Chapter 484 – The One Triquetra to Rule Them All

“What are you doing here?” Asterios frowned at the sight of the Dragon girl.

Noir actually looked properly chagrined at his question. “I know I shouldn’t have barged in without asking for permission first, but after you spaced out, I realized where you went, and kind of loathed being unable to reach you or know what’s going on, so…”

“I’m not exactly angry.” He shook his head. “But you can just do that?”

“Ah, right, you might not know.” Realization flashed through her expression, though it remained slightly guilty. “If you share a lineage or bloodline with them, it’s possible to invite someone into your Ancestral Plane. The exception to that is when you form a True Aide or True Mate bond with a member of another ancestry. It’s considered a great offense when someone enters without a request since this is our most private space and a lot can be understood from just a glimpse, obviously allowing the opportunity of being used against the host.”

That was good to know. She was truly proving herself to be an outstanding teacher, just like Althea had implied. Someone who came down from the most primeval descent, raised by no one else but the Primordial Black, had to be an impressive font of knowledge. And from how things were starting to look, this particular descendant had a penchant for learning.

“If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave quickly…” Noir took a quick look at him from top to bottom and covered her eyes. “You seem to be doing fine…”

“It’s okay. You can stay. I give you my permission to be here.” Asterios sighed softly, watching her peek at him through her fingers. “I’ll most likely bother you with many questions if you do, so let’s move to the ground first.”

“I’ll do my best to answer them to the fullest for this breach of etiquette.” She offered him the slightest bow, which just emphasized how serious this discourtesy was.

As they descended to the pleasant grass far away from the scary chasm, the Dragon girl’s head kept swiveling from left to right, her eyes wide with wonder. It wasn’t everyday one got the chance to sightsee such a unique place. All she must have known before was what he had too before retrieving his other half.

Since then, everything had simply been gradually escalating.

“Thank you.” Tia pressed a gingerly kiss to his cheek as he let her down.

Her voice captured Noir’s attention immediately, her brows rising to her hairline. “You are…”

“That’s right.” The giggly Dryad curtsied with a flourish. “Lord Asterios’ very own personal Arch Dryad. I didn’t expect the two of us to meet this early. Your knowledge seems to surpass my own when it comes to True Dragons.”

“So… very mature,” the Dragon girl noted, and it didn’t feel like she was talking about personality or character. “Many would raze entire realms to capture such a powerful specimen. No wonder he practically shrugged off my flames like they were nothing. I had no idea members of your kin this ancient still existed in unguarded worlds.”

“You are not so bad yourself, you know? Our Asterios has quite the talent and eye for fetching exceptional servants, doesn’t he?” Tia grinned foxily.

He expected a rebuttal there, but his new Servant didn’t show any signs of bristling at being reminded of her humiliating position this time. Save for a small twitch of her tail, but it was impossible to control all of one’s reactions.

“I’m glad you two are handling the first meeting well, but let us recap before continuing to bond, shall we? There’s one glaring issue we need to address.” Asterios put his fists on his sides and looked around. “Does anyone have any idea what happened and what all of this means?”

“May I ask for a quick catch-up?” Noir peered up at him expectantly. “This is slightly… overwhelming to figure out on my own.”

So, he briefly summed up the evolution of his Ancestral Plane, one event after another, gesturing between the currently visible manifestations of his Hearts and one source. To make it more comprehensible while lacking lots of context coming from his adventures, he weaved a few memories into the mix, helping her come to correct conclusions. In what felt like ten minutes, she was more or less up to speed.

“And now we are here.” Asterios spread his arms hopelessly. “The Tree is gold, it took a region of its own, and we have a ravenous pit between everything instead of the dead land.”

“I think the sunlight cluster appearing above my Tree after you absorbed it back then wasn’t a coincidence,” Tia chimed in first. “We might not have understood then, but it positioned itself in a spot that was going to one day be reached, triggering whatever change adding this much leftover light mana into your third source through my Tree’s roots was supposed to enable.”

“And the energy you stole from the Azure Dragons pushed you past that threshold,” Noir added, stroking her chin. “I agree with her. Your third source was simply not strong enough to bear this spiritual advancement. How does it feel right now?”

Diving into himself, even though he already was deep in his soul, he observed his three spiritual cores. His vivid examination even brought their depictions between them all, a trio of bright colorful spheres hovering in the air as they formed a triangle.

