Chapter 480 – Dragon or the Egg?

“Fuck…” Noir cursed, holding up her elbow to her nose. “Where did you bring us, worm breeding grounds or something?”

“Is it that bad?” Asterios glanced around, but only she was showing such reactions. “To some extent, you aren’t wrong. This is a Lesser Dragon nest.”

She gagged again, her eyes going wide. “No wonder it stinks to all hells here! Could have warned a girl!”

“Sorry. Didn’t think it would be an issue. I don’t detect anything bad in the air.” He tried taking a deep breath through his nose, yet nothing changed.

“Doesn’t surprise me you can’t even sense anything with how many of these maggots you must have fucked by now.” The Dragon girl glowered at him and threw a brief glare at Althea.

Asterios frowned at her. “I have only one Lesser Dragon mate, and we have already talked about insulting our friends.”

Attempting to scowl but ending up almost throwing up, Noir groaned and looked away. It was clear she was unused to being surrounded by so much Lesser Dragon scent, perhaps fine-tuning her senses to aid her hunting and tracking capabilities. It must be quite irritating. He didn’t completely blame her for such a strong reaction, if so. Even pitied the woman a bit.

Not wanting to walk around with a fearsome greatsword at his back to use one of the spells, he chose a less effective option. Pulling out a handkerchief given to him by one of his beloved ladies, he passed it onto Althea, who sprinkled it with a pinch of her magic, enhancing its fragrance with pleasant natural scents. Taking it back, he offered it to the troubled True Dragon.

Giving it a sharp glance, Noir swiped the offering from his hand and pressed it to her face. The change was instantaneous, her entire frame slumping with relief. Even so, after a few long inhales, she peered at Asterios from above the cloth with her usual piercing frown.

“It reeks of cat.” She snorted irately.

“Must have been Miria’s.” He nodded to himself. “I’ll pick another one, so give—”

“I didn’t say it’s bad!” Noir jumped away from his fingers. “If I ever take a pet, it would be a cat rather than a dog for sure!”

Rolling his eyes at her antics, Asterios withdrew his arm. As he turned to his other companions, he spotted a red serpent rushing towards them, followed by a few other ones. They descended onto the further end of the stage in a hurry, revealing Nestmother Rhufija with all her mates. She was visibly unsure even as her eyes met Ast’s, her lovers staring daggers at both him and his new friend.

“Are you… alright?” The scarlet lady searched his gaze for signs of something.

“Why would I not be?” He tilted his head. “I guess I should have warned you that I’m bringing in another True Dragon, but I didn’t expect such a worrisome reaction.”

The Nestmother exhaled gently. “Good. I figured that you brought the new presence in as the two of you appeared together, but I feared you might have gotten… entangled… with this female after I sensed her affinity. Blacks are known for their… elaborate ploys to wrap others around their little finger.”

Althea graced them with an elegant chuckle. “Oh, he most certainly has tangled himself with this fine lady. Just not in the way you think of.”

Noir directed a quiet growl her way but she didn’t pay it any attention. It came out kind of funny with a handkerchief obstructing the girl’s mouth.

“Long story short, this is Noir the Nightmare, and she is an ally,” Asterios introduced her.

One of Rhufija’s men shuddered, what was missed by no one. If Ast’s memory was correct, it was the person previously enslaved by a True Dragon. It must have belonged to an Onyx lineage or something close.

“Why is she here?” Mortiz pointed at the black-haired girl.

“Do you have a problem with me, you wo—” Noir paused, taking a peek at Asterios. “Are they friends too?”

She seemed unamused, but he appreciated her attempt to listen to his requests.

“Technically speaking, yes.” He smirked knowingly, aware of how much she wanted to cuss the male.

Snarling, she eyed the man again.

However, Rhufija inserted herself between them, shielding her mate. “Please, forgive Mortiz. He has heard of your great achievements from his previous… master. The individual seemed to look up to you a fair bit.”

“Do you have any idea of how little that narrows it down?” Noir scoffed.

“Kasterionix.” Mortiz spat to the side with pure hate.

“Ah. That moron.” She groaned. “Mother ripped his head off for even daring to ask for my courting rights. Jerk thought he was at the peak of his game, but his schemes were like child’s play. Pathetic.”

