The dragon's harem

Chapter 999: The Little Wolf and Her Rifle

Note: this is another long chapter, strap in, put on some music, and get a drink. Donʼt forget to tell me what you think after.

Beneath the moonlight, the door of an old tavern opened up. An old man in his late forties walked in, his eyes dazed, staring at the distant nowhere. The untrimmed grey hair on his face dripped with blood as his shaking hands trembled. From his mouth nothing came but incomprehensible mumbles.

From the window that is on the opposite side of the door, a nine-year-old girl in a tattered brown dress jumped in, pointing a rifle at him. ”Donʼt move!” She shouted and the whole tavern froze, they all stared at her in shock, and their eyes finally noticed the homeless- looking blood-drenched man.

The man beside the door stood and glared at the homeless man, ”You! Whatʼs going on?” But the moment that man spoke, the homeless man grabbed him by the face, clenching so hard that the manʼs cheekbones cracked.

BANG! The little girl shot the homeless man in the chest, but he didnʼt even flinch nor change his dead expression, shattering the manʼs skull in cold blood. She immediately loaded a second shot and placed it right between his eyes, but he didnʼt even reach, walking forward as the bullet got pushed out of his wound and he healed.

The moment she fired the third shot, the homeless man burst forward with a powerful leap, swinging his fist at her. She jumped away, stepping on the air with some kind of magic that propelled her to the other side of the tavern.

Some seasoned hunters were in the tavern and they all charged at the homeless man, swinging their weapons and flinging their swords, but in the blink of an eye, the homeless man slaughtered them with a single swing of his palm. One of the huntersʼ shattered swords flew toward the little girl, barely missing her head, but it took her left eye with it.

She cried, but immediately rolled out of the way and pointed her rifle at him.

After several shots inside the tavern, the homeless man jumped out and ran through the busy streets, killing everyone in his path. Quickly, he reached for a hooded man.

When the homeless man swung his fist at the hooded man, the hooded man swung back a fist, ripping the homeless manʼs lower jaw out. But, not before the homeless man ripped the manʼs hood out, Arad was the one standing there.

In the blink of an eye, Arad pulled his greatsword and swung at the manʼs neck. The little girl jumped out of the tavern, seeing Arad swinging at the homeless man, only for the homeless man to grab Aradʼs arm and twist it out of his shoulder, ripping it off, and immediately went for a swing at Aradʼs neck.

The little girl fired a shot at the homeless man, and he dodged before jumping away with enough force that the street shattered, killing several bystanders. At the last moment of that quick exchange, Arad noticed that the manʼs jaw had fully regenerated.

The little girl growled and started running in the direction where the homeless man jumped, but Arad grabbed her from the back of her tunic. ”Where are you going? Heʼs already too far away.”

”Let me go, you bastard! Go heal your arm instead!” Without hesitation, she pointed the gun down and shot Aradʼs foot. But to her surprise, he didnʼt even flinch nor let her go.

”Now...now...that isnʼt the way a little girl should speak, and my arm is fine.” It was just then that the little girl noticed that Arad was carrying her with the arm that the homeless man supposedly ripped off.

She looked back down, Aradʼs boots were pierced by the bullet, but his foot was completely fine. She growled and pointed her rifle back at Aradʼs stomach, shooting him in the liver. ”Let me go!”

Arad once again didnʼt even flinch and grabbed her rifle, ”Kids shouldnʼt play with this.” With his strength, snatching the rifle was far too easy and the little girl started flailing her arms, trying to punch him.

As she screamed her lungs off like a terrified little bunny, Arad eyed her out. Her clothes were tattered, her skin wrinkly and dried out, her eyes had dark marks beneath them, and her left eye was already bleeding rivers.

Due to the chaos, the city guards rushed in and found Arad lifting the little girl with one arm as she screamed. They pulled their weapons, ”Put her down!”

Arad looked at them with his burning blood-red eyes, ”Iʼll go with noooooo....” and they all fell to the ground, asleep. The girl went silent, over fifteen men had been knocked out in a second.

