Epic of Caterpillar

"W-What are you doing?!" I cried while trying to not drown in her chest.

"Thank you for everything, Kireina. You\'ve done a great work in this place and protected us despite being strangers to you… You don\'t know how grateful I am." She said, caressing my hair.

"W-Well, it was nothing… I was just doing what I had to do." I said. "Don\'t worry about it."

"No, I worry! I don\'t want you to go and just forget about us, because we\'ll surely never forget about you." Floresse said. "I\'ve already given the order to erect a bronze statue of your humanoid form and butterfly form. I want the future generations to know the hero that helped us against the invasion of the Human Empire, a war that could had potentially destroyed not only our country, but the rest of the Kingdom if you weren\'t there."

"W-What?! You\'re going so far?!" I asked. "Wait, what about Sol?"

"Haha, I didn\'t really do much compared to everything you did, Kireina." Said Sol. "I also don\'t like being glorified, I got sick of it back in Genesis. They offered a statue of me too but I rejected it."

"I-I see…" I sighed. "Well, just do whatever you want I guess." I said while blushing a bit. "Now I\'m going! Take care, Floresse, I\'m sure you\'re a good governor, protect your people."

"I will!" She said, kissing my cheeks. "You\'re so cute! If you were a bit older, I would even take you as my bride…"

"B-Bride?!" I asked in shock.

"Heheh… Auntie Floresse is into women." Said Elfina.

"I just swing both ways, there\'s beauty in both genders, Elfina." Floresse said.

"R-Right…" Elfina said.

"Well, if you ever come back, and you\'re older… I could give you a little chance." Said Floresse, winking at me seductively.

What with this horny and unholy woman?! If I had a dick I would already be getting a boner!

"Erm… I\'ll keep that in mind, thanks for everything." I said.

And like that, we quickly began our journey into the Ankh Desert. I packed everything they brought into my Item Box except for the bare minimum that Elfina, Fiere, and Sol carried in leather bags with themselves, such as water to consume constantly while bathing in the hot desert.

I have mostly hunted monsters at night so I had not realized just how freaking hot the sunlight hit. And because I was a damn Vampire, the sunlight was hitting me harder. My combined Fire and Light Resistance were doing their best to reduce my damage, but I was still taking damage constantly, so I had White using her healing skills sporadically from time to time.

We went through the drier Outer Lands before entering into the Ankh Desert in full. The Outer Land was the land in between the desert and the forest, and the vegetation here was slowly dying more and more until nothing remained in the entrance to the desert.

In front of us, beautiful golden dunes bathing in the sunlight greeted us. The brightness of the sun was hitting us like a deadly laser, and the blue sky atop the skies, with no clouds at all whatsoever, seemed beautiful. In the distance, we were able to see Cactus filled with spikes and with red and yellow glowers spread through, some bigger than others.

"Wow, so this it the Ankh Desert." Said Elfina. "It is really… beautiful, it feels like I am in a sea of gold…"

"It is named after Ankh, the Old God of Sands." Said Luminous. "It is said that he created it as a breach between areas of the world. Even in this arid region, special life inhabits and thrives."

"I see…" I said.

"There\'s also humans living here, and even elves." Said Fiere.

"Eh? Really?" Asked Sol.

"Indeed, there are small cities that do trades and farm special cactus and mine ores in the mountains in here. There are unique cuisine and monsters, and there are a big one near the sea as well, our route might take us through some of these places. It is said that the culture is completely different." Fiere said once more. "Be prepared to find different values."

"Elves live in here? Wouldn\'t our skin burn in this sunlight?" Asked Elfina, she was as white as porcelain, so she was getting toasted even when applying special balms over her skin.

"Yes, they\'re known as Desert Elves, they\'re brown-skinned." Said Fiere.

"Ooohh… I wonder how they are!" Said Elfina.

"There are also Demons here living and thriving, some escaped from the Demon kingdom and made their home in this unwelcoming world of sand." Said Luminous. "A notorious Demon Tribe are the Giants, who live near the Bone Spike Mountains, which are made from the spine of the bones of a fallen god\'s corpse, so big they created a natural mountain range where the Giants live. The Bone Marrow inside is mined, as it had crystalized into an item known as Blood Crystal, which is rich in magic."

"Oh those… I am sure they\'re exported outside into my kingdom, they\'re very vital for many things…" Said Elfina.

"Indeed, those ones." Luminous said.

"So there\'s a lot of people even in this dangerous area! People is really amazing, isn\'t it? They persevere anywhere, as long as they have the means." Sol Said. "I never thought this enormous desert could also be such a diverse place."

"Well, let\'s get going, you\'ll meet them whenever we get there." I said, quickly flying across the skies, it was better to fly than to walk on the sand, although we kept ourselves at a low level to not approach the sun too much.

Luminous carried Elfina, Fiere, and Sol, while I flew on my own while equipped with Aquamarine. Black and White were with me as well, floating while scanning our surroundings from any dangerous monster.

We traversed for various hours, until the sun slowly began falling down the horizon, the temperature began to slowly drop, but I had acquired a new Skill as well.

Ding!

[You learned the [Sunlight Resistance: Lv1] Skill!]

I guess it is a given seeing how I am a Vampire.

FLUOSH!

"Master, monsters!"

And a second after, the sands below us began to tremble, something began to emerge from within, the same time as we felt a strange, suction force.

"GRUOOOHHHH…!"

Enormous, forty-meter-long insect-like jaws emerged from within the sand, as a giant mouth with spiraling teeth emerged in the middle of both of these jaws.

"T-That\'s a Desert King!" Cried Luminous.

"Desert King?!" I asked.