Epic of Caterpillar

The Genie closed his eyes, as his third eye, the Eye of the Mind, glanced across the Jungle surrounding his domain, and noticing Kireina and her allies wandering around, and even having meet some of the Demons that had been living in that jungle originally.

Naturally, he felt rather angered that Kireina was already socializing with these "rats" which he had been taking a while to kill, mostly because of their tenacity, ability to hide in these jungles, and their amazing strength and magic power.

"So that bug and Luminous have finally come here." Said the Genie. "Their failure of breaking through my barrier seems to have forced them to do the things the hard way… Heh, do they truly believe they can defeat the three powerful Jungle Kings? They're all S+ Rank Monsters! And further enhanced by the barrier's powers, they're literally invincible…"

The Genie had imbued part of the barrier powers into the Jungle Kings, giving them an impenetrable defense to all damage within their Rank or below. Kireina and her allies believed they could take them down and then the barrier would disappear…

But how could they even do that when the barrier itself was also within their very bodies? Despite his pea-sized brain, the Genie had made an incredible strategy with the Barrier and the Jungle Kings as the Nodes.

Nobody would ever be able to break through unless he allowed them to enter.

Well, of course, the world "impossible" has never stopped Kireina.

"But for a good reassurance… [Cosmic Miasmic Boost]!" The Genie roared, imbuing his powers into the Jungle Kings.

The beasts, who were resting at the moment, quickly stood up, their eyes shining bright red as a new power boosted their strength and stats even further…

"This should be enough…" The Genie laughed. "See? I told you I wouldn't need your aid, Ruler of the Netherworld."

A mass of tentacles sitting on the corner of the enormous hall glared at the genie while squinting its many eyes.

"We'll see about that, Genie."

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(Kireina's POV)

The camp of the demon tribe was rather welcoming. Despite their rough beginnings, the people was quite nice. It seems that earning the children's trust through food quickly made the rest of the demons trust us as well, somehow.

The chief of the tribe led us to her tent, where she showed us her home. She had several beautiful decorations. This tribe seemed rather artistic, being able to make beautiful wooden statues resembling totems, masks, armors, and also small toys for children. There were jewels as well, and many plants she was growing by herself which gave seeds and small fruits.

"Welcome to my humble home. It is nothing much, I once had a great house, but that was destroyed by the Monsters." She sighed. "Feel free to feel at home. I will show you what we've found. Children, can you make some drinks for our guests?"

"Sure!"

"Okay!"

"Alright~"

The kids were rather obedient to their adoptive mother, quickly beginning to grab a few little fruits, herbs, and seeds from jars and bags, and then beginning to mix them with utensils and hot water, until a strange purple-colored liquid emerged.

"Here, this is our drink, it's called Ahku!" A little girl brought us the tea. The tent was rather wide so we were able to sit down comfortably. Luminous and Brunhild had to reduce their sizes with magic a lot, but they were able to do it just fine.

"H-Hmmm! It is rather… Oh, it is sweet!" Brunhild drank it timidly.

"Indeed, I like it. It has a bit of everything." Said Ariant.

"Not bad." Eriant nodded.

I drank my cup, the drink was slightly slimy as it still had the fruits pulp. It had a slightly nutty flavor to it too, but it was overall sweet and citric, with a distinct fruity aroma, it was served cold.

"Ah, this really feels like being in another world…" Frank sighed, drinking the liquid. "Otherworldly food is always interesting."

The chief was finally back as we enjoyed the drinks while the children ate tons of fruits. With her she was carrying what seemed to be a palm-sized purple jewel.

"What is that?" Wondered Luminous. "It is emanating such a powerful aura…"

"This is the Jewel of Chaos. A small fragment of it." The chief sighed. "With all our efforts, and the sacrifices of many of my people, we were able to take a small fragment of the jewel near the barriers, which are guard by monsters and the Jungle Kings."

"Jewel of Chaos?" I wondered. "Oh, it must be a fragment of the crystals that make up the barrier's interior. It is amazing you were able to get it… I praise our tribe's bravery."

The chief smiled sweetly at me.

"Thank you, this is… the only hope we've ever had. But all of our blacksmiths died, and we do not possess the ability to imbue this jewel into a weapon ourselves." She sighed. "We believed that by imbuing it into some sort of weapon, such as a spear, it could allow the spear to pierce through the Jungle Kings Protection, which is a similar composition to the Barriers, but still weaker."

"Interesting…" Luminous said while rubbing his chin.

"Can I see it?" I asked politely.

"Of course." The chief freely handled it to me.

I looked it and then used Appraisal on it.

Ding!

[The [Appraisal: Lv10] Skill Effect has been Activated.]

[Chaos Miasmic Barrier Jewel Node Fragment (S Grade)]

A small fragment belonging to the Chaos Miasmic Barrier's Jewel Nodes, it contains their unique power composition and can both enhance the barrier's power or disrupt it. It is a small piece, but perhaps by using it as a material to make a weapon, its effects can be amplified.

"I had already tried using Chaos Absorption on the Barrier but it didn't worked either, the composition is most likely made up of something that is not just Pure Chaos or Miasma, I believe there might be Nether and Cosmic Energy in the barrier too." I said. "This jewel could actually be our solution to this barrier problem without wasting all our energies."

RUMBLE!

However, the ground started shaking, as if something gigantic was approaching.

A kid came running from outside, panicking.

"Chief! A Jungle King is rushing here with a bunch of monsters! They've spotted our hideout!!!"

"What?!"

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