to be a good harvest, with fresh and juicy vegetables being harvested.

The little girl hummed as she picked up the red tomatoes and placed them in a basket that she had placed in the back of her lower body.

"Hmm~ Such juicy tomatoes, mom and dad will get very happy when they see them… eh? What's that?"

Not only Acathea was harvesting the delicious, juicy-looking tomatoes, but several other Sphinxes were doing the same task around her, all of them stopped their activities as they saw a strange bulge of sand moving towards them from the outskirt of their Village.

"W-What is that?"

"A Monster?"

"Could it be a Desert Worm?"

"Call the guards!"

"On it!"

A group made of a dozen of lightly armored Sphinxes holding sharp spears and swords ran towards the Village outskirts, some wielded giant shields while others stayed in the back, holding staves.

The Sphinxes of the Dry-Stone Village were used to the occasional Desert Worm or Earth Wurm appeared and disturbing their harvest, but unlike other times, it wouldn't be such an easy task.

"Protect the harvest…! What?! S-Snakes?!"

The Village Guards quickly found out that the bulges of sand weren't the typical monsters that they were used to fight for years, but giant snakes, with dark and brown colors in their steel-like scales, their sizes were greater than Desert Worms or Earth Wurms, their eyes were scarlet red and their mouths could fit an entire house inside.

"Giant Snakes?!"

"Don't falter! Defend the Village!"

The Giant Snakes closed in, opening their mouths wide, using their tails to move the sand around and making the Guards lose their balance, alongside their powerful Corrosive Poison Attribute Magic and the Earth Attribute Magic, the Sphinxes quickly began to lose men.

The snakes indiscriminately began to devour the Guards as other smaller groups infiltrated inside the Village, destroying the houses, spreading poison in their farms, and gulping down the people in one bite.

"GYAAAAAH!"

"N-Noo!!!"

"Someone, help!"

Acathea was grabbed by one of her neighbors as she was carried away from the scene, her eyes crying as she saw her parents defend their home only to be eaten alive.

"Moom! Daaad!!!"

"Acathea-chan…! Please, be strong!"

"B-But…! Snif… Snif…"

A large snake stood in the middle of this chaos, laughing happily.

"Gihihihi… Delicious kittens, I just cannot get enough of them! Destroy everything, brothers! And eat! Devour to your heart's content!"

As the large snake grabbed upon the corpse of a Sphinx that he had previously poisoned and saw it struggle in pain and agony until it died, he opened its mouth and gulped it down…

"Hmm~ So deli- BUGEH?!"

However, the moment he gulped on the corpse, the corpse of the Sphinx exploded into countless sharp spikes, penetrating the throat of the Giant Snake General, who began to vomit blood hysterically.

"W-What… BUGEEH…! WHAT THE HELL?!"

The Figure of a slim and beautiful Fairy appeared behind him.

"So, you can survive my Blood Attribute Magic Spell, Blood Corpse Explosion? Well, how about I cast it again…?" she said, her voice, resonating in the ears of the Snake.

"Huh?! A-And just who are you!? BUGEEEH…!" before it could even confront the strange woman, the snake stomach exploded once again, the pieces of flesh of the corpse he had eaten began to detonate again, sharp needles made out of hardened blood penetrated its innards, giving him extreme pain.

"GYAAAAAAAH! It hurts! It hurtssss…!"

Just from where this insect came from?! Did she do this?! He thought.

"It is really troublesome if you lowly snakes begin to kill my future citizens, you really made me angry, you know?"

"Huh?! A-Angry?! AND WHO THE FUCK CARES?! DIIEEEEE…!"

The Giant Snake General mustered all of its strength and magic to conjure powerful Poison Attribute Magic in the form of large beams of corrosive liquids, firing them towards the Fairy, who didn't evade anything, receiving the attack head-on.

"Gehehe…! UGH!"

But before the Giant Snake General could celebrate its victory, its body began to rumble, its innards were being dissolved into a soup, the pain of having its internal organs being converted into pure liquid was completely agonizing for him, who didn't even possess Pain Resistance.

As he glanced back at the area where the fairy was, there was nothing, not even a semi-dissolved corpse that he expected.

