Slowly and gracefully, a crimson-scaled creature walked out of the crack suspended mid-air above the summoning circle. No one had any doubts about what it was. Everyone present in the area had met with either stories, descriptions, or images portraying the ancient rulers of the skies. Dragons. Or in this particular case, True Dragons.

The proud beast wasn’t as big as the Skeletal Dragon Asterios and his party had taken down deep in the undead dungeon, but it was still a breath-taking specimen. Standing proudly on all four of its legs, its height reached that of a two-story building, including the impressive wings currently folded on its back.

The Dragon’s body had a somewhat slick form. It did stand as a massive entity but everyone could make out its toned muscles over its limbs and whole figure. It might be the first real Dragon they were seeing with their own eyes, but they knew that these beings could be much more massive and bulkier.

Stepping into this realm, it had passed over Asterios and stood with its back to the human man. The long and deadly tail lay on the ground by his side. Sharp spikes in dark shades of crimson ran almost all over the Dragon’s spine.

It started turning around and soon faced Asterios, towering over the little Summoner with its might. He watched it lower its huge head with jaws big enough to swallow him whole, hoping that this proud entity had no ill intentions towards them straight off the bat.

The Dragon huffed hot air giving off a sulphuric smell from its nostrils as it watched Asterios from up close. Its ferocious slitted eyes of pure scarlet blinked a few times as it investigated the human in front of it. A few quiet moments passed, broken only by the Dragon’s powerful breathing.

Just before Asterios spoke first, a warm wind blew and a red mist surrounded the Dragon’s massive body, swirling around it like an obtrusive dome, which was shrinking gradually. Asterios got a feeling that this mist wasn’t that far from what he had seen Miria’s body produce countless times.

And, his observation was proven right as a figure of a woman with scarlet hair appeared in front of his eyes after the magical smoke dispersed. She wore black leather pants, a short dark red shirt that revealed a bit of her toned stomach, and also a black leather jacket. If not for the completely draconic eyes, slightly pointed ears, and very fierce and sharp angles of her face, she could pose as any normal young human.

"Perfect. I was getting bored of my last pet. Could use a new slave," she muttered to herself under her breath with a wicked grin.

The woman walked up to Asterios with a heavy step and stopped right in front of him. Their heights were now comparable. Her piercing scarlet eyes ran all over Ast’s body, from head to toe.

He didn’t interrupt the woman’s examination and watched her circle him a few times, intensively scanning his figure with her gaze until she again found herself right in front of him. Something was different, though. His scorching hot energy was beginning to boil like never before.

She squinted her eyes at him, almost accusingly. “A human male, hm? Quite young at that. Not that far from his maturing period. Surprising. Very surprising. A decent specimen.”

The woman’s voice was at the same time filled with strength, confidence, and also bore a deep, prideful, somewhat malicious tone. Asterios smiled, opening his mouth to welcome her, but he was interrupted again.

“Was I mistaken though? There’s no trace of it…”

“I’m sure you weren't, Lady Dragon! It's a good idea not to judge Master just by his looks!” Miria shouted cheerfully from the side, unable to hide the pure joy and excitement from her voice.

The woman’s head snapped towards the others and her gaze locked onto the panthergirl.

Her eyes flashed with power and, in an instant, all three of the girls were brought to one knee as an immense force pressured them, unable to even lift their heads.

“How dare a lesser being speak to me,” she sneered at them with clear disdain in her voice.

“I'd kindly ask you to stop pressuring my companions,” Asterios finally spoke with a controlled but slightly cold tone.

The woman turned her face back to him and their gazes met.

“What?”

A faint shiver passed through her body when she saw the intense glow emanated by his crimson irises and ferocious, black vertical pupils. Subconsciously, she released the pressure on the others.

“How?” she asked with a shocked expression.

Not waiting for an answer, her eyes flashed again. Asterios didn’t get pressured though. And he was pretty sure the woman wasn’t trying to do so. She again scanned his person with meticulous attention, clearly using a different kind of sight. If his guess wasn’t off, it was something similar to what he could achieve when filling his draconic eyes with the scorching hot mana.

