Chapter 105: Chapter 178 – At the Edge of Greatness

After passing through a few corridors and walking by a bunch of guards—still wearing their quite open uniforms and armor—Ast’s group reached the audience chamber. The two sentries watching over the entrance let them in and groups of demons loitering around entered everyone’s sight.

It looked like the clean-up and reconstruction operations were already in full swing. A few teams worked on various spots and damage. The most fascinating sight was most likely the group of mages melting black metal with their Fire Magic to fill up the long trench Asterios had created with his Dragon’s Breath.

Tina spotted the Demon King near the throne’s old spot, with the domineering chair completely gone now, and they walked towards the man talking to his aides. One of them noticed their approach and the group turned towards the incoming party.

“Welcome back.” Zegion regarded them with a smile and arms crossed over his naked chest. “I thought you would take a bit longer so I already started tidying the place up.”

“My thoughts exactly, especially since we have separated into equal groups,” Selene replied with a sly smile.

Asterios lightly ruffled through her hair, causing her to chuckle. The last thing they needed right now was the argument about which one of them was faster. Certainly not related to the speed of their movements during the duel.

The Demon King smirked at her and moved his eyes to him.

“You gotta know when to stop, especially since we have guests.” He winked at Asterios, who smiled wryly. “Anyway, I hope you had fun. Now we just have to wait for your other companions. I bet they’ll be here soon.”

“Ah. Right. Mister Radir and Svertaniel are not here yet.” Miria glanced around.

“And one more person.” Zegion chuckled.

“Who?” She frowned a bit.

“Did you already forget who brought you here?”

A collective ‘ah’ rolled off the lips of everyone in Ast’s group as they realized who had the weird feeling of something being amiss related to.

“Governor Rowena is currently in the infirmary. She has already woken up from her brief coma induced by getting exposed to a bit too much spiritual pressure. I think we should take her with us when we depart for the Tri-Valor Valley,” the man continued.

“Certainly, that would be for the best,” Asterios replied a bit awkwardly.

While they waited for the mentioned people to arrive, Ast’s party decided to help with the operation in the throne room. It was partially his fault that it had ended up like this so he felt obliged to at least assist the workers slightly, and of course, the girls didn’t want to just idly stand by.

About fifteen minutes later, the two demon men walked into the throne room with the missing demon woman by their side. Governor Rowena looked a little pale, but otherwise, she didn’t show any worrying signs regarding her recent experience. She did send a few glances at Asterios, looking at him somewhat curiously and warily.

“Don’t worry about it. No one here will leak your secrets,” Zegion assured him, noticing her gazes too.

He nodded and everyone gathered together in the middle.

“Alright. The day is not infinite. Can we move back to the Valley now or would you prefer to rest a little longer, Governor?” the king asked.

“I’m fine, Your Majesty. Should I go and prepare our carriages?”

“No need, we will trouble Asterios here a bit, if he doesn’t mind.” Zegion glanced at him. “And I’ve already sent your driver back anyway, so there’s that.”

“We should have tested if everyone can travel through the darkness somewhat comfortably before that.” Asterios chuckled wryly.

“We are all strong-willed people here, aren’t we?” The Demon King spread his arms with a smile. “Is there anything you need for your preparations?”

He shook his head, sneaking a peek at Rowena. Hopefully, the Governor could handle it better than their training bout.

Miria placed a cheerful peck on Ast’s cheek and jumped back to her realm, accompanied by Selene who stole his lips for a brief moment. Bryn made a courteous bow and also entered her own portal. Tina felt an urge to copy her beastfolk friends since she should be able to open a gate to her mansion too but resisted it, deciding to stay by his side.

Sensing her dilemma, Asterios chose to transport them first. During the minute they were locked together in the middle of an endless void, he peppered his lovely girlfriend and mate with a myriad of gentle pecks, to her great delight. Such a way of distracting her from the uneasy atmosphere was more than welcomed by the timid Summoner girl.

They landed back in Rowena’s office and Umbra took off to bring the others to them. Before the next pair emerged from the shadows, Tina returned the favor by placing some more kisses of her own on his lips, feeling a little bolder without anyone around. 

Soon, the Governor joined them, looking just a little concerned and uneasy. She hastily regathered her wits and jogged away to issue an order to clear the middle of the Valley of people. Silvia and Radir showed up next, followed by Zegion and Svertaniel. It didn’t seem like the aides would be joining them.