"Hmm… Blood Magic and Poison Magic, coupled with Bacterial Nest is very useful. I can control faraway blood, add poison to it, and then add deadly flesh-eating bacteria as well… Ah, you're still alive? That's surprising…"

The voice of the annoying fairy who seemed to be behind the agony of the Giant Snake General appeared behind him. Using all of the strength he could fathom, he enhanced his body and tried to bite her, twisting its long body.

"YOU WRENCH! HISSSSS!"

"What an insolent snake you are… Learn manners, would you?"

As the giant gaping mouth was about to bite her and pulverize her, she raised her beautiful and delicate hand and gave the Snake a simple slap into its face.

SLAP!

"GIIIHHH… GYAA-"

However, the strength of such an attack was immense, powerful energy was infused in such a slap, it was as if dozens of techniques were combined in such a simple movement of her hand.

The force created by such an attack torn apart the Giant Snake General head, sending it flying like a meteor through the sky.

The chaotic scene stopped as the Snakes destroying everything glanced at the fairy… Kireina.

With a single slap, their General, the strongest Giant Snake in their group, was beheaded.

Kireina got a hold of the Snake Soul and devoured it. Most of the time, a being's soul wouldn't be able to be seen by most people, but when Kireina grabbed on them with her Aura, they became visible.

The Giant Snakes glared at the shrieking Soul of their General being eaten like a snack by Kireina's beautiful and delicate mouth.

"GYAAAAH! IT HURTS! My existence… is fading! What is this?! Heeeelppp…!"

With the last call for help, the Giant Snake General's soul was eaten, and its existence disappeared.

"Hmm… It was okay, I guess"

Acathea, who was near this incident glanced at the beautiful fairy, who had just beaten the terrifying monster that took the life of her friends and neighbors.

"W-Who is she…?"

The Giant Snakes would be sweating in fear if they could, they left everything they were doing and decided to retreat.

"R-Retreat!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Slide as you've never done beforeee!"

However, as if the sand and the sun itself came to judge their sins, the dunes moved as if they were alive, giant sand tentacles grabbed on the Snakes, while the piercing light molded itself into large and sharp lances, impaling the snakes countless times.

Nixephine and Nefertiti worked together from above in the sky to not let the Snakes run away, crushing and burning the ones that thought that they could easily escape.

Acathea also took a glance at the two goddesses-like figures floating in the sky, inflicting judgment upon the ones that brought her despair.

Meanwhile, Amiphossia and her siblings quickly began to heal the wounded and the ones near death, while Kireina grabbed on the souls of the recent death Sphinx, Amiphossia healed their corpses and then she implanted their souls back into them while using her Slime Tentacles to manipulate the bodies and make their lungs breath and their heartbeat again. They were virtually revived.

Such miracles could only be bestowed by gods themselves, isn't it?

That's what Acathea thought, as she saw a beautiful woman with a dragon-like appearance, Altani, slicing the belly of a snake who lost its head, revealing the corpses of her parents, which were also quickly revived.

"Mommy… Daddy!"

She let loose of the grip of her neighbor who tried to rescue her as she ran towards her parents… however, a crazed Giant Snake came into her view and decided to use her as his last meal.

"Y-You kittens! We never knew that you had such allies within your village! You trapped us! DIEEE, YOU MIDGET!"

Acathea was frozen in fear as the grotesque snake rushed towards her, opening its wide mouth revealing its sharp fangs coated in deadly poison.

However, just at this very moment, a beam made out of countless colors flashed from the sky, as if it were a rainbow coming from the sun itself, it pierced the Giant Snake's head, leaving a giant bloody hole in the middle of its forehead.

"GYAAAAAAAH…!"

Acathea was seeing the scene unfolded completely frozen, and even when the Snake died, it slowly fell directing its weight towards her position, however, the fear made her not able to muster the strength to move her feet.

But to her surprise, another figure appeared, a handsome and tall young man, with tanned brown skin and four muscular arms, grabbed on the Snake corpse and saved Acathea from her sure death.

"Phew, that was quite close, little girl," said the young man… Ryo.

"Onii-chan, you saved her? Are you a Hero now?" said the voice of a cute little girl, Ailine.

