The dragon's harem

Damnation rushed out of the throne room and looked out at the lava pool, directly spotting Arad and Tempo as they approached. Her eyes burned with malice. She wanted to attack immediately and eliminate the paladin threat, but paladins are always a pain because they are the god’s weapons, their eyes and ears. Coming into direct contact with Kali’s paladin would draw the goddess’s gaze and potentially set the horned nest that is the divine realm.

It would only take a few minutes for the angels to swarm down to murder and throw her corpse out of the world. But, if she managed to capture the paladin alive and control its souls with her eldritch magic, the abominations would get a spy in the divine realm and one linked to Kali, no less.

Should she risk it? Should I engage in direct conflict, or would it be better to snipe them from afar? That woman had just slaughtered the ancient predator of the lava pool with a single swing, which means she is either an ascended or at the cusp of it.

When a paladin reaches their peak and surpasses their god’s expectations, achieves a great deed of goodness, and forces a miracle to happen with their own power, their god might give them a chance to ascend into becoming a celestial being, a pseudo angel. And when they die, they’ll be reborn as a real angel to serve their god.

An angel of destruction. Now, that’s horrifying, especially since angels are already weapons of mass destruction. What could the harrowing goddess of destruction give her angels and paladins to make them even more potent?

The best way to deal with destruction is creation, but Damnation was an abomination, and she didn’t even know if a god of creation existed. That option is scrapped, and so she is only left with one way out: to fight the destruction’s paladin herself.

As she was looking at Arad from afar, his head slowly turned in her direction and stopped. She froze, looking at the red-head paladin. Damnation woman had beads of lava sweat dripping from her flaming forehead. She could feel that something was off.

Arad smiled at her and winked, causing her to gasp, close her eyes and fall back.

“She could see me from that far away? Mortals aren’t supposed to have such a sharp vision.” She ran back into the throne room and started preparing several spells. She must knock Tempo first and use him as bait to lure the destruction’s paladin into a deathly trap and capture her. She also needs to make sure everything is well hidden, considering the paladin’s sharp senses.

Tempo looked at Arad with a worried face. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. I just saw Damnation and wanted to give her something to think about. Throw whatever she planned into chaos. The more worried and confused she gets, the better. Nothing is more deadly than changing your plans at the last second.”

Arad started walking, and Tempo followed after him.

“So? Would you explain what just happened? That was divine magic, right? You aren’t a paladin, I know that.” Tempo looked at Arad’s back, “And I won’t miss that divine magic. I’ve seen it before. The temple of the orphans. Shrine of Kali, some call it. They are everywhere.”

Arad smiled, “Kali, the demon goddess of destruction and the patron of orphans. A weird combination of portfolios, I know, but she got the second one because she was an orphan as well.”

“And now?” Tempo lifted an eyebrow, and Arad looked back at him.

“Let’s just say I’m too close to her. She allows me to use her power like this.”

Tempo remained silent for several minutes as they walked, thinking about something. And then he spoke, “Courting a goddess, I would have to advise against it. Gods are above mortals. They’ve no need for our petty affection. There is always a catch when dealing with them. They might be worse than the devils.”

Arad laughed, “I have to agree, but Kali is different, and not all gods are like that. The petty gods are the lesser ones, those who need to grow their power, not the ones who reached the top.” He looked back at Tempo, “And besides, Kali already spent thousands of years caring for orphans. I’ve heard of many gods, but none of them helped as much as her.”

He smiled. “I don’t see any god of the homeless or the hungry. If only those gods existed, the world might’ve become a better place.”

Arad was right, and Tempo knew it; Even in the Volcanic Titan’s kingdom. Shrines of Kali have been built since ancient times. Orphans always end up drawn to them, and there they’ll find food, shelter, and care. Even when the temple was abandoned for hundreds of years, if a hungry kid walked inside, there’d always be a clean bed, warm food on the altar, and a few toys for them to play with.

Wizards have tried to study Kali’s alter in the hope of finding a way to generate infinite food, but those wizards all ended up being found dead in ditches, mauled by demons.

“So? Who is this goddess Kali? I’ve never heard of her having any clerics or paladins. Her shrines are usually full of kids seeking food and shelter, not devote priests who spread her good word.” Tempo looked back at the kingdom and in the direction of where Kali’s shrine there was.

“Do you think that place still stands?”

Arad thought about it for a few seconds and then replied. “There are many kids there, adults as well taking shelter inside. Any abomination who dared approach the temple ended up getting mauled before making it to the inner shrine.” Arad frowned, “But the guard dogs won’t last long. They aren’t that powerful.”

“Guard dogs?”

“Demon dogs, large, muscular black hounds called Banken.” He looked back at Tempo. “Kali is the goddess of demons. They are the ones worshipping her, not mortals. Well, any act of destruction of an act of worshipping her, so many people do worship her, even if they don’t know or intend to.”

“The goddess demons protecting kids, that’s hard to believe.” Tempor frowned, and Arad laughed.

“Why? Isn’t it satisfying? If someone dares harm kids, orphans, or those like them in need, a horde of demons is what they deserve.” Arad smiled, “And besides, she isn’t as dangerous as you think. Don’t get me wrong. Demons aren’t evil; they are vile, violent, and utterly harrowing. They’ll eat their kin alive and are more than happy to snap your bones like twigs and drink your blood while your whole family watches. Just don’t get on her bad side.”