Slowly approaching the middle, Asterios regrouped with the ladies. While they were walking, the dense fog dispersed almost completely, drawn into a single point ahead. The leftover mist coalesced together in a swirling motion until it began assuming a vaguely humanoid shape. A few seconds after they stopped before it, the now opaque smoke formed its smooth figure, lying on its back on the ground while supporting itself on one elbow, the other hand holding onto its side.

“How in damnation were you able to not only know but even perceive each other’s horrors?” A heavy disembodied voice resounded around them.

Asterios quickly realized that the entity was still in their heads, speaking to them mentally, most likely incapable of any other form of communication.

“There are no strangers in this company,” Selene replied proudly.

“Those were supposed to be your darkest thoughts and secrets,” the monster continued. “It’s not something you would ever share with anyone. Even you might not have been completely aware of them.”

“Unfortunately for you, we are one in more than a single meaning of that expression,” Silvia added. “We share everything, even things we ourselves miss or wish not to be real, repressing them deeply.”

“Long story short, we are most likely the worst opponent you might have confronted,” Asterios said, taking a step closer to the defeated fog creature. “Save maybe for Umbra and his creator, but you weren’t even able to affect him and she would have simply removed you from existence if only she wished.”

The monster laughed at him. “You might have somehow bested me, but you are dreaming if you think you can kill me.”

“Why wouldn’t we be able to?” Miria tilted her head at the figure. “You are right here at our mercy.”

“Stupid.” The Horror sneered at her, even though it technically didn’t have a facial expression. “Have you understood nothing from this battle? You might have hurt my body, but I’m formless. I’ll simply reassemble. And as long as even a single particle of me survives, I will recover back to full with enough time. Good luck trying to hack and slash at me with your puny mortal weapons.”

“I’m beginning to think the inhabitants of this realm might be having a bit of an obsession with their supposedly infinite lifespans.” Tina smirked softly while glancing at Asterios.

He could feel the slight hint of embarrassment coming off the entity currently enveloping his mind.

“So, all we need to do is to collect every last piece of you in one place, isn’t that right?” Althea pondered out loud.

“And what?” The monster cackled. “Whatever you hit me with, be it magical or physical, will just ruin all that effort. Though, it might be entertaining to watch you struggle.”

The girls all exchanged glances amongst themselves and Asterios, sly smiles painting their faces as their thoughts were completely unified.

“Who said we were going to hit you?” Selene asked with an impish grin as she stepped forward and raised her palm. “Thank you for conveniently gathering yourself for us.”

A spiritual breeze picked up around her, starting to spin throughout the entire crater. Cerulean winds created a visible cyclone as it gradually shrunk towards the middle with each rotation. When it reached the center, it pulled the monster’s fog into itself, sucking in every single particle of the thick mist.

“What?” The entity’s shocked and confused voice still echoed through their heads. “Is your goal to make me dizzy? Wait. Why can’t I pass through this wind?”

She let out a delicate chuckle. “I would be extremely disappointed in myself if I wouldn’t be able to restrain such an easy target.”

Asterios showed up by her side while pulling something out of one of the pouches at his belt. He brought up a fairly sizable empty vial and uncorked it. Their eyes met and their grins only intensified. Holding it at an angle, he positioned the glass container near her fingers as she twirled them elegantly.

The already tiny cyclone floated closer and its bottom end slid into the opening. It pooled inside the flask, drawing in all the fog alongside its powerful rotations. Everyone watched as the last bits of the thick smoke flowed into the vial, sealed with a cork by Asterios once more. He then passed it onto Selene, who drew a few glowing sigils over the neck of the bottle with her fingertip. The creature’s new prison shook a few times as it attempted to escape, but the struggles ceased after a few fruitless tries.

“Another souvenir obtained.” The fox lady chuckled in amusement. “At this pace, we will run out of space to store all the things we collect on this journey, even with your rather spacious inner world, my Lord.”

Abyss descended from the sky, capturing everyone’s attention.

“Did we get it all?” Asterios asked her, knowing she would most likely have the highest chance of noticing.

“According to my observations, yes you did,” the dark-skinned woman answered. “A clever solution.”

“I always wanted a Djinn in a bottle!” Miria bounced to Ast’s side with sparkling eyes. “They were in so many stories.”

He held the bottle out to her. “It’s all yours.”

“Really?” She looked at him with pure adoration, receiving the most valuable gift. “Thank you so much, Master! I promise to try my best not to rub it!”

The girls laughed lightly as the overjoyed panthergirl hopped around Asterios and drowned him in fluffy kisses. Showering him enough in her love and gratitude, she moved aside to admire her new trinket from up close, shaking the vial a few times and observing the mesmerizing fog swirl inside. Asterios could swear he saw a despairing face spin in it but she seemed not to notice.

“Is everyone alright?” he then asked, turning to examine his precious companions.

