“So did I before the War Games.” The colorful Asterios smirked.

  They began exchanging moves while flying around the core chamber even faster than Asterios had during his fight with the Demon King. Unfortunately, no matter what kind of attack he pulled off, his vicious copy knew exactly what was coming and how to best neutralize it. But, at the same time, Asterios could easily predict his opponent’s patterns too, and they were constantly at a stalemate.

  There were things that could break that stalemate, though.

  Like the variables that he had mentioned.

  A huge wall of water appeared behind the evil Asterios’ back, becoming almost as tall as to reach the ceiling. The ferocious wave rushed at him without mercy, whooshing loudly like a stormy sea. Right before it crashed into him, he spun around, slapping the good Asterios away with his wings, and sliced through the incoming water with his flaming sword.

  As expected, a bunch of whistling steam surged out of the cut, filling the chamber about one-third up with thick mist. It was enough to reach much over the height of the tallest person on Ast’s team, allowing everyone to hide in the obstructive smoke if they wished to do so.

  “Really? You think this will work twice on me?” The monochromatic Asterios cackled while shaking his head. “I just have to get rid of it and you can’t do shit to me from the inside.”

  He flapped his wings strongly and began making circles around the chamber, creating a powerful air current that pulled the steam into a swirling motion, causing it to recede from the middle and gather more near the edge of the ring.

  But, the true Asterios didn’t just lie back and relax. He showed up in the center with a clear gem slotted into his Spellslinger and pushed the blade toward the ground. The spell activated, bringing forth a small tornado underneath the Spire’s Heart, spinning in opposite direction to the other Ast’s flight. The two forces fought for dominance over the whitish mist until they reached the point where they clashed in a chaotic manner and the smoke was blown away in random directions.

  “It looks like it did work twice.” Grea snickered from somewhere above and the alter directed his gaze towards the ceiling.

  The sly demon lady hovered in the air while upheld by her familiar, but that wasn’t the important part. An extremely complex formation was visible on the metal surface above her and all the other girls that could fly through their own means. Instantly, the arrays glowed cerulean and an unimaginable pressure descended on the two men on the ground, pushing them to their knees.

  “How predictable,” the rude Asterios groaned. “Now you are going to send that braindead catgirl with silent steps to attack me from my blind spot.”

  Quite audible steps reached his ears and he whipped his head to the side. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of Miria nonchalantly running straight at him. He took a bit too long to notice runes covering her face and the panthergirl’s head suddenly flashed with bright, blinding light as she closed her eyes.

  The dark Asterios grunted from pain and barely avoided Miria’s sharpened blade flying right past his neck. It left a shallow, black line over his gray skin as her footsteps echoed away. Before he fully regained his sight, two new pairs of footsteps began heading his way from opposite directions.

  Expecting another blinding flash, he focused his senses on dodging the attacks without looking, but a third one came from another, completely different angle, with the number of audible cues at a grand total of zero. Only thanks to his extremely sharp senses was he able to notice the upcoming stab and twist his body just a little at the very last second.

  A silvery shortsword pierced his chest from behind, barely missing his heart. Before Miria could do anything more with it, he roared in pain and frustration, causing another spiritual shockwave that forced her to withdraw while leaving her weapon behind.

  “I’m done playing games! You have wasted enough of my precious time! I don’t care if I’ll have to recuperate for decades, I’m going to murder you all right away without severing the bonds!”

  Black smoke gathered around the dark Asterios and began circling his entire figure. A few powerful spells flew straight at him but the swirling mist deflected them right toward the ceiling, damaging the patterns a bit. Even the crimson Ast’s Dragon Breath did nothing more than illuminate the growing shape as it expanded bit by bit while obstructed by the black spiritual energy.

  After a short while, the True Dragon they had seen while first entering the chamber was standing in front of them again. And judging by its tensed posture and low, reverberating growls escaping its vicious jaws, it was more than just angry.

  Things had definitely gotten much more complex now.

