Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-37

A beautiful pink colored mermaid was sitting on the ground while looking at me with her nebula-like eyes.

"Where I am?"

"Uhh?!"

This mermaid looked almost exactly like on the old door paintings, with her golden markings on her whole body, while having a beautiful and delicate pink fish tail, her hair was of a pale pink too.

"Aaah… Y-You are in the Blood Sacrifice Dungeon… Yo-"

"DUNGEON?!"

The girl quickly tried to stood up but she slipped right in front of me.

"Ahh!"

I swiftly catch her up on my small arms.

"Relax a little bit"

The mermaid was a little bit surprised over my strength, despite my small stature.

"How can you lift me? You are just a small girl… Uhh… My head…"

"You must be tired of being in that sphere for so long. How many years have passed since you were given to that monster?"

The girl seemed pale and even a little malnourished.

"Hmm… I don't know… my father had to do it… or that monster would had… cursed our Kingdom… it was our last choice…"

"I see… Here, drink this"

I handled the girl a small blood fruit containing HP and MP secretion and my own blood.

"Hmm? A blood fruit… W-Why?"

"Just drink it"

I put the blood fruit on the mermaid lips and she slowly drank it. She was too weak to resist.

"Glup… Ah! So sweet… Is this really blood? Its like a delicious nectar"

After the girl drank all the blood, she quickly regained her Stamina and Strength. Without a second of thinking, she swiftly casted a small water spell, creating a small water ring around her fish tail, letting her float.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yes… Thank you very much… But I'm worried, where is the monster? If he knows that I somehow got away from him…"

"The monster? We are eating it!"

"Fueeh?!"

The girl noticed how my servants were having a small feast with the roasted tentacles.

"T-Those are the monster tentacles! H-He's really dead?! How? And now that I see all of you, none of you are merman! There are wolves… Is that an Ashura?! And even a giant Lamia! Oh goddess! What is this strange group you got? And you are a high fairy!"

The girl took quite some time to realize it, she must be quite clumsy.

"Y-Yeah… They're all my family… We originate from the East Rocky Mountains; we came here to explore this dungeon and we ended up conquering it"

"Dungeon? This is not a dungeon! This is the Blood Eldritch Octopus Temple! This monster has been residing here for hundreds of years, are you saying that this place became a dungeon?!"

"Yes, that's what the System told us when we entered"

"Unbelievable… The System recognized this place has a dungeon? It probably wanted someone to get rid of the monster inside…"

"That must be the case… Anyways, can you tell us about you? Like who exactly are you?"

The mermaid blushed on embarrassment.

"A-Ah… I'm very sorry for being so rude with the ones who defeated this horrible monster… This monster has tormented us for hundreds of generations, asking for sacrifices every year…"

The mermaid suddenly looked at me, completely changing her clumsy expression to that of a dignified and brave woman.

"And I… I am the princess of the Merman Kingdom of Aquaria; my name is Belle Floria Aquaria VI"

"Against my own mother and family, I offered myself as the last sacrifice, saving my people from their suffering"

The mermaid girl started to glance at her golden markings.

"You see these markings? These show the blessing of a demi-goddess, my blessing is a very special one, the blessing of the mermaid demi-goddess of life Vivienne, this blessing grants me a very long life… The monster was interested on my longevity, using my own body and its blessing as its core, letting it live as much as I would"

"So that's how it was… The paintings on the door depicted something similar to that…"

"Paintings? Did my people do paintings on the door of this room? How old were these paintings?"

"Quite old, probably have been there for hundreds of years"

"Oh goddess! How much time have I been sleeping? My family! My little brother! My father! My mother! Everyone must be dead now… Oooh… Ooh… Snif snif…"

The mermaid started to cry shiny tears, flowing through her pale and delicate face.

"What is longevity but a curse? To see my family die… to live knowing that everyone died from old, while I still live on this world… just a curse! A curse!"

"Belle… Calm down a bit…"

"B-But… I…"

"You are the princess of the Aquaria Kingdom, right? A princess is a dignified woman, that represents all her people! You shouldn't cry and show weakness to anyone"

"I… Yes… I am… I'm sorry… You are right…"

"My name is Kireina by the way, you never asked haha"

"Oh? Goddess! I'm sorry… again… I would love to know the names of every hero that slayed the horrible monster inhabiting this temple… dungeon"

After calming down Belle melancholy, we served her with plenty of delicious food and fresh water and I even offered her a cup of tea.

Her being the princess of the Merman Kingdom is a good thing. If I'm able to have a good relationship with her, I would be able to do transactions between Kingdoms, and even rely on one another in the future. I wonder what food and items the merman folk can make.

