Rise of the Weakest Summoner

“Won’t we be an easy target for archers now that they know rushing at us won’t work?” Narmaya asked as the party started moving forward.

Moments after she finished, the more perceptive members of their current team heard a wave of twangs in the distance. A cloud of arrows rose from behind the battlements, heading into the sky at a high arc. Everyone glanced at the incoming projectiles, the Roundback family tensing up a little.

Asterios glanced back at them. “Do these Painted Dogs possess any special abilities? Like Spiritual Foxes, for example?”

“No?” The deer lady met his eyes uncertainly.

“Then, I’m afraid there won’t be much they will be able to do to us in this situation,” he added, moving his gaze onto Selene.

His vulpine mate was already slowly bringing her hand up as her bushy tails swayed enchantingly. A soft smile curled her lips as she noted his gaze on her, giving her posture a bit more elegance. A few seconds later, the arrows descended onto their position like a massive swarm of bugs, darkening the sky.

And just before they hit the mark, they stopped in mid-air, sinking into an invisible dome-shaped cushion shortly above everyone’s heads. The projectiles that missed it pierced the ground around them, creating a visible circle in the safe middle. Asterios smirked softly at the awed expressions of their new friends while the girls chuckled quietly.

As for Selene, she twirled her palm, and the arrows spun around, facing outwards. With a snap of her fingers, they rushed back into the air like they were once more shot out of a bow, leaving faint blue trails behind them. They reached the battlements much quicker this time and began swerving around. A few faraway shouts and yelps of pain reached their ears as the hand-guided shots found their targets with pinpoint accuracy, taking out their previous owners.

“With us around, it will be like a walk in the park!” Miria grinned at the family, proud of her sister-mate’s skillful display.

“Indeed, something like this won’t classify as anything more than a warm-up before we delve into Umbra’s realm,” Silvia added, running her slender fingers through her fiery hair. “This isn’t a battle. It’s a massacre.”

“That sounds a bit cold, but she isn’t exactly wrong,” Asterios said, looking Oria’s way, who responded with a grateful nod. “Let us not prolong this unnecessarily, lest we get used to things moving forward rather easily just as we are about to tackle a much more difficult challenge on an incomparable power scale.”

~That’s a good mindset, Master,~ Umbra agreed with him in their minds. ~I will do whatever I can to dissuade most of my kin from messing with you, but even my current might won’t guarantee that no one will be insistent on a contest of strength regardless. And our grunts can’t be compared to this realm’s grunts.~

“We’ll pave the way for you so that you can focus on the masterminds,” Tina suggested with a warm smile, nocking a swirling water arrow onto her signature bow. “There’s simply no need for you to worry about trash.”

Taking a deep breath, she assumed a focused expression and the huge javelin of chaotic water condensed into a thin rod. She drew her hand back, aimed straight ahead, and released the spiritual projectile. The fierce spike whistled through the air before piercing right through the middle of the reinforced wooden gates like a hot knife through butter. 

Grigorji was about to ask what was the point in doing that when a whirling sphere of spiritually enhanced liquid exploded from the obstructed point of impact and ground the entrance to dust as it expanded to cover its entirety. In a blink, the path was open, leaving the defenders behind it utterly flabbergasted.

Since Ast’s group hadn’t stopped walking forward, save for the moment they had returned the arrows to their senders, they reached the now non-existent gate soon after. Sharing a nod of understanding, they formed a protective square around Oria and her friends, gesturing at them to lead the way. The girls were ready to bring the fortress down.

“Won’t they just start running away after not just one but three scary displays of such strength?” Ulgier asked hesitantly.

“Right. I guess we shouldn’t expect much from local bandits,” Asterios acknowledged his observation. “Bryn?”

“With pleasure, Master.” The winged lady bowed respectfully and spread her magnificent wings to take off into the air.

