Chapter 132: Chapter 203 – Knocking on the Void’s Door

Asterios and Tina finished off the few remaining beasts heading their way and he looked around the battlefield.

~Bryn, do you think you could take care of the sky too while we are gone?~ he asked everyone through the bond he shared with his companions.

~It should be of no issue, Master,~ the Valkyrie responded immediately.

~I’ll lend you a hand if you need it,~ Selene joined in. ~Miria and Silvia are doing great on the ground so it shouldn’t be a problem for me to split my attention a little bit.~

~Yep! Leave it to us, Master!~ the panthergirl added cheerfully.

~Thanks, everyone. Selene, let Silvia know about the change. She isn’t able to hear us yet. I’ll head with Tina to the guild and then most likely to the breach. Have fun but don’t drop your guard,~ Asterios wrapped up their mental conversation.

But, Selene’s teasing chuckle actually prolonged it for a moment later. ~Yet?~

~Not now.~ He and Tina exchanged soft smiles. ~We can talk about it anytime later but I’m pretty sure all of you are aware that I enjoy hanging around our princess quite a bit.~

Miria’s giggle echoed in their minds. ~I can’t wait for Silvia to join us!~

Asterios shook his head with a faint sigh and flew towards the town with Tina by his side. Bryn immediately took their place and they could see their gorgeous friend envelop the head of her staff with golden energy, creating a beautiful and deadly ethereal blade alongside its edges, turning it into something akin to a fusion of a fancy spear and glaive.

In a flash, the Summoner duo arrived in front of the Adventurer’s Guild and dropped to the ground. They walked inside with a quick step. The main hall was pretty much empty, save for a few adventurers who didn’t look confident enough in helping with fighting. Not every single one had to play an offensive role even partially.

Sharing a nod with Truvi, who they spotted behind one of the reception counters, they headed upstairs and reached the guildmaster’s office. With a sound knock, Asterios led them into the room and everyone turned their eyes to them. Grea literally buzzed as she trotted close to the duo and threw herself at him.

“We got it! I’m sure of it!” she announced again, stealing a quick kiss from his lips. “Let’s get rid of that abomination once and for all!”

“Amazing. I knew you could do it.” He stole one back and set Grea down next to him, glancing at the elves. “What do we have to do?”

Fievedem stepped forward. “First of all, we need to get there, but I don’t think that will be an issue with your abilities.”

Suanori made a heavy sigh, capturing Ast’s attention, and he sent her a reassuring smile after their gazes met. She nodded, trying to respond with a more confident expression.

“After that, we have two options,” Imadil continued after the elf woman. “Technically, it’s three, but two of them are equally dangerous.”

“One and two, we destroy the circle or overload the fissure,” Cynthia took over. “Then three, the safest but also the most complex one, we try to add a few parts to the spiritual array, based on the documentation we’ve been able to decipher, and hope it shuts off without blowing up half of the surrounding area.”

Asterios rubbed his chin while thinking. “I assume we are fairly confident in going with the third option, right?”

The Summoner lady delegated by the queen nodded at him. “After learning about some of the finer details of this ritual, I should be able to take care of it. The process requires my undivided focus, though, so I will need all the protection we can muster while doing my part.”

“Which might be a little bit troublesome considering that we’ll be working right next to a giant pit spewing out dozens of monsters,” Suanori added.

“Maybe it would be if we didn’t have him.” Grea grinned impishly while running her hand over Ast’s jawline. “And his strong mates, of course. Not to discredit all those badass girls.”

Giving his flirty professor a tug on her slim tail where no one could see it, Asterios made Grea’s eyes widen briefly before her eyelids fell halfway in an expression of pure yearning.

“I like the vote of confidence but let’s not get too rash,” he berated her while kneading that tender appendage within his fingers. “Let’s get to it, then. The faster we can close it, the safer it’s going to be for the others at the frontlines. Do you need to gather anything?”

“I already asked Umbra to fetch a few things for us so we are good to go.” Grea bit on her bottom lip but quickly turned a bit more serious. “Anyone?”

All the people in the room shook their heads and Umbra materialized over Ast’s shoulder. He brought Asterios and Suanori to the vicinity of the crater first so that Tina and Grea could join him quickly through a gate. Then, the others were brought to them in pairs too. A moment later, they stood together at the back of the huge hole, watching as many monsters climbed or flew out of it.

“I’ll begin immediately. Please, watch over me in the meanwhile.” Fievedem shot Asterios a glance and moved closer to the edge with her two escorts.

“I don’t think we’ll need to do much,” Suanori said soon after the trio left. “These creatures pay no attention to anything that isn’t on their path to Glimmervale.”