  Chapter 44

  For Your Heart

  “How come he can turn into a Dragon but Master doesn’t?” Miria pointed at the black-scaled creature with a displeased frown.

  A deep chuckle reverberated through the chamber, so similar to Ast’s but yet much more powerful.

  “That’s what happens when you try to raise a wolf amongst dogs. It forgets all about its original nature.” The black Dragon seemed to smirk at them. “Or it’s just that I’m the real Asterios instead of that failure.”

  “In your dreams.” Selene scoffed at him. “Being able to turn into an oversized lizard won’t be of any help to you. We will take you down and reclaim Master’s lost power.”

  “Just like you took down that female red Dragon in the past?” The dark Asterios laughed deeply. “I would like to see you try.”

  A powerful pressure descended on all the girls and forced them to their knees. They all grunted heavily while barely raising their heads to look at the rude but still majestic entity. The sensation they experienced was extremely similar to the one a few of them had undergone during the Blood Summoning and they were sure that it was the black Dragon’s doing.

  But, as quickly as the pressure appeared, it suddenly lessened in less than a blink. Someone’s footsteps echoed on the metal floor and Asterios walked up to the much bigger than him Dragon, looking up.

  “I think you are forgetting about someone here. Two can play this game, though it might technically still be one.” He squinted at his draconic copy. “I’m fairly sure you should be aware that I don’t take lightly to anyone threatening my mates. And that includes me myself.”

  A stunning, crimson inferno swirled around Ast’s figure and grew in size. After a moment, he turned into the flaming shape of a True Dragon they had all seen during the War Games. In front of the black Dragon, Asterios was still about one-third smaller, but he could now go against his other half almost toe to toe, or perhaps claw to claw.

  “You won’t be able to uphold this technique for long.” The ebony Asterios puffed a cloud of dark gray smoke at him. “It’s far from enough to match me in this form.”

  “Then we just have to finish things up before Asterios can even break a sweat!” Tina shouted from the side.

  The black Asterios turned his draconic head toward the direction of her voice and hastily ducked under a massive hammer made of swirling water that was aiming to crush his skull. The petite Summoner girl flapped her borrowed wings and escaped his reach before she could receive a counterblow. But, Asterios didn’t give his vicious half even a chance to do so and lunged forward.

  His fiery jaws almost closed around the Dragon’s neck but the dark Asterios spun around and they were sent tumbling backward, biting and clawing at each other in complete chaos. Red Ast’s size turned out to be quite beneficial for him as he could reach more of his opponent’s body than his evil twin was able to. They both received cuts and bruises at a similar level, though.

  Right before the alter pinned Asterios down under himself, something grabbed his tail and yanked it to the back with a lot of force. Selene grunted in effort and pried the onyx lizard off her beloved master, having to use the strength of all eight of her tails. Doing a single spin with the thick, scaly appendage in her hands, she tossed the black Dragon away, sending it flying toward the opposite wall.

  The black Dragon managed to fix its posture in mid-air and stopped before crashing into the edge of the chamber, sliding with his claws over the shiny ground and causing an unpleasant screech of metal. As he looked ahead, a ferocious pillar of dark crimson flames was already on its way toward him. He quickly covered his figure with his draconic wings to avoid direct impact.

  Not wanting to spend too much energy on his Dragon’s Breath, Asterios withdrew the fire after about five seconds, seeing how it didn’t have much effect on his monochromatic half. But, he had bought enough time for his companions to finish their preparations, which was his main objective throughout this entire battle.

  Just as his black copy folded back his wings, a cart-sized sphere of amber flames struck its chest. Unable to react in time due to how close it had been from the start, the Dragon’s body was sent flying to the side as the ball of fire exploded on contact with mighty force. His black scales became singed just a little, and he was launched into another orb of the same size, which also exploded, even before touching him this time.

