Chapter 164: Chapter 233 – The Perfect Defense

“Score!” Grea pumped her fist victoriously.

“Does it share any specifics, Master?” Bryn asked hopefully, moving closer to Asterios.

“Similar to the other notebook, it seems to be more of an analysis of the topic. The first pages make it sound like he wanted to do some tests on the core of the entire device so I guess they might be described alongside their results further in.” He smiled at her. “So, if Red planned to study it from up close for whatever reason, I don’t think we have any doubts about the entire thing existing.”

“Plus, there’s this sketch at the very beginning. I would say that it’s already evident enough,” Tina commented.

“Thank the gods. I was starting to lose hope a little.” Bryn sighed softly and let out a quiet chuckle.

“Damn. I can’t get a word out of this.” Atra groaned while trying to peer onto the pages. “I now wonder how much other useful stuff is hidden behind the language barrier. I’m afraid that we won’t really have a chance to know since many of the languages are now lost to us.”

“You have this many grand libraries and archives and none of them hold any teachings related to the other tongues spoken or written amongst all the realms your race kept visiting as the messengers of the gods?” Selene raised a curious brow at her.

“Guides to those languages are extremely scarce. I’ve read somewhere that in the era during which we served, there was a god who provided us with the ability to communicate with almost any living being,” Atra explained. “Currently, our libraries have plenty of sections with foreign texts and other cultural elements but actual guidebooks are rare. Most scholars are interested in discovering our own culture rather than digging into extinct races. It would take someone long years to fully interpret a lost tongue just from the aforementioned materials.”

“Some still do, but just as Atra said, it takes a long time,” Bryn added. “Each of the nine realms had a very unique language. Knowledge of one doesn’t help much with the others. There obviously still existed a common one but many cultural pieces were naturally created in the local dialect.”

“Well, you will at least get to learn what the draconic tongue hides,” Asterios said, directing a kind smile at the short Valkyrie. “I’ll have to translate this for Tyr’s Council anyway so I don’t see a reason not to share the contents with you and your friends. I can work on the other notebook alongside it too. More information on that miraculous medical artifact is certainly beneficial.”

“Really?” Atra’s eyes shone with excitement. “Would that be okay?”

“Of course.” He nodded. “I’ll just omit a few tiny things related to the identity of the writer if you don’t mind.”

“That would be perfect!” She hugged him from the side with a big, charming grin.

“What will we say about it when someone asks where we got that information?” Silvia pondered.

“Atra mentioned that there are many sections with texts in other languages, right? Can’t we just say that we found it there?” Miria tapped her lips adorably.

“They might want to see the exact document if you do that,” Grea replied. “No matter how we look at it, there isn’t any way of introducing this information to the public without making ourselves look suspicious.”

“Right. No matter how nice the discovery is, the others won’t enjoy the news about us breaking in here too much.” Atra chuckled awkwardly.

“We will have to share it with Tyr’s Council as per their request and have them promise not to spread that knowledge further for now,” Asterios said. “Then, we can wait until our expedition is over and claim that we found this information inside the Spire. I bet we will stumble on some more of it anyway. The only downside to this is that you will have to wait a bit before telling anyone, Atra.”

“That’s fair. We should do that.” The scholarly Valkyrie agreed. “Though, I would still like to have a peek at it after you are done translating.”

Seeing the fair blush on her cheeks and the puppy eyes she showed him, Asterios chuckled and nodded. There was just no hiding knowledge in front of a passionate researcher. Grea must be as eager to uncover more truth as she was, trying her best to control her scholarly urges.

“What now, then?” Bryn asked. “I think we should get out before you start working on these notebooks, Master.”

“Is there anything more that we can learn about the monsters in this restricted vault?” Silvia turned to their researcher ally.

“Not much.” Atra shook her head. “Most of the data on the Scourge is public so that everyone can learn what they are going up against if they ever stumble on those abominations. The only concealed parts are related to the cataclysm and I have already shared that with you. I have all of it pretty much memorized so I can elaborate on it whenever you want. There’s no need to browse through the archives.”

“And Umbra can always help her remember if she happens to forget a detail or two.” An impish smirk curled the corner of Selene’s lips up.

The caramel-haired Valkyrie shuddered, not even sure why. She just inherently felt the ominous undertone in the fox lady’s words. There was just something eerie about her sly expression.

“In any way, we can read up on that topic in the public departments, then. If Atra doesn’t have any other suggestions regarding sections we might want to see, we should get out. The longer we stay here, the higher the chances of something going awry,” Asterios said.

“I think we visited all the important places. Have you memorized the two notebooks already?” Atra glanced at him and Asterios nodded, handing her the documents back. “Great. Let’s wrap this up, then.”

