Each column rushed in a different direction, creating golden arcs across the pure darkness. They shot way ahead, hiding behind the horizon. Power buzzed around the weird object as the group observed the mesmerizing phenomenon. Not seeing any further changes, Asterios extended his arm and caught the badge in his palm. As he had expected, without feeling any heat, the light wasn’t meant to hurt, and it broke off the moment he fully covered the token.

  “What was that?” Miria gaped at him with sparkling eyes.

  “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the pillar split into three when we need exactly just as many pieces to complete this… artifact,” Abyss commented.

  “Did it show us where to get the rest of them?” Silvia watched the beams dissipate.

  “Very likely.” The eerie lady nodded. “I have noted the locations so we don’t need to activate it again. I would advise against doing so for a bit.”

  “Why?” The panthergirl tilted her head. “It’s like a guiding light, no?”

  “Because it’s flashy,” Tina said. “The exact reason why we left Bryn behind. Not to worry anyone, but we were in the very center of this massive column. I think we should run.”

  “Precisely,” Asterios agreed, turning to Abyss. “How far is the nearest place shown by the light?”

  “With the usual pace? A few days to a week,” she replied. “Two of them are fairly near each other, but one is far away, completely on its own.”

  “It would be better to start with the separate one, Master,” Umbra shared his thoughts. “We will then be close to the third if the second invokes some unexpected change in the badge.”

  “As you say.” Asterios hid the token away. “Time to pack up, ladies. We’ll fly for a while, then find a spot to rest before going all in the next day. Get—”

  “Master?” Miria interrupted him with a wry smile. “We might have a problem…”

  He frowned at her, but soon after, his ears registered the problem too. It looked like Miria’s senses had advanced a lot if she could once more register things before him. That brought him back to the old days.

  Nevertheless, he couldn’t let himself be distracted and shifted into a True Dragon right away. “Get on. They are coming.”

  No questions asked, the girls were on his back momentarily, getting launched into the air in a flash. As Asterios flapped his strong wings and fueled himself with his draconic energies, they peered past his sides, and their eyes widened. A sea of creatures encroached on their position from all directions, from the smallest monsters to the massive Titans. Everyone wanted either a piece of what had caused the incident or a piece of those who had dared to bring light to the sacred darkness.

  And unfortunately, Ast’s figure was spotted even though he himself was black on the black surface.

  “Hold on!” he shouted, raising his efforts to the maximum.

  They had never flown so fast before, everything becoming one huge smudge. But, even so, the ocean of death they were passing above was almost unending. So many furious entities wanted to get them that it wasn’t even funny. And amongst them, at least a bunch would be fairly strong.

  “Some of the flying ones are gaining on us!” Althea shouted and conveyed the message mentally too.

  ~I’m taking over, Master,~ Umbra announced.

  Asterios didn’t fight him, and his onyx Heart responded to the shadows that wrapped him and the ladies up, combining his efforts with his familiar. They dropped to the ground like a magic missile and plunged into the darkness, zipping between their enemies faster than before. Barely anyone caught a glimpse of them before they were long gone from that spot.

  ~Fight is inevitable,~ the Duke added. ~I’m bringing us to a more advantageous position. It’s not far.~

  ~I shall provide you with shelter if you manage to find a fitting place to hide in,~ Abyss offered in their minds. ~You should have no issues with that in the location Little Shadow is heading towards.~

  And so they rushed through the shadows while Umbra and Asterios dodged and weaved their combined bodies. From time to time, they sent a spike or two into some poor creature, skewering it on their way ahead. One less enemy, and possibly a bonus chance that some other monsters would stop to devour their temporary ally before continuing the pursuit.

  Soon enough, they arrived at their destination, gaining just a bit of distance between the edge of the bizarre ocean of pursuers. Clouds of dark dust floated into the air as the evil army charged at them from the front. At their backs were numerous scary mountains of different sizes as far as they could see. The terrain would definitely slow their opponents down. But it was also an opportunity.

  “I’ll hold them back!” Asterios stated, taking an offensive stance in his draconic form. “Find us a cave or something!”

  “I’m staying with you, Master!” Miria jumped off his back and activated her newly gained powers.

  A black panther almost equal his size appeared next to him, then it suddenly lit up in crimson flames, which replaced its fur. Growling ferociously, it cracked its neck in preparation.

  “Same here.” Selene mirrored her actions.

  A white fox took Ast’s other side, just a bit smaller than him, its eleven tails dancing wildly behind its back as they gathered and condensed spiritual energy

  “It’s been a while since I faced off against this many,” Althea said.

  Next to Miria, an emerald Lesser Dragon appeared, hovering above the ground while its long body slithered as if in constant movement.

  “I guess the duty falls onto us, then,” Silvia commented, rising into the air above everyone in her flaming form.

  Tina joined her, borrowing the mystical flying ability of Lesser Dragons from her newest summon to simply float. “We really need to find a way to gain those big transformations. I feel like we are getting left behind.”

  The princess let out a quiet chuckle. “You now understand how it was for Miria, then. Come on. Let’s leave the fun to them this time.”