  The chain of scorching hot explosions smacked him around for a good while. Finally, the last one threw him high into the air and they stopped as Silvia had to step back for a short break after the intense combination. The dark Asterios was exactly where they needed him to be, though.

  Noticing Bryn right above him, he opened his jaws to burn her to cinders, but something suddenly hit his snout from above and pulled it down. Miria started wrapping a spiritual chain around his muzzle while running on cyan platforms appearing right under her feet, letting her make vertical circles as she tied his jaws together tighter and tighter.

  After a few fast laps, she giggled at him and pushed herself off the tile at the very top, yanking the chain down in the process. He obviously contested her, not letting Miria pull him to the ground, but two more figures appeared by his sides while he was doing so. Tina flew at him from the right and Selene from the left.

  The two girls used their weapons to make a cut in black Ast’s wings, partially ruining their maneuverability. Selene had borrowed her master’s artifact sword and infused it with their mixed mana since he wasn’t using it anymore.

  Not able to put enough pressure to rival Miria’s pulling with the damaged membranes, the dark Dragon fell towards the ground face first. The real Asterios reached them still in his flaming form and smashed into him from above with his spiritual frame, raising their falling speed substantially.

  A loud, metallic thud reverberated through the core chamber as they crashed into the ground with an explosion of crimson flames. A deep shadow pooled underneath them as Asterios slid off the black Dragon’s back. Multiple tentacles wrapped themselves around his black half’s limbs and held the vicious Dragon down.

  Something whizzed and buzzed above them and numerous massive spikes of pure light stabbed into the dark Asterios’ draconic figure, puncturing his wings, limbs, and some even piercing the main body. The black beast roared in pain from the searing burns Bryn’s spiritual creations caused, breaking the chain binding its snout. Healing wasn’t the only thing she was good at.

  Before they could make another move, he growled menacingly and raised himself even with the golden spears still stuck in his body. Releasing a powerful roar, he brought forth black fire that quickly consumed the light constructs, forcing the others to keep a wary eye on his next move as no one wanted to risk getting in contact with those ominous flames.

  Miria was the only one still close to him, standing right in front of the black Dragon’s jaws. After he moved his dark eyes glinting with fury and annoyance, she stuck her tongue out at the rude Asterios and started running away. With most of his injuries healed, he lunged forward, only to stumble over his own legs and receive a powerful blow from the burning Asterios, which sent him rolling to the side.

  An ancient, ominous chuckle reverberated in the dark half’s mind as uncontrollable dizziness overcame him. He shook his head to recompose himself but that motion caused him to miss the incoming fist that struck him right in the temple with a loud crack. A building-sized Golem made of gray, jagged rocks began pummeling his head from left to right.

  One look behind its back revealed Grea kneeling in front of a complex summoning array with her hands pressed over the pink, glowing patterns and with a wide, cheeky grin. She was in the middle of a Static Evanescent Summoning and only the Golem’s torso had been brought into their realm, sticking out of a horizontal gate floating right over the magical circle. It was one of the techniques even the real Asterios wasn’t aware she had in her arsenal.

  While its temporary power was impressive, there was one fatal flaw that made the ritual barely usable. Easy to imagine, it was the limited range. The summoned entity couldn’t leave the area of the array since all the spiritual energy and essence gathered for the summon to use and uphold the connection were focused inside that invisible bubble. But, when the enemy was partially immobilized, it was a completely different topic.

  Unfortunately, one decently well-aimed swipe of the black Dragon’s claw reduced the Golem into a waterfall of rocks and pieces of stone.

  “Do you really think you can do with my mind as you please?!” The angry Ast’s voice boomed through the chamber.

  Vicious black flames flickered all over his scales and the ground underneath him. Sensing something dangerous coming, Asterios hastily rushed in to catch Miria in his flaming claws and landed in front of Grea, who suffered a small blowback after her spell had been forcefully broken. He coiled his flaming body around them protectively before a mighty explosion took place where the dark half stood.