”And for you, youʼll be going with me.” Arad disappeared with the little girl in a red mist of smoke and bats.

Arad appeared inside a large room and threw the little girl on the ground. She cried, immediately standing up and glaring at him, ready to fight. ”Who are...no...what are you, monster!” She growled.

”Youʼre here, good...” Arad said with a smile and the little girl heard a cry behind her. ”What did you do? Did you kidnap this little girl?” Mary looked terrified behind the little girl.

”Heal her eye if you can. Weʼll need her.” Arad sat on a chair and the little girl got grabbed by Mary, ”Look at me! This is horrible, what happens? Did he do that to you?”

”Youʼre as bad at jokes as Yog.” Arad looked at her with a smile, ”I was tracking the werewolf, and found the little girl trying to kill him.”

The little girl didnʼt understand anything, she was still confused about who Arad was and why is he even getting in her way. ”Donʼt butt in! What are you even, another monster?”

”You could say so. Iʼm a vampire and a pretty powerful one at that.” At that moment, Mesharra kicked the door open, ”Arad! Why are the guards panicking about a giant man who kidnapped a little girl?”

”Cause I did. There she is.” Arad pointed at the little girl with a passive face.

Echidna who was just behind Mesharra looked inside and smiled, ”You brought me a

present?”

Mesharra immediately yelled at her, ”What are you even going to do with her!”

Plum flew before the little girlʼs face and waved her hand with a smile, ”Iʼm Plum, that gentleman who kidnapped you is Arad. That armored one is Mesharra, the crazy one is Echidna, and the big-tidy nun is Mary.”

Mary immediately tried to slap Plum, but the little fairy dodged, ”You smell like shit, really, rotten blood and filth, when was the last time you took a bath or didnʼt sleep with a rotten

corpse?”

Mary finished trying to heal the little girlʼs eye but failed, ”The nerves were damaged with a magical weapon, I canʼt heal her.” She hooks her head with a sad face.

”At least you stopped the bleeding. Take her inside and wash her off, weʼll talk afterward.” Arad looked back at his desk and pulled out a book, [Moonlit Fangs]

Mary called Mesharra into the bath and asked her to go buy new clothes for the little girl, her old ones were far too stained with blood and sweat, they crumbled at the slightest pull. When leaving the innʼs room, Mesharra stole a glance at the little girlʼs rifle, nothing that the poor thing was abused to the limit. No repairs, countless shootings that far outclassed anything she saw even in the army, the muzzle was almost falling apart.

Half an hour later Mesharra returned with several fresh changes of clothes for the little girl and a repair kit for the rifle. She handed the clothes to Mary and sat down to repair the rifle, cleaning all the soot, changing the cracked parts and springs, and oiling everything well so it

wouldnʼt jam.

The little girl walked out of the bath wearing a pale white tunic and a pair of brown leather pants that were a tad bit big for her, Mesharra couldnʼt nail the size. A black eyepatch covered her left and Arad could finally see the scars on her neck, face, arms, and legs before they werenʼt visible because of all the grime and dust.

”Now...” Arad looked at her, ”Care to tell me why a little girl like you chasing a werewolf out of all things? You know that thing isnʼt a butterfly.”

”I know...” She glared at him, ”That werewolf is my father.”

Arad glared at her with glowing red eyes and a shocked face, his vampire nose told him those two werenʼt related at all. Even though she and the werewolf stank like rotten corpses, he

shouldʼve known if they were a father and a daughter.

”Care to explain?” He turned toward her, not saying a word about her not being the werewolfʼs daughter, and what did he even know? His vampire senses could be wrong for all

he knows.

”We used to live in a village north of here. Me, my younger brother, older sister, father, and mother.” She looked at Arad, ”One day, he got a letter that enraged him. I didnʼt know what was written in it at the time as he took it and bolted away.”

She looked at Arad, ”It only took one week for our mother to take us and move into a nobleʼs house in the other city. I wasnʼt my fatherʼs child, I was that nobleʼs child, same with my younger brother.” She looked terrified, almost bursting into tears, ”Mother sold big sister Anne to a slaver on the same day we arrived, and Iʼve heard that my sister took her own life that night. The letter father received was a false call for help from his parents, that was a trap

to kill.”