  “Sure. Their numbers make my skin crawl. I prefer this over that unwinnable battle.” The Summoner girl shuddered. “Take care, guys!”

  Both of them disappeared into the mountain ranges, joined by Umbra. Finding a good hideout was a crucial job.

  “Ready!” Asterios shouted as the ground quaked under the trampling steps of thousands of limbs. “Attack!”

  He reached into himself and released a booming roar that echoed into the distance. The first line of pursuers paused, faltering in their desire for bloodshed. That gave him enough time to spool lots of onyx draconic energy and breathe ominous black flames tinged with whitish tongues right at the army.

  At that exact moment, three other streams joined him on the sides. His clever mates had timed their actions perfectly, and their enemies were assaulted by fire of different shades.

  Miria used his crimson mana to spew red draconic flames.

  Selene invoked her rare blue spiritual flames with a ghostly appearance.

  Althea called for her emerald breath, a force of nature on its own.

  The first line of attackers was cooked alive.

  Taking advantage of the brief shock, Asterios flapped his wings and dove into the chaos. Spinning around his axis, he swung his claws and sent arcs of dark energy to the sides, slicing through multiple monsters. Gathering the same over the edges of his wings, he continued ahead, cutting through their ranks at a great speed.

  Something flashed above his head, and a red comet struck the ground before him, causing a massive explosion of deadly flames. Naturally, they licked his scales harmlessly. When they passed his head, he found the fiery feline in the center of the melted crater, grinning at him proudly.

  There had been no comet, it seems.

  Miria took off into a sprint, a wall of crimson flames rising behind her trail. She separated their enemies and closed them in shapes made of fire. Nothing could stop her heated claws as she slashed through anything in her path. Each bigger jump she made resulted in another explosion that burned everything to cinders.

  Althea took care of her blocked-off targets, flying high above the battlefield.

  Selene remained in the back, and the question of what she had been up to was answered a moment later. Massive orbs of swirling energy arced over her allies, lazily heading for the further ranks. But that didn’t make them any easier to dodge. Not with what happened on impact.

  Every spot where the spheres landed burst with enough power to shake the ground. Domes ten times the size popped into sight, practically evaporating the poor monsters caught in their range. Cyan cupolas of death illuminated the battleground from the back, leaving deep pits wherever they landed.

  But the bigger entities were finally starting to catch up.

  ~We found something!~ Tina informed the defense squad.

  Receiving the location, Asterios retreated. “One last blow!”

  His companions did the same, already aware of his plan. Gathering at their initial spot, they moved close to each other. Althea wound her body around Ast’s draconic frame, her snout poking forward underneath his. Miria and Selene leaned into his sides, bringing their muzzles as close as possible from left and right.

  They all inhaled deeply.

  At the mental command, they all released their breath attacks at once. This time, though, all streams were directed into the same path and fused into a thick pillar of black, red, blue, and green, the mixed shades flashing white now and then. The merciless inferno the size of their combined frames shot forward and annihilated anything on its path for hundreds of meters. With immense effort, Asterios dragged it from side to side, guiding their joint attack towards as many enemies as possible.

  When they finally drew back, nothing but freshly melted stone appeared before their eyes. They could see the unending sea of dark entities past the edges of the glowing lake, but it would at least slow them down a tad. Before anything caught them from their flanks, they flew away, Asterios picking the flaming kitty into his claws while the other two soaring through the sky along with him.

  Weaving between numerous peaks, he found the correct one and dove towards its base. Spotting the hidden opening, he slipped into the dark alcove, which was illuminated by Miria’s fiery fur right away. As they landed on the ground, darkness sealed the entrance, Abyss directing it with her mocha-skinned hand. Silvia and Tina stood next to her.

  “That was awesome!” Miria cheered, shifting back into her humanoid form and jumping up and down before Ast’s snout.

  Selene chuckled, coming out of her transformation too. “You are still on fire.”

  “Oh! Sorry!” The panthergirl giggled timidly, noticing that she truly still had flaming fur, and the fire winked out of existence in a blink. “But you can’t tell me the last attack we did wasn’t epic!”

  “There aren’t many places we could use that in, but I agree.” Althea smiled softly as she and Asterios joined them. “Now you can see how dangerous True Dragons can be.”

  “It was a joint effort, though,” Asterios chimed in, shaking his head.

  “True, but that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve something like that on your own in the future,” she countered. “Especially with two Dragon’s Hearts.”

  “We’ll see.” He laughed openly, changing back. “Until then, I guess we’ll use Umbra’s realm as testing grounds if he doesn’t mind. Or Abyss.”

  “Survival of the fittest, Master,” the Duke reminded him, and the world’s creator nodded. “It was their mistake to come after us.”

  “You should take a break now,” Abyss suggested. “I’ll keep you protected from any prying senses. There’s a lot of ground to cover tomorrow.”

  “Hopefully, this stampede passes until then.” Silvia sighed lightly, already out of her own transformation. “Since I was the one who found this place, I call dibs on sleeping in Ast’s arms tonight.”

