[TWS] Chapter 284 – The Big Reveal

“Alright. I think this is everyone.” Asterios looked over the gathered audience. “Just in case, if anyone would like to leave, you still have a chance. Things that will be seen cannot be unseen.”

The assembled people glanced at each other. The last part of Ast’s little speech was mostly aimed at the Committee members since they were most likely the least aware of the details. As for Tina’s parents, there was no doubt that Kindra had filled them in on whatever she knew herself, to some extent. There were still a few aspects even she wasn’t fully knowledgeable about, but it might possibly change today.

“No one?” Asterios roamed his gaze over them once more. “If so, then I hope everyone understands that, while we don’t expect overzealous, utmost secrecy, we request you all to keep most of this to yourselves and consider it twice or even thrice before sharing anything further.”

“It’s only natural. You don’t even have to ask.” Viscount Thomas nodded to himself.

“Ummm… Wouldn’t it be better to have everyone swear not to say anything?” Yumi asked a little hesitantly.

“Don’t feel awkward about asking questions, please. It’s a good one too.” Tina smiled at their personal maid.

“Right.” Asterios turned to her. “We’ll most likely answer all of them if possible. But, regarding yours, that’s because you can say that we aren’t exactly hiding anymore. Instead, it’s more like we aren’t announcing ourselves publicly wherever we go. There might come a time when we actually do that, but it’s not necessary yet.”

“Therefore, if you find yourself in a difficult situation that can be solved by sharing a little bit of what you know, it’s alright to do it,” the blue-haired girl continued after him. “We certainly don’t want anyone to risk their lives to keep this a secret. If someone is coming after us and targets you or other people who might be considered close to our group, just cooperate with them. There are bound to be people who figure things out. We are now strong enough to handle almost anything this realm can throw at us so leave them in our hands.”

“I see. Thank you.” Yumi made a polite bow, most likely out of habit.

“Strong enough to handle almost anything, huh?” Suanori chuckled lightly. “I guess I can confirm that your confidence doesn’t come out of nowhere. I’ve personally witnessed your power and it was way in the past considering your recent progress.”

“It might sound a bit cocky, but I assure you that we aren’t letting it get to our heads.” Selene smirked behind her dainty hand. “Besides, considering what our beloved master is, a certain level of confidence and swagger is more than necessary.”

“And here we come to the main topic of today’s meeting.” Asterios took control of the conversation back after her. “Your information on the topic, which is me, varies from person to person, so let’s start from the beginning. As some of you might know, I’m not exactly human, even though I look like this. I’m a Dragon. A True Dragon to be specific.”

A few gasps echoed through the spacious hall while most of the gathered people exchanged smiles. Silvia glanced at Camille to see her maid’s reaction and raised a surprised brow at her. She hadn’t exactly expected her gaze to escape to the side, avoiding the princess’ eyes. Something was up and she made a mental note to herself to learn what later.

“I guess the fierce, vertical pupils did kinda hint at a thing or two,” Esotvi pondered out loud. “But still, a Dragon? That’s still really hard to believe no matter what.”

“Well, there was more than just the eyes, though not everyone had a chance to see it.” Asterios smirked at her lightly and reached into his sources.

A noticeable spiritual aura surrounded his figure as all of his draconic features materialized at various spots all over his body. A thick and long tail showed up behind his waist, a pair of leathery wings sprouted from his back, a set of sharp horns appeared by the sides of his forehead, and his skin turned into dark crimson scales over his hands, neck, cheeks, and forehead.

“Wow…” Ellie stared at him with a hint of amazement in her curious eyes. “You look… incredible like this.”

“From what has been leaked to the public, these appendages are supposedly the product of your Summoning Magic. I guess it’s a smart cover-up. A Wyvern, was that it?” Ted chuckled while stroking his chin.

Asterios nodded. “Yeah. That’s what we established during my duel with Silvia on the training grounds of the garrison. And another familiar to explain control over fire.”

“No wonder we never saw them around. Most if not all of your summons often follow you around. And I have no doubts that you would have called for them during the battle against the monster wave if they were real.” The man shook his head.

