And then, the entire place shook.

  “Ah, shit… It looks like I was wrong…”

  Preparing himself for the awakening of his second volcano, Asterios closed his eyes and did his best to feel the changes all around him. The onyx lava boiled and bubbled as its level rose rapidly. In a flash, a grand explosion took place and the melted rock was shot out of the opening at the top, swallowing Asterios whole.

  ※※※

  “Do you think Master will stay like this for long?” Miria asked as everyone stood around Asterios, who remained unmoving since the moment he had closed his fist around the crystal.

  “It’s hard to say. But, I think we should move away just in case. You remember what happened during a few times when Master became unresponsive,” Selene replied.

  “It should be fine. Nothing happened after Master absorbed that female Dragon’s source. Maybe he just needs a little bit more time with his long-separated energy,” the panthergirl said.

  “It wouldn’t hurt being careful. We have no idea what is happening right now since Ast’s mind is closed off for us, Perhaps—”

  A powerful spiritual blast suddenly sent everyone flying. The girls screamed and squealed from surprise, doing whatever they could to regain control of their bodies before they crashed into the walls of the core chamber. A strong spiritual storm raged around Asterios, filling the spherical room with strong winds of warm energy.

  “Anyone hurt?” Bryn asked after surrounding herself with a simple barrier.

  “We are fine!” Tina shouted from the side and the Valkyrie noticed the Summoner girl next to Grea and Silvia.

  “Same here!” Selene replied too, shielding herself and Miria with her cerulean energy. “And what did I tell you?!”

  They all chuckled together while the fox lady shook her head. Going against the wind, they gathered in one place as Bryn widened the safe spot created by her spell. Safe from the ferocious, chaotic energy, they glanced at Asterios, who was right in the center of the blast.

  “Oh fuck…” Grea clicked her tongue, capturing their attention.

  “What’s wrong?” Silvia asked.

  “Look up. The explosion took off the reactor. It’s disabled.” She pointed at the Spire’s Heart above Asterios.

  “Shit,” even Bryn cursed. “That is not good.”

  “And why is that exactly?” Miria glanced at the winged lady with a raised brow.

  “The spiritual blast that has clearly shut down the reactor must have traveled quite far through the entire Spire. Without the reactor, there are no barriers separating the floors, and that means nothing is blocking both spiritual and physical movement. When we also consider what we know about the tendencies of the entities that are currently swarming this place…” Selene dragged the last bit of her reply out.

  “All the monsters in the Spire are going to rush right towards us, where the source of the spiritual wave originated,” Miria finished for her while her eyes widened in realization. “This is really bad!”

  “Right. We need to quickly reactivate the reactor and find a way to turn on Tyr’s—aghhh!”

  “Selene!” Tina jumped towards their vulpine friend when she suddenly clutched her chest mid-sentence.

  “Miria!” Silvia shouted, capturing her attention.

  One glance the princess’ way revealed that their feline companion had also begun suffering from an unidentified cause. The others noticed a stronger wave of spiritual energy crashing into Bryn’s barrier and directed their gazes at Asterios. A dark crimson mist was starting to gather around his figure, quickly swallowing him whole.

  Before Tina could say anything, a loud, feral growling reached her ears and she flinched instinctively. Her eyes shot to Miria and she found the panthergirl on all fours. Miria’s skin was being covered with black fur at a rapid pace, soon reaching much further than it ever had.

  A white glow somewhere on the side made Tina glance away from her and she saw Selene start floating up into the air as her eyes and tails shone with profound light. After she rose from the ground high enough to hover over them, an almost filled circle with white segments materialized behind the fox lady’s back.

  Something thudded on the metal floor and Tina’s head snapped toward the source. Grea had fallen onto her butt with a dumbstruck expression and her mouth hanging open. A mix of shock, awe, surprise, and astonishment could be spotted on her face.

  “Professor? Are you alright?” Tina shouted to the demon lady.

  Grea didn’t even turn her eyes toward her and only raised her arm to point ahead. Tina followed the gesture and her own eyes widened to the brim.