After knowing each party member name and having a good meal, we explained Belle our hardships inside the dungeon, including the time we had to fight her own people corpses, being possessed by Blood Monsters.

"Such cruelty… That monster wasn't satisfied by the hearts of my people, but used their decaying bodies as nourishment for his children… Such a horrible act… Unbelievable…"

"I know this must be rude coming from me, as you have already done so much for me, and my people… But please, I ask you, could you help me on my way to my Kingdom? I will guide you there, were you shall receive the rewards you deserve"

And so, we agreed, when we finished eating all the meat and saved the rest, we started to move upstairs.

This monster meat was very delicious, its tentacles had a completely different flavor from its main body, the tentacles having a very strong octopus' flavor, while its main body had a red meat flavor, similar to pig, with a it of spiciness to it.

The monster body was so big that when it exploded, thousands of massive chunks of meat were scattered all around the room, so we had plenty of meat saved for the rest of my servants.

YOU OBTAINED THE TITLE: HIGH BLOOD ELDTRICH OCTOPUS EMPEROR

YOU AND YOUR SERVANTS LEARNED THE FOLLOWING SKILLS:

HIGH BLOOD ELDTRICH OCTOPUS EMPEROR CURSED BODY

HIGH BLOOD ELDTRICH OCTOPUS EMPEROR CURSED TENTACLES

HUNDRED CURSED EYES ARTS: DEATH SENTENCE

HUNDRED CURSED EYES ARTS: LIFE PENALTY

HUNDRED CURSED EYES ARTS: DEBUFFING CURSE

HUNDRED CURSED EYES ARTS: ANTI-DEBUFF SHOCK

HUNDRED CURSED EYES ARTS: LOWER AND MID MAGIC RESISTANCE

ANCIENT SOUL MAGIC: SOUL MANIPULATION

ANCIENT SOUL MAGIC: SOUL ABSORPTION

ANCIENT SOUL MAGIC: SOUL PUPPET

ANCIENT SOUL MAGIC: SOUL PENETRATION

ANCIENT SOUL MAGIC: SOUL PACT

"There it is… The soul magic… and even death sentence? What does this do?"

DEATH SENTENCE: Sentence a weaker living being to death. Instant death after a certain amount of time has passed. Ineffective against equal and stronger beings. Ineffective against Undead.

Cost: 350 MP

"I see… It's not has broken has I thought… And 350 MP?! My max MP doesn't even reach that amount yet…"

Afterwards, I assimilated a big chunk of the monster main body flesh and a tentacle.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ASSIMILATED THE FLESH OF A HIGH BLOOD ELDTRICH EMPEROR

YOU LEARNED A NEW SKILL: HIGH BLOOD ELDTRICH EMPEROR HUNDREDS OF TENTACLES

This new Assimilation Skill let me create countless tentacles that looked exactly the same as the former boss tentacles, they could come in handy in the future, however it was hard to control so many limbs at the same time.

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On the way back to the surface, Belle told us about her Kingdom, which lays below a massive Lake in the middle of the Grand Forest. To enter this Kingdom, one must first swim to the Lake floor, if the floor recognizes you as a merman, a big door will open and will let the people enter this place.

It's a very secure mechanism, being able to maintain the Aquaria Kingdom without any enemy invasions for countless of generations.

When we came back to the surface, we finally were able to breath fresh air again.

Belle was the happiest one, celebrating finally being able to see the clear sky.

"Aaaaahh~! I'm finally back! It has been so long! I really can't believe that the monster is dead! My father would had never believed that one day this being would had been slayed by such a brave and diverse party!"

Zehe and Nesiphae blushed at Belle praises.

"Hehehe! That's right! We are very strong little princess!"

"Hmm, it was a big surprise to know that you were still alive inside that monster, it must have been rough"

"Ah! It doesn't matter anymore, that's already on the past, I must see my people again! Even if my family is long gone, there must be descendants still living, and the rest of my merman folk! My precious people! I hope they are going well"

Rimuru was happy over Belle enthusiasm.

"Guuu! That's true! You mustn't cry about the past! It is long gone! You must keep pushing to a brilliant future! Guuu!"

"Hehehe, thanks miss Rimuru, miss Zehe and miss Nesiphae. All of you are lovely ladies"

Thankfully my wives cheered Belle up, making her look forward to the future and her people instead of crying over the long gone past.

As we crossed through the Blood Forest, we didn't encounter any more Blood Monsters again, after feeling their father die, they all probably ran away. Making the Blood Forest way safer, aside from the Bloody Lotus Plants.

