Chapter 120: Chapter 191 – The Circle of Demise

“Are we heading straight to the hill?” Miria asked after they reached the surface.

“I don’t think we have to rush there right away,” Asterios replied. “We should first find Ted and see if they managed to do as I asked them yesterday.”

“Oh, right. The experiment.” Tina nodded to herself.

“Should we ask Yumi to send someone for him?” Silvia suggested.

“It’s not that urgent. We can find him ourselves if you don’t mind. I’d like to visit the plaza. Maybe he’ll be there by any chance,” Asterios shared his thoughts with them.

“What do you need from there, Master?” Bryn glanced at him with a curious expression. “Are you going to check for any damage?”

“No.” He waved his hand. “I know well that you wouldn’t let anything happen to the town or people back then. I trust you. Those barriers were impressive. I just remember seeing the formation somehow twist and change. It keeps occupying my mind since then.”

“It’s true that it did change,” Tina confirmed. “I noticed that too when we were carrying you to the side. The townsfolk tried to clean the ground but they couldn’t put a scratch on the patterns for some reason. Also, they stayed dark blue and still remain like that.”

“They are still there? That’s peculiar.” Asterios raised his brow at her.

“Right? Everyone gave up after half a day and just moved on to bringing all the stalls and other things back into their proper place.”

He chuckled wryly. “Looks like we have unintentionally vandalized the most visible part of our town by accident.”

“It’s not that apparent with all the people and structures present in the market. But, it certainly should be quite noticeable from the sky,” Selene added with a smirk. “Besides, we don’t yet know if people are angry about that, my Lord. It doesn’t look bad and can pass as a nice artistic decoration.”

“I’m pretty sure the giant Dragon-like creature resting at the northern end of the plaza is much more attention-grabbing,” Silvia commented with a small smile. “Barely anyone will care about the ground with something like that right in front of them.”

They all chuckled together and moved out as a group. The streets were slightly bustling as expected at this early hour. More people shared their greetings in passing than before and it was clear that Asterios and his friends had gotten a bit more recognition since their last leisurely stroll. No surprise with what they had done in the last three days.

After about ten minutes, they walked into the main market and glanced around. The chattering noise filled the entire place as countless merchants, both traveling and resident, presented their wares and talked to potential customers. Many of the former belonged to various subraces of elves, certainly arriving here from the neighboring nation.

While enjoying their time amongst the colorful booths, they noticed a certain closed shop in the line of buildings running around the entire market. The signpost felt familiar to Asterios and everyone soon realized that it was one of the brands owned by the Hestizo Household. Scanning the rest of the stores, they found two more also in preparation for their grand opening. It seemed that his mother and grandfather had secured quite good spots for their businesses.

As they wandered around, Asterios kept his eyes mostly on the creamy pavement under their feet. Tina had been right about the array. Even after days had passed, the lines didn’t show any signs of wear, not even from all the friction. He also confirmed that they had truly expanded with additional, swirly parts.

Not finding Ted anywhere in the close vicinity of the market, Ast’s group decided to visit the Dracodon lying peacefully at the north end and then continue their search. The Storm King raised his eyelid as they arrived closer but didn’t move otherwise, resting curled around himself with his big head directed into the plaza.

~You are full of surprises, Dragon.~ Venuzathor spoke first, conveying his message right into their minds. ~I did not expect such a quick recovery from someone in your condition.~

“I had help.” Asterios smiled at Silvia who nodded with a gentle smile too. “But, anyway, we just came to check on the magical circle since I remember something weird happening to it.”

~That is somewhat my fault. I didn’t think you would need it anymore so I took it over and modified it with my own spiritual energy. It would have been a waste to just destroy such a well-crafted formation prepared with high-quality materials, to be honest. Should I not have?~

Asterios shook his head and waved his hands. “No, no, no. If it was your doing then that’s alright. I was worried that something went out of control, perhaps. And you are certainly right about the ingredients.”

“What did you do to the formation if it isn’t a secret?” Silvia asked politely. “I can imagine that you wouldn’t really need something this grand and complex for a barely significant spell like heating up the ground during the winter season.”

An echoing rumble traveled through the air as Venuzathor chuckled quietly. As quietly as a beast of his size could have, at least.

