The dragon's harem

The death knight lunged forward with a burst of necrotic black flames, swinging his sword at Arad's neck faster than anyone could see. Arad lifted his forearm and blocked the death knight's strike without moving a single step, shocking everyone. The sheer impact of the hit produced a large enough blast that it sent half of Balon's men flying.

None could believe their eyes, but they weren't the only ones surprised, even Arad himself lifted an eyebrow. DRIP! A thin stream of red blood trailed down his elbow, dripping on the ground and boiling like acid.

^Even if I'm not using any defensive magic…he still cut me?^ The death knight's sword had slashed through Arad's scales but stopped at his iron bones. A death knight is an S-class undead monster created from the corpses of warriors, this man before him must've been a powerful fight with unmatched skills.

The moment the necromancer saw that Arad stopped the death knight's full power swing he turned to run away. "Impossible! It can't be! Ten thousand souls were sacrificed to empower that death knight, who is that thing."

The death knight tried to pull his sword out of Arad's arm, but it was stuck there. The dense muscles of Arad's forearm clenched tight that even if a hundred men tried, they'd never pull the sword out of his wound.

When Arad twisted his arm, the blade snapped like a piece of wood. Then, Arad's wound rapidly healed, ejecting the blade at high speed, which flew at the necromancer and stabbed him on the back of the head, ripping right through the skull like a watermelon.

With the necromancer dead, Arad lifted his hand and flashed a wave of holy magic all over the area, putting the undead to rest. "Great knight, rest in peace alongside your men."

"Arad! That's you?" Balon approached Arad, unable to believe his eyes.

"Of course, I've got my powers back. Since I'll be leaving tomorrow I came to get a drink with you and those two…" Arad pointed with his thumb at Arthur and Jack, but his eyes quickly turned toward the burned undead. They all perished so everyone should be able to relax now.

"You saved my skin Arad. For a moment there I thought we were all doomed." Balon sat down and so did all of the hunters in his party. They had been fighting since dusk and never got a chance to rest.

The wizard woman approached Arad, "Are you really the same person?" Unlike before, she can't sense a bottom to his power now, like staring into a deep dark abyss, just looking at his power was enough to make her dizzy.

She wasn't looking at a human or a dragon but at something far beyond her mortal understanding. She'll look at his face, and then forget how his chest looks so she looks down, only to want to take another look at his face, then his arms. Like reading a line and then having to re-read it since your brain failed to remember what have you just read, her visual cortex was locked.

That sensory overload kept going until she gave up on trying to sense Arad's magic and power.

"Don't mention it. I'm sure you would've found a way to survive." Arad replied to Balon and looked at the woman, "Of course, as I said, this is my true power. It might not be much, but it's all I got."

^How in the hell is this not much?^ Arad was the kind of being that if he showed up in a wizard's meeting everyone around him would freak out.

Arad shifted back to his draconic form, "Come, I'll take you all back to the city. I'm sure you'll want to rest in a better place."

They all climbed his wings with shaking legs until they reached his back and sat down, terrified. They could tell just by looking at the wizard's face that they weren't sitting on any dragon, but one that could not even be fathomed, let alone offended. Many refused to ride on Arad's back and wanted to walk all the way back home and wouldn't ride him if he didn't insist.

Minutes later, Arad brought everyone to the city to recover while he and the three of them were drinking in a bar in Domiros. "...So I was thinking, we've got a city lord, a talented hunter, and a prince from a foreign country, who is marrying your princess soon. Won't you three be able to help each other from now on?"

Arad looked at the bartender, "Give the strongest that you have." The bartender rushed to the back and quickly came with a sealed bottle. Pure dwarven spirit, one teaspoon of it was enough to knock a man out.

"Do you want a shot? Or on the…" Arad extended his hand forward, "Just give me the bottle."

Arad grabbed the bottle from its bottom and ran his nails over its neck, slashing it open with them. As everyone stared at him with a terrified face, he poured all of the content into a large beer mug and then put the cleanly cut neck over the bottle.

He then ran his fingers around the cut, heating and melting the glass to seal it again. His scales polished the glass so no marks were left.

"What do you mean?" Jack looked at Arad, unable to wrap his head around why didn't he open the bottle normally. ^What is he…he's drinking all of that?^ They watched Arad as he gulped the mug of spirit-like water.

"Still weak…" Arad sighed, this wasn't enough to get him drunk, not even close. "The hunters here act like mercenaries, which means Balon could get a lot of benefits from knowing people in high places, Arthur can use the connection to find a better future for his kids, and you would be already building power inside this kingdom."

"You're right…" Jack scratched his chin, "I've heard that Domiros has one of the best silver mines around, but the area is packed with powerful monsters."

"If it's monsters then I can deal with them." Balon looked at Jack, "But I must get weapons, doesn't your kingdom have some great blacksmiths?"

"Won't importing them be hard?" Arthur looked at his drink.

"Don't worry, I can make it happen, I'm sure of it." Jack giggled, he could easily get the weapons out of his kingdom, and the princess should be able to let them into this kingdom. She might need a bit of convincing, but it shouldn't be hard.