  The dark crimson mist that had begun enveloping Asterios a moment ago, had grown to the size of a two-story building. There was so much of it that they could spot traces of ebony streaks inside the mystical smoke which felt extremely similar to what appeared during Miria’s transformations.

  Suddenly, a loud, booming roar shook the entire core chamber and the obstructive mist was blown away, revealing… a True Dragon.

  Right under the Spire’s Heart, stood a dark, crimson-scaled True Dragon. It wasn’t as big as the female Dragon they had fought but it wasn’t that far from her. It definitely had a much bulkier build when compared to her, making it look much more threatening and feral.

  Its four legs were thick and muscular, and its mighty wings had a great wingspan when unfolded. Its scary jaws were big enough to swallow a typical humanoid person wholly without a single issue. All in all, no one had any doubts that they stood in front of a powerful, male True Dragon of the crimson lineage.

  But was it all?

  Tina, Silvia, Bryn, and Grea, could spot traces of black shade over the scales closest to its limbs, back, over the top of its tail and spine, and partially around the jaws or head in general. Some of them were subtle, like the ones on its face, but some were more apparent, like the ones running by the top of its back.

  Another thing was the color of the sticking-out bones. Its sharp, front-facing horns were pure onyx, just like the deadly claws coming out of its toes. It definitely was a crimson True Dragon but with a few dark extras here and there.

  “Is that you, Master?” Bryn asked in awe, taking down her barrier since the spiritual winds receded.

  The Dragon turned its head towards her and a deep chuckle echoed through the chamber.

  “I think so. At least I can still feel myself, just much bigger, heavier, and more powerful,” Asterios answered. “This will definitely take a lot of time to get used to. But, it’s not like we—Miria?”

  He suddenly switched mid-sentence and everyone’s eyes moved from him to the panthergirl standing behind them. Miria stepped forward with an awkward smile.

  “I think… That I might have drawn out a hundred percent of my bloodline...” She giggled shyly.

  Miria certainly looked different. The black fur covered her entire body, including her face. The soft hair now reached everywhere. And, instead of her usual, adorable and cheerful face, Miria’s visage was replaced by a much more feral, feline version. A short, panther-like snout took the place of her humanoid nose and her lips were reshaped a tiny bit to match it. She still remained as cute as ever after those tiny changes.

  “And I think that I might have advanced quite far.” Selene’s voice reached their ears and they all looked up.

  The glowing fox lady descended from the air and landed next to the panthergirl. Not eight but ten fluffy tails danced behind her back. A wide, ladylike smile painted Selene’s lips as her entire figure felt like it was brimming with power and spiritual energy. Miria’s mouth literally hung open at the sight of so many tails coming out of her sister-mate’s lower back.

  “What about the others?” Miria asked, glancing around.

  “I feel much stronger now but I don’t think it can manifest the same way it did for the two of you.” Silvia was the first one to respond.

  “Same here.” Tina nodded. “I can tell how much deeper my bond with Ast became, but the effects won’t show until I actually do something.”

  Bryn and Grea agreed too. Even Umbra mentioned how much had the limits placed on his existence lessen. Everyone had benefited a lot from Asterios turning into a True Dragon. Without a doubt, though, the biggest one belonged to Asterios himself. Regaining his lost power and gaining the ability to shapeshift into a Dragon seemed quite big.

  “Well, all is dandy, but let’s maybe leave admiring the new form of our Dragon boyfriend for later, and instead focus on the more pressing masters?” Grea raised a brow at everyone after standing up. “It’s not like we had thousands of mana-thirsty, cursed monsters swarming our way right at this moment and the only thing capable of stopping them is that piece of inactive crystal behind Ast’s back.”

  “We should fill Asterios in on the situation,” Silvia suggested.

  “No need.” Ast’s draconic tone boomed through the chamber. “I know everything that you talked about. We have to act now. Bryn, you won’t have much time to both turn the Heart back on and figure out how to activate Tyr’s Aegis. The rest of us need to keep those monsters away until both of the points are crossed out of our list.”