~This array is now responsible for absorbing the natural spiritual energy from the air and storing it in its core, allowing me to assimilate it whenever I may need it. Thanks to that, I can remain in this realm for much longer without having to return to my world to rest, minimizing the time I am forced to spend away from this location and thus the risk of anything happening in my absence. Naturally, even if I’m away, I’m going to come back the instant there’s danger, but it’s incomparable to me responding to it straight away.~

“Fascinating.” Asterios watched the visible patterns with awe.

“Doesn’t that sound like he created his own pocket dungeon with him as a Dungeon Core? Just without all the monster creation and other stuff?” Miria tilted her head with a curious twinkle in her eyes.

“It kind of does.” Tina looked up at the massive Dracodon. “Is it capable of gathering the energy from people and magic too?”

~Yes it is. Do not worry, though. It doesn’t suck anyone’s spiritual energy out, only takes what has been released into the air, and therefore wasted otherwise. Besides making my stay more comfortable here, it also allows me to draw on the gathered resources in case of an emergency, enhancing my strength,~ the Storm King explained.

“Looks like we have turned Glimmervale into an open-air, humanoid-type dungeon with a draconic-type final boss.” Selene snickered behind her slender hand.

“I don’t think even the capital has anything nearly as powerful as this.” Silvia shook her head with a delicate smile. “Father will be so jealous if he learns about it.”

“You are not going to inform him right away?” Asterios turned to face her.

“I’m not obliged to report every single thing instantly. He is well aware of the Domicile Summoning and the news about Glimmervale’s new guardian must have already reached his ears too. He hasn’t asked me directly about it yet, though, so I’m wondering what he is thinking. But, I know what I am thinking.”

“And what are you thinking, Silvia?” Miria spun around and ended up in front of her with an excitedly dancing tail.

“That this is a great advantage and should remain a secret for as long as it can. The part about the array, of course. It could attract unnecessary attention to the town if information regarding it was released publicly. In my opinion, it’s safer to keep this trump card hidden instead of relying on it scaring the potential troublemakers away with it being revealed. If you wish, I can forgo reporting about it to Father so that only we here know about its existence.”

Asterios rubbed his chin as they looked each other in the eyes. “You make a good point. While it isn’t in my plans to announce all about us to the world, I didn’t expect you to keep secrets from the king, though. Are you sure that’s okay? I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

She smiled faintly at him. “I’m part of your party so it’s only natural that I should keep our best interest in mind, shouldn’t I? And it’s alright. As I said, I’m not a spy or anything. If a time comes when we could possibly need this formation or the knowledge about it, I’m going to ask you for permission to utilize it. That should be okay, right?”

He nodded with a kind smile too. “There’s no way it wouldn’t.”

Miria lunged at the princess from the side and pulled Silvia into a warm hug. “We make the best team that ever existed in all the realms!” She laughed cheerfully. “I’m so happy we can have fun like this together with a future queen!”

Even the usually calm and collected Silvia giggled under the joyful assault with a more apparent smile decorating her lips.

“Don’t be so sure about that. There’s enough time for Father to still produce another heir. But, I guess it all depends on a certain woman and if he manages to capture her heart properly.”

“That has to be the toughest challenge the king has ever faced for sure,” Asterios commented and everyone chuckled together.

After calming down a little, they left Venuzathor to his relaxing nap and returned to their main task. Since it could take way too long to just ask around, Asterios sent Umbra to locate the man for them. As expected from the powerful and fast Lord of Shadows, he found Ted a minute later and led everyone through the city.

They located the Committee member having a snack in one of the inns and he noticed their arrival, waving at them to join him at the table.

“Greetings, My Lord. Are you looking for me or got a bit hungry too?” he asked as they seated themselves down.

“The former,” Tina answered. “Did you let any beast into the town yesterday?”

“Ah, this, yes. I was going to have someone deliver the report to the castle soon.” The man nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. “Luck was on our side. There was one.”

“Did you find out anything unusual?” Asterios glanced at him.

“A quite sizable snake slithered our way so we didn’t stop it and sent men to escort the animal since it didn’t move too fast. They followed it through the streets as it continued forward until it reached the main market. Then, it moved to the center and… stopped.”

“Did the sight of the Dracodon scare it?” Miria wondered.

