But, he didn’t stop there. Making a wide turn right above the buildings, he started taking down big groups of the Scourge with more precision strikes. He shot balls of condensed, scarlet flames out of his jaws that erupted into much larger hellfire after impact, turning their enemies into cinders in a flash. Each explosion was accompanied by more shaking and flashes of crimson light.

  While Asterios was raining fire on the northern part of the defensive ring, Selene was running above the southern section. Five of her ten tails were curled in, each holding a slowly growing ball of ferocious spiritual energy. Condensing enough of her mana into one of them, she whipped her body around with a strong turn and launched the concentrated energy into the crowd.

  It expanded into the size of a two-story building in a blink and pulverized everything on its path to dust, flying all the way to the edge of the city. Wherever she flicked one of her tails, a deep, empty trench would appear. She felt a little bad about all the buildings she was obliterating, but in the end, their loss was incomparable to the loss of lives amongst the valkyrjas fighting on the front.

  And they were holding on really well.

  The first line was equipped with golden tower shields that were even bigger than the wearers. It took a lot from the soldiers just to hold onto them with both hands and keep the impressive slabs of metal in place against the constant pushing of the swarming monsters. But, they fought against all odds and continued playing their role in that grand spectacle.

  The second line wielded long, sharp spears and kept stabbing the enemies that tried to make it past the shielders by either climbing over the top of the blockade or through a temporary gap that sometimes appeared in the formation when it was under a lot of pressure. The thrusting never stopped. It was hard to judge which line had a tougher job as they both drained themselves physically without a moment of rest.

  And then there were all the supportive valkyrjas flying above everyone or stationed further behind the second ring. Healers, medics, enchanters, casters, and so on. Everyone contributed whatever they could to lessen the burden placed on the frontliners. They killed a lot of enemies too, but compared to the numbers Asterios and Selene were achieving, it felt like spare change.

  Everyone’s morale was high, though, because even the people at the very front could see how effective the two mythical creatures were. Holding on and securing the Spire’s close vicinity didn’t look like suicide anymore and felt like an achievable goal. Some thought of their presence as a blessing, a sign that things were going to change. For the better, of course.

  Asterios and Selene continued wreaking havoc on the battlefield, using not just their various spiritual techniques and abilities, but even their newly acquired bodies. They chomped on the monsters, slashed at them, stomped on them, and sliced them into pieces with their claws. At least when it came to Asterios.

  Umbra joined the fight too, choosing to stay near the duo in case a quick jump back to the reactor was necessary. Atra and Bryn were doing fine on their own, and they could always call him back through their connection if they needed anything. Now, with the majority of his power unsealed, he could focus on multiple places more easily.

  Not many could see him do anything, but that was only because his shadowy tendrils caught and ripped the enemies apart inside all the dark alleys and passages. He blocked some of the streets and funneled the monsters into certain areas, giving the other two more opportunities to wipe out even bigger collections of the Scourge off the face of Heven.

  And so, they continued to fight on.

  ※※※

  But, the surface wasn’t the only place where the battle took place. Back in the core chamber on the lowest floor of the Descending Spire, the rest of Ast’s team was doing whatever they could to stop the monsters from flooding the room.

  “I swear, they never fucking end.” Grea groaned, slotting another magazine into her heavy crossbow.

  She’d lost count of how many times she’d done that long ago. Thankfully, Aura was kind enough to collect the released projectiles and put them into the emptied mags as Grea kept shooting without any worries. The two worked together in perfect sync.

  “You should be happy you are here and not on the surface with Ast. We have only one single entrance to protect instead of an entire city,” Tina said as she stopped by her side for a brief moment.

  “It would be the death of me faster than I can say harder with his cock in my mouth.” Grea snorted and nailed another monster with a well-aimed shot.