  “Since the barriers between the floors are down, shouldn’t it be possible to bring Atra here?” Bryn asked with a focused expression. “She would definitely help things move faster.”

  “Umbra?” Asterios glanced down at his own shadow.

  ~Without a problem,~ the Lord of Shadows replied. ~My power rose substantially, and as you said, besides the thick metal, nothing is protecting the levels. I should be able to fetch your friend in less than a minute now.~

  “Do that, then,” Asterios instructed them. “Now, we prepare for a sickening fight.”

  “It’s finally time to see this handsome piece of Dragon ass in action.” Grea grinned to herself. “I’m so glad I sold my body for the front-row tickets.”

  Asterios shook his draconic head and they all prepared to defend in their last stand.

  Chapter 46

  Not Just You

  As Umbra left through the shadows to pick Atra up from Odin, Asterios glanced around the core chamber.

  “Does this room have only one way those monsters can come in?” he asked with a slightly deeper and more powerful tone due to his current draconic state.

  “Looks like it.” Grea put her hands on her hips. “This should make it a little bit easier to defend while Bryn and her eager friend are working on the Heart.”

  “I can cast a barrier over the entrance,” Bryn suggested.

  “You should focus on a single task and leave the rest to us.” Selene smiled at the Valkyrie softly. “The two of you have studied the information on the Heart the most out of us all. If anyone has a chance to bring it back on, it’s definitely you.”

  “Selene is right.” Tina nodded. “Don’t worry about anything. Do you think we can lose with Ast being like that?”

  Silvia chuckled quietly from the side. “That’s a point hard to refute. Besides, Selene can form a barrier too. We’ll be fine.”

  “Plus, it’s not like you will be able to spare any attention under your upcoming circumstances.” Grea grinned at the winged lady.

  “What do you mean?” Bryn frowned at her.

  Grea kept silent while counting down on her fingers. The moment she finished, ominous shadows gathered between them and rose up from the ground, forming a vertical shape. A second later, they uncovered the figure of their researcher friend from Tyr.

  Atra opened her mouth to say something but the words never came out. Instead, a loud, high-pitched squeal left her throat as her eyes widened to their limits. The girls around her covered their ears from the sudden assault.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! IT’S A FREAKING DRAGON! A REAL DRAGON! GODS TAKE MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” the petite Valkyrie shouted as her expression turned from surprised to ecstatic.

  Smirking at Bryn, Grea gestured at the screaming girl with her eyes, causing their golden-haired friend to sigh heavily.

  Bryn stepped closer to Atra and pressed on the ecstatic Valkyrie’s shoulder. “That’s Asterios and you will be able to worship him later. We have more pressing matters at hand. I’m pretty sure that Umbra filled you in on the way here.”

  “That’s him?!” Atra’s face snapped to Bryn, and seeing her best friend’s serious expression, the overly excited Valkyrie cleared her throat. “You are right. The presence of a damn Dragon might have overshadowed the other legendary thing. If not for him, I guess it would still be hard to believe that I’m in the same room as the Descending Spire’s Heart.”

  “Now you just need to get it running again and no other scholar will be able to outboast you ever again.” Grea smacked the short Valkyrie on the butt with a devilish grin.

  “Leave playing around for later. I can feel them approaching. We need to get the Heart back up as soon as possible so that we can signal the army from Odin to start clearing up the surroundings. Summoning them too early will only introduce unnecessary casualties amongst the soldiers,” Asterios rebuked them.

  Bryn and Atra nodded at him and immediately flew towards the big niche in the wall where they expected to find a complex control dashboard. They were right and a multi-leveled set of sigils engraved into plates, leavers, and other interactable elements greeted them. Understanding the importance of their role, they began figuring out how to power the Heart up again together.

