Epic of Caterpillar

Chapter 638 - Lazuli

This feels so nice…

I do not want to… wake up yet.

But still… I have to…

Kireina-sama has freed me from my shackles… I cannot simply leave the favor unpaid while living in here for the rest of eternity…

My body is gone…

My Divine Core as well…

Only my Divine Soul remains, yet, since I met her, I have felt so… well.

This warmth that envelops my existence, it\'s so comforting.

They feel like the embrace of my mother when I was a mere little girl…

How long has it been since then? How much has it been…?

Sigh… I do not want to remember anymore…

But Kireina-sama seemed willing to help me even in that…

But why? Why would she do so many things for me?

I was a mere stranger a few days ago…

Perhaps, she is just a good person.

A Heroine, maybe?

Mortals always surprise us, Gods, in many ways, perhaps she was simply a nice person…

Mother… I wonder if you ever miss me. I do… I miss you dearly every day.

What Tundra did to me is… unforgivable, yet, so much time has gone by, I think I\'ve even lost the anger, the desire for vengeance has also dissipated… I only wanted to be freed, and now that I am, I simply want to rest for eternity within this warmth, it\'s as if nothing else mattered anymore…

Is this because my emotions have been broken? Has my heart shattered?

Perhaps…

I may be no longer what I used to be.

Mother, the bright girl that you once knew… I am no longer that…

I am… simply the shadow of my former self…

An empty person… with nothing else in mind other than to rest for eternity in the warmth.

But there is something that matters, not everything does not matter.

Kireina-sama matters to me, she has freed me, and within my broken heart, I still feel the necessity to repay her for what she had done to me.

And through her warm soul, my own Divine Soul has been healing very fast…

Just recently, a greater warmth came to her soul, something that she ate that made everything even more comfortable… Now, I feel like my Divine Soul is healing even faster.

I know that… I want to simply do not do anything anymore and simply rest, but Kireina-sama makes me move forward, I want to repay her and her… family.

That girl… Blaze, was it? She is similar to me, and her Divine Soul is just as warm as Kireina-sama.

Her Divine Soul is bonded with Kireina-sama too, we seem to be similar existences, despite our vastly different origins.

She often speaks to me sometimes, she keeps me entertained… Her personality is very passionate and explosive.

But I like her, she is… perhaps the first friend I\'ve ever made.

It\'s not like… I do not think of Kireina-sama as a friend, but she seems more like… Well, something else… N-Not in a romantic way, of course!

I mean… perhaps like an adoptive mother? Or an elder sister…

She is… very motherly with me, she is just nice for the sake of it…

Can people really be like that?

Perhaps it is more normal than I thought, and I have been just experiencing the worst part of this world only…

I wonder if someone misses me in Niflheim… My other sisters, how have they been?

I wonder if Tundra has changed from how she was. Has she become a good ruler?

Or was she corrupted and… perhaps something happened to our mother?

No… Tundra might have hated me… But I doubt… she would do something to our beloved mother… right?

But that mysterious God… I never knew that she had such relationsh.i.p.s with Lone Gods that only did dishonorable acts…

I do not know the God\'s name, nor its appearance, as I never managed to see him.

But I do remember his voice, it had the voice of a youthful man…

Tundra called him, \'the God of Sealing\'.

What could… she be planning now?

I hope… that she has not been meddling herself with any more Lone Gods… They might seem peaceful, but… I know that many are wicked and do acts of malicious intent just to please themselves or selfishly acquire power for their own.

Lone Gods are those that do not belong to any families, lack bonds with people and are often wicked.

Some just want to be left alone… but the majority are chaotic entities that cannot simply make bonds with others due to their natures and bizarre divinities.

However, through what Kireina-sama has talked about, I have heard her talking about Lone Gods, some are her allies… So, I better do not discriminate against them if I ever get to meet one…

And well, aside from Blaze, there have been… other people here too.

