Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-469

Drarus was one of the eldest children of Lionel, and the most promising.

His birth into this world was miraculous, as his mother had died before he was born.

Drarus mother was the previous Queen of Moonfang, and perhaps the only person that Lionel genuinely loved in his entire life.

She was an outstanding warrior and also a powerful magician, her strength was almost equal to Lionel himself.

However, in the middle of a war, where she led her troops, she was killed after killing thousands of soldiers. Lionel was not able to protect her… since that day, he became cold and threw away his emotions.

But miraculously, from the corpse of his mother, Drarus began to cry inside of her belly, Lionel quickly called medics and priests and forcefully extracted Drarus from within his deceased mother's womb.

Unlike the rest of Lionel's concubines, Drarus mother was a half-human and half lioness, who was raised by a faraway tribe of amazon woman, until one day she joined in the Moonfang Empire and enlisted as a warrior and a guard for the Kingdom, through her feats, she charmed the young Lionel.

Drarus was born from the love of her and Lionel, and the moment he was born, his golden aura could be clearly seen by everyone present… as the baby cried, his golden fur shined brightly and his aura, which was of the same color formed an arc, it was as if the sun had once again raised in the middle of the night.

It was as if a miracle made by the goddess Maeralya, the progenitor of all cat beastmen was occurring… and it was indeed the truth. Maeralya had blessed Drarus that day, as she detected that he was a 'children blessed by fate'. She gave him her blessings and Drarus immediately obtained an Epic Skill, becoming part of the 'World's Epic', a Hero in the making.

Even Lionel could not take on the brilliance of the upbringing of his son… born from the corpse of his mother, who fought until she fell to her knees and died in the middle of a war. The event itself was almost poetic, a bright child, shining brightly like a sun was born from his deceased mother, that died fighting like a true warrior until the bitter end.

It was truly something that would be described in legends and be imprinted in the history of feline beastmen for generations.

As Drarus grew up, he became stronger and stronger, he was truly blessed by fate and the gods. His body quickly developed into a herculean physique, muscles bulging on his large arms, legs, biceps, shoulders, and everywhere.

At the age of five, he was already two meters tall, with a long golden mane, long golden claws, and fur covering his claws, feet, and chest.

He explored the outskirts of Moonfang, and conquered dungeons left and right, Drarus was unstoppable and was beloved by the people as one of the Heroes of Moonfang.

The riches he won in dungeons were distributed to the people of the poor villages, and he would also share the countless monsters he hunted, their nutritious meat helping a lot of people getting by winter.

But through Drarus feats, he also generated a massive shadow to his other siblings… with the support of his father who was always proud of him, Drarus never realized that his siblings hated him so much for stealing their father's attention.

Anyone that was not as capable as him would be overshadowed by his amazing strength, abilities, and feats. Even Vasipheus, who was almost of his same age could not compare to him, and only received a small amount of attention, but not as much admiration as Drarus.

Drarus was unaware of the hate and resentment of his siblings… until one day, when Vasipheus was possessed by Geggoron, he fell to his knees.

Against the power granted by a Demon God to his sibling, Drarus did not stand a chance and was defeated. He asked why he was so hated, even after doing so many good deeds and helped and protected the Kingdom…

"Why… Why do you resent me so much, brother?! I have only tried to be a good person, someone that can be truly called a Hero!" said Drarus, vomiting blood.

"It is exactly because of that. Because you are perfect. Because you are the most talented one, the most amazing one, and the most outstanding individual in everything…" Vasipheus said.

"But you have your own qualities… It does not mean that others cannot shine or be the best they can be! Vasipheus, weren't you my little brother? What had happened to you?! Do not listen to that fiend possessing you! You have always been such a nice brother, a good warrior, an honest person!" shouted Drarus.

"Good person? Me? I was never a good person, brother. I have been always envious; I have been always hateful! …And fiend? Do you mean Geggoron-sama? He is not a fiend; he is my benefactor. I am not being possessed; I have embraced him! He's the only one that comprehends me!" shouted Vasipheus, slashing Drarus with his claws until he fell unconscious.

As Drarus was at death's door, Geggoron used this opportunity to possess him and make him one of his vessels.

Drarus's mind was then taken over by Geggoron's split soul and his consciousness drifted into a sea of darkness and corruption. His mind broke and he became similar to Geggoron, both minds merging together.

He only strived to serve him well, working with the siblings that once envied him, and even Vasipheus as if nothing… everyone working for the sole purpose of serving Geggoron in the best possible of ways…

Drarus mind was so affected by the treason of Vasipheus and almost dying that his mind became more corrupted than the rest, as he was once rather humble and honest, he had never embraced such dark thoughts.

Geggoron's split soul corrupted his mind like poison and he became savage and aggressive, and even enjoyed stepping over the weak that he once protected and tried to nurture...

Everything was going smoothly, until the being called by Geggoron's main body as 'Kireina' appeared and began to destroy any plans that Geggoron had in mind against her.

Geggoron thought that using all the tools he had collected; he would be capable of intercepting Kireina and destroy her once and for all… but things didn't go as he wanted them to go.

Kireina brainwashed the entire population of the capital, including Monstrosities and Nightmare Hunters, emptying the whole city in minutes.