“Well, I guess Mortiz has you two to thank for his freedom.” Asterios chuckled softly, trying to mend the chasm between the pair.

Both of them sneered at each other.

He couldn’t fix everything with just a few words, could he?

“Anyway, my apologies again for giving everyone a scare. We’ve come to help with your wild animal issue that’s been bothering you for a while. At the same time, Visenna would like to pick up Jellal for our important teaching wager,” Asterios summed up their plans.

“I’m afraid that might prove difficult.” Rhufija scrunched her nose. “The Jellal part, I mean.”

“How so?” Visenna’s forehead creased in confusion.

“According to reports from our lookouts, he was seen heading out of the nest last night.” The Nestmother shook her head. “Furthermore, he wasn’t alone. And considering the fact that one of our mentorless candidates has been proclaimed missing by her friends, I’m assuming that would be her with him. A female named Keruvia.”

“That unruly girl?” Althea’s brows rose a tad. “Rusi would say that they are a perfect fit for each other if she were here.”

“Hopefully, nothing bad comes out of this.” Asterios stroked his chin thoughtfully. “The last time he traveled through this region, he almost brought a True Dragon to the settlement. We better hurry with our pest control before he accidentally brings a whole gang on someone else’s heads on his way out. Or completely jeopardizes your gateway out of this realm.”

“But, what about the bet?” Visenna appeared shocked, but perhaps not as much as she might have been two months ago.

“I think that agreement has been rendered void,” Ast’s beautiful mentor replied. “He must have realized yesterday that he had lost miserably and escaped, hoping to cling to his fame for survival. Taking a disciple, he now has an excuse for leaving the nest, and they can start spreading rumors about us before we do, ensuring that our stories come second, whatever they are. I’m sorry, my dear.”

The younger emerald lady sighed heavily. “I was so blind. So stupid. It’s none of your fault. I should be thankful for having my eyes opened. It could have been me leaving with him and getting myself into whatever trouble he might be brewing out there for you. I’m ashamed of myself. And regretful that I can’t help you attain revenge against his disgraceful actions.”

“You were his victim too.” Asterios moved closer to stroke her shoulder tenderly. “You deserve to get back at him as much as we do. If he hasn’t gotten too far, I promise to grab that bastard and bring him before you two after finishing with the True Dragons. If he has already escaped, we’ll slowly hunt him down until he can pay for his atrocities.”

“Thank you, Lord Asterios.” Visenna bowed far. “It’s an honor to live in your domain. The way you treat all your subjects is like a dream. I wish you good luck on your hunt. Both of them, actually. I shall remain here in case you require my aid and to protect your allies if the need arises. Please, be careful.”

Asterios wanted to tell her that it was too much, but he knew that would be disrespectful to a certain extent. So, he simply nodded with gratitude, raising her back up. Then, offering a respectful incline of his head to the others too, he turned to Noir so they could begin their mission.

The Dragon girl stared at the Lesser Dragon woman for a moment before briefly glancing up at him and spinning around to march away. When she hid away the handkerchief he had given her, stuffing it gingerly into an inner pocket, he knew she was going to shift. And so, the two of them morphed at the same time, two ferocious True Dragons appearing on the stage.

A chorus of gasps reached them from afar, and everyone turned towards the audience benches. Numerous colorful heads poked past the furthest row of seats, peering down into the amphitheater with curiosity and amazement. It looked like the Nestmother’s arrival hadn’t been missed by her subjects, and quite some people followed her to see what was going on.

Meeting many intrigued pairs of eyes, Noir huffed indignantly and flapped her majestic wings, lifting off the ground. Asterios offered the spectators a mighty roar before following after her. Putting some effort in, he caught up still within the nest.

“Show off.” She snorted as she bent her neck to look back at him and dashed ahead.

Chuckling amusedly, he tailed her as they weaved through the floating rock formations and waterfalls. Soon enough, they shot out of the settlement and equalized their flight, slowly gliding away from the nest.

“Where to, then?” Noir asked without turning her attention away from the landscape in front.

