Chapter 173: Chapter 242 – The Power of Vitality

“I never thought I would set foot in the legendary Descending Spire,” Bryn said with clear awe in her voice as they entered the temple. “It’s still hard to believe that we are here. This was nothing more than a dream after the Cataclysm. Atra would do anything to be in my place.”

“Anything?” Grea grinned at her, jabbing the Valkyrie in the side with her elbow.

Asterios lightly bonked his silly mate on the head. “We’ll bring your friend here after the Spire is secured. It will be much safer by then. I do not know Atra too much but I feel like you have a little bit more battle experience and it could actually be much more dangerous for her to come with us.”

Bryn smiled at him warmly and nodded. “You are correct. Atra received proper training as all valkyrjas do, but she is a scholar, not a warrior.”

“We should be mindful of our own scholar,” Selene added with a ladylike smirk.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Aura will take good care of me.” Grea chuckled and pushed herself into Ast’s side. “I’ll just keep myself close to the strong Dragon man right here and promise not to wander off into some random hallway. There’s no safer place than in his hands.”

“Grea, this is serious.” He glanced down at her. “I’m still considering sending you back, as much as you would hate me for that.”

The playful smile on Grea’s face was replaced by a softer and calmer expression. “I know. I’m not that stupid to fuck around in the middle of the enemy’s den. If you feel like my presence would be holding you guys back, I will leave. As much as I want to experience this expedition with you, I don’t want to intentionally put you in even more danger, and I will never hate you for being worried about me. So, just say a word. I’ll listen without a squeak of protest.”

They looked into each other’s eyes deeply and Grea pulled herself up to join their lips in a delicate kiss, showing that she meant what she’d said about being an obedient girl. He couldn’t feel any trace of her usual cockiness and bravado in their tender exchange. Grea truly left herself in his hands.

Asterios broke the kiss and brushed her cheek. “Just be careful.”

She nodded and stepped back. “I swear. If I break my word, I get no dick for two weeks straight.”

The other girls chuckled and Asterios rolled his eyes with a small smirk. Considering Grea’s sex drive, that was a very serious punishment. And she never went back on her promises. Her pride as a respectable scholar and researcher would just not allow for it. Now also including the pride of a Dragon’s mate.

Wrapping up their brief exchange, they focused more on the spacious hall they’d been making their way through after entering the temple from the front. Asterios hadn’t been sure at first, but it was becoming clear that the floor had a slight angle downwards because the hall kept going for quite a bit already and the temple definitely didn’t look this long from above.

After about two minutes of walking down a path surrounded by massive metal columns, they reached an entrance to a chamber. A few monsters loitered around the circular room resembling something akin to a reception hall with many exits. Not wanting to lure more of them out of the outgoing corridors, they sent out Miria, Selene, and Umbra to clear up the visible enemies.

The panthergirl brought forth enough of her bloodline to turn her footsteps silent and dashed forward. Her vulpine friend materialized five tails and floated up into the air, rushing in after her. As they entered the golden-silver chamber illuminated by bright yellow sconces and a massive chandelier, Umbra used the patches of shadow to restrain the monsters with tendrils of darkness. His black tentacles immobilized the beasts of the Scourge by wrapping themselves around their legs.

Miria danced around the monsters without making a single sound and landed exactly two precise hits at each of her targets. One of her blades struck the heart while the other sliced off the head. Before the decapitated head fell to the ground, she put her foot under it and kicked it up into the air like a weightless ball.

Selene then suspended it under the ceiling with her spiritual energy while taking care of the few opponents that were left in her hands. Instead of a sword, she covered her left arm in the spiritual gauntlet made of the ghostly apparition and thrust her hand into the monster’s chest, ripping its heart out and crushing it with a mighty squeeze. At the same time, her right hand grabbed the beast’s neck and snapped it like a twig, decapitating the entity in the process.

After they were done, both women returned to the rest of the party and Selene brought the floating trophies with them. Silvia invoked a simple and quiet fire spell to get rid of all the faceless heads, making sure that the monsters were truly dead. Asterios rewarded them with some loving ear scratches and tail brushes.

Bryn cast a quick barrier technique and sealed off the exits with noise-canceling spiritual walls. Exchanging a nod, they all properly walked inside.

“So, this should be the first level. The first floor,” she said, glancing around at the mesmerizing chamber dirtied by Scourge blood. “One of the paths should lead further while the rest should lead to all the living facilities like barracks, kitchens, baths, and so on. I don’t doubt that almost every single corner is infested with those monsters.”

