“Do you yield now?” He raised a kind, questioning brow at her.

  Sighing softly, she fixed her posture while leaning on him. “I stand no chance against your might…”

  He nodded at that, loosening his grip on her, and then flinched at a sudden prick of pain in his lower abdomen. Looking down, he saw the girl’s nails wreathed with the familiar purple flames while pressed into his skin, with four distinct lines running down his stomach, faintly dripping with his blood.

  “But I’m not simply all brawn no brain,” she added with a fiendish smirk. “I did not say that I surrender.”

  Chuckling, he nodded at her proud but still hesitant gaze, watching her expression relax and light up as he confirmed she hadn’t cheated and won the bet. She giggled adorably while pushing herself off him and pumping her fist. That sudden motion made her wobble on her feet and she fell back into Ast’s chest, a bit more shy about it this time as her violet cheeks flushed more. He could see her thin tail flicking wildly behind her pert butt.

  “Alright. If you already have a wish in mind, feel free to let me know. If not, think about it for as long as you need. In the meanwhile, let’s help those tin sculptures out of their prison and rejoin everyone.” Asterios gestured at the humans with his eyes and she snickered with a nod.

  Chapter 38

  Stories to Be Told

  As Asterios let go of Furiosa and gradually dismissed his draconic features, Selene took down the barrier so that everyone else could approach them too. The sly demon girl watched with wide eyes as the red marks her nails had left on his stomach were disappearing right in front of her, fully gone in seconds. Seeing her shocked expression, he simply smirked at his opponent and winked.

  Silvia and Tina helped release the arm-locked humans. While the princess heated their armor once more, her noble friend made sure that the owners didn’t suffer any injuries from that by covering their bodies with a protective layer of cool water. They were free in just a moment, though the metal plates over their entire arms were now ruined and in need of replacement.

  A small price for not getting hurt in the duel, really. Asterios was fairly sure they wouldn’t have been able to withstand the same level of beating as the demon girl.

  The dwarf didn’t need much assistance and went alone to collect some remains of his shattered bottles. From what they could see, he searched for the stoppers which had been sealing the containers shut. Those parts shouldn’t have been destroyed or damaged too much. At least as long as they hadn’t been attached to the explosive flasks.

  King Welrond and the other monarchs seemed satisfied with the presentation. Save for Civienne, who was as hard to read as usual. But, it was fairly obvious that she didn’t mean anything bad by it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have brought such devout followers with her, who were currently fighting to contain their awe and excitement over what Asterios had shown. He had managed to capture the elves, even if they had been relatively favorable towards him from the start.

  It was hard to judge the humans’ minds but he would worry about them in a moment. The demons were definitely not a problem. Furiosa had to be already convinced by what they had gone through, and her companions wore just as amazed and reverent expressions on their colorful faces. As King Zegion had said in the past, his kin valued personal power and Asterios had displayed quite a decent chunk of it.

  With his wounds fully healed, he resummoned his attire just as everyone else found their way to the center of the chamber. A tinge of disappointment flashed through the demons’ eyes and he chuckled quietly. It wasn’t only strength their kin valued greatly and desired. But those possessing it clearly had it much easier.

  Putting his hands on his hips, Asterios turned to the violet-skinned Spellsword. “So, do you have anything in mind already or should we move on with the meeting?”

  Furiosa’s gaze lingered on his for a moment, then moved past him, most likely to the ladies standing slightly behind Asterios, and finally returned to his face. She mulled it over in her head before biting on her lower lip and gathering enough determination to speak up.

  “I might have one, Your Majesty. If I haven’t assumed wrong, the females behind you belong to your harem, right? I can see that you are joined with two noble humans and two quite exotic women whose race I do not recognize. Possibly also an elf.” She glanced at Althea before refocusing on him. “But, if you wouldn’t mind, Your Majesty, I would like to offer my candidature as your demon. You have seen yourself that I would not embarrass you in battle. I wish for the permission to court you.”

  The other demon girls flanking her sides gasped with incredulous looks. Their friend was really getting ahead of them just because of one single decision. However, Asterios wasn’t fully sure if they were shocked by that or the fact that she had dared to request to become his wife this straightforwardly.

  “I’m afraid this would be hard to consider a personal favor of mine as it involves the opinion of all my current mates. Each of them is an important member of my family, not just a woman I took a fancy to during my journeys.” He chuckled softly. “Besides, the spot for my demon woman is technically already taken. These ladies are not all of my family.”

  “I see.” Furiosa smiled a bit shyly. “May I ask who, at least?”

  “I’m not sure if you will recognize her as she spent a lot of her life amongst humans, but yes, you may. My current demon lover is Grea Asgeir,” Asterios replied.

  “Asgeir?!” one of her friends squeaked, the blue-skinned one, and all of them looked at him with eyes wide to the brim.

  “I’m sorry, but do you really mean that Asgeir?” Furiosa asked hesitantly.

  “Well, Radir’s daughter?” He raised a brow at them.

  “Oh, sweet lord…” The squeaker fainted into the arms of the orange demon girl while Furiosa shook her head with a quiet laugh.