Just a moment later, her pupils narrowed into thin needles and her eyes widened to the brim as the woman’s gaze locked on a certain point on Ast’s chest.

“Dragon’s… Heart?” she muttered to herself in disbelief.

In a blink, her expression turned feral and a low growl began reverberating through the air. She glared at Asterios with some of the bright red aura leaking out of her body like a faint mist.

“Where did you get that?” she snarled at him.

Asterios quickly realized what she was talking about and responded. “It has always been there. I found it insi—”

“Bullshit!” The woman’s growls grew louder. “Which one of my siblings did you murder in your vile rituals, human?!”

She took a step forward and part of her black leather sleeve disappeared. In the motion of a quick tide, her forearm got covered in red scales, including her hand, which had now sharp black nails, almost resembling claws.

Before she could move any further, a whizzing projectile made her stop and lean her head to the back to avoid the spiritual needle. Tens of thick shadowy tendrils shot from the ground and bound all of her limbs, dragging them down.

But, the woman resisted.

She tore the restraints around her right arm and caught the five-tailed Selene’s foot coming straight at her head, throwing the attacker to the other side like the fox lady was nothing but a wet rag. Just as a very angry Miria appeared right in front of her, she released another ferocious and thunderous roar, stopping the panthergirl and everyone else in their tracks.

Thanks to her activated bloodline, Miria managed to react in time after the stunning shout and stepped away from the woman’s deadly swipe. Unfortunately, the draconic lady moved faster than her eyes could follow and her sharp claws cut deep into Miria’s side as she was sent flying to the back while tumbling on the ground.

Instantly after pushing away the panthergirl, the red-haired woman took a quick, deep breath, her chest rising visibly, and breathed bright red fire straight at Asterios. The violent inferno surged towards him, breaking all the hastily put up barriers that Selene had managed to throw in, and dispersing Umbra’s shadow in a blink, which was trying to do the same. A ferocious stream of bright scarlet flames swallowed Asterios’ whole figure as a loud hum of the fierce cone of fire filled the air.

“Master!” Miria’s pained cry came from the side as Silvia helped her up.

The woman stopped her fire breath and the flames gradually dispersed, revealing a line of completely scorched black ground, and… Asterios standing exactly where he had, completely unharmed.

A cold and vicious expression painted his face, almost matching her own, as a dark red aura leaked from his whole body, potent and powerful enough to make the air around him shimmer. He clearly wasn't happy.

“No one raises a hand at my mates,” Asterios said in a murderous tone and took a step forward.

The woman blinked a few times in deep confusion and consternation before sneering at him. Her other hand transformed too and a scaly tail materialized behind her back.

“Just try it, human! Dragons are immortal! I’ll tear you and everyone you know into—”

“Kneel.”

An inconceivable spiritual pressure suddenly descended on to the whole area as Ast's unusually powerful and deep, booming voice echoed through the valley, snuffing out any red flames that remained burning on the scarred grass.

The voice seemed almost... ancient. It interrupted the woman and threw her onto one knee in a flash, pushing her into the ground like a massive mountain weighing thousands of tons just dropped onto her back in a blink.

“What?!” she shouted in pure shock.

Barely, barely could she even lift her head under the spine-crushing force and glare at the incoming Asterios from below. She shuddered after meeting his merciless gaze. The man’s eyes still glowed with fierce crimson, but a different shade of dark red glittered and danced behind his vicious vertical pupils like violent flaming tongues.

“Immortal does not mean invincible,” he added with the same deep, authoritative tone, completely devoid of any emotions like everything was of no concern to him.

As he walked closer, his body started changing. The ferocious crimson in his irises expanded, soon covering the whole surface of his scleras, turning them into fully draconic eyes of feral crimson.

The woman’s figure began shifting, enveloped by the bright red mist again. In just a brief moment, she was back in her True Dragon form, trying her hardest to resist the unbearable pressure which was still pushing her much bigger body to the ground. It looked like with the help of her Dragon form, she was able to fight back and kept raising herself on her legs bit by bit.

