The dragon's harem

“This will be your room for now. Rest and don’t worry, the nuns will bring you anything you want or need. They won’t ever mistreat a demi-goddess, especially one that was accepted by Amaterasu.” Lydia said as she closed the door, leaving Eris asleep on a bed inside a private room inside Croc City’s largest Amaterasu church.

When Lydia walked out, she walked around the room’s perimeter and splashed holy water on the walls, chanting in an ancient and forgotten language. She then stood at the door and jammed her blade onto the ground, surging her holy magic across the whole place. The most crucial role of a sanctuary is its guardian. Lydia was using herself as that beacon of holy magic and standing motionless at the door, channeling her power to keep Eris safe until everything was solved.

“Are you going to stand for long? How many hours?” Jack who stood at the end of the hallway asked, staring at her from the shadows.

“Hours?” Lydia smiled, “It might be days or even weeks. I must stay here to make sure that the demon lord never reaches Eris. Don’t worry about me, I can do it.”

“This isn’t sitting well with me.” Jack sighed, “I can’t let you stand like that without food or water for days.” He started walking toward her, and Eris’s room door opened from behind Lydia. The one to walk out was none other than Pin.

“My dear mistress is fast asleep. I assure you it has nothing to do with me…” She giggled and walked between Lydia’s legs and into the middle of the hallways. “Demon lords love to poke fun at demi-gods, trying to win something to blackmail them later when they ascend to godhood. I bet that foul monster is looking to exploit my mistress…” Pin theatrically waved her tiny arms, “I shall not allow it!” She growled.

“I found who that demon lord is earlier.” Lydia said, looking at Pin.

“I know who she is, the foul demon queen of severing. Lunara.” Pin returned the stare to Lydia, “Don’t underestimate me, I’m an agent of murder, and I’m competent enough to know the taste of evil. Lunara’s magic tastes like rusted coins and iron, disgusting.”

“Then you must know how dangerous she is. No matter how powerful you are, your power would never reach that of a true demon lord.” Lydia glared at her, “Only Amaterasu’s light can keep Eris safe until Arad comes back. It’ll be best not to get Merida involved, the last thing we want is a demon lord war.”

Pin giggled, staring at her with an evil smirk. “You are the fool, Paladin Lydia. When you noticed Lunara’s demon magic, what is the first thing you did? You severed Milady’s precious foot, severed, why didn’t you just blast it with divine magic?” He pointed at Lydia.

“You’re the one underestimating the power of a demon lord. Her magic had influenced your reflexive response before you even knew it. Severing Milady’s foot was nothing but a tribute to the severing demon lord.” She shook her head, “You poor mortals know nothing about dealing with higher beings. Leave baking to the baker, and stand guard as you always do. I’ve already called help.”

With Pin’s word, the murder paladin slowed up at the end of the hallway, all carrying scepters, maces, and hammers, “Bashing a few heads would solve this problem. A cult of Lunara is relatively close by, I’ll give and give Murder’s kiss of love, send them back to death’s cold fingers.”

“Avenger pin, is what you said true?” The largest of the paladins, their leader approached Pin and knelt down.

“It’s indeed true. The severing Demon lord Lunara had laid her hands on our divine god empress of murder.” She giggled, “Let’s go greet her cultists and say hello.”

“Gang wars are kinda my thing.” Jack smiled, “I’ll be coming as well.”

Pin looked at him, “We’re glad to have a chosen hero of Amaterasu by our side, she has always supported our empress and we couldn’t be more thankful for her continued support.” She bowed gently, “But please, do avoid bringing any slashing weapons, avoid empowering them.”

^I see…^ Jack finally realised it, both gods and demon lords gain power from their aspects being enacted. Any slashes in the presence of Lunara’s name would give her and her cultists power, but on the other hand, any murder in the presence of Eris’s name would empower Eris and her followers.

“They can’t kill us…” He smiled.

“Smart…The more of them we kill, the greater our empress’s power would rise, and therefore our paladin’s divine magic. Even if they killed some of us, that would only give us more power.” Pin walked toward Jack and jumped on his shoulder, “Agent of Amaterasu, are you ready to paint your hands red in murder?”

Jack smiled, looking at Lydia, “We just recently understood some aspects of Amaterasu’s power. Her light brings warmth and prosperity, but when the darkness prevails for too long.”

“Life starts rotting away.” Pin looked at Jack’s white eyes, the black dot in them resembled an eclipse, faintly throbbing with power.

****

Walking down the university’s hallway, Aella was walking with Ganta carrying several stacks of papers with Maria, their dark elf teacher. “In this office,” Maria said, pushing the door open with her foot as her arms were busy carrying a large box. She walked inside first and dropped the box on the ground, Aella put the papers on the desk and Ganta carelessly threw the large boxes she carried on the corner.

“Is this all?” Ganta looked at Maria.

Maria looked at Ganta, “At least drop them. Why throw them around?” She sighed.

“They are only books. They won’t get damaged anyway.” Ganta found and chair and sat on it cross-legged, “So, how much are we getting?”

Maria looked at her, “Three points, that’s all I can give you.”

Ganta growled, “Whaaaat! Come on, at least make it five, I need them.” She cried, “Aella, tell her!”

Aella looked at Ganta with a troubled face, “You’re the one who needs to study more.’

“I just can’t…I’ve tried, you saw me study, right.” Ganta was about to throw a tantrum.

Maria sighed, “Fine, four points, take it or leave it. That should help your score a bit. And, come to my dorm room later with Aella, I’ll give you a special lesson and see what I can do.” “Really?!” Aella gasped with a smile on her, “You sure?” She was already at the top of her class, but getting more time to ask questions and advance would give her a massive lead. Might be unfair to the other students, but they are the ones not going around helping their teachers to earn some brownie points.

Strangely enough, Ganta was the failure of the call in terms of grades, but she got along with Aella a lot. Words and rumors started circling among the students that Ganta is in fact quite cunning and isn’t looking to befriend Aella or get close to her, she’s aiming for Aella’s husband Arad, and those trying to use as a bridge.

As Aella looked down, she noticed a faint cut on her fingers, most likely a paper cut. She just waved her hand and ignored the wound; it’ll heal on its own after a while.

The only one of Arad’s wives who wasn’t touched by Lunara’s magic was Merida, as she was sure that the fungus would notice her presence.