The dragon's harem

Alcott headed into the underground caves with Meryem by his side. “What do you think?” He asked and Meryem looked around, “I’ve been living underground with my colony for long enough. I don’t know where those maggots came from.”

Meryem touched the walls and sighed, “We still have a long way ahead. Can you see in the darkness?”

“I can with my vampire and werewolf curses that make my eyes quite good in darkness, but I can also echolocate and sense movement in the air with the fine hair on my body, that’s a werewolf power.” Alcott easily counted the stalagmite around them.

“That’s quite impressive. But using sound might alert the maggots. I’ve noticed that some worms are quite sensitive to tremors and a small one can run away at the sound of rain.” She looked back at him and he nodded, “And this place is filled with monsters that can see in the dark, we better not draw attention.”

“Yes, making strange sounds or lighting a torch is like loudly announcing our arrival.” She replied and Alcott had a large smirk on his face, “Would you get mad if I said you’re still too naive?”

“I won’t. I’m indeed still far too young and inexperienced. What part of what I said was wrong?” She knew that Alcott was the last person someone could criticize due to how skilled he was.

“Black fanged ground moles live around here and they use echolocation to navigate in the darkness as they are blind. When a male loses the fight for a mate and is kicked out of the herd, they uses a specific sound so the herd won’t attack them again.” He pointed at himself, “Right now I’m nothing more than a loser Black fanged ground mole.”

Alcott then pointed at his boots, “Padded soles with a weak muffling enchantment on my boots and black cloak is all I need to do this.” He suddenly disappeared from her vision and senses. She couldn’t locate it no matter how she tried.

Only when he addressed her again did she find him. “I did hunt earth dragons underground. If I can escape them, others won’t be a problem.”

“You’re scary. How did a human end up this strong?” Meryem walked by his side. Even she couldn’t imagine fighting him. This man seems to have a solution to everything, as if he had faced everything in life.

“I had one rule. If it’s alive, it can be defeated. All that matters next is how to achieve that.” Alcott pointed at her head, “I’ve spent as much in the libraries of the guild as out hunting monsters. For example, I know that giant ants like you don’t communicate with words but through pheromones and sounds that humans can’t hear, all received by your antenna.”

“If I cut those two on your head, the whole colony would lose its solidity and it’ll be easier to take it down.” He smiled, “At that moment your children would think you’ve died and panic, some might even choose to explode into acid from fear and depression.”

“You’re a monster…” Meryem looked at him with a shocked yet impressed face. “No wonder you’re Arad’s father.”

“He already surpassed me in power, but it’ll be a long time until he gains my experience when dealing with monsters.” Alcott rubbed his nose, “It smells foul…we’re close, right.”

“Sharp nose? Yes, we’ve arrived.” After walking just a bit more, the two found themselves looking down a massive hole were all of the castle and city’s sewers pour in.

“This hole goes all the way through Loci’s body and into the ground beneath her. It deposits everything at a depth of 8-10 kilometers. Loci is just 5 kilometers deep.” Meryem tapped the wall, “Is that right?”

A stone mouth appeared on the wall, “Indeed, but I’m at least 100 kilometers wide. Since I’m a massive and heavy ooze I end up splashed on the ground like water. I already inspected myself and found that those maggots suddenly appear in spring, and the well water that is pulled from deep underground. They then hatch in the sewer channels.”

“If people drink that water…it means almost everyone is infected.” Alcott closed his eyes, “I’m not infected, probably because of my blood… No, that vampire lord shouldn’t have been infected if that’s the case.”

“Do you think there is a reason why the maggots infect some people while leaving the others fine?” Meryem wasn’t infected as well, but she is a powerful monster.

“I got a reason, they are monsters. Those maggots are controlled by a hive mind that tells them who to target and who to avoid.” Alcott walked toward the hole, “And I bet it’s down below.” He jumped.

“Wait! It’s far too deep!” Meryem cried but Alcott was long gone. He was used to being dropped to the ground from above the clouds by dragons. A few kilometers drop with walls to slow him down, it’s not a problem at all.

****

“This is bad…” The abomination growled. His existence had weakened a lot after the fight with Alcott and only managed to escape Vassiliss’s claws due to luck, Nyar’s insight, and sacrificing his trump card that was supposed to be used against the Tarrasque.

In his fight with Alcott, he had been beaten so badly that he knew surviving was almost impossible. Luci’s last clap of the mountain was the last hit he needed to take, forcing him to give birth to an immature clone of himself.

That’s right, the abomination causing trouble now is the son of the abomination that Alcott and Vassilissa killed. This abomination shares his father’s memories and powers, but is now stuck in a horrible situation and desperately trying to survive and get back to the outer world.

Right now he is merely a maggot hiding deep underneath the ground, below the bowls of Loci so if anyone wanted to harm him they’d have to harm her first.

The seal that the abomination left for his son, the spell that he was supposed to use to capture the tarrasque was now useless for that purpose. There is no way he’ll be able to face such a being even if he survives for a hundred years, so he used it to seal himself and hide his presence. If that drakaina Vassilissa sniffed him out, he’ll die a hundred times over.

It was then that he felt it, two eyes and an aura as heavy as steel falling into the depth. He could see him falling like a log, Alcott was coming closer. The only thing the abominations feared was AO, but this man…he scares him.

The abomination could feel it in his cells, the terror his father faced, how this man cut him apart. He had also felt it, the fear and hope the vampire lord sensed the moment he saw Alcott.

That human was a predator, a monster to monsters, and that human had just disappeared. All monsters nearby were already trying to run away the moment they sensed Alcott approaching, but now that he went into hiding, all of them froze into place, curling into their holes in terror.

****

Arad’s time in the abyss came to an end. After making sure that everything was in order, and picking Lamy up, he teleported with everyone back to Hati’s mansion. It was then when Eris felt something strange, “One of my kind is trying to slowly crippling himself… He doesn’t dare ask for help, but I can feel it from here.”

Arad looked at her, “Aren’t vampires struggling all over the world? What’s special about him?”

Eris closed her eyes, “This one is a vampire lord, an extremely powerful one. But…he doesn’t seem to have killed that much in the past years until he claimed a life hours earlier.” She looked at Arad, “What’s more…he’s in our village.”

“I’ll go check.” Arad started walking, but she grabbed him by the shoulder. “Can you leave it to me?”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Arad looked at her, “Won’t it be best if I go with you?” He was a bit worried. If a vampire lord was harmed, she might not leave unscathed. He doesn’t doubt her power, but he would rather she never gets scratched.

Eris slowly looked at him, her eyes burning purple. He could feel her blood magic, murderous divine aura and draconic magic rumbling. “From the moment I became the blood queen of the vampires, I understood their weakness and my power.”

She took a step toward him, “Tell me…do you feel it…the will of the blood.” Her voice started growing deeper and deeper like a rumbling machine.

“Fine, go. But I’ll follow you if anything happened.” Arad sighed and she jumped into his arms, giving him a deep kiss before fading into a red mist of blood.

Inside the vampire lord’s cave, a single drop of blood fell from him. Before it could hit the ground, his eyes burst open as he felt her coming.

The blood drop hit the ground and with its tiny splash, Eris walked out nowhere, her whole body burning with plasma and blood magic.

The vampire lord froze in place, unable to believe his eyes. The queen herself had arrived, “Blood Queen!” He gasped.