Epic of Caterpillar Chapter 49: The Undead Indifference

I sent my wives several meters away with my threads, preparing myself to intercept the Lich on its full force.

"This better works…"

My split minds were already doing their best, and at my command they had started creating a small Mana Zone over my head, in three seconds it was already done.

"I have both Soul Pact and Death Pact, alongside Soul Manipulation and Penetration. The only thing I need is something to hold all these spells together… Soul Combination!"

I casted the first four spells inside my tiny Mana Zone, and they showed as little lumps of a pale-yellow light, rotating around themselves like stars.

The second after, I casted [Soul Combination], which showed as a bigger lump of light, catching the other four and tightly holding them together.

In these four seconds, as the Lich approached me, I sensed how his Soul Core started to shatter even more, already loosing big lumps, showing off a powerful soul.

"I also need Anti-Magic to hold off the spell that he's using to detonate the Soul Core!"

I casted my [Anti-Magic Seal] and it showed as a big transparent lump of light, which I grabbed on one of my hands.

"Main Mind!"

"Y-Yeah!"

Flash!

When the Lich finally reached me with its full power, a blinding yellow light illuminated the whole night.

As if time stopped, I felt myself immersed on a sea of light, there, I saw the Lich skeleton body slowly disintegrating, and its soul core was on a terrible state, barely holding off.

I sensed a feeling of sadness and grievance, as if the feelings of the Lich infected my own soul.

"I'm sorry, Zehe…"

"I'm so sorry for hurting your family… I didn't want to…"

"Zehe…"

I noticed as the Lich consciousness started to slowly fade into nothingness.

However, I used all my might to yell with my own soul!

"Hey!"

"…"

"Don't die on me!"

"…"

"Don't ignore me, you pile of bones!"

"Ah! You… Let me die… I deserve this…"

"Perhaps you do, you bastard, you tried to kill my wives! I would had already eaten you if it wasn't for Zehe!"

"Ze…he?"

"Yes! Zehe! She is waiting for you!"

"Zehe… I can't look at her eyes anymore"

"You can! And you will!"

"Its too late… Let me die…"

"I won't!"

"W-Why are you so resilient over it…"

"Because I love Zehe! I want her to be happy! She won't be the same after seeing her beloved father killing himself in front of her!"

"B-Beloved… Father?"

"Yes! You are Zehe's beloved father! You are her father figure! The one who made her the way she is! Zehe is… An excellent person… She is mature and very intelligent… But also has a soft and cute side…"

"Hahaha… That is how little Zehe is… My child… Zehe…"

"That's right!"

"But how can I go back to her…? I have already detonated my soul… There is nothing you can do…"

"I can do something! But I need your help"

"My help?"

"Do you accept becoming my servant?"

"Eh? What is this all of the sudden? How can this matter at all?"

"If you accept, there will be a way! But you must accept! Hurry, we are running out of time!"

"I… If what you're saying is really true… I accept!"

"Now! I need to overwrite your last servant contract! This is where this spell I made come into place! You will feel an incredible pain inside your soul! Are you ready?"

"I… I am!!!"

FLUOSH!

I quickly inserted the big lump containing the five skills combined together into the Lich expanding soul.

The Lich soul started to convulse as it tried to adapt to the skills power.

"Uuuggh! Uuaaagh!"

"Hold into it for a bit longer! Don't you dare lost consciousness!"

"I…! Understand! Uuuooohhh!"

FLUOSH!

The Licht soul finally started to slowly assimilate my five skills, and the tiny lump of light became part of his yellow soul, stabilizing it.

The soul quickly stopped expanding but still didn't went back to the Soul Core.

"Now! Anti-Magic Seal!"

I threw the Anti-Magic Seal skill over the Soul Core, and an almost transparent paper made with energy appeared out of thin air, covering the spherical Soul Core, forcing its soul to go back on place.

"Ugh! I am… Recovering?"

"It's done! Phew…"

Ding!

[Impure Lich: Herbell Skardec has become your minion]

Ding!

[You obtained a new title:] [Soul Manipulator]

As the bright yellow light surrounding us slowly faded, I noticed that the Lich entire body was nowhere to be seen. It seems that his original body was disintegrated by his soul radiation, only leaving his Soul Core.