“I will raze this whole realm to the ground!” she roared in a mighty, draconic voice.

Asterios snapped his fingers and the oppressive pressure grew by a whole order of magnitude, slamming the Dragon’s massive body into the ground with a loud thud, followed by a strong tremor.

Cracks began appearing in random places on the ground all around the valley they were in, unable to withstand the unimaginable force. The girls were barely keeping themselves conscious even with both Selene and Umbra going all out to shield them. The spiritual aura was trying to flatten them alongside everything else in the close vicinity, pushing them into the grass.

Dark crimson scales surfaced on the sides of Ast’s neck, over his cheekbones, and around his eyes. His right sleeve dematerialized in red flames and his brown bracer disappeared with a faint flash, getting shoved into the spatial storage ring. His hand and forearm were quickly covered in dark crimson scales too, up to his elbow, just like the woman’s but visibly more ferocious and mighty.

She kept growling while struggling to resist the pressure. Her head lay on the ground not that far from Asterios now, positioned straight at his incoming figure. Slowly but surely, bit by bit, she raised herself on her four shaky legs. She opened her ferocious jaws with a lot of effort as a scorching hot sensation accompanied a quiet rumble in her stomach.

But then, four flaming streams shot out of Ast’s back, taking the form of claws made of pure crimson fire, and rushed towards her. A burning hand grasped each of the female Dragon’s limbs and brought her back down to the ground. All the power began slowly leaving her. She moved her head and eyes as much as she could, staring in bewilderment at the flaming bindings and Asterios.

Then, the realization came.

Her draconic eyes widened to the brim as she finally noticed the changes in Ast’s body and the familiar spiritual aura his burning limbs emanated, completely different from the one she had felt at first. Rage started getting replaced by confusion, disbelief, and finally fear.

Against her own will, her body began shifting back as if she couldn't deny a being much above her, and she soon turned into a humanoid woman again. Still held by the four claws of crimson fire, which grew smaller to match her new size, she was brought up from the ground and floated towards Asterios after he waved a finger at her.

She ended up hanging in the air face to face with him, her legs and arms spread slightly to the sides. Her skin started slowly losing its color.

“T-There’s no way…” She stuttered while shaking her head. “How are you alive?! You can’t be alive! I saw you die! Black killed you!”

Completely ignoring the distraught woman’s words, Ast’s draconic hand moved to her body and his fingers stopped below her sternum, his palm flatly extended with the inner side facing up.

The woman’s clothes swirled in bright red flames and parted obediently, creating a hole in the spiritual material. Ast’s sharp crimson claw-like nails pressed into her smooth but tough skin.

“No… No, no, no, no…”

She shook her head even more fervently, desperately trying to free herself from the flaming restraints that spread her limbs to the sides and held her in the air. But, she couldn’t muster up any strength, not even the tiniest bit. Her powers were not answering. She was trapped in her humanoid form.

“Please, no! I’m sorry! Don’t do it, I beg you! I will do anything! I swear, I didn’t know! I didn’t know the boy’s identity! Spare me, please! I will become this child’s servant! Slave! Plaything! Test subject! Anything! Please, I—nghaaaaaa!”

In one swift motion, Ast’s palm sank in the woman’s body, piercing her durable skin and flesh like it was nothing. She writhed in pain as his hand slid deeper and deeper. She shivered when it finally stopped, feeling the man’s fingers wrap around something sensitive, something normally unreachable.

“Gaaaaahhhhhh!”

She screamed again when Asterios yanked his arm back. He held his bloody palm the same way, inner side up. A perfectly round, fist-sized orb of bright scarlet rested in his hand now. Glittery smoke in similar shades swirled inside the perfect crystal.

The woman looked at the orb, and her eyes snapped to Ast’s almost immediately. Her face twisted in an ugly, desperate, strained smile. She kept lightly shaking her head while staring at him pleadingly.

