Epic of Caterpillar
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chapter-544
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Lazuli, after being showered in suspicious stares and the words of my family who was in disbelief over her current actions, got into a fetal position, showing her vulnerability and mental stress.
"Please… I don't want to be here anymore…" she muttered between tears."Is she really the Boss?! Are we getting bamboozled here?" asked Valentia.
"Bamboozled? From where you found that word, sister?" asked Aarae.
"What? Bamboozled? The Rin Sister Aunties taught it to me!" said Valentia.
"A-Anyways, she looks very… well, pitiful… I have lost all the spirit on defeating her now… You poor thing, are you okay? Mommy, could it be possible to not kill her?" asked Belle flying with her butterfly wings towards Lazuli. She was a young girl but always talked like an adult.
Belle expanded her divine aura of Dawns and Eclipses around Lazuli, warming her.
"Ah…" muttered Lazuli glancing at the little Belle, who offered her hand to her.
"Don't cry, everything will be okay now" said Belle."A fairy…?" muttered Lazuli.
The Vudia flew towards Lazuli.
"I am a fairy too! Come on, do not be all gloomy! You are a Dungeon Boss, aren't you? Get up!" said Vudia with a gentle smile.
"Another fairy…?" muttered Lazuli.
The Lazuli noticed the large butterfly wings at my back and Ismene who was seeing this at Acelina's side.
"So many fairies…" said Lazuli.
Belle and Vudia then flew towards me.
"Mommy, what are you going to do with her? She seems to have a divine power of some kind… but it is very weak…" said Belle.
"The look on her eyes… being a dungeon boss could be considered to be perpetual torture in a way… dying and reincarnating so many times… it is indeed, quite stressful to the mind, especially if she didn't have a strong mind, to begin with… I have to admit that I was slowly going insane when I was a dungeon boss in the Forsaken Labyrinth… I don't really care about stupid monsters getting in here… but she is clearly suffering… and if the background she says it's true, there must be a bigger conspiracy behind her sealing and then transformation into a Boss monster… should we ask Nyzzet?" asked Nixephine
"That's right… well, it is not like we lose anything by freeing her, but let's ask Nyzzet" said Zehe at my side.
"I agree, guu" said Rimuru.
"I am just as curious… but since we entered here that Nyzzet has been glancing at us. So, what do you know? Did you seal her in here for some underhanded motive? Don't worry, I won't get mad at you, it is not something that affects me" I said.
I knew that Nyzzet was clearly watching us as this was still his dungeon and he held authority over it, glancing inside of it was something as easy as breathing for gods and their dungeons.
Unlike the gods, I am only capable of seeing a few of the things that happen inside the dungeons I have stolen, but by using Scout-type Slime Clones, I can see everything.
The ethereal projection of Nyzzet appeared, revealing a large thunder dragon made out of ethereal lighting.
"Kireina-sama… I-I swear to everything that I did not know about this!" said Nyzzet, glancing at Lazuli who was being comforted by Belle, Vudia, and the others.
"How did you get your hands on her if you didn't know anything?" I asked.
"W-Well… It all started when I bought her alongside many other monsters and the other two dungeon bosses from the Interdimensional Merchant Shop! Her Divine Power must have been sealed by a very that mysterious demigod that sold her… and I fell right into that trap as the deal was quite good… I did not want other gods to buy it first, so I bought it without consulting or anything! I am deeply sorry!" said Nyzzet.
"Don't be sorry, it is okay, I would have fallen into that offer as well" I said.
"I-I see… When I added her to my dungeon, she never showed any signs of being something else than a 'wild' fairy, which are different than the demi-humans, as these wild fairies are more akin to playful demons or devils… The seal that was put into her must be from a Demigod whose divinity is related with Sealing… even if I am a God, which is stronger than a Demigod, if my divinity is no closely related to that of the original creator of the seal, I wouldn't be capable of seeing the difference…" said Nyzzet.
I decided to then ask Lazuli who sealed her and what exactly happened to her to end up being sold as a monster in the market of the god's societies.
"I… I was one of the princesses of… Niflheim… My sister… Tundra did this to me… so she could ascend the throne instead of me… She was… jealous of me… I do not know which demigod helped her… My mind was sealed before I could see the perpetrator… I also do not recall any Demigod with divinity as strange as 'Sealing' in my original Realm… This is��� very confusing… having my mind brought back after so many years… I-I apologize…" said Lazuli between tears, recalling the memories seemed to break her spirit even more.
"You did good," said Belle while petting Lazuli.
"It seems that her seal, although it is slowly unsealing, it remains strong within her soul and her Divine Core… I have no experience in unsealing Divine Techniques as strong as these… so I don't think I can offer much for Kireina-sama" said Nyzzet.
"This body is too weak for her as well, it seems to be inhibiting the expansion of her soul" analyzed Zehe.
"How is it inhibiting it if it's so weak?" asked Nesiphae.
"It is simple… it is weak in terms of strength but strong and resilient as it possesses the power of the dungeon… as long as she dies again with this, her divine soul will go back to the reincarnation cycle and will most likely strengthen the seal, it would be better to take her out of that body as a soul, and put her into a more fitting recipient," said Nyzzet.
"Hm, like Blaze, I suppose I can use my body as a recipient and offer her a temporal body clone as a body until I come out with a solution to revive her… I was already considering doing something similar to the Moonfang and Sunclaw family souls, reviving Blaze into an egg, Lazuli could also be revived through that away in the future" I said.