Just in case, everyone kept a close eye on the woman and the two other elves. The men tidied up the ground around the edge of the crater from debris and used some kind of a liquid solution to burn away the remaining grass, uncovering the dark brown earth underneath it. She, in turn, drew intricate patterns over the prepared surface, slowly moving clockwise around the pit’s rim.

Asterios could tell that those were purely elven and did share some similarities with the sigils and lines they had seen in the magical circle down in the cavern. Fievedem’s drawings were clearly much more precise and mystical. They had definitely analyzed enough information to interfere with the chaotic formation but she surely was an even bigger expert at Summoning Magic developed in her homeland than he had first assumed, perhaps being a person of much more importance too.

And that person had immediately knelt in front of Imadil.

But, it was not the time to ponder over such things. As Suanori had said, the monsters didn’t care about anything they were doing around the hole, and Fievedem soon covered over half of the circle. Unfortunately, she stopped at that point and everyone walked closer to the trio.

“I won’t be able to continue with them pouring out like this. We can solidify the patterns after finishing the circuit but before that, the monsters could break them while crossing the lines,” she explained.

“Then we have to stop them. At least for as long as you need to finish,” Tina replied. “Let me try.”

Asterios nodded after she looked at him and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. Tina enjoyed their brief, loving exchange while also receiving some more of Ast’s scorching hot mana. She pulled away with a shy smile and a faint flush on her charming face. Giving Asterios one last warm glance, she sauntered towards the cliff with a little bounce in her step.

Arriving at the edge, she took a deep breath and brought Hydran forth, forming a thick pole in her hands. Focusing mana in it, sharing the energy with her familiar, she held it up for a few seconds. After it began spinning much more ferociously, she shouted loudly and shoved the butt of the swirling staff into the ground.

Water rushed to the sides like two rolling waves, just short of the patterns in front of it. After circling the crater, they smashed into each other and Tina twisted her spiritual weapon. The low hedge of crystal clear liquid surged upwards and soon covered the entire hole with a thick dome of violent water, trapping the monsters inside.

Grea cheered and everyone looked at Tina’s spell in awe. The elves were going to continue their work but stopped after a splash reached their ears. While most of the beasts couldn’t do anything against the swirling barrier, the occasional, more durable creatures pushed themselves into it as if their life depended on it, hurting themselves in the process to an astonishing degree, but also creating small gaps in the liquid wall. Through those, some smaller beasts could possibly slip outside for as long as the disruptors weren’t torn to shreds.

It looked like Tina couldn’t do that much to the barrier after it had been erected so Suanori jumped in to help her without a second of hesitation. The guildmaster trailed the tip of her wooden staff in the air, creating many glowing sigils of green color, and hit the ground with its butt.

Immediately, countless thorny vines shot out of the mud all around the spinning obstruction and crisscrossed each other above its surface. In just a few seconds, a durable and sharp net covered the liquid dome, additionally reinforcing it.

But, while clearly very effective, it still wasn’t completely failsafe. Asterios and the others could take care of the few small monsters that would make it through, and they would be extremely wounded at that point too, but any chances of something breaching the patterns they had laid down were not welcome.

After running his gaze over the people gathered around the chasm, he sighed softly.

“How long do you need to connect the ends?” he asked the elf Summoner.

“A minute, two at worst,” Fievedem answered.

“Alright. Doable.” Asterios nodded to himself. “I have an idea. I’m going to stop them completely for that time but under one condition. You have to swear an oath not to divulge anything you will see to anyone, especially the queen.”

She frowned at him slightly and he could tell that she was going to ask for an explanation but Imadil stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Just do as he says. He’s a trustworthy person. The two of us already did it.”

His words seemed to shock Fievedem but she nodded at the man. She and the two other elves made a similar oath as the father and daughter duo, turning to look at Asterios after they were finished.

“Thank you. Now, can I destroy those vines or will it hurt you, Suanori?” he asked the guildmaster.

“Go ahead. I’ll be fine,” she grunted while upkeeping her concentration on the spell.

“Perfect. If you can, bring out some more. I’ll have Tina cancel her dome before I get to my own thing. It’s not too compatible with what I’m going to do.”

Right after the last word left his lips, he closed his eyes, relayed his plan to his blue-haired lover, and reached for a lot of the scorching hot energy. A wave of pleasant yet fierce warmth hit everyone as a crimson aura burst out of him. The elf trio gasped when draconic wings, horns, and tail came into existence at various parts of his body. Tough, crimson scales surfaced on some spots over Ast’s skin, and his hands were completely covered by them.

