Chapter 483 – By Three They Come

The tunnels dug out by the True Dragons appeared fairly primitive. On the other hand, they didn’t need much of modern architecture and essentials if they were staying in their True Forms all the time. Althea and the Lesser Dragons enjoyed lazing around in their serpent bodies too, so it wasn’t like doing so was something to be considered inferior. Yet, it was clear these guys had taken their draconic freedom to a greatly exaggerated level, practically forsaking their humanoid side.

Asterios and Noir walked through long and winding passages that connected multiple personal dens and lairs. A few seemed to resemble food storages, communal hoards, and similar chambers. But, they weren’t interested in the lifestyle of the residents too much right now, heading straight for the last two living beings in the nearby area. Following the signatures, they found what had to be the Slave Pens.

Most stone cages were empty, a standing proof of the savage community’s failure to catch anything meaningful in the recent months. Not much had changed since Asterios had met the now-deceased blue Dragon by Rhufija’s nest. A few captives who had been beyond saving back then must have already perished. That left just the two new tenants, thrown together into the furthest prison.

The jail was filled with quiet echoing muttering which sounded like self-depreciating complaints combined with resigned sniffles. Considering the feminine tone, those came from Keruvia, the purple-haired girl. Jellal was certainly alive, but he either didn’t care about his disciple’s mental state or was deeply focused on something else.

Or he could have been gagged and knocked unconscious, Asterios noted, finally arriving in front of the pair.

While the woman sat with her knees pulled up, her arms wrapped around them tightly, and her face buried in her thighs, she was still very much awake. Contrary to that, her companion lay motionless by her side, his wrists and ankles tied together like that of a pig for slaughter with a string resembling strands of hair or fur woven together, his mouth sealed shut with another bundle that went under his chin and around his head, keeping it locked in place.

It looked like even the True Dragon couldn’t stand his irritating voice.

When Noir swung her new toy and crushed the reinforced rock bars into pieces, Keruvia flinched, peeking up from behind her knees.

“It’s so over…” She shook her head after noticing Asterios and dropped her face back down. “Why did things have to go this way… What did I do wrong… I just wanted to be recognized… Now everything is gone… It’s the end…”

Crouching down by her side, he gently rested his palm on her shoulder. “Everything will be okay. We took care of the True Dragons. No one is going to hurt you anymore. We can all go back—”

“You don’t understand!” Keruvia shouted, glaring at him with her reddened eyes. “There’s nothing to return to! I threw aside everyone to get out! I was even glad that bitch left him so I could take her place! I didn’t even hesitate when he asked me to come with him! It was my chance to become someone! Finally get a respected mentor! Stop being just some unwanted defect! And then! And then everything got fucked up instantly!”

A low growl escaped Noir’s throat as the woman grabbed Ast’s collar, shaking him during her rant, but he hastily asked her to hold back for his sake if she could. The sound ceased, but he could feel the tension behind his back without needing to look.

“This was supposed to be the grand start to a new life!” the distressed female continued. “Until that fucker led us right into the claws of those bastards! They were watching the path he took! Knowing about the way! It was impossible to escape! And what did he do? He fucking used me as bait to try and run! I can’t fly as fast as him! I saw him looking over his shoulder, but he wasn’t worried about me! Only about how much time I could buy him!”

At this point, Asterios had to hold down his own growl and could hear the squeak of Noir’s glove tightening around the hilt of her weapon.

“He acted like nothing was wrong after we were thrown here!” Keruvia spat in the man’s direction. “What was worse, he wanted to cooperate to escape! Fuck no! Then he kept nagging whoever came to laugh at us to talk things out, so they beat him almost to death! And instead of dying like the asshole he is, he told them about the nest so they would stop! Treacherous coward! We were going to die anyway, spineless moron! I didn’t even think about such a dastardly thing when those savage males were leering all over me! Fuck!”

Now they knew how the information had gotten out. The guy was a bigger pussy than a young girl who had lived in comfort for most of her life. Keruvia certainly was a rather ill-mannered and cruel female, but her strong will wasn’t anything to scoff at.

Unfortunately, even the strongest wills had their limits…

“I’m done for…” She slumped again. “I’m an accomplice and a traitor… The Nestmother will learn everything… Instead of sneaking out with him, I should have told the fucker to fuck off and ran to report the jerk to her… Everything would have been fine and everyone would even thank me after you would have killed him and all the True Dragons he would have led to the colony…”

It was easy to look back at one’s choices and find numerous much better and wiser options. But the past couldn’t be changed. However, the future could if one learned from those mistakes.

“Rather… I ruined it all…” Keruvia sobbed into her knees. “This is it… Enough... Just kill me…”

As Asterios opened his mouth to respond, a shadow was cast upon both of them. Glancing up, he found a greatsword raised high into the air. Noir’s piercing gaze was locked on the female’s exposed neck, her expression cold and unwavering. Before she could take the swing, he moved his arm into the way.

