The dragon's harem

Arad’s stay at the half-angel kingdom came to an end. He sent everyone back through his stomach and took to the sky, heading straight to the half-fallen-angels’ kingdom, which was close by.

Right now, four of his incarnations were out as usual. One in Alina, one in the university, one in space training with Diana, and the one that’s now entering the border.

The half-fallen-angel, also called the half-devils by some, were the descendants of humans and fallen angels that settled in the mortal world after the old war.

Just before Arad could leave the half-angel kingdom, Lucifer explained to him the heavenly order. Devils are just angels who were tasked with guarding hell, and got twisted by its cursed energy over millions of years.

Divine magic is the essence of the gods’ power. Holy and cursed magic are just two faces of the same coin, both born from the same source but developed in different ways.

Holy magic still relied on the gods’ will to bend the world, and that’s why clerics must retain their faith and their god’s trust to receive their power. Curses, on the other hand, opted to act independently of the gods, and that is why curses must compensate the world itself by holding themselves accountable.

When a cleric casts holy magic, it’s their god asking the world nicely to bend and follow the will of the caster. But when a curse is cast, the caster is making a contract with the world itself. I’ll give you A, so give me B.

For example, the devils can cast a curse that allows someone to see in the dark, but they’ll be deaf as long as that effect persists.

This had helped Arad understand why the half-angels and half-fallen-angels acted in opposition to what one would expect.

The half-angels relied on holy magic; they never needed to worry about the cost of their actions. Like humans, when given power and status, they’ll immediately drown in profanity.

The half-fallen-angels, on the other hand, had learned to live with the cost of their power being always a looming threat. They understand that to each action a cost, and thus it was never in their nature to tempt the other races or fate. It also helped to put restraints on themselves to gain power.

At this moment, Arad stood right outside the half-fallen-angel border, looking at the fancy convoy waiting for him. Unlike the half-angels who met him with a charging paladin, here he is getting a somewhat warm welcome.

Arad walked past the border and approached the convoy carriage, looking at the five people standing in front of its door. Two armoured guards, a woman archer, a man with a large axe and bulky shoulders, and a short woman wearing a black blanket over her head. She looked like a ghost, without a single inch of her body visible.

The covered woman spoke first. Her voice rattled as if shifted by magic, as if she didn’t want anyone to know who she was. Arad could only tell she was a woman because he could see her soul.

“Lord Arad Orion. I am Zariel, daughter of Gabriel. Father had sent me here today with my personal guards to escort you to the inner capital. Please follow us to the carriage.” She bowed slightly, and the guards around her bowed even deeper.

“It’ll be much faster if I carry us all to the capital.”

Arad replied, and Zariel shook her head.

“Father needs time to prepare. My job is to buy him time to prepare.” She then moved out of the way and waved her hand at the carriage’s door, “Please take a seat.”

Arad stepped into the carriage, and only Zariel followed him, taking a seat facing him. The carriage slowly started to move, and the guards walked by its sides. That allowed Arad and Zariel to talk in peace.

“Why cover yourself from head to toes?” Arad asked, and Zariel shifted. She looked around for a long second and then spoke. “It’s related to my curse and how it works.”

“So it’s better if people don’t see you. It must be both a powerful and tricky curse to use.” Arad looked outside the window and saw the ground moving away. This carriage could fly.

“It is an annoying curse, to say the least.” She then shifted and looked at him. “Are you alone? Father said to expect some other guests with you.”

“I came alone. Didn’t have time to decide who to bring with me.” Arad leaned back on his seat, and suddenly, a tall, pink-haired elf appeared sitting by his side.

Diana and Arad had finished training space, so Arad gave that incarnation to Doma to use as a body. Since they are going to deal with the half-fallen-angels, the masters of curses, it was only right to bring the queen of curses around.

Doma looked around with a smile, and then her gaze shifted to Zariel.

Zariel immediately noticed the immense cursed energy rushing through Doma’s body and gasped. She had at least a thousand times more cursed energy than her Father.

“The Queen of Curses.” Zariel shivered. Not once in her life did she expect that a day would come when she would sit face-to-face with the Queen of Curses, Doma.

“Curse of Nymphs, also known as the seduction curse. What a vile one.” Doma looked at Arad, “Her curse is quite nasty, but powerful.”

Zariel glared at Doma for a second and then sighed, “I don’t mind if you tell him how it works. There is no workaround, after all.”

“Like Nymphs, her body is extremely beautiful. Seeing one finger is enough to drive any living being to madness and submission. All she needs to do to mind control someone and turn them into her slave is show them a tiny part of her body. The stronger the target is, the more she needs to show.” She leaned forward, “The drawback is that all of their fantasies about her body become a reality for her.”

Doma pointed at Arad with her thumb, “By the way, ten of you can strip naked, and you won’t be able to control Arad. There is an upper limit to your power.”

“And how did you know?” Zariel didn’t deny anything that Doma said, because the queen was right. When it comes to curses, her knowledge far surpasses anyone else’s.

“I’ve directed many like you before. Stupid fools thought they could control me.” Doma leaned on Arad’s side. “If little Gabriel sent you here to keep Arad in check, he’s stupider than his mother was.”

She looked at Arad, “Or was it his grandmother?” She scratched her head and looked back at Zariel, “Who was it that I taught how to control the curse of black lightning?”

“That’s my mother. She is the father’s wife, not his mother or grandmother.” Zariel growled and then sighed.

“She asked me to keep an eye on Arad because you’re with him. She said that bringing someone like you to our kingdom is like bringing a grand wizard to a children’s fight.”

Doma smiled, “I can control all curses. And all half-fallen-angels are bound by curses. That means I can control all of you at will by manipulating your curses.”