When we reached the end of the Blood Forest, we were greeted by a big open space in the middle of the forest, on its center, a massive lake was resting in.

Belle raised her delicate hands, pointing at the lake.

"There! This is the lake of my Kingdom! The Aquaria Lake! It connects with the West River too"

Before entering this big lake, Belle quickly casted a water spell, creating small bubbles around our heads, which helped us on breathing below water. However, this was not necessary at all because we already got underwater breathing skills from the merman corpses from before, but we decided to not say anything.

Belle smiled at us and invited us to jump to the lake.

"Here, let's go"

As we swam down the lake, it seemed as there was a completely different world inside this big mass of water. There was a beautiful coral reef down below, showing countless colors. On the other side, one could appreciate a massive seaweed forest.

Around the seaweed forest there were a big family of giant clams, opening their mouths and showing shiny pearls inside. The lake was also full of a massive variety of fish and other underwater monsters, from alligator variants to giant octopus, there were also sea snakes, and giant crabs of multiple colors.

If it wasn't because we were going to the Merman Kingdom, I would had already hunted half of the life inside this lake. I can't wait to taste the delicious crab meat, especially these giant crabs, such big claws would probably store the most tender of meats.

While swimming down below, Belle quickly noticed me and my servants looking at the diverse marine life with hungry eyes.

"Hehe you just ate such a huge beast, and you already want to eat these ones? Its impressive how much you can eat! But do not worry! We shall receive you with a big feast, celebrating the heroes who slayed the monster!"

"Ooh! Thanks!"

As we reached the lake floor, Belle touched the sand with her hands, and a small ring on her finger glowed with a blue light.

Flash!

The light covered the whole floor, and suddenly, something massive started to stand from the sand.

Fluosh!

A massive blue door stood up on place, it was so big that we seemed like mere ants in front of it, this blue door was decorated with thousands of drawings and markings, depicting the merman folk in different activities and rituals.

Bell pointed at the door.

"I am Belle Floria Aquaria VI, former princess of the Aquaria Kingdom! Oh! Grand Aquaria Door, open!"

Answering Belle's command, the majestic door slowly opened, showing a white light inside of it.

"So shiny! I can't see anything inside!"

Belle guided us inside.

"Do not worry, we can't see the city from the outside, we must enter the door first!"

We swiftly swam inside the door, towards the blinding light.

Flash!

As we entered through the door, it closed immediately.

Booom!

When the bright light finally dissipated, we were greeted with a majestic and grandiose underwater city, the buildings seemed to be made of colored corals, giving it a beautiful rainbow look. Most of the buildings were decorated with giant clams or starfish.

There was the biggest building in the middle of the city, which seemed to look like a big castle made of blue colored corals.

The city was bibrant with life, with thousands of Mermen, Mershark, Eelmen, Scyllas (half humanoid and half octopus) and even half humanoid and half sea slugs people named Tritonia.

All of the people inside lived in a beautiful harmony, sharing and working together without a hint of discrimination.

Most people moved through the city inside massive whale sharks, which were able to store people inside their bellies, and even had small windows. Others moved over majestic sea horses who swam with grace.

There was a big market on the center of the city were everyone went to sell and buy different things, and I even glanced at someone selling some kind of magic based technology that resembled Earth's technology a lot!

"This is Aquaria?"

"So big! So many people! I have never seen so many humanoids living in such harmony together!"

"This amount of people, far surpasses the whole Troll and Goblin armies together!"

"Hmm! There are probably thousands of people!"

As we descended to the city, some people greeted us with warm smiles, and some old mermaid lady even give us some free fruits. They seemed to welcome any new species inside.

Belle was amazed by her own city, as she did not remember it being so massive.

"Ooh! So big! My family has expanded this city so much! And the most beautiful thing is not the city itself, but the harmony! Can you see it too, Kireina? Every race, every variant is living with harmony! Without discrimination! In the past, a society like this was just a dream that me and my father fought everyday… I can't… I can't believe that we were able to achieve it! I'm so glad there are no more pointless disputes over races! Snif snif… Oooh… I see that you did well, little brother… Father…"

"Hmm! I can see it already! This place is beautiful!"

"Hehehe! Come! Let's go to the castle!"

As we walked through the city streets, I noticed how they used long pillars made of coral and reinforced with magic, which had a small light over its top, this small pillar was able to illuminate almost a whole street block.

"Impressive"

We came across countless small shops and restaurants, which were making delicious food, I could smell the sea food everywhere! I almost couldn't resist the urge to drop everything and drink some of that crab soup!

