The dragon's harem

Chapter 732 Gojo&Slime-Arad&Swampʼs Drakaina

Extending my hand forward, I could feel the demon lordʼs soul shaking inside his motionless body. He still hasnʼt recovered from the last beating I gave him. As we void dragon can eat souls to cultivate our age, we can directly strike it down, but that requires a lot of skill and would waste the age we could get.

[Void Stomach]

Darkness rushed out of my hands and consumed Demogorgon, pulling his failing existence into my stomach to get digested. ^I can digest him. Nice. I got old enough.^ I smiled, pushing the thought of me getting closer to my death into the back of my head. Speedrunning life is quite stressful.

”Donʼt worry, little one. Iʼll separate the soul from the body and slowly feed him to you so you can adjust and grow. This is the first time Iʼm trying to raise a familiar.”

The slime wiggled in Gojoʼs hands, unable to resist or run away. It felt like a kid forced to eat vegetables.

I lifted the slime, staring at its wiggling blue surface while thinking of the best way to feed it. I could just throw him into my stomach and feed him there, but thatʼll be quite scary for him. I should probably give him a bit here.

Putting one finger into the slimeʼs surface, I released a bit of Demogorgonʼs magic. The slime naturally sucked the mana and absorbed it into its body. An Oozeʼs body is made of countless tiny cells that function like a colony and move in a blob. This was like raining grilled meat and food into a human city, or rain in a dried and thirsty field.

The slimeʼs body flashed green, then its bright blue color shifted into a darker tone. The magic in its body rapidly increased, but it quickly fell asleep and stopped eating. It takes time for it to digest the mana even if Gojo did digest it first.

”Iʼll give you a name. Demogorgon…a demon…and a slime…Got it, youʼre called Obelisk. The black hole of the abyssʼs darkness.”

******

Name: Obelisk

Race: Demonic Ooze

[HP: 11] [MP: 9] [SP: 8]

[Strength: 2] [Agility: 2] [Constitution: 2]

[Magic: 2] [Intelligence: 2] [Wisdom: 2]

****

Skills:

[Digest] [Acid Splash]

[Demon Lord Spark: The Shard of all Evil]

Resistances:

[Slashing from non-magic weapons]

[Piercing from non-magic weapons]

Weakness:

[Bludgeoning damage]

******

I couldnʼt help but laugh. I was right. Demogorgon had a shard. I read about them in ancient text, but itʼs my first time seeing one in person, and itʼs Shard of all Evil nonetheless. I heard the beast queen Hati has the eternal shard, and that dragon goddess Tiamat has the shard of purgatory, but I didnʼt know they left one here in the abyss.

There are two sources of divine-like powers. Portfolios and shards. Portfolios are made from the beliefs of people, like how humans worship the sun, and that gave birth to the sunʼs portfolio that Amaterasu has. To keep a portfolio, you must maintain a steady amount of believers who pray to you, and from their prayer you gain power. With enough people and ceremonies, a creature can gain more power from a portfolio than from a shard.

But since keeping believers and answering their prayers can be annoying, a shard is far better for those who want quick and discreet power.

For an example.

Portfolio: 1 believer gives a small amount of power, letʼs say 0.001. With one million believers, you get a power of 1000. You start low and have to build your status or steal another godʼs hard work.

Shards: A shard gives you powers based on its nature. They are the embodiment of the worldʼs nature as opposed to the portfolios, which are concepts. 1 shard would be around 750. And canʼt be grown without meddling with the worldʼs nature.

”Rest, little one.”

Gojo smiled. This will further his search for the origin of powers. Is it magic? The system? portfolios? Or the shards?

****

Back in Crocʼs hut city, Arad flew above the clouds masked by the darkness of the night, surveying the lands for monsters and points of interest.

^This city is strange.^ Arad thought.

I canʼt help but wonder, with it being almost twice as large as Alina, why is such a disparity present?

The rich, nicely built eastern half contrasts the poor slums of the west half. As if a wall separated the two, it was clear from one look. Large buildings and green gardens are on the east, and smaller houses are on the west. One had a large beach, a massive tourist attraction, while the other bordered the alligator-filled swim buzzing with massive mosquitoes.

Strangely enough, not many monsters were spotted on the west side, and Arad could clearly see why. A large swam of alligators ganging on a horned wolf, ripping it apart.

