Rise of the Weakest Summoner

Selene created a spiritual platform for everyone to hop onto so Asterios didn’t have to shift. Miria grumbled under her nose a little at the lost opportunity, but since that also meant she could stay in his arms and keep getting pampered, she didn’t raise much of a fuss. They floated towards the black mirror-like surface on the ceiling while taking one last glance at the lands below.

The Shades had finished dealing with the monsters and moved to clean things up. Those shadowy guys worked quite effectively and devotedly, which wasn’t that surprising with their earlier displays. Umbra’s little personal dimension would soon be back to usual. Save for the slight change to the spire.

Before Ast’s party snuck out, Umbra joined them, having split up from everyone to exchange a few words with his worshippers. Since the Shades didn’t care for the remains of his enemies, they were going to simply get rid of everything, but the Duke instructed them to retain any parts that could turn out to be valuable. With so many materials, at least a few should prove to be useful in the future or even inside this dark world.

Leaving the restricted area, Asterios and the girls made sure that there was no more danger in their close vicinity, expecting another Titan or wave of monsters after their recent encounters. Thankfully, nothing jumped at them and they could gather a distance away from the secret entrance. They found a cozy spot to land, stepping onto the ground.

“What’s the plan, then?” Tina asked. “Are you going to examine the broken sigil more or are we going to try activating it or something right away?”

“Both, more or less,” Asterios answered. “I have already tried figuring it out before, not bringing any meaningful results. But, maybe it’s different now that it has absorbed more energy. As long as Umbra doesn’t mind us messing with it next to his home, I’ll get to it.”

“There should be no problems.” His familiar nodded with clear permission. “The entrance isn’t that easy to pierce, and even if something manages to slip through, the Shades could use some more practice if I’m going to rely on them one day.”

“Oh, are you now going to raise a cultist army?” Selene teased with a foxy grin.

Umbra shook his head. “Nothing as grand. Let’s just say that I’m beginning to think slightly ahead now that the chances of our realm becoming open are slowly rising. I gotta discipline them a bit or they might even follow me into whichever world I’ll go to, creating unnecessary chaos for its inhabitants.”

“That could be problematic,” Silvia agreed, stroking her chin. “In the end, we haven’t even established enough worship for our Dragon Emperor for another deity to make an appearance.”

The person in question sighed tiredly while the ladies chuckled in amusement.

“Don’t worry.” The Lord of Shadows laughed too. “I’ll be sure to teach them the hierarchy correctly. They’ll know their place.”

Asterios glared at his treacherous companion who was only making it worse instead of helping him out. Perhaps it was time for him to remind the sly summon who was the master in their relationship.

“We can deal with all that much later.” Miria was the one who actually changed the direction of the conversation back onto its rightful path, offering her beloved mate a loving smile. “What do you need me for, Master? Or are you first going to check the badge alone?”

“Give me a second.” He smiled back and ruffled through her soft hair.

She finally peeled off his side and skipped away to give him some space. Bringing the damaged piece out, Asterios took a good look at it once more. With his Draconic Sight, he had previously been able to spot some traces of energy past the recovered ethereal edges, but right now, it was possible to see the full schematic. Three more segments could fit into the empty section.

Simply roaming his eyes over it didn’t yield any further discoveries. So, the next part was to try and interact with it without a locked gate and a slot to push the token into.

Closing his eyes, he focused on his third source and felt Tia guide him with a gentle hand. She helped him draw nature mana from within, bringing forth the sunny aspect that had not yet been fully assimilated, adding this specific flavor to his energy. He could feel her sharing some of her own too, and while he initially rejected it politely, she mentally explained that it was an excess anyway.

As their power flowed into the palm-sized disc, it flashed brightly, shocking everyone. The violent shine quickly faded, turning into a spectral image of a curved surface hovering horizontally over the artifact, looking like a mesh of hexagons onto which someone dropped an iron ball in the very middle, creating a dent. It was golden, of course.

The shimmering image put everyone in awe. No one had any idea what it could be, but it was certainly pretty regal. Thinking that it maybe was some shielding spell, Selene tried to tap it, but her fingers went through the illusion without any resistance, disturbing it only briefly.

“This has to be some kind of information. Or a hint,” Althea mused. “Does it look familiar, Abyss?”

“Not in the slightest, I’m afraid.” The mocha-skinned woman squinted. “It could be anything, but I don’t think it has any offensive or defensive value.”

“I have a feeling like it’s missing something.” Miria hummed.

