My Supernatural Girlfriends Spoils Me Rotten-Chapter 386: Dangerous Bet

Inside the beast, Asher's body trembled under the pressure of merging the Genesis crystal's energy within his core.

Pantheon, on the other hand, stayed focused, weaving spell after spell to keep their presence hidden.

Without its ability to temporarily shift their bodies into another space, they would have already alerted the Astral beast.

Pantheon stayed locked in focus, weaving spell after spell to keep their energy hidden.

Though it was normal for the Ancient Dragon to absorb so much energy since it was mainly refueling, Asher was different.

He had to expand his core on the spot to hold all that energy.

Normally, anyone would have stopped by now or risked exploding. But he showed no sign of slowing down.

The ancient dragon felt a rare calm, knowing it had partnered with someone truly gifted. With time, Asher would rise and become unrivaled.

That's why Pantheon couldn't let him die, no matter the cost. Even if it meant using every last trump card.

(Brat, listen up. I've already faced retribution before.. .Right now, I'm only retaining my power. But you're different. If you break through now, you'll unleash a lightning strike that would absolutely lock space. Not even I could get us out if that happens.)

"So what do I do? I can't stop now. If I don't do it here, I might never get another chance like this."

Without an external source , he could be stuck at SS+ rank for years—maybe even decades.

(Brat, I have a plan—but it'll require triggering the Astral Beast. When I reach SSS- Rank, you grab as many crystals from the heart as you can. The moment you're done, I'll teleport us out of here.)

"And how sure are you we can actually leave this place?"

(Relax, Brat. I've got something up my sleeve. It's what left me wounded to begin with. I didn't want to use it since I can only use it three times, but there's no other choice.)

Asher sensed no lies in Pantheon's words, so he gave a quick nod and cast a spell.

Translucent hands formed beside him, ready to snatch everything in one sweep.

'It's all or nothing,'

Triggering the Astral Beast meant risking chaos. It would go wild, putting the entire mission—and possibly the whole sector in danger.

But nothing in the universe came free.

Only those willing to risk everything—willing to sacrifice countless lives—could stand at the top.

Pantheon's armor-like scales began to shimmer with an intensity that had never been seen before, radiating power that made even the beast's pulsing heart seem dim in comparison.

But with this power up came danger.

The ancient dragon's spell—the one that folded space around them, hiding their presence—was starting to crack.

A thin line flickered along the edges of the invisible barrier. Asher felt it deep in his bones: their cover wouldn't last much longer.

"Pantheon," Asher whispered. "How long can you keep this up?"

The ancient dragon's eyes, glowing like molten gold, locked on Asher.

(Not long. The power I'm drawing is beyond anything I've faced in centuries. This space spell isn't designed to hold against that kind of energy for too long. I estimate—minutes, maybe less.)

Asher swallowed the lump in his throat. Everything depended on those crystals—and every second counted.

(Ready yourself,) Pantheon warned, voice low and steady. (Once the barrier breaks, the Astral Beast will know we're here. It will attack with everything it has.)

The space around them rippled like water caught in a storm.

Pantheon's spell strained, distorting, and then—crack.

A roar erupted from the beast's core, a sound so deep and furious it vibrated through Asher's entire body.

For a second, he thought his body had been torn apart.

But then—time stopped.

Everything turned silent. No heartbeat. No breath. No motion. Even the flickering veins of energy inside the Astral Beast's heart froze, locked in place like a painting.

Asher couldn't even hear his own thoughts at first. His eyes darted around, half-expecting some trick, some delayed backlash—but nothing moved.

(Grab the crystals now!) Pantheon shouted.

Asher didn't hesitate. The translucent hands lunged, ripping the remaining crystals straight from the heart of the beast.

The moment they tore loose, a burst of green energy exploded outward—wild and violent. But it didn't spread like normal.

Even the explosion froze in place, caught in the same suspended moment.

(Brat, let me show you what an SSS Rank Ancient Dragon can really do,) Pantheon declared with pride.

Massive dragon wings burst out from his back. They unfurled wide, shielding both of them from the unstable energy still locked in frozen time.

Next, a pitch-black vortex opened beneath their feet.

(Brace yourself,)

In an instant, they vanished.

And the moment time snapped back into motion—

BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

Explosion after explosion tore through the heart chamber.

It thrashed violently, unaware its prey was already gone.

