“You are still hanging onto your humanity, kid. Drop the pretense, you are not a human, at least not anymore. Bring your inner Dragon out, pussy! I’m starting to get confused as to who is the man amongst all those dazzling ladies that call themselves your mates! Did you drug them into following such a weakling or what?”

  Getting even faster, Zegion slugged Asterios in the stomach with so much force it shook the hall and sent him flying into the far wall in a blink. Then, he blinked while bringing his fist up and staring at it with a slight surprise. His fingers stung a little for the first time since they had started.

  Moving his gaze to where Asterios had landed, the Demon King’s grin widened even more. “Now, that’s what I’m talking about!”

  Two dark crimson membranes slid to the sides in the dented hole, revealing Asterios behind them. He pushed himself out of the niche and fell to one knee, spreading his draconic wings wide after they had cushioned the impact. As he slowly stood up, sporadic crimson scales surfaced on parts of his skin, mostly on the neck, shoulders, arms, and some over his pelvis.

  The two ferocious wings unhurriedly extended towards the ceiling and Zegion instantly tensed his muscles. With a loud boom, Asterios disappeared in a blur. The Demon King grunted heavily when he stopped Ast’s fist from obliterating his face just a split second later, getting pushed a few meters to the back.

  “Good! Good! Embrace it! Don’t think! You can start thinking about your moves after you get used to them!” The man instructed him. “Let’s dance, baby!”

  Zegion flapped his own wings, and their battle took into the skies, as far as the high ceiling allowed, of course. Both winged figures dashed around the throne room while clashing against each other every other second, sending waves of trembling pressure all around them with each contact. Everyone had already found something to support themselves on, like a pillar or heavy brazier.

  A powerful thud threw the spectators a few centimeters into the air as the combatants crashed into the ground in the middle of the chamber. In a flash, Asterios and Zegion were back to pummeling each other with quite a ferocity. The latter’s face was constantly painted with an ecstatic smile while the former had grown quite fierce and serious.

  The balance in their fight had changed a little. Asterios was able to actually land a hit on the Demon King now and then while Zegion had to be a little bit less reckless with his move set. The majority of the hits still connected with Ast’s body, of course, leaving some bruises and blemishes on his light skin.

  But more and more scales surfaced over Ast’s entire figure, mostly gathering at the edges of his limbs and body in general. His stomach had a tough-looking, scaly V running down his pelvis, under his belt, and connecting to his sides where it could be seen above it. His arms had turned almost entirely into a fusion between draconic and demonic with how a durable armor covered his forearms and wrists, a shade darker than his now red skin under it.

  “Is this all you can do? I thought True Dragons were something! I’m starting to pity those women more and more!” Zegion kept taunting Asterios without a break.

  Another mighty impact shook the throne room and they suddenly appeared amongst the spectators. Ast’s wide swing tore away part of the black metal pillar, making Rowena squeal from shock and surprise. She had been holding onto it near the floor right from the beginning.

  Zegion spun around and landed a solid mid-kick in Ast’s stomach, sending him flying back to the middle of the hall. He chuckled and followed soon after, moving their fight away from the bystanders. Before he reached Asterios though, his jaw met an uppercut as he was in the middle of his dash and drove him into the ceiling.

  With almost maniacal laughter, the Demon King descended to the ground to squash Asterios to the floor, but he managed to avoid that fate just by a hair’s breadth thanks to getting better at using his wings in combat. The demon man created a small but wide hollow in the ground, accompanied by a loud metallic gong.

  They exchanged a few earth-shattering blows before arriving at a standstill, holding each other’s hands near their faces and trying to push forward in a contest of pure strength. Unfortunately, Asterios was still way behind the mighty Demon King as his tattoos had begun glowing pink now.

  “I must admit, you are a fast learner. You are getting better at an astounding pace. But you are still not yet there. That human part is still—”

  Something slapped Zegion across the cheek as Asterios suddenly spun around. The hit sent him flying into the nearby wall. He hastily crawled out of the created dent and locked his eyes on Asterios with clear confusion.

