The dragon's harem

CRACKLE! As Arad was talking with the blacksmith, the ground shook, and she fell on the ground.

“What’s this?” She cried.

Arad growled, looking out the window, “I stopped monitoring for half an hour. What did happen?”

FLAP! FLAP! A crow flew across the sky, glaring behind the city’s walls.

Soldiers stood behind the wall, forming a shield wall as mages fried from behind them. A massive horde of monsters rushed out of the mountain foot, causing havoc.

“A stampede?” He mumbled, ^No, it’s not a simple one. The appearance of demons on the mountain and me being there. We must have scared the monsters, and they started running on the opposite side, which had this city.^

“I have to go,” He said, walking toward the door.

“Do you know something?” She asked.

“Monsters, hundreds of them, are rushing at the walls,” Arad replied, teleporting away.

^Half of this is my fault, and Merida is asleep in the inn right after the wall.^ He growled.

[Did you take precautions?] Mom asked, and Arad confirmed with a nod. “I have both the blacksmith and Merida protected with a barrier, the best I could make now.” He nodded.

ZON! He teleported to the top of the wall, standing between the soldiers.

“GAH!” One of the soldiers cried as he saw Arad appear out of nowhere, standing there and looking above their heads.

“Who are you?”

Arad handed him his guild card, “I will deal with this,” He looked across the battlefield. Several types of monsters were rushing at the shield wall. Most of them were monsters he never heard of.

The variety of monsters made it hard for the soldiers to form a variable counter, and their forces rapidly dwindled. When a mage flung a fireball, it killed two demonic buffalo. But it empowered a salamander.

When they shot cold magic, it killed the salamander but empowered a massive frost tiger.

“S-rank Arad!” The soldier gasped with a hopeful face, “All forces! We have an S-rank! I require leadership to be switched!” He screamed.

“S-rank?” The soldiers stared back with hopeful faces, “Switch approved!” Most of them cried. Since the death of the city lord, the leadership of the city has been in a shamble with several nobles fighting over resources.

The soldiers were caught in the middle of it, and now have to fight with limited resources and under heavy restrictions. But under the leadership of an S-rank, all of that means nothing. It’s eliminate the threat first, and that’s what they like.

Arad nodded, “Fine, arm yourself and get ready to strike.” He walked forward, “I might be able to resolve this without a fight, so wait for my signal.”

“Arm ourselves?” One asked.

Arad looked back at him, “Use everything and anything. Hundreds would die if monsters broke through the wall.”

The awaited green light.

ZON! Arad teleported between the soldiers and the monsters, standing there with a stoic face.

“Stop,” He said, tapping his foot on the ground.

The monsters kept charging, and the soldiers at the front line lifted their shields, ready for the impact.

“I said, STOP!” Arad shouted, smacking his foot on the ground.

A massive purple wave gushed out of his body, and the soldiers fell to their knees, barely supporting their bodies with their hands. The monsters were the same, falling to the ground, their bodies heavier than ever before.

SWOSH! Merlin flew over the wall with Ginger, Alcott, and Nina scaled with them, and stared forward.

“Being able to teleport is useful, isn’t it?” Alcott smiled.

“Teleport is always faster than running,” Nina said with a smile.

Merlin and Ginger stared at the battlefield, “He’s using large-scale gravity magic to keep the soldiers and Monsters in check, dominating them with his sheer presence.”

****

“The threat behind you is gone,” Arad stated, glaring at the monsters. They could see behind his humanoid appearance. Not a single one of them failed to notice him being a dragon, and one powerful enough to wipe them out.

“Begone,” He growled, “This is my land. One step, and you’re prey.”

The monsters started to slowly step back.

TAP! TAP! From the hordes, one tall man walked forward with a passive face, long black hair, and a long mantle over his shoulders.

Looking at the man in the eyes, Arad felt his body getting lighter, a cold sweat dripping across his back. His eyes opened wide as he felt the deep urge to run away.

The monster started shaking in their place. Arad could sense the terror running down their spines.

“RUN! AWAY!” Alcott screamed his lungs away.

Bubble! Arad’s skin turned red as his blood started to boil, seeping out of his nose and ears. The monsters around them died, bursting into blood.

The man lifted his hands, “I came for a meal,”

In the city, people walked down the street, before they stopped, noticing they were all bleeding from their noses. PLACK! The blood inside their bodies hardened, transforming into spears and impaling them across the streets.

The only survivors were Merida, and the blacksmith woman Arad protected with his barrier.

Merlin had protected herself with magic, Ginger seemed unaffected, but she couldn’t use magic, so she fell face-first from the sky. Alcott fell on his knees, his skin blood red like Arad, his blood boiling.

“How boring,” The man stated. The blood of Riverside people flew toward his palm, compressing into a ball, and he ate it. “You’re grown weak, Alcott, as all mortals should. Where is your holy sword?”

“You bastard, you were still alive?” Alcott growled.

“A vampire like me is already dead.” The man smiled, looking back at Ginger, “Isn’t that right, sweet daughter?”

“I hope you were alive. So we could kill like everyone else,” She growled.

“You foolish daughter of mine,” He said, disappointed more than anything else. “Then I will just come back as my current self.”

He then looked at Arad, “I intended to kill everyone except Alcott and my daughter.” He stared at Arad, who was on his knees, bleeding from his skin. “I expected Alcott and that wizard Merlin to survive. But that’s it.”

He sniffed Arad’s blood, “How are you alive? Dragon constitution? Vampires are powerless against me.”

CRACK!

The man blinked, looking back to see Nina walking toward him, needles of blood piercing her skin, but she kept moving.

“How interesting,” He smiled, “No one ever stood in my presence, let alone walked without a divine protection.”

He giggled, “Now, fall,” CRACK! Nina’s body froze into ice, and she fell to the ground. “Even you, it will take a while to stand from that,”

Alcott attempted to stand, but when the man glared at him, he fell back down, “Don’t even try. Without the holy sword, you can’t stand in my presence. Have you forgotten who I am?”

The man lifted his hands, “I’m the blood lord, Vlad the impaler,” He started laughing but suddenly stopped, “How sad,” He sighed.

“I wanted to humiliate then kill you, but…It doesn’t feel right without you having the holy sword. It leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth.” CLING! He created a blood sword, “I will cripple you, then kill you later when get the holy sword back. Yes, that would make for a fitting ending,”

ZOVROM! ZOVROM! As Vlad lifted his sword, he heard something coming from Arad’s side. He looked and saw a bright light forming inside Arad’s stomach.

The light started spreading across Arad’s torso as the rumbling sound grew louder, and he started to move.

“You as well?” Vlad smiled, waving his hand, and Arad’s body froze like Nina’s. “Mortals and vampires are useless against me. As long as you have blood, you can’t defy me,”

CRACK! The ice around Arad’s body cracked and started melting. The violent engine inside him emitted so much heat that flames gushed out of the cracks.

“What?” Vlad gasped as Arad shattered the ice, lunging at him with a punch.

Vlad dodged Arad’s punch and kicked him away. He then looked at his mantle, finding it burning. Even his enchanted leather show started melting.

“An extreme biology. I didn’t expect you to be like this,” He sighed, his sword turning back into blood and returning to his body.

“I got my meal, and I got to see Alcott on his knees,” Vlad stated, “My fool daughter, your place at the castle still stands. Come back, and I might consider stopping my hunts,”

He then disappeared into a cloud of smoke.