The ladies nodded appreciatively. As they did, he walked up to Silvia, who met his eyes knowingly.

“I want to say that it’s not as big of a deal as you think, but I have a feeling that it’s not going to work,” the princess said with a faint curl at the corner of her soft lips.

“Nope.” Asterios shook his head and gently wrapped her up in a loving hug from the front. “But I’m not going to demand you talk about it right now. I’ll just say once more what many people must have already told you. It’s not your fault.”

“Bold coming from someone who felt and most likely still feels somewhat guilty for what happened to Teira.” She let out a quiet chuckle and reciprocated the embrace, pulling herself more into him. “But, thank you. For this and for what you said to her. Words can’t describe how happy I am to hear that. Even if she wasn’t real.”

They stayed in each other’s arms for a while, and as they separated, Asterios spotted a few stray tears on Silvia’s cheeks. He affectionately wiped them off and offered a loving peck to his beloved princess. She smiled charmingly and stepped back. His gaze then wandered over all the other women, pausing a little longer on Selene, who nodded slightly with her cheeks gaining a bit more rosiness, getting the message conveyed through his eyes easily.

“Well, then.” He put his hands on his hips. “The threat has been neutralized. I’m not so happy it was an actual threat again after we have already gone through something fairly similar. The monsters here seem to make nothing out of our mental defenses, to the point that we can’t even figure out we are being affected by their abilities.”

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“I believe this might be my fault, Master,” Umbra chimed in as his humanoid form rose from the ground next to Asterios.

“How so?” Tina looked at him curiously.

“We’ve spent a lot of time deeply connected back in the other realms,” the Lord of Shadows began. “It’s fair to say that I can be considered something rather unique outside of this world. With how deeply we have bonded, my spiritual signature has been identified by your mind as a close ally. Unfortunately, in here, there are a number of entities who share this aspect closely enough for it to be mistakenly confused.”

“You might be right, Little Shadow.” Abyss tipped her galaxy hat at them. “I would have come to the same assumption after considering my time spent wandering the universe.”

“Does this mean that we will be at a huge disadvantage against the inhabitants of these lands?” Selene stroked her chin.

“No. This only applies to the entities possessing the same affinities as mine, meaning shadow and mind,” Umbra corrected her. “However, from now on, even those won’t be able to take us by such a surprise. I’ve been made aware of this little hole in our defenses and patched it up immediately. I’ll remain on active lookout for further incidents like these and you will recognize them right away with my help until your minds catch up and it’s no longer needed.”

“We’ll always appreciate your assistance, no matter what,” Asterios reassured him. “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It’s good to have an expert on the topic amongst us.”

“I’m far from the most knowledgeable person here.” The Duke turned to Abyss.

“Don’t discredit yourself so heavily,” the eerie lady said. “So much has changed since my last visit that you might truly be the more experienced person between the two of us. I was not aware of creatures like this Horror. It might have not been able to do anything against me, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was a new discovery for my collection of wisdom.”

“What she says.” Miria came back to join in on the conversation, still holding the vial in her hand, the fog swirling with a fresh shake. “You were the one to identify this monster, weren’t you? It’s only because Master was sure we could handle it that he didn’t just request you to take it down, not because he doesn’t trust in your capabilities.”

“If that’s what you truly believe, then I’m grateful to hear it.” The shadowy butler made a polite bow towards them. “I’ll do my best to serve to the utmost of my abilities.”

Tina giggled faintly. “It kind of hits differently when you are dressed like that.”

They all chuckled, including the person in question. Save maybe for Abyss, who seemed only to snicker whenever she was playing tricks on their perception.

“With the fog gone, we should be able to investigate the white bit without much trouble,” Althea pointed out and they turned to look at the distinctive patch a few steps away from them.

“What could it be?” Silvia approached it alongside Asterios. “It looks like part of a bigger magical formation engraved in… a piece of marble wall? Or something similar?”

“These symbols and markings are completely alien to me.” He hummed thoughtfully. “Tina?”

“Sorry, same here.” The blue-haired girl shook her head. “Wish we actually had Professor with us now. Maybe she would have been able to recognize these. As big of a pervert she is, she is still an unrivaled genius.”

“Aren’t you too?” Asterios raised an amused brow at her, making Tina blush heavily. “A genius, I mean.”

He grunted softly as she punched him in the side without much force, a cute smile painting her lips alongside the scarlet flush consuming her cheeks.

“Once again, I have to agree with one of your statements.” Abyss leaned over the curious fragment, her torso bent so low it was perfectly perpendicular to her legs, making everyone blink in bewilderment. “Your crimson-skinned friend would have most likely recognized the purpose of these characters. In the end, this is part of a bigger seal. A seal of a design that I’m closely familiar with, as much as I wished I wasn’t.”

“This is his?” Miria peered at the markings.

“Undoubtedly,” the floating lady confirmed.

“Is this the goal of our journey then?” Selene asked.