Although not exactly in the same \'space\' as me, there are others that dwell and live within Kireina-sama\'s body and soul.

They often enter and get out of it as if it were their house… it is quite bizarre, but I suppose that Kireina-sama\'s incredible capabilities let her do that, and due to her nice and motherly character, she might not mind at the least.

There is a girl, a girl that sounds like a mature woman, but talks like a child, she was named Mao… her personality is genuinely nice, although she seems rather immature and childish, she is always very bright, as much as Blaze.

She had told me that she was once a mere summoned Familiar, but that changed once when she was given many powers by Kireina-sama, and now she had become a unique creature, something named \'Manticore\'.

Ah, there is also another similar girl to her, named Wall… Yes, it is a rather strange name, but she is just as nice and sweet… Kireina-sama has many good people as allies.

She is often called \'Little Wall\' by the others, and she is nice and a bit immature, but I suppose that might be part of her adorable charm. Little Wall usually talks about various things, and I have heard that she has a \'main body\' which are the giant walls protecting the Empire… It is hard to believe, but it might be true by taking into account Kireina-sama\'s incredible capabilities.

And there\'s… well, a group of siblings named \'the Chimera Siblings\', although, in this state I cannot see any of the people, they have told me that they have several different appearances, and were \'summoned\' or simply \'created\' by Kireina-sama. Through her various wonderful capabilities.

The leader of the \'Chimera Siblings\' is a creature that calls itself Catterpillar, and is quite charismatic. She likes to talk mostly about delicious food, and about how much she likes to go over her mount, a flying golden wyvern named Shiny.

The rest of the siblings all are charismatic as well, they all have rather noticeable personality traits… It is impressive to think that they are monsters… I suppose that the concept of what monsters are is shattered when we talk about Kireina-sama\'s allies.

Ah… and well, there are also… many Vampires. Indeed, the race was born from a goddess named Agatheina in this Realm of Vida.

I did know about the existence of Vampires since I was in Niflheim, they are a widespread race of beings, but I never imagined that they originated from a Goddess here… although some of them also told me that not all of the Vampires were, as some are granted Vampiric Races through evolution in the System.

The world is really vast, isn\'t it?

These Vampires are all nice people, though there is one called Aleksandra, who is a bit too fascinated with Kireina-sama. She is often reprimanded by the other Vampires, such as Jerold, who is a Black Cat Beast-men, there is also Caedmon and Cassandra who are nice people as well.

Everyone has been very nice to me… Perhaps not only for Kireina-sama but for all of these people, I want to… I want to work hard for everyone.

I want to meet them as well… In-person this time.

I believe that I am… healed enough, I am so weak that being in the mortal realm (surface) would not affect me as much… and I have also heard Kireina-sama talking with a God who had descended too… Although I barely heard much, I think she even gave it a physical body…

Perhaps I could also get one that is not simply the one… the one from that wicked dungeon.

But wouldn\'t this mean a new beginning, what could I chose to become now?

I am sure that she also let that God choose what it wanted to be… Perhaps, I could get a similar benefit…

I have always been a fairy, and Kireina-sama seems to be one too, well, not completely. She has shapeshifting powers too… and seems to not be simply a fairy at all…

Well, what can I become to be strong? What can I be to become useful?

To not be weak and pathetic anymore…? I do not want to be like my former self anymore, I want… to be someone else, someone new…

But can I achieve it?

Can I, mother?

As I rest… I call upon Kireina-sama, telling her of my recovery, and that I want to see the outside world once again…

Everyone… it will be nice to meet you all, in person this time…

[Day 261]

[Kireina] gained +780 Skill Points and Subclass Skill Points due to the prayers of your believers!] (Added!)

[Kireina] gained 483.195.958.852.279 EXP due to the prayers of your believers!]

[Level: 117/250] [EXP: 809.119.827.041.342/1.760.000.000.000.000] (Added!)

Today in the morning I was woken up by the small murmurs of the voice of a young woman within my soul.

