Rise of the Weakest Summoner

“Oops…” Bryn groaned guiltily, flopping over to bury her face in a nearby pillow, showcasing her gorgeously chiseled back to the world.

But, Ast’s eyes were fixated on the frozen demon lady on the other side, who smiled at him sheepishly as she dragged her arm up her smooth stomach to prop her enticing chest from below a little more.

“Ummm…” Grea batted her lashes at him but saw clearly that nothing was going to work in the current situation. “We might have been a tad too horny the entire day… and forgot to tell you…”

The last words were no more than a whisper as her gaze escaped to the bedding.

Asterios rubbed his eyes before sighing heavily and falling back onto the mattress. Both women took a peek at him from their sides, judging how angry he was. But, while they had felt a small spike of anxiety and fear, for their safety, not his, they weren’t hit with much more than that. And he was already calming down.

“Sorry…” His crimson-skinned lover snuggled to his arm.

“It’s alright. If it was something serious, you would have brought it up the moment we stepped into the realm.” He reached out to brush her cheek with one hand while giving Bryn’s magnificent rump a delicate smack on the other side, causing the revealed part of her face to redden a tiny bit. “What is this about?”

The well-endowed valkyrja rolled over and hugged his arm to her body too. “A few weeks after your departure, we found an intruder in your chambers. It was a late night. We were both taking care of our personal projects so we were away.”

“I missed your scent and decided to get a whiff from our bed before crashing down in my lab, but when I entered our bedroom, I saw a shadow standing in the middle of the chamber while frantically looking around for something,” Grea picked up after her. “But, it turned out it wasn’t actually a shadow, just a person dressed in black with deeply dark skin.”

“Noctis,” Asterios whispered.

“Got it in one.” She snickered. “I immediately sent Aura after that bitch and took her down. Bryn was with me in a flash, sensing my distress. We threw her into a cell and interrogated a few times, but didn’t gather much. And we didn’t want to go too far before you got your chance. Or Umbra.”

“I’m surprised someone made it this far,” he admitted. “Looks like we need to tighten our security. Who knows what could have happened to you if you were sleeping at that time.”

“We would have sensed the danger immediately, Master. Thanks to your great influence.” The winged lady ran her fingers over his chest. “But, here’s the thing. When we asked around, Venuzathor said he just ignored her because she was not a threat.”

“I understand that, in his eyes, it was like letting a mosquito pass, and she was in fact utterly weak, but he shouldn’t have let an assassin in no matter what.” His naughty lover huffed. “It doesn’t make him look good.”

Asterios wondered about that. “And she’s still alive?”

“Yes. She’s behaving well. Begging to speak with you every time we check on her,” Bryn answered. “We can go to her if you would like, Master.”

“In the morning,” he replied. “If the situation is under control, there’s no need to rush there right away. This should be your night. I’m glad you are safe. And thank you again for all you did in our absence.”

Grea cooed sweetly and started peppering his face with dainty kisses while pressing her seductive body into his side. Her feathery sister-mate didn’t stay idle either and offered him a few loving pecks with her lips curled into a grateful little smile, feeling warm inside from his honest affection and care.

Letting the girls pamper him for a few minutes, he somehow managed to convince them to get some sleep instead of performing other activities that were close to repeating themselves. Cuddled together, they dozed off, both ladies laying their heads atop his chest.

Miria was the one to wake them up, bouncing into the room all giddy that their plan to let her beloved master have some fun with the pair succeeded. She hopped all over them until Asterios pacified the energetic girl with some rubs and scratches. They went to wash up while he called everyone to gather for breakfast and some news.

Grouping up in their mess hall, enjoying the days of being all together once more. Both sides, those who had stayed and those who had left, missed each other greatly. Eating up, they chatted a lot and Asterios observed happily as Tina and Grea continuously teased one another about the fun stuff they had been up to and if the Summoner lady had taken proper care of him.

That was until he motioned for the duo to bring up the news and everyone grew serious after listening to the unexpected event.

“She dared

He decided not to correct her that he didn’t have an actual lair.@@novelbin@@

Yet.