  “What? No!” Miria stomped the floor with a pout. “I showed off so much earlier! I deserve to be patted as I doze off!”

  Snorting to the side at their clearly playful argument, Asterios walked up to the charming princess and pulled Silvia into his arms, peppering her delicate lips with a myriad of affectionate kisses as she embraced him back.

  “I’m sure we can find a satisfactory compromise, can’t we?” He grinned at her, and she showed the faintest hint of a smirk as the corner of her mouth curled up.

  But of course, that had to be planned. The clever lady knew Miria would most likely receive the most affection after what she’d gone through. Now, though, they would be able to share.

  Women were sly creatures. Especially the future queens.

  Chapter 20

  Anchor Down

  Waiting a few more minutes in silence to see if nothing would truly find them, the group began setting up their resting space. They could feel the slight rumbling outside as the constant stream of creatures passed through the mountains, still trying to catch up to them. With Abyss covering their butts, there should be no more issues for the time being.

  “So, anyone knows what happened?” Tina asked after they were done bringing out all the necessary furniture, consisting of a table, a few chairs, and of course, a massive bed.

  “With the broken disc?” Selene glanced at her. “All I saw was a massive flash after Althea touched it. Did filling the last missing part cause that?”

  “I don’t think so.” The draconic lady shook her head, taking a sip of cold, fruity tea. “The reaction took place before I could fully join the equation and become part of the loop. But, at the same time, something did happen, as we all have seen.”

  “You didn’t get to circulate the energy with us, but we felt your presence,” Miria said thoughtfully. “The mana in the token swirled faster, and that might have activated something perhaps.”

  “That’s right. And I have a feeling that we would have achieved the same result if the two of us simply pushed harder, so don’t blame yourself for what happened,” Asterios added, meeting his mentor’s gentle gaze.

  “I won’t,” Althea promised. “We didn’t get to study that weird net, but at least we might have found out the location of the other nearby clusters. Unless this thing points to something else entirely.”

  “We’ll see for ourselves soon. Unless anyone has any other ideas we could explore before departing on a week-long journey?” He dragged his eyes over his mates, but no one stepped forward. “Alright. Let’s rest up properly. This realm isn’t easy on the mind.”

  “Apologies.” Umbra bowed kindly, but everyone waved him off, not blaming either of the dark beings for anything.

  Asterios chatted with Miria for an hour or two as she gushed about the changes from what she had done in the facility. They investigated, examined, and explored her body and mind thoroughly to understand everything as best as they could. The tattoo she now carried on her back intrigued everyone, so she stayed furless most of the time, soaking in their curiosity and awe with pride.

  But the most fascinating thing was obviously Miria’s new ability to utilize all of Ast’s affinities. They tested a few things out, including her enhanced regeneration. It made Asterios a tad uncomfortable to see his beloved mate cut herself deeper and deeper, but he said nothing, knowing that the ladies had gone through pretty much the same feelings when he was the one doing it. Thankfully, since Bryn was absent, Miria agreed not to cut off her fingers or even limbs.

  However, Tia insisted that the panthergirl wouldn’t be effective enough in such a situation since she lacked the direct support of a Dryad, only commanding the energies of life and nature. So, she wouldn’t heal up to the same level as Asterios, but she would still be able to continue fighting even with a sword to the chest if it missed her heart. For a frontline fighter, that was perfect, especially since she didn’t need to bother her Master for aid every single time.

  After finishing their brief tests, they decided to call it a night. Slipping into the bed first, Asterios waited to see what was going to happen. As expected, Miria and Silvia approached him together and snuggled to his sides as he lay on his back. It looked like they were content with sleeping on top of him as their legs and arms rested over his frame, and their faces nuzzled his chest. He caressed both girls affectionately, running his palms over their smooth skin while kissing their soft hair.

  The panthergirl had the advantage of possessing a tail, which was the only thing the princess could be jealous of, as she couldn’t experience having it fluffed and stroked. But Asterios made sure she felt lots of his love too through his tender touch. As for the other girls, they gladly piled up next to them, choosing to embrace each other, and they all soon dozed off in the comfort of their little family.

  In the morning, Tia woke them up with mischievous whispers and impish imagery that made a great number of girls sport a fair blush as they found Ast’s eyes. He admonished the frivolous Dryad while greeting his mates with lots of tender kisses. They ate breakfast in bed while laughing and talking, simply basking in each other’s presence, unbothered by their lack of attire. It wasn’t like anyone could see or spy on them anyway.

  Finished with their preparations and feeling ready to tackle the next part of their grand quest, they grouped up behind Asterios as he faced Umbra and Abyss.

  “The monster marathon seems to be finished,” the mysterious goddess informed them. “It should be safe to continue.”

  “What’s the plan?” Asterios asked.

  “I will be transporting you as fast as I can while she shall erase our presence when necessary,” Umbra explained. “Since this will take a moment, depending on all the variables along the way, we’ll be stopping to rest regularly. It’s more for your minds rather than our exhaustion.”