The top left one was Crimson.

The top right one was Onyx.

And the bottom one was… Gold?

“Correct me if I’m wrong… I might be misremembering things… But wasn’t my naturally formed source… green?” Asterios blinked confusedly at the formation.

“Yes, it was… It shared a robust affinity with Nature…” Tia blinked alongside him. “Now, however… It’s…”

“Life.” Noir displayed a shadow of an amazed smirk. “It’s brimming with Life. And Nature is just a subsidiary domain of it.”

“It is!” The gorgeous Dryad gasped. “This was the true potential of your third source! We fed it Light, then you added Water, and Nature bloomed into its final form! I feel like this was supposed to happen slowly, over centuries or longer, but being a True Dragon, you skipped so many steps!”

“Two Dragon’s Hearts are already an impossible thing, but the Source of Life beside them?” The Dragon girl rolled her eyes. “I can see how you came to the conclusion that it was just some weak core formed in the absence of your draconic halves, because no one would have been able to predict this. This also explains how you were able to bind an Arch Dryad to it, who is still considered a living being instead of a spiritual echo.”

Asterios stared between the two females who were growing more and more animated. They appeared to be in their own element, but to him, it was just getting more sophisticated and perplexing with every word.

“Let me get these things straight.” He captured their attention for a moment. “When I was just an empty husk, it wasn’t some simple natural energy that formed in my core but something akin to a seedling of life, which I guess was what kept me alive. We once thought this third source could grow strong enough to match my Hearts, and I get that this might just have happened. But, what exactly is it? It’s not another Heart due to the absorbed draconic mana, right? Is it something greater?”

“Sources that share affinity with Life, conveniently called Life Sources, just like there are Fire Sources, Ice Sources, and so on, which you most likely remember from your Summoner studies, are the rarest thing that appears in the universe.” Tia beamed at him delightedly.

“True Dragons bearing it are considered pretty much extinct,” Noir continued after her. “Yellows don’t come anywhere close. The True Golds who wielded this element are long gone, with maybe a handful hiding somewhere, preserving their immortal life and the remnants of the lineage. Easy to imagine, just like Dryads, our kin who possessed tremendous regeneration capabilities were the most sought-after members of one’s entourage.”

“But, what you have isn’t another Dragon’s Heart of this affinity. At least not yet. Maybe it can become one in the future. Maybe it won’t. Who knows? Does it even have to? Right now, it’s something that came out of nothing, so shouldn’t it be the most superior original version? It literally consumed those draconic energies that your normal Hearts couldn’t.” His flowery mate thrummed with excitement.

“We don’t know if it still can do that after the change, but once more, I agree with the Dryad.” The Dragon girl’s emotions were more subdued, but the tip of her tail was making up for that. “Then, there’s this chasm in the center. I don’t think it’s Void. It must be for something else. But, even here, standing this far away from it, I can feel it trying to pull my aura in as it does with all three lands on its every side. Wait. It might not be the all-consuming Void, but it still might be meant to absorb all affinities other than the main three and combine them.”

“Quite a wild theory you have there.” Asterios raked through his hair, combing it to the back. “And going with it, we would have the Golden Life which also can be considered Light. Possibly the Onyx Death, which has previously been just Darkness, if there’s some way to widen that affinity. So, what’s the Crimson one? Fire is too simple, no? Or is it just that and I’m expecting too much? I’m not ungrateful or anything, just trying to look at things in a similar way to yours.”

They fell into a silence for a good while, going through the riddle within their own minds.

Then, Noir shivered. “Crimson… Scarlet… Scarlet can be blood… Blood is body… Body means… Vitality! That’s it!”

Their attention was on her immediately, as puzzled as they were.

“Crimson Dragons aren’t most known for their fire but robustness! They are the strongest and most aggressive physically out of all the lineages! Because of their overflowing vitality! All that energy is incredibly hard to control, thus their famous temperament!” she explained her revelation.

“Of course!” Tia smacked her thigh. “Now, this starts making sense! The three elements are Life, Death, and Vitality! Life gives birth to Vitality, which is then claimed by Death! Death, in turn, consumes expired Vitality, making more space for Life! And Vitality itself is the necessary conduit that upholds the eternal Life-Death cycle by offering its Body as the foundation for every existing creature!”