“No… Don’t do this… I won't tell anyone... I wouldn't make him into my slave if I knew... I swear... I beg you, Re—”

Ast’s draconic hand crushed the orb, shattering it into dust and red particles. She froze. Bright scarlet flames burst out of it and danced inside his fist, leaking out through his clasped fingers.

“Gyaaaahhhhhhhh!”

Fire of the same color enveloped the woman’s body and she turned into dark red ashes that lazily floated up into the sky as her scream faded from existence, alongside her own being. Silence soon fell onto the valley.

The flaming claws retracted, staying behind Ast’s back. He turned his still fully red eyes towards the girls pressed strongly into the ground, with cracking black and blue barriers of spiritual energy above them.

At once, the oppressive force disappeared.

Silvia met his gaze. It was different. Completely unlike the one she had experienced during the duel. The force and pressure were similar, incredibly stronger, but gave off a completely different feeling.

Asterios returned his focus to the bright scarlet flame dancing inside his fist and closed his eyes. The fire intensified and traveled over his arm as waves of spiritual aura were released into the surroundings.

After they stopped, Asterios took a deep breath and all the changes reverted. The flaming limbs disappeared, the scales merged into his skin, and the glowing red shade uncovered his eyes, returning them to their natural state, with visible crimson irises and fierce vertical pupils.

He made a trembling step backward and his whole body wobbled. Before he fell to the ground, Selene rushed towards him and caught Asterios in her arms. The rest of the girls quickly followed after her, with Silvia helping the wounded Miria.

“Nghhh… My head…” Asterios groaned while rubbing his eyes as Selene laid him on her lap.

“Shhhh. Take it easy and slow, my Lord.” She brushed through his white hair.

“Miria... How is Miria?” he asked with a lot of concern.

“I’m fine, Master! It’s just a few deeper cuts… I can wait for you to recover…” she answered, clutching her bleeding side.

Without opening his eyes, Asterios resummoned his Spellslinger, shoved his hand into one of his pouches, and slotted a green token in the weapon. Aiming it in Miria’s general direction by sensing her through their bond, he activated the spell, and tiny motes of light resembling pixies floated towards her, diving into the wounds.

The pain started quickly fading away and Miria smiled. “Thank you. Don’t overdo it, Master.”

He let out a strained chuckle. “I think it’s too late for that. Ughhhhh… My brain, spiritual circuits, and sources hurt like hell…”

“Don’t talk. Just rest. We are all fine, my Lord.”

He nodded and let Selene feed him one of the recovery potions. She shoved away any thoughts of getting mischievous and properly let him drink it from the flask, supporting Ast’s head and chin. The girls and Umbra sat around them in silence, working over everything that had happened in their minds.

Twenty minutes later, Asterios sighed heavily.

“It’s alright now. Help me up.”

Selene obliged and leaned Asterios onto herself after she sat him up. He opened his eyes and glanced over everyone, letting out another sigh, this time of relief, after confirming that no one seemed to be seriously hurt.

“I’m sorry…” he began.

“Why?” Miria furrowed her brows. “You couldn’t know.”

He shook his head. “I put you all in danger. A grave one. Especially Silvia. Right on the first day.”

“I—”

Silvia wanted to say something but Miria interrupted her.

“You couldn’t know!” she repeated. “There was just no way! I mean, we were kinda expecting something related to Dragons, but we couldn’t know she would be so hostile!”

“I agree with Miria, my Lord. As you have said, summoning is always a risk. And we were all ready to take it. We should be the ones apologizing instead. We almost failed to protect you.”

She sighed dejectedly and shook her head, hugging him closer from behind.

“No. We failed to protect you. We failed the moment the fire reached you. We failed the moment we let her attack you. For a second, I thought we lost you…”

Asterios felt her guilt and sorrow. He took Selene’s hands into his and brushed over her skin gently. He leaned his head back and softly pressed his cheek into hers.

