[TWS] Chapter 268 – Common Enemy Forms the Best Alliances (Patreon)

The main plaza was as busy as always. Or perhaps even busier, actually. Thanks to all the events that had taken place in Glimmervale since the arrival of Asterios and the others, the town was clearly thriving. Hestizos and Nobelles moving in certainly played a big role in it too. After them, a few other merchant and noble families had begun to relocate, as Asterios had learned from the Committee.

But, the duo of powerful first-comers had managed to secure their position before things had escalated. Kindra was working closely with the settlement’s representatives while cooperating with Lady Luna and her husband for projects that required funding. Naturally, the Hestizo Household had more than enough capital, but the two mothers intended to share their opportunities since their families were now united, thanks to a pair of certain youngsters.

Therefore, while the sides of the market were full of newly opened stores and gastronomy services, quite a few locations had been taken by the famous merchants from Tyrienheim. Of course, those spots were the best possible ones that anyone could get. When coupled with the vast experience in the field of attracting customers and retaining them, the branches under Kindra’s management stood out quite a bit from the rest.

Asterios wandered through the labyrinth of stalls while heading towards the Dracodon resting at the back of the town square. He spotted a familiar pair of wings poking over the heads of some customers and merchants so he altered his path a little bit. But, he didn’t have to run after them as it turned out that their owner was clearly moving with the intention to meet up with him too.

Soon, Bryn pushed past the lively crowd and stepped into Ast’s vision. As Asterios smiled softly at the Valkyrie, a certain pantherkin’s head popped into his view too, squeezing through a narrow gap between two people. Miria’s face twisted in effort as she almost ended up stuck in there. She somehow managed to slip through, throwing herself off-balance a little bit. The winged lady helped her regain it as she giggled shyly.

“You are finally here, Master!” Miria waved at Asterios and trotted closer to press herself into him. “How did your talk go?”

He placed a gentle peck on her rosy cheek, listening to the beautiful purring as her response. “I think it was alright. Camille is now in the capital. She will definitely have a little chat with Silvia, and perhaps Tina too. We shall see if and how things change after they return.”

“I’m sure the maid will finally come around, Master. It’s been a while since she started following us. It should be enough for her to realize that you aren’t a bad person. Quite the opposite, actually.” Bryn stepped closer and her eyes briefly skipped to Ast’s lips so he leaned in and shared a delicate kiss with his newest mate, who was still getting used to openly showing affection in public.

“I certainly hope so.” Asterios nodded. “Where are the others?”

“We aren’t sure since we decided to split into two groups,” the Valkyrie answered.

“You left Grea and Selene alone together?” He raised a brow at her. “That’s not going to end up well.”

She chuckled softly while Miria giggled. Asterios reached out to the duo through their bond and located their missing companions in front of the Dracodon. He started leading Bryn and Miria to them and they soon reached their destination. As Venuzathor opened his big, fierce eye, the mischievous ladies turned around and faced them with charming grins.

Asterios shook his head. “What are you two up to this time?”

“Oh, nothing. Just talking about… stuff.” Grea winked at him with a completely-not-fake innocent expression.

“You don’t have to worry about it, my Lord.” Selene showed her pretty, ladylike smile. “But, if you really wish to know, I will comply with your demand.”

Grea’s eyes widened to the brim at that statement and she looked at her scheming friend with pure shock.

Seeing her reaction was already worth it enough so Asterios waved at them dismissively. “It’s alright. Just don’t go too far, please.”

An impish smirk curled up the corner of the vulpine lady’s mouth and she made a respectful bow. Grea sighed in relief and avoided Ast’s gaze, which made him shake his head once more. Then, he raised his gaze to meet the mesmerizing eye that had been staring at them from above this entire time.

“Hello, Venuz. I hope you are doing well,” Asterios began.

“I am doing quite well, Summoner. The food isn’t lacking, the sun is warm and comfortable, and the occasional entertainment provided by silly fools trying to inconvenience your settlement is satisfying,” Venuzathor replied through the mana in the air. “This is a very nice and peaceful place. I am very satisfied with it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Asterios chuckled at the last remark on the beast’s list. “But, if you would like to raise that level of satisfaction a little bit higher, I think I wouldn’t mind fulfilling my promise to you today. We might be out of town soon enough and I would hate to make you think that I’m avoiding it.”

