The dragon's harem

Chapter 891: The Overgodʼs Dead Heart

”Welcome to my humble abode. Hope you find it relaxing.” Hati said with a grin, lying on her large pillow bed and staring at Arad, Mira, Isdis, Roberta, and Merlin. Tina and Lyla were playing with Ignis and Serin in the back, they canʼt help with the coming conversation so they are getting the best of their time here.

Aradʼs eyes slowly looked around their room. It was a large wooden building brimming with magic, twenty of Hatiʼs daughters were sitting beside the walls, each holding a strange item in her hands. One held incense, another a fan, one even carried a skull of all things.

”This is a shrine.” Hati said with a smile, her eyes shifting to look at Arad, ”And Iʼm itʼs Miko.” She waved her hand, and a faint whistle surged through the air. Her long nails stopped pointing at the skull held by one of her daughters.

”The dagger your friend Jack got, the holy wakizashi of Amaterasu. Its first owner was a rogue called Daraku, this is the resting place of that manʼs wife. The shrine maiden Miko. Thatʼs her skull, a holy artifact of the age of the gods.” She pointed at the ground, ”Her body rests beneath this shrine. Amaterasu entrusted her body to me since she still held a massive amount of Amaterasuʼs divine power.”

Arad looked closer at the skull, ”That thing holds power equal to Korah, no. itʼs even bigger.” Arad could sense the bursting divine magic in the skull.

”Miko was a normal girl, orphaned at a young age, she holed up in an abandoned shrine of Amaterasu, raising other orphans and caring for them. Daraku was a thief, but he stole to feed them.” Miko waved her finger and divine magic started rushing out from the ground, ”This woman has been dead for over five thousand years, this woman had kickstarted the whole of Amaterasuʼs religion. Amaterasu had sworn that sheʼd drop the sun to the face of the earth if someone dared to insult Mikoʼs corpse.” She sat up and looked at Arad, ”Itʼs not just Amaterasu, with me being neutral, a lot of the gods leave their precious artifacts with me to safeguard them for all eternity.”

”We came here to free Zephyr.” Arad looked around, ”Does telling me this relate to that?”

”You should be able to guess. One of the gods had agreed to let you use one of his artifacts. If...you can harness its energy.” She waved her hand and pointed at the closed window. One of her daughters immediately rushed in and opened it.

”Youʼll be freeing Zephyr there. The artifact is sealed at the core of that mountain.” She giggled, ”Can you tell whatʼs in there?”

Arad looked at the mountain for a second, and he started sweating, ”The hell is up there? Itʼs like nothing Iʼve ever seen in my life.” He gasped, terrified at the massive amount of magic condensing in the mountain.

”Itʼs the overgodʼs first heart. As a divine being controlling the world, he has billions of hearts and brains working as a massive hivemind to calculate all of the universeʼs needs. We call that the Collective Consciousness, her name is Aria, the archon controlling the system. She and the overgod are one and the same, sheʼs just his brain and heart.” Her eyes slowly gazed upon Aradʼs terrified face.

”That heart had long since died, it never beat in the past five thousand years. The over god says you can use the magic still rushing from it to free Zephyr. And...I quote, directly from him. Not mine, donʼt get angry at me.” She cleared her throat, slightly moving her head forward like an old man. ”Eat it if you can, Lizard. Either die or grow older and stronger from it.”

”Me? Eat that thing?” No matter how he looked at it, he couldnʼt digest all of that magic. Itʼll be like asking a human to consume one of Miraʼs bombs. That thing puts Kossuthʼs [Ho-white Nova] to shame.

”Three things could happen.” She lifted one finger, ”You die, probably explode like fireworks.”

She lifted a second finger, ”You survive, but drown in insanity. At which Kayden would come and kill you. Youʼll die...”

”Iʼm here.” Kayden said he was already sitting in the corner, sharpening his sword. Arad couldnʼt even see or sense him in the shadows until he decided to speak. ”Itʼs been a while since I butchered a void dragon. They are annoying to the skin.” He was talking as if he was about to slaughter a sheep.