The Soul Core was still able to talk through the user soul, and could also float. But he lost most of his power and stats. What mattered is that he was still alive.

After seeing such spectacle, my wives quickly flew back to me.

"Mastaaa! I thought you were going to die! Gueeeeehh!"

"Master! Don't do that ever again! Ooh!"

"Big sis! Big sis! Bueehh!"

"H-Honey! I was so worried…"

I was greeted by my wives crying like little babies, as they all hugged me, I felt their warm tears flowing through, specially Nesiphae tears, which were massive, soaking my entire head.

"I am fine, I told you to not worry… And your Teacher… Although he lost his body, his Soul Core and his soul are fine. Here"

I opened my hand and let the big red colored Soul Core float.

Zehe was surprised and saddened over her Teacher state, but couldn't resist to hug this crystal ball.

"Z-Zehe… I'm sorry… I couldn't do nothing to stop myself… But even with that in mind… My actions are unforgivable…"

"Teaaacher!! Buaaaaaahhh!"

"Z-Zehe?!"

"Teacher I missed you so much! Please never go way from me! Buaaaahhh!"

"Zehe… But I…"

"It doesn't matter! Honey already fixed you, right? You just weren't being yourself… But now you are free! You can be yourself! And be with me, and my family!"

"Zehe…"

The Lich Soul Core rotated around and saw my wife's warm smiles, he couldn't believe how easy everything he did was forgiven.

However, I still gave him a sharp glance.

"You better behave yourself around Zehe, I hope that your relationship is only just father and daughter, and nothing else!"

The Lich Soul Core started to tremble after feeling my deadly aura.

"Y-Yeah… Don't worry, Kireina…"

Zehe looked at me while pouting.

"Honey! You're scaring my father!"

"Aaahahaha! S-Sorry! I was just teasing him… Welcome to the family, Herbell!"

"Herbell… Right, my name is Herbell… Those undead always called me Lich… I had already forgotten my name, even though its on my own status"

Suddenly, I felt a menacing deadly gaze in my back!

"Ugh! Right! There are still 3 skellies left!"

My wives quickly noticed this and also became aware of their presence.

The three bastards behind all of this finally showed their faces.

The undead King commanding them, clapped his hands, which barely had any rotten flesh left.

Clap clap

"What a beautiful sight, Lich. You have finally reunited with your beloved daughter"

The Archer at the King back moved to his left side.

"Hmm, and you will be able to reunite once again in the afterlife"

The Loyal Knight at the King right side looked at Herbell's Soul Core with incredible hatred.

"Lich… You have betrayed my King… and our Master… You don't even deserve a quick death, but a horrible one! A death full of suffering! I will slay your daughter! I will take apart each of her limbs! You traitor!"

Herbell's Soul Core floated ahead of Zehe, trying to protect her.

"I won't let you! I have already made my decision! I will protect Zehe and her family!"

While looking at his pathetic state, the undead started to laugh.

"Bwahahaha! And how do you plan to do that? You are just a floating Soul Core!"

"You should know your place, Lich"

"Arrogant bastard! I shall slay everything you love as the punishment over your sins!"

Herbell Soul Core moved around, its soul essence quickly became red-colored, showing his hatred.

"You are the bastards here! Specially you, my King! Forcing me to kill my own daughter! King or not, your Kingdom has already fallen! You are nothing but a rotting corpse, you don't even remain your memories!"

The King looked at Herbell Soul Core with indifference.

"Whatever the weak say, it does not matter… Brace yourselves my knights!"

"Yes, my King!"

"Raaah! I can't wait to smash this Lich to pieces!"

The King raised its demon sword at me.

"Demon, we have come to slay you, in the name of our benevolent Master, surrender now and we will grant your servants a quick death"

Using the opportunity that their pointless dialogues granted, I used my Illusion Magic to cover on my Cursed Claws, as I quickly summoned more than 30.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

I didn't even hear what the King said, as I summoned more than 30 Cursed Claws that rained over the undead.

"Eh?!"

"My King! Watch out!"

"How?! I couldn't detect them in time?!"

The Cursed Claws flew at an extreme speed, the King and his loyal knight couldn't react in time, as the Claws detonated around them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Even the Archer who presumed to have a very high Speed Stat was surprised and barely dodged the detonations, however, for the other two, it didn't go as easy.