  “Domina is a Sealing Magic nut. But ignoring her, there is hardly any demon who doesn’t know of the Chastity Enforcer and his mastery over that field. He is her idol,” she explained. “We can hardly compete against a daughter of someone like that. I bet she is just as amazing on her own. What a pity.”

  Asterios rested a hand on her shoulder. “I can’t say anything about your friends, but you are quite something too. While I’m not going to simply accept you as one of my women, you don’t need permission to try and court me. It won’t be as easy as you think since you need to win over a total of seven people including me, but you can try your best. Right now, let’s simply start as friends. If we end up working together on the academy project, we’ll certainly have many chances to run into each other.”

  “Sisters,” Furiosa corrected him. “And thank you, Your Majesty. I can speak for all of us regarding this and we are more than honored to be part of something this exciting. Especially with someone this amazing at the top.”

  “Sisters? Quite a colorful family you have there.” His gaze wandered over the violet-blue-orange trio and the last girl snickered at him.

  “Our mother is quite a hoe,” she said with a big grin.

  Furiosa rolled her eyes at that. “What Omnia meant to say is that our mother has multiple husbands. We are technically half-sisters, each having a different father. They all belong to different clans and she decided that we would all grow up with them to inherit their techniques. Personally, I think she just doesn’t care about her kids and wants to push away any responsibility while chasing after her next conquest.”

  “I guess the names are quite a hint. They do sound like something one person came up with.” Selene chuckled softly.

  “Yeah. She doesn’t let anyone else pick them.” The violet girl nodded. “I was supposedly extremely standoffish during birth, Domina hogged all the attention and ordered everyone around with her cries, while Omnia wanted to do everything on her own. I guess she can get names right, at least, considering how we turned out.”

  “Anyway, I’m looking forward to our cooperation.” Asterios smiled at the duo, the third sister still remaining unconscious. “Now, as for our little test, was this convincing enough or do we have a need to further discuss my power?”

  He examined the battered humans and the grumpy dwarf as they stared back at him.

  “Your best is indeed quite impressive,” the short man muttered reluctantly.

  “Pardon?” Asterios frowned lightly.

  The dwarf looked up at him confusedly.

  “That wasn’t close to my best,” Asterios added.

  The challengers all exchanged glances while looking at him weirdly. Even Furiosa was a bit surprised, perhaps having assumed that their little bout had brought out one of his strongest moves to counter her attack.

  “What’s your best, then?” Omnia finally asked with a note of curiosity in her tone.

  Asterios pondered about it for a moment. He didn’t think it was the time to show them his true nature yet. Some members of this gathering felt like they could be trusted, but he wasn’t yet sure about all of them. Especially the humans.

  So, he turned to Silvia instead. “Would you mind helping me demonstrate?”

  She nodded gently and stepped closer. Reading his intentions, she entered the stage of Aura Manifestation, bringing out her amber armor and the flaming tiara above her head. The spiritual plates were covered in a scaly pattern even more than before, clearly getting more detailed with time. After using Aura Materialization to manipulate her artifact gem into an intricate battle staff, she looked truly dangerous and ferocious.

  “This here would be me while I was fighting the four of you.” Asterios gestured at the flaming princess. “And this would be me if I decided to get a bit more serious.”

  At his nod, a torrent of orange fire swallowed her whole figure and Silvia soon emerged as a fiery humanoid entity purely made of vicious flames. Her shapely body was perfectly smooth and the only distinct features were the glowing, almond shapes of her eyes and the long hair of a flicking inferno. She levitated above the ground while melting a circle underneath her into a boiling puddle. To any random spectator, she was no short of a goddess of fire.

  That got quite a reaction from the gathered, save from Welrond, who had already experienced Silvia’s Aura Unification on his own skin. Even the Demon King looked impressed. But, many gazes quickly moved off the hot royal princess and fell upon Asterios. Most of them were quite calculative as their owners tried to guess just what kind of almighty technique he would show when pushed to his limits.

  With another nod from Asterios, Silvia dismissed her godly form and accepted his hand as she floated down into his arms, avoiding the still-melting puddle. He placed a grateful peck on her warm cheek and let go of his beloved princess. She curtsied politely towards the audience and returned to his side, rejoining the other ladies.

  “If you prove yourselves trustworthy, you might one day learn the extent of my power,” he said, meeting everyone’s gaze. “Now, does anyone want out?”

  The elves and demons had obviously been in even before the entire argument so he simply shared a few nods with them to confirm their intent of participation. The dwarf was quick to jump in after them. As for the humans, they seemed a bit put off by their failure, but they clearly could see the potential of this arrangement and agreed to work with him too.

  And just like that, those who had needed convincing were convinced.

  Though, Asterios made a mental note to keep an eye on the human duo. No one said anything about their cooperation being a permanent thing. If their methods or behavior turned out to be unsuitable for what he wanted to create, they would quickly find themselves on the chopping block.

  Figuratively speaking, of course.

  What followed next was a detailed discussion regarding the planned Trifecta Institute. Name still pending.