“Are we going straight to the second floor?” Tina asked. “We should be able to deduce which hallway it is from the maps and information we’ve studied.”

“What’s our current main goal? Getting to the bottom?” Selene chimed in.

“The fiftieth floor,” Bryn replied.

“If I remember correctly, the Spire has a hundred floors. Why halfway?” Miria frowned adorably.

“That’s where the medical ward that Master saw in his memories is located,” the Valkyrie explained. “I believe that’s our first stop. Right, Master?”

Asterios rubbed his chin for a moment and nodded. “I think so. Tyr’s Aegis is supposedly at the very end and there isn’t anything as important to us between those two points. At least not right now. We will be able to look around more comfortably without being worried about getting jumped on at any moment.”

“While fully clearing every single level out of the Scourge would be the safest and reduce the risk of those monsters showing up behind us, that would take incredibly long,” Silvia said. “I think we should leave that for later. The army should be more than eager to eliminate the remnants from their sacred site with their own hands.”

“Yeah. Plus, there’s no guarantee that more of them won’t pour in from the surface at some point.” Grea nodded. “My vote is on getting down as fast as we can while of course treading forward very carefully. Depending on how this goes, we can make that medical facility our first major resting point.”

“Should we first take a look into the armory?” Miria tilted her head curiously. “We might find something useful there.”

“Good point.” Bryn smiled at her. “What do you think, Master?”

“You don’t have to ask for my thoughts on every single matter.” Asterios chuckled lightly. “This is an environment you know the best since it was your people who constructed this wonder. I’d like to rely on your expertise too, not just the data we’ve gathered. So, feel free to be more confident in your suggestions. I’m sure your input will be extremely valuable.”

“Alright. I’ll try to keep that in mind.” A faint tinge of rosiness surfaced on her gentle cheeks. “There’s a chance that the Scourge didn’t erode all of the equipment so we could find a thing or two of use in the arsenal. If no one is against it, I recommend taking a look there.”

None of the girls had anything to say so they walked up to the round reception desk in the very middle of the hall and Asterios took out the maps they had drawn from his storage ring. They studied them for a few minutes and selected the safest possible path to their current objective, taking into consideration the variables they could more or less predict.

They got into formation and headed out. Selene and Tina took the front alongside Asterios. Bryn followed after them with Grea and her summon Aura. Miria and Silvia took the back, protecting everyone from behind. The panthergirl’s heightened senses, additionally sharpened with Ast’s draconic energy, were perfect for spotting the incoming pursuit of the Scourge early. As for the path ahead, Umbra fulfilled the role of the party’s spotter, moving through the shadows while remaining undetected.

Bryn took down the barrier and they walked into a slightly narrower metal corridor. While it was clearly smaller, it still had a high ceiling with stylish, geometrical arches upholding it, and they could walk side by side with even three to four people without an issue. 

The scale of this entire place was more than just impressive. It was clear that every corridor and every chamber had been designed to allow comfortable flight for the winged ladies. Thanks to that, Ast’s party had one major advantage over the Scourge, which was the verticality of most members.

But, for the sporadic encounters they ran into while moving towards the armory, they didn’t have to put too much effort into it. The monsters weren’t that strong and their numbers weren’t overwhelming. Tina and Selene dealt with most enemies before they even managed to close the distance between them. They hadn’t been picked for the front thoughtlessly.

Knowing how many opponents would be coming thanks to Umbra’s scouting, the leading duo could prepare accordingly. Both Selene and Tina wielded a plethora of ranged techniques, and at the same time, weren’t utterly powerless in close quarters. Tina even preferred getting more close and personal with her favorite scythe, but she didn’t mind slicing the Scourge into pieces with sharp arcs released from swinging it, or with ferocious javelins shot out of Hydran’s bow form.

Soon, they arrived in front of a massive gate, reaching the width and height of the entire corridor. They had no doubts that it was protected not just by tonnes of the most durable metals in the hands of the ancient valkyrjas but also by an unknown number of defensive enchantments. If they couldn’t open the gate by normal means, they had low chances of breaking in.

“There are traces of the Scourge on the floor,” Selene pointed out as they neared close. “Quite a lot of what might be their old blood. They must have made it in, somehow.”

“Perhaps some valkyrjas escaped into the armory in hopes of hiding themselves in a highly-protected vault but the monsters got to them before the doors closed. A few might have jumped in amidst the chaos of battle,” Silvia suggested, examining the dried-up marks.

