The dragon's harem

Chapter 1675: Unproven Power

Gojo’s castle was massive, but it was nowhere near the titanic magnificence of Arad’s castle. It was built by human hands, while Arad had brown dragons help in the building thanks to his connections with both the Metallic and Chromatic dragons.

But even so, he had modified it a lot, adding many extra baileys, walls, and gardens. He had even built great towers around the city to diverge and concentrate natural mana into his private lab.

The baileys of the castle were massive, spanning several hundred meters wide, and while most were filled with snow, some were green and vibrant, kept warm and protected by Gojo’s powerful spells.

Two of those baileys were now reserved and closed shut, because two unexpected guests had ended up landing in the castle. Guests who almost had Lucy balding when she found out.

One of the two baileys quaked, and a burst of flame flashed inside.

“SHUT UP!” Flames raged beneath Ignis’s feet, propelling her forward like a rocket. She spun, throwing two kicks right at Tiamat’s face, all of which got deflected by the witch’s broom, but not before exploding into shockwaves of pure fire that almost cracked the ground.

“I’ll say it again. Wyrmling, you’re weak and useless. Even if you came to hell after them, you just came to die.” Tiamat looked at the angry Ignis with a smile.

“You being there or not wouldn’t change anything.” She pointed at her with the broom. “You’re too weak to make a dent in the world. Give up and go to sleep. You won’t be of help to anyone until you become at least ancient.”

“I know that!” Ignis exploded in flames and flew at Tiamat with a burst. Her tiny fists flashed with fire, exploding in plums as she tried to punch the Mother of All Evil Dragons in the face.

One fist after another, each explosion grew stronger and stronger.

The longer a red dragon fought, the hotter their flames became, and the more destructive they were. But that comes at the expense of a higher energy consumption. If Ignis kept heating her flames like this, she would fall from exhaustion before the fight could end.

In the other bailey, Agnar rolled on the ground with his face and torso covered in wounds and scratches. Both of his eyes were blue, and even his left pinky looked to be busted.

“Hmmm-nya…” Maharaja started at him as she licked her forearms clean. “You’re a stupid kitten-nya. Why are you so focused on your human body-nya?”

She jumped into the air, spun by twisting her torso, and landed on one hand. “We’re flexible and powerful-nya, so why not put that into your fighting style-nya?”

Agnar barely stood and gasped for air, taking great effort to push words out of his mouth. “I’m… trying.”

“You have four six limbs-nya, use them-nya.” She pushed herself up and landed back on her feet.

“I’ve only… got four. Two legs for movement, and two hands for attack and defense.” Agnar pointed his sword at her and took a deep breath.

She shook her head with a disappointed face. “What about your head and tail-nya? I guess, the tail isn’t manifested yet-nya, but you have teeth-nya! Try biting-nya!”

“I tried at first, didn’t I? And you smacked me in the face!” He growled, pointing at one of his blue eyes.

She smiled. “Of course I did-nya! You left your face wide open-nya!” She started swinging her fist, “Next time-nya. Think before you bite-nya! Nya-nya!” She flew at him like a raging beast and smacked him across the bailey.

Yuwaku was watching from her balcony, looking at both Ignis and Agnar training to master the basics of their new powers. Agnar was now a devil, a rakshasa that’s only allowed into the mortal world thanks to having a contract with her, and Ignis had gotten her humanoid form.

Both are struggling with the newfound power and variable possibilities of their new bodies. But even now, she can’t believe that Tiamat and Maharaja are here in the mortal world.

Such beings having to step into this world was a sign of things slowly turning for the worse, which left her worried, especially now that Arad wasn’t around.

****

Inside the castle was a large temple where Lucy lived with her entourage of shrine maidens who served her. Obelisk walked through the main hall and stood in the middle, looking up the stairs to the large pillow bed where Lucy sat, surrounded by her servants.

“I got the ball.” She lifted her hand, showing her the golden sphere. All of the maidens looked at it, a bit confused.

“It looks… just like a golden ball.” The one beside Lucy mumbled.

“It’s divine magic. The Mother of All Life turned them like that so they won’t rot and die.” She waved her hand, prompting one of the maidens to approach Obelisk with a large silk pillow.

Obelisk looked at the pillow for a moment, then laid the golden ball in it.

The maiden bowed, then looked at the golden ball for a second before walking back to Lucy. “My Lady, here it is.”

Lucy reached with her hand and lifted the ball, only touching it with her long, sharp nails. “It’s made of several layers; the outer shell is gold, beneath it is silver, then a diamond core. The flesh part is encased inside with several divine spells that link it back to Gojo, so this thing can stay alive.”

She smiled. “It has more power than me. Impressive.”

But then, Lucy frowned and sighed. “The sorcery of the other goddess is really something. My powers don’t even compare.”

“Where should we store it?” Obelisk asked with a stern face. “The vault is a good place, but we’ll need to increase the number of guards.” She looked behind her. “Tiamat and Maharaja arrived here, and I doubt they are here only to train Agnar and Ignis.”

Lucy looked at her. “Are you saying they are here to steal the ball?”

“No, but I’m saying they might know something that we don’t. A big threat or something that makes it worth it for them to stay here.” Obelisk frowned. “It doesn’t bode well to have two powerful divine beings like them standing guard around the same place.”

Lucy looked at the ball with a somber face.

“I see… the vault should be good enough… but that isn’t what we want. We want something more secure, something extra.” She shrugged, opened her mouth and threw the golden ball inside, then swallowed it.

All of the maidens glared at her, some shocked, some scared, and some disgusted. “What… did you do?”

“What? Sent it back to Gojo. A part of his stomach is grafted into mine, so like this, it’ll be resting inside his stomach for him when he returns. Besides, now the only way to get it back is either finding Gojo and bringing him here, or killing and pulling it out of my stomach.”

She stood, jumped out of her pillow bed, and then looked around. “Time to work. Obelisk, you’ll help me with the paperwork. When you were gone, Yog, the goddess of magic, kidnapped Liliana right out of her bath and took her to Gojo, so now ruling this entire kingdom is on our shoulders.”

As they walked away, one of Lucy’s maidens approached and whispered in her ear. “Did you really have to eat it? We could’ve found another, more proper way to store it.”

Lucy looked back at the maiden and smiled. “I bet we could’ve found another way. But I’m not going to risk the wait. With Yog kidnapping Liliana, I’m now fully aware than even as a goddess, I’m one of the weaker ones, not even worth the others respect.”

She shook her head. “They come and steal my kingdom’s queen, set base in my land, and start trashing the baileys. They aren’t even seeing me as a true goddess.” She looked outside. “So, I must start acting like a goddess and less like a clueless little girl.”

She tapped her belly. “This was the safest, most straightforward option. It also relies on me being strong enough to protect it, which I’m willing to prove.”