Reaching the required altitude, she called for the ethereal image of Valkyrie above her and gathered her mana in the divine figure’s palm. The Painted Dogs gaped at the golden goddess preparing to smite them with a gigantic spear of light, unable to think of anything else they could do than simply run. 

With a silent, stony expression, the majestic figure launched the lance of judgment at the very center of the fortress, and it found purchase deep in the rocky ground with a powerful tremor. It was so massive it still poked past the highest walls and towers. And that was ideal as next came a thin yellow blanket that spread from the weapon’s butt, covering the entire structure with a see-through dome ending just in front of the first line of defense.

The bandits were now locked inside for as long as the spear pulsed with power. Judging by the unbothered expression on Bryn’s face, that wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

When the Painted Dogs seemed to realize that escape was no longer possible, their demeanor changed in a flash. The males and females behind the gates gained almost feral expressions, growling and snarling at the bold invaders, much different from their earlier quite concerned state with their ears and tails anxiously set down.

And one brave soul taking a step forward later, the whole camp chose to embrace chaos.

As Ast’s group had established earlier, their opponents didn’t have any meaningful abilities stronger than their innate wild senses and strengths, so the fights were anything but even. The gear in bandits’ hands and on bandits’ bodies was rather shabby too, with an occasional flash of quality and freshness, most likely coming from a raid or something similar.

Miria paired up with her mother and Zoe, forming a three-woman squad that worked in almost perfect harmony as they picked and dispatched their targets. No one could survive the trio of ladies circling them and methodically landing well-aimed hits on all their vital spots. While the feline duo distracted their enemies with close-combat pressure, the canine hunter struck from behind them, making great use of her gifted polearm.

Seeing the mother-daughter pair wreak havoc on the battlefield, the Roundback family felt emboldened. The father-son duo shared a quick glance before charging into a pack of dogs on their own, evoking a soft huff and an eye roll from the sole female of their team as the antlered woman drew her bow to support them.

It was clear that Grigorji and Ulgier had fought together a lot in the past as their coordination was visibly better than Miria’s and Oria’s, who had begun tackling real battles as a pair just recently, no matter how much the panther ladies practiced and trained before. 

The great weapon wielders stomped over the rocky terrain while angrily swinging their blades, cutting through whole bodies in each other’s paths. Physical power was clearly their forte and they used it well. One could spot similarities in their movements even though they used slightly different equipment.

But, the cherry on the top was the mother and wife. Narmaya silently floated throughout the turmoil and stuck single arrows in the heads of those bandits who ended up on the male pair’s backs respectively. Beastfolk fell before they even recognized the opportunity to strike from a blindspot, not given a chance to assess the situation. Otherwise, the deer lady stayed in the shadows, impressively concealing herself with every bit of obstruction and obstacle she could find.

Naturally, the rest of Ast’s crew didn’t just stand idly. While Bryn remained in the air and relayed the enemy movements from above with pinpoint accuracy, the others had a much easier job intercepting any attacks the Roundback family would come to notice shortly before they reached them. It was obvious those wouldn’t be an issue for that trio, but why ruin their fun? It certainly looked like the men were enjoying their bonding time as they fought shoulder-to-shoulder.

So, Asterios paired up with Selene while Tina made a duo with Silvia. He dismissed the flames from his sword and invited his fox-eared mate for a sensual dance of life and death, he with his artifact greatsword and she with her great katana, their minds linked deeply and thoroughly. Selene used the opportunity to further point out Ast’s mistakes in handling such a weapon as they dissected their opponents with relative ease.

He was getting better and better with a greatsword for someone used mostly to simple shortswords and daggers, but a bigger weapon suited him more due to his overwhelming strength. Thanks to his past experiences, he didn’t completely forgo finesse like the bears next to them, instead deciding to embrace Selene’s graceful teachings with his inner might.