  “Oh. Interesting. Looks like you are finally letting it go.”

  A thick yet quite lean and slim near the end tail slowly danced behind Ast’s legs, covered by dark crimson scales from its top and slightly lighter plates on the underside. The tough demonic armor of dark red shade with bright scarlet streaks reached now over Ast’s elbows. Crimson scales ran up to his shoulders, slowly creeping onto his chest.

  “This is going to be fun!” The Demon King smirked and lunged at Asterios.

  Back on the side, Miria couldn’t contain her glee and bounced up and down while pulling on Selene’s and Tina’s clothes in turns.

  “Master has a tail! Master has a tail like a real Dragon! Do you see it?! It’s real, isn’t it?!”

  Silvia chuckled at her adorable behavior as a faint smile curved her dainty lips. “Yeah, we can see it. It looks rather beautiful and… fitting, I guess. It’s hard to believe but Asterios might really be a complete True Dragon, just with some issues holding him back.”

  “Do you think he will transform in this fight, Silvia?!”

  The ecstatic panthergirl pounced on her and pulled the princess into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground. They began spinning as Miria stared at her face with unspeakable happiness. Silvia let out a warm laugh as she looked back at her with the blurred background around them, making Miria giggle too.

  At least until Selene stopped them and supported the princess with Tina, assisting her in catching her balance after being released from the overenthusiastic panthergirl’s embrace. She kept a soft smile on her face even after the ride was finished.

  “I get that you are elated, but do mind our royal friend in your actions,” the fox lady rebuked Miria gently.

  “Sorry, ehehehe~”

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind. We are friends, right?” Silvia glanced at her with a tender expression.

  “Yep!” Miria beamed at her. “We could always be more if—ah, I’m sorry, I did it again... My head is still spinning a little, ehehehe~”

  Silvia let out an adorable chuckle after seeing the joyful panthergirl cover her mouth in shame as her pretty ears flopped down a little.

  “You don’t have to apologize. I’m not offended. I bet Father would be happy.”

  “What about you, though, Princess Silvia? Would you be happy?” Tina asked, trying to hide her faint blush.

  Silvia turned her head towards the battle and followed Ast’s figure with a warm smile. “Who knows…”

  A big chunk of metal flew straight at them but bounced off a joint barrier raised by Bryn, Selene, and Svertaniel. One of the fighting two must have hit a pillar on their path. Asterios and Zegion were still entangled in an intense brawl, with the Demon King actually suffering some visible damage at such a level.

  He jumped over Ast’s tail swipe and launched a powerful jab at his head from above, only to have it parried by the half-human, half-Dragon. Zegion didn’t stop there and coiled his thin tail around Ast’s ankle. His wings made a few strong beats, and he used it as an anchor to swing himself around. Landing a solid kick in Ast’s back, he sent Asterios tumbling forward.

  “Do True Dragons amount only to this much? I guess they could do well as decent back scratchers if anything.” The man kept the taunts up, laughing to himself. “Seriously, I’m a tad disappointed. I don’t get how your women aren’t. Perhaps I should do them a favor and show them what a real man is after we are done here, even if it isn’t really my—”

  A small earthquake shook the chamber as Ast’s fist suddenly appeared in front of Zegion’s face and connected with it in a split second. An unbelievable force burst out from the impact, bending the nearby pillar into a heavy curve and denting the ground into a small crater. The demon man didn’t even register the motion or what had hit him before he was launched backward to the noise of his skull cracking.

  Zegion’s body slammed into the deformed throne and ripped the fancy chair into pieces as it bore through the heavy metal backrest like through paper, pulverizing it into bits just as his title implied. He crashed into the wall behind it with an ear-splitting noise of a metal gong that caused even more tremors. All the braziers in the hall had been snuffed out, bringing the hall to dim light.

  “No one lays a hand on my mates.”