The King and the Loyal Knight lacked any protection spells, resulting on them taking heavy damage.

The King lost his left arm and was barely hanging his word with his right arm, his horse also died on the sudden explosions.

The loyal knight lost a big chunk of his back but was still standing with his King.

"My King, are you alright?"

"Yes! This demon is too shred! We must fight back! I will support you two with my magic! Now go!"

"Yes!"

"Alright!"

The undead Archer and Knight jumped towards us, raising their weapons.

I swiftly appraised the two.

[NAME: LATIO NANATINO

[CLASS: HIGH WIND HUNTER

[RACE: LOWER UNDEAD (HALF ELF)

[LEVEL 141/999 EXP 056703/141000 STATUS: UNDEAD (GOOD)

[ITEM BOX 000/100

[HP: 382/382 MP: 345/345 STAMINA: 180/180

[STRENGTH: 297 (+120)

[DEFENCE: 138 (+50)

[MAGIC: 256 (+100)

[RESISTANCE: 194 (+50)

[SPEED: 387 (+80)

[CHARISMA: 100

[LUCK: -10

[EQUIPMENT]

[Dryad Wood Full Bowman Set]

[Wind Magic Bow: Mercedes]

[Shadow Awakening Ring: Pazuzu]

[SKILLS]

[Mixed Bloodline] [Sewing Skill (Inborn)] [Gift of Training]

[Basic Bow Techniques: 5] [Basic Wind Magic: 10] [Quick Feet]

[Wind Step] [High Wind Bow Arts: 10] [Masterful Wind Bow Affinity]

[Undead Curse] [Soul Curse] [Cursed Arrow Arts: 5]

[NAME: HALBERT REPENT

[CLASS: HEAVY ARMORED TITAN

[RACE: LOWER UNDEAD (HUMAN)

[LEVEL 162/999 EXP 153990/162000 STATUS: UNDEAD (GOOD)

[ITEM BOX 000/100

[HP: 683/682 MP: 194/194 STAMINA: 250/250

[STRENGTH: 517 (+200)

[DEFENCE: 456 (+150)

[MAGIC: 194 (+80)

[RESISTANCE: 252 (+100)

[SPEED: 112 (+40)

[CHARISMA: 30

[LUCK: -15

[EQUIPMENT]

[Dark Wyvern Scale Full Armor Set]

[Dark Wyvern Scale Demonic Axe: Vulcan]

，

[Shadow Awakening Ring: Abaddon]

[SKILLS]

[Commoner Bloodline] [Cooking Skill (Inborn)] [Gift of Training]

[Overpowering Willpower] [Basic Axe Technique: 10] [Pain Tolerance]

[Heart of Iron] [Walking Fortress] [Masterful Axe Techniques: 5]

[Undead Curse] [Soul Curse] [Demonic Axe Technique: 5]

[Forbidden Dark Arts: 5] [Forbidden Dark Arts Affinity]

"T-These guys are as insane as Herbell!"

Although Herbell wanted to join on the fight, he had lost most of his power and skills, so I forcefully saved him inside my Item Box against his own will.

My Wives took defensive positions and I activated my Solidified Anti-Magic Shields, protecting us from the incoming attack. Meanwhile, I commanded my Split Minds to keep producing more Cursed Claws under the Illusion Magic to stock up on them.

BOOOOM!!!

The Undead Knight was the first to unleash his attack, throwing a powerful flaming thrust towards my Anti-Magic Shield. The strength of the attack was so potent that it made an incredible shockwave around us and instantly shattered the shield, sending all of us flying through the sky.

"Uugh! Such Power! But! Cursed Claws!"

Suddenly, more than 20 Cursed Claws surrounded the Undead Knight, distracting him while detonating. Although they tried to get closer to him, he easily wiped them out with a slash from his powerful axe.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"What? He just slashed 20 Cursed Claws in one hit?!"

"Hmmph! Mere flies!"

Suddenly, Brontes and Nesiphae came rushing towards the Knight and attacked him in combination.

"Don't worry Master!"

"We will crush him for you, big sister!"

"Alright!"

The Undead Knight was extremely strong and even his Strength stat far surpassed Nesiphae, however, his speed was lacking. Nesiphae and Brontes used their better speed stat alongside body enhancement buffs to barely put a fight with him, working as one.