Aether poured from its wounds—wild, corrosive energy flooding out in every direction.

The air turned into green fire. Entire sections of the inner structure collapsed as its body purged everything.

Outside.

A deep vibration hummed through the vacuum, not through sound , but through energy.

Light burst from the Astral Beast's body, coating space with shimmering waves of violent radiation.

Those closest to the creature were slammed backwards.

Their barriers cracked. Some were flung hundreds of meters, tumbling into debris fields or slamming against their own nodes.

"Brace!" someone barked through the comms, but even the fastest among them couldn't prepare.

Then it happened.

The Astral Beast wailed. A soundless scream that echoed directly into the minds of every living thing nearby.

And then they saw them.

Countless dark shapes floated from the beast's surface—billions of small, squid-like organisms, each pulsing with unstable energy.

The S-Ranks paused only for a second.

Then the first squid exploded. A green-hot sphere of destruction .

"Hostile swarm! We need to retreat!"

Too late.

The squids accelerated. What began as lazy drifting turned into coordinated assaults.

Dozens streaked toward the S-Ranks, each one locking onto their heat signatures.

Veterans launched countermeasures. Arcane missiles, gravitational pulses, energy blades—they carved down hundreds.

It made no difference.

For every hundreds destroyed, a thousand more came swarming.

And it didn't help that their minds were under constant attack.

The Astral Beast's mental pressure wasn't just a background hum anymore—it had turned aggressive, invasive.

A veteran telepath screamed over comms, "Get out of its psychic range! It's destroying our minds!"

But there was no true "range." The pressure wasn't bound by distance. It pulsed through space like a wave, latching onto anyone connected to the fight.

One S-Rank clutched her helmet, twisting mid-flight, eyes wide with terror. "It's in my head—it's whispering—I can't shut it out!"

Then her body went limp, drifting into a debris cloud, where a squid latched onto her back and exploded.

Coordinated movements broke down. Formations shattered. Spells misfired. Some S-Ranks even attacked each other in blind panic, convinced they were under betrayal.

Now the true horror of the Astral Beast stood revealed for all to witness.

It was a living nightmare made flesh, a cosmic terror that treat all lives as insignificant.

Inside the motherships, the mood was tense. Warning lights flashed and alarms sounded loud through the halls.

The captains looked at each other with worried faces.

Messages came in fast—many S-Rank fighters were already dead.

Staying to wait for them would put the ship in danger, so they decided to leave them behind.

"Retreat," one leader ordered. "We can't win this fight !"

The pilots gripped their controls as the massive ship began moving backward, pulling away from the battle.

Just when they thought they were getting clear, the Astral Beast howled again.

Out of nowhere, a green beam of light shot out, slicing through space .

"Raise the shield!" a captain shouted.

A yellow, hexagonal barrier flickered to life, blocking the beam.

"Captain, we can't take another hit like that. We need to get out of here!" a crew member shouted.

"Full speed ahead!"

The engines roared to life, shaking the hull as the mothership entered semi hyper speed.

"Fuck, they're abandoning us!" Trax cursed, as he struggled to stay clear of the beast's mental reach.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw everyone being picked off, one by one, without mercy.

Escaping was not impossible.

The real problem was that they didn't have any ships left.

Even if they escaped, they'd be stranded in space. Once their energy ran out, death would be the only thing waiting for them.

"I need to find someone with space manipulation abilities. Right, that Asher guy has one. Where is he?" He looked around but didn't see him.

"Did he escape already?"

Realizing Asher was gone, Trax flew off bitterly, hoping another ship would return to rescue them.

As he flew farther away, he spotted someone hovering nearby—wearing black armor patterned like a snake.

"Hey, you should escape with me. It's too dangerous here." Trax called out .

The figure looked at him and smiled. "You don't have to worry. That beast won't live much longer."

"Are you out of your mi—"

Before he could finish, the figure disappeared without a trace.

Seconds later, a gigantic black serpent appeared , coiling tightly around the Astral Beast. It wasn't as large as the beast, but its length was enough to wrap around the creature twice.

Then golden light erupted from another direction.

A giant gate of glowing gold appeared, and from its depths, a flying sword the size of a small planet slowly emerged.

Thick, glowing chains wrapped tightly around the blade, locking it in place as if holding back a force too powerful to break free.

On its hilt stood a woman with angel-like features, her beauty beyond words.