Although everyone had relaxed a little after dealing with the Golem’s core, they still remained vigilant for any other threats while waiting for Radir to finish his job. No one knew the success rate of his sealing technique when used on something like that. The real fight didn’t end until the demon man confirmed it himself.

Under their watchful gazes, Radir focused on weaving colorful magic into the surface of the crimson crystal as he sat on the uneven floor. Silvia’s first extremely hot technique and Asterios’s freezing spell launched by his Spellslinger had turned the ground into a wavy and irregular mess. It was hard just to walk around all the holes and small pitfalls.

Finally, after about five minutes, Radir sighed heavily and dropped the core onto the bumpy floor, causing it to release melodic tink as it bounced a few times off the jaggy surface. He leaned back and supported himself on his hands while shooting the others a glance over his shoulder.

“It’s done,” he exclaimed with a rough breath. “That little shit almost broke out with its incredibly powerful energy but I won. Without proper equipment which I left in my lab back at home, we have around four to six hours before the seal starts cracking.”

“It won’t stay sealed until you unseal it?” Miria tilted her head curiously.

Radir chuckled at her. “You can’t just slap a seal onto something bare-handedly and have it remain locked forever. Unless you have two things—immense knowledge and experience with Sealing Magic, and immense spiritual strength to back it. Unfortunately, my dear, I fulfill half of those conditions.”

Miria glanced at Asterios, noticing how similar Grea’s father was to him in terms of their passion for a specific area of magic. With just one small difference. Asterios now didn’t lack the power to support his knowledge after his second source had revealed itself.

She smiled warmly when he met her gaze and quickly trotted closer to her master. With the danger gone, she let herself be spoiled a little and jumped into Ast’s embrace, rubbing her cheek into his, following it with a deep, loving kiss.

The fur covering her body gradually receded as their tongues danced together. The helpful surge of confidence and boldness slowly disappeared from Miria’s system too, bringing a heavy blush to her cheeks as she grew a tad embarrassed by the show she was giving to the others.

Sensing the change with Miria’s kisses turning more submissive rather than dominant, he ended their affectionate exchange with one last peck just as Selene approached them, back with her iconic, ladylike smile.

“You two good?” Asterios asked his precious mates.

“Yes, Master,” Miria replied first, nodding faintly. “Just a few scratches.”

“Same here, my Lord. Nothing to be concerned about,” Selene followed.

“What about the change? Both of you felt a little different to me just before the fight.”

Miria blushed even more, remembering her unexpected outburst, and giggled to herself. Asterios smiled at her and petted her round ears in appreciation and comfort. She melted under his fingers, purring quietly.

“I assume it’s the effect of the Coupling Ritual and us finally becoming your true mates, my Lord,” Selene suggested. “While I can’t speak for Miria, the moment you deepened your connection with us and turned serious, we were affected too. Positively, of course.”

“I… I grew even more excited than usual…” Miria admitted. “It was like your energy encouraged me to go wild with its help and guidance… Your eyes and aura… They were so captivating…”

Asterios showered her with more affection while pondering over her words.

“In my case, your energy helped me get rid of all distractions and unnecessary thoughts, letting me achieve Tranquil Mind if I’m not mistaken. It’s an extremely hard technique that even Lerisse wasn’t able to uphold for longer than a minute or so. It’s an immense boost in power,” Selene added after her.

~I can confirm that all three of us received a meaningful boost in power from you, Master, as even I was affected by it,~ Umbra spoke in their minds and removed himself from Svertaniel’s body, perching on Ast’s free shoulder. ~The curse binding me to my realm was temporarily suppressed by your intent, to some extent. I felt the mark left on my soul by the ritual turn even more active than before accepting the position of a servant.~

Selene made a thoughtful expression. “Perhaps more of your draconic heritage is starting to awaken after you fully accepted it? You have no more doubts about it, right, my Lord?”

Asterios nodded, as he pondered the recent event. “Yeah. I still considered some other possibilities, but things were getting quite obvious, already. I guess I have started accepting and embracing it.”

~I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t just the barrier that had initially surrounded your core and the seal on your memories that limited your potential. One’s mindset can influence a lot of things and many people or entities aren’t aware of how powerful of an impact it can have on them. Doubt, confusion, and skepticism can weaken a person. The same thing goes for unawareness or ignorance.~

They stared at each other in silence for a brief moment until Asterios pecked Miria’s forehead and she stepped away from him, getting the hint easily. He glanced at Bryn and she nodded at him that she was fine. They both knew she hadn’t experienced the same thing as his other familiars.

He stopped in front of Silvia, who gazed into the even path of destruction running out of the chamber, burying deep into the further rooms and earth.

“How about you?” Asterios asked, making sure he showed himself in her field of vision to not spook the princess.

“I’m fine. I think…” She nodded politely, starting to dress up.

“This wasn’t normal, was it?”

Silvia showed a faint smile. “Yeah. I’m sorry for—”

“It was my idea so don’t apologize, please,” Asterios stopped her. “Has anything like that happened before?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she denied calmly. “I’ve mixed my energy with Father in the past, and a few other people too, but the result was never this intense. I still want to apologize for losing control of it.”