“No way. It’s not like one-fifth of the thing is gone.” Selene smirked, making the panthergirl roll her eyes.

“A bit less now, actually,” Tina pointed out. “Look. When Ast is infusing it with his mana, one more segment lights up.”

“You are right.” Asterios brought the object higher to let everyone see it better. “Oh. Now, this is interesting.”

“What is it, Master?” The panthergirl tilted her head, uncertain about what he had figured out.

“When you look at this golden net from below, there are some weird smudges on the sky,” he explained, moving the illusion around. “Can’t think of any use for this, though.”

“Maybe we need to find all the pieces before this thing fully activates,” Althea suggested. “Or at least two more so that the missing area is fully covered by the golden energy.”

“Possibly. But let’s try something else first.” Asterios lowered the object and walked up to Miria. “We’ll go with the loop theory first. Since you now share my affinities, you should be able to do this easily enough. Want to help me out a bit?”

“Always!” Miria beamed at him. “Just tell me what to do, Master.”

Placing a quick peck on his lips, she stood before him eagerly, her eyes glimmering with excitement.

“Hold onto it. I’ll transfer more mana into the badge, which should push the existing one towards you. Absorb it, guide it through your circuits, and return it when I give you the signal. If we coordinate our efforts properly, we should be able to push the mana at the same time and create something akin to a whirlpool,” he instructed his adorable mate.

With a resolute nod, she grabbed the disc with her furry fingers and closed her eyes to focus. A few deep breaths later, she was ready.

Asterios joined Miria a moment later and began. He forced another batch of natural power into the token and she noticed the movement in a blink, pulling energy from the middle. The mesh flickered out of existence, but the token continued to glow. A few seconds later, Miria transferred the gathered power back and Asterios repeated his actions. The girls gasped and covered their eyes, assaulted by another bright flash.

“Woah. It seems to be working.” Tina watched through her fingers. “Only one gap left.”

“Can’t we fill it with another person?” Selene thought out loud. “Althea?”

“I lack the fresh touch of the cluster’s mana, but it might be worth a try,” the Dragon lady hesitantly agreed. “Just in case, take a step back. It’s not exactly wise to join a rushing stream of energy in the middle of it.”

With a spiritual barrier raised to protect the others, she nodded appreciatively at the foxgirl and stepped towards the focused duo. Observing the flow intently, Althea chose the best possible moment to join in, touching the token too. But, the moment she did so, something jerked, and a small shockwave burst out of the badge, pushing the trio away.

She wanted to apologize, Asterios wanted to assure her that it was alright, and Miria wished to complain that she was finally getting the hang of it, but words died right on their lips as they dazedly locked on the white-gold disc which should have fallen to the ground. Instead, it hovered in the air while spinning slowly.

Then, without a warning, a massive pillar of light the width of an ancient tree shot into the sky, bathing the surroundings in a bright glow rivaling that of a real sun. The nearby area had most likely never been this illuminated before and it looked quite weird for it not to be shrouded in an almost complete darkness. But that wasn’t what was important at the moment. The mighty column continued its journey until it suddenly separated into three equal beams.

Each column rushed in a different direction, creating golden arcs across the pure darkness. They shot way ahead, hiding behind the horizon. Power buzzed around the weird object as the group observed the mesmerizing phenomenon. Not seeing any further changes, Asterios extended his arm and caught the badge in his palm. As he had expected, without feeling any heat, the light wasn’t meant to hurt and it broke off the moment he fully covered the token.

“What was that?” Miria gaped at him with sparkling eyes.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the pillar split into three when we need exactly just as many pieces to complete this… artifact,” Abyss commented.

“Did it show us where to get the rest of them?” Silvia watched the beams dissipate.

“Very likely.” The eerie lady nodded. “I have noted the locations so we don’t need to activate it again. I would advise against doing so for a bit.”

“Why?” The panthergirl tilted her head. “It’s like a guiding light, no?”

“Because it’s flashy,” Tina said. “The exact reason why we left Bryn behind. Not to worry anyone, but we were in the very center of this massive column. I think we should run.”

“Precisely,” Asterios agreed, turning to Abyss. “How far is the nearest place shown by the light?”

“With the usual pace? A few days to a week,” she replied. “Two of them are fairly near each other but one is far away, completely on its own.”

“It would be better to start with the separate one, Master,” Umbra shared his thoughts. “We will then be close to the third if the second invokes some unexpected change in the badge.”