Giving her mind a delicate nuzzle, Asterios shared the location given to him by Umbra with her. Charting a mental route there, she led the way, him flying by her side at the height of her wing, giving his friend the unmistakable guiding position.

“How should we approach this?” he asked after a moment of flying in silence.

“You are asking me?” She glanced at him weirdly. “It’s your plan and operation.”

“But you are more experienced in dealing with nests or True Dragons in general,” Asterios admitted honestly. “Do we just fly in there like this? Land ahead and approach on foot? In our Battle Forms or humanoid appearances? Is any of this going to provoke them, or can we even talk first?”

Noir regarded him with her intelligent gaze for a while before turning to the front again. “Are you comfortable with murdering immature offspring or destroying unhatched eggs?”

It was an abrupt question, but Asterios had an inkling of an idea where it had come from. In her own way, she was displaying her worry for him after witnessing and experiencing so much kindness in the past day. For her, such actions most likely weren’t even worth batting an eye, but she wasn’t aware of his stance on the topic.

~I haven’t noticed any small children or eggs during my last investigation, Master,~ Umbra chimed in. ~A few adolescent signatures at most, close to maturing, having in mind the usual timeline of your shared kin.~

He thanked his familiar for the input.

“I understand that the reality of True Dragons is a brutal and unforgiving one. The moment I sense killing intent or malicious thoughts from my opponent, I won’t hesitate, no matter who they are. It’s either me or them, and I would rather not make my mates and mother sad.” Asterios kept his tone firm, conveying his resolution. “That said, I’m undecided about the unborn. Can’t they grow up better when raised in a different environment, like me? Or is there something I’m missing?”

There was a hint of what he might be inclined to perceive as a grunt of approval before he received a response.

“Dragons born from eggs begin their life in their full forms, and that means their wild draconic side is in control for most of their growth. Their humanoid reasoning usually finishes developing about halfway into the maturing period, and that’s when they learn how to change into the corresponding shape, toning down their urges to a certain extent. But that might not be enough to live in everyday society. They are much more chaotic and amongst the majority who cause trouble and die a dog’s death as a result,” Noir kindly explained.

“That’s unfortunate. I guess early education isn’t everything. Perhaps I’ve been born a different way. I remember being an infant, but the very start of my life is still missing.” He hummed to himself. “How about you?”

“I was conceived in what is considered the primordial way, developing in my mother’s womb until the day of separation, brought to the outside world when she decided I was ready to tackle the challenge of life,” she said reminiscently. “Children born that way start in their humanoid forms, displaying a milder nature at first, growing fiercer as they develop and gradually gain access to and control over their draconic side, which manifests itself through subsequent features, starting with scales, until they can finally go full Dragon. As you can guess, they are almost polar opposite to their hatched counterparts.”

“So, there are the primordials and the hatchers,” Asterios wondered out loud.

Noir turned to him, surprise evident in her dark gray eyes. “You guessed the names for the members of those two camps just like that?”

“Camps. Figured people would be taking sides.” He shook his head. “I don’t know, it just rolled off my tongue. Like… instinctively.”

So, he was pretty sure both of them were considered primordials. Recalling Althea’s tales, he was intrigued about how that fit into the whole Primordial True Dragon legend and so on, before and after the collapse from the chromatic into the single color lineages. His father was the Primordial Red and her mother was the Primordial Black, if he wasn’t mistaken, both coming directly from the archaic True Dragons or their early descendants.

For the sake of clarity, he was going to start calling those ancient beings Prime Dragons. Or Supreme Dragons. Perhaps the girls would be willing to decide.

Anyway, Noir still seemed to regard him with some interest after his response before continuing.

“Of course, there would be camps. One side believes theirs is superior or the right one, and the other disagrees. Wars were fought over it and always will. Personally, I don’t care about those squabbles. All I care for is that the settlement I stop in for the night isn’t full of blood-thirsty maniacs unable to control their draconic urges to either fight or fuck. And unfortunately for the hatchers, that’s usually them.” The Dragon girl scowled in disgust.

Asterios nodded with sympathy, not like he could do much else without witnessing such things.

“But, we went greatly off the path there,” she added. “Your main question was about our arrival.”