“Not in the slightest.” Ted shook his head. “The snake halted its movements right in the very middle and raised its body, you know, just like snakes poke their heads up. It remained stationary while its tiny tongue kept doing the little wiggles now and then. It would only move when someone pushed it away, usually trying to bite them and then returning to that spot. It paid no attention to the Storm King even as he hovered over its tiny form with his enormous fangs.”

“That’s so weird.” The panthergirl scratched her head in confusion.

“Maybe, but one thing is clear,” Selene said. “Its only goal was to get to the center of the plaza at all costs. The other beasts only fought back when we blocked their way or tried to stop them.”

“There is certainly something unusual going on here,” Silvia added in deep thought too.

“Hopefully, we will find some answers in a moment,” Asterios said. “At least we know that as long as no one tries to act like a hero, people shouldn’t get hurt even if the beasts barge inside the town. Make sure to spread this knowledge. It can save lives.”

Ted nodded with an earnest expression. “Leave that to us, My Lord. Everyone will be instructed to make a clear path if one of these bastards somehow appears without us knowing. During the attacks, people usually hide wherever they can anyway so they will certainly be more reassured in their confines.”

“Since the beasts do nothing after reaching the plaza, can’t we just wait the attack out until all of them gather there and get rid of them in one swoop?” Miria suggested.

“I don’t think they would care for all the booths and stalls set up around it,” Silvia replied.

“Ah. Right. Sorry, I forgot about those.”

Asterios brushed through her black hair to cheer his feline mate up a little. “It was a good idea. Don’t let it stop you from sharing more of them.”

She smiled at him sweetly. “I know, Master. I will keep them coming and you just have to correct me if I say something silly.”

He chuckled and rubbed her head even harder, making Miria giggle happily. “You are smarter than you think and don’t you dare say otherwise.”

“Should we move out now?” Tina asked after Asterios stopped assaulting the adorable feline.

“We might as well. Let’s jump there through the shadows to save time. Thank you for your work, Ted. Have a good rest of your break.”

He and Silvia stood up and held hands. Waving at the man at the other girls, they disappeared after Umbra’s shadows enveloped them. In just a blink, the bright sky almost blinded them as they found themselves on top of the grassy hill.

“Damn, you really are getting fast,” Asterios said as they looked around.

~It’s all thanks to you, Master. And the distance wasn’t that big. It’s been a pleasure growing alongside you so far.~

“Well, more than growing, you are technically just lifting the restraints on your power put on you by that lock on your realm.”

~The same can be said about you, Master, just with the seal in your mind instead of the entire world. You certainly have to feel like you are regaining something long lost, and I’m not talking just about your memories.~

“That is true.” Asterios nodded as the rest of his party walked through a crimson gate. “Alright. I guess it’s time to start our excavation. Any ideas?”

“I don’t think digging down in my panther form can do a lot.” Miria giggled. “I’ll run around and see if I don’t find anything weird.”

He stepped closer to her and placed a loving peck on the panthergirl’s soft lips. “Got it. Have fun.”

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She shot him a smile and lunged away, changing shapes in a flash.

“Fire won’t be that useful either. I do know some other spells and techniques but I might sit this one out too,” Silvia said next.

“I could temporarily summon a Golem or some underground beast to aid us.” Asterios rubbed his chin.

“Let me handle this, my Lord.” Selene walked up to him with her iconic smirk. “You know that I have experience going down for you already.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Fine. It’s all yours.”

She smiled beautifully and pulled herself into his mouth, joining them together in a passionate exchange. After a few long seconds, she backed away while seductively licking her lips. Sending a wink at him, she turned around and jogged forward.

Everyone else moved to the edge of the clearing to give the powerful fox lady more space to work comfortably. Selene examined the ground with her Spiritual Sight and nodded to herself. 

She summoned all eight of her tails, surprising everyone a little. But, that wasn’t all. Her external circuits glowed brightly, expanded, and her body was soon covered by the translucent, light blue armor, from head to toe, including the fluffy tails behind her back.

Selene focused her mind and they watched how all the pieces began shifting and flowing toward her arms. They morphed, changing shape, and a moment later, Selene had giant, demonic gauntlets around her forearms and hands, thrice as wide as her entire body. It looked slightly comical but no one could deny the dense, mighty energy those appendages emanated.