Even worse, most restaurants had people outside with the food on their hands, incentivizing others to try it and when they get them hooked on the food, they would be obligated to buy some!

In the way we were able to taste a small spoon of countless different preparations, there where a myriad variety of fish soups, there were also fried fish, fried crab croquets, delicious sea weed salad with raw fish and creamy sauces, and more!

"Hmm! So much good food too!"

"Hehe you like our food, lady Kireina? Indeed, us merfolk are very talented in countless recipes! And you still haven't tasted the best ones! These are only the small restaurants! But no worries, you will be able to taste the best cuisine in my castle!"

"Are you sure that someone will remember you, Belle?"

"Ah… Of course! This ring proves that I am of the royal family!"

Belle showed me a beautiful ring with an aquamarine colored gem on its top, she used this ring to get inside the city before.

After walking for countless streets, we finally reached the castle, however we were blocked by four big and burly merman guards wearing golden armors, and holding big spears.

"Halt! Who might you be? Do you bunch have any business with the royal family?"

Belle quickly came in front of them and showed them her ring.

"An Aquaria Royal Ring?!"

"Wait! It could be fake! Show us! Make it shine! Only the royal family can make the ring shine!"

"For sure!"

Belle raised her hand and made the blue ring shine with a bright blue light.

Flash!

"Uuahh! So bright!"

"She is really from the royal family!"

"Who might you be, missy?"

"We have never seen her in the castle before… Lets inform the royal family first"

"Yes!"

"Miss, please wait here"

"Fueh? W-Wait! Tell them that I am Belle Floria Aquaria VI! The blood monster has been finally slayed! And these brave heroes freed me from its tentacles!"

"W-What did you said?! Is this true, missy?!"

"Unbelievable! It can't be! That old princess tale, it was real?!"

"Hurry! Call the royal family itself!"

"Yes!"

After some minutes, a very old merman came, he had a long and white beard, with long winkers and was almost bald, but one could see that his eyes were the same color as Belle. He was wearing a golden attire and a big crown made of gold, decorated with gems shaped in the form of starfish and clams.

The old merman glanced over Belle for some seconds, and then dropped everything he was holding, opening its eyes with shock!

"A…Abe… Belle…? I-Is that r-really y-you…?"

"Uh? Who might you be? Aaah! Little brother! Little brother! You are still alive!"

The old men eyes started to flow with thousands of tears!

"BELLE! I AM NOT DREAMING?! BIG SISTER BELLE! OOOHH! SNIF SNIF!"

Belle went straight over the old men and hugged his old body tightly, surprising the guards around.

"Oooh! Belle! Belle! You are alive! Goddess! Is really you, big sister! I can't believe this! I really can't!"

"Little brother, I am here! Look! Touch my face! Look at my eyes! My hair! My fish tail! I'm so glad you are alive too! Snif snif!"

The old merman slowly touched Belle's cheeks, feeling the warm of her big sister once again.

"B-Belle… Its not a dream… Its really you… This is a miracle! A miracle by the gods! Guards! Call the maids and butlers, and the rest of the royal family! We are celebrating a big feast! My big sister is back alive!"

"Little brother, please wait! I would had never been able to run by myself; it was thanks to these brave heroes!"

"Ooh?! A fairy! An Ashura?! A Slime too! And even a giant Lamia! And two beautiful Wolves! Indeed! These beings exude a powerful aura! Dignified heroes! Please enter the castle and make yourselves at home!"

The inside of the castle was decorated beautifully, it even showed pictures of the oldest governors, the floor was made of pure gold, while the walls were made of a yellow coral.

The ceilings were holding big lamps made of a strange water flower, which was able to generate a big and warm light, illuminating the whole room.

We were led by a Mershark maid and a Scylla butler upstairs.

The Mershark Maid was a beautiful girl with red eyes and a blue hair, she had shark scales around her pointy ears and a long and strong shark tail, although she was wearing a black and white maid outfit, her muscles on her belly could not be easily hided.

The Scylla Butler had a handsome appearance, with blue eyes and red hair, he also had red colored pointy ears and his lower half were made of countless red colored octopus tentacles.

"Thank you very much for saving lady Belle, brave heroes"

"Please, follow us upstairs, we will be holding the feast on the dining room"

When we reached the dining room, the royal family was already sitting around, it consisted mostly of Mermen, but I noticed an Eelmaid and Mersharks, and even a young Tritonia girl accompanying her husband who was a Mermen of the royal family.