“I’m… sorry…”

Silvia’s unexpected apology made him briefly pause comforting Selene and everyone glanced at the princess. She sat on her knees with her head hung down in shame. Her bright topaz eyes stared into the ground with her lips tensed into a flat line. Her hands curled into fists, resting on her thighs, trembling a little.

“I couldn’t do anything… I couldn’t bring out my fire… I couldn’t force it to show itself… I couldn’t condense any of it… I could only watch… I’m so sorry…”

Asterios moved closer to her and gently laid his hand on Silvia’s hair.

“Don’t blame yourself. She was way above any of us. No one stood a chance against her. All that matters is that we are all fine. I know you helped Miria. You didn’t lose your head with your powers hindered, most likely by her aura. Thank you.”

She looked up at his face and saw Ast’s warm smile. Sighing softly, she let some of that tension leave her body. She still felt horrible, but nodded, trying to show a gentle smile too on her strained lips.

“But, you stood a chance, Master. You managed to kill her.” Miria tilted her head, scooting closer to hug Ast’s other arm.

“No. It was not me who killed that woman.”

Everyone stared at him in confusion. Silvia’s eyes started moving aimlessly as she recalled everything that had transpired. A moment later, she found Asterios looking at her.

“You noticed?”

She nodded. “Your spiritual energy spiked the moment the woman came out of the portal. It kept rising weirdly out of a sudden. Then, after you came out of that breath… your aura was different. Those flaming limbs… That fire… It didn’t feel… Yours… It was similar but different…”

“What does that mean?” Miria asked. “If not Master then who killed her?”

Asterios moved his hand to her ears and caressed them gently.

“Back in the castle, during the duel, I can clearly say that the one who dismissed Silvia’s spell was still me. Led by the scorching hot energy fueling my emotions, but it was still fully me.”

He looked for Selene with his eyes and gestured at her to come closer too. She smiled softly and moved to hug him from behind again. With everyone around him, except for Umbra, who Asterios could feel recuperating in his own realm, he continued.

“As Silvia said, when that bright red flame crashed into me, something… responded. Like the barrier back in the past. I felt something open instead of breaking this time and unbelievably stronger blazing hot energy spread through my body. I had enough control of myself to speak one sentence in my rage before a different consciousness completely took over. I was turned into a spectator in my own body.”

The girls couldn’t hide their shock. Silvia had no reasons not to believe his words, especially after the disinterested stare he had given them after finishing off the Dragon woman. It made sense. It hadn’t felt exactly like Asterios’ at that time.

“Then, everything proceeded just like you saw. I watched all of it pretty much just like all of you, with the exception of not being squeezed into the ground. I’m sorry about that. Nothing I could do after that person took over.”

Miria shook her head. “We were fine. It wasn’t aimed directly at us. I think most of it was directed at the woman and we were just caught up in it.”

Asterios nodded. “Anyway, that person’s consciousness dispatched the Dragon woman mechanically, completely ignoring anything else. That’s why I say consciousness. I saw my body move. It looked like it was following a set of prepared instructions. I don’t think someone possessed me at that moment. It was more like something that was lying dormant, in wait, activated after a specific trigger, which was her. Or a True Dragon in general.”

“That woman seemed to have realized who it was near the end,” Selene added. “She was clearly shocked about the revelation. And just that knowledge scared someone as powerful as her to such an extent.”

“Nevertheless, after she was gone, my body looked your way and I was afraid it would attack you too, but it withdrew the pressure and turned its focus to the red fire. It absorbed the flame somehow and I felt myself returning.”

“I was very concerned too,” Selene informed them. “It felt like it was judging me. Evaluating. I was scared it would find some fault in me.”

“I can’t tell if it thought anything about you if it could, but before it faded, I heard a powerful, ancient voice say ‘It is only this once I can aid you. Reach the Descending Spire. Grow stronger, before you approach other Dragons. They are not how you might perceive them.’”

A brief silence fell onto them before Miria sighed wistfully.

“Another mysterious hint we know nothing about…”

Asterios pulled her closer and scratched behind her ears. “We will figure it out. First, we need to recover a little. And decide on what to do after we clean up this mess.”