After she uncurled her fingers, they noticed just how long and wide her spiritual claws coming out of those gauntlets were. Each sharp finger was the size of a dog. It was a truly ominous sight.

Then, Selene took a deep breath and shoved that giant spiritual hand into the ground with a loud shout. The sharp claws sank into the earth with barely any resistance and she pulled them back after closing her fist. A huge chunk of dirt came out during the motion, squeezed by the phantom extension.

Not wanting to unnecessarily damage the nearby trees, she poured it gently aside. Then, she really got to work. Everyone watched how Selene repeatedly shoved her scary hands into the ground, excavating giant fistfuls of mud. At one point, she had to jump into the wide hole she had created and fly out of it with her cargo.

After ten minutes, a message came while she was deep beneath the ground.

~I got something!~

~Great! We are coming,~ Asterios replied and recalled Miria.

They walked to the hole together and peered into the darkness, slightly illuminated by the cyan glow emanated by Selene’s energy. They saw it grow brighter and quickly leaned back to avoid getting smacked by the fox lady. She flew out of the makeshift well and poured two huge loads of dirt aside.

“There’s a tunnel down there. It clearly feels manmade,” she explained.

“Any dangers? Beasts?” Asterios asked.

“None that I spotted. It was quiet.”

“Alright. Let’s check it out.”

“Wait just a moment and I’ll make it easier to descend.”

She winked at them and put both of her spiritual hands together, above each other. Set up like that, they were almost taller than a person. Selene sank them into the wall of the created hole and began falling while slowly spinning. Her claws created a mildly-angled ledge running down to the very bottom like spiraling stairs but without any steps.

Asterios stepped onto it to check if it was durable enough and they soon began walking down the swirling slope. Reaching the bottom of the well, they saw a bunch of spiritual platforms waiting for them to cover the remaining distance between the ceiling and the bottom of the tunnel. Everyone arrived next to Selene safely.

Bryn whispered a few words and her staff glowed brightly. Then, a head-sized orb of light manifested inside the circle at the top of her weapon and floated ahead. It stopped next to the ceiling, illuminating the entire passage. Weirdly, it did not blind them when they stared right at it.

“Useful,” Selene commented, withdrawing her spiritual extensions and five tails.

“Light is my specialty.” The Valkyrie smiled kindly.

“Let’s not get too comfortable, though. The chaotic mana is much more noticeable down here. We better be careful,” Asterios instructed and everyone prepared for battle.

There were two ways they could go and no real signs of either being anything special. Instead of splitting up, they agreed on seeing where one of the paths would lead them. Miria took the front, then walked Asterios and Silvia. After the princess followed Bryn and Selene, with Tina securing the back.

As the fox lady had mentioned, the tunnel was clearly manmade. Support beams continued to appear through it, the floor was artificially flattened, and there was some kind of shapely orbs stuck in the walls. Asterios noticed that they were polished crystals of some sort and they guessed that those might have been serving as a light source in the past before they ran out of power.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Miria spotted what looked like an entrance to a cavern and they slowed down a little. Reaching the archway, they sent Umbra to take a peek inside since everyone could feel some kind of ominous energy from that direction.

~Well, there are certainly people here,~ the Lord of Shadows informed and they tensed up. ~But they are all dead. I see no danger lurking around, except for this weird magical formation in the middle perhaps.~

Sharing a brief glance, they all nodded at each other and walked into the chamber. Bryn increased the brightness of her orb again after making it weaker earlier, and the pleasant light illuminated the artificial cavern. What they saw inside was anything but pleasant, though.

A circular array of black color decorated the middle. It crackled sporadically with purplish particles and tiny sparks of lightning. Parts of it were stained with old, dried-up blood. Similar smears could be found throughout the small grotto. As Umbra had mentioned, a bunch of skeletons in tattered clothes and robes were sprawled around the place, most resting their backs against the walls.

“What happened here?” Miria roamed her gaze over all the bones.

“No idea but don’t get anywhere near that magical circle. It doesn’t look stable and we don’t know what it’s capable of,” Asterios warned her with a serious tone.

They spread out carefully and walked around the formation, keeping a watchful eye on it. While most of the girls examined the skeletons, Asterios and Tina very carefully tiptoed to the array. They held onto each other tightly and leaned forward from a relatively safe distance to check on the patterns.