“Neither of us expected this outcome so I guess we are both at fault. Is nothing wrong afterward, though? I’m just making sure. It got quite chaotic when our mana merged together.”

Bringing her palm up, Silvia summoned a small flame above it. They could spot a very faint trace of crimson in the orange tongues of the dancing fire.

“I can still feel some of your spiritual energy in my circuits and source, but there’s no strong reaction like earlier. Honestly, for the first time, I can feel someone’s mana be warmer than mine after I grew accustomed to Father’s fire. It’s very fascinating.”

“We should see if we can harness this power somehow, to aid your growth even more.” Asterios smiled. “After we finish here, of course.”

Silvia nodded with a gentle smile too. “If you offer, I will kindly accept.”

He chuckled. “That’s what we agreed on.”

After Radir caught his breath, Svertaniel helped him up. The two men brought the sealed gem to the others as they grouped up in the middle of the completely ruined chamber.

“What do we do with it? Is there a chance that it’s a key just like the scale Master has?” Miria asked curiously. “Speaking of scales, will yours stay like this for long, Master?”

Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Asterios ran his hand over his neck.

“Oh. I felt them materialize but I thought they would be already long gone, just like when I tried to consciously bring them out. Let’s see.”

He closed his eyes and focused his thoughts, calming the fiery energy swirling inside his core. The waves soon settled down and Asterios felt the dark crimson plates retract into his skin. He left enough of his draconic mana coursing through his body to remain in his altered appearance, though.

“Now, back to the topic,” he said after opening his eyes again. “Radir?”

“I definitely have to bring it to my lab to fully secure it, but after that, it’s all yours.”

“You don’t want it?” Asterios raised a brow at the demon researcher.

“It is a curious thing, but I have a feeling there are much more valuable items waiting for me right there.”

Radir pointed with his thumb towards the hole in the wall. They could see the insides of a few chambers Silvia’s energy had torn through. Some things had definitely ended up completely obliterated, but it looked like the scorching beam had lined up with a corridor between the rooms, fortunately.

“Should we split or stay together while exploring this place?” Svertaniel asked.

“I have a feeling there’s nothing else that would hinder our progress,” Selene answered.

“And why is that?”

Asterios glanced around at the three exits leading out of the chamber, now quite heavily deformed.

“This place is quite similar to one or two that our party has already been at. This should have been the last safety mechanism.”

“Considering the look of that Golem, I would think so too, Master,” Miria quickly agreed. “It’s almost the same as in your village.”

“And the golden theme does give similar vibes to the Golden Gate,” Selene added. “I wonder what connection those three places have.”

“Red,” Asterios suggested with a thoughtful tone.

A brief silence fell on them as no one knew what to say next. Miria brought Asterios from his heavy pondering with a gingerly peck on his cheek and they smiled at each other.

“Since there are three paths, I think we can split into three groups, with at least one person able to communicate with me mentally in each, just in case. Anyone against?”

Not seeing any negative response, Asterios proceeded with his plan and split everyone into three teams.

As expected, Miria and Selene quickly reserved the right to accompany him, not leaving Ast’s side for even a moment. Bryn joined Silvia with their decent combination of offense and defense, and Svertaniel ended up with Radir, having Umbra as their connection to Asterios, to the amusement of the obvious person.

The first party chose the left corridor, the second group picked the right one, and the demon duo was left with the partially destroyed part of the underground complex. Coincidentally, that was the one Radir wanted to investigate the most as his keen eyes had spotted a few interesting details in the rooms back there.

Bidding temporary farewell to the others, Asterios and the girls walked towards their designated exit, moving through a corridor made of pure gold just like the previous chamber. The decorations hadn’t suffered from the immense heat Silvia had created and they could admire various artistic depictions of the Founding Ancestors in different activities.

After a few short minutes, they arrived in a medium-sized room, clearly meant for living purposes. They immediately noticed the slight resemblance to the bedroom chamber from behind the Golden Gate in the girls’ world. There was more gold here, obviously, but the general style did have the same feeling.

The first thing all of them did after realizing that was split up and start to look around for possible entrances to any secret compartments. They searched for paintings, guided by their previous experience of Asterios activating one, but the ones depicting the three demon figures didn’t react to his gaze.

In the end, none of them found anything meaningful besides a plethora of everyday items and appliances which had most likely been used by the Founding Ancestors when they lived here, or just spent their time for whatever reason. There was nothing indicating Red’s presence in those bedchambers.

Deciding that they had looked thoroughly enough, Asterios, Miria, and Selene moved back to the central room. Hearing occasional laughter and the rustling of paper coming from the destroyed part of the underground vault, they grew curious and headed towards the place where the demon duo should be located.

And surely, they found Radir and Svertaniel in one of the rooms. Silvia’s attack had shaved off only a small part of the wall where the passage leading to it had previously been, leaving the insides intact.