  The technical things had to be figured out first. Welrond’s idea to put the academies on an elevated ground was accepted, though it had to be slightly altered since it was no longer about a single campus but three of them and the facilities between their locations. Easy to imagine, raising a ring of mountains past the first wall of Glimmervale wasn’t the best architectural design from many standpoints.

  However, the three academies would still be placed slightly higher than the other parts of the academic ring to command respect and awe. Demons, dwarves, and elves would be soon dispatched to take care of construction, each race assigned to their respective school, knowing best how to facilitate their strengths.

  With that amount of workforce, it was predicted that the entire process wouldn’t take too long. At least the initial frameworks and skeleton foundations would be prepared fast, allowing the raising of the second wall to progress at the same time. With the help of Earth Mages from the Demon Continent, things would be much, much easier.

  Of course, Asterios hadn’t forgotten about his talks with the Committee about the expansion of Glimmervale in terms of housing, farming, and all the other necessary aspects. After mentioning that to the monarchs, they assured him that those wouldn’t be a problem either. Past the academic ring, they could easily find enough space for those structures.

  And if he was still worried about not having enough people to work on that, Silvia suggested announcing public recruitment for construction workers, promising various discounts and benefits for those wanting to settle down in the area. Cheaper housing was a great incentive for many, and a requirement like having to construct at least one or two more would ensure that no one tried to abuse the goodwill for their own interest. Welrond looked proud at his daughter’s suggestion, clearly satisfied with what she had learned from him and her teachers.

  A few hours flew by during the heated discussion and Asterios had to return soon. Welrond promised to deliver a transcript of the meeting to the Committee and everyone else assured him that they would start working on what they had agreed on right away. Everyone seemed excited about the project and it all felt genuine. Even the Elf Queen showed the tiniest hint of a smile while reading through the passages related to her part of the responsibilities. Althea clearly hadn’t missed it and shot Asterios an amused glance.

  Bidding farewell to their new friends, who also swore to begin looking for worthy investors and masters to join the academies, they returned to Glimmervale, reappearing in the castle. They stumbled upon Yumi and she invited them for dinner, to which they agreed. She and Camille served their group tasty dishes, working perfectly together.

  In the middle of their small feast, Asterios turned to Althea. “What should we focus on during our upcoming lesson? We don’t have much time before the delve.”

  She pondered over it for a moment before answering. “I think we can compromise a little here. We should still be able to hold our lesson inside the dungeon. What I have in mind would fit the situation rather well and might be of help during your attempt to succeed in summoning my kin.”

  “Oh, that sounds exciting!” Miria clapped joyfully and Asterios had to wipe her mouth with a napkin as some sauce dripped down her chin.

  He saw no issues with that arrangement and they quickly finished their dinner break. Then, Asterios checked the location of Suanori and found the guildmaster back in town. They took a stroll to the guild, greeting Ellie and the other receptionists, and arrived at the guildmaster’s office.

  “Welcome back. You are a bit early. But, things are almost ready if you wish to hop in soon. Though, I do have one small suggestion for you to consider,” Suanori began.

  “We are listening.” Asterios nodded.

  “You aren’t going straight for the Core in this run, right? We previously talked about showing people that we aren’t stingy with giving out access just because. If you are up, we can start right away. There is a willing party we approve of who could join you on this delve. Or you could join them. And you are already acquainted too.”

  “Who?” Miria tilted her head cutely.

  “Rudy’s squad.” Suanori showed a faint grin.

  “Oh, that’s a great idea!” The panthergirl jumped in place and turned to Asterios. “You could take Irelia too and go with them as their guardian, Master! You and Althea would surely be enough to protect them if you aren’t going too deep!”

  “You don’t want to join?” He raised a brow at her.

  She giggled timidly. “Of course I would love to, Master. But I’m not as clingy as I was in the past anymore, am I? And I’m sure Suanori would find us something to do in the meantime. I really enjoyed helping out with this adventuring stuff.”

  “There’s plenty to do,” Suanori agreed. “And she is good at it. People love talking to your bubbly mate. Miria’s cheerful enthusiasm is quite infectious.”

  The feline in question blushed heavily at the praise and Asterios scratched behind her cute ear. “True. I don’t mind this either. It will give us another angle on the difficulty of the following floors. Our party would surely just blaze through them with quite absurd solutions, missing out on the simple ones that the less overpowered adventurers could spot.”

  “So be it. They are in the lobby right now so you can get them on your way out. I’ll handle the rest. You don’t need to wait for any ceremonies or such. Just make yourselves seen and that’s all.” The guildmaster returned to her paperwork and they took that as a sign to leave.

  Miria decided to stay with Suanori and Selene joined her. Silvia and Tina also left with a peck from each of them, heading out to talk with the Committee in Ast’s name. Althea remained by his side and they searched for Rudy and her friends, finding the rowdy party rather easily.

  “So, it looks like you are in need of a babysitter,” Asterios teased after arriving at their table.

  Rudy snorted but bit back her snarky response after noticing that he wasn’t alone. “Well, my mother always said I lack feminine touch so perhaps I wouldn’t mind getting pampered a little.”