Everyone waited for Rowena to return and she led them to their destination. Her knights, troops, and the special Shadow squad made way for them as it was close to impossible to sneak up there without people noticing. With no major incidents, they found themselves staring down into the even pit from its edge.

“So, this was here all along, huh,” Zegion commented, rubbing his chin.

“Precisely,” Radir replied. “I’m fairly sure my research was quite close to reaching such a conclusion but Asterios’s special sight discovered it in a flash.”

“How do we enter?”

Asterios stepped back and his familiars joined them in his realm. He activated his draconic sight, quite faster than he had been used to, and glanced around.

“It looks like the blocks we destroyed the last time have regenerated. Would you mind, Selene?”

“With pleasure, My Lord.”

She shaped a spiritual bow just like the last time and sent an arrow of energy at the spots where he pointed his finger at. Everyone watched how the shallow, empty trenches running all around their feet began filling with a three-colored glow as if liquid mana poured into them.

“Now we have to move the mechanism!” Miria beamed at the king and jumped into the pit, starting to slide down the slope.

Asterios shrugged and did the same. Soon, everyone copied the excited panthergirl and they surfed down the angled surface using the remaining bits of sand and dust to lose traction. Rowena almost slammed face-first into the bottom but he caught her in time and helped the demon woman catch balance with a kind smile.

Not wasting time, Ast’s party got to work immediately. In a flash, they rotated the big rings until Asterios told them to stop as the correct words formed. He waved at everyone to quickly gather and they were soon swallowed by white light.

“Closed, just as I thought,” Asterios said after they regained their vision.

The golden gate was indeed back in its initial position and state. Zegion walked closer to it and ran his hand over the draconic motif.

“To think that we were really somewhat related to a True Dragon, even if not by blood. I can’t fathom what our ancestors must have thought.”

Miria giggled adorably. “Don’t you have one right beside you, Your Majesty?”

He chuckled. “True. I don’t think Asterios is on his father's level, though. No offense.”

“None taken.” Asterios nodded with a smile, moving closer to the gate too. “I know well how out of my league he is. I’ve barely brought out a few of my draconic features earlier, not to mention going full Dragon mode.”

“It won’t take you long. I’m sure of it.” Tina smiled at him softly and he answered with the same.

Finding the niche for the scale, he pulled it out of his storage ring and placed it in the hole. The massive gold curtains parted soon after, sliding to the sides. A minute later, they reached the first test chamber and it looked exactly like everyone remembered.

“Do you think we have to do everything again, Master?” Miria asked, glancing around.

“Only one way to check.”

Asterios put the scale in the pulpit in front of the spinning disc and poured some of his spiritual energy into the circuit. The room came to life and rumbled after a few seconds of silence. The stairs on the sides revealed themselves.

“Here’s your answer.” Selene chuckled lightly.

“That’s no fun. I wanted to see the challenges myself.” Zegion pouted, putting his hands on his hips. “Can I borrow that scale later?”

Stopping to think for a moment, Asterios got an idea he was curious to put to test. He focused his will while bringing his right arm up. Scorching hot energy filled his body and he could feel the skin around his neck changing. Soon, it turned into the very familiar dark crimson scales.

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Curious if it would be tough to do, he tried peeling one of them off and was surprised how easy it left its place. He concluded that his will to shed it could have impacted the process. Holding it between his fingers, he presented it to the Demon King.

“Let’s try this one.”

With an excited sparkle in his eyes, Zegion swiped it off his hands and jumped to the pulpit. Asterios took his father’s scale away and the stairs retracted back into the ground. The man hastily shoved the new one into the niche, and even though the size difference was quite apparent, the formation activated nonetheless.

Everyone then watched him go through the path riddled with challenges just like Asterios had. Zegion smashed through the pure encounters and answered some of the trivia ones correctly, proving that he wasn’t just all brawn and no brain. He cleared the chamber in fifteen minutes and everyone joined him on the other side.

“This is great for training. As long as the enemies don’t run out, we could make great use of this,” he said with a wide smile while catching his breath.

“I’m fairly sure they are summoned here through some kind of Summoning Magic and locked away with Sealing Magic so they should last for a bit if not forever. But, I’m worried about the safety of whoever goes in. We don’t yet know if it’s a fight to the death or if someone can influence or stop it from outside,” Asterios replied.