“Well, it will be hard to learn the truth if they locked it up from the inside for goo—”

Loud, mechanical clicking and screech of metal interrupted Grea and they all jumped into defensive positions, looking around. When the ground shook lightly, they looked ahead and saw the massive gate starting to open. Some mighty machinery pulled the massive wings to the sides, hiding them in the walls, slowly widening the gap in the middle.

No one needed to exchange even a single word as they were all deeply connected through their bonds. Naturally, Bryn’s connection lacked a little when compared to everyone else, but it was still more than enough to share and receive quick thoughts with all the other women. She had practiced utilizing that ability with Asterios a lot, just like he had with every single summon and mate of his.

After a while, the gate stood fully open in front of them, and no enemies rushed out immediately. They observed the chamber on the other side for a moment longer before finally starting to move. Reaching the middle of another circular chamber, this time with numerous, deep niches carved in its edges like the teeth on a cogwheel, they stopped. Many military cabinets, weapon and armor racks, crates, boxes, and other containers littered the equipment warehouse.

But, there were a few other things that caught their attention.

“Bones.” Grea sniffed, glancing all around the ground. “Entire skeletons. Considering that they don’t seem to have wings, they most likely don’t belong to valkyrjas. Which leaves only one other possibility.”

You are reading story Rise of the Weakest Summoner at novel35.com

The loud, metallic click echoed through the chamber once more and the heavy mechanism began moving again. Its pace was incredibly faster when compared to the last time and the very moment they turned their faces to the giant gate, its two wings were already slamming together in the very middle, evoking bright sparks from their impact. Another massive sheet of metal descended from the ceiling and covered the exit. Then, one more joined it from the ground, mirroring its motion.

“Ah, shit…” Asterios chuckled wryly. “Anyone wants to prove me wrong?”

“I’m pretty sure our thoughts are unanimous on this, Master,” Miria giggled and drew more of her bloodline out.

“I should have expected the safety mechanisms to have been triggered.” Bryn sighed heavily. “I guess not seeing any on our way here has dulled my judgment.”

As she finished speaking, multiple tiles on the walls retreated into the sides and some structures quickly emerged from within the hidden compartments. Everyone recognized at least a bunch of them as automated crossbow turrets, javelin launchers, net cannons, and a bunch of other deadly weapons. All the constructs armed up and took aim at the members of Ast’s party.

“No other choice but to take them down now,” Asterios said and everyone agreed.

“They all have some kind of a gem at the top,” Grea pointed out. “I bet my tail that it’s a device or artifact responsible for their aiming.”

Bryn had been focusing on casting a barrier since her last comment and hastily surrounded them with a golden shield moments before various projectiles rained down from the sky. Hitting the spiritual dome, they bounced off, but the turrets kept releasing more in a steady stream, synchronized with each other just the way so that one reloaded when another took a shot.

“Stepping out of the barrier is going to be dangerous,” Silvia commented. “What’s the plan? Do we know nothing about shutting them off?”

“Not from here,” Bryn replied with a tense voice, focusing on keeping the barrier up. “I had the pleasure of experiencing a similar system back on Tyr and it doesn’t stop until all the intruders are eliminated. Fortunately, we had someone to open the chamber for us from the outside, which is the only way to disable the turrets without damaging them.”

“There’s no other option, then. The strongest and most nimble of us should go,” Selene suggested and started gathering mana in her circuits.

“Wait.” Grea caught her wrist. “Let me think for a moment.”

Everyone stopped and turned to their demon friend, who began walking in circles while tapping her chin.

“They have to find targets somehow… There are at least a few ways to achieve that with gem-based detectors… The most common method is to track spiritual energy… But they keep shooting accurately while the barrier should have at least affected the accuracy so that’s not it...”

Grea made a sharp turn and started walking even faster in the opposite direction. Countless projectiles kept bouncing off Bryn’s barrier to the accompaniment of soft tinks and thunks.

“The least common is tracking body heat since it doesn’t cover enough possibilities and some entities or races could potentially walk through the secured room like through a park... But, who knows what the creators of these have been thinking…”

“That’s easy to verify,” Silvia interrupted her and raised her staff above her head.

Spinning it a few times both ways, she hit the ground with its tip and rotated herself around, creating a small circle around her. It shone scarlet and glowed brightly when she hit the metal floor again. Closing her eyes, she held her staff vertically in front of her and chanted a few quiet words.

A bigger copy of the small circle began appearing outside of the barrier, following the same steps in its creation as the first one. When it glowed brightly too, Silvia slammed her staff into the ground for the third time and violent amber flames burst out of the spiritual pattern. They burned high and licked the air all around the dome that Bryn was keeping up. The temperature was steadily increasing.