Everyone made some effort to remove all the evidence of their unauthorized search and they hastily headed back to the entrance Asterios had created, following the net of his mana prints. Miria activated them with a joyful smile, guiding their group through the monotone hallways as fast as they could move without running. The echo in those corridors was just unbelievable.

In less than ten minutes, they arrived back at the damaged part of the wall. Selene pushed the cut metal in with her spiritual energy and they all stepped outside of the hallway. Before she returned it back into its place, they discussed briefly what they could do to conceal the damage. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much so Silvia and Asterios decided to work together on welding the narrow gash from both sides.

They linked their energies, with Silvia becoming the main recipient of the gathered mix. She picked a spell fit for their situation and walked closer to the wall while Selene held it for her in place after the princess returned inside the vault. Just in case, they checked if she could properly open a gate back to Asterios, who remained outside, and it seemed to work fine.

After all the pieces were in their places, Silvia joined her palms together and spoke a few quiet words as a chant. Her fingers started glowing red and then amber. The air around them shimmered with the intense heat that emanated from her hands. Finishing her preparations, she carefully pressed her palms over the thin crevice between the wall and the cut shape.

The golden metal quickly melted under her touch and she slowly and carefully traced a path all over the narrow breach. With her right hand, she made sure that enough metal filled the lacking trench, and with her left, she skilfully fixed all the irregularities and uneven areas. The process was taking a while but she was able to achieve a good enough visual effect. If someone looked from up close, they would surely notice the slightly mismatched shades of gold, but it wasn’t that badly noticeable from a distance.

Fifteen minutes later, she was done and examined her work with a heavy, tired sigh. Nodding to herself, she stepped through the crimson gate leading outside and appeared next to everyone, where Asterios brought out some chilly water for her. Silvia accepted it with a soft smile and rested a little before taking care of the other side too. Since it wasn’t as crucial to cover the damage perfectly, she wrapped it up much sooner. Having Asterios supply her with his mana directly through his hand on her back helped a lot too.

To avoid wandering through the ARK’s underbelly again, they tested how Atra reacted to Umbra’s method of transportation and Asterios jumped with her back to the surface after confirming that she was quite alright with it. They showed up at the Valkyrie’s home and he had to instantly answer a dozen questions regarding his shadowy familiar.

After Atra calmed down, she invited everyone to her dining room for some refreshments. They sat down around a big table and enjoyed her hospitality.

“Now that we are a little bit safer, let’s discuss our next steps,” she suggested, pouring Silvia some tea.

“This is pretty obvious. I’ll sit down over the memories of the notebooks and transcribe everything into Common. If we don’t need to rush it, I think three days should do,” Asterios replied.

“Would you like to stay at my home in the meanwhile?” Atra asked, glancing over all of them.

“I appreciate the offer, Atra, but I’m sure Master and his mates will be more comfortable in the inn we are currently staying at.” Bryn made a warm nod toward her friend.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to bother you during your studies, research, or just chill time. Trust me, it can get very shaky. You can mute the sounds but you can’t really absorb all the energy. We would hate to ruin your rooms too.” Grea grinned at Atra devilishly.

“What?” The scholarly Valkyrie furrowed her brows.

Instead of answering verbally, the mischievous demon lady made a ring with the fingers of one hand and started stabbing the open space with the pointer finger of the other one. Atra quickly caught on and a rosy flush tainted her cheeks as she gingerly fixed her glasses.

Asterios smacked Grea gently on the back of her head, causing her to giggle mischievously. “In the meanwhile, you could check on the Council now and then to see if they actually give us access to those restricted archives. If that happens, we can go in again and let them know about our discovery after returning to the surface.”

“Good idea,” Tina agreed with a delicate smile. “And so as not to just laze around and waste time, the rest of us will read through the public records on the Scourge. We will gather as much information on those monsters as we can.”

“We should split into groups, deciding who will do that and who will analyze the data on the Spire we gathered today,” Selene suggested.

Asterios noticed Miria’s ears starting to lower a little bit and he reached out to pet those cute rounded triangles. “Don’t overwork yourself though and try to enjoy your time in Brage too. I’m sure at least some of you would love to wander around a bit more, perhaps hit some restaurants, inns, pubs, or other fun places.”

Miria showed a tiny blush from being read so easily and snuck an upwards glance at her caring master. He smiled at her, causing her to turn even redder. She didn’t tell him to stop playing with her ears, though.

“Someone has to make sure you take proper breaks too. Even if you don’t want to go out, I can think of at least three ways of helping you relax a little.” Grea nibbled on her lower lip while brushing over Ast’s thigh with her palm.

“How many of them aren’t anything improper?” He raised a curious brow at her.

“Zero.” She smirked at him.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Alright. We have a plan. Let’s get it going. Can I count on you two to show the girls around? Both the archives and the city?”