“Still, I’m immensely grateful to you for sharing all of this with me,” he butted in quickly. “It might be boring and obvious for you, but it’s a completely new world to me. One I’m just stepping into. Every piece of information I can gather about it raises my chances of survival, lowering the probability of me accidentally fucking up somewhere and getting half of the race on my tail for doing some unspeakable thing that has been agreed as the most evil deed in existence.”

That drew out a laugh from Noir. “I don’t think there’s anything like that with how wicked our ways are. But, you are welcome. I’ll try to answer your questions now and then.”

From the sound of it, she seemed almost happy about the prospect. It gave him the impression that she knew a lot, perhaps not having anyone to share the amassed wisdom with. As someone from the Onyx bloodline, she was bound to research and investigate a lot for the sake of her schemes and clever plots.

“So, there are multiple ways we could go about this.” His partner brought him out of his musings. “Showing up in your humanoid form can be viewed as weak and force you to start from a worse position, the other side actively acting more dominant and less respectful towards you. Battle Form is a kind of middle ground. You don’t intend to, but you are ready to throw hands at any time. Then, there’s True Form, which either can mean nothing or be taken as a show of might, announcing that you fear nothing from the others and they should be the ones below, trying to appease your greatness and mercy.”

“Pretty logical,” Asterios commented.

“Our choice depends on the type of nest, so let’s leave it for when we get closer,” Noir said. “I’ll elaborate on the details when we know what we are dealing with.”

Technically, Umbra could share that information with them, but Asterios didn’t mention it. Instead, he had a different idea.

“Shall we pick up the pace, then?” He peered at the mesmerizing black Dragon next to him. “I’m suddenly extremely eager to get there and learn more from you.”

Noir chuckled lightly while shaking her head. “Race? If you beat me, I’ll give you one question with a guaranteed answer, as close to the truth as possible, no bias, misdirection, riddles, or obfuscation of any kind.”

“Ohohoho, you are on!” Asterios grinned at her. “I’ll give the signal!”

She grinned back, and her posture shifted into a more serious one. He prepared himself too, and gathered an explosive orb in his mouth. Sharing a nod with his rival, he launched it far ahead, both of them eyeing the swirling ball of flames like predators waiting for the perfect moment to spring after their prey.

Then, the sphere popped, bursting into a much bigger scarlet inferno.

They sped forward at the same time, piercing through the crimson veil. At first, Noir charged ahead, increasing the distance between them, making use of her much greater understanding of draconic body, possessing a lot more experience in using it too. But, even if he was a bit smaller than her and certainly much worse in all of those regards, he wasn’t any simple True Dragon.

Combining all three of his energies, Asterios spurred his physique to its very limits.

No, past them, actually.

He could feel muscles and ligaments tear with every flap of his wings, mending back together between the motions. It only stung a little as Tia’s essence soothed his pain as well as relieved him of any exhaustion. He could do even more with magic and various techniques, but since they hadn’t established any additional rules, he was going to beat her cleanly.

Noir certainly didn’t expect to suddenly be overtaken with speed that made her eyes widen in astonishment. Ast’s heavy laugh resonated through the air as he flew further and further away. She pushed herself as much as she could, but she was clever enough to understand that she wasn’t able to match his pace, and more importantly, surpass it so she could catch up and steal the lead back.

Maybe she could have if she used one of her dark enchantments, but as far as she could tell, he hadn’t aided himself with such things.

Therefore, this was a lost cause.

And Asterios seemed to know that too as he waited for her to regroup with him right away instead of doing so at the nest.

“Why did you stop?” Noir inquired with much less venom than he had expected.

“It would be boring to fly the rest of the way alone.” Asterios sighed with an exaggerated deal of pity in his tone, like he was sad life was so unfair. “Besides, we shouldn’t exhaust ourselves right before a possible grand battle.”

She kicked him in the side for the first bit, evoking a hurt whimper as he rolled over and began to fall as if deadly wounded. Snickering to herself at the sight and fading whines, she continued onwards. He came back up on the other side soon after, bearing a giant smirk. She rolled her eyes at him and sped up.

He was insufferable.

Yet she couldn’t help but smile a little.