Obviously, that was a lie.

  Inside the small sphere, Asterios slapped his palms together and let all of his true self out. Soon, his scales, horns, and tail showed up, and his limbs turned much more draconic. He groaned heavily and opened his spiritual circuits to their limits.

  Selene had to bring out three more tails and use both hands to prevent the bubble from bursting from the insane amount of mana surging out of Asterios. A crimson pillar was still able to shoot into the sky and tongues of spiritual energy escaped the bluish cocoon like dancing serpents flying outwards.

  Asterios poured his energy into the magical circle, and everyone watched how it gradually turned dark crimson with the motion of flowing water. A scream broke from his lips as he strained himself to his limits. It took him three minutes to fully activate the formation, and he felt like his entire body was burning from the output of mana.

  But he succeeded and transferred enough spiritual energy to trigger the contracting part of the ritual. The entire magical circle shone brightly with crimson hues, and Ast’s Summoner Brand appeared briefly on the Dracodon’s forehead before fading away. He could feel a connection with the Storm King.

  Panting like mad, he managed to withdraw his transformation and let Selene know that it was fine to take the obstruction down. She did so then immediately supported Asterios as he fell backward, setting him gently on the ground as he chuckled wryly.

  “It’s been… a long time… since I’ve exhausted myself so much… hahaha…”

  “Just rest, my Lord. I can’t even fathom how you filled this entire thing alone.” She smiled at him warmly.

  “I guess it’s time to do my part,” Venuzathor said and began shifting his massive body and legs a bit.

  Everyone watched how the Dracodon’s dark back was illuminated by a blue glow coming out of the crevices between the plates of his armor, creating multiple arrowhead-shaped stripes along his upper body. A pattern resembling tens of lightning strikes surfaced on his underside. He then pushed himself off the ground with his front legs and stood on his hind ones.

  “Oh, shit. Cover your ears!” Asterios shouted and reached for Selene’s much more sensitive fluffy triangles.

  Whipping his head to the sky, the Storm King shot a thick beam of condensed lighting out of his jaws. An ear-splitting, booming roar shook the air, sending mighty, trembling waves of force all around the source, which caused a small earthquake in the area. The spiritual energy crackled and flashed as the violent pillar tore the firmament of heavens to the accompaniment of the loud humming and buzzing noise of the beastly roar.

  Dark storm clouds gathered around the flashing monument and swirled viciously as the proud beast kept howling. A powerful wind broke out amidst tens of lightning strikes and thunder echoing through the air. The sky became gray in a moment while the formation on the ground seemed to turn azure and change a little, expanding even more.

  After thirty seconds, Venuzathor closed his jaws and the pillar of lightning was no more. He fell forward with a loud thud like a collapsing building and the sky began clearing up a little bit. The storm had passed but the clouds remained slightly gray.

  “What was that?” Asterios asked after partially regaining his hearing.

  “I claimed this region as my territory. No one should dare to intrude on my new sanctuary without a death wish. And also…”

  Everyone started looking around when a loud, thundering noise reached their ears from every direction. People soon realized that the noise belonged to hundreds if not thousands of flying animals and beasts, from little birds to massive Wyverns. They descended onto the plaza and all the nearby buildings, sitting on top of the barriers set up above the people. In a moment, the entire city was covered by a blanket of winged creatures.

  “What’s happening?” Grea asked after appearing next to Asterios with Tina by her side.

  “They’ve come to pay their respects, of course,” the Storm King boomed. “And to receive their orders.”

  “Orders?” Miria asked confusedly.

  “I will need an army of agents if I want to properly keep an eye on the entire region.” Venuzathor chuckled deeply and glanced down at Asterios. “Now, listen to your subordinate and rest. I can see that you are barely keeping yourself conscious with sheer will. I’ll send scouts to gather intel on the weird interference and bring you good news when you wake up again.”

  Asterios smiled wryly and nodded. Releasing a heavy sigh, he let the girls take care of him as his eyelids finally surrendered and he fell asleep immediately.

  Chapter 25

  The Calm Before the Storm

  Asterios woke up with a groan. Scrunching his face, he raised his hands to rub his forehead but only one of them arrived at its destination unobstructed. Slightly confused, he slowly opened his eyes and quickly recognized the castle’s ceiling. He wasn’t in the master bedroom since there was a lack of the distinct canopies high above his head and the bed was clearly much narrower.

  Tilting his head to the side, where his arm had refused to rise up earlier, he noticed a person sitting on a simple but comfortable chair with a padded backrest just next to the edge of the mattress. The scarlet-haired woman gently held his hand and smiled ever so softly at him.

  “You are awake at last,” Silvia said in a hushed tone.

  He decided to question the unusual situation in a moment and sighed softly while shifting a little. “What’s the time, and how long was I out?”

  “An hour or two after noon. You’ve been asleep for two days since the summoning.” The princess saw his eyes widen a little and tenderly squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry and take it easy. The Storm King said it would take at least three days for you to regain the lost reserves so you must still be somewhat tired. Everything was taken care of after you went to rest. We made sure of that.”