While I flew with Rimuru and Zehe around, I noticed that the Archer was nowhere to be seen, and that the King was chanting a powerful spell, surrounding himself with countless magic circles.

"What is this bastard brewing? And where is the Archer?! Ah!"

Suddenly, a green colored figure appeared above us, surrounding it were countless sharp arrows made of pure wind, ready to shoot at us.

"Die, demon"

Zehe and Rimuru noticed this ahead of time, and alerted me.

"Honey! Watch out!"

"Guuu! Mastaa! Multi-Elemental Shield!"

Rimuru quick thinking saved me once again, casting a powerful multi-elemental shield that saved us from the powerful wind arrow rain. However, after 5 seconds, the shield already started to crack.

As I looked over, the Undead Archer looked at us with a creepy smile.

"Not bad… How about this? Activate Skill: Wind Nova Blast!"

FLUOSH!

Suddenly, the wind arrows surrounding the Undead Archer came together into a powerful arrow, which he infused more MP, making it bigger.

"Here you go! I hope you can eat this much! Hahaha!"

FLASH!

The powerful density of the wind arrow created shockwaves all around the sky.

"S-Shit! Anti-Magic Shield! Cursed Claws!"

I activated countless mini Anti Magic Shields alongside big Cursed Claws, creating a powerful barrier.

Rimuru and Zehe also helped, casting their own magic shields.

In mere seconds, we created a long group of Shields and Cursed Claws made into a big row.

BOOOM!

The powerful wind arrow came across every shield and Cursed Claw easily, however, the combination of shields was able to slow down the shot enough for us to have a small glimpse of time to retreat.

BAAAM!

The massive wind arrow finally hit the ground, creating a devastating tornado that destroyed the forest surrounding it. Countless trees and big chunks of ground started to fly on the sky, slowly dropping on the ground when the tornado finally dissipated.

Without giving us any time to breath, the Undead Archer appeared above us once again, shooting a big number of Wind Arrows.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

I decided to cast my [Fairy Vampire Empress 8 Demonic Wings] on Rimuru and Zehe as we tried to evade most hits.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The small Wind Arrows didn't do as much damage, but are too many and too fast, stockpiling damage with ease.

While trying to catch on the Undead Archer, the bastard swiftly flew around the sky with an incredible speed, laughing at us while shooting arrows.

After seeing Rimuru and Zehe on a poor state, I decided to cast my [Spiritual Blood Magic Shield] on each of them, while I activated my [Crimson Demon Armor].

I told them to assist me from far away while I tried to catch on the bastard.

I kept infusing my Cursed Claws with MP, making them go faster, and using their Illusion effect, some were able to slip through the Archer reflexes and detonated on his back.

"Uuagh! Eh?! Again, with these invisible Claws!"

They might be incredibly overpowered but their movements were quite clumsy and lacked essential vision and shield skills, it seems that the Lich was way more experienced than them in combat.

I suddenly made 20 more of my Cursed Claws that were waiting around the sky, confusing the archer about our whereabouts.

I infused my armor with Illusion Magic and [Mimicry], easily camouflaging me on the deep dark of the night.

As the archer was confused over the explosions, he tried to fly away only to catch on more, he tried his best on creating a shield made of Wind, but it could only take on two hits.

"Ggrr! Just moments ago, I was enjoying myself! W-Where did they go?! Aah!"

I noticed that the archer stopped for a second, and using my Mystic Eyes, I paralyzed him for that split second just in time for me to give him a kick through his back, followed by a punch on his neck.

CLASH! BAAM!

"Uuagh!"

Some time ago, I obtained a skill named [Flaming Demon Empress Earth Shattering Combat Style] through fusion. Just after obtaining this skill, countless information about a powerful combat style crossed through my mind, instantly mastering this power.

Using this skill, I was able to easily connect different types of physical attacks without the need of using skills and wasting MP or giving me Mental Fatigue.

As the Wind Archer fell down in pain, Rimuru and Zehe started showering him in different magic projectiles, the bastard was barely able to dodge all of them with his cheat Speed.

"Tsk! Die Already! Advanced Wind Arrow Technique: Wind God Judgement!"

FLUOSH!

Suddenly, a powerful storm appeared out of thin air over the Archer, and countless green colored tornados flew through the sky, coming for me and my wives.

I used my thread