“They are still shooting straight at us,” Miria stated, jumping from place to place to see if the turrets would follow her. “It’s not heat.”

“Damn it!” Grea huffed in annoyance. “But, that leaves only one logical option. They must be tracking lifeforce. It’s slightly worse than the spiritual energy method but much simpler to achieve and extremely accurate. I don’t think gems this small would be capable of being attuned to spiritual essence. At least I really hope they don’t. We are completely fucked otherwise.”

“How do we use that information?” Selene asked. “Can we even do anything with our lifeforce?”

“No, we can’t. We are just a bunch of small humanoids. Our bodies don’t emit enough lifeforce to disrupt the targeting devices.” Grea shook her head. “We would need something big, and strong, and full of vitality, like… like… Oh.”

Asterios chuckled as her face snapped to his. “A Dragon?”

“Fucking right!” She giggled almost maniacally. “We have a fucking True Dragon!”

“What do I do, then?” He raised a curious brow at her.

“Bring out as much of your true self as you can and basically pour mana into your vital organs. Especially your heart,” she instructed him. “Be careful, though. It might be dangerous to go too far.”

Nodding at her, Asterios closed his eyes and focused on bringing out all of the draconic features he had unlocked so far. A crimson aura began leaking from his body as his wings, tail, horns, and scales started materializing one by one. He withdrew all the mana he could, dispelling his coat and shirt, which took the most of it, even though it was still a minuscule amount. To preserve a shred of decency, he left his pants and underwear on for now.

When he couldn’t bring out any more scales, having covered with them his legs, arms, outer areas of his body, most of his back, the sides of his neck, partially his cheeks, and even forehead, Asterios followed Grea’s advice and began carefully pumping spiritual energy into his heart and spreading it through his entire body, aiming to reinvigorate his flesh and organs rather than circle the mana through his circuits.

“Yes! It’s working! Just like that!” Grea squealed in excitement.

“How can you tell?” Miria asked.

“My underwear is getting flooded just from looking at his chiseled chest… Mmmmmm…” The demon lady bit on her lower lip while rubbing her thighs together.

A fierce blush plagued Tina’s cheeks as she tried to hold her skirt close and some traces of rosiness tinged the faces of the other girls too. Everyone experienced the explosions of warmth a little bit differently but a True Dragon’s vitality had at least a slightly similar effect on all of them, forcing a few of the ladies to look away to limit its influence.

“Grea is right. It’s working,” Silvia pointed out as she was one of the women who turned their eyes to the outside. “The turrets are shooting everywhere now.”

Before she finished her second sentence, Tina flew by her side with beautiful white wings and sliced through one of the contraptions with her water scythe. She began dashing around like mad, taking down one turret after another, evading all the chaotic projectiles with great effort.

Miria and Selene soon joined her and they worked together. The panthergirl took care of the constructs placed closer to the ground by strengthening her legs and boosting herself high enough to cut them into pieces with her sharpened shortswords. Her vulpine sister-mate targeted the middle rows, sending her spiritual claws at them and crushing the turrets into lumps of disfigured metal. After about a minute, the entire defense system was disabled.

The trio returned to the ground as Bryn dismissed her barrier and exhaled softly. Grea smacked Asterios on the butt since he was deeply focused on continuing the strategy and the waves of his strong vitality gradually weakened. He also sighed while opening his eyes and looking around.

Noticing Tina’s extremely red face, his brows rose in concern. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing!” she squeaked and blushed an even deeper shade of crimson, still tightly holding onto her skirt with one hand.

Grea snickered while giving his butt a few squeezes and leaned into his ear.

“Try to exclude your reproductive organs next time.” She nibbled on his earlobe. “It might or might not make it a bit more bearable for the members of the opposite sex in close vicinity.”

He snorted and shook his head with a wry smile, choosing not to pursue the issue for the meantime as everyone took their time to cool down.

“You should have warned me beforehand,” Asterios whispered back to his frivolous demon mate while giving her tender tail a light tug.

Grea giggled devilishly and spun away, heading off to examine the goods while enticingly swaying her hips. He sighed again and followed after her.

 

You can find story with these keywords: Rise of the Weakest Summoner, Read Rise of the Weakest Summoner, Rise of the Weakest Summoner novel, Rise of the Weakest Summoner book, Rise of the Weakest Summoner story, Rise of the Weakest Summoner full, Rise of the Weakest Summoner Latest Chapter