The dragon's harem

Amaterasu smiled. ”I came to inform you that Eris would be joining the war effort. For now, she’ll be working directly under me as a support unit until she and her angels get used to it. I also arranged it so you can come visit her anytime you want. A direct teleportation link that you can use.”

She waved her right hand, and her red fingernails drew a few lines in the air, conjuring and sending a spell of space to Arad, which he read and understood.

”So? Do you expect any Avatar to show up?” Arad asked, and Amaterasu smiled. ”One may show up. The approaching colony is relatively big and should need one. But it could also be led by several high-tier abominations.” Her eyes flashed with faint golden light. ”Are you worried about her?”

”I’m worried about your soldiers. I’m sure even you realize it, don’t you? Push Eris to the limit, and she’ll blast everything to ash.” Arad smiled. ”Your angels, your dragons, and all of them... she’ll tear everything to pieces, and the bigger the carnage, the stronger she’ll get.”

Amaterasu giggled. ”Yes, that is true. That’s why I’m taking her to the war, the place where murder is plentiful, so she can thrive. I want her to rip and tear, to sever and tear apart until nothing but abominable blood is left. If she grows strong enough, I might be able to even let her take care of an entire battalion despite being a new divine.”

As the two laughed, Aloe got even more scared. Why was Amaterasu here? How come Arad is just talking to her like this? Why did she need to personally come here? To tell him about Eris? Huh, that doesn’t make sense. Why is the empress of the entire universe reporting to him?

She knew Arad was powerful. She knew he was influential, but then... she froze as the cogs of her brain started spinning. Hold up a moment! Something ain’t right!

”Wait! She can stand?” She had never see Amaterasu standing, or ever heard of her not being on her white cloud.

”Of course I can stand. I got legs, feet, toes, and my knees are still strong. I just hate being looked down upon. It disgusts me. I also get quite the kick from looking down at people.” She threw a gaze at Aloe. ”I’m excusing you now because Arad is here. If he wasn’t, I would’ve already smacked you to the ground.”

Aloe immediately prostrated herself on the ground. ”It shames me as a Demon Lord... I apologize for flying around you earlier.” She then shifted her gaze back toward Arad. ”Feel free to visit us when you have the time. I’m certain the new void recruits your age would love to see you in action.”

”Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll come and check on Eris soon.” He walked toward Amaterasu and patted her on the head, causing Aloe to immediately start shaking. He was done. She’ll erase his bones out of existence and make sure not even the fates remember who he was.

But when Aloe looked up at Amaterasu’s face, expecting to see a furious rage, what she saw made her even more terrified. Amaterasu had a light blush and a faint smile, looking a bit happy.

When Arad removed his hand, she looked a bit sad for a fraction of a second, then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gave him a gentle bow. ”Then, till we meet again.”

As she disappeared, Aloe just stared at Arad in disbelief. She then flew to him. ”Mind if I asked you something rude? What the fuck did you do to her?”

Arad tilted his head. ”I did nothing. But... I did marry Kali, and Amaterasu had raised her when she was orphaned. So that makes Amaterasu like a mother-in-law to me. She is also Eris’s patron, and I saved one of her strongest paladins in a fight against an Avatar of Nyar.”

Thinking about it like that... it still didn’t make sense but at least explained why Amaterasu was so tame around him. Aloe thought that she at least got a vague idea about how powerful Arad is.

”Do you know that you have a bit too much influence in the world?” She asked, and he smiled. ”I do know. I’m aware of it. Then what are you going to do about it?”

She smiled. ”Spread my cheeks as wide as I could, shake my butt, and beg. I’ll use my connection to you as best as I can to grow stronger and expand my domain.” She looked at him with a smile. ”So consider me your little helper fairy in the abyss.”

Arad and Aloe walked deeper into the hallway and found themselves looking through the door into a massive room with several futons laid on the ground. The quarter clearly didn’t have enough beds for everyone, so they were sleeping on the ground.

Arad could see everyone who came with him in the room, and as expected, the wood elf princess wasn’t there, but in the rooms around this massive room. Arad was standing at the northern door, which led to the hallway. The room’s western door led to Kolara’s room, the eastern door to Molana’s room, and the southern door to Hathfield’s room.

What’s more, those doors weren’t doors at all. They were just blocked with curtains. Those rooms weren’t where the princesses usually slept. They came here to get close. He walked in, and Isdis waved her hand at him. ”Come, we were just about to have an only-girl’s night.”

Arad smiled. ”Then, I should go, right?” As he sat down, they all smiled. ”Of course not. Want to join?”

”I’m already in, and I’m not going out.” He looked at them, ”What were you talking about?”

They all blushed. ”Since we’re here, we decided to play a game where each of us would share a personal secret.” Isdis looked at everyone. ”So, who wants to play? The spicier the secret, the better.”

As she got no answer, Isdis cleared her throat. ”So no one wants to play? Well, I’ll be on my own then.” She looked at Arad. ”When I was growing up, my dream was to get married to some rich prince, catch him cheating on me, then use that to gain leverage and control. I even wrote a hundred pages planning how to make that happen, including hiring noble girls to seduce him.”

She leaned back on her hands. ”So, while we were hiring the maids from the noble daughters, some of them, whom I had informed of that plan, thought I was planning to carry it out on Arad and were horrified.”

”That doesn’t sound like a spicy secret. It’s more like manipulation and subterfuge. As expected from a noble...” Dalla sighed, and then looked at Arad. ”I was an adventurer and reached the S-rank, and then I retired to work as Cerilla’s maid. Many people think I retired because of injury, or because the pay was higher.”

Isdis looked at her, ”That isn’t the case?”

Dalla shook her head. ”No, actually... I’m Cerilla’s bastard Little sister. Father, the late High Elf King, had a human slave whom he secretly bought and used for pleasure. I’m that slave’s daughter. My mother was sold away while pregnant with me when the king died.”

”I spent years searching for them.” Cerilla sighed, ”But I never managed to. Until Dalla herself showed up at my door.”

Dalla smiled. ”Mother died a peaceful death of old age. I’m still alive since I’m practically a half-elf.”