“It’s already a miracle he can uphold so many active familiars at once. This might actually explain why.” Ellie squinted at him playfully.

“Pretty much, yeah. Coincidentally, I have three sources, so my upper limit is quite high.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Ye what?!” Truvi shouted in shock, pushing her old accent even further. “Impossible! How in da frick?!”

“It’s a long story. In short, two of them are actually Dragon’s Hearts, one coming from my male parent and the other from another True Dragon, while the third is just a normal source everyone here is in possession of,” he explained. “But, such details aren’t exactly the focus of this gathering.”

“And what exactly is it?” Lady Luna asked next to her husband.

Giving one last glance at his surroundings and making sure that the girls had moved away all the nearby furniture so as to save it from its cruel fate, Asterios returned his face to the gathered audience and grinned.

“This is.”

Dark crimson smoke laced with a trace of pure black swirled around him and obscured Asterios completely. Miria started clapping joyfully, bouncing on her feet as the mystical mist expanded in all directions. It moved slower than usual and the girls understood that he was purposefully taking his sweet time to emphasize the change.

Soon, the dancing fog grew as big as a single-story building if not more, and receded. The figure of a massive crimson-scaled Dragon suddenly appeared in the middle of the hall, standing tall and proud in front of the spectators.

Asterios regarded the group below him with a lazy glance before spreading his enormous wings to their limits and letting out a booming roar into the ceiling. Thankfully, Bryn and Selene had enveloped the chamber in a bunch of protective barriers and arrays so the windows survived the impact waves that rushed in every direction, almost throwing the little humanoids off their feet.

Wrapping up his entrance, Asterios withdrew his wings and neck, assuming a slightly more casual pose. Miria was jittering from joy on the sidelines. His other mates had to hold her in place or she would no doubt be dashing around without a shred of self-control. As for the others…

“Bloody hells…” Truvi cursed unsteadily.

The dwarf receptionist must have been thrown to the ground as she sat on her ass with eyes like saucers. She seemed to be the only one capable of speech after witnessing the mighty draconic entity and its announcing roar.

The Committee members were all huddled up together and supporting each other as they gaped at Ast’s new form with open mouths. Tina’s parents were doing a little bit better than them. Viscount Thomas seemed frozen with his brows trying to escape to the back of his head while Lady Luna squeezed his forearm with a death grip. Yet, a wide smile curved her supple lips.

Radir’s and Suanori’s reactions were most likely the tamest ones considering that they clearly knew the most about Asterios. Seeing him in full Dragon Mode did evoke some wonder and amazement out of them, though. Asterios could recognize the characteristic glow in the demon man’s eyes. Same as his daughter, he wasn’t able to fully hide the thrill of experiencing the unknown and possibly having a chance to study it.

As for the guildmaster’s other protege, Ellie was covering her lips with both hands while looking up at Ast’s fierce head decorated with sharp, pure black horns. With her mouth hidden, she appeared scared, perhaps even terrified, but Asterios knew her well enough to realize that she was actually smiling from ear to ear underneath those soft palms of hers.

The two maids standing next to each other had completely different expressions. Yumi kept playing with the hem of her skirt as her gaze roamed all over Ast’s impressive figure. She nibbled on her bottom lip and a faint blush colored her plump cheeks. As for Camille, Silvia’s personal maid was as white as a sheet, eyes wide to the brim, and looking at Asterios in pure horror as beads of sweat started forming over her forehead.

That left only Ast’s mother. As expected, even the sudden emergence of a scary True Dragon couldn’t have shaken the love and affection she felt for her adoptive son. Kindra gazed straight into his fierce eyes with a tender smile as if she was looking at him the same way she always did on any other day. Given the chance, she would definitely dote on the massive, scary Dragon.

And that chance, Asterios decided to give her.

Everyone jerked when his head began moving towards them and Camille gasped fearfully, taking a few steps back. But, he ignored the scared maid so as not to worry her even further and directed his jaws toward his mother. Even the low, rumbling growl didn’t stop the brave, smiling woman from cupping up his snout in her small hands.