  Ast’s cold voice reached Zegion’s ears as he shook his head to dig it out from all the metal debris filling the deep hole. Their eyes met and he noticed Ast’s irises glinting with much more ferocity and dark scarlet horns of vertical shape decorating the sides of his head. The crimson scales had crawled onto his neck and even cheeks and forehead. Asterios began sucking in a lot of air and a slight reddish tint illuminated his throat.

  “Ah, fu—”

  A merciless spiraling inferno of crimson flames hurled towards Zegion as Asterios breathed pure fire, illuminating the entire chamber in a scarlet hue. A deafening hum and noise filled the air as the violent flames assaulted the Demon King’s position for about ten full seconds.

  When Asterios finally stopped, hunching forward a little, they revealed a long, even trench of molten metal up to the end of the hall. Nothing had survived the inconceivable heat. The shallow path of annihilation bore even through the entire raised platform where the throne had been, making nothing of that obstacle.

  But, at the furthest point, everyone could see a low glow of various colors which quickly faded. The four demon men crouched together over the Demon King with their backs sizzling alongside the molten metal from getting partially scorched too. The complex patterns that had appeared on their skin gradually hid away again.

  One of them groaned and began falling to the back but Zegion caught the man’s arm before he fell into the pool of boiling metal underneath them.

  “You good, Achat?” The Demon King looked at his comrade with concern.

  “Yes, My King.” The man named Achat let out a strained chuckle. “I’m afraid that… this attack wasn’t exactly of pure magical nature… It’s a miracle that our formation stopped it, hahaha…”

  Asterios dropped to one knee and glanced over his shoulder at the shocked spectators. “Bryn! Tina! Cough… Cough… Go!”

  He entered a small fit of coughing with bits of black smoke escaping his lips. The called duo instantly snapped back to themselves and dashed forward, knowing exactly what Asterios wanted from them.

  Tina summoned Hydran in the shape of a scythe and took a powerful swing. A tall and ferocious wave of ice-cold water rolled over the still-sizzling metal, quickly cooling it down. It split shortly before hitting the Demon King and his companions.

  Bryn flew to their side in a flash and began weaving multiple spells to heal the hurt demon men, giving her all to aid them the best she could. Zegion nodded at her appreciatively, noticing how far she pushed herself to work on four if not five spells at once, each taking care of different degrees of burns.

  Miria and Selene rushed to Ast’s side and supported him with anxious expressions. He shook his head at them with a wry smile. A stifled chuckle escaped his throat.

  “That’s what you get for playing with fire… and Dragons...”

  Chapter 13

  The More, The Merrier

  With Miria and Selene by his side, Asterios sat down on the undamaged part of the floor. The black smoke still kept escaping his mouth each time he coughed again, trying to calm his breathing after the intense battle.

  “Are you okay, Master? Maybe Bryn should—”

  He raised his hand to stop Miria and gently brushed through her soft hair. “I’m fine. Those men are in a much worse state. Let her focus on healing them.”

  “But…”

  “I don’t feel any pain or such, besides being a little sore after this little training. I think the smoke is just what was left after the fire breath. My throat seems alright. I’ve never done anything like this so it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that I did something wrong, trapping that smoke inside instead of letting it all out,” Asterios explained, affectionately scratching behind Miria’s ear.

  “Alright…”

  The worried panthergirl finally backed down and they all watched how Bryn treated the demons on the other side of the hall while Asterios continued to take deep breaths, trying to remove the leftover smoke from his respiratory system. Silvia, Svertaniel, and Radir came closer, stopping by the trio’s side.

  “Now, that was a real something.” Radir smirked after they glanced up at the newcomers.

  “I agree. I would have never thought I would get the chance to witness a real Dragon’s Breath,” Svertaniel added while nodding.

  Asterios chuckled, coughing up some more smoke. “I wouldn’t call it a real one yet. I’m fairly sure it was nothing when compared to an actual Dragon’s Breath coming from an experienced user.”

  “But, Master, yours was almost as intense as that woman’s from summoning!” Miria protested, pouting at him adorably.