Bryn and Atra nodded together.

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“Leave it to us, Master,” the former answered with a bright smile.

After finishing their drinks, they bid farewell to their new friend and headed back to the inn. Asterios wanted to spend an hour or two checking Red’s notes already but the girls knocked that idea out of his head and dragged him to bed as it was starting to get late. They had some fun just chatting and cuddling together before they actually dozed off.

In the morning, Atra visited them and let them know that the Council made no progress in their decision, just as she had expected. Asterios sighed to himself and shared a peck with all his mates before they ventured out with the petite Valkyrie. He stayed back in their room at the inn and got to work with Umbra by his side.

The girls split into two groups. Atra took Grea, Tina, and Selene on a tour of the public archives while Bryn began her own tour of the ARK with Miria and Silvia. They agreed to switch the other day and began their respective adventures.

And so, five days passed instead of three. 

They had all taken a lot of breaks. Especially Asterios, who was forced to relax quite often, which usually ended up quite exhausting actually. But, it wasn’t everything he did outside of his translation as he also wandered the ARK alongside everyone at least a few times. Not as many as he wandered to the bed while accompanied by one or two of his mates, though. The girls made sure he didn’t push himself too much.

To discuss their findings and general results of those last five days, they gathered back at Atra’s house. Right from the doorstep, the short Valkyrie sighed dejectedly while shaking her head. There was still no clear decision from the Council and she had even attempted to incentivize the hesitant members a little on her own. It had no considerable effect.

“We’ll retake the Descending Spire quicker than they come to an agreement.” She groaned quietly as they sat down at the same table.

“Thankfully, it doesn’t affect us that much. It would be another story if we required their direct help like from Tyr. But, since we already got what we needed, we can just move on whenever,” Selene said.

“Are you certain that whatever information we discovered will be enough?” Atra glanced at her.

“See for yourself,” Asterios replied and summoned the transcribed notebook from his spatial storage.

Their scholar friend picked the translation up and flipped through the pages a little. Her eyes widened quickly and she almost buried her nose in the notebook.

“Sweet gods, that is a lot of data!” she squealed with a wide smile. “And what? A completely impenetrable wall of perfect protection? The writer seems to be praising the Aegis a lot.”

“I mean, who wouldn’t with how incredible it is?” Asterios chuckled. “It’s not just some random shield that envelops a city while active. Tyr’s Aegis is like a multi-layered barrier where each layer is responsible for stopping a different kind of matter or energy from passing through. And it doesn’t protect only what is visible above the ground but envelops the entire Spire alongside the city around it in an almost omnipotent and omnidirectional force field.”

“Multiple layers? Like Selene’s barriers?” Miria pursed her lips while looking between him and her vulpine sister-mate.

“No. More complex. All those layers are merged together into one giant mesh. That’s why it supposedly shines like an ever-changing rainbow when active, though Red didn’t get a chance to see it in action and only read about that,” Asterios replied.

“What are the effects, then?” Atra asked without pulling her nose out of the notebook.

“For starters, something like a protection warding against all organic matter, all inorganic matter moving at a higher velocity than a set value, everything that contains bits or traces of spiritual energy, everything that contains bits or traces of spiritual essence, spells and magic in general, and countless other even more specific enchantments,” he listed. “It’s truly an all-purpose barrier meant to stop literally anything harmful from passing through. That includes natural hazards such as fire, flood, snowstorm, heat, poison, disease, and so on.”

“That really sounds incredible.” Miria practically vibrated from excitement in her seat. “But, if it stops so many things, does it trap people on the inside and prevent anyone else from going in?”

“From what I've read, you can freely leave the protection, but to get back, someone has to literally extend a hand to you through the barrier. It's another safeguard that is meant to prevent unauthorized access or the enemy sneaking past the shield by some mysterious means that allow them to appear similar to the defenders.”

“We would be set for life if we managed to activate it,” Bryn commented. “Do the notes mention anything about how to start it up?”

Asterios shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. Maybe there are more of them somewhere but this one talks about its functionality and describes most if not all the parts that make the entire thing whole. Easy to imagine, the crucial elements are equal in rarity to the heart of the World Serpent that the God of War had brought to Odin. It’s truly a defensive artifact prepared for a literal apocalypse. Too bad it didn’t even get a chance to play its role.”

“Don’t worry, my Lord. We will make sure to put Tyr’s Aegis in the spotlight very soon.” Selene showed him a ladylike smile.

“Any other interesting mentions?” Tina asked.