An echoing rumble bounced off the buildings around the market as Venuzathor laughed lightly.

“I am not so impatient, youngling. When the time comes, it comes. If it’s today, then I will be happy to enjoy that moment with you.” The Dracodon raised his massive head and turned to look straight at him. “I can see that you have succeeded in filling that hole in your being. Congratulations. Although, you feel somewhat different from the… usual individuals of your kind that I had the pleasure to meet or see from afar.”

“Master is just that special!” Miria beamed at him while joyfully hugging Ast’s arm.

“You can see them, right?” Asterios peered into Venuzathor’s wise pupil.

“All of them, yes. I did not expect such a thing as the source of your previous condition. It makes me even more excited about our spar,” he replied, examining Asterios with visible curiosity.

“I would like to ask you not to get your hopes up. I’m still extremely new to this. I’ve been in that form maybe a bunch of times, and with all honesty, I can’t say that I have already gotten used to it. I’m pretty much learning how to walk with an extremely late start. While my power might be decent, I don’t think I will be able to give you that much of a satisfying battle.” Asterios smiled kindly.

“Then, you can just consider it a learning experience. I shall give you some pointers or advice while we fight. I might not be a True Dragon, but I think our kinds are similar enough. Most of your kin have a mentor from a young age, usually parents or other family. Since you do not have anyone like that, I do not mind aiding you a little,” the Dracodon said.

“That’s exactly what you needed!” Grea smacked Ast’s butt with a wide grin. “There’s only so much the six of us can come up with while training together with you. You need an expert to guide you, not a gaggle of horny women too heated to fight you seriously in that sexy, handsome, hot, majestic, grand, magnificent, ferocious, strong, muscular—”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Asterios pressed a finger onto her lips to interrupt the demon woman’s unnecessarily long and elaborate description of his draconic form. “You are right. At least about the mentor part. Thank you for your efforts, though.”

She lowered her eyebrows to a very suggestive squint and gave his finger a long, seductive lick. Before she could bring it into her mouth, Asterios brought it away and flicked her forehead, evoking a sexy giggle from his frivolous mate.

He turned back to the Dracodon. “I won’t say no to your offer. I will need all the help I can get. Where should we do it? In your realm? This might be at least a tad destructive to the environment and we might attract unwanted attention, which I would prefer to avoid.”

“It might not be the most pleasant place to hold our battle in. Unless you enjoy heavy storms with blinding, unending downpours.” Venuzathor chuckled deeply.

“You can’t open gates straight to Asterios, right?” Bryn asked.

“That is true. I am bound more to this place than him as a person. I should have no issues returning here through a gate, though, from anywhere else.” His big head nodded at her.

“But since you are still connected to him to some extent as a summon, you should be able to go through the gates opened by the other summons, if I’m not getting this wrong or missing something,” Selene added.

“It might work.” Asterios rubbed his chin. “Domicile Summoning is still Summoning Magic. The issue will be with the size of the gate. And which realm would we go to?”

“Ours should be fine, Master.” Miria hopped up and down with his arm still in her hold. “You don’t have to worry about your true form there and there’s plenty of uninhabited space all around the realm. No one will mind a piece of land ending up scorched to the ground.”

“I agree with Miria, my Lord.” Selene smiled at them softly. “And if you would feel bad about destroying our forests and grasslands for your selfish purpose, I think I know of a good place that lacks either. In fact, a bout of such caliber could be very useful out there.”

“I see. Then, the only thing holding us back is the size of the gate.” Asterios scratched his head. “I haven’t ever attempted it, but people did try to forcefully widen the gates in the past.”

“Ah, yes. Another silly way people found to commit suicide by total mana depletion and overstimulation of spiritual circuits.” Grea snorted while slapping her thigh. “But, I guess none of them were True Dragons times two.”

“I could try to do it on my own just to see if I can, but there’s an easier way, and someone much more suitable for it with their exceptional condition.” He smirked at her and turned to Selene.