  Meeting Silvia’s kind gaze, Asterios nodded and tried to relax. He knew he could count on his friends and didn’t doubt that they had everything in perfect control. All the women were something else in the end, and the Committee members hadn’t suddenly disappeared.

  Feeling the princess’ soft fingers brushing over the top of his hand, he moved his eyes to it. At first, he hadn’t noticed, but there was a faint connection between them, and warmth emanated from their touch, much more than it should.

  “So, what’s the situation here?” Asterios asked, switching his gaze between their intertwined palms and Silvia’s face. “Not that I don’t find this nice, but I would expect Miria in your place instead with how much she usually worries about me.”

  The princess let out a very subtle chuckle and nodded. “That’s true, and she did check on you the most out of all of us.” She then slightly lowered her head. “I’m sorry for acting on my own but shortly after we transported you here, I noticed that our mana mingled together just as usual, and I soon found out that my spiritual energy could somehow stimulate yours. I’m sure you can feel it even now.”

  “I see.” Asterios nodded and brushed his finger over Siliva’s soft skin. “Does it drain you?”

  She shook her head. “Not in the slightest. While I’ve certainly been sharing some of my mana with you, it’s not an amount worth mentioning. I would need to focus deeply to notice the effects and I haven’t felt anything worrisome during all my time here.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting here since the summoning.” Asterios raised his brows at her, and she responded with a slightly more apparent smile. “Damn. I don’t know what to say besides thank you. It must have been horribly boring.”

  “I wasn’t alone all the time.” The princess skipped with her eyes past him.

  Asterios turned his head to the other side and found a golden-haired woman with dazzling white wings sitting there. “Gods, Bryn, I’m sorry for not noticing you earlier.”

  The Valkyrie showed a brilliant smile and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Master. I’m glad to see you recover so quickly. I made sure to keep an eye on you from a medical standpoint now and then but my time here can’t even compare to Princess Silvia’s. There's no doubt that you woke up earlier thanks to her discovery and help.”

  “For sure.” Asterios returned his gaze to the princess and found a barely noticeable tinge of rosiness on her noble cheeks. “Thanks again. How is the situation?”

  “You are welcome,” Silvia replied calmly. “Nothing significant happened while you were unconscious. The plaza is already back to its original state and the Storm King chose its northern part as his resting place, lying there peacefully most of the time. The Committee members decided to build a raised platform for him and will most likely start the construction soon as they are a bit busy assisting with your family’s new stores.”

  He chuckled, imagining the towering Dracodon curled up on a pedestal and watching over the market with his keen eye. Then, a dark gate opened next to Bryn and a person flew out of it.

  “Master!”

  Miria slammed into Asterios and he had to break his hand out of Silvia’s hold to catch the panthergirl. More chuckles escaped his lips as his feline mate wrapped her limbs all around him and rubbed her face into his chest. As he stroked her cute ears, Selene and Tina walked into the room too.

  “It’s alright, I’m fine.” He caressed Miria’s back lovingly. “I’m happy to see you too.”

  Raising them both to a sitting position, Asterios put his hands under her chin and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She smiled beautifully at him.

  “I know you are fine, Master. Silvia and Bryn took good care of you. I’m just glad you finally woke up,” Miria explained and kissed him too.

  Selene chuckled softly on the side and shot a glance at the princess. “Venuzathor said it would take you a day or two more, but I’m not surprised that you exceeded his expectations.”

  “I still feel a little hole in my reserves but I’m almost full. I think I’m good to go. Thanks, everyone, for taking care of me.” Asterios looked at each of them with a kind smile.

  “Speaking of holes…” Miria said quietly, and the mood turned slightly more serious.

  He sighed softly and scratched behind her ears. “The injury, right?” She nodded somberly. “Well, I’ve never felt like dying and I’m sure you can tell. On the contrary, I’ve been growing stronger bit by bit. I don’t think there’s much we have to worry about, especially without any information on what Venuzathor meant.”

  ~Let me elaborate now, then.~ The Storm King’s voice echoed in their heads.

  “Looks like everything ended without an issue,” Asterios commented. “We would be glad to hear more of your insight on this matter if you know anything, King Venuzathor.”

  ~Storm King is more of a title rather than status. Feel free to call me Venuzathor, or Venuz for short. And naturally, I do not mind speaking of what I can see.~

  “Noted. So, I don’t exactly know where to begin so if you could…?”

  ~Your feline mate was pretty close with her assessment. Looking at you, I see half a person. It’s hard to explain but I guess calling it a hole in your being is quite accurate. What I have no doubt about is that whatever it is, it was inflicted upon you.~

  “The injury,” Tina whispered as she and Selene sat down on the edge of the bed.

  They felt the Storm King make a rumbling noise of agreement. ~There are evident traces of something powerful piercing your body. The physical matter might have fully healed, but the traces of spiritual damage still linger over your entire torso like a web of fading cracks.~

  “Could it be… from the crystal?” Miria glanced into Ast’s eyes with a teary expression.

  He grazed her cheek and gave Venuzathor access to his memories from that day. The Storm King watched their battle with the Bloodfang and pondered for a moment.

