The dragon's harem

Eris listened closely to the burning war inside her body, but that rumble only grew stronger with each passing second. Using Amaterasu's divine magic to heal people tickled her murder portfolio, and it was slowly consuming her mind.

Whenever she heals someone, she can only think about how nice it would be to just strangle and murder them, open their wounds, cut their guts open, and spill their blood on the cold ground. Her vampire blood agreed with that notion, which made Eris's blood urges surface once again after suppressing them for months.

Murder wasn't such an easy thing to tame- vampirism was just as tricky, but having them both working together to drive her mad was far beyond what any mortal mind could hope to endure.

Her draconic side, on the other hand, was quite helpful, giving her body enough strength, will, and arrogance to resist the urges. She had the blood of a great dragon, so how could the pitiful portfolio of murder change her very ego?

Amaterasu's divine magic was also like an anchor, holding her soul true and keeping it safe from the maddening corruption of murder. Eris didn't like it that much, but Amaterasu was actively using her divine authority to bed and twist Eris's mind to resist the murderous urges.

Amaterasu was the goddess of Dusk and Dawn, the Sun and Eclipse. She was the literal billions of suns in the sky, their collective power and consciousness formed into a single bright ego.

She was neither good, evil, or neutral. Amaterasu was indifferent to the world, like the sun itself. It dawns because it wants to and fades away because that is her will and the will of her husband, the overgod.

Right now, Eris was but a single, insignificant purple sun that was trying to rise on her own. That mere fact, the fact she is a sun, made her a part of Amaterasu's power, one of the many suns forming the goddess's ego.

Eris had just realized that. If Amaterasu willed it, all of her sense of self would fade away, and she would melt away into the great goddess's mind, turning into one with her.

But instead of using that control to enslave her, Amaterasu was now using it to help Eris resist the creeping murder.

Amaterasu's superior divine authority slapped the murder portfolio down, forcing it to submit. She then flashed light upon the vampire blood, burning it down and keeping it in check. The draconic blood merely helped Eris endure the war raging inside her body.

This is how she had remained stable for so long, and Lydia's words indeed rang true at the end. Mortals aren't supposed to play with divine portfolios. The divine portfolios have a will of their own and would consume those who wield them.

Strangely, instead of worrying about herself, Eris found herself thinking about Mira and how she was still able to endure the corrosion of her portfolio. Greed sounded simple, but it couldn't be. Nothing is ever simple.

Eris took a deep breath, feeling plasma burning inside her throat and lungs. She grimaced and then opened her burning eyes. "Faith doesn't anchor people's souls. It doesn't help them endure mental strain or soul damage. Faith binds the mortal soul to the god, making them slaves, and the god uses that link to control and protect them at the same time."

Now that she thought about it, isn't she just the same as the vampires? All those vampires spawn paladins who worship her. Aren't they just slaves under her and Arad's control?

Arad and Eris might treat them fairly, but just the fact they are their spawns makes them slaves. If Arad or Eris wanted them to do something, those vampires could never resist. It is the same for her. If Amaterasu wanted her to do something, she could never resist due to the fact she is a lesser sun.

A vampire paladin appeared standing in front of Eris, wearing her full plate armor. The vampire woman immediately knelt down with a smile, "Lady Eris, did you need something?"

"Yes, I want you to help me test something, but you won't like it." Eris looked at her, "I want you to do the thing you hate most. The one thing you'll rather die than do, I want you to do it."

As the vampire paladin looked confused, Eris had to explain, "I just want to test how much a faithful can resist... we'll, it's complicated. You can refuse if you want."

The paladin looked at her for a few seconds and then smiled, "I see, Vlad once mentioned such a thing. He said that the reason paladins are strong-willed and hard to kill is because that will is implanted into their brains by the gods." She sat down, "But, what binds me to you and Lord Arad isn't just faith, blood servitude, or even love."

"What do you mean?" Eris never expected the paladin she calls to test something to know something that might help her, but in fact, probably most paladins did.

"First, the relationship between a god and their believer is built on trust. And that relationship is, in reality, quite fragile." The paladin woman smiled, "If a god fails to meet the believer's expectation, it will snap quite easily."

She sighed, looked up, and then shrugged, "You probably control me as much as I allow you to. Not speaking about the blood servitude, of course."

Eris thought about it for a few seconds. How much of Amaterasu's will could she tolerate? Probably not much as Lydia does, but there was also a catch. Amaterasu was a duality goddess, which mean that she could benefit from being defied as well.

Both obeying and disobeying her were going to end up strengthening their bond. Eris rubbed her face, "Of course, even Asmodeus worships Amaterasu. She is indifferent, meaning that it doesn't matter if someone prays to her positively or negatively. She'll get power either way. That's the sun's pride, her way of telling mortals that whatever they are, it doesn't matter to her power."

The paladin vampire smiled, "That's right, and it's the same for me. Whether I hate or love you, whether I find it fun or cruel here, it doesn't matter. My blood is yours, and whenever I use it, you grow stronger."

Amaterasu won't abuse her power over Eris's soul not because of goodwill, care, or empathy. She won't do it simply because it doesn't matter either way. A purple sun is still a sun, and thus a part of Amaterasu whether they liked or hated it.