Epic of Caterpillar

When Sol opened his eyes he found himself not bathed by the light of the sun but in the depths of an underground world beneath the scorching sands of the Ankh Desert. There was, apparently, an enormous cave section in here, filled with many intricate areas which would look to anybody like a labyrinth, and it clearly did for our Hero of the Sun.

"Where the heck am I and where's everybody?"

The first thing he tried to do was remember what happened, as he quickly, between the pain of the headache, recalled some things. Specially the part where the giant and terrifying Desert King used its Gravity-Manipulation Powers and Sand Manipulation Powers to lunge the entire group away. He remembered Kireina holding everyone tightly using her Phantasmal Tentacles, but that seemed to be of almost no use at the end.

After trying to find anybody and then finding nobody, Sol swiftly decided to use his newly acquired ability [Divine Mana Sense] to guide himself amidst the labyrinth beneath the sand. Quickly finding deadly Antlions to fight, which he swiftly defeated one after the other as he made his way through these treacherous underground lands.

Until after a day of traveling, when he finally found something, a large and ancient-looking entrance towards a Dungeon. The Dungeon looked ancient on design, but there were strange cactus-shaped statues outside, and above all, his senses were telling him that there might be something within this dungeon, as if it were leading it towards his destiny, the surface.

"Could this dungeon have a path towards the surface? Do Dungeons in this world are tunnel-shaped or something? Well… whatever's the case…"

Sol without thinking it twice, quickly explored the dungeon, following his instincts and his divine senses, as he made his way through traps and a few ant and bug-like monsters while trying to avoid any big creature to save up his energy, something that Kireina would never do as she fought anything that appeared before her for EXP.

However, at some point, he had to stop his advancement, as something truly frightening emerged before his eyes. An enormous army composing thousands of walking cactuses, each one being a B Rank Monster marching forward. Thousands of them, stronger than the humans of the army he fought some days ago as well…

"T-This is…"

Sol looked from behind a large statue in the dungeon, as he noticed all the cactuses were emanating a strange, black, and purple aura from within, and their empty eyes shone bright red from within their interior. Leading them there were larger cactuses, even stronger versions of them, Calamity Cactuses. However, they were not only bringers of calamity due to size and strength alone, but these ones had strange, black-colored bracelets stuck into their arms, which infused a black and devilish essence, strengthening these beasts even further.

And he saw them all marching into the only entrance towards the surface… If Sol wanted to get out, find his allies, and alert them about the danger of these monsters, he would need to get past this marching army… or maybe just wait until they all marched outside.

However, before he could even do anything, a stronger presence was felt, gigantic, if so. As powerful as Luminous and Kireina, if not stronger than both of them combined. The mass of darkness that emanated from this particular, blue-skinned man was absolutely monstrous, permeating the entire dungeon walls, ceiling, and floor. He looked youthful and muscular, with sharp and angered eyes, and his body was covered in gold-made accessories.

"Who the heck is this guy?!" Sol thought, looking at the monstrous man's presence.

"Hmph. Everything is going alright in this area I suppose…" The blue skinned man spoke, his size was actually almost five meters of height, he was definitely not a small person, but not big enough to be considered of the Giant Race. In fact, he was completely unrelated to the Giant Tribe that was also dominating a part of the Ankh Desert.

"It appears that there's a rat here… though." He said with a smile, suddenly directing his gaze towards Sol's eyes, immediately spotting him!

"Shit!"

Sol quickly stood up as he began to run for his life, as dozens of Walking Cactuses began to rush behind him, trying to catch him as fast as possible.

The labyrinth was vast, but Sol was alone. His power was enough to defeat B Rank monsters on his own, and he had plenty of Mana, but even he had his limits. He ran and fought, evading the attacks as he continued hearing the laughter of the blue-skinned man.

"You're an interesting rat! Such enormous quantity of power within you is quite amusing, to say the least!" Laughed the voice.

"Who are you?!" Sol roared, as he jumped across the corridors of the dungeon, evading the other monsters such as Giant Sand Wolves and Monstrous Antlions, alongside the gigantic walking cactuses.

"Me? I am the Ruler of this Desert… I've awakened to take what's rightfully mine!" Said the voice.

"You… Are you working with the Demon King?! Are you a Demon Lord?!" Sol asked.

"Demon Lord? Hmph! Why would I ally myself with such lowly race of mortals? I am an immortal!" Laughed the blue-skinned giant, as Sol suddenly sensed an enormous storm of sand chasing him down from behind.

The exit from the dungeon was just a large stair away from him. Enhancing his body with the last bit of MP he had, he moved as quickly as possible, rushing outside with a burst of flames coming out of his body.

FLAAASH!

The night sky quickly greeted his sight, as he found countless walking cactuses marching forward just a few hundred meters away from him…

"Where are you going?! Do you think that getting out of the dungeon will change anything, little vermin?"

The disturbing man's voice came closer, as Sol immediately began running.

FLASH!

And then, a sudden spark came into his mind, as he heard Kireina's voice of the sudden!

"Sol! Are you there?"

"Kireina!"