  Tina rolled her eyes and spun around her own axis with Hydran in the form of a scythe. A strong tornado made of unforgiving water quickly formed in the same spot and she launched it at the Scourge with a mighty swing. The whirlwind caught plenty of monsters on its path and launched them into the air after countless little blades of water almost sliced them open.

  Whichever one survived meeting such a deadly technique was dealt with by Miria. The panthergirl bounced off one body to another while using the mutilated corpses as footholds and sliced the still-living entities into thin pieces with just her extremely sharp claws.

  She felt powerful like never before. The support of her master’s Summoner techniques and scorching hot mana had been incredible in the past, but it was incomparable to how she felt with her bloodline fully drawn out to the very last bit. The strength, the speed, the agility, the senses, and everything else. She felt unstoppable. The other girls could barely pinpoint her amongst the carnage she created just on her own.

  “How are things going with the Aegis?” Silvia asked, sweeping the floor clean with a wave of amber fire to prevent the bodies from piling up in front of them.

  “Good!” Atra shouted without even turning away from the control panel. “Things are a little bit complex so we need a moment or two more! Plus, the Heart is still warming up! It looks like it needs a lot of prep time before it can launch in Aegis mode!”

  “Surely, that won’t take days, will it?” Grea chuckled wryly.

  “We… don’t know…” Bryn replied hesitantly. “We’ll do whatever we can for it not to.”

  “Not so encouraging but we’ll take it. Hopefully, it happens soon because more and more of those big ones are showing up,” Tina said. “The general numbers are getting worse too. I’m sure it's from the higher floors starting to catch up to us.”

  They continued cutting down the incoming enemies for as long as it was necessary. Silvia and Tina worked together to cause as much damage over entire areas while Miria focused more on individual targets, using their spells and techniques as a distraction. Besides the rainbowy glow that the Heart was emitting, the chamber was constantly bathed in azure and amber flashes as water and fire rolled around, swallowing countless monsters.

  While the human duo didn’t show any drastic changes from the outside as Miria and Selene had after Ast’s transformation, they still were certain that him regaining the other Dragon’s Heart had influenced them too. Both Tina and Silvia noticed how much stronger even their base spells had become. Even things as basic as their control over spiritual energy were improved. They had to be careful and watch themselves because they had no idea to what extent that improvement raised their capabilities and limits. Though, the endless horde of ugly monsters certainly was a fitting training dummy.

  After about half an hour, Tina landed next to Atra and Bryn. “Any progress? The core stopped growing brighter.”

  “I have no idea what’s wrong!” The scholarly Valkyrie grabbed two fistfuls of her hair and tugged on it. “We’ve been in this state for ten minutes already and we are unable to move further! It feels like we are missing something but we tried everything already!”

  “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” Grea shouted from somewhere on the underground battlefield.

  Atra snorted. “Please, like that would change anything besides having to wait the same amount of time again so that everything sets up properly. All such an attempt would do is cut off and reapply… power… Wait. THAT’S IT!”

  “What?” Tina furrowed her brows at Atra.

  “Gods bless your soul!” The short, winged lady suddenly grabbed her and started spinning them in circles. “We’ve set everything up properly on the inside but that’s not all that needs to be done! The Aegis needs a spark from the outside that will initiate its start.”

  “And what does that mean exactly?” The blue-haired girl asked.

  “We need to feed it as much external mana as we can to start it up,” Bryn answered instead, deep in thought.

  “Precisely!” Atra pointed at her with a big grin. “Hey, Miria! Can you handle them alone for a second?”

  “I can try!” the panthergirl shouted back from somewhere.

  She exchanged nods with Silvia and Grea before releasing loud growls and rushing into the mass of enemies swarming the entrance. Focusing as much as she could, Miria pushed her senses and mind to their limits. The walking, crawling, and running monsters seemed to be moving in slow motion. She lunged between them faster than the eyes of the other girls could follow her.

