The dragon's harem

Chapter 1639: Rumbling Tavern

Gojo stood behind Liliana, looking down at her, engulfed in shadows, only his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. The fighter paled, the mage gasped, and the rogue was already on the move, trying to throw a dagger at him.

All of them were already too late. The dagger was aimed at Gojo’s throat, so he only needed to slightly shift his head to dodge it.

“You know it takes time to set a lair, purple girl. Or should I take you kneeling as a form of submission?”

Hearing his words echoing behind her, Liliana shivered. He was a few meters ahead of her seconds ago, but now he was behind her. How did he move? No, it must’ve been magic. But if it was a spell, why didn’t Mila warn her?

All of that didn’t matter. She only had a split second to react. Whatever her companions did, she must trust their skill for now and keep fighting. Without taking another breath, she jumped up and spun into a round kick, aiming right where Gojo’s voice had come earlier.

“Like I’d submit…”

Her foot flew right above Gojo’s head; he had ducked the moment she started moving. She was a half-demon, proud of her strength and speed, but in that moment, she knew. Gojo was faster and stronger.

Gojo’s hands grabbed her other leg, clenching so tight that she almost felt her bones crack. Before she could even scream, and before the fighter could reach them, Gojo swung her whole body like a bag, and threw her at the charging fighter’s face.

Despite his look, Gojo was stupidly strong, heavy, and fast. He wasn’t a human, still a wyrmling, but a dragon nonetheless. Compared to a regular human, he was as violently strong as a wild tiger or a massive alligator. Throwing a few people around wasn’t harder than throwing a melon.

As the fighter was thrown to the ground by Liliana hitting her, the rogue jumped over their bodies and lunged at Gojo, holding a dagger in one hand and a shiv in the other.

Her eyes were fixed on his face, trying to predict his next move. She had fought many powerful adventurers before; she wasn’t a stranger to facing someone far stronger than her. If not for anything else, a rogue’s specialty is defeating those far more powerful than they are with cunning and skill.

As expected of a rogue, her attack was nothing but a distraction; a dagger appeared from the sole of her foot at the last moment, and she unleashed a kick toward Gojo’s chest, aiming at the heart.

If it were anyone else, they would’ve been stabbed in the chest and died on the spot. But Gojo wasn’t even a human; he already saw her move and acted, disappearing without a trace and letting her tumble to the ground like a broken doll. A human’s reflexes could never match those of dragons, unless their name was Alcott.

The mage was keeping an eye on Gojo, trying to figure out how he was moving like that. He disappeared the moment she blinked, and she gasped. Her eyes darted across the whole tavern, worried and confused, trying to find him before his next attack.

BAM! A shockwave exploded behind her with a flash and a storm of sparks. She cried and jumped away, almost wetting herself. He was behind her, and she survived only thanks to her barrier. Looking around with a pale face; the invisible bubble of magic that she had always active was flashing faintly with light, trembling after receiving a harrowing attack.

Her barrier magic wasn’t weak; it was one of the best defensive magic spells a mage could cast. A bubble of barrier magic as hard as steel that barely required any mana to maintain after the first cast, and it was powerful enough to block cannonballs, or at least withstand a hit or two from such weapons.

Gojo was standing in his place, looking at his smoking fist with an innocent grin on his face.

“Only that?” She gasped, giving up and wetting herself a bit. Her barrier wasn’t just hard; it was imbued with a backlash that strikes back against any attack. Even powerful fighters would lose an arm if they tried punching her, but Gojo was fine.

Her barrier almost shattered, and the backlash did nothing. If that punch hit her, her skull would’ve splattered like a melon, and her brain would’ve been decorating the tavern by now.

Gojo turned his head and looked at her, causing her to flinch and take a step back, terrified at his smile.

“What was that? A spell? It didn’t look like anything I’ve seen before.” He started walking toward her with a grin, and she screamed, rushing back.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!”

Gojo wasn’t listening, and she hit the wall, gasping for air as he approached. His left hand reached forward and touched the barrier. A blinding light flashed, and the entire tavern trembled as sparks flew everywhere. The mage could feel her back getting pushed against the wall with a harrowing force, and she was slowly getting crushed.

Gojo pushed on the barrier, which pushed her against the wall. Soon, cracks ran across the wooden wall behind the mage, and she cried. “Damn it! Just die!” She pushed as much mana into the barrier as she could so the backlash would kill Gojo.

Feeling the backlash growing stronger, Gojo decided that getting the mage to teach him the spell was safer than inspecting it like this, so he changed his objective from studying the magic to capturing the girl. At that moment, she sensed the shift in his intentions and pissed herself.

Gojo clenched his right fist and swung at the barrier, unleashing a barrage of punches that shook the whole tavern. The entire building rumbled and light flashed out of the window, causing panic among the spectators outside.

After five punches, the barrier exploded into a storm of sparks, and the mage jumped to the side, dodging Gojo’s sixth punch at the last moment. At the same time, she tapped the tip of her staff on the ground, causing several green vines to grow out of the wooden floor and wrap themselves around Gojo, binding him.

“Die!” She growled, swinging her staff again. Several poisonous needles grew out of the vines to pierce Gojo’s body.

The mage was still shaking, crying, and maybe pissing herself as well in fear, but that never stopped her. Because if it did, she would’ve died years ago in the slums.

It was then that the fighter jumped between her and Gojo. “Liliana is back at work, I’m here.”

The mage glared at her. “Bitch! Took you long enough!”

“It’s been just ten seconds, barely enough to push her off me and pick up my sword.” The fighter growled back with a stern face, pointing her sword toward Gojo.

“Felt like ages to me!” She took a few steps back and pulled a mana potion to drink.

The rogue also joined the fighter a second later. Her arm now had a bandage on it. “Stabbed myself when I fell. The bastard dodged at the last second, and I couldn’t catch myself.” She pointed her dagger at Gojo and growled.

“Don’t kill him. I want him alive and awake when I piss on him!”

The fighter noticed the vines freezing, and she chuckled with a nervous smile. “I think we should’ve just drunk it and thanked him. This will end with someone dead.”