  A merciless inferno of onyx fire rolled over the entire ground in relentless waves, covering the whole floor and licking halfway up the rounded walls. The chamber got illuminated with a rainbowy glow as the spiritual residue that had gathered over the metal surface after years of the reactor’s operation burned alongside the dark fire. Toxic fumes began gathering under the ceiling, creating a colorful cloud.

  As the black flames relented, Ast’s evil twin took a quick look around the battlefield and located three targets. Ast’s crimson flaming Dragon form was still coiled around itself ahead of him, a joint barrier of cyan and gold protected Selene, Bryn, and Tina, and a dome of abyssal shadows covered someone to the right of them, most likely Silvia. Since Umbra had to cease his mental attack to protect the princess, the dark alter’s combat prowess was no longer impaired.

  Spreading his wings as far to the sides as he could, he enveloped his claws with black energy and charged at the translucent sphere shimmering with blue and yellow hues. A single, focused strike was enough to tear through both barriers and shatter them into bits. Selene stepped forward before the next one arrived and blocked it with a spiritually enhanced punch, blowing the black Dragon’s limb away.

  Tina swung her scythe from below, aiming to send a combination of wind and water energy back at their assailant, but she was smacked to the side with his other arm, having to cancel her attack to cushion the blow which still flung her away from the other girls.

  Bryn cast various small shielding spells at the fox lady as she and the Dragon started exchanging blows, but they were both swept up by a sudden tail swipe right before Silvia arrived at their spot to help them. The princess had launched herself at the Dragon’s back but was now falling right into his opening jaws. A black glow illuminated the back of his throat.

  A crimson flash shone between him and Silvia as Ast’s flaming figure appeared in the way of the incoming onyx flames. He spread his fiery avatar in front of her as the unyielding heat crashed into his own fire, swallowing them both whole. They were pushed back and crashed into the floor by the Dragon’s Breath of the black half. The sinister tongues of ebony blaze dimmed the crimson glow emanated by Ast’s scarlet aura bit by bit.

  Abruptly cutting off the stream of perilous flames, the black Dragon lunged forward and slammed his strong claw into Ast’s draconic shape from above, pinning him to the ground, belly up on the heated metal floor. He growled at Ast’s flickering avatar from above, staring straight into his now fiery crimson eyes.

  “Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

  As Miria’s desperate scream reached him from behind, an onyx mist enveloped the Dragon’s frame and he shrunk down back to the humanoid form. Without even looking behind, the dark Asterios extended his left arm towards the panthergirl flying straight at him with her blades raised high and caught her throat mere moments before she reached her target.

  He brought her to the front while stepping hard on Ast’s chest. The crimson flames making up the draconic manifestation gradually receded back into the center, and soon, they withdrew as far as to barely still cover Ast’s humanoid figure, flickering weakly, close to dying out.

  “Futile last struggle.” The black-and-white Asterios scoffed at the flaming body under his boot, turning his face to the panthergirl struggling in his grasp. “Totally predictable. Both of you. Perhaps I should apologize. I was wrong. There’s no better match than two idiots like you.”

  Miria’s strained expression slowly twisted into a cheeky grin. “I wonder… who is… the predictable one here…”

  He furrowed his brows and his gaze immediately shot to the body covered in crimson flames lying under his feet. The fire had almost fully disappeared and revealed the figure of Silvia, who had a delicate smirk on her charming lips.

  Just as he opened his mouth to speak, his body jerked forward. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught the real Asterios getting gradually uncovered by slithering shadows, with a fully dragonified arm shoved elbow-deep into his back. Surprisingly, Ast’s hand didn’t stick out from his chest, magically disappearing into his spiritual body.

  “You…”

  “And who is the idiot here? You’ve already seen this once.” Asterios yanked his arm back.

  Though no blood spurted out of the gaping hole in his rude half’s body, he brought out a fist-sized crystal orb with black, flickering flames swirling inside. He and the girls were quite familiar with that object. They had no doubts that it was a Dragon’s Heart.