His dazzling mate’s moves were a great distraction for many Painted Dogs, allowing Asterios to swoop in and slice through them at a quick rate. She spun around and twirled, letting her enchanting tails ripple through the air alluringly while he dealt with those whose minds were strong enough to resist the distracting display. Often ending with their backs pressed together, the couple paved the way further into the fortress for their companions to follow.

Silvia and Tina could fully let go of their reservations now that they had been brought together into one team. The polite princess still didn’t employ the help of her flaming avatar as it felt like quite an overkill, but with the Summoner girl’s affinity, she didn’t need to worry about setting the entire place ablaze. Her fire was constantly supported and held back by Tina’s water, loads of steam crawling over the battlefield wherever the pair moved.

Soft smiles on their faces, they confused their enemies with their relatively similar figures. Both fighting with shapeless spiritual constructs, they often switched the forms of their weapons to copy each other’s preferences. That way, the enemy had no idea if the scythe coming their way would be made of fire or water as the crystal staff following it could turn out to use either shape too. 

The mist their deadly dance dispersed continued to gather, turning both ladies into blurry shadows moving in great accord. It simply wasn’t possible to predict who was the one attacking. The weapon-swapping confused the bandits greatly, completely preventing them from connecting the swing and pierce patterns with either female assaulting them pretty much freely. Some even started believing it was just one person messing with them, that was how much the two ladies could match their techniques.

Slowly but surely, they all made their way deeper into the fortress. Whoever managed to slip past them and reach the edge of the barrier, was swiftly dealt with by the winged beauty watching over the entire place. Umbra checked the buildings and underground passages alongside their cellars to find any potential captives or other people who might have been brought here unwillingly.

So far, it seemed that the Painted Dogs took no prisoners.

The resistance lessened the closer they got to the central structure resembling a small wooden castle. It felt a bit unusual as they all had expected it to grow even stronger and fiercer, but the bandits didn’t seem as devoted to their current boss to blindly defend his supposed location with their lives on the line. More and more individuals broke off to sneak away or even surrender onto the floor with whimpers and pathetic begging.

For now, those who had given up were knocked out and put aside for further questioning. Perhaps it was a delusional wish, but Asterios hoped some of them could still be redeemed as long as they hadn’t committed too grave sins out of their own volition. Pack mentality was a thing, especially in this particular realm. He wouldn’t beat himself down over those who had moved to attack him, but if it wasn’t necessary, he chose not to strike down the prisoners of war.

At least until Umbra took a small peek into their minds to investigate if those individuals were even capable of turning over a new leaf in the first place.

If not, well, he was certain Oria and her old teammates would be more than willing to finish the job once and for all.

So, standing in front of the final reinforced set of massive wooden doors, blocked by a line of anxious Painted Dogs keeping their weapons aimed at the invaders, Asterios took a step forward and roamed his gaze over the sentries, his sharp greatsword ominously resting atop his shoulder.

“You’ve seen what happened to the main gate,” he began firmly. “There is no point in you standing in our way. Throw your weapons away or end up ground to dust alongside this one. It’s your choice. Is following some cowardly raccoon who hadn’t poked his snout out of his hideout for the entirety of the battle such a point in your honor?”

While the bandit forces weren’t exactly exclusively made of Painted Dogs, their kin was the overwhelming majority. Some other subraces could be spotted here and there occasionally, usually from various wild and vicious lineages, but it was easy to guess that this band had formed around one specific demographic. 

Yet somehow, a different species was their boss now.

The five men looked at each other before one sighed deeply and did as he was told. “I told you guys that prick would be the end of us, but no, traditions must be upheld. A fucking fat overgrown squirrel leading a pack of wolves, hilarious.”

Another followed. “He took down Buck in a fair duel, you’ve all seen it. I too liked the old boss better, but you can’t escape progress.”

“And look where that progress got us? To our deaths.” The third groaned as he fell onto his butt. “I wish we had skewered that slimy bastard the very first day he joined.”

