Epic of Caterpillar

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Ervas, Veronica, and Aurora properly introduced themselves to my party as we made our way to the city of the dwarves. Entering was easy as breathing thanks to them, as they had already become rather renowned figures here… And actually also thanks to Amiphossia and Ryo. Apparently they had been here before, though only briefly, as they ran into the desert to meet me.

Meanwhile, Ervas, Veronica, and Aurora had arrived almost at the same time, but stayed within the Human Empire helping them deal with the Eldritch Monsters and Tentacles from the Ruler of the Necrotic Plane. Thanks to their amazing ways, they convinced the current Empress to join the dwarves and elves into an alliance.

The interior of the Dwarf City was rather amazing, filled with copper pipes and steam coming out of them. Enormous golems passing through with gigantic and bulky bodies, and even moving golems that were like cars, facilitating the dwarves traveling and carrying of resources.

"Amazing… The Dwarf City is so much different than the Elven Capital!" Elfina said in surprise. "So many things I've never seen before…"

"It is like a world of wonders, Lady Elfina!" Fiere said.

"Not even back in Genesis have I ever seen something like this before, incredible." Sol said in awe.

"Indeed, it is so cool!" Brunhild said. "What does that thing do? And that? Oh! And that huge, big golem thing?!"

"Dwarves are much more advanced than I imagined… They even have carriages that move without a horse!" Eriant said.

"There are so many amazing things and that's the only thing you notice, brother?" Ariant sighed.

"Hahaha, they're a festive bunch, aren't they." Ervas laughed a bit. "Anyways, it is here." Ervas pointed at the enormous castle in the middle of the entire city. "The Dwarven Castle."

"We could teleport there with Aurora's Space Magic… but that would defeat the purpose of showing you guys the city." Veronica nodded.

"Well, at the very least we can enter like this, right?" Aurora smiled, waving her hands, and opening a blue colored portal in the middle of thin air, leading to the interior of the castle, right in the middle of the throne room. "Let's go through here."

"Alright." I nodded.

As we entered the castle's throne room, we were once more greeted with many new people. A young human princess with long silvery-white hair and red eyes greeted us first, surprised of our arrival. She wore a white dress and red armor over her white dress. Despite her slightly small figure, she looked strong, though her surprised, slightly embarrassed expression said otherwise.

"Uwaaah! G-Guests?! Ervas, Veronica, Aurora, who have you bought now?" She sighed, feeling slightly embarrassed by seeing us, despite the huge red axe she was carrying on her back.

"Oh, these are Kireina and her friends! We finally found them." Veronica smiled. "Everyone, this is Henrietta, the former Imperial Princess of the Human Empire, now Crowned Young Empress."

"She has taken over her father's duties since… his defeat by the hands of the Elven Army and your aid." Said Ervas.

"Oh, so you're the Emperor's daughter." I said with a smile.

"Y-Yes, nice to meet you, L-Lady Kireina…" She bowed her head to me.

"She seems different than her father…" Fiere said, analyzing the new Empress. "She's quite shy, like Lady Elfina… is she fitting for being an Empress?"

"Geh…" Henrietta groaned, feeling deeply hurt with those words. "I am… doing my best."

"She was the only one decent enough to become the Emperor." Explained Ervas. "Her siblings were either too young or wicked."

"The wicked ones were swiftly taken down and are now resting in peace…" Veronica giggled evilly.

"D-Did you had some sort of political war?" I asked.

"Well… I can explain that myself…" Henrietta sighed. "After the arrival of Ervas, Veronica, and Aurora, they decided to aid me in protecting the city from the monsters. My older siblings were all focused on their own personal gains and… they attempted to kill me a few times."

"We cooperated with her because we shared a similar goal." Ervas said. "Although she's a bit shy at times, she's strong willed, and holds a powerful, brave heart."

"She was the only one that could become the Emperor." Veronica smiled. "We simply made sure that it would be the case."

"Hahahah… It was a bit of political wars, but it is all over now. And don't worry, my older siblings aren't actually dead. Veronica likes to exaggerate things; they've been imprisoned after I stripped their powers from them." Henrietta explained with a smile, showing her hand, which had a blood-colored tattoo in the shape of an eye. "The Imperial Royal Family is special, as we've inherited the Skills of Ancient Heroes through the abuse of a Special Item crafted by the Ancient Vampires, because of that, our bloodline has been stained with Vampiric Blood. Many of us end up losing control, and becoming power-hungry like the Vampires used to be. However, I was born with the special power to strip them of theirs. It is called the [Blood Stigma], with that, I was able to finally stabilize our turbulent family, and by barely a hair, managed to stop our Empire from completely collapsing…"

"I-I'm so sorry…" Elfina apologized. "I-if we didn't killed your father, maybe if we found another way… We could had perhaps…"

"No need to be sorry, Princess Elfina." Henrietta smiled with eyes filled with conviction, there was no hate in her red eyes at all. "My father was always wicked, and I never held any closeness with him either. He raised his children like cattle, and corrupted us one after another into monsters… And the one behind this, that damned cursed sword has been slain as well by Kireina-sama, no less. There is no hate in my heart against any of us, but gratefulness that you've freed our country from such tyranny. I will… do everything I can to restore the Human Empire to its former glory, and to also restore the once ancient alliance we held with the other countries. I'll try… to make things right."

"Well said." Ervas smiled. "You've learned well enough what being a real ruler is."

"I guess you two taught her well." I sighed with a smile.

"Welcome, Travelers." Suddenly, a rough manly voice echoed from the end of the hall, a bearded dwarf wearing golden armor and a big crown decorated with fine jewelry greeted us.

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