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Opening his ferocious, glowing eyes of pure crimson, he regarded the elves with one more look and launched himself into the sky with a powerful flap of his wings. After reaching the desired position above Tina’s water barrier, more or less in the center of the giant hole, he began drawing an immense breath while giving her the signal to drop the technique.

Everyone could hear him strongly suck in more air than his lungs should technically have been able to store as the swirling dome receded to the ground. Grea was literally shaking from excitement, bouncing on the soles of her feet, and they looked at her weirdly.

But then, they all understood.

The entire area was suddenly illuminated in a deep crimson shade as a ferocious hellfire of the same color burst out of Ast’s mouth. Loud noise and hum of powerful, surging flames filled their ears as the relentless inferno burned the viny net into ashes in less than a blink and rolled down the wide chasm, covering its entire diameter. Screams, screeches, yelps, and other sounds of pain echoed through the air as all the rushing creatures suffered the same fate.

Noticing that the three elves were utterly stunned and flabbergasted, Grea gave Fievedem a juicy smack on the ass to force her out of her stupor. The Summoner woman shook her head and immediately went to continue the formation with her helpers, trying her best not to be bothered by the intense flames raining down from the sky right ahead of her. Thankfully, the heat was somewhat bearable, which seemed to be quite a curious thing considering that the insides of the crater sizzled with scorched and melted flesh.

Not a single creature managed to come out of the bright and utterly deadly flames during the time Fievedem took to draw the remaining patterns. She gave her best, not wanting to test if Asterios really could breathe fire for as long as he had said. Finishing in just over a minute, she hastily made the array permanent and backed off with the other two.

Tina let Asterios know that things were finished and he gradually withdrew his fire. He was nearing his limits so he was thankful for her assistance. After the last spurt of flames left his throat, the surrounding forest returned to its natural, dark shade of the night. Everyone stared at the bright red, melted walls of the vertical tunnel in astonishment.

He flew down to join them on the ground while coughing lightly. Tina and Grea quickly ran up to him and began patting his back as he chuckled and did his best to let out all the black smoke still occupying his lungs and throat.

“I thought I had it under control now but I guess breathing fire for an entire minute is still a bit over my current capabilities,” Asterios commented with a wry smile.

More screeches and yelps reached their ears and he took a peek over the edge with the two women by his side.

“The earth is still hot and will inconvenience them a lot but they are climbing up again,” Tina said. “Plus, flying types won’t be bothered. What now? Can we close it?”

Fievedem shook her head. “Not from here. We need to get under that giant portal, to the core formation, and do the rest through it. Otherwise, the chances of failure are much greater, and that means another explosion.”

“Didn’t it get blasted when the array imploded?” Asterios asked.

“I guess you haven't seen too many summoning circles blow up, have you?” She showed a rare, faint smile. “The energy can surge out causing a frontal, reverse, spheroidal, tectonic, or planar implosion. Only the last two have a high chance of damaging the array while the rest takes place almost fully around it. Judging by this pit, we definitely are dealing with the frontal implosion, the most common one.”

“Yeah, yeah, super fascinating, for sure, but we have practice to carry out instead of discussing theory,” Grea inserted herself into the conversation, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “If you want to follow up with your lecture, I’m sure Ast would gladly be up for some personal lessons. Hell, I would love to watch or join in too.”

He bonked her on the head while chuckling. “Albeit very crass, she isn’t wrong. I’m always happy to learn more, especially since the academy’s resources weren’t infinite. But, as she is also right, we need to finish—”

The ground suddenly shook strongly, interrupting Asterios. He hastily wrapped his arms around Grea’s and Tina’s waists and took off before they fell over the edge. Everyone took a few steps away from the pit and he set the two women down in a safe area before flying over the ominous opening once more.

“Uhhh… Grea? Fievedem? What are the chances that my flames went through the breach?”

The elf woman’s forehead furrowed a little. “I’m… not sure, actually. Thinking logically, it shouldn’t be possible for anything like that to pass, but these flames felt…”

“But considering your condition, anything goes, really,” the mischievous demon lady continued after her and raised a brow at him. “Why?”

“I think someone didn’t like that.”

A powerful howl made the air shiver as it rolled out of the tunnel and echoed in the distance. Then, a huge, thick arm of light gray color reached out of the swirling, purple rift, sinking the fingers of its hand into the slowly cooling earth. Another one popped right up and grabbed the other side of the crater, clearly announcing that whatever was making its way out of the chaotic portal, was big enough to spread its limbs across the entire hole.