Miria tilted her head at them. “If you hated your new boss so much, why haven’t you challenged him like he had your previous one?”

The fourth guy snorted and shook his head. “You think no one has tried, girl? They all went down the same way as he did, dropping dead after a few minutes of dancing around. Their wounds weren’t even that deep.”

“And there were no signs of poison or other shit,” added the last one. “The pack wouldn’t rise against the rightful alpha without any evidence and those who would be caught attempting to stir up a coup from the sidelines would be branded as cowardly traitors not willing to bet their life in a fair fight and executed.”

“What weapons did he use?” Oria asked, her expression revealing that she might already be anticipating the answer.

“Dunno.” The third male shrugged. “Some kind of weird knuckle gear with small blades extending from the outer sides.”

Grigorji cursed and spat to the side. “I knew it was a mistake teaching them anything if we were going to let them go.”

His mate massaged his thick shoulder reassuringly. “It was the best way to confirm their potential. We all agreed to have them try to master one of our techniques so don’t feel like you are the only one responsible for this. We all share this guilt.”

“We couldn’t have predicted the path they would take after parting ways with us,” the panther lady added with a soft tone too. “From what I’ve heard, others have turned out rather well, even if quite rash and attention-seeking.”

“You taught him?” The first dog looked up at the big bear.

“Aye. The technique was my idea, the design of the weapons a… deceased friend’s, and the toxin my mate’s,” Grigorji answered, visibly forcing down his anger.

“Toxin?” The fifth man frowned.

“Under normal circumstances, it’s not,” Narmaya replied instead. “It’s a harmless and pretty much undetectable water mixture stored inside the knuckles. The blades are just a distraction, the blunt studs at the front are pressed inside on impact and release the concoction in mist form, which then gets into the wounds of the target or absorbed through their skin. Then, the attacker hits his weapons together to create invisible sonic waves that activate the assimilated drug particle and quickly lead to heart failure, firstly displaying signs of exhaustion.”

“Son of a bitch!” He growled, hitting the gate with his clenched fist. “I knew he was suspicious from the beginning!”

Silence fell onto the five and the first one swiped down his face. “Alright. Make it quick if you can.”

“You aren’t going to plead for your life?” Silvia raised a surprised brow at him.

“There’s always a bigger fish,” the Painted Dog answered. “We all live in the same pond, constantly hoping that we never catch its attention while skirting on the sidelines, only delaying the inevitable. It’s eat or be eaten.”

“It might be coming from the wrong character, but your resolve is admirable,” she stated with a small nod. “We’ll pass our judgment onto you after dealing with your leader.”

With the unplanned conversation wrapped up, Selene pressed her palm against the reinforced gate and released a burst of spiritual energy without a single noise of effort. Both heavy wings were blown to smithereens, sending a violent burst of splinters inside. The bandits could only gape at the destruction, realizing even further how small their chances of doing anything had really been.

A few more defenders crossed their path as they walked through the dimly-lit corridors but the majority of them didn’t put up much of a fight against an armed and visibly uninjured group. One person was kind enough to point them to the meeting hall where the leader usually resided. Finding it was of no issue, and soon, they all strolled into a spacious room with a makeshift throne made of bones and furs which stood on a raised platform in front of a conference table.

And sitting in it was a rather short guy with dark gray hair and raccoon features poking out from it and behind his back. A few scars decorated his face, making it appear fiercer, which combined with his imposing pose and heavy glare was supposed to instill uncertainty and fearful respect into the visitors. Supposed to because Asterios could easily see that it was just a front and most if not all of the man’s muscles were tense like a bowstring, seemingly ready to spring into action at any given moment. That action most likely being a quick escape.

“So, leaving the simple task of tracking down a few specific people to the brainless dogs was the wrong move, who would have guessed?” The small male snickered amusingly, but to the keen ear, it came out quite forced. “I should have dealt with you myself from the beginning like with the younger ones.”

