Epic of Caterpillar

298 Seeping Darkness...

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The death of Duke Lycalion and that of young royal family members had shaken the Cilane Kingdom. Although the Nobles in charge of the information had tried their best to conceal such information from spreading, the imminent truth about the governor of one of the Cilane Kingdom's Duke death would be known sooner or later.

Their governor disappearing all out of the blue would make people doubt. It was inevitable that the Nobles would be pressured from all sides, ending up spilling the information and then spreading.

The citizens were frightened, not only have their Duke died but in the other small nations of Cilane, similar cases were young royal family members had suddenly disappeared is slowly becoming a common thing.

Even more, not only royal family members but countless of young citizens, especially handsome young men and women have disappeared as well. These cases have begun to grow exponentially since a year ago, and now that Duke Lycalion had been announced to had died by "natural causes", these cases have increased.

The citizens of Cilane have grown paranoid, to the point of believing that such disappearances are the punishment of the Great Goddess of Beasts Ova and their founder, Morpheus Cilane because of various other gods churches being installed in the Cilane Kingdom.

Certainly, the Cilane Kingdom population had long forgotten about their founder and their mother goddess, the few churches that remain barely have loyal worshipers, while most of the population has moved towards other more popular Great God churches spread through the continent.

Of course, this wasn't the truth, as the culprit behind the population slowly being diminished were the groups of Vampires sent by the Thanatos Kingdom. The plans of the Greedy Queen of Thanatos were crude yet efficient, diminish the royal family, being them betraying their goddess and becoming vampires or just killing them. As the Cilane Kingdom fell into more chaos and panic and as the people grew more paranoid, the Thanatos Kingdom would dispatch a medium-sized army and quickly take over the defenseless Kingdom.

These tactics are usually ineffective against greater Kingdoms, but small Demi-Human Kingdoms would barely have strong fighters inside of their royal families, facilizing such strategies. Destroying the order from the inside and then taking the crumbling Kingdom for themselves, these strategies have been executed by the Thanatos Kingdom for ages.

Caedmon and Cassandra, two of the Vampires sent by the Thanatos Kingdom's Vampire Family of Cythiliana, were now spreading diseases through the small villages of the Kingdom's outsides. By using the special magic artifacts created by the skillful alchemist of the Vampire Family, they intended to make the poor villagers sick, so the Kingdom could go in an even greater state of panic.

A small, bottle-like artifact opened with a "click!" sound as Cassandra moved the item around, covered by the darkness of the night. A thin and semi-transparent purple mist slowly spread through the small village.

"What an easy job this is… I'm missing that Duke… What was his name? Well, it doesn't matter anymore… Ooh, how I crave some human blood… This horse blood is really making me sick" Said Cassandra, while casually spreading the toxic mist around, without caring about breathing it.

Vampires were naturally immune to this poison and diseases. As they were specifically made for them to spread without having to cover their mouths or risk dying.

Caedmon released a refined laugh.

"Haha, I suppose you are right, Cassandra… But duty is a duty. This is for the better of our Kingdom. Even if it's a chore to do… We must do it for our Queen and the government, and of course the people"

"Sigh… Sometimes you sound so righteous, Caedmon… I just want to get back and sleep for a year or two…"

"What a lazy Vampire you are, those years could be spent worshiping Agatheina sama and training in her dungeon… Don't you know how precious time is? Even if we Vampires can live an eternity, it does not mean that we cannot be killed… One must strive to overcome his limits and become stronger constantly, so we can serve our Kingdom better" Said Caedmon, with a dignified aura on his tone.

"Sigh… What a man. Alright, alright. I get it, let's just get over with this" Said Cassandra, disappointed in the man before her.

"Finally, some words that appeal to me, very well," Said Caedmon, as both Vampires rushed through the rooftops of the houses and spread the toxic and disease mist.

Just like these two Vampires, various other groups, usually made up of two to three Vampires, were doing the same thing, spreading toxic mist around different villages. Some were working in the citadels, assassinating citizens to drink their blood and cease their hunger, while others were blackmailing Nobles and Royals who desired eternal life.

More than twenty Nobles and Royal Family members had died, yet only two had managed to survive the converting ritual of the Vampires. These two individuals were now insiders from the Thanatos Kingdom, having betrayed their own brethren and slowly destroying the system from the inside.

This ritual was needed to convert others into Vampires, as only those Pure-Born Vampires were able to convert others by giving them their saliva or blood. Most of the Vampires sent to Thanatos were the lowest-ranked Vampires, being demons, humans or half-demons converted into Vampires by these Pure-Born Vampires who lead the Vampire Family of Cythiliana.

If a converted Vampire attempted to convert someone into a Vampire, the results would end up disastrous, as there was a high chance, even higher than the ritual, of completely killing the one that desired eternal life. And there was then another small chance of the receiver to become a Zombie Vampire or a Ghoul instead, becoming savage monsters that thirst for blood, completely different than the noble Vampires. There was only but a small, very tiny chance of the conversion working, however, the registers of this happening in the Thanatos Kingdom can be counted with one's fingers.

Of course, Kireina is an exception. Kireina's conversion not only is always a success, but it does not convert the people into Vampires, but into Dhampirs, a lesser, but intelligent race of Half-Vampires. As they level up and evolve, Dhampirs can become Vampires and even outpower the Noble-Born Vampires in Thanatos.

Certainly, such information is not known to the Thanatos Kingdom Vampire Family, as it would cause complete chaos that a lesser monster, born as a caterpillar, could create even better Vampire soldiers than those who have lived for thousands of years.

Caedmon and Cassandra, completely unaware of the enemy that would appear in the following days, continued their hard work, desiring to drink some human blood and rest in their mansions.