“Let’s get Umbra and get to the bottom of this,” Tina said with a firm tone, just as angry as her sister-mates. “The mastermind can’t go unpunished.”

“I wonder if it’s a political misdirection and the dwarves used noctis to shift the blame after finding out that it was us who were sniffing around,” Silvia contemplated. “I don’t think they are so stupid to murder a monarch, but they are fairly secluded so they could have been uninformed. In any way, I’ll be ready to involve Father if necessary.”

“First, we will talk,” Asterios chastised them. “Then, we shall see. It’s not guaranteed she even knows who hired her so let’s save brain scrambling for the last.”

Finishing up, they followed Bryn and Grea to the castle’s dungeons, where the culprit was being held. A few minutes of going down many steps through multiple intersections, they reached the correct cell, guarded by two soldiers from their garrison. The men saluted respectfully and moved away, giving them space and privacy.

With their lord and all his ladies present, there was nothing that they could help with and they knew it perfectly well. Many guards looked up to their strength.

Unlocking the heavy door, Asterios peered inside. The cell consisted of a wooden cot attached to one of the brick walls via metal chains, a self-replenishable sink, a replaceable toilet bowl, and one glowing crystal serving as the only source of dim orange light. It was a quite rough locum but definitely not inhumane. He made sure that their prisoners wouldn’t be treated like things.

The woman locked inside didn’t even move from her location to the noise of the door, sitting in the corner with her knees pulled into her chest, resting her head against them. She had skin dark as night and chin-long gray hair, wearing a silvery set of shorts and a top made of decent fabric that wouldn’t chafe. She seemed completely resigned to her fate of remaining there until she rotted away.

Taking a step forward so as not to block the entrance, Asterios cleared his throat. A single purple eye peeked up at him from above the knees before hiding from sight again. Then, the woman jerked and flung her head up, both eyes wide.

“It’s you!” she rasped with a hoarse voice, definitely unused for a while.

She launched herself off the floor with a very unstable step, reaching out. Immediately, multiple auras exploded behind Asterios and Miria slipped underneath his armpit, one of her shortswords already drawn and sharpened with mana, moving at a perfect arc to behead the assassin in one strike.

“Stop!” he shouted, grabbing her by the collar.

His overzealous mate yelped and the pull made her miss the female’s neck by a finger or two. She fell on her butt at the same time as her terrified target, who hastily pushed herself back to the wall with fearful eyes. After noticing that no one else was coming after her, she shifted her position with incredibly slow movements, pressing her forehead to the ground.

“Please…” she whispered roughly again.

“Bryn?” Asterios glanced at his winged mate over his shoulder.

The Valkyrie dismissed her javelin of light and stepped past him, brushing through Miria’s hair on her way, getting rid of the bruise Ast’s quick catch rubbed into the panthergirl’s neck. Reaching the noctis, she knelt by the woman’s side and rejuvenated her throat. It wasn’t parched, evident by the filled waterskin atop the cot.

“Who sent you?” Asterios asked firmly after the healing effect faded, scratching behind Miria’s ears as she decided to stay next to him in a crouch.

“Nobody…” the criminal answered.

“Bullshit.” Grea sneered. “Same old.”

The assassin looked up at him. “I swear! I’m not a paid killer! I’m a member of the cult but I had my reasons!”

“To what? Break into our Lord’s chambers?” Selene glared at her.

“Yes!” she replied. “I had to meet you, My Lord!”

“By sneaking into his room late at night.” Silvia deadpanned at her.

“How else was I supposed to do it?” The female looked between them and gestured at herself. “Look at me! I’m a noctis! Do you think your people would have given me kind greetings and happily believed I wanted to just talk?”

“Yes,” they answered in unison.

“Oh.” She blinked at them blankly. “Really?”

Asterios sighed heavily and moved to sit on the cot, patting the board next to him. He didn’t feel threatened by the noctis, but he was keeping his senses sharp anyway. If his intuition was right, Venuz hadn’t considered her a threat not because she was weak but because she had no ill intentions.

“I understand how you might have come to that conclusion,” he said calmly. “It seems like you are quite desperate and didn’t scout out the city before your attempt.”