“It is not.” Abyss straightened up in one fluid motion. “We are looking at a barrier sealing off access to something hidden behind it. My guess would be a facility of sorts, buried deep beneath the surface so that no one would accidentally stumble on it.”

“Someone did, though.” Althea showed a delicate smirk.

“After Kaguya blasted the earth here open with one of her insane techniques,” Asterios commented. “It was pure luck.”

“Maybe it wasn’t.” Umbra’s creator floated around the white wall below them. “This thing is emanating a powerful spiritual presence, capable of penetrating all this stone. The titans your mother fought here might have been lured to this place by this leaking mana. Same as the Horror, most likely. It did pick this exact crater as its lair, with plenty of others scattered around. This region definitely possesses a long history of conflict.”

“That sounds plausible.” He nodded. “I wonder if the Darklings started worshiping this place because of this energy too. Nevertheless, it’s a fact that this is at least connected with what we are looking for. If whatever is blocking off this realm isn’t down there, he must have used whatever else is to either prepare for that act or conduct his research in hiding.”

“Then, we should check it out.” Silvia carefully poked the white marble, her finger getting lightly zapped by the formation. “How are we going to get past this seal, though?”

“Allow me.” Abyss rested a hand on her shoulder and the princess made some room for their mysterious ally. “This is not something that belongs here. Therefore, I don’t need to hold back when dealing with it.”

Not exactly knowing what it meant for the goddess of this realm not to hold back, Ast’s party hastily scampered away, expecting something utterly crazy to happen right in front of their eyes.

And truly, they were right.

Abyss unhurriedly spread her arms to the sides, raising them slightly up. Closing her eyes, she focused deeply. Then, everyone suddenly caught their heads as an intense ringing noise assaulted their ears. It was hard to keep their eyes open, but they were very determined to witness this rare chance to watch a being unspeakably stronger than them pull out an insane move.

Gritting their teeth, they observed glowing purple glyphs flow out from beneath the woman’s attire, trailing through the air in neat rows like living snakes. Seven ominous strings gathered in a single point before her, coiling together into something resembling a creepy yarn. The spiritual ball grew in size until it reached the diameter of an average humanoid head. It then flattened and angled itself horizontally, blinding everyone with a bright violet flash.

When Asterios and the others regained their sight, a menacing black book with deep purple pages floated in its place. Those pages turned on their own as dark violet liquid dripped from between them. It evaporated before reaching the ground, similar to the weird substance raining from the cloud Abyss was attached to. Truly scary vibes released into the area, making the spectators shiver, including Umbra.

Then, she placed her hands on the book, stopping it from flipping. An intense gust of spiritual wind burst outwards, but the very second it hit Asterios and the others, it changed directions, pulling them back, surprising everyone greatly. The winds rushed into a single point, where something extremely tiny began forming and growing.

A small completely black marble hung over the book. It sucked in everything with so much force that pieces of bigger rock easily flew right at it just to suddenly disappear, looking strangely bent and twisted as if they were trying to squeeze through an impossibly tight hole. Some of the ladies felt themselves losing their footing and Umbra hastily tied everyone down with his shadows, preventing them from flying off into the sinister spell.

The marble achieved the size of a fist and floated off the book. It descended towards the white section at a languid pace, each second making the anticipation even more intense. Asterios and the girls practically held their breaths as it came in contact with the golden formation.

With another flash, an insurmountable amount of mana exploded from the mineral. This time, however, they weren’t blinded as that invasive light itself was bent and sucked into the pure black orb. Golden radiance assaulted the sphere but it stood no chance against its authority. Still, it held back for quite a while before ultimately snapping and fading away.

The moment that happened, the ravenous marble sank into the surface of the wall and consumed it too. A creepily twisted spiral formed around it, dragging the alabaster stone into its starved belly. More and more white rock flowed into it like a liquid, widening the excavated hole exponentially. The external barricade protecting the contents of this vault proved to be thicker than they expected as the orb disappeared from their sight and continued downwards for twenty more seconds, lessening the pull on everyone as a result.

A moment later, its oppressive presence and vicious ringing disappeared, making it much easier to breathe. Abyss took her hands back, placed one under the onyx tome, and snapped it shut with a wave of spiritual energy. She held it in the front, her other arm wound behind her back, and glanced at the sweaty and panting group.

“The path is cleared. We should expect more traps and barriers as our entrance can’t be considered as authorized,” the powerful lady announced. “You needn’t worry, however. I shall keep assisting you throughout this exploration. It might not sound like myself, but I’m quite inclined to take more actions should the opportunity present itself.”

Without waiting for their reply, she floated atop her cloud over the breach she had created and descended the carved tunnel like a magical elevator shaft.

Selene chuckled wryly, resting her head against Ast’s shoulder. “If I ever start sounding conceited about the power I wield, please smack me up the back of my head as strong as you can.”

He snickered quietly. “Same here, my dear. Same here.”