Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 735 - Taming the Fifth Year - Stars of the Past - 3

Lykea arrived minutes after Sirius, her Celestial Tiger, a gift ʼfrom Siriusʼ since they were young and they were promised to each other, aiding her husbandʼs beast.

”We require to contain it with more light!” she shouted, assessing the situation with a veteranʼs speed. ”Sirius, you, me, and Orion must combine our elements. Keep your serpent with Lyzeaʼs to secure our escape routes.”

The plan was sound. Born from years of combat experience and intimate knowledge of how their beastsʼ powers could be coordinated properly.

And it worked.

Not easily.

Not cleanly.

Not without more casualties...

But it worked.

The three celestial tigers working in tandem for the first time in years.

White light blazing so bright it banished every shadow in the ancient chamber. Power combining in ways that pushed beyond what any single Gold-rank tamer could achieve. Coordination that came from shared beasts bloodline and years of training in their techniques.

The battle lasted several minutes. Bloody and brutal.

Every moment a struggle against a beast that operated on a higher plane of existence. Every attack requiring perfect timing and execution because mistakes meant death.

Bodies fell. Nobles whoʼd thought themselves powerful learning the hard lesson that power was relative. That Gold rank meant nothing against Platinum if you couldnʼt coordinate perfectly.

But finally, the wolf fell.

Its core ended half exposed when Sirius and Lykea coordinated a final attack that shattered the beastʼs belly and its ʼdraconic defensesʼ.

A moment of perfect synchronization with husband and wife moving as one. Two people whoʼd fought together so long they could predict each otherʼs actions without words.

Victory.

But at what cost.

Sirius and Lykea were exhausted. With their mana almost completely drained and barely standing.

The kind of exhaustion that also went beyond physical. That came from pushing your beast and yourself to absolute limits and feeling both on the edge of collapse.

The other few nobles whoʼd survived werenʼt in better condition.

Some were wounded… Others were traumatized. All were depleted in ways that would take days to recover from.

And then Orion, accompanied by Lyzea, approached the door the wolf had been guarding.

”Orion, wait,” Sirius called, his voice tense despite exhaustion. ”We donʼt know what...”

But Orion didnʼt wait.

Maybe fear of repercussions? Searching for a reward worthwhile enough to erase his errors? Make the deaths mean something? Justify the catastrophic decision to excavate illegally and attempt this without proper authorization?

Or simple greed for power so Sirius couldnʼt intimidate him anymore?

So he wouldnʼt have to live in his brotherʼs shadow. Wouldnʼt have to be the lesser Starweaver. The one whoʼd achieved Gold 1 while Sirius achieved Gold 2 even younger.

He placed his hands on the ancient door. Lyzea did the same in her role as accomplice.

Wife supporting her husband... Partner in this terrible decision like sheʼd been her partner in everything.

And they pushed.

THE TRAP

The door didnʼt open.

Instead, one of the three indentations in its surface began to glow.

Black light… Dark as void but blinding in its intensity and with immense power behind it that could be felt in the mana flow... Diamond rank.

The kind of power that shouldnʼt exist in security mechanisms around the mana deprived city. That represented force so far beyond Gold that comparison became meaningless.

”BACK OFF!” Sirius shouted, recognizing danger too late.

Too late to stop what was already in motion. Too late to prevent what came next.

The light exploded outward in a concentrated beam.

Directly towards Orion.

And Lady Lyzea Goldcrest-Starweaver, who had been at her husbandʼs side...

Interposed herself.

Or maybe Orion got behind and used her as a shield.

Luna would never know the truth. Testimonies were contradictory. The chaos of the moment made it impossible to know whether it was sacrifice or survival instinct that put Lyzea in the path.

But the result was undeniable.

Lyzea received the full beam.

And in seconds, her body began to change.

Not slowly, nor gradually... But with horrifying speed that made it impossible to look away even as many desperately wanted to.

Skin turning gray, then black... Then pure crystal.

The transformation spread from where the beam struck. Creeping across flesh like frost across grass. Converting living tissue into something that should have never been meant to exist.

Her eyes, still open in shock, became black and transparent too.

Frozen in that final moment of realization. Of understanding what was happening, of knowing she was dying and being unable to stop it.

When it finished, where there had been a vibrant and living woman...

Only a perfect black crystal statue remained.

Beautiful in its horror.

Every small detail preserved, every curve of her sad face and every strand of golden hair now solidified into crystalline filaments that caught light and refracted it into dark rainbow patterns.

Art created through an atrocity.

The silence that followed was absolute.

Nobody breathed. Nobody moved. The horror of what theyʼd witnessed paralyzing everyone present.

And then the second part of the door began to glow.

White light this time. Opposite to the black but with the same mark of immense mana. Equally lethal.

Aiming directly at where Orion was frozen in shock, staring at what remained of his wife.

At the statue that used to be the woman heʼd married. The partner whoʼd even supported his terrible decisions... The mother of would be children heʼd planned to have.

All of it reduced to crystal in seconds.

Sirius moved.

Didnʼt think… Just launched himself.

His black shadow serpent propelled him across the space in a desperate jump. Grabbed Orion, ready to get them both out of the way.

But the cost of battle, the depleted mana, the pain in his system...

He realized too late he wouldnʼt have strength for a second jump.

Not immediately.

Not fast enough.

The white glow increased, threatening to finish him while the milliseconds left stretched for Sirius.

But Lykea, who had jumped while holding onto Sirius in the first movement...

Pushed Sirius and Orion out of the beamʼs path.

And received it herself.