“Do you see that sigil over there?” She pointed at the top-right part.

“Five strokes in a double circle? Yeah. Could it be…” He rubbed his chin with his free hand.

“And there, the second ring from the inside, the decahedron with square tips. There’s no way you don’t recognize it.” Tina hastily moved her finger.

“You would have broken up with me if I said that I don’t.” Asterios chuckled and Tina let out a quiet giggle.

“We do forget even the simplest things sometimes, don’t we?” She glanced into his eyes with a sweet smile.

“Perhaps, but that’s like the basics they drill into you during the first year. I bet even Roz could draw it from memory with his eyes closed.”

She giggled again and turned her face towards the formation. “That’s it, then. This is definitely a summoning circle. There are some parts that I don’t recognize, and a few words, but they all seem…”

“Elven?”

Tina nodded. “Exactly.”

“Let’s step away and see what the others found out. Not much more we can gather hanging over it like this.”

Asterios carefully straightened them up and Tina squeezed herself closer to him during the motion. They glanced at each other with warm smiles and she showed a faint blush, taking a peek at his lips. 

He lowered himself just enough for them to share a gentle peck and they moved away from the magical array. The others had already gathered and the duo of Summoners joined their friends.

“Did you find anything interesting?” Asterios asked after they arrived closer.

“Some daggers, very old clothes, a book or two with quite withered pages. Nothing much besides that,” Silvia answered.

“Some of the skeletons had wounds from bladed weapons but most show signs of being subjected to a lot of pressure, perhaps from powerful blows, while others seem quite intact so the cause of death is a bit harder to guess,” Selene added.

“The readable parts of the books are in a language we do not recognize but that might be just because of the damage,” Bryn joined in.

“There’s a chance they are in Elvish,” Asterios said. “The circle had some characteristic patterns often used by elves.”

“I should take a closer look at the books, then. I’ve learned a little bit of Elvish for the sake of diplomatic relations. Even if I mostly know a bunch of words and phrases, I should be able to confirm the language from the script.” Silvia made a thoughtful expression.

“Are those people elves, then?” Miria glanced around at all the bones.

“Possibly. And it’s alright, Silvia. We can always ask an expert to take a look at them for us,” Asterios answered.

“Guildmaster Suanori.” The princess nodded in understanding.

“Yes. In any way, we believe that this is a summoning circle. Obviously, there’s something wrong with it. I don’t think we should carelessly interfere with it before we get some more information about it.”

“Is this where the beasts come from, then?” Selene scanned the crackling patterns with her whitish eyes.

“It’s possible,” Tina Answered. “That would solve part of the mystery. I don’t think any normal beasts would willingly go against Venuzathor. This thing might be randomly summoning them from time to time. The question is, why are they so obsessed with the town’s plaza?”

“Maybe these people here made it like that?” Miria tilted her head and pursed her lips. “They could have wanted to attack Glimmervale with their help but something went wrong? And now it's out of control. Do the elves have any problems with the town?”

“If this is an intentional assault under the direct orders of elven superiors, or even the queen, this could be taken as serious provocation or much worse. I don’t remember anything about our relations near the borders being anywhere close to bad or strained. Father would have made sure he did everything he could to ensure the safety of our people.” Silvia’s expression turned grave.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions here.” Asterios sighed. “The last thing we want is to wrongly accuse the elves of nefarious activity towards humans. This certainly isn’t something recent. These bodies and all the evidence are decades if not centuries old.”

“The attacks started like slightly over a month ago, though.” Tina crossed her arms under her chest. “Perhaps this place was long abandoned but something happened and the formation was reactivated. Since contaminated spiritual energy is involved, it wouldn’t be a surprise that it got corrupted.”

“We need more information. Both about these people and the summoning circle. There’s no use pondering over it when we know a much more knowledgeable person than the two of us.”

“Professor Grea.” Tina hit her palm with her fist. “We could get her and Guildmaster Suanori to help.”

~Shall I bring them here?~ Umbra suggested.

“No, thank you.” Asterios shook his head. “We’ll meet them personally. I think this is a good moment to fill Grea in on everything. We’ve kept her in the dark long enough.”

Tina glanced up at him with a wide smile and he chuckled wryly at her. They could both see how that would go.

 

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