"Eeehh?! You are fusing already with her?! She just appeared!" said Zehe, changing her calm face.
"I want to fuse before her!" said Nesiphae.
"This is unfair," said Brontes.
"Hey, what's going on? I was roasting some meat and- huh? Why is that fairy crying?" asked Oga who had just come to the front.
"Kireina-sama will fuse with yet another strange woman instead of us, Oga! Get angry!" said Acelina.
"Angry? Ah, like that Blaze lass? Why would I get angry? She's nice," wondered Oga.
"But Oga! She is going to fuse with Kireina before us! A union of body and soul! Isn't it the most romantic thing ever? We are deserving of doing that first…" said Zehe.
"Meh, all of you are making a fuss for nothing! Kireina-sama is just being nice and giving her an opportunity, stop being like that! Don't be selfish!" said Oga while crossing her arms.
"Well, what would you know? You're a muscle-headed ogre" said Acelina.
"What did you say?! I am not an Ogre! I am an Oni!" roared Oga.
"…what is exactly going on?" muttered Nyzzet with a low voice.
"Sigh… let me handle this," I said, as I had to explain to everyone that what I was going to do wasn't because I didn't love them or something, it was just a quick way to help Lazuli free herself from the seal.
"Yeah girls, calm down, guu" said Rimuru.
"Even I understand that what Kireina-sama will do is not purely romantic, stop being like that… These women are so problematic sometimes" said Nefertiti.
"Okay, I get it… but I wanna fuse!" said Nesiphae.
"Calm down, mom! You're an adult, aren't you?" asked Amiphossia.
"Y-Yeah… b-but…" muttered Nesiphae.
���It was just too cool when Kireina-sama fused with Rimuru, it got impregnated into our minds," said Zehe.
"…What is 'fusing'…?" asked Lazuli.
"Something that I'll do to free you, it is not technically fusing… Anyways, get ready" I said, as I touched Lazuli's head.
"I-I am ready…" said Lazuli, who was already enlightened by my various paths of enlightenment and had become strangely obedient.
"Wait, you're actually doing it?! Can you even use your body as a recipient?!" asked Nyzzet.
"Yeah, have you not seen Blaze? Her body is a clone of mine and her soul is living inside of mine… is a different relationship than my Soul World," I said, moving my eyes back to Lazuli, the tears in her eyes had already been sweep away and she was now peacefully closing her eyes and awaiting freedom.
I seeped my soul into her head, and then using my senses through my vast soul, I managed to see her divine soul and the countless seals put into her.
Deep within the sea of ethereal white and blue essence, there was a spherical crystal, it was her Divine Core, which was covered in many scriptures of unknown languages that were making a strong seal. Although many of such seals were showing clear cracks that leaked out Lazuli's Divine Energy, it needed a bit of a push to finally break down completely, similarly to a domino effect.
I seeped my soul into her own, embracing her but not devouring her. I then used 'God Devour' to pierce through the seals and eat them slowly. I spread my soul into small, bacteria-sized entities, millions of them spread across the Divine Core, making sure not to affect it.
Crack… crack!
Suddenly, the seals' letters began to crack into pieces, one after another, the letters and the seal became gray-colored dust, dissipating.
It took a few minutes, but I managed to finally free her Divine Soul, it was a matter of time for her entire soul to be cleansed by her natural Divine Energy, which began to once again flow through her soul like a vigorous river of divinity.
Flash!
Her soul, with my help, slowly began to cleanse completely of this foul seal, I even managed to taste the seal many times, it had a bitter flavor and was very dry.
The seal cracked and the soul was freed… its power exuding all around, quickly generating more and more Divine Energy.
"Ahhh… this… the seals… they're all gone" muttered Lazuli's mind within my soul, as I gently enveloped her soul within my own and then I took her out of the mortal body she was previously using, while Nyzzet helped in cutting her soul connection with the dungeon reincarnation cycle.
Flash!
Blaze, whose soul was connected with mine quickly realized that a new soul similar to her had appeared, but this one was her polar opposite, being of Ice Attribute while she was Fire Attribute.
"Hm? Who is that? A new sister?" asked Blaze.
Although her 'body' was in my Empire, her soul was always with me, and quickly realized Lazuli's presence.
"Something like that, hopefully, you two can get along well. Make sure for her to feel welcome" I said to Blaze, as Blaze passionately began to dance with her soul, celebrating a new sister.
"Of course! Leave it to me, Kireina-sama! Hello, what's your name?" asked Blaze within my soul.
Lazuli who had just been transported inside of my soul but not inside of my Soul World was surprised yet felt incredibly calm.
"I-I… I am Lazuli… you're… Blaze?" asked Lazuli, shily.
"That is right, Kireina-sama is such a nice person! She helped you escape from your destiny as well?" asked Blaze.
"I… My destiny? I suppose… I am truly lucky to have met her…" said Lazuli.
"Yeah, we are pretty lucky gals! Ask Kireina-sama for a body so you can come shopping for new clothes and stuff you like, here in the Empire everything is so big and pretty! I'll be waiting for you here!" said Blaze, as her consciousness went back to her 'body'.
"I… I will…" muttered Lazuli.
Ding!
[Kireina] acquired the [Gentle Divine Ice Fairy Empress Daughter of Skadi: Lazuli; Level 1] Skill!]
Hm, it seems that she was telling the truth, the System itself recognizes her as the daughter of Skadi.
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