  “She is right.” Silvia crouched by their side. “I saw both from the sidelines. It’s true that yours felt a little… awkward and jaggy when compared to hers, but it wasn’t by much. Just like back then, something resonated within my own affinity. Even stronger, actually. I know it might sound stupid but… your fire felt beautiful.”

  “I don’t think that sounds stupid.” Selene shared her opinion. “It certainly was beautiful to me. That woman’s fire was more vicious and nastier.”

  “We’ll see how it feels after I get some practice,” Asterios replied then glanced at Silvia. “I’m glad to know that it had a positive effect on you. I hope it will further aid your growth.”

  She answered with a faint smile and a tiny nod. “Perhaps I could be of use to you too? You’ve given me so much insight, yet I wasn’t that helpful during our time together.”

  “I wouldn’t say that, but I think we can both gain a lot if we further train together, especially when it comes to fire. We should spar more in the future. I do need to get a hang of this.”

  “So… How does it feel?” Radir asked with his arms crossed over his chest and a raised brow.

  Before Asterios got a chance to have the man elaborate a little on his question, Miria poked his head with her finger.

  No. She didn’t poke his head but somewhere higher, and he quickly realized that Grea’s father was talking about his draconic parts which had shown up during the duel and remained on Ast’s body after it had ended.

  “Honestly, it will take a moment to get used to,” he answered in a pondering tone. “The horns are kind of like my bones but… I do receive some sensations from them, like when a certain curious panthergirl is making me ticklish by repeatedly tapping on the tough surface.”

  Miria hastily took her hand away and giggled while turning a little rosy on her cheeks.

  “And well, there’s also this.”

  Suddenly, something coiled around her waist and quickly lifted her into the air above Asterios. Miria started laughing and hitting Ast’s firm tail with her fists as her legs kicked around.

  “Hey! Let me down, Master! Hahahaha! Not fair!”

  “For this, I’ll need quite some practice. It’s like a third arm but in the back. Moving it consciously is not as easy as it looks. Perhaps I will need some lessons from someone with much more experience in that regard.”

  He slowly lowered Miria towards himself, and she stopped trying to wriggle herself out. Ending up close to Asterios, hanging just above his face, she blushed a little as they stared each other in the eyes. After she leaned forward, Asterios pulled her closer and joined their lips in a tender, loving kiss. His tail unwrapped itself from around her waist as Miria fit into his lap from the front.

  “I will be happy to give you a hand, Master.” She offered quietly after their lips parted, still gazing deep into his charming crimson eyes.

  Asterios placed one more peck on her delicate mouth and Miria hugged him closely, resting her head on his shoulder. He had felt how worried she was about his well-being and Asterios let her relax in his arms while affectionately grazing her back.

  A soft chuckle reached his ears as Selene left a quick kiss on his cheek.

  “Don’t forget about me, Master.” She showed a jubilant smile. “When it comes to tails, I’m quite far ahead of Miria.”

  The panthergirl in question giggled cutely at Selene’s little joke and Asterios chuckled too, nodding at his vulpine mate.

  “I wish I had one too…” Tina whispered under her breath while looking down, but Asterios heard every single word as clear as day.

  He reached out with his free hand and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, surprising Tina greatly. Seeing his kind smile, she answered with the same and scooted closer, leaning her shoulder against Ast’s. She didn’t need to hear his words to understand what he meant. He appreciated her help and effort even without it.

  The sound of footsteps caught everyone’s attention and they looked ahead just to see Zegion, Bryn, and the four men walking toward them. The latter looked fine even though they still kept supporting each other, most likely due to heavy mana overexertion.

  Arriving closer, the slightly anxious Valkyrie trotted to Asterios and knelt down in front of him.

  “How are you feeling, Master? Where should I start?” she asked with genuine concern.

  “Thank you for the worry, Bryn, but I’m alright. There are no serious injuries you have to take care of. The smoke is almost completely gone now. My throat was and is fine. What about the others?” Asterios looked past her at the demons.