"What? I am not a hero! Mother said that all of the Sphinx will be our citizens, so we need to treat them like that, right? It's natural to be kind to the citizens that we will one day govern, Ailine"

"I see... but it would have been interesting to taste them…"

"Ailine, mother already told us that we are already too strong, we wouldn't obtain any Skill from eating the Sphinxes, they are more useful as citizens"

"Hehe, I know, I know… Hm? Are you okay? What's your name?" asked Ailine as she glared at the dumbfounded Acathea, she grabbed on her hands happily.

"I… I… Snif… Bueeehh…!"

Acathea tightly hugged Ailine with her upper human half, which was around the same size as her. Ailine wrapped her thin arms around Acathea's back and patted her silky black hair.

"There, there... Everything is fine now"

Quickly after Ailine comforted Acathea, her parents came rushing towards her, raising her above hair. The warm love of her parents granted her broken heart hope about life once again…

The rest of Kireina's wives and children quickly disposed of the hideous Giant Snakes, not even Amiphossia or Nesiphae saw any brethren in them, seeing them as inferior and barbaric creatures.

"Phew… I'm so glad we managed to save them…" said Sofelaia.

"Indeed… so these are Sphinx… another of our lost siblings…" said Sofarpia.

The Centaur Twins finally had a meeting with the Sphinx Chief and his family, while Kireina presented herself… and was quickly worshiped as a Goddess not long after, much like the rest of her family.

It resulted out that Acathea was the chief daughter, and the chief had just died protecting his house and his wife from the snakes, they were thankfully revived by the incredibly unconventional abilities of Kireina and her family, who were able to break the boundaries of everything that was thought possible for a mortal before.

Meanwhile, as a small Snake sneaked out from the scene, running away from the slaughter of its siblings, it swam through the desert's sea, and after several hours, it reached a series of caverns.

The small black-colored snake moved through the hundreds of Giant Snakes sneaking around doing their own things, in some smaller cavers they were eating corpses of monsters, in other, some were resting and in others, they were fighting and sharpening their Skills and Magic.

The little snake dragged itself towards a large room, oddly decorated with several treasures and items, dissimilar with any other cave in this underground area.

There, a giantess sat down in a throne made out of bones.

Her lower half was that of a Black Snake, but her upper half was humanoid, mildly covered in these dark scales and horns. Her eyes were scarlet red and her smile devilish. She had long black hair and chocolate-colored skin. Her beauty was unparalleled, and several Giant Snakes served her fresh prey and other items dropped by defeating monsters.

The little snake quickly moved towards this giantess, sliding over her snake tail until her shoulders, and hissing in her long-pointed ears, informing her of what had happened recently in the nearby Sphinx Village.

"What?! Some strange invaders…? A woman with bug wings and other creatures… Are you saying that there is another like me?! Two of them!? A purple and a white one… So, I am not the only Lamia in here…"

The beautiful woman was the Empress of the Giant Snakes, who had evolved into a Lamia a few years ago, and since then she had been laying eggs constantly, to generate an army big enough to conquer the Desert and then the entire Dungeon.

The news about these invaders ruining her conquest plans was annoying and disgusting. All of her efforts could go to waste now.

"Hmph, it does not matter. I have the relic of the God of this Dungeon… And that group of Snakes were weak anyways, I sent them to the nearby Village because I didn't think highly of them, to begin with…" she said.

"As long as I have this relic with me… I will be unparalleled… my army is slowly moving towards the large cities, so there is no time to worry about these strangers. For now, send bigger groups to invade the Sphinx Villages, destroy their corps and eat them without leaving any traces!"

The Snakes surrounding her nodded, as their bells in the tip of their tails rattled in happiness.

"Yess, our Empress…"

"It will be done as you say, mother"

"For the conquest of the desert…!"

The Empress patted the little snake at her shoulders, as she opened her Item Box, revealing a large sphere made out of crystal… a strange presence was contained inside.

An ominous being, something beyond mortals murmured words of wisdom to the Lamia, as her power and Aura grew thicker and stronger.

"Yes, Demon God-sama! I will give you everything you desire, the dungeon… and then the rest of the world…" She said, glancing at the ominous sphere with enamored eyes. Her purple dark Aura raising from within her body, emanating an air of venom and destruction.