“I’m… not a scout or assassin…” The woman hung her head down. “Just a grunt…”

Meeting his eyes again, she saw he was waiting for her, still patting the cot. Giving the other females a hesitant glance, she slowly moved to sit on the opposite side, keeping herself out of his reach. Or him out of hers.

“So, who are you, what are you doing here, and how do you know me, because it seems like you are targeting my person specifically,” Asterios inquired.

“I saw you. In the cave with the Tree and the poison towers,” she replied quietly.

“We killed everyone, though?” Althea frowned. “And the Queen’s forces took care of all the escapees.”

“One of the towers you destroyed crumbled onto me and I was buried underneath it. I thought that was my end, but before I could suffocate, the ground shook violently and the rubble got dislocated,” the survivor explained. “I was going to run, but something made me stop by the giant hole in the ground where the Tree previously was. What I saw, I couldn’t believe my eyes. An actual True Dragon going head to head with the Matriarch’s guardian. I watched until the end, then panicked. Thankfully, I saw the Matriarch’s escape rune in the bloodied remains of her transformation and used it to get to a safehouse.”

“What kind of luck is that?” Bryn chuckled to herself.

“Okay. So you made it out of that massacre. We took care of your leader. You shouldn’t have a reason to follow her directives anymore. Assuming you wanted to, from your own will, why did you come here instead of seeking other remnants of your cult?” Asterios continued his questioning.

“You killed the Matriarch, yes, but that didn’t stop the curse.” She shook her head. “From what we are taught, our ancestors made a deal with a True Dragon of darkness, becoming its slaves. The contract is hereditary. As long as at least one of us lives, we are compelled to obey. With our leader gone, who shares the strongest connection with the Dragon, another will rise, either by birth or through an awakening. It supposedly takes a while since it is some powerful draconic magic that needs to cross worlds. But, in the end, this will continue forever, either until we are wiped out, or…”

“The Dragon dies,” Tia joined in, rising from the shadows by one of the walls. “And we all know this particular one is fixated on getting to me so he might be lying low, playing it safe.”

“Damn it.” Ast’s mentor cursed to herself. “Civienne won’t be happy about this. We thought all she had to do was hunt the leftovers.”

“So, we have a revenge-filled bastard slowly building an army to destroy us for ruining his plans,” Tina summed up. “Whoever gets chosen as the next leader will certainly convey most of what has happened, and even if the noctis don’t know that the Tree is with us, they definitely know who obliterated their main base.”

“The Tree is… here?” The woman looked at them with pure shock.

Miria giggled. “Doesn’t look like they know.”

“We shouldn’t discuss such secrets openly. She might be passing this information to the others even now,” Selene commented.

The not-assassin hastily waved her arms. “No! We have to talk normally to pass on information! Or communicate in any other way! Only the chosen leader gets the link to the master!”

“Let’s say we believe you so far,” Asterios said, recapturing her attention. “Circling back to our initial questions, why are you here?”

She met his gaze and her lips tensed. The girls raised their awareness as the captive dropped to the ground and spun around, prostrating herself in front of their master.

“Help me, My Lord. You are my only hope,” the noctis begged. “It’s too late for me. I committed grave sins while under the command of the Matriarch. But, my sister. My sister is young, her obligation still inactive. The leaders have no influence over the kids. Only adults can be commanded against their will. But, that doesn’t mean she is safe. There are horrible rituals that require sacrifices. I fear that the more devoted of our members might try awful things to quicken the ascent of a new Matriarch. She doesn’t deserve to die like this. She did nothing wrong. She did nothing wrong… She—”

By the end of her plea, there were more sobs than words leaving the woman’s throat, turning her sentences unintelligible. But, everyone could guess what she wanted to say.

“Enough.” Asterios placed a hand on her shoulder, his voice firm. “If we confirm that you are speaking the truth and not luring us into the Dragon’s elaborate trap, I can promise you to rescue your sister.”

“I swear on anything you want!” The tear-stained female wailed, trying to gaze up. “I don’t care what happens to me! Split my head open to peer inside if you wish! Just promise me you will save my sister!”