The fox lady looked round and pointed at herself. “Me, my Lord?”

“Who else can turn into a beautiful, giant fox with external spiritual circuits?” He raised a brow at her. “Even though the gate you can open in that form would still be too small just by itself, it’s certainly a much better starting point than those Miria can make. And we can use your extremely mana-hungry outer set of circuits to go all out. It might even help you a little bit.”

Selene’s cheeks grew a bit more flushed. “Is that why you didn’t suggest doing it in your draconic form?”

The smile Asterios showed her was enough for a clear response.

“Very well.” She smiled back with a loving expression; her tail swaying behind her back in a more sensual way. “You would still need to widen your gate anyway since you are smaller than Venuzathor so I will listen to your request and do my best not to disappoint you, my Lord.”

He chuckled quietly at her convenient excuse and nodded. “Let’s move out of town, then. Both the appearance of a massive fox goddess and an enormous summoning gate would certainly create a big scene.”

“Hop on. I know just the place.” Venuzathor extended one of his big wings for them to use as a ramp.

Everyone eagerly climbed up on the mighty Dracodon’s back and Umbra tied them to Venuzathor’s body with his shadows. Their big friend then raised all three pairs of his wings and they flapped one after another in a steady order from the front. Some people shouted and screamed at the sudden gust of wind that surged through the alleys created by the stalls and everyone watched with awe as the magnificent beast carried its heavy body above their heads at a slow, sluggish pace. Considering the lack of general panic, Asterios deduced that it wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence.

Venuzathor flew close to the treetops and brought them to an open glade about five minutes of flight away from Glimmervale. All the small animals—compared to the monumental Dracodon, of course—ran away into the surrounding woods. After they landed, the passengers slid down one of his wings, reaching the ground. Miria giggled like crazy during her descent.

“Great. This should suffice.” Asterios looked around and nodded in approval. “Shall we begin?”

Light blue mist enveloped Selene’s body and everyone watched the fox lady’s figure grow and expand. In just a moment, the spiritual smoke receded and revealed her newly attained form. Miria couldn’t stop a sigh of amazement from escaping her lips at the mesmerizing sight of Selene’s enchanting, white fur. Asterios had to agree that Selene’s fox form looked beautiful, regal, and certainly very sleek. Her mesmerizing snout paired with sharp, feminine eyes could melt hearts. Especially when she smirked proudly.

“What should I do, my Lord?” Selene asked the same way as Venuzathor.

“I’ll jump onto your back if you don’t mind, to be in direct contact with your body and external circuits,” Asterios replied, walking closer. “Today, you will just focus on opening the gate while I supply you with lots of mana and try to control its size. We can easily enter Mind One now so it should be able to work fine. Your part might sound easy, but I assure you that it isn’t.”

~I’ll aid you during your first attempt. My experience in tearing through the realms might be useful in widening the gap,~ Umbra suggested. ~After you get the feel of it, things should be a stroll later on.~

“Perfect. Let’s not waste any time, then.” Asterios nodded and climbed onto Selene’s back, who had laid down in the meanwhile.

After she stood up, he brushed her fluffy fur for a while, just petting his beloved vulpine mate. He had never thought he would be able to do that to Selene, limited only to Miria and her panther form. Now, it was very much possible and real, even if the scale was quite different. Still, the sensation was exactly the same and Selene loved it as much as he did.

“Fill your circuits with mana and let them glow. It will be easier for me to find them that way. You might need to focus quite a bit,” he instructed her.

Selene closed her eyes and did as ordered. It took her about ten seconds to bring up a faint glow from underneath all that comfy fur. Asterios quickly brushed through it and pressed his hands into her skin over the dark azure patterns. He let his draconic features out to allow a more efficient spiritual operation. Umbra’s shadows coiled around his torso and his arms, reaching his palms, where they connected with Ast’s own skin or scales.

“Okay. Usually, when we open the gates, we just let the energy flow and form the shape on its own. Researchers believe that it’s influenced by our subconsciousness, that’s why some might look like a doorway, others like an entrance to a cave, or a simple, oval opening. You are going to take control of that part,” Asterios continued. “Something like a wide, double-winged palace gate will be our target today. Keep the energy under wraps and condense it into a flat line first. We will expand up from that. And, don’t worry. I will be right with you.”