She caressed Ast’s scales dearly while the others stared at her complete lack of any worries with wide eyes. Miria was finally released from her prison and appeared next to her, joining the human lady with a huge grin. The other girls walked up to them too, standing around Kindra with soft smiles.

“So yeah, this is the real me,” Asterios said with his mighty voice.

“Gods! He speaks!” Tina’s father almost squealed from surprise.

His daughter chuckled softly. “Of course he does. What else would he do? Growl and roar? Come on, Dad.”

“You can’t exactly blame him for this, sweetie.” Lady Luna laughed too. “People like us have a little bit of trouble thinking complex thoughts when in front of an entity of this caliber. You might already be used to this, and you are also an incredibly powerful and talented Summoner, but for us, this is something out of the grandest legends.”

“So that’s how a real Dragon looked when they were still around in the past…” Ellie exclaimed in wonder, moving closer with Yumi by her side. “Amazing…”

“True Dragons, yes.” Asterios puffed out a small blast of hot air from his nostrils. “There were also Lesser Dragons, the more serpent-like creatures. Though, it was the four-limbed Dragons that dominated the realm and treated them like slaves, pretty much. Therefore the term Lesser Dragons. It’s a sickening topic so let’s maybe skip that for now.”

“Can you breathe fire?” Yumi asked with a noticeable sparkle in her pretty eyes.

He chuckled deeply and started raising his head from Miria’s and Kindra’s grasp.

“Oh no…” Radir shuddered.

Silvia’s figure lit ablaze and she flew into the air, stopping at the far end of the long chamber. Her flaming form floated in place as she extended both arms to the front just the moment Asterios finished taking in a deep breath. In a blink, the hall was filled with the loud whooshing of furious, crimson fire and bathed in a red hue all over. The rolling inferno collided with a circular magical formation at the tips of Silvia’s fingers and flowed to the sides.

The scorching hot spectacle lasted for about fifteen seconds before Asterios closed his jaws and cut off the violent stream. He then turned his massive head to the sweet elf maid.

“Can I?” He chuckled again.

She giggled in response with even more flushed cheeks. Asterios wasn’t sure if that was caused by the powerful heat his sudden display had emanated or something else entirely. But, he was glad that their friendly maid wasn’t scared of him.

Speaking of maids, Camille must have fainted during the show as she was currently lying motionless on the floor. Bryn crouched next to her, making sure that she was alright. Silvia joined them after dismissing her transformation.

To lessen the slightly tense and awkward atmosphere, Asterios returned to his human form too and the swirling mist shrunk with him really fast this time. He emerged from the magical smoke with his draconic features still present to prevent anyone from falling into disbelief and denial. What he had shown wasn’t exactly easy to digest and accept.

“I always knew you would grow up to be a healthy man, but I never expected you to get so big.” Kindra giggled at him with a teasing smirk present on her lips.

“Oh, I guarantee that he is both healthy and big, alright.” Grea snickered and a few of the ladies blushed a bit.

He rolled his eyes. “Mom, don’t intentionally give her excuses to make more dirty jokes.”

She sent him a wink and giggled again. He stepped closer to her and pulled his mother into a warm hug.

“I can’t believe I’ve been raising a little Dragon this whole time,” she whispered softly. “Should I be glad that you haven’t set anything on fire while growing up?”

He laughed and shook his head. “I don’t believe I could. All of my draconic energy was being kept under the wraps of a powerful seal until the day I lost Mii. That was the moment I started discovering who I really was. And met the first woman I fell in love with.”

Miria hid her red face in her furry hands as they both glanced in her direction. The other girls kept patting her back and shoulders while chuckling quietly.

“Daughter! Come here! Let me hug the girl who turned my precious son into a real man!” Kindra snickered at her.

Wavering a little for a moment, Miria pulled her hands down and trotted up to them. Ast’s mom brought her into the hug right away and the three of them embraced each other with wide smiles. The panthergirl couldn’t stop laughing as the enthusiastic woman rubbed their cheeks together.

“Ahahaha! Miss Kindra, please stop! Hahaha!” Miria tried to escape but to no avail. “Mom!”

