He sighed heavily. “I already fear what’s going to come from our union considering the result brought forth by my parents. I’m afraid the universe isn’t ready for it.”

  His mates laughed openly while the fox lady huffed indignantly, directing a happy smile his way. Just the way that he wasn’t denying it or changing the topic made her very felicitous. He was thinking about the effects, not considering it. Such a statement made her feel a certain way, and she was sure the others were experiencing it too. Especially a particular amorous panthergirl.

  They chatted for a little longer, the topics mostly revolving around what kind of children they would have, trying to come up with combinations of character traits from both parents. In the end, the vision of a female True Dragon inheriting Ast’s charm and Selene’s mischievous nature won the contest as the biggest threat to all known worlds, her mere presence throwing the strongest males into war for her hand.

  Though it would be a tough win considering the person they needed the permission of, the only Dual-Hearted Progenitor-Class True Dragon in existence.

  “Okay. We should continue.” Asterios interrupted their theorycrafting when it got too creative. “Do you still remember the positions of the other two facilities, Abyss?”

  “Naturally.” The ominous lady nodded. “But we are much further from them than before. It might be a wiser choice to use the token again and locate ones closer to our current position.”

  “Actually, do we even need to do that?” Tina thought out loud. “I think I can see another fortress that way, far in the distance. We should find a cluster below it if our theory is correct, right?”

  He followed her gaze and enhanced his eyes, jumping forward over quite a distance. As his lovely Summoner girlfriend had said, he could spot the faintest shimmer of white on the black background, glinting in the golden shine from the seal. The badge would most likely point them there or equally as far.

  “This massive interconnected structure sure makes it easier now,” Asterios commented. “I agree with Tina. It’s better not to attract more attention to us. Anything related to light might trigger the residents even more as they assume it’s connected to this phenomenon. This still looks like a few days of travel too.”

  So, they first took a good look around to see if they couldn’t spot anything in other directions before getting ready for another trip through the darkness. The one Tina had brought to their attention seemed to be the only perceivable thing in the sky. At least as far as the horizon went. Their destination was set, then.

  Asterios transformed into his shadowy form and swallowed the ladies into his spiritual belly. He pushed himself as far as he could to cover the distance within the shortest time. Even though he had gotten stronger, they underestimated how much of an impact the sudden change in the realm’s structure would have on its inhabitants.

  Most beings were in pure panic mode, not knowing what to do or think. Many were trying to move but quickly noticed that there was no escape from the wide net. The next obvious choice was the ground, and so plenty of monsters and entities capable of burrowing made their new dwellings deep in whatever soil they lived in.

  Some were actually hurt by the glow that reached the ground from up high. Umbra was fine, but he belonged to the more powerful group, while the weaker creatures seemed either inconvenienced by the light or straight-up killed by it. Even the surface itself reacted in different ways, depending on the nature of the specific region. The black smoking grass disappeared in some parts.

  The number of general shadows fell greatly too, the world no longer being enveloped in eternal darkness.

  It took Asterios about three days to find his way to the other fortress. He flew them around and found what had to be its entrance, landing in front of it and letting his mates out before shifting back. This one wasn’t damaged, and they found a full disc inside the keyhole, but it was impossible to pry it off to replace it with theirs or take it with them. Deciding not to try and break into the structure, they examined the land below, looking for signs of another facility. There had to be some kind of activity above it brought forth by the ambient mana.

  “What is… this?” Tina frowned as they took in the sights below them.

  Even from so high up, they could see the winding paths of gold making up a somewhat artistic pattern, like a bright tattoo on the surface of the dark realm. They could tell that it wasn’t supposed to be an array or anything else just from a glance. That was purely aesthetic. There were even some buildings between the exquisite routes, hints of some kind of community living there.

  But the most surprising part was another chasm, this time smaller, and clearly artificial. It was more of a spiraling descent with stairs going down the hole’s rough walls. Asterios peered further into it and saw creatures, a mix of black and white, moving in two constant lines, one going up and the other down. The atmosphere was rather weird.

  “It seems they have found the facility like the Darklings did,” Selene noted. “But, in this case, it might be more difficult to sneak in.”

  “We shouldn’t assume they are hostile,” Miria said with a cheerful grin. “Maybe they are as kind as our short friends?”

  “It’s time to verify that,” Asterios replied. “It would be a waste of time to seek another cluster, so perhaps we can convince them to let us in or give them a little scare if worse comes to worst. It’s for the betterment of their lives, so I’m sure they will understand one day.”

  With that, they descended on his back and hopped off on the edge of the furthest golden marking. It gave off the vibes of a road, one that would fit five carriages side-by-side, but no one was using it. And there were entities moving around. Coming closer, Asterios and the ladies examined them carefully.

  Like most residents of Umbra’s homeworld, these guys were fairly dark too, with one major difference. Their upper bodies wore what resembled pure white robes, a fashion choice not often picked here. But, starting from the bottom, they stood on eight long spider-like legs connected to a horizontal platform. Then, their furry bodies formed a fairly humanoid torso and everything above from the middle of the fleshy square, save for the number of arms, which was six. Their heads resembled those of an insect, but one they had never seen before.

