The dragon's harem

On the other side of the battle, Arad was dealing with the Ice Brood Mother’s unruly mates. All of them were powerful monsters, at least high A-rank, and some even reaching into the S-rank, being more like natural disasters than mere monsters.

He dodged the large snake’s immense maw, flew past the bison, and hooked the tiger with a [Meat Hoo] to attack and finish him first.

The tiger was fast, nimble, and a master of lightning magic, which allowed him to target Arad even from far away. It didn’t matter how physically gifted Arad was; he wasn’t going to start dodging lightning now. It was too fast for him to see or dodge, which meant the tiger had to die first.

But if Arad can’t dodge lightning, then how was he still alive? The answer was simple: he might not be fast enough to dodge lightning, but he was skilled enough to evade it. That tiger was still a monster, and its eyes always looked where it was aiming its lightning bolts. Arad just had to keep an eye on the tiger’s face and keep moving out of its aiming zone.

But what made Arad even safer was that he didn’t use any metallic weapons. His spear was made of stone, and his clothes were nothing but leather, silk, and cotton, topped by a bear’s hide. Unless the tiger’s aim was true, the lightning won’t arc toward Arad on its own.

Arad dogged all of the Queen’s mates’ attacks, then leapt toward the tiger with a clenched fist. “You’re down first!” His fist connected with the tiger’s head, and it roared with a [Divine Cleaver] powerful enough to shake the ground and melt the snow around them in a blinding flash.

Blood splashed everywhere, and the other mates had to jump back to avoid the shockwave. The large snake had even used its body like a spring to jump, which was a first for Arad to see.

But then, from the ash, smoke, blood, and divine light, the tiger jumped at Arad. Its face was dented, half of its fangs were missing, and it looked on the verge of death, but it was still moving, fighting, and filled with malevolent will.

Arad dodged the tiger’s bloodied maw, let go of his spear, and clenched his fists. One punch after the other, a [Divine Smite] following another [Divine Smite], a barrage of punches and kicks, all aimed at the tiger’s torso in a split second. Arad made sure to hit all vital organs, the heart, liver, lungs, stomach, and even the kidneys to be sure, and then finished the combo off with one nasty, elbow, [Divine Cleaver] that was strong enough to send the tiger flying away.

All the other mates stayed away for a second, not wanting to get any closer to Arad, fearing that he might hit them as well. And then, the tiger hit a tree, then crashed back on the ground, painting the snow around him bright red.

“You’re one tough cat.” Arad smiled as he saw the tiger stand back up, glare at him once, then die, standing and in the middle of taking a step forward to keep fighting.

Almost immediately, another one of the Ice Brood Mother’s mates rushed at him. This time, it was a titanic elephant covered in thick fur and boasting two massive tusks. It lifted its huge trunk, then unleashed a torrent of frigid water at Arad.

Arad jumped out of the way, then used [Meat Hook] to swing from one tree to another and circle around the elephant, which was more of a mammoth than anything else, just bigger, stronger, and more magically capable.

“High-pressure water, it will break all of my bones and might even cut me in half if I get hit. On top of everything, it’s so cold that it freezes on the spot.” Jumping over the stream of water, Arad could see it freeze anything that it hit. He wanted to rush the mammoth and kill it, but the snake got in his way and spat a splash of poison.

Arad ducked, then used his powerful legs to leap into the air, using his spear as a pole to vault over the poison. Then, following that, he dropped right on the snake head, swinging a [Divine Cleaver] punch at one of the monster’s eyes.

He would’ve ripped its eye open if not for the mammoth coming in and swinging its trunk at Arad, forcing him to abandon the attack and jump away from the snake. And as if to add salt to injury, when Arad landed, he was already between two other of the Queen’s mates, a violent, two-headed bear, and a charging bison twice the size of the one Arad killed before.

Arad jumped back, flicking his fingers and leaving a small ball of purple plasma where he was. The ball flashed with blinding light, then exploded into a fiery rose of flames. The bear got burned a bit and was stunned, and the charging bison hit it like a racing truck, causing the bear to explode into a splash of blood.

Before the Queen’s mates could recover, Arad lifted his arm, pulled it back as far as he could, and then hurled his spear toward the mammoth. The spear flew through the fire, ash, and blood, reached its target, and exploded in the mammoth’s face with as much power as a [Divine Cleaver].

“Who said divine cleaver can’t be used at range? Paladin archers are a thing, did you know that?” Arad created another spear from stone and pointed it toward the dying mammoth. “I got two wives; cupids, and they showed me that it was possible.”

Arad then looked at his fist, opened and closed it, then smiled. “I’m getting more used to this. No wonder Lydia was so strong.”

From behind him, a massive and muscular ape jumped down from the trees, aiming its massive and clawed arms at Arad’s neck.

Arad rapidly turned around, ducking below the ape’s attack, and his arm swung with a thundering roar. [Divine Cleaver]

The Ape’s whole body exploded, and so did Arad’s entire arm. The shockwave alone was strong enough to rip several massive trees from their roots and kill several of the briders crawling around the nest by mistake.

Back at the cave, Haru fell to her knees, groaning. “AHHHHH!” She soon fell to her face and then rolled to her back. Liliana rushed to check on her with a worried face. “Are you all right?”

“No… I feel like someone punched me in the guts.” Haru barely managed to sit back up. “Arad, he pulled so much divine magic at once that…” She then almost threw up and sat back down. “He is still going…GAHHH!”

Liliana was a cleric as well, and she could see and sense the divine magic passing through Haru’s body. To be honest, it was horrifying. Arad was pulling a second more divine magic than the two of them had combined; in fact, Liliana had never seen a cleric or a paladin use so much divine magic, except for Lydia.

“Can’t you tell him not to use so much… besides, what is out there for him to need this much divine magic to kill? Don’t tell me they are fighting one of the sea’s horrors.” Liliana helped Haru sit up again and then gave her some warm water.

“I already told him not to use too much…” Haru sighed, “They are fighting the briders’ mother. Arad is now facing her powerful mates, and Gojo is facing the Ice Brood Mother herself.”

Liliana stared at her for a second, then rubbed her eyes. “I got it… But, can you tell Gojo to catch the Ice Brood Mother alive? I want to get an infinite supply of threads and poison.”