The Dragon girl’s eyes glided to him with a small frown. “She asked for it.”

“That’s kind of you, but not every wish should be granted.” He offered her a warm smile. “This woman is hurting badly. But not physically. There’s no need for the mercy kill just yet.”

Scoffing lightly, Noir lowered her blade. Asterios thanked her with a respectful nod.

“Get the idiot out of those bindings while I take care of this one.” He gestured with his eyes at Jellal. “Those ropes seem kind of special or else he would have easily torn through his restraints.”

Not too happy about her delegation, his trusty partner walked up to the man anyway, kneeling by the male’s side to fulfill Ast’s request.

“Keruvia.” Asterios brushed through the distraught girl’s vibrant hair. “It’s too early to give up. You might feel like everything is over, but believe me, you are nowhere smart enough to know that yet.”

He heard her snort into her knees, which was a win.

“You might have pushed your friends away, but they didn’t push you. Those girls went to the Nestmother and reported you missing. That shows how much they care, doesn’t it?” Asterios caressed her tenderly while speaking with a soft tone. “We all make mistakes. Then, we learn from them so that we can be better. You aren’t even a proper Disciple yet, so it’s not surprising you don’t know about that.”

This time, it was a quiet snicker.

“If you think you’ve reached the rock bottom and have nothing else to lose, then that’s the perfect place to start anew. You won’t ruin your image even more by apologizing for your faults if you don’t have any remaining image to ruin, right?” He smirked, spotting how she was struggling not to chuckle. “The truth is, everyone deserves a second chance. They just need to be willing to take it.”

The purple-scaled woman lifted her gaze to peer into his eyes, searching them for something. Finally finding the confirmation she was looking for, she smiled a bit, a few tears still trailing down her cheeks.

Then, she showed a cheeky grin, pointing a thumb to the side. “Yeah? Even him?”

They glanced together at the pitiful man currently being lifted by Ast’s friend and rotated around like a dirty wet rag while she checked for more bindings.

“Well…” Asterios wrinkled his nose. “Almost everyone…”

Keruvia laughed openly and shook her head.

Standing up, he offered her a hand and she accepted his help in rising from the rough ground too. She opened her mouth to say something, but the cavern shook just then, a mighty thud echoing behind Ast’s back, followed by a pathetic groan.

They turned and saw Noir holding onto the tip of Jellal’s tail in his serpent form, the man freshly slammed into the floor, having cracked it a tad.

“What?” The Dragon girl stared back at them. “He tried to run.”

“Alright.” Asterios sighed, resting his fists on his waist. “But let’s try not to damage him more than nece—”

“You damn lizard!” Jellal roared, twisting his head at him. “Get your bitch off me! Can’t even hold onto her leash properly?!”

Fuck.

Asterios could physically feel Noir’s eye twitch.

“What did you just say?” She displayed a big smile, which had nothing to do with joy.

“I said—”

SMACK.

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

Keruvia held onto Ast’s arm with all she had, the entire cavern filled with powerful tremors as Noir smashed Jellal repeatedly back and forth from one side to another. Each slam caused the pair to jump an inch into the air, pieces and bits of the ceiling falling off along with clouds of dust. Two impressive craters gradually deepened in the floor.

With one last slam and one feeble moan, the quaking ended.

Noir sneered, letting go of the tail and starting to dust off her palms.

She paused after meeting his gaze. “I’m not apologizing.”

He snorted and demanded no such.

Her eyes then jumped to the female clinging onto his arm and squinted slightly. The woman leaped away like she had gotten burned, hiding her hands behind her back. The Dragon girl sniffed and walked up to Asterios.

“Are we done here now?” Noir asked, still keeping watch on the other woman.

“I think so. Should I carry him or…” He peered over her head at the mauled Lesser Dragon.

“I can handle him.” She crossed her arms under her chest. “Can’t promise he won’t break, though.”

Smirking at her, he took note of another of those precious lip curls.

An idea popped in his mind and Asterios reached into his spatial storage. “Here. This might help.”

Raising a curious brow at him, Noir took a peek into his hand, and the other one joined too, both rising to her hairline. “Why do you have…”

“There was that one time back when it was just Miria and me where guards didn’t want to let us into a town without it because of how ferocious she looked,” he explained, smiling at the silly memory.

With his draconic friend now frowning at the actual leash that he was holding in his fingers, her brain must be working overtime to imagine how it could have happened to the adorable panthergirl.

“Ah.” Asterios leaned into Noir’s ear. “She can turn into a big cat that I used to ride on.”

The Dragon girl’s eyes snapped to his and widened, making him chuckle.