This seemed to be Lazuli, who had just woken up from the slumber she had undergone since I freed her from being a Dungeon Boss. I have left her bonded into my Soul to nourish her through the energy released from my soul. She seemed to have undergone an almost full recovery in a few days after that event.

Lazuli was very weakened from the events that underwent through her hard life. She was backstabbed by her sister, and through a mysterious god whose power was related to sealing, she had her physical body sold as Divine Materials alongside her Divine Core, only leaving her Divine Soul, in a similar state to Hydros or Geie.

However, her state was way worse than theirs, perhaps even compared to Geie. Her soul was way too damaged, and her mind was on the verge of fragmenting into pieces due to the constant suffering and stress that she went through for many years.

But due to my healing, she has recovered a lot… and also, is suppose I should thank Blaze and all of my servants that often come to inhabit my body to rest.

It seems that part of her rehabilitation were these people, and how they constantly kept talking with her and making her feel better and safer.

"Do you believe you\'re ready to emerge?" I asked her, as I was already having breakfast with my family.

"…Yes, Kireina-sama… I am ready to emerge…" said Lazuli with a timid voice.

"Very well then," I said, waving my hand as my soul emerged from within my body, like a spectral and ethereal mass, I slowly manipulated it around as many colors were showed to my family.

"Woah, mommy, what are you doing?" asked Belle in surprise.

"Remember Lazuli? It seems that she is ready to get out… I should bring Blaze here too" I said, as I spoke with Blaze, she was currently walking around the city with other people, but immediately left what she was doing and rushed back to the castle.

"Ah! Kireina-sama! Has Lazuli recovered at last?" asked Blaze as she came flying like a flaming meteor through the sky, reaching the window of my room and entering while flapping her blazing wings.

"Indeed… Aaand, here she is" I said, twisting around my soul as from within the black, pink, red, purple, yellow, gold, and other colors emerged a bright clear blue, jumping out of my soul and hitting the floor head-on.

Splat!

"Uwah! Lazuli-chan!" said Blaze, flying towards Lazuli, as Lazuli began to shape her Divine Soul around.

"Aaahh… Blaze, don\'t worry, it didn\'t hurt, it is just the floor" said Lazuli, her Divine Soul then shaped itself into materialized ice, which acquired the form of her fairy body, although completely made out of ice.

"Lazuli-san, how do you feel?" asked Belle.

"You\'re back!" said Vudia.

"She seems to be in good shape, despite lacking a lot of power, I would say that she can stay like that just fine…" I said.

"Ahh… Belle-san, Vudia-san… I am fine, thanks for your concern…" said Lazuli with a small and timid voice.

"Uwah, she\'s made entirely out of ice!" said Ailine in surprise.

"She should be careful not to melt around Blaze, she\'s literally in fire…" said Oga while crossing her arms.

"Ah, Oga-san, do not worry, my ice cannot be melted like this, as it is simply the materialization of my soul…" said Lazuli.

"Oh! So you\'re immune to our fire?" asked Kaguya.

"N-Not exactly, I would appreciate it if you… didn\'t throw fire at me if possible…" said Lazuli.

"Eh? Of course, we won\'t! Take it easy, girl!" said Oga.

"So, do you wish to stay in your Divine Soul, or do you want a physical body? I should be able to grant you one of my True Body Clones, so you can become similar to Blaze… Although I\'ve been planning on giving her a new body so she can grow strong independently" I said.

"Oh! A new body?! Really? If it can be like this one… Or maybe even stronger?! Perhaps I would be able to finally level up! And learn Skills and other things that mortals enjoy!" said Blaze.

"That\'s… I would be happy if it could be that way, Kireina-sama…" said Lazuli with a polite tone.

"Very well then, I already got the grasp of it with Hydros, so it should be possible for you two as well," I said.

"Don\'t worry girls, Kireina-sama is an expert in this regard~" said Hydros who was having breakfast with us. Her great size and appearance intimidated Lazuli a bit.

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