Belle was fascinated by her descendants, hugging and kissing every royal family member without any shame. Most seemed happy to see Belle in person, talking about admiring her bravery on offering herself as the ultimate sacrifice, saving the Kingdom.

However, not everyone was happy to see her, some even doubting her authenticity.

A fat old Mermen with a bald head and a small black moustache was the first one to confront Belle.

"So you are Belle? Is this really true? My grandfather is very old you see, aren't you just a girl that looks exactly like her and is trying to trick us?"

"E-Eeh? H-How could you say that to me, little descendant…"

Belle's brother quickly stopped the fatty Mermen from incriminating Belle.

"Abijam! Stop doubting my big sister! It is obvious that she is the real deal! I have already checked her status screen and the golden markings on her entire body, those are the ones the one and only mermaid demi-goddess of life granted to my sister as her blessing! Which gives her a long life, now this is a place to celebrate, please enjoy our feast!"

Abijan tried to apologize.

"A-Ah! I-I see… I'm very sorry lady Belle!"

Belle glanced at Abijan with a warm smile.

"No worries little descendant! I love you as much as I love my whole family! Feel free to ask me anything you want!"

"I-I see… Thanks for your benevolence, lady Belle"

Even though the proof was in the front of everyone, some members of the family still looked at Belle with disdain and envy.

The youngest of the family looked at Belle with admiration and asked countless questions about the older times.

Belle told them about the discrimination from old and the disputes between races and variants, and that she was glad that this new generation was different, living in harmony between races without a hint of discrimination.

A handsome blond merman with green eyes nodded, holding her Tritonia wife shoulder.

Indeed, lady Belle, I can't even imagine a world were there would be discrimination, I would had never been able to stay with my precious Anahita. Since the day I met her, my eyes were fixated on her beauty and grace, and her caring and doting personality give me joy every day.

The young Tritonia girl was of a pale blue color, with a deep blue hair decorated with golden pigments. On her back she had small golden tentacles, and her lower sea slug half seemed like a beautiful blue dress with golden markings. She had a warm smile and golden colored eyes.

"My dear Adrian, you are making me blush of embarrassment…"

The handsome merman laughed at kissed the Tritonia girl cheek.

"Don't be embarrassed my dear, you deserve everything I have"

"Fueeh… S-Stop…"

After seeing such truest expression of love between different species, Belle was very glad over her descendant open mind, and give her blessings to the wife, wishing them a beautiful life together.

Suddenly, a burly and muscular merman with a long and red hair talked, pointing at me.

"Why has no one talked about the brave heroes? They really slain that accursed monster once and from all! You must be the leader, Kireina, right?"

"Ah! Y-Yeah! It was nothing! Hahaha! We were just passing by!"

"Such strength! I could already feel your strong aura from far away! To think that someone just passing by would defeat a High Emperor class monster! Unbelievable! How did you guys get past his Dark Arts and Soul Magic skills?"

A small mermen boy with green hair and blue eyes wearing glasses yelled at the muscular merman.

"Brother Gladion! Please stop asking such annoying questions to the heroes, there will be a time for questions later on, lets first enjoy the feast, look, they are already here"

"Sigh… Aren't you the rudest one, brother Abrecan? But I understand! Let's enjoy the feast first!"

I laughed over the little interaction.

"Hahaha! Don't worry, Gladion, was it? You can ask whatever you want! I would be glad to show my tactics and the might of my people!"

"Oh? Kireina you are a formidable woman!"

For the rest of the feast I talked about how we defeated every floor guardian till the final boss, the food was delicious, consisting of countless fish preparations, from soup to fried. There was also a myriad of different types of crabs with different tastes and shells! And the merman was very good with sauces, having a huge variety of spicy and sweet sauces, going very well with the food.

YOU AND YOUR SERVANTS LEARNED THE FOLLOWING SKILLS:

ARMORED GIANT FISH STURDY ARMOR

ARMORED GIANT FISH POWERFUL BITE

LONG SWORDFISH SWIFT BODY

LONG SWORDFISH POWERFUL STAB

FLAMING SPICY EEL FLAMING BITE

FLAMING SPICY EEL FIRE PROPULSION

HEAVY ARMORED RED CRAB POWERFUL CLAW ATTACK

HEAVY ARMORED RED CRAB STRONG SHELL

LIGHT ARMORED GREEN CRAB SWIFT MOVEMENTS

LIGHT ARMORED GREEN CRAB FAST LIMB REGENERATION

GIANT BLUE CRAB POWERFUL INTIMIDATION AURA

GIANT BLUE CRAB INCREDIBLE PINCERS

GIANT BLUE CRAB HERCULEAN STRENGTH

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