“That sounded… profound.” Asterios felt quite out of his depth, like he was listening to secrets of the universe.

“If I’m correct… Does that mean the hole in the middle is for… Spirit?” Noir gazed into the direction of the enormous gulf. “I think I’ve read somewhere that all mana comes from Spirit, that’s why it’s called Spiritual Energy. And that would mean every flavor of it should fit in there. It’s the Ultimate Source. The Absolute Core. The Transcendent Heart.”

“This just sounds like you are spouting increasingly more absurd names.” He laughed, rubbing his eyes. “What is this? Some Path to Ascension? The girls are already going crazy with the whole Dragon God theory, please don’t fuel them even more, would you?”

“I don’t know. It’s starting to look less and less like just a theory.” Tia giggled impishly, grazing his arm with clear mischief.

“The Divine Dragon God Emperor.” Noir muttered quietly to herself.

“Not you too.” Asterios shot her an exasperated look and caught the sight of a sincere spot of rosiness on her pale cheeks. “And the naming is redundant.”

“It’s just a silly bedtime story!” The Dragon girl waved her hands defensively. “An ancient fantasy about the Prismatic Ancestors and the strongest one amongst them!”

“Oh, those ancient beings that the current shaded lineages split from? You must read it out to me someday. Their history, even if turned into a tale, is quite intriguing.” He tapped his lips.

“I will!” She nodded hastily multiple times. “Anyway, now that we have established some working theories on what happened and what it might mean, should the two of us return to reality? It’s not like we have to rush it here due to time dilation, but that female will be growing sicker with each passing second…”

Asterios could recognize a desperate attempt at a change of topic, so he gave his black-scaled friend a hand. “We can. Or we could look around a little more since we are already here. See if anything changed in the two supposedly hostile towards each other draconic regions.”

Her eyes sparkled at the prospect before she schooled her expression. “And I can accompany you?”

“Naturally. You know more about this place than I do, don’t you?” He raised a challenging brow at her.

“And than I do,” Tia added. “So, I’ll investigate the place I know the best, which is my Tree. You two have fun together. Call for me if you need anything.”

The beautiful Dryad pulled herself closer and joined their lips in a slow and sensual kiss. Batting her eyelashes sweetly at her handsome mate, she skipped away while releasing musical giggles. He couldn’t help but smile as she wiggled her hips with the obvious intention of having him look at her lovely behind.

When Noir arrived at his side, looking up at his face, he shook off the unnecessary thoughts and turned to his partner. “Shall we start with the dark side?”

Both agreeing on that, they flapped their wings and flew towards the land filled with onyx volcanoes. At first glance, nothing seemed amiss. The entire thing had just relocated, which might have been a trick of his mind. Or soul. Because he was present inside when the changes happened and his brain had to somehow process the transformation.

Soon enough, they arrived in front of the grandest mountain, which towered over the rest of its realm, including Ast’s own hill.

“That’s my mother’s,” Noir said, not needing to point out which one she meant.

“Maybe it’s due to all the insane stuff that happened recently, but it feels… smaller than I recall.” Asterios squinted at the tall mass of volcanic rock.

“The perspective switched,” she replied.

“Perspective?” He turned to her.

“You can feel the vastness of her aura from it, right? You can also estimate yours. The more aura, the bigger the volcano. But, you can’t gauge the difference accurately when you are considerably weaker. That’s why, when you progress and develop yourself, yours and the other hills adjust, your senses becoming capable of more precise judgment,” Noir shared.

“So far I follow.” Asterios inclined his head for her to continue.

“The entire perspective of the Ancestral Plane shifts to accommodate this. And thus, you will see my mother’s mountain shrink while yours increases in size. Although, it’s not just about aura. Age, experience, knowledge, and many other things can be part of it. Spiritual power makes the majority, but it usually isn’t enough to rival someone like the ancient Primordial True Dragon. I say usually, because of course, we have you…” She snorted to the side. “Ah, and that out there is mine, which should be the only one connected to hers, but let’s check that out and use it as a visual example of what I’m talking about.”

For her own, she did make a gesture with her finger, and the pair moved closer.

As she had said, they could spot the ominous black river connecting the two peaks. At the same time, they could also see Ast’s volcano not that far from Noir’s, which must have been brought near by the shift. They could easily put both of them and the giant one in their field of view.