They continued down the hallway leading outside of the chamber and reached the empty room. Just like the last time, a bunch of thrones emerged on the raised platform.

“Let’s skip this one if we can. It’s just a waste of time,” Asterios suggested.

“Why?” The Demon King glanced at him.

“Because it’s evil! It messes with your head!” Miria growled at the ominous thrones.

“What she says. It’s an illusion of your perfect world, more or less, with part of your memories sealed. I’m not sure what’s the trigger to escape but certainly realizing that it’s fake is part of it,” Selene explained, providing some more details.

“So, a physical training and a mental one, huh. This place is already looking great. I really hope we can utilize it,” Zegion commented.

Asterios climbed to the thrones alone at first to see if he could do anything up there and the rectangular stone chairs hid away after he fed the formation his energy. Everyone jumped onto the platform as it began descending into the long pit.

Their next stop was obviously the room with the Golem. It remained as ruined as they had left it.

“I’m so glad we don’t have to fight it again,” Silvia said, relaxing a little as she had been holding tight onto her staff.

Part of her was slightly disappointed as she would have liked to experience Ast’s warm mana supplying her circuits once more. She wondered if she could ask him about it when they practiced together in the future.

“It would be surprising to see it here with its core still locked away.” Radir chuckled.

“This place looks worse than my throne room. I can see that you didn’t hold your fire back in here.” Zegion whistled in awe.

Asterios smiled wryly. “Back in your castle, it was my first time breathing fire. The damage here, and the giant hole in the wall, come from our joint efforts. In any way, the vault is right ahead. The sides hide living quarters and such.”

Before heading to the treasure trove of ancient artifacts, Zegion decided to stroll around the complex so they walked with the man and guided him through the available rooms. Rowena was completely stunned most of the time, not really joining in on their conversations. Sightseeing their ancestors’ old home must be quite something.

After a short tour, Radir and Asterios took everyone to the vault and pushed the heavy doors in, revealing the rows of artifacts placed on various pedestals and displays. Rowena almost fainted at the breathtaking sight but Radir caught her in time, chuckling lightly. Zegion’s mouth flung open as he stared at the numerous treasures.

“This… This is a real something… I can already see our history and archeology departments salivating at just the thought of this place… Quite a bunch of stuff here seems to be of magical nature too… Discovery of the century if not more, for sure…”

He turned around and grabbed Ast’s arm for a lively handshake.

“I’m unspeakably grateful for you telling us about this place. I can’t imagine what secrets it contains, not just related to our ancestors’ power but also their daily lives. I saw plenty of bookcases and small libraries. There’s so much to learn, for sure.”

“Think nothing of it, Your Majesty, really. We barged in here in search of answers for our own questions and stumbled on everything by accident, damaging the place a bit in the process.” Asterios chuckled wryly. “I hope we didn’t destroy anything super important.”

Zegion laughed loudly and patted his shoulder with his other hand. “There’s always a price to pay. Don’t think about what you might have gotten rid of and focus on what you were able to gain access to. And on that note, did you find those answers you were looking for?”

“Some of them, yes. We did get a lead to another place. I think we got everything we could from here.”

“Good. Feel free to jump back here whenever you need. I assume your query is related to True Dragons so I’ll let my people know to put some effort into any information they might find regarding such. I feel like you would prefer that over gold and artifacts.”

“That would be great, right, Master?” Miria pushed herself into Ast’s arm with a wide smile. “We wouldn’t need to waste time going through all the things here!”

He chuckled and brushed through her black hair. “I agree. We will appreciate any hints you might discover. As for other rewards, we have already allowed ourselves to pick a small souvenir or two from the little things that didn’t seem too important if that’s okay.”

“As they say, finders keepers!” Zegion laughed once more. “You could have ransacked this place clean without any of us ever knowing so I appreciate that. A few even good artifacts is an insignificant price to pay.”

“I guess we should now see if you can enter this place with Ast’s scale instead of his father’s,” Silvia suggested.

“That’s a very good point.” Radir nodded.

Ast’s girls led everyone to the chamber with the teleport formation which had taken them out the last time and they returned to the surface. The sandstone blocks were back in their place so Selene sniped them again and entered the complex with just Zegion and Rowena to see how they would do.