Not even the head of the Vampire Family of Cythiliana, the Great Noble-Born Elder Vampire, Lady Aleksandra Cythiliana, expected such an outcome to occur on her beloved subordinates.

The Greedy Queen of Thanatos had given her the important task of destroying the Cilane Kingdom from the inside so they could, later on, conquer the place and obtain a new and valuable vassal nation.

Aleksandra saw this as an opportunity to show off the strength of the Vampire Family to the other Demon Families and choose her strongest and most loyal of Vampire Subordinates, in hopes for this to succeed, she even prepared various magical artifacts and inverted great amounts of her founds into this.

If she were to succeed, the Greedy Queen will most probably let one of Aleksandra's various children marry a Royal Family member. With this, the hardworking Vampire Family would be able to finally ascend in the ranks and officially become part of the Royal Family of Thanatos.

If this were to happen, whenever the current Queen and King were to die, Vampires will have the chance to be selected as the next sovereigns. Aleksandra was already seeing one of her precious and talented children becoming the King or Queen of Thanatos, and finally having such a gigantic Kingdom on her hands.

But for this, she needed to work hard, even as a Vampire who has lived for thousands of years, Aleksandra is wise and diligent, barely taking breaks. Commanding her subordinates to work as spies, mercenaries, and powerful soldiers and commanders.

Even though they weren't part of the Royal Family, the Vampire Family was one of the most prestigious Noble Families and Organizations in Thanatos and was deeply admired by the demons, half-demons, and humans who worshipped the Goddess of Blood, Agatheina.

As all of this unfolded, in the Azuma Empire, the Empress and the Emperor were troubled and pressured by the constant skirmishes that they had against the Thanatos Kingdom.

Skirmishes not only cost plenty of resources, but also precious soldiers. The strategy of the Thanatos Kingdom was to constantly do skirmishes with the Azuma Empire in hopes to diminish their military power.

However, as a strange pact with the certain Monster Kingdom happened, new soldiers began to show up in the Azuma Empire. Thousands of Skeletons and Undead, accompanied by Goblins, Trolls, Yuki-Onna, and Beast Tamers mounting on gigantic Draconic Lions and Thunderstorm Phoenixes.

Kireina, long ago, had begun to supply the Azuma Empire not only with new and stronger soldiers but also resources like the Familiar Meat that she was able to summon almost endlessly.

Although they feared such a strong being, they also thanked her deeply for such benevolence. However, the Emperor and the Empress remained wary and cautious, as their ally was not a simple demi-human, but a monster that represented one of the Sins, The Realm Menace of Lust.

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[Day 185]

Today in the morning I received various reports from the Rin Sisters, informing me that the soldiers I sent to the Azuma Empire to both help them out and pressure them have finally reached the Empire. The Empress was rather happy, as not only thousands of soldier's worth of military power appeared for her aid, but also tons of food in the form of Familiar Meat and Living Plant Monsters was supplied.

Of course, what I've given to them is not enough to win against Thanatos, but enough to hold on for some time. Although the Azuma Empire is not in any way lacking in food and resources, for now, I had already predicted that in reality, they were running low in them due to the constant skirmishes. The Imperial Family is just very good at pretending that everything is safe and in order.

The Azuma Empire is surrounded by three Dungeons that they had taken for themselves and several small vassal nations who take care of thousands of kilometers of crops. However, due to their population being so massive, and that they are slowly growing accustomed to living inside the cities doing small works instead of working as adventurers or hunters in the dungeons, their resources are slowly diminishing. The ever-growing population is not helping either, as most of it is made out of demi-humans who grow fast and also copulate fast, while also living long lives.

Certainly, a more strict regimen should be needed were the Empire forces his people to work in the dungeons as hunters and adventures, however, due to the soft-hearted leaders, the people are growing accustomed to commodities and does not even consider the opportunity to level up and grow stronger to help out the Empire, usually completely ignoring the System.

Unlike in my Kingdom, where training, growing stronger and fighting and hunting monsters are constantly being encouraged in the population since they are born, and where several special systems reward those who work hard, with hundreds of new extermination and hunting missions being showered in the Adventurers Guild.

Well, I also wanted them to try on my Familiar meat and the Monster Plants that I can summon and cultivate, if they hooked up with the delicious flavors, they will end up being addicted to it and constantly ask me for these resources. I gave them a small "free" try on it, but if they desire more, they will have to pay with either resources or population. The soldiers I sent are also filled with my Slime Clones and Phantom Foxes, so I can easily monitor the entire Empire.

Oh, and talking about the Empire and its Heroes, the Heroine of Alchemy has been successfully enslaved by the Slime Clone that she thought was an innocent monster and that she even raised as a pet.

By using [Parasite], [Symbiosis], and [Synthesis] alongside some lesser Illusion and Hypnosis Spells, the Slime Clone managed to get through the Resistances given to her by her Hero Title. She instantly became a loyal subordinate. However, her personality was not changed at all, so it wouldn't raise suspiciousness.

My plans are slowly being accomplished, now that the first Heroine is in my hands, I will use her to get closer to the other Heroes, and whenever they lower their guard, they will be enslaved as well.

At the very least in not mercilessly eating them, although I do plan on eating a few, perhaps feeding them to my family would be more useful? It will depend if their usefulness as a more solid exceeds that of being a Skill and Legendary Relic.

The Empress has let my claws inside of her Empire, and I'm slowly spreading my influence and Slime Clones. There were also various groups of Dhampirs led by Yisu, who had begun their pilgrimage, convincing people to worship me and Nesiphae's mother instead of the Azuma Empire Gods and founders. It will be hard at first, but as the delicious food spreads, it will slowly become easier to move everyone to my side.

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