“Tch. I knew it.” She grumbled under her nose, crossing her arms under her chest. “See how yours is bigger than mine even though my True Form is larger and I beat you in everything I listed off besides aura because you are cheating by having two Hearts which are somehow in harmony instead of turmoil and make both of your volcanic sides display combined might?”

“It’s still an impressively ferocious thing for its smaller size.” Asterios tried to cheer her up, smirking a little at her indignant huffing. “Neither of us seems even halfway up to your mother.”

“Again, perspective.” Noir sighed, accepting her defeat in this volcano measuring contest much easier than he had thought she would. “It’s not a linear thing. One day, it might fluctuate by a whole two-thirds. Another, the difference won’t be possible to measure. You aren’t even half a century old, and you have a bigger mound than me! Hundreds of years older!”

He laughed at her wording, and she threw him a scowling glare. After a while of intense staring, she realized why he was snickering so hard and actually reddened noticeably, releasing a vexed groan. She had dug her own grave with that and even buried herself in it so generously.

“Come. You showed me yours, so I’ll show you mine.” Asterios grinned.

She slugged him in the shoulder without holding back, evoking more chuckles from his wobbly figure, which looked like a drunk fly as he tried flying forward. It was such an amusing sight she let out a quiet chuckle too.

They regrouped closer to his volcano.

“It’s as I thought.” Noir hummed, peering into his stream running from Black’s mountain. “The connection is completely different. Your mates joked that you might be my mother’s clone or twin, but while that’s clearly not it, it also isn’t like we are related by the usual definition of that term. The flow is completely different. The banks are unalike. Even the coloring is off if we were to be of one bloodline. Do you understand the difference between the bloodline and the lineage?”

“I would like you to introduce me to your understanding of it,” Asterios asked politely.

“Basically, for True Dragons, bloodline is kind of what it sounds like. You share blood with your predecessor, horizontal relatives, and then your descendants. Think of it like your typical human genealogical family tree. The term blood relatives comes from this.” The well-educated Dragon girl opened one palm, then the other. “As for lineage, it’s more in the meaning of your shade, the color of your scales. Those might be onyx, ebony, inky, and so on, but they can all be sorted into the dark tones of black. We might be split into multiple clans and tribes, technically unrelated from each other, but track down the furthest point of ancestry and we all have come from the same source.”

“Yeah, I think I get it.” He smacked his lips together. “And according to the available evidence, I’m like a member of my own bloodline, completely separate from yours even though we both wear jet-black scales.”

“Sounds like it.” She shrugged noncommittally.

“Hell, I might even be from a different lineage, not like we can confirm it.” Asterios copied her. “What the fuck has this incidental spat between Red and Black resulted in? I bet neither of them would ever be able to foresee where it might have led with how unbelievable my development is. One impossible thing after another. Until what? We reach the height of absurdity? Man, my whole existence is the most ridiculous accidental universe pregnancy ever.”

That made her snort so loud she giggled from it and Noir smacked her hands over her mouth.

He smirked, but didn’t look, allowing her to save face. “Time to find out if there are any more surprises in Daddy’s kingdom. Ready?”

She recovered immediately. “You sure?”

“Now that you mention it… It does seem kind of treasonous… But what do I care about what that bastard thinks?” Asterios scoffed and bolted in the opposite direction.

Noir was right after him, and they zipped towards the crimson lands. They passed Tia’s Tree and traveled over the chasm, both of them noticeably anxious about the pit of never-ending emptiness spanning beneath them. Therefore, they sped up without having to communicate.

After a longer moment, the duo found themselves hovering in front of Red’s volcano.

His companion inspected his father’s aura closely, then scowled to the side. “I hate to admit it… But he is stronger than Mother…”

“Yet, she still almost did him in, forcing the asshole to spend the last few centuries running for his life,” he responded indifferently.

“And didn’t come out of it that much better…” Noir’s expression filled with sorrow, then she froze, noticing her slip-up.

Asterios silently reached out and ruffled through her wild black hair. She growled faintly, but didn’t move to slap his hand away. He kept caressing her head reassuringly for as long as she allowed it. Neither of them looked at each other, peering into the bubbling lava below their feet instead, simmering together in their individual emotions they held for their respective parents.