She confirmed that they were able to reach the second trial and stopped there since neither of the two had gone through it so they couldn’t advance. Since the Demon King insisted on giving it a try, she returned to Asterios through the summoning gates while he and the Governor challenged the dream-like reality. Rowena wasn’t too thrilled about it but she couldn’t really decline.

Assuming that their meeting with the Demon King was fully finished, Asterios and his friends moved to the city to grab something to eat. While dining together, they discussed their future plans and the girls filled the two demon men in on everything they had missed.

Radir obviously wanted to return to his secret dungeon under Grea’s lab to continue his research and also prepare for the moment when they would move into Ast’s new castle in a day or two. He felt like they were really close to deciphering another part of the seal, potentially allowing Asterios to regain more of his locked memories.

Svertaniel decided to stay in the Tri-Valor Valley for now, and in the Demon Continent in general. He wanted to remain in touch with everyone, of course, and offered his help in case they need it during their adventures or journeys, mentioning that he was always ready to receive a notification from them.

The actual truth was, he just wanted Umbra to check on him daily in hopes of striking a conversation with the Lord of Darkness or something. He might have tried to hide it, but it was more than obvious to those who knew him rather well.

Since it was getting late, they decided to return to their respective homes. Asterios first escorted Silvia to the royal castle, bidding farewell to the princess, then transported Radir back to Grea. 

He and Tina decided to spend a night at an inn in Rosewind to pay a visit to Suanori the next morning. Of course, Miria and Selene joined them and they all shared the bed, snuggled together to Asterios. It was starting to get a little cramped with three charming girls in his arms but he certainly didn’t mind it.

After waking up, they grabbed Silvia and headed for the guild. She confirmed that everything was on a good track and that he could take over the role today as she had all the important documents on herself.

The guild was bustling with people and activity. Meeting the guildmaster, they learned that she, Ellie, and a few other receptionists were ready to move too. The older woman who served as Suanori’s replacement was already there, although they must have missed each other as she had just left on a small errand.

So, to quickly gain the ability to travel between Rosewind and Glimmervale in just a moment, Asterios decided to rush there. Initially, he planned to just fly by himself but Miria really wanted to try going as fast as she could and he relented under her pleading gaze.

Turned into a panther, buffed as much as she could be, she shot forward as a blur. Only thanks to his newly-gained draconic strength could Asterios remain attached to her back. Using her spiritual energy, Selene flew above them with all of her tails out just to keep up and relayed the layout of the terrain to the duo on the ground to let them not worry about it.

Ast’s deeper awakening in the Demon King’s throne room certainly had a great effect on them. They felt much stronger in their respective areas. Miria reached Glimmervale in less than an hour, which was completely insane by normal standards. 

Both she and Selene ended up drained to their ends, but Asterios made sure to refill their reserves back to full with a lot of spiritual transfer, involving lots of kisses and hugs, of course. They weren’t really in the mood to have a go at each other while their friends waited for them and Asterios appreciated it even though he could feel his mates being slightly stirred up from receiving so much of his essence. He couldn't deny that he was starting to get affected by it more and more too. Especially when surrounded by such beauties.

From the edge, the town of Glimmervale didn’t look like anything special. Asterios brought his wings out and soared high into the air alongside Selene, carrying Miria in his arms, to the panthergirl’s delight.

They took a good look at the circular settlement from above. Two rivers passed through the quite developed town of a decent size, splitting it into four very evident districts. Cream and white buildings with reddish roofs dominated the landscape. Besides the four tall towers watching over the border, there was no real wall protecting the city from a possible siege or assault.

The most striking feature was definitely the castle. It sat atop an island right in the middle of the town, just where the two rivers crossed. Such a position created a circular, constantly moving moat around it. The castle’s grounds covered a decently big area, housing a bunch of facilities like the barracks or a small training ground. It was surrounded by a thin wall on the inner bank of the river, contrary to the city.

“It looks beautiful…” Miria whispered in awe. “I can’t wait to see how it looks inside…”

Asterios chuckled. “It’s still hard to accept that it’s going to be ours soon.” He kissed her cheek lovingly and pecked Selene’s too, who hovered next to him. “Come on, let’s bring everyone here and start settling down. We’ve got a lot of things to do and plenty of people to meet.”

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