  Heads and limbs constantly flew up into the air as Silvia and Grea reached Bryn’s and Atra’s sides. Miria kept decimating ominous, gray-skinned humanoids amidst all the carnage and spilled blood while the others gathered under the core of the spiritual reactor. She curiously took a peek or two their way but she couldn’t split her attention too much and had to give her all into fighting.

  The girls formed a circle and started gathering mana in their hands. Even Aura joined in, though she didn’t have to focus on her hands since she was pure energy herself. No matter which state her body was in, she just radiated it and it was almost impossible to disable or nullify.

  Therefore, just as everyone raised their hands to leak their mana right under the crystal, Aura was able to transfer a much bigger amount even more directly. They kept releasing the energy for a minute, then two, then three, and nothing was changing. The rainbowy glow of the Heart remained the same, shining at them with constant intensity.

  “I don’t understand.” Tina shook her head, stopping the transfer. “Miria won’t be able to hold all of them back forever. We can’t risk it like this. Are you sure we don’t need some special item or key for it to work? Even with their knowledge, the ancient valkyrjas stationed here couldn’t start it up, so how can we?”

  “Key… Ancient valkyrjas couldn’t turn it on…” Atra murmured under her nose and her eyes widened to the brim. “There’s no way…”

  “What is it this time?” Grea raised a brow at her.

  “Get Asterios here! Quickly!” The petite researcher’s head snapped to her and she screamed, startling the mischievous demon lady.

  None of the girls felt like asking additional, unnecessary questions and they let Asterios know that his presence was requested. A few seconds later, a massive pool of shadows swirled on the ground and he was uncovered by the darkness still in his draconic form.

  “I’m here. Is there a problem?” He turned his head down to look at everyone.

  “Quick! Breathe fire at the core!” Atra requested with a highly urgent tone.

  “Fire? Won’t that damage it? Or worse, cause some kind of an explosion?” He questioned her.

  “Just trust me!” She practically begged. “Make it as strong, fierce, hot, and powerful as possible!”

  Asterios glanced to the side where Miria was desperately giving her all to hold back the entire swarm on her own and turned to the Valkyrie once more. “Alright. It’s not my fault if I melt it in the process. Step back. And someone go help Miria.”

  They listened to his commands and Asterios started drawing in a deep breath. A crimson glow illuminated his chest and neck from the inside, just like the last time.

  But, in this attempt, it wasn’t all.

  A deep onyx shade mixed into the dark red as the two joined to a certain extent. Throwing his head forward, Asterios brought forth his Draconic Breath and released it right into the colorful crystal. To everyone’s surprise, the flames that came out of his jaws were both crimson and ebony, licking at the ARK’s Heart with a perfect balance between the two. Their combined might raised the temperature in the chamber by a substantial amount, forcing the girls to shield their faces as they worried about the core just like Asterios had initially.

  Fortunately, their worries were unfounded as the crystal began pulsing at regular, slowly quickening intervals, shining with an even mightier, rainbowy glow. Some crackling followed, and even a bunch of sparks and small discharges hit the metal floor.

  “It’s working! I knew it! Keep it on for a moment!” Atra pumped her fist in victory.

  “That’s great, but… How and why?” Silvia asked.

  “It’s the World Serpent’s heart. The reactor is important for the Aegis, of course, but the most crucial element is that ingredient. Or rather organ, because it’s still technically alive,” Atra started explaining. “Our people didn’t turn it on not because they didn’t make it here or for other similar reasons, but because they weren’t in possession of anything that could wake up the slumbering heart. It would only respond to the energy of another Dragon, or perhaps the gods too, but definitely a Dragon.”

  “Wait. So you really mean that it’s alive alive? Like, it’s a big, beefy, working heart locked up in that crystal?” Grea’s expression was overtaken by pure shock.

  “Exactly that. Listen. Don’t you hear the pulse? Isn’t it stroking your spiritual circuits with each beat?” Atra rained down questions at her with a cheerful smile.

