The dragon's harem

Chapter 581 Pride, Respect, and Love?

BAM! Arad burst into the fifth layer. His maw opened wide as he unleashed a blast of crimson flames, burning a large chunk of the snowy jungle and setting the rest ablaze.

The demon baboons, apes, the yetis, and bigfoot ran away as fast as they could, but the fire quickly caught up to them, burning the whole place.

Going into the next layer, Arad quickly realized what happened. The hole Merlin drilled had already closed. This means this place can regenerate and reset with time, or that Ann reset it to stop him.

^Whatever it be, she doesn't seem to be able to do it all the time.^ Arad smiles, "She's struggling to survive, good."

SPLAT! Arad broke through into the endless oceans of the sixth layer, immediately getting entangled by tentacles. "Merlin called you an aboleth, didn't she?" He looked back, seeing the squid whale opening its beak, trying to bite into his scales.

'^Dragons are excellent swimmers, but unless you're a cyan dragon. You won't beat me here. Time to drown and bleed to death,^' Arad could hear a voice resonating inside his head. This creature speaks telepathically.

^Hoo, you can speak like this. It's rare.^ Void dragons are usually psionic creatures that talk with telepathy, as sound doesn't travel in the void.

CLANG! The aboleth's beak bounced off Arad's scales without even scratching them.

^This is sea water. Right?^ Arad's tail extended with the spikes running down his back erecting. ^Time to make some fish soup,^ CRACKLE!

Lightning sparked between his spines, shocking the sea in the blink of an eye.

The fishes and small monsters of the sea jolted, falling dead one after another, yet the aboleth didn't let go.

'^I too can do it,^' The aboleth's body sparked as well, sending a powerful jolt directly into Arad's body.

^I got hit with worse,^ Arad smile, opening his jaw and opening a direct path to his stomach, sucking the sea water like a whirlpool.

The aboleth growled, grasping onto Arad's side so he won't get sucked in. ^How much can you drink, fool?^

But the boss quickly ate his own words as the water level sharply dropped, and Arad didn't show any signs of stopping. Everything whether it was fish, rock, or corals all getting sucked into his stomach.

SPLAT! Arad drank the sea dry, and the aboleth dangled from his side, his head hitting the ground.

'^You monster...^'

Arad looked at the aboleth with a grin. ^I was once a guest at a gold dragon layer, and she offered me a whole whale. That was great, and so was the fish here.^ He opened his jaw, ^How do you taste, aboleth?^

'^DAMN! YOU!^'

Arad ate the monster whole and then flew to the next layer. As Arad burst through into the hot lava, he felt a familiar presence there.

Thud! He stopped, looking around with a smile on his face. "A husk you have become, red,"

The first red dragon Arad killed. That young one stared at him with closed eyes, his scales peeling off.

"How had death treated you?"

The young red dragon stood in place, necrotic and draconic magic flowing from his bones. A zombie red dragon, still not at the level of a dracolich.

CRACK! The red dragon's jaw opened, "Slay...old one."

Necrotic magic started rampaging from his bones, but he didn't move. His body started shaking, sparks of fire gushing out of his eyes as his claws dug into the ground.

BAM! Arad flashed across, cutting the young dragon in half. Burning all of his magic with the void. "Rest with pride. I never seen one speak after death. You're strong,"

The red dragon's body crumbled, "Ven..." He couldn't finish the last word before falling apart.

Arad nodded, "I know," He glared up, "Vengeance. I can hear your thoughts," Arad flew up, bursting into the next layer without wasting any time.

"He's here!" One of the succubus shouted, and all of them pointed at Arad. "Great Magic: Arcane Spellbound." They screamed, their seduction magic combining to mindwash the dragon.

Arad growled as clouds of sweet pink gas rushed toward him, engulfing his whole body. His mind slowly cleared out, the memories fading into the sensation.

As the smoke cleared, the succubus celebrated, seeing Arad standing there in his humanoid form.