  Soon enough, they were noticed by the edge of the settlement.

  “Outsiders!” One of the creatures hissed, and many turned to them immediately.

  Ast’s party tensed as multiple entities ran straight to them, giving it their all to reach the newcomers as fast as possible. Ready to defend themselves, they froze in consternation as all but one of their assailants started bowing lower than their midsections while the remaining individual threw their arms to the sky.

  “Outsiders! Come! Pray!” it screeched with its clicky accent.

  “The end is near!” the others chanted in unison. “We pray!”

  The ladies blinked in confusion while exchanging glances.

  “Pray? The end?” Asterios frowned at the welcoming committee.

  “To the Destroyer’s Spirit! So you might be spared from the final judgment!” The main one bowed a few times too. “Come with us! Pray! Every voice matters!”

  “We pray!” the others repeated.

  ~What’s with this realm and all the fanatics?~ Asterios chuckled inside his bond with his companions. ~Now it’s getting religious.~

  ~I think we should accept,~ Althea suggested. ~They might take us where we need to go. Or at least show us around.~

  “Very well. We will pray with you. Do we do that anywhere or…” He raised a brow at the skittering monsters.

  “It’s too late to pray on the streets! We have to bow before the Destroyer’s Spirit in its sacred abode!” the leader explained. “Follow us! The High Priest will be overjoyed for an outsider’s prayer!”

  Their new friends turned around and sped away, forcing Ast’s group to run after them. These entities had the advantage of legs and didn’t shy away from making use of it. In a few seconds, they were in the middle of a crude stone village with many of its inhabitants slowly heading in the direction of the descent. The only thing that looked cared after was the golden road, which led right to the pit.

  The flow of traffic was quite tedious, but Asterios and the girls didn’t want to offend their hosts. Following their customs, they joined the line and headed to the stairs while surrounded by praying spider-crabs, as they decided to call those people, missing the chance to ask about their species. It came mostly from the fact that they ran sideways, moving normally at lower speeds.

  It took a while, but Ast’s group finally made it deep into the chasm, and their eyes widened slightly. At the very bottom, lay the familiar white chambers and connectors of the buried facility. This one was almost fully excavated, though. More than that, judging by the moving people, its entrance was open somehow, perhaps due to a malfunction or something.

  Surprised at such an unexpected development, they followed the praying creatures who chanted their litany repeatedly with all six hands held together in front of them and slipped into the white hideout, a bit worried if it wasn’t inactive. But, no, the golden trenches in the walls were gleaming with power. The cluster was still there.

  And Asterios was starting to suspect what the Destroyer’s Spirit exactly was.

  All the surfaces around them were adorned with crude drawings, pictograms, and sentences, with not a single space missed. Of all the cults they had previously met in the Nethernight Realm, this one might be the craziest. But, if the spider-crabs had been affected by the cluster’s spiritual energy, it wasn’t impossible for them to turn a little insane.

  Taking a few tight turns, they reached their main destination, which was the sizable core chamber. Inside, they found even more black script all over its surfaces, which culminated around the cluster. It was kind of funny to think of how it stopped at a safe distance, which had to be figured out by rather conventional means of moving closer until the defenses activated. Asterios wondered how many of these guys lost their lives just to create this scene.

  The believers formed multiple rings around the floating sphere, each circle bowing at a different time as they all went through their mantra. Not wanting to get into that, Ast’s party stepped out of the line and moved to stand on the sidelines, their hosts content on ignoring them now that they were in an important place of prayer.

  “What do you make out of it, Master?” Miria whispered into his ear.

  “Don’t know. I have no idea how these guys ended up like this,” he replied quietly.

  “It’s all thanks to the prophecy.” A deeper but still clicky voice reached them, and they found a slightly taller spider-crab watching them intently, its white robes adorned with a golden trim as the only one in the room.

  This had to be the High Priest.

  “Prophecy?” Tina inquired.

  “The return of the Destroyer,” it answered with a resigned calm. “The day the sky shatters into a million fragments, the end of the world is nigh. The Destroyer shall return and finish the job through its might. Many chose to fight, but they all fell. Now all we can do is pray to its spirit and beg to be spared from the upcoming annihilation.”

  They looked at each other pointedly, then directed their gazes to Selene. It was fortunate that these creatures didn’t exactly have a lot of information on that Destroyer, because it was fairly obvious what person they had in mind. Umbra didn’t mention any other otherworldly invaders who had so much influence over his home.

  How these beings connected the facilities to the invader was still a mystery, though.

  “And you, who exactly are you?” The spiritual leader regarded them with a pondering tone.

  Asterios considered thoroughly how to introduce himself and his group without sparking some grand conflict or misunderstanding. The Darklings worshiped Kaguya, but these guys were closer to fearing her so much that her return was seen as the destruction of all life. Yet, they treated the cluster with religious respect, bowing and praying to it. Their attire and the golden road had to have come from its mana too.