“As you say.” Asterios hid the token away. “Time to pack up, ladies. We’ll fly for a while, then find a spot to rest before going all in the next day. Get—”

“Master?” Miria interrupted him with a wry smile. “We might have a problem…”

He frowned at her, but soon after, his ears registered the problem too. It looked like Miria’s senses advanced a lot if she once more could register things before him. That brought him back to the old days.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t let himself be distracted and shifted into a True Dragon right away. “Get on. They are coming.”

No questions asked, the girls were on his back momentarily, getting launched into the air in a flash. As Asterios flapped his strong wings and fueled himself with his draconic energies, they peered past his sides and their eyes widened. A sea of creatures encroached on their position from all directions, from the smallest monsters to the massive Titans. Everyone wanted either a piece of what had caused the incident or a piece of those who had dared to bring light to the sacred darkness.

And unfortunately, Ast’s figure was spotted even though he himself was black on the black surface.

“Hold on!” he shouted, raising his efforts to the maximum.

They had never flown so fast before, everything becoming one huge smudge. But, even so, the ocean of death they were passing above was almost unending. So many furious entities wanted to get them that it wasn’t even funny. And amongst them, at least a bunch would be fairly strong.

“Some of the flying ones are gaining on us!” Althea shouted and conveyed the message mentally too.

~I’m taking over, Master,~ Umbra announced.

Asterios didn’t fight him and his onyx Heart responded to the shadows that wrapped him and the ladies up, combining his efforts with his familiar. They dropped to the ground like a magic missile and plunged into the darkness, zipping between their enemies faster than before. Barely anyone caught a glimpse of them before they were long gone from that spot.

~Fight is inevitable,~ the Duke added. ~I’m bringing us to a more advantageous position. It’s not far.~

~I shall provide you with shelter if you manage to find a fitting place to hide in,~ Abyss offered in their minds. ~You should have no issues with that in the location Little Shadow is heading towards.~

And so they rushed through the shadows while Umbra and Asterios dodged and weaved their combined bodies. From time to time, they sent a spike or two into some poor creature, skewering it on their way ahead. One less enemy, and possibly a bonus chance that some other monsters would stop to devour their temporary ally before continuing the pursuit.

Soon enough, they arrived at their destination, gaining just a bit of distance between the edge of the bizarre ocean of pursuers. Clouds of dark dust floated into the air as the evil army charged at them from the front. At their backs were numerous scary mountains of different sizes as far as they could see. The terrain would definitely slow their opponents down. But it was also an opportunity.

“I’ll hold them back!” Asterios stated, taking an offensive stance in his draconic form. “Find us a cave or something!”

“I’m staying with you, Master!” Miria jumped off his back and activated her newly gained powers.

A black panther almost equal his size appeared next to him, then it suddenly lit up in crimson flames which replaced its fur. Growling ferociously, it cracked its neck in preparation.

“Same here.” Selene mirrored her actions.

A white fox took Ast’s other side, just a bit smaller than him, its eleven tails dancing wildly behind its back as they gathered and condensed spiritual energy

“It’s been a while since I faced off against this many,” Althea said.

Next to Miria, an emerald Lesser Dragon appeared, hovering above the ground while its long body slithered as if in constant movement.

“I guess the duty falls onto us, then,” Silvia commented, rising into the air above everyone in her flaming form.

Tina joined her, borrowing the mystical flying ability of Lesser Dragons from her newest summon to simply float. “We really need to find a way to gain those big transformations. I feel like we are getting left behind.”

The princess let out a quiet chuckle. “You now understand how it was for Miria, then. Come on. Let’s leave the fun to them this time.”

“Sure. Their numbers make my skin crawl. I prefer this over that unwinnable battle.” The Summoner girl shuddered. “Take care guys!”

Both of them disappeared into the mountain ranges, joined by Umbra. Finding a good hideout was a crucial job.

“Ready!” Asterios shouted as the ground quaked under the trampling steps of thousands of limbs. “Attack!”

He reached into himself and released a booming roar that echoed into the distance. The first line of pursuers paused, faltering in their desire for bloodshed. That gave him enough time to spool lots of onyx draconic energy and breathe ominous black flames tinged with whitish tongues right at the army.

At that exact moment, three other streams joined him on the sides. His clever mates had timed their actions perfectly and their enemies were assaulted by fire of different shades.

Miria used his crimson mana to spew red draconic flames.

Selene invoked her rare blue spiritual flames with a ghostly appearance.

Althea called for her emerald breath, a force of nature on its own.

The first line of attackers was cooked alive.