  As Asterios kept breathing mixed flames at the core, the girls started noticing the quite apparent waves of spiritual energy flowing through them at a more or less steady pace. They watched something flash stronger inside the rainbowy sphere and it was more than obvious that the mentioned World Serpent's heart was in there.

  ~Whatever you are doing down there, continue doing it!~ Selene’s voice echoed in their heads out of a sudden. ~Some kind of a formation appeared on the ground and the air is shimmering with plenty of colors at the edge of the city!~

  Hearing that, Atra cheered once more and Asterios put even more effort into the flames he was releasing. He filled them with all the spiritual energy he physically could and almost doubled the fire’s intensity and temperature. The World Serpent’s heart beat faster and faster, soon achieving a rhythm so quick that it almost felt like it was completely constant.

  Shortly before the beating became a continuous wave of released energy, the reactor exploded with spiritual pressure once more, pushing them all away. Even Ast’s heavy draconic form wasn’t spared. The outburst interrupted his breath but he decided to cancel it anyway as the heart locked inside dropped its pulsing to pretty much a standard, natural rhythm of a healthy person. Each beat was accompanied by a tiny surge of spiritual energy this time.

  ~This is it… The barrier is up…~ Selene spoke to them again, with her tone bordering on silent amazement now. ~You need to see it… It’s so beautiful… People are literally losing their minds over it… Which isn’t the best thing to do at the moment considering the fact that a lot of those monsters have been locked up on the inside…~

  “The same goes for us,” Silvia commented, glancing towards the entrance to the chamber. “It might take a moment before we eliminate all the monsters inside the Spire.”

  “Their assault should slow down at least a little since the Heart isn’t sending out unimaginably powerful eruptions of spiritual energy anymore,” Bryn added. “We might be able to close the entrance pretty soon, making it so much safer.”

  “Well, let’s clean this place up so that we can finally rest and celebrate. And talk about the things that I have learned from absorbing my dark clone,” Asterios suggested. “Who is going up with me this time?”

  “Me! Me! Me! Pick me, Master!” Miria practically screamed from the side, but all everyone could see was blood and guts flying up from the group of monsters she was slaughtering.

  “Alright. I guess I did promise you a ride.” He chuckled after sensing her uncontrollable joy and jumped into the shadows to reappear on the surface.

  It was time to hunt the leftovers.

  Chapter 48

  Cleaning Up

  Asterios reappeared back on the surface on top of the central temple once more. It didn’t take long before he spotted the change in the sky. He directed his eyes up and roamed his gaze around in awe. A beautiful, shimmering layer of protective energy coming from Tyr’s Aegis surrounded the entire golden city, reaching the very ends of the town’s far edges. It was like someone had dropped a mesmerizing dome of rainbowy spiritual energy onto it from above.

  Soon after his emergence, Miria jumped out from a crimson gate right next to his side. She quickly glanced up at Ast’s draconic head with an enchanting smile, but the glistening effect spreading all over the sky above them captured her attention too. Her mouth hung open as she looked around, admiring the beautiful scenery.

  “Amazing, isn’t it?” Asterios chuckled, turning his snout to her.

  Miria giggled and nodded lightly. “Yes, it is incredible, but it still doesn’t even compare to you, Master.”

  “I knew you would say that.” He smirked at her. “And the same goes for you. It’s a little late, but congratulations on mastering your bloodline. You’ve grown so strong since our first meeting.”

  “Thank you, Master, but I think Selene’s advancement is much more impressive. She not only jumped up by two tails but she even still can grow two more if we aren’t mistaken about that weird moon-related phenomenon. Meanwhile, I’m currently drawing out all of my latent power,” she replied calmly.

  Asterios couldn’t feel any malicious jealousy or disappointment from her words. It had been quite common in the past for Miria to sulk about her progress but he was glad that, in the end, she had managed to settle her feelings of inferiority during their travels. He could tell that she was happy to praise her sister-mate and close friend.