  Before he could come to a decision, a sly grin snuck onto Tina’s lovely lips and she patted him on the back.

  “I’m glad you asked!” She puffed out her chest proudly. “This here is the Messiah, and all of us are his Apostles! Fret not anymore, as he has stepped into your world to prevent the destruction you so pitifully await! His darkness exists just so he can consume the Destroyer’s Spirit and prevent it from regaining its scattered power! Be glad, as your prayers have been answered!”

  Rubbing his eyes, Asterios sighed heavily.

  There was no way this would work.

  Chapter 25

  The Sun is Out

  The priest in front of them looked quite taken aback. It was natural. No one had expected such bold and perhaps, to some extent, audacious words to come from the mouth of some unknown strangers who had stepped into the very pious settlement. A few nearby followers even paused their prayers and turned their attention to the unusual group. If not for the combined chanting noise, everyone would most likely have heard Tina’s declaration thanks to the chamber’s acoustics.

  Asterios readied himself to salvage the situation when Umbra’s voice echoed in his head.

  ~It might be better not to dismiss this situation completely,~ his familiar advised.

  ~How so?~ he asked.

  ~There is no doubt that the realm is in chaos right now. Some might believe the world is ending, like these people. Things might become difficult for us and everyone else,~ the Lord of Shadows explained. ~What my kin needs right now is someone who can guide them through this crisis. A bunch of unworthy individuals are definitely going to capitalize on this event while trying to rise in their ranks, caring not for our future, even if that won’t extend further than a day or two.~

  Certainly, from what they had seen on their way to this facility, the first signs of disorder were already present in the minds of the natives. It wouldn’t be long before some small civil wars broke out amongst this realm’s denizens, nor for the others to form alliances and try to tackle the encroaching threat.

  A threat many would find unfamiliar.

  Most, if not everyone, from Umbra’s world was associated with darkness, either born straight from it or deeply touched by its element. The energy of the light that was the main driving force behind the sealing barrier and everything that operated the magical arrangement was almost straight counter to such. Many would die trying to fight against the unidentified danger, and therefore, many would die meaningless deaths.

  Sure, the majority of the beings living inside the locked dimension could be considered scary or threatening, but they weren’t all exactly evil. That hadn’t been Abyss’ purpose when she was creating this world. And even without her interference, it hadn’t fully devolved into pure madness. Otherwise, Umbra would have made use of the first chance to abuse the freedom he had gained through Asterios, slowly plotting to either free himself or follow some other nefarious goal.

  ~So, you want me to play along?~ Asterios pondered deeply as they continued their exchange in his mind.

  ~I understand that it might be asking for a lot. You already have multiple societies under your care and have saved a number of communities. I don’t want to increase your burden, Master, yet I can’t help but at the very least share my thoughts with you,~ Umbra replied. ~This is not a request, just so we are clear. I do wish for you to help this world and its people, even if just to solve our creator’s greatest regret. In my opinion, you have what is necessary to become our savior, but I shall not encumber your shoulders with this responsibility without your clear acceptance.~

  Asterios considered his words for a bit longer before taking a deep breath. ~An entire dimension is a much bigger deal than some remote village or even a small city. But I can at least try. The rest will be in the hands of your people. Or whatever else they might use to hold onto things.~

  ~That’s already more than I would insist on.~ His shadowy friend chuckled mirthfully. ~I shall continue to offer my aid no matter your choices, Master.~

  Stepping forward as the leader of the spider-crab faction was quickly recollecting from the incredulity of Tina’s words, Asterios fixed his gaze on the tall being.

  “My companion speaks true.” He placed a hand over his heart. “Ever since my arrival here, I have been going around collecting the dangerous energy of the light. It is my intention to release the people imprisoned in this realm against their will, and now, as the malevolent force is attempting to fight back, protect everyone from its oppression.”

  Nothing he said was technically a lie. He might have omitted the part where the current events were his fault, but that was a small and insignificant detail. His intentions remained the same as they had been during his first step into the restricted darkness of Umbra’s home.

  The elder gaped at him. “That’s…”

  “Preposterous?” Selene finished for the creature, raising a white brow. “If one outsider can be proclaimed the Destroyer, it’s not impossible for another to be deemed the Savior. As someone who hails from the former’s realm, I can confidently say that it does not compare to how developed our master’s homeworld is. This might be the universe’s way of arranging things to make it right for you.”

  As usual, the cunning and wise fox lady knew exactly what to say in such situations. Being a spiritual leader with decades of experience, she was able to address the zealots’ way of thinking and utilize it to appeal to their strong faith. Mentioning that she came from the realm of gods, if they considered the Destroyer as one, pointing out that Ast’s birthplace was on another level certainly had an effect on their conversation partner and a bunch of eavesdroppers.

  “But, I can’t succeed alone,” Asterios added, pushing the narrative forward. “Your home is falling into disorder. There are more like you who have resigned themselves to their fate. This Spirit I can take care of, but there’s only one of me. After I consume all of its energy, I will need your help to spread the word and calm the masses.”