“Spare us these theatrics and just tell us why before we rip you apart piece by piece,” Narmaya hissed through clenched teeth, her ears flicking violently.

“Oh? Did the old timers get so old they can’t even analyze their target properly anymore?” Roki snorted to the side. “It’s simple, really. Retired? People like you never truly retire. You would have picked your mantle back up if you were given a good enough reason, and that would have interfered with my plans. You never chose to nip the problem right in the bud and it was your greatest flaw. I’m free of such inhibitions.”

“Right.” Grigorji sneered. “Any last words?”

“No, I don’t think so. Unless you are planning to remain silent for all eternity too.” The raccoon man stood up as the old-timers looked at him confusedly. “So gullible. I rigged this whole place up with explosives. The good kind. Only I know how to trigger them. One wrong move and we are all going to disappear. Not the best ending, but at least it completes my main objective of taking you all down for good now that you have so kindly gathered in front of me. And since you would definitely have brought the gang back up for this, I guess those bitches were at least partially useful in their silly pursuit of pain.”

~Umbra?~ Asterios called in his mind.

~I can sense them,~ Tia replied in his familiar’s place. ~Everything else was made of stone and wood from the nearby area. The volatile materials hidden in the walls and the floor have a strong artificial scent to them. I can guide your friend to all of them but it will require time.~

~There’s no need,~ Oria joined in with an unconcerned tone.

“So what is your demand?” The panther lady growled. “We let you go freely so that you can flee like the rat that you are?”

“Wrong again.” Roki chuckled, shaking his head. “You would never stop chasing after me and I couldn’t be certain someone hadn’t survived the blast if I decided to detonate the hall shortly after stepping out of it.”

He arrived in front of them and spread his arms with a slimy smile.

“No. You’ve come here to take me down, so let’s follow the proper procedures, shall we? You are welcome to try, just like the other idiots who thought they could replace me. Best me and my life is in your hands, as per tradition. With so many of you and so few of me, it’s a quite advantageous position, don’t you think? Someone gotta have a chance to land a hit after I tire down from the successive duels. Or has the legendary Phantom Brigade finally discarded their restrictive honor?” The man grinned provocatively.

“A thief and murderer speaking about honor?” Ulgier spat at his feet. “You deserve no such. We’ll chop—”

“I’ll go first,” Oria interrupted the younger bear, surprising everyone.

~Mom!~ Miria’s concerned tone echoed through their connection. ~There is no way he isn’t up to something! He knows you guys! You taught him his technique! He can’t be so stupid as to use it against you!~

~My kittygirl has grown up so smart.~ A delicate chuckle answered her. ~That much is clear, my dear. Though, he doesn’t know who is the master of it. We always kept our faces hidden and scents masked even when dealing with potential candidates, thus he had to figure out our identities on his own. He learned from a manual we wrote together, using unique handwriting. As you can imagine, it wasn’t complete.~

~Still…~ Her daughter was reluctant to give up.

~Miria, will you allow your mother to be a little selfish today?~ Oria asked tenderly. ~I’ll be honest with you, I just want to beat him up for everything he has done to my friends. And he has given us the perfect opportunity. Besides, I now have your almighty mate watching over me, don’t I? There’s nothing to worry about.~

Asterios had to give it to the older Pantherkin, she knew what she was doing. One mention of him and Miria’s reluctance faded quite a bit. It was a clear manipulation and the other girls knew it, but the cheerful panthergirl who pretty much revered him bought her mother’s confidence in his abilities almost blindly, glad that the other woman could see his greatness.

As the quick mental conversation passed, Oria took a step forward, sending him a soft smile of gratitude with a trace of apology. He smirked back at her, letting her know that he knew but didn’t mind much. As she had said, he would watch over her, ensuring that nothing bad ever happened to his mother-in-law as she enacted righteous justice on the malicious renegade.

And he too was curious what was the sketchy guy’s plan in his current situation.