  ~Hmmm… I don’t think that was it… That crystal… is way too weak.~

  Miria exhaled heavily with her hand over her heart. Asterios pulled her into a warm hug, glad that she felt at least a little better about herself. He still could sense her worry but Miria didn’t blame herself so deeply anymore, and some relief washed over her.

  “Bryn did say that she removed the Limit Breaker’s effects,” Selene said with a respectful nod at the Valkyrie. “You didn’t notice anything else?”

  The winged woman shook her head with a downcast gaze. “No, I’m sorry. I took care of anything I could sense through my magic. If there is still something that could be healed, it’s either above the scope of my current abilities or I need to use a specific spell for it. Of course, I will do everything in my power to test everything I know.”

  Seeing the determined expression taking over Bryn’s face, Asterios smiled at her softly. “It’s alright. I’m really grateful for your help, Bryn. There’s no rush to exhaust yourself in pursuit of a solution.”

  “There’s a chance that the location in your realm holds some magic research too, right?” Tina glanced at her. “Maybe it will be about Healing Magic. That could come useful. Especially if it was some mix of draconic characteristics with normal spells like with the Summoning Magic.”

  “Tina is right,” Silvia joined in. “You told me that there was some connection between the Summoning Magic and the beastfolk realm, and then between the Sealing Magic and the Demon Continent. Is there anything about Healing Magic that comes to your mind, Bryn?”

  The Valkyrie made a thoughtful expression for a while and scrunched her face a little. “I don’t think there’s anything special about it. Our Healing Magic is certainly quite strong, and many of us are able to master it.”

  “It could be something barely known in the society like in Miria’s and Selene’s world,” Asterios suggested. “No use in trying to figure it out. We’ll see for ourselves when we take the Descending Spire back from the claws of those monsters.”

  Bryn showed a dazzling smile and bowed her head. “Speaking of Healing Magic, that man in charge of the garrison asked me if I could run a check on his soldiers too. After consulting with the others here, we thought that you would accept the request so I agreed and was tending to them whenever I wasn’t by your side, Master. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Of course. You girls know that you don’t need my permission for such little things, or anything, to be honest. Just don’t overexert yourself.”

  “Look who's talking.” Selene smirked at him and he chuckled.

  ~I apologize that there’s not much more I can share with you,~ the Storm King added after a moment of silence passed.

  “That’s already plenty, thank you,” Asterios replied. “It doesn’t feel like an immediate danger to my life and certainly isn’t anything new so let’s focus on our current issues first. Everything was fine on your end, right?”

  ~I have familiarized myself with the terrain in the close vicinity and my scouts keep a constant eye on these lands. They haven’t reported anything out of the ordinary yet. We will know immediately if they do.~

  “And what about the weird interference?”

  ~A flock of birds told me they feel uneasy flying over a certain place in the same direction as I mentioned earlier. I haven’t investigated it myself yet, waiting for your awakening. It seems to be a small hill like countless others in the forest.~

  “At least we now have something to check instead of just theorizing,” Tina commented. “Let’s see it after you get back on your feet, Ast.”

  “I’m already good,” Asterios answered and turned himself to the edge of the bed.

  “No need to rush, as you said yourself,” she reprimanded him with a stern gaze and he smiled, feeling Tina’s concern and affection. “The town is definitely safe with the Storm King around. Any beasts will now think thrice before rushing in this direction.”

  He raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I’ll obey. I don’t feel like lazing in bed, though.”

  Tina smiled back at him and placed her hand on Ast’s chest as she got closer. He leaned down and let the shorter girl peck his lips. They stood up together and he summoned his clothing with a wave of crimson flames.

  “We could spend some time in our world if you would like, my Lord,” Selene suggested.

  Asterios glanced at Silvia, who also just stood up.

  “It’s okay. I need to head to rest up a little anyway,” she said, and he could tell that her eyelids were at least somewhat droopy.

  “You haven’t slept this entire time?”

  “I did. A little bit,” she admitted.

  He pointed at the door while squinting his eyes. “Out with you before your father learns of this and takes my head for ruining your health and beauty.”

  Silvia chuckled very quietly and walked to the entrance. They exchanged soft smiles as she passed him, and the princess excused herself from the room in silence. Asterios sighed and raked through his hair.

  He noticed all the girls looking at him with smiles. “What?”

  “Nothing!” Miria replied with a giggle and nuzzled herself into his arm.

  Selene opened a portal for them and they all walked into the city of Spiritual Foxes. The panthergirl left his side quite quickly and pushed Tina forward. With a noticeable blush on her cheeks, the Summoner girl slid her hand into Ast’s and they walked side by side like a true couple while the three women followed after them shortly.

  Asterios knew exactly what was the reason behind Selene’s suggestion, so he led everyone toward the main temple. Tina admired the beautiful buildings carved in the marble mountain. They felt so majestic and romantic. It was like they were walking through one giant sculpture rather than a town.

  They soon reached the overbearing stairs and he swept her off her feet, evoking a little squeal from the blue-haired girl. Miria jumped into Bryn’s arms as Asterios materialized his wings, and they soared into the air with Selene by their side. She had brought out enough tails to fly comfortably. After her recent advancements, just five were enough for the short distance.