They instantly realized the purpose of that room after stepping inside. It felt just too familiar.

Plenty of bookcases and cabinets were scattered around, standing by the more natural walls of dark stone instead of gold. A heavy desk closely resembling the one in the beastfolk realm rested in one of the corners, with plenty of notes and sketches littering it too.

This time, though, no weird contraptions were present in the room. They were replaced by a handful of extremely complex magical circles and arrays drawn on the perfectly smooth floor which felt like it had been constructed with the purpose of hosting those drawings from the very start.

Asterios and the girls looked at each other and nodded. This clearly was the secret room of this place. Silvia’s spell must have hit the wall with the painting or a different trigger that would cause it to open the proper way. There was almost no doubt this studio belonged to Red, just like the one under the capital of Spiritual Foxes.

While Radir kept running from place to place and laughing almost maniacally after noticing a piece of something, Svertaniel stood on the side with an awkward expression. He clearly wasn’t impressed by the other man’s craziness over this place.

Little did he know, in the eyes of the others, Radir wasn’t that far from him if it would come to Umbra instead, which caused Asterios, Miria, and Selene to chuckle quietly together.

Before they could approach either of the men, Silvia and Bryn entered the chamber, stopping to look at the seemingly insane Radir rushing from place to place and letting out a laugh each time he switched his attention to something.

Asterios walked up to them with the girls by his side. “Did you find anything interesting?”

Bryn shook her head. “No, Master. It was just a bathing complex on the other side. A big and spacious hall with pools and such. As per your instructions through our bond, we tried searching for any hidden passages but didn’t find any.”

“That’s okay, thank you.” Asterios nodded appreciatively. “As far as I’m aware, this room here might be one. We found bedchambers on our end.”

“What’s in it, then?” Silvia asked.

“SEALING MAGIC!” Radir shouted, suddenly showing up by their side and causing everyone to jump.

“What do you mean?” Asterios inquired, a little confused.

“Exactly what I said!” The demon man continued with the same enthusiasm, albeit a tad quieter. “This whole room is just full of it! Books, notebooks, notes, parchments, scrolls, pictures, sketches, drawings, actual arrays, formations, circles, everything!” He spun around with another laugh, spreading his arms wide.

After a few spins, he came back to them, excitement still ever so present in his eyes.

“This little cave is just full of knowledge! Someone did immense research on Sealing Magic and everything connected to it, leaving all their notes and conclusions stored all here! I wonder if this is the secret lab of Eyla the Ingenious!”

As he moved away again from them with a happy step, Miria glanced at Asterios.

“It’s Red’s, isn’t it?”

Asterios nodded. “Most likely.”

“First Summoning Magic, now Sealing Magic. Why?”

“Wait,” Selene interjected. “Remember Umbra’s story?”

Miria gasped. “The crimson claw! Do you think Red sealed Umbra’s realm?”

Each of them could feel the rising hatred from their shadowy friend but Umbra remained calm, contradictory to the aura he gave off.

“No.” Selene shook her head. “I think that would be going too far. He definitely broke into it to help her escape, perhaps also transporting her inside earlier. Knowing Sealing Magic would surely make it much easier, no?”

“Definitely,” Asterios agreed. “I also don’t think it was him or else Umbra would recognize the energy. Unless he wasn’t there yet when his world was locked up.”

~You are right, Master. The presence that trapped us inside gave off a much more overwhelming and divine aura compared to either Kaguya or that Red. It might be possible he had a hand in that action with the Spiritual Fox woman.~

“Whatever part he played in that event, we can all agree that he is for some reason researching a lot of big things. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there are more places like this one,” Asterios shared his thoughts.

“He must be as old if not even more ancient than Kaguya, then. I’m not sure about the exact time when those Founding Ancestors lived, but they came in contact with him just like Kaguya did, or at least partially like her,” Selene added.

“What if he like promised to help them or something in exchange for all the knowledge stored in here?” Miria pondered out loud. “That Eyla was a sealing master, wasn’t she?”

Asterios rubbed Mira’s ears with lots of love. “Nice idea. I could see that happening. Although, I don’t think Kaguya knew anything about Summoning Magic if we assumed the same scenario in her case, did she?”

Selene scrunched her face. “True that. But, maybe it was different. Right now, we do consider her being your mother, my Lord, right? Maybe they just shared something special and that hidden vault was just another home for them.”

“Right. We don’t know much about them.”

~Whatever it is, one thing is certain,~ Umbra said in their minds.

“Which is?” Miria tilted her head and her ear twitched adorably.

~The patterns of that huge magical formation in the very center of the floor seem awfully familiar. Inside someone’s head familiar, I would say.~

Miria and Selene instantly turned to look at Asterios as their eyes widened to the brim. He knew exactly what they were thinking. Who knew if this wasn’t the place where Red had sealed Ast’s memories, or where he had designed the spell.

Or, if it could be used to reverse it.

Swallowing his saliva, Asterios glanced towards a very ecstatic demon man who was bouncing around the room with seemingly infinite stamina.

“There’s only one way to find out.”