He sighed and reached for his scorching hot energy, coming out of the crimson source. After filling his inner circuits with it, he let it flow through his arms and then hands, into Selene’s external circuits. She made a great effort to fill them from the inside and their energies mixed together. The patterns began to glow brightly, making Selene look even more mesmerizing and magical.

She lowered her head in deep focus, starting to form a line as Asterios had suggested. It already proved to be unimaginably difficult. The energy she directed into it welled up wanting to burst outwards like a lid on a boiling pot, trying to get out and assume the shape it was used to. But, she fought it with her all, having Ast’s support to aid her.

Everyone could see the flat line form in front of them and they observed the spectacle with bated breaths. Both Selene and Asterios were releasing almost illogical auras, turning the air around them so dense and heavy that the grass in their near vicinity bent down or flattened against the earth.

With the first step of their operation finished, they moved on to the second. Their linked minds needed no words to communicate. Asterios transferred even more of his energy and frowned in effort. Umbra’s tendrils began pulsing at the same time as a dark crimson mist started rising from the long, horizontal slit.

Selene kept it stable while the other two carefully expanded it bit by bit. The conscious creation of an irregular gate put an insane strain on one’s spiritual circuits, but thanks to Selene possessing an additional set of them outside of her body, she was doing pretty alright. The buzzing and itching all over the mystical patterns were starting to get a bit annoying, though. As for the humongous amount of spiritual energy sucked into them, Asterios was cutting it close even with his unimaginable mana pool.

When they were halfway, he was already sweating profusely. He knew that they couldn’t take too long since it put a lot of pressure and tension on Selene’s entire body. So, he did the only possible thing to speed it up and reached into his black source, letting the energies of two Dragon’s Hearts fuse.

A powerful spiritual explosion pushed everyone back a few meters and bent the closest trees at the edge of the glade. Selene’s outer circuits flashed brightly and they could now see extreme effort on her vulpine snout and forehead. The already raised part of the gate wobbled dangerously but she did her best to contain it.

The two draconic energies didn’t exactly become one. They opposed each other at first, fighting for dominance, which was very distracting due to the spiritual turmoil inside both Asterios and Selene. It was too chaotic to let it flow like that so he left control of the gate fully to Umbra and decided to do something about that.

It was much easier to use both Dragon’s Hearts in his True Dragon form but perhaps it came as natural in that situation. In his humanoid form, it was a mess. But, it was a mess he could tidy up. Either by helping one of the energies win… or trying to unite them. And Asterios had an idea of which choice would lead to a much greater end result.

Not sure what to do, he observed briefly, trying to get a feel of each of them. The red one was much more familiar to him, much more closely connected to him, much more natural. The black one, while equally powerful, clearly didn’t evoke such emotions. But, it also didn’t seem like it had any hostility against him, as he would expect considering who it had come from. It felt rather neutral, just not too happy about sharing the same space with the red one.

As weird as it sounded, Asterios tried appealing to them both.

He imagined himself speaking to two humanoid figures of red and black color to make things easier. The three of them stood in the dark depths of his mind, with the two spiritual avatars taking clearly passive-aggressive stances while turning their heads away from each other and crossing their arms. He tried not to chuckle at the sight.

“I can see that we have some differences here and that’s alright. But, listen to me for a moment, please,” Asterios began, pausing for a moment to wait for them both to turn their nonexistent faces to him. “Crimson. You’ve been with me all the time, even when I wasn’t yet aware of you. I’m extremely grateful for your help, especially after you managed to break free. You are a natural part of me and I value your power greatly alongside the lineage that makes me who I am. Thank you.”

The red silhouette relaxed a little and cocked its head back as if saying damn right.

“Onyx. Even though you joined late, it’s clear that you have been an integral part of me too. I was half empty without your presence, a void right next to my heart. I might not have been born as a legitimate inheritor of your lineage, but I don’t see it as anything less than Crimson’s. Our connection is as strong. I’m unspeakably glad that we were able to be reunited.”

The black figure spread its arms and tilted its head forward as if saying you are welcome.