Only after being called Mom did Kindra halt her assault. Smirking at her, she then placed a peck on her and Ast’s cheeks.

“Thank you for saving my son that day. And for blessing him with your feelings of love. He really needed that. I’m sure it was thanks to you that he could get over the loss of his dear friend quickly,” Kindra said in a cordial tone and then shot a glance at Tina. “I did not forget about you, my dear! Your feelings and support are a separate matter but of equal value and importance!”

The blue-haired girl went full tomato and dropped her gaze to her feet.

“There’s no need to thank me, Mom. I couldn’t ignore someone in so much pain and anger. I had no idea that my life would change so much from just doing what anyone should. Not to mention finding my mate,” Miria replied, starting to blink a little faster.

“Ah. Were you perhaps close to breaking that seal when you were younger?” Kindra turned her focus to Asterios.

“Yes. During that thief’s attack.” He nodded.

“As I thought. You’ve never acted so cruel and cold before. And one of your eyes did turn red.” She sighed heavily. “I’m glad you intervened, though. I don’t want to think about what else could have happened to me if you didn’t.”

“Then let’s not think about it. We are here together and that’s what counts. And perhaps the fact that you’ve been mothering a damn Dragon for two decades.” He kissed her cheek.

“Kindra Hestizo, Goddess of Trade, Kingslayer, Mother of Dragons.” Lady Luna chuckled next to them. “A fitting new title for your collection.”

“Mother of only one Dragon,” Asterios corrected her.

“Yet.” She showed a tiny, knowing smirk.

He could only smile wryly in response. It looked like he could never win against mothers, no matter whose.

They finally broke the hug and Ast’s remaining mates gathered behind him. He met each of their gazes with a warm expression before turning to the gathered members of their audience. Everyone seemed to have calmed down by now, save for Camille, who remained completely out of it. Meaning, still unconscious.

Or perhaps she was faking it as of now. Bryn should have already treated her completely.

Nevertheless, he turned to Suanori and all the others. “This would be it, more or less. We’ll need to save the rides for another time if we don’t want to announce everything to everyone right now. We’ll make a reservation list if anyone is interested. Any more questions before we wrap up here and head out to eat something?”

“Have you eaten a person before?” Yumi asked suddenly, catching them off guard.

From what everyone could see in her shimmering eyes, there was no fear or malice behind her kind of innocent question. It was clear that the prospect excited her and she really wanted to know, perhaps following her initial question with a set of further inquiries on the topic.

Asterios laughed due to her eager expression. “No, I haven’t. But, I think there might be a high chance I’ll get the opportunity to do that quite soon. Our upcoming enemies don’t really deserve any mercy so I might as well test that out. I’ll let you know right away.”

“Thanks…” She blushed timidly, possibly realizing how vicious and savage this made her look.

For the next ten minutes, Asterios and the girls answered a bunch of simple questions coming from pretty much all the other participants in their abrupt show. The topics mostly revolved around what he could do, how particular things felt to him, what were his plans, or if he was looking around to find himself a lovely Dragon wife anytime soon.

Obviously, the last one came from his mother.

After that, he and his mates tidied the hall up, removing any signs of their fiery presentation from the walls, ceiling, and floor. People scattered, returning to their responsibilities, and they wandered to the dining hall with just Kindra accompanying them. They shared a happy meal together while discussing their upcoming jump to Miria’s and Selene’s realm in search of information about the panthergirl’s weapons.

Soon enough, she had to leave too and they took a moment to escort her back to her family mansion. Then, without further ado, Miria opened a gate to her home and they stepped into her world, ending up in her room.

“Let’s see if my parents are home,” she suggested with a toothy grin. “Other than them, we could also ask about the meteor around the village. I don’t think we will learn anything new but who knows?”

“Got it. This is your home, and your world, so you and Selene take the lead. We will follow.” He smiled back at her and brushed the panthergirl’s cheek with his fingers.

Miria purred adorably, rubbing it into his palm, and then walked toward the door. They had a possible mystery to solve and everyone was as excited to begin as their most cheerful and curious friend.