”Third, you fully absorb the heart and gain a lot of power. Youʼll probably age rapidly, you might even grow to adulthood in a flash, but youʼll not gain any divinity from it. The over god said that would taint your power.” She giggled, ”So, what do you say? Youʼll attempt eating it, or not?”

”Thatʼs the overgodʼs heart, and you want me...to eat it? Me dying in one thing, but wouldnʼt I blow the whole beast kingdom with me?” He looked at her, ”They are here too.” He looked at Mira.

”First, thatʼs his old heart. The first heart he had, itʼs nothing compared to his current heart. Itʼs a dangerous artifact, but youʼll need that kind of power in the future. Also, consider that the over-god isnʼt asking for any payment in exchange for it. People would go crazy over the dead heart of a god, let alone if it belonged to the over god, the god of the gods.” Hati turned toward Kayden, ”What do you say?”

”Instead of trying to absorb all of its power at once, seal it within several layers of barrier magic inside your stomach and slowly absorb its power. Itʼs like sucking on a piece of hard candy, slowly letting the sugar flow out.” He lifted his blade and looked at it, it was spotless, sharp enough to slice space itself. ”Get the wind spirit out of the cube first. You can then spend the coming week or month asleep while absorbing the power of the heart.”

Kaydenʼs face suddenly burst with six eyes, all glowing red with demonic magic as black veins covered his whole body. ”And, donʼt worry about this kingdom or your wives. I was the one to rip that heart out of the overgod in the first place. Iʼve got no problem stopping someone like you whoʼs just absorbing the power.”

Hati giggled, ”Iʼm surprised youʼre speaking normally to him.” She titled her head, ”Now that is indeed unexpected.”

Kayden giggled, ”All thanks to Kaliʼs blessing.” He closed his eyes, and opened them again, ”Youʼre still nothing more than a silver wolf. Heʼs a black labrador and a beefy one at that.”

”Come on, even me?” She sighed, ”And itʼs been five thousand years, have I not gotten better?” She shook her head.

”You did grow stronger, but so I did. The gap between us only grew wider.” He sheathed his sword and looked at Arad, ”Pick a time to pull Zephyr out of the cube. Until that time arrives, Iʼll train in the way of the sword and destruction.”

Kayden is the god slayer, he gained that title in less than two years and had spent the past five thousand years growing his power. Right now, he stands at a height unimaginable to most of the gods. There is literary no one in the world with deeper knowledge of how to swing a blade than him, and heʼs the master of destruction. If you seek to destroy things, pure damage, and destruction, heʼs the one to seek, even Kali the goddess of destruction isnʼt as good at it as he

is.

Arad slowly turned toward Merlin, ”When will you get ready?”

”Iʼll tell you when I am...” She looked at her hands, ”I need to make sure everything is perfect. Itʼll be a day or two.”

”Take your time, make it a week. We canʼt mess this up.” Arad looked at Kayden, ”A weekʼs time, is that enough?”

”No...” He replied with a passive face, ”A thousand years would be barely enough for me to train you on the basics. But...” he stood, ”Iʼll do my best to make sure you learn as much as

possible.”

”Use my training ground, but Iʼll skin both of you alive if you damage it.” Hati stood and opened her palm, pulling a thing glass-like blade from it. ”You ladies can head with my daughters; theyʼll guide you around and make sure youʼre entertained.”

”Will Arad be all right?” Mira looked at her with a worried face.

”Heʼll be fine...” Hati replied, but at the same time Kayden said, ”No...”

”Stop scaring her!” Hati gasped.

”Youʼre the one who scared them by telling them I was here in the first place.” Kayden intended to only speak to Arad alone, never to get his wives involved or have them know about this whole thing. It was Hatiʼs idea to tell them as well.

”Wives deserve to know what their husband is doing or going through, believe me. I know

that best...” She shook her head and pulled her fan, ”Off we go.” Covering her face, she slashed the air with her sword and opened a portal.