Epic of Caterpillar

"You'll take us down with you? Don't be ridiculous, you're nothing but a pathetic man that refuses to die after he lost thousands of years ago!" Kireina roared, rushing towards the giant sphere of energy.

Her entire body expanded, transforming into a mass of countless fleshy tentacles made of miasmic chaotic essence, her powerful and demonic soul mixing together into an amorphous shape, her enormous jaws opened wide and…

GULP!

She swallowed Kashten's last resort within a split second, the enormous quantity of energy, which could have killed Kireina before, was easily digested by her now, her Cosmic Powers and her Essence growing rapidly.

"W-What?!"

Kashten had no tto think before Gaby appeared behind him, her swords swinging rapidly against him. She unleashed a vertical and then a horizontal slash while spinning towards him from above.

"Gover!"

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

All four slashes cut through Kashten's already weakened body, each slash further powered by Kireina's Pandemonium Sanctuary, which Gaby carried even now as an Aura surrounding her.

Crack, crack…!

"N-No, wait…!"

CRACK!

"T-This can't be…!"

CRASH!

Kashten was unable to muster more words, incapable of believing how he was easily killed out of nowhere, not by his own kind or something, but by complete strangers and outsiders!

His entire body crumbled into pieces, his soul resembling countless tiny pieces of yellow and gold crystal falling over the floor.

Kireina still detected his will trying to regenerate back.

"You're not coming back together; I won't allow it!"

Her amorphous, eldritch form rushed down as her countless jaws devoured Kashten's remains, both soul and body, within a few seconds, until nothing left remained.

"K-Kashten…! You killed him?!"

Asthartez, the Recessed that resembled an old man made of wood, whose branches on top of his head bore strange and bizarre fruits, gasped in disbelief as he saw Kashten's prompt defeat!

It hasn't even been five minutes since the entire battle began and the toughest and most durable of all three of them was already dead.

The only reason why Asthartez was alive was because of his incredible regenerative abilities, although his defenses were very negligible.

Alice kept attacking him with her deadliest of Crimson Thunder Cosmic Magic Spells, yet he continuously regrew anew even as he was almost roasted alive.

"Where are you looking at, old man?"

Alice's creeping voice echoed from behind Asthartez as he distracted himself looking at his dead companion. It wasn't as if Recessed truly cared about one another and formed bonds.

After experiencing their pseudo deaths and then being reborn as twisted creatures, the Recessed developed no attachment or bonds with anybody, they only worked with each other out of interests and their desires.

However, Kashten was still an ally, someone he would rely on in the many plans Asthartez had for the future, a powerful, rough, and slightly stupid Recessed, stupid enough for him to trick easily.

Seeing die was seeing an important asset being destroyed in front of his eyes!

"DAMMIT!"

The old man's puppet-like body quickly twisted towards Alice, transforming. His entire body grew hundreds of sharp spikes, coated with his Cosmic Domain, Alice quickly evaded an incoming attack, as hundreds of wooden spikes capable of piercing through mountains with ease and even destroy a small plreached her!

She wielded her crimson lightning as best as she could, but she needed more and more speed to evade. Her blood and her vampiric abilities kept pumping through her body. Cosmic Energy, Blood Energy, and the power of her new Vampiric Paths melded with her Daos and her Divinities into a single power.

A single crown appeared above her head, materializing out of the fusion of all these powers, and the activation of her Cosmic Skill: [Cosmic Thunder Blood Vampire Empress Authority: [Crown]]! The powerful Cosmic Authority she had gained after Ranking Up to World Realm surged.

"I won't run away anymore…"

Further boosted by the power of her equipment, which was all Cosmic Egos, Alice released a shockwave of crimson thunder everywhere, which then shaped as hundreds of smaller crimson dragon serpents.

"[Cosmic Blood Thunder Dragon Storm]!"

The crimson thunder released from her body swirled around, trapping the Recessed inside, the entire dark palace shook as hundreds of Crimson Dragons made of her thunder attacked the Recessed's projectiles before they could reach her, and then exploded into his face.

Over and over and over again!

BOOM!

"W-What is this?!"

BOOM! BOOM!

"How can she unleash so many…!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"My body can barely… keep up!"

Before Asthartez could muster any more power to regenerate, Alice rushed towards him. Her swirling Domain of Thunder gathering within a single point in her hands and forming a sharp spear!

"I'll end you! [Cosmic Blood Thunder Dragon's Spear]!"

A spear formed by combining almost a hundred Cosmic Blood Thunder Dragons together swiftly pierced Asthartez's chest, and his soul!

"Uuuaaaggh! S-Stop…! My ambitions! I-I…! You filthy… YOU FILTHY VAMPIRESSS…!"

BOOOMMM!!!

Asthartez wasn't allowed to unleash his Cosmic Domain fully nor to prepare his special abilities, Alice's incredible prowess overwhelmed him completely. He had a terrible elemental weakness against her thunder as a tree-element Recessed.

His body was simply burn into a crisp, exploding into countless burnt pieces, becoming nothing but charcoal. Alice sighed, looking down at his pieces as she analyzed her surroundings. She felt exhausted, she had spent all her Cosmic Energy into this sole attack, the crown on top of her head disappeared too.

"Y-Youu…!"

However, he was still alive. Asthartez's eyes opened across his many fragments, tiny roots and branches started growing from them.

"You're still alive?!"

Asthartez started to laugh.

"I won't die so easily, you Vampire scum! I am Asthartez the Undying! Kahahah!"

As his body pieces connected, Alice attempted to unleash her lightning to burn him, but it was too late, a powerful barrier stopped her attack.

CLASH!

"You've grown weak! Have you used all your energy already?! Hahaha! Then letFEAST on you!"

Asthartez rushed towards Alice, his still-regenerating body unifying into a giant and monstrous wooden jaw, about to eat Alice whole.

"Heh… Good thing my dear is here."

However, Alice only smiled confidently.

"Your… what? Ah!"

Before Asthartez could reach Alice, Kireina appeared behind him, a gigantic golden claw crushing the Recessed into the ground.

CRASH!