"We got him!" One couldn't help but jump, "We tamed the dragon, send new to Ann." She flew up to inform the labyrinth's ruler as the rest approached Arad.

"While she comes back," They giggled, surrounding Arad.

One approached him, wiggling like a worm. "Want to have some fun," She gently stroked his chest.

"Yes," Arad replied, lifting his hand.

She giggled, "Then let..."

SLAP! In the blink of an eye, Arad slapped her head across the layer as her body fell down, twitching in her own blood.

All the succubus gasped, unable to believe their eyes.

Arad blinked, looking down at the corpse and then at his hand, "What? I thought you were stronger, what a disappointment," He turned toward the rest with a gentle smile on his face. "Well, doesn't matter. Look at how many strong ones are here," He opened his arms.

"Come! Show me what you have, strong ones."

They took a step back.

Dragons value strength more than beauty. As each animal has their own mating rituals, dragons have one of the most violent ones. To make sure their race survives as the strongest they inherently seek mates stronger than themselves.

The dragon's marriage is an interesting one.

The dragons are usually bigger and stronger than the drakainas and, therefore more attractive in their culture. It's usually drakainas who propose to the dragons.

The proposal is always a challenge. The drakaina walks into the dragon's territory. The dragon usually awaits to see what she does before treating her like an intruder.

She can then do one of two things, approach his lair for a fight. Or settle down, asking him to come for the fight.

The fight can end in several ways. The dragon wins and rejects her because she didn't put up a decent fight. Therefore his offspring with her could be weak.

The second one is him acknowledging her strength, but not enough to take her as a mate, or because he has someone stronger in mind. This usually ends with the drakaina asking for a favor, and that is most of the time to be impregnated, which the dragon almost always accepts and she leaves after the deed.

That usually gives her offspring a chance of inheriting the dragon's strength, therefore having a better chance for themselves.

Another ending is the dragon accepting her as a mate. After that, she would move to live in his domain to care for the children together. Albeit the two dragons always keep separate hoards.

After the mating, the two couples can be spotted fighting regularly as they try to decide on the dominant one, usually once a year.

Another possibility is the dragon losing, which the drakaina would leave disappointed. In some bad cases, if the dragon proved too weak, the drakaina could end up eating him.

Arad walked toward the succubi. His arms opened up for them. "Come at me!"

Their magic worked. Arad is enthralled by them and can only see hundreds of strong-looking drakainas posted around him, asking for it.

"I do have low standards," Arad called with a sweet smile, "Only one scratch and you'll get it. I know my void can be hard to deal with,"

"You!" A succubus cried, "You have wives, don't you? Did you fight them to death as well?"

Arad nodded with a smile, "I did go for some of them, so they didn't need to fight me. But some did. Eris fought me and proved herself."

"You bastard!" A succubus lunged at him, her fingers extending into claws as she swung at Arad's neck.

CLANG! CRACK! Her claws cracked the moment they hit his scales, "That's more like it," He grabbed her with a hug, "Put more magic into it,"

SPALT! Squeezing his arms, the succubus's torso exploded, splashing blood everywhere.

Arad looked at his arms dripping with blood and guts, a disappointed look on his face. "Another weak one," He looked at them.

"Are you faking your strength with magic?" Arad looked at them.

^Fuck, he's realising it.^ One of the succubus growled. ^If he were to wake up, he'd go straight to Ann. We need to keep him busy at all costs,^

She approached Arad with a smile, "Care for a word before we fight?"

"What is it?" Arad replied with a smile.

"Let's play a game, it will help us show our strength at their best." She lifted one finger, conjuring an orb of fire.

"I see," Arad smiled, "You aren't physically gifted, but you might have magic or something else," He nodded, "Everything goes, show me, what can you do?"

She gulped, "Stand still and let me show you,"

She pointed her finger at his chest, charging a tiny ball of fire. ^Focuse, you only need to scratch him. If I manage that, I could stall him in bed.^