Drarus and his family came outside to find an empty city, and Kireina and her allies floating above the sky.

Drarus was enraged, trying to destroy the magic circle that was doing all of this but was stopped by a massive mace that blasted him away through the air, clashing against the floor.

Kireina and her wives then decided to separate the whole group by showering them with a rain of attacks, Drarus was then left alone with the perpetrator of that attack he received previously and a friend of hers, enclosed inside a different space made through the Aura of Kireina and her wives, a powerful domain that was very hard to break.

Drarus did not have any time to destroy it anyway, two women were trying to kill him right at this moment. He needed to quickly fight for his life.

"Hey, let's resume what we started a few minutes earlier, shall we~?" Laughed a pink-haired, chocolate-skinned young woman with a beautiful and youthful face, alongside burly and tight muscles covered in gemstone-like scales, a long and thick tail, a black horn in the middle of her forehead alongside a few more around her forehead, forming a crown.

Alongside these characteristics, she had bright golden irises and a charming and playful smile, wearing lightweight armor covering some areas of her body but still revealing a lot of her beautiful, glossy, and smooth chocolate skin, she was Lilith.

"Lilith, don't go overboard, I also want to test my new abilities… I feel like real combat like this is more useful than hunting monsters in the dungeon," said a woman with pale white skin and long black hair. She had a slender and beautiful body, with several circuit-like tattoos around her thighs, back, and shoulders. Alongside this, she had small jewels decorating her body, one in her chest, her belly, left hand, and her back.

She had a long and pointed tail, which played around devilishly, alongside this, there were small bat-like wings that she had at each side of her hips, extending themselves widely. In the middle of her forehead, she had a yellow jewel that shined brightly. And at each side of this jewel, there were two black horns, she was Charlotte.

"You whores! You two shall receive punishment for what you have dared to do!!! No one can simply mess with the great Geggoron-sama and end without any consequences! Die!!!" roared Drarus, like a wild animal, running towards the two ladies, which were floating in the sky using the 'Levitate Rings' given by their wife, Kireina, and then jumping with immense strength, breaking the floor down below and generating spider web-shaped cracks.

Flash!

"GAAOOO! Aura! Golden Adamantine Claws Slashing Catastrophe!" shouted Drarus, moving the large golden claws on his paws while enhancing his entire body with a golden aura, slashing-shaped energies flew towards Lilith and Charlotte one after another.

"Let me receive him!" said Lilith, waving her hands as a giant high-tech magic cannon appeared out of her Item Box and floated around her, being carried by magic technology nanobots that she created that resembled small slimes made out of liquid metal. As she infused her Mana and Aura into her weapon of choice, the cannon received Drarus's attacks with a massive beam of converged colors.

Flash!

"Geh?! W-What?! Aagh!"

Drarus attacks were instantly destroyed and he was sent flying like a bullet made out of burly muscles, his fur was burned alongside his flesh.

"GAAOO!"

Using the Golden Aura that he could naturally generate, Drarus covered his burns and quickly regenerated them, even the fur was back over the top of his white skin.

"Gahaha! Useless, pest! My regen-"

"Behind you!"

Lilith appeared behind Drarus with immense speed as she raised both her Battle Axe and her Mace, unleashing slashing, and smashing techniques over its large and wide back.

Clash! Slash!

"Guaaaghh…!"

Blood and flesh flew from his back torso, as Drarus was sent through the air once again, he glanced at Lilith with immense resentment, his golden eyes becoming scarlet red due to the intense and wild rage.

"GAAAA!"

Suddenly, he twisted his body and flew towards Lilith by using his Aura, raising his golden claws, and unleashing countless slashes against her. His Aura began to shapeshift into the head of a lion, alongside large lion paws that helmed him on his onslaught.

Lilith received his attacks with a wide smile, showing her sharp teeth, she generated walls of jewels that received his attacks while she intercepted some with her weapons.

Clash! Clash! Slash! Slash!

"RAAA! Mountain Splitting Slash! Skull Smashing Mace! Full Aura Enhancement!" shouted Lilith, overwhelming Drarus with her greater speed and mastery over a wide array of techniques and spells.

"I am not losing to you!" roared Drarus, as his Aura began to tremble, its golden luster merging itself with a darker color, a wide crimson eye appeared in the forehead of the lion-shaped Aura beast over his body, concentrating Divine Energy and then firing a massive beam of Nightmarish Divinity.

Flash!

"DIE! GAHAHA!"

However, Lilith smiled, as she converged large amounts of her Aura and Mana into her throat and opened her mouth!

"Dazzling Jewel Draconic Breath!!!"

Flash!

Flames of all the colors of jewels that Lilith could create came outside of her mouth, resembling a beam that pierced Drarus's Nightmare Scarlet Beam.

"GRAAAA!" shouted Lilith, as the slime clones of Kireina that were around her armor began to cast 'Divinity Devouring', making her breath capable of consuming the Divine Energy-charged beam.

"Ugh! W-What?!"

Flash!

Lilith's breath absorbed the crimson beam and then became even more intense, reaching Drarus and burning his entire face and chest.

"Gaaaaahh!"