”They are massive.”

The smallest of the alligators was over 3 meters long, and there were over 50 of them in one spot.

”I donʼt know what would be worse, an alligator infestation or a flood of monsters. Probably the first as people seem to have gotten used to those massive lizards.” Arad landed in the middle of the swarm and shifted into his humanoid form.

The alligators turned toward him, growling, ”Hoi! Hoi! There, hold up. Iʼm not here to harm anyone,” He waved his hands, speaking with them.

”A dragon,” The oldest of the alligators crawled toward Arad, he was over 150 years old. ”Another black one. My children Directly support the authors on !

would rip your kind apart!” He growled.

”I said I mean no harm,” Arad found a stone and sat down, surrounded by the alligatorsʼ mob. ”You said -Another black one- Was there another dragon here?”

”Prepare to die!” The alligators charged at Arad, biting him from the legs and side. But even with all of that force, he didnʼt even budge, feeling like small kittens attacking him.

^Those alligators are scared. I should get them to calm down,^ With a single, pull, I snatched the elder by the upper jaw and dragged him up to my lap, patting his back like a dog. ”Calm down, grandpa. Iʼm not here to harm you or your children, whoʼs this black dragon youʼve been talking about?”

”Let me go! Insolent dragon,” The alligator grandpa growled, ”Youʼre but one fat lizard, put me down!”

”Nah, youʼre staying here.” Since Iʼll be living here for a while, I need to get to the bottom of this. I canʼt feel any magic in the air, so I doubt this place is in the territory of a dragon, but just in case…

”Iʼm studying at the school over there. That massive stone building,” Arad pointed at the university, ”As you know, we dragons rarely get along. Can you tell me about the dragon around here? Do that and Iʼll even protect you from him while Iʼm here.”

”The dragon would then kill us later. But…” The elder grunted and the young alligators moved away from Arad.

”This whole swamp is its territory. Weʼve only seen it once when it came all here forty years ago, but since then weʼve been only dealing with the monsters running from its lair.” The alligator grandpa sighed.

”You keep calling him it…”

”I donʼt know itʼs gender. You dragons all look the same in your dragon form. Donʼt start trouble with it and get us mixed in, weʼve got enough dealing with monsters.” He sighed, exhausted.

Arad slowly lowered the elder alligator to the ground. ”I canʼt sense a dragonʼs magic around. Assuming heʼs a dragon, he probably pulled his magic away when he sensed me or my brother.”

”Why would a dragon hide.”

”Cause heʼs weaker than us, and doesnʼt want to get in a territorial fight.”

Arad stood and looked around, ”You stay here, Iʼll try to greet him. Itʼll be better to clear any misunderstanding from the start.”

Arad shifted into his half-dragon form and flew deeper into the swamp. After a minute, he stopped and landed beside a tree, bending down and smelling the dirt. ”Hmmmm! I can smell it,” His eyes flashed purple.

”Faint, but new trails. A black Drakaina is hiding deep into the swamp, probably in an underground lair.” He smiled, ”But why hide?”

^[A dragon posting in her territory, and two powerful void dragons nonetheless. Sheʼs either not interested in mating, or too old for it. But if sheʼs too old, sheʼd be more confident in her strength and leave her aura out.]^ Doma explained.

^I know,^

Arad shifted into his draconic form and stood in the middle of the swamp, ”I know you can hear me, Drakaina. Fear not, for neither I nor brother seeks mates for now.” His eyes flashed with a bright purple light as his magic spiked.

”I suspect youʼre either too young or too weak to protect your land. I donʼt know about my brother but feel free to call me for help if you need it. Youʼll find me at the University of the Arts. And if you canʼt take a humanoid shape, merely speak the alligators and Iʼll come flying down.”

Expanding his wings across the swamp, he slowly started levitating with gravity magic, without a single flap. ”I knew this place had to be owned by someone, and I never intended to settle here for free. Iʼll take care of any invading monster, hope to speak to you at least once before I leave.” He flew away, ”Peace be upon you, as long as you hold it upon me, Black Drakaina.”

^A titan had to teach me that. No need for aggression,^

He disappeared above the clouds and his magic soon faded from the forest.

”Monster. And I wanted to hibernate through your stay here…” A voice echoed through the swamp.