After a giant canine head resembling a terrifying jackal poked out of the gate, locking its glowing yellow eyes on Asterios high in the air with a ferocious snarl, he instantly turned to the people on the ground.

“Tina! Get them to the hidden entrance! Now! And call Umbra to your side just to be safe!”

“But—”

“No buts! This thing is clearly locked on me! Go!”

With a strained line over her lips, she nodded obediently and began herding everyone toward the direction of the secret tunnel. Asterios noticed Umbra’s shadow joining hers and smiled to himself. But, that smile didn’t last long as another bone-chilling howl rumbled through the crater.

The humongous creature was halfway up now and he could see it in most of its glory. It had a humanoid figure of massive size. There was no doubt that it could easily close its fist around Asterios and still have some room to spare. Its light gray body was furless but covered by what looked like jagged, natural plates of rock armor. A lot of it was chipped or decorated with impressive claw marks.

Passing the half point, it lowered its posture and tensed its visible muscles. Asterios knew exactly what was coming and hastily pushed himself aside, flying towards the land. The gigantic jackal launched itself out of the hole and landed on the ground on all fours with a powerful thud. Rising to its hind legs like a person, it growled at Asterios viciously; its ominous shape extending far over the tree line.

“Yeah… I guess a simple apology will do no good here…” He smiled wryly after seeing its ravenous expression.

Worried about damaging the patterns they had worked so hard to prepare, Asterios flapped his wings and flew away from the chasm. Looking over his shoulder, he was glad to see the canine giant following him while dashing forward on all fours again. There was no way of resolving it peacefully anymore.

Moving far enough from the now obliterated hill, he stopped and faced the monster. Before it got to him, he hastily flew higher, using his wings to his advantage to observe and analyze his opponent before it engaged him.

But, Asterios didn’t get to watch the jackal for long as it was fast to come up with a countermeasure.

The massive monster snarled, starting to growl, and hunched forward. The jagged rocks over its back began growing in size, soon creating a sharp spike. After it grew in size enough, the beast grabbed it and broke it off, drawing one leg to the back.

With a powerful swing, it hurled the rough javelin at Asterios strong enough for the wave of force released by its throw to bend the nearby trees, breaking a few. Since its intentions had been very obvious from the moment it had picked the projectile, Asterios managed to prepare himself and dodged out of the way. The big spike disappeared in the night sky, flying who knew how far.

“I can’t have you do that repeatedly. You might hit something important by accident,” he muttered to himself and unsheathed the artifact sword, starting to fill it with mana. “Let’s see how tough you are.”

Brandishing his weapon at the monster, Asterios supplied his wings and organs with some more energy and shot forward with a thud. The jackal swung its massive arm to intercept him but he ducked under it and sliced into the unarmored skin of its armpit. 

His sword did penetrate the thick, leather-like layer, leaving a long but shallow wound on its surface. Unfortunately, considering its humongous size, it seemed no more than a scratch. Even if he plunged his blade deep into its body, he would have to aim for vulnerable zones, which were all covered by additional plates of tough stone or something similar.

Avoiding another slash aimed at him, Asterios did a roll and increased his distance again. He felt like a fly in front of the canine giant. Or a mosquito. Felling it would certainly require something with much more penetrative power. Or power in general. 

He had a few decent spells stored in his Runic Chips so he wasn’t completely out of options. He could also stall the enemy for as long as Fievedem needed to disable the summoning circle, the girls to clear up most of the remaining monsters, and then reach him, but there was always a chance that the monster would grow bored of trying to chase after him.

Looking at his artifact blade, Asterios recalled its unusual behavior back in the town and was just going to reenact that scene when a voice reached him.

“Ast!”

The jackal’s sharp, pointy ears twitched and they both turned their gazes to the side. A scarlet-haired woman in a black battle uniform ran into a more open spot between the trees.

Asterios immediately launched himself towards her, doing so shortly before the monster. Pushing his wings to their limits, he reached her first and snatched her from the ground moments before the giant dropped on the girl with its massive body. Carrying Silvia in his arms, he flew up again, watching his opponent for any signs of it hurling more javelins at them.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in mild confusion.

“Gods, it’s huge…” the princess commented as her amber eyes widened slightly, then turned her face to match his. “Tina told the others that you are facing a powerful, unknown enemy alone and they told me to leave the battlefield to them so I came to help you as quickly as I could.”

“I guess I could use a hand or two.” Asterios chuckled quietly and she showed a gentle smile. “Care for one more dance, Princess?”

“With pleasure.” Silvia’s smile bloomed a little. “Let’s finish it quickly and get back to the others.”

 

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