  Selene flashed herself close to the big archway and studied it for a short while. Not wasting any of their precious time, she drew spiritual runes all over it and then on the ground in front. She made a bunch of hand signs and filled the array with her energy. Her creations shone with cyan light and a swirling barrier slowly formed in the open space. Just as it blocked the entire entrance, she sat down on the floor in a meditative position and closed her eyes.

  “I guess the barrier is now covered,” Grea commented, setting her new crossbow on Aura’s shoulder as they both knelt one behind another. “Let’s make sure that we are ready for the moment it breaks.”

  “Do you think they will be able to push through her barrier? Even after she gained two more tails?” Tina asked, making her own preparations.

  “We should expect the unexpected,” Silvia said. “Though, we have a True Dragon with us now if it fails.”

  A deep chuckle echoed through the chamber.

  “A True Dragon that doesn’t know a thing about being one. This will be one hell of a learning experience,” Asterios replied.

  “There’s no better time to learn than when you have your back against the wall.” Miria giggled lightly. “This is going to be a new experience for me too.”

  “Let’s hope we don’t have to, though.” He glanced at her from above and turned his head towards Selene and the barrier. “They are here.”

  Moments after his words, a bunch of monsters crashed into the cyan spiritual wall. It managed to stop the cursed humanoid beasts from flooding into the chamber. More and more of them kept coming and Ast’s party watched how the dark gray bodies began piling up in the archway. Soon, it was impossible to peer into the hallway anymore.

  “That looks kind of scary.” Tina smiled wryly.

  “Yeah. Almost like… the end of the world.” Grea smirked at her, causing the azure-haired Summoner girl to groan.

  “That’s not an appropriate joke for the situation, Professor. This is someone’s home. And that someone is our dear friend. Show some subtlety.” Tina squinted at the mischievous demon lady.

  “It’s alright!” Bryn’s shout reached them from the side of the chamber.

  “See? That one gets it. The end of the world here is a fact and me making jokes about it won’t change it no matter how hard I try. Instead, we can just all have a good laugh about it and push through the misery and sorrow together. Don’t you think that’s a better option?” Grea raised a brow at Tina.

  “Pushing through is what we might have to do right now,” Asterios interrupted their little quarrel and both women looked towards the entrance.

  The light blue barrier was faintly losing its glow here and there. The vibrant color faded near a few spots where the monsters were being pushed into the spiritual wall. No one knew why, but everyone was more than aware that something wasn’t right.

  “How can they damage Selene’s barrier so easily?” Miria asked with genuine shock and surprise.

  “It’s the blood. Look.” Asterios pointed with his black claw.

  Right where he directed everyone’s gazes, a few beasts of the Scourge were squished into the spiritual shield much more than the others. Due to that, their bodies accumulated crushing wounds that started leaking the black substance that served as blood for those creatures. Whenever it came in contact with Selene’s technique, the barrier shimmered. And it wasn’t a good shimmer.

  “They are going to get in. Be ready. I’ll begin,” Asterios instructed them and the girls all nodded.

  They watched the barrier attentively, seeing it lose more radiance as time passed. Soon, it was obvious that Selene’s technique would be broken and Asterios reared his draconic head to the back. The girls switched their attention from the entrance to him and observed Asterios as his long neck was illuminated from within by something of a crimson shade. There was no one who had any doubts about what it was.

  The barrier couldn’t last any longer and shattered into pieces, causing Selene to wince. She opened her eyes and saw dozens of monsters roll forward as a small tsunami heading her way. Before they reached her, though, something whooshed above her head and her surroundings were bathed in a scarlet hue.

  A merciless inferno of dark crimson flames crashed into the monsters and burned them into cinders. The entire archway was plugged with no single hole in sight. The deep red fire leaked into the corridor past it and assaulted all the gathered monsters.

  Asterios felt like he could uphold his Dragon’s Breath in this form for as long as he wanted, but he chose not to test that feeling in their current situation. As he’d said earlier, he had no experience as a Dragon and he would rather not learn his limits in a life-and-death scenario. Though, they could now always escape through the summoning gates or Umbra’s shadows, so all they would lose was their main objective.