“I’ll let you read through everything if you are curious, of course, but I guess there was something. Red noted that the main core chamber of Tyr’s Aegis had an unusual spiritual atmosphere due to all those different affinities working together. He wrote that it might possibly serve as a perfect spiritual incubator or repository. The notes end with him saying that he will make a separate log for his observations, tests, and potential use of such an unusual chamber since it might turn into extensive research. I can’t get much more out of them,” Asterios continued as per her request.

“That sounds special. Perhaps he found a way to utilize the reactor to recuperate? We do know that Red was hurt by Black to some extent. The medical ward might have helped him fix the wounds and that spiritual atmosphere could have been beneficial for his rest,” Bryn wondered out loud.

“If it really is so special, we might all want to take a dip in that spicy air. As long as it isn’t actually spiritually dangerous,” Grea mused.

“I’d say let’s not jump right into the unknown that could potentially spiritually cripple us.” Tina chuckled wryly. “Red is Red, and perhaps Asterios is Asterios too since he is also a True Dragon, but us common mortals might not find it as beneficial and nice as they do.”

“Details, my dear, details.” Grea smirked at her. “We too have a Dragon in ourselves. We could have it a little bit more often, though.”

Tina rolled her eyes as the others chuckled at the frivolous researcher.

“Leaving that subject for later, how did your search on those monsters go?” Asterios swiftly changed the topic.

“Good. The Scourge doesn’t seem to be too dangerous individually. Their main strength lies in numbers,” Silvia answered. “You can see them as devolved humans with a male physique, fitting the origin story Atra shared with us. They are fast and grabby but not that strong actually. They still can rip a person apart without much trouble.”

“According to the records, they possess great regenerative capabilities and they ooze dark blood when hurt, which is extremely acidic and kills all life pretty much on contact. It’s toxic for us, naturally, but we can survive if healed right after that poison gets into our bodies. They can prevail with all their limbs cut off if the head is still there. Going for vital points seems to be the way,” Grea continued after her.

“All in all, we are against slick-skinned, grayish humanoids without faces who behave like frenzied monkeys. Their only goal is the extinction of everything on their path. We shouldn't have that much trouble unless we get jumped on or completely surrounded with no way of quickly escaping. Light and Holy elements seem to be working well against them, which sounds right considering that their state has been caused by a curse or something like that,” Selene added.

“Then it might get quite dangerous inside the Spire, depending on how many of those monsters infiltrated it and how deep they wandered.” Asterios rubbed his chin.

“Well, we can’t really know that without checking, but I would assume that at least some of the floors activated their trials so their numbers should be lower the deeper it goes. If any valkyrjas stayed behind, and it wouldn’t be that surprising to find someone this devoted to protecting our legacy, they should have used a thing or two that the Spire offers for defense,” Bryn said.

“So, are we now going to move to Odin?” Miria asked, still enjoying some pats from her beloved master.

“I think so.” He nodded. “There’s no real reason to stay here any longer. Bryn will take the documents regarding the Aegis back to Tyr while I start my flight to our next destination. Are you going with us, Atra?”

“I heard from Bryn how you got here and I don’t think I can keep up with you two.” The lithe Valkyrie chuckled shyly.

“That’s alright. I didn’t plan on making you fly alongside me. Umbra can transfer you after I arrive there,” Asterios explained.

“Ah. Well, I guess that would be nice, but I will stay here,” she replied with a thankful smile. “I will be more useful to you in Brage than in Odin. If the Council comes to a favorable conclusion, I’ll try to use what we learned to convince them to help your cause however we scholars can. I’ll continue doing my own digging in case I stumble on something useful too.”

“Alright. We are very grateful for that. Umbra will check on you regularly whenever we aren’t busy so you won’t have any issues getting in touch with us. Thank you for all your help again.” Asterios lowered his head respectfully.

She waved her hands at him. “Stop that. It’s nothing, really. I’m just helping my friends. And having a hand in liberating the grandest wonder of our past glory. That already makes me so happy.”

“Thank you.” Bryn stood up and walked to Atra to hug her warmly. “You’ve always saved me with your kindness and wisdom.”

“Oh, please, you are embarrassing me. What else are friends for?” Atra reciprocated the hug and smiled beautifully. “Now go. We have great things awaiting us.”

Everyone stood up and began tidying the dining room together. Atra grinned at Bryn and rose to her tiptoes, bringing her lips to her friend’s ear.

“And the next time we see each other, you better have sealed the deal or else I’m going to start making a move myself. I can see how you look at him,” she whispered with a suggestive tone.

Chuckling to herself quietly, Atra smacked Bryn’s butt and hopped away to help the others, leaving the taller Valkyrie all red and flustered. She hastily calmed herself down and joined them too, taking a peek to the sides to see if anyone heard their brief exchange, thankfully finding no one in their close vicinity. 

Little did she know, a certain beastfolk duo had small grins on their lips while washing the cups together.

 

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