Taking advantage of the brief shock, Asterios flapped his wings and dove into the chaos. Spinning around his axis, he swung his claws and sent arcs of dark energy to the sides, slicing through multiple monsters. Gathering the same over the edges of his wings, he continued ahead, cutting through their ranks at a great speed.

Something flashed above his head and a red comet struck the ground before him, causing a massive explosion of deadly flames. Naturally, they licked his scales harmlessly. When they passed his head, he found the fiery feline in the center of the melted crater, grinning at him proudly.

There had been no comet, it seems.

Miria took into a sprint, a wall of crimson flames rising behind her trail. She separated their enemies and closed them in shapes made of fire. Nothing could stop her heated claws as she slashed through anything in her path. Each bigger jump she made resulted in another explosion that burned everything to cinders.

Althea took care of her blocked-off targets, flying high above the battlefield.

Selene remained in the back, and the question of what she had been up to was answered a moment later. Massive orbs of swirling energy arced over her allies, lazily heading for the further ranks. But, that didn’t make them any easier to dodge. Not with what happened on impact.

Every spot where the spheres landed burst with enough power to shake the ground. Domes ten times the size popped into sight, practically evaporating the poor monsters caught in their range. Cyan cupolas of death illuminated the battleground from the back, leaving deep pits wherever they landed.

But, the bigger entities were finally starting to catch up.

~We found something!~ Tina informed the defense squad.

Receiving the location, Asterios retreated. “One last blow!”

His companions did the same, already aware of his plan. Gathering at their initial spot, they moved close to each other. Althea wound her body around Ast’s draconic frame, her snout poking forward underneath his. Miria and Selene leaned into his sides, bringing their muzzles as close as possible from left and right.

They all inhaled deeply.

At the mental command, they all released their breath attacks at once. This time, though, all streams were directed into the same path and fused into a thick pillar of black, red, blue, and green, the mixed shades flashing white now and then. The merciless inferno the size of their combined frames shot forward and annihilated anything on its path for hundreds of meters. With immense effort, Asterios dragged it from side to side, guiding their joint attack towards as many enemies as possible.

When they finally drew back, nothing but freshly melted stone appeared before their eyes. They could see the unending sea of dark entities past the edges of the glowing lake, but it would at least slow them down a tad. Before anything caught them from their flanks, they flew away, Asterios picking the flaming kitty into his claws while the other two soaring through the sky along with him.

Weaving between numerous peaks, he found the correct one and dove towards its base. Spotting the hidden opening, he slipped into the dark alcove, which was illuminated by Miria’s fiery fur right away. As they landed on the ground, darkness sealed the entrance, Abyss directing it with her mocha-skinned hand. Silvia and Tina stood next to her.

“That was awesome!” Miria cheered, shifting back into her humanoid form and jumping up and down before Ast’s snout.

Selene chuckled, coming out of her transformation too. “You are still on fire.”

“Oh! Sorry!” The panthergirl giggled timidly, noticing that she truly still had flaming fur, and the fire winked out of existence in a blink. “But you can’t tell me the last attack we did wasn’t epic!”

“There aren’t many places we could use that in, but I agree.” Althea smiled softly as she and Asterios joined them. “Now you can see how dangerous True Dragons can be.”

“It was a joint effort, though,” Asterios chimed in, shaking his head.

“True, but that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve something like that on your own in the future,” she countered. “Especially with two Dragon’s Hearts.”

“We’ll see.” He laughed openly. “Until then, I guess we’ll use Umbra’s realm as testing grounds if he doesn’t mind. Or Abyss.”

“Survival of the fittest, Master,” the Duke reminded him and the world’s creator nodded. “It was their mistake to come after us.”

“You should take a break now,” Abyss suggested. “I’ll keep you protected from any prying senses. There’s a lot of ground to cover tomorrow.”

“Hopefully, this stampede passes until then.” Silvia sighed lightly, already out of her own transformation. “Since I was the one who found this place, I call dibs on sleeping in Ast’s arms tonight.”

“What? No!” Miria stomped the floor with a pout. “I showed off so much earlier! I deserve to be patted as I doze off!”

Snorting to the side at their clearly playful argument, Asterios walked up to the charming princess and pulled Silvia into his arms, peppering her delicate lips with a myriad of affectionate kisses as she embraced him back.

“I’m sure we can find a satisfactory compromise, can’t we?” He grinned at her and she showed the faintest hint of a smirk as the corner of her mouth curled up.

But of course, that had to be planned. The clever lady knew Miria would most likely receive the most affection after what she’d gone through. Now, though, they would be able to share.

Women were sly creatures. Especially the future queens.