Seeing how she was just descending into further despair, Asterios sent a blast of his draconic authority to overwhelm her with his presence. She shuddered beneath him with fear but stopped crying, her instincts of fight or flight triggering over her distress. It certainly was the latter, but her entire being knew she had no chance to run.

“Better.” He offered her a small smile. “I feel like I can believe you, but I have many under my protection now, so we will have to make sure. I’ll talk to some of my allies who might be able to scan your mind without breaking it. I think your sister would appreciate that. Until then, I’ll have to keep you under lock and key, unfortunately. I assume you will be willing to cooperate?”

Wiping her face as much as she could, the noctis nodded awkwardly. “Y-Yes… I’ll do anything… My sister is in—”

“Not yet.” Asterios stopped her. “We will be asking you about lots of things, but only after everything is confirmed. I do give you my word, though, that if it is, we will do whatever we can to aid you. Is this alright?”

Taking a few deep breaths, the woman partially calmed herself down. “It’s more than I deserve. I hoped this would work out, but I was more sure I would either be killed on sight or captured and tortured for information on the cult. This is already something of a dream. I’ll try to be patient. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” He patted her on the shoulder. “It doesn’t sound like kidnapping your sister saves her from the same dark fate. I don’t know if we have the means to fully free you two. But, we will look for answers.”

She didn’t respond, tearing up again, this time for another reason. Asterios stood up, leaving the woman with her face in her hands behind, and walked out of the cell. The ladies filed after him in silence, sensing his inner turmoil. He might have looked composed, but what they had learned clearly affected him. They knew very well how good their beloved was at controlling his external emotions while unstoppable infernos burned inside his heart.

Reaching the two guards, Asterios nodded toward the cell. “Transfer her to the house arrest section.”

“Those noble-like chambers, sir?” The left guy was visibly confused. “For a criminal?”

“She might prove to be a valuable ally,” Asterios explained. “Any problems with my decision?”

The other sentry elbowed his companion and saluted respectfully. “No, sir! We shall follow your orders right away!”

He jogged towards the cell while the first guard ran ahead to report the new command and start the process. Finished with what he needed, Asterios swallowed them all into his shadow and transferred everyone back to their bedroom. Leaning onto the nearby windowsill, he took a deep breath as he gazed outside.

“Althea?” Asterios turned around.

“It is possible,” his wise mentor reminded him. “True Dragons can decide if descendants of their slaves or servants inherit the bond. It’s a bit different with aides and mates, as we have discussed before.”

“What are we going to do about this, Master?” Miria trotted up to him and leaned into his side.

“Do we know a way to break this deal?” he asked.

“Without convincing the master to cancel it or politely die for us?” Althea crossed her arms under her chest. “I’m afraid not. At least I don’t remember any. We could consult Rhufija, Abyss, or someone else.”

“This is difficult,” Silvia commented, supporting her chin on her fingers. “We lack information and I doubt this deserter knows anything substantial about their master. She said she would do anything. Perhaps we can ensure she turns into the next Matriarch, giving us a puppet in the Dragon’s service?”

“If we can find out where that Dragon lives through her, Asterios can just slice into his house and murder the bastard in his sleep.” Grea smacked her fist into her palm. “He won’t expect that.”

“It’s risky. She might unknowingly give him information on us when they connect,” Tia chimed in. “And are you really okay not doing anything about the mentioned atrocities just to gain a pawn in this game?”

“Definitely not,” Bryn answered for all of them, the entire group nodding.

They thought for a moment in silence. Selene moved to Ast’s other side and played with his hair a little.

“Do you have any ideas, my Lord?” She pressed a gentle peck to his cheek.

“Yeah.” A smile started forming on his lips. “One that doesn’t fall too far from your suggestions.”

“Oh?” She grinned at him curiously.

“We pretty much confirmed this guy comes from the black lineage, right?” Asterios asked.

“Yes,” Tia replied. “Why?”

He met their gazes with a growing smirk. “I think it’s about time we try our hand at another True Dragon summoning, ladies.”