"Then count on me to pay for them." Arthur smiled, "But I've got one son that wanted to one day sail a ship."

"Then how about he starts with a small ship? I've got an old one that's still in decent shape, it could even carry the weapons back." Jack smiled.

"With those weapons clearing the monsters from the area shouldn't be hard." Balon agreed.

After a full hour of drinking, the three finally made a plan for them to work together to make the best of their relationship. It was just then that Arad left with Jack to return him to his castle. Now he's sure those three would get along in the coming decades.

When Arad dropped Jack he saw that the princess, Lacy, and two maids were waiting for him, and quickly dragged him by the ear inside.

****

Arad returned to his room, where he found Gamond waiting on his bed. "Where did you go? To meet another woman?"

"You can tell, can't you?" Arad sighed as he flew through the window.

"I smell three men on you, and a lot of alcohol. There is also the scent of a death knight." She smiled.

"It's a long story." Arad sat on the bed and pointed at the door. "You can leave, can't you?"

"Come on. Can't we at least cuddle a bit?" She took her nightgown off and threw it away, remaining in her underwear. Her pale skin reflected the moonlight like a piece of smooth marble, the faint cold aura around her body only helped her skin shine further.

"I told you to leave. Or I'll get Doma to drag you out."

Gamond stood and giggled, taking her bra off and throwing it away. Squeezing her chest, she smiled, "Doma told me you like those a lot, especially when they've got milk."

"Yours are as dry as old bread, so go." He pointed at the door.

She reached down with her hands and took her panties off. "We can solve that, can't we? You have to just get me pregnant." She started opening herself up a bit, shaking her hips before Arad's face. "I know you want it."

"Doma, get her out of here." Arad sighed and Doma emerged from his back, looking at Gamond, "Don't you have quite the curves."

"They don't seem to be enough to entice him. Can't you help me a bit?" Gamond approached Doma with a sad face.

Doma giggled, "First, get on your knees."

Gamond did just that and Doma looked at Arad, "So…how about it? Would you try what I told you?"

"No, don't even start."

"Arad…how many times I've told you. She alone might be a problem, but as long as I talk with the others, it'll be fine." She looked at Gamond with a smile, "Look how obedient she is."

"If you call obedient her not leave when I told her to leave, yeah, obedient." He looked at Gamond, "So? Will you be obedient and leave now so you can get some later, or stay here and lose everything."

She stood with a sad face and sighed, "Fine, I won't push it too much. I won't want to anger the king of destruction."

"Who are you calling a king of destruction?" Arad sighed, leaning back on his arms.

Gamond giggled, "Said the dragon who could destroy this entire world with a single breath. Every living being in this world, every animal, every bug, and every monster, they're all beneath your claws."

Arad sighed, "You're right, and it'll be the same when we return. But, doesn't that mean…"

"That's right. You aren't the only one with this kind of destructive power. All of the other world-destroying powers are staying low since there is no point in blowing up worlds, it's a loss to everyone." She smiled, "So…would you mind if I slept here? I'll use the couch over there."

Arad laid on his bed and waved a finer, sucking the couch into his stomach. "Which couch are you talking about?"

Gamond looked at him with a sad face, "Then I'll sleep on the cold hard floor."

"We're on the second floor, the wooden flooring isn't cold, and it's even covered with a soft rug. You're a white drakaina, so the cold won't even bother you in the first place." Arad sighed and conjured a bed, "You can sleep here, but don't make any stupid move. You don't want to mess up your chances after getting this far."

As Arad closed his eyes to sleep, he could feel two people standing on his chest. But, those seemed far too small to be Gamond. He opened one eye and looked, seeing Undine and Salamander standing over his chest.

"Arad, got a minute?" Undine asked.

"I got the whole night, what's did you two want?" While they were still hiding inside his body, they seemed to have built a small living hut inside his vast stomach.

"The whole night?" Undine started taking her clothes off, "So I'll help myself…" Before she could fully strip Arad sucked her into his stomach and locked her inside. He then looked at Salamander, "You're the one who wanted to talk, right?"

"Well…I wanted to apologize…I might've underestimated your power a lot and been a bit…troublesome. Is it really okay for me to go with you?" She looked a bit worried and scared but Arad smiled. "What trouble are you talking about? You've been a great help, I should be the one thanking you. But even so, I still have a favor to ask of you."

"You? Need a favor from me?" She gasped.

"There is this woman called Amber that I know. She was a human with a fire elemental bloodline…"

"Ouch, that must've burned someone. I heard many stories of burned sausages…" In fact, most of the time people approached her, it was when they tried to get on with fire-type creatures like red dragons, fire elementals or fire spirits only to be burned in the act.

"Well, things happened and she ended up in the body of a fire spirit. But, she needs someone to teach her how to use that power effectively."

"Then leave it to me! I'll make sure she'll master all of her powers as a fire spirit!" Salamander puffed her chest, "But I'll need to see her first."

"Of course. I'll be counting on you."

"Leave it to me…" Salamander disappeared into a puff of smoke and fire.

Arad closed his eyes, the fastest way to make tomorrow come is to fall asleep.