“And now that both of you are here, the next logical step is to start working together,” Asterios said.

Instantly, the two avatars glanced at each other and looked away. It felt like they’d sneered at each other. It was comparable to watching two teenagers with a superiority complex being offended just by each other’s mere existence.

But, Asterios could work with that.

“Alright, alright, I get it, we all hate to think of each other as potentially being more powerful than us. But!” Asterios raised a finger and turned to the red one. “Crimson! Isn’t there something we hate even more?”

He succeeded in recapturing its attention and it glanced his way with faint curiosity.

“For example… Red?” Asterios tilted his head, raising his brows at him.

The crimson silhouette dropped its arms and clenched its fingers into fists by its sides, suddenly showing body signs of being very angry. Its entire shape shivered slightly and started shining with a brighter, more intense glow.

“Yes. Red. The person who forcefully locked us away from each other. The person who made us miserable for nineteen long, pathetic years. The person who wanted to control our power so it didn’t become a beacon for his enemies to lead them to him. What do we think of him?”

The scarlet avatar started violently gesturing and smacking his fist into his palm repeatedly, growing very animated.

“I agree. We need to beat his ass.” Asterios smiled. “But, it’s obvious that he is leagues above us, no matter how much we would like to ignore that fact. He would squash us like an ant if we tried to go against him, don’t you think?”

The red silhouette stopped gesturing but remained in a somewhat aggressive stance. It was clear that the thought vexed it but it wasn’t stupid enough to straight-up deny Ast’s claim.

“Now, that might be the case with the two of us, but…” Asterios glanced at the black figure. “We have something he doesn’t have.”

The onyx silhouette looked at him with great attention, definitely curious to see what he would say to it.

“My dear Onyx. We have a common enemy, do we not? Wouldn’t you very much like the sight of Red cowering in front of us, begging for his life? The sight of his ruined body lying limp in a pool of blood and piss from how scared he is?” Asterios grinned while slightly squinting his eyes.

The black avatar lowered his arms from keeping them crossed and leaned a bit more forward.

“Yes, that would be sweet, wouldn’t it? What about, after we finally deal with Red, we go after Black? We take over the Crimson Dragons, then we conquer the Onyx Dragons and claim our spot at the top as it should naturally belong to us. Why stop there? Why not go after all the clans and let our darkness consume every single lineage?”

The dark figure clenched its fist enthusiastically in front of it, then proceeded to clap, and finally repeatedly pointed both fingers at Asterios.

“See?”

Asterios spread his arms.

“There might be lots of things that divide us, but there are bits that we all have in common. Why bicker amongst ourselves—”

He glanced at the red silhouette.

“—when we can kick Red’s ass—”

He turned to the black one.

“—and conquer all the other lineages—”

He looked at both of them while gesturing at each person with his hands.

“—while working together. Isn’t it power that matters? All will kneel before the True Overlords? In darkness it all will end?”

The two avatars faced each other again and kept their non-existent gazes for a while longer. Then, they both shrugged as if saying fair point, and extended hands towards each other. As they shook them, they nodded as a sign of truce.

Still holding hands, they turned their faces to Asterios, and he rested his fists on his hips with a wide smile on his lips.

“Well then, gentlemen. Let’s show our mates what we can do, shall we?”

They threw their fists into the air to cheer and Asterios left the depths of his mind. At that very moment, another burst of spiritual energy exploded around him and two clearly visible auras surrounded his body. Onyx and crimson mist swirled around Asterios in a perfect helix, flowing down his arms. Selene let out a whine, but the others—pressed violently into Venuzathor’s body—could easily tell that it came from pleasure rather than pain.

The rest of the gate gathered in a flash as she was filled with an insane mix of draconic energies. Asterios took full control of the size while she just poured their mana into the gate and kept its image imprinted in her mind. A massive, swirling, crimson entrance formed in front of them, very much enough to fit the entire Dracodon.

With it fully completed, the pressure and tension on both of them lessened, and Asterios allowed himself a small chuckle while brushing Selene’s fur. He glanced at the flabbergasted girls picking themselves up in front of Venuzathor’s side.

“Shall we go?” He grinned softly.