Urged on, she then walked back to the whimpering male and put a collar around his neck, attaching the cord to the metal loop. Giving it a testing tug, she nodded with satisfaction. Glancing back at him to convey that she was ready, she wrapped the band a few times inside her fist. When they started moving out, the detained serpent was dragged over the floor behind her like a dead fish.

Arriving at the mouth of the cave, they halted their advance to take a look around.

Keruvia’s face paled at the sight spanning before them. “What in the…”

Unable to finish, she hurled and vomited to the side with Asterios patting her on the back. This was a truly gruesome picture that Noir had painted on the canvas that was the burrows while using their inhabitants as her dyes.

“Did you do all of this…” The purple-haired lady peered up at him while wiping her mouth.

“It was mostly her.” He gestured at his companion with his head, who preened under the praise. “Do you think you can bear with this for a moment? We aren’t done with them yet.”

“I’ll just… be somewhere over there….” Keruvia slinked towards another hole in the hill.

Noir moved to his side. “She won’t get anywhere with a stomach this weak.”

“She’s young. And sheltered. She’ll grow.” Asterios almost patted her on the head but stopped himself in time, her eyes following his fingers sharply. “It’s time to get our claws dirty. Again.”

“I can start with the materials. Do you need flesh too or just the bones?” she asked nonchalantly.

“I’m not sure how I feel about feeding anyone the flesh of my kin, so let’s just burn it,” he replied as his mouth scrunched. “Do you think any Dragon’s Hearts remained?”

“Many were scared shitless so they might not have focused on releasing theirs. Plus, they were hatcher extremists. They aren’t as thoughtful about their Hearts as the rest of the species. Perhaps their leader was. Others that flock around such a figure are often not as smart or experienced,” Noir explained.

“They did seem kind of… weak.” Asterios stroked his chin. “I expected more trouble.”

“Ah, yes. You folded that patriarch like a book.” She showed a genuine grin.

“You saw that?” He looked at her with mild surprise.

“Of course. I might have been in the middle of a blood frenzy, but you are my partner, are you not? I need to be aware of how you are doing at all times. Isn’t that how this entire thing works?” The Dragon girl tilted her head at him.

“That’s… right.” Asterios was fairly impressed. “Thanks for looking after me, then. You were a force to be reckoned with, too. I didn’t even need to step in at any point.”

“Your dark cage helped a lot. It wouldn’t have been that easy on my own.” Noir waved him off. “But, you are correct, these were all weaklings. I would give them a solid… three out of ten. If they hadn’t panicked and properly used their hydro affinities, they might have been able to put up a decent fight and jump to five or even six out of ten. Luckily, this was just a nest of borderline hatchers, too reliant on their physique and toughness.”

“Is the majority like them or are there more True Dragons near the upper marks of your scale?” he wondered out loud.

“Depends.” She hummed. “If you put my mother as the ten, then there’s barely anything from nine to six, with me somewhere near the end of seven, I guess. You are a total freak, so I’m not sure there. Might be eight or halfway to nine, but she has way more years and experience than you. However, with us at the top, the spread is more even. One to five makes up about thirty percent, six to seven about fifty percent, eight to nine about fifteen percent, and ten with about five percent. Which, when you consider Black in that same tier, becomes extremely unreliable.”

“It’s a matter of perspective, really.” Asterios nodded to himself.

“Just so.” Noir grunted in agreement. “As one of my older brothers used to say, there’s always a bigger fish. Perhaps I should have listened more closely to his wisdom.”

“If you did that, we wouldn’t have met.” He smirked at her.

“True, I guess.” She snorted to the side. “Back to work, though. That kid won’t have anything to throw up soon if we take too long. Try sensing the leftover Hearts. Pick the most stable ones.”

Sauntering away, Noir started collecting resources, unfazed by having to butcher her own brethren. Asterios closed his eyes and spread out his aura. He felt it wash over her, causing the silhouette in his mind’s eye to turn to him. Contrary to her usual fierce and cold expressions, this Noir was smiling at him openly.

Feeling like he was looking at something he shouldn’t, he focused on the pulsing points all around them. Many were almost gone, most gradually fading away, a few destroyed right from the start by their more capable owners. Maybe two or three were worthy of his attention, and he moved to the strongest one.

As expected, it wasn’t the Father’s. The patriarch was one of the individuals who had crushed his own Dragon’s Heart during his demise.

Nevertheless, finding a good angle, Asterios transformed his arm and drove his claws into the bulky body of one of Noir’s kills. His fingers latched onto the hot crystallized source and ripped it out. Azure tongues of fire swirled inside the pretty fist-sized gem. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to crush it.

Before he did, he felt someone’s palms on his back, spotting Noir over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Staying close in case you need help,” she answered. “If this doesn’t work or proves to be too much for you just yet, I’ll try aiding your fight against the wild energy.”

“Thank you.” Asterios smiled at her cordially.

Noir looked aside. “Be careful.”

Returning to the orb, he squeezed his fingers into a fist, an explosion of spiritual energy bursting into the air right after. Recalling the feeling of both previous times he had absorbed it, he attempted to draw the blue flames into himself. The azure fire burned his scales viciously as it seeped into the gaps, searing his flesh too, but it was working somewhat.

His dual Dragon’s Hearts pulsed hungrily as the draconic mana flowed into his system, gathering between the three sources. However, as much as he tried guiding it to either the Crimson or Onyx side, the Azure mana thrashed wildly inside him, causing unimaginable pain. It didn’t want to go down that path, being consumed by another lineage.

It might be possible to force his way through the issue with Tia’s restorative powers, but it felt like hours of agony without any guarantee of a result other than damaging his circuits. The two Hearts weren’t capable of fully dominating the energy either, and in front of its defiance, they were losing their interest, metaphorically speaking.

Noir’s aura was starting to slip inside as the worried girl couldn’t stand back twiddling her thumbs anymore, but Asterios had one more idea to try.

Ignoring his Dragon’s Hearts, he fully opened his third source, the one closely related to nature. At first, not much changed, but then, the Azure spirit tentatively licked at the warm cluster. Grasping that opportunity, he guided the blue flames inside and sensed them dissipate inside the refreshing and invigorating sea of natural power. A minute later, he opened his eyes, watching his burns quickly heal up.

“You did it?” Noir peeked at his hands with fascination.

“Kind of…” Asterios wasn’t too certain. “Couldn’t get it into my Hearts, so I absorbed it into my normal source. Maybe I just need more practice.”

They stood together in silence before he moved to another corpse. She got back to work too, monitoring him from nearby if she needed to jump to his side quickly. But the remaining few Hearts went the same way, with him leading their energy into his third source. He gained enough understanding and proficiency in the technique after repeating it multiple times that even the slightly fading crystals weren’t off the table. Soon, the last viable one dissipated in his hand.

“You do feel a little stronger, albeit not that much.” Noir’s sharp eyes roved over his face and front.

“Can’t expect too much that easily.” Asterios chuckled. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be too fair for other—”

He suddenly gasped, clutching at his chest as he dropped to his knees.

“Hey!” She was down by his side immediately. “Are you okay? Was this too much? Fuck! I should have stopped you after one or two! Stupid!”

It was difficult to do anything but groan and grunt, effectively impossible to speak. Something was happening but even he wasn’t sure what. Whatever it was, it didn’t feel corporeal.

~What’s going on…~ Tia’s bewildered voice triggered an alarm in his mind.

Asterios immediately dove into his soul.

※ ※ ※

Perhaps thanks to his subconscious desire, Asterios opened his eyes next to Tia, both of them standing in front of her Tree rooted into his Ancestral Plane. It looked a bit weird and glowy, but his eyes instantly moved to the shocked Dryad.

“Everything alright?” He took in her caramel figure in search of anything.

“I’m fine, but everything suddenly…” She pointed at the Tree.

The land beneath their feet quaked, almost throwing them to the ground. Asterios swiped his dainty mate into his arms and flapped his wings to bring them up and away from the gargantuan trunk. Only then did he realize that the leaves were gold instead of green, and the bark seemed kind of coppery.

“Where’s the sunlight cluster?” He asked, not seeing the miniature sun he had brought in during their journey through Umbra’s realm.

“It merged with the Tree just before you came,” Tia replied, her tone tinged with wonder. “The more energy you absorbed into your third source, the bigger my Tree grew, that was nothing new. At least until the branches reached the orb of light.”

Their conversation was interrupted by an earth-splitting rumble. Then, something happened that actually matched such an accurate description. It felt unbelievably trippy, but they watched as the perspective of the entire place shifted before their eyes, the big volcanoes and the Tree changing their positions.

By the end of the grand migration, the no man’s land that previously separated the two draconic lineages turned into a massive triangle with equal sides. Behind the additional side stood the Golden Tree, its personal zone adorned with beautiful grasslands. Almost divine radiance capped its rich crown.

The duo thought the changes were finally done, but that was when the stronger shudder hit the Ancestral Plane. Their eyes almost popped out of their sockets as the central shape of the barren wasteland abruptly plunged into the depths of… nothingness.

A deep dark chasm came into existence in the middle of the three spiritual factions surrounding it. Neither Asterios nor Tia could wrap their heads around the emergence of the pit. The hole didn’t give off ominous vibes like the energy of the void or darkness, but there still was something. Judging by how dust, smoke, and air in general seemed to be drawn into it, it yearned to be filled.

But, with what?

“What in every conceivable hell is all of this?” A familiar voice reached their ears from behind.

Asterios turned them towards its source, his brows rising in bafflement.

Noir flapped her black wings slowly, her face overtaken by confusion and awe.

The surprises just didn’t end, did they?