She looked at Arad, ”That noble killed fatherʼs parents, set a trap for him, and mother who helped him ended up sold as a slave just one month later when he got bored of her.” She looked even sadder, ”Father came back a few days after mother was sold away, he survived the trap, but when he learned of all that happened he lost his mind and went mad.”

”The noble tried to use me and my little brother as hostages, but it failed. Brother ended up dead, the whole nobleʼs family got killed by my father.” She looked at Arad.

”Your father killed your little brother?” Arad asked.

”No, a stray spell took him.” She found a chair and sat down, ”Father went mad, and lost his

mind. He wiped the nobleʼs family, his relative, far relative, children, grandparents, neighbors, those who worked with him, bystanders who told him hi, those who worked for him, their families, no one is safe.”

”He already killed enough, thousands of people in the past month, someone must put him to rest before more innocent people get killed.”

Arad turned toward Mesharra, ”Keep an eye out for any incident. Echidna, track her mother, if sheʼs alive, we might be able to use her.”

Echidna reached toward the little girl and pulled a single hair from her head. The hair burned in black flame and Echidna sighed, ”Sheʼs already dead, been so for a few days already.” Arad stood, ”Put the little girl to sleep. She can use my bed if the rooms are filled, Iʼll go out

and track her father.”

”Heʼll kill you! He mightʼve not transformed, but if he did not even you would be safe.” The little girl screamed at Arad and he looked at her with a smile.

”Iʼm an even bigger monster.” Suddenly, Arad saw the girlsʼ faces twist, he turned back, seeing the homeless man in the window, glaring at him with a pair of dead eyes.

****

The daughter of the innʼs owner was asked to bring a new pair of blankets for the little girl. She had just arrived outside the roomʼs door and lifted her hand to knock, ”Mesharra, Iʼve...” CRACK! The door shattered and something hit her hard, sending her flying at the wooden wall.

She coughed blood, her eyes catching sight of Arad smacked beside her with blood rushing out of his chest, a large gaping wound reaching deep into his left lung. ”What?” She gasped, ”We...need...” Her vision started slowly blurring. Arad looked at her and his face paled as if he had just seen a ghost. The girl was missing her whole lower half and her eyes slowly lost life, fading away before she could even understand what happened. BANG! The little girl pulled her rifle and fired a shot at the dusk cloud in the hallway, and her

father charged toward her. A massive silver werewolf with blood splattered all over his face. The innʼs owner rushed up the stairs, ”What was that!” He yelled and Arad yelled back at him,

”Get the hell away!” Mesharra lunged out of the room, swinging her glowing blade down at the werewolfʼs neck.

The people who sat downstairs with worried faces after hearing the first explosion looked up

the stairs as Aradʼs shout boomed, and a blast exploded once again, sending the innʼs owner flying back on the tables.

From the dust, Mesharraʼs body flew and smacked downstairs, a large gash spanning across her back. The werewolfʼs claws had slashed through her thick steel armor.

But right after her, the werewolf fell to the ground, his left arm broken at the elbow. Arad

rushed after him, swinging a fist, and punched him in the guts, causing him to gasp for air. Mesharra looked up, seeing Arad and the werewolf exchanging punches all over the innʼs tavern, seven people had already died. They must take this fight outside the city no matter

what.

”PLUM! DO IT!” Mesharra shouted and Plum emerged from the wooden ceiling, her eyes glaring straight at the werewolf, ”Pup, time to go out.” She extended her hands down and the whole inn started shaking, all the wood in it extended down, ripping half of it apart and turning it into a large tree trunk that wiggled like a snake.

Echidna sent her thorns curse to catch the werewolf but he dodged them, trying to escape

while dodging Aradʼs fists and Mesharraʼs sword. At that moment, a bullet came flying out of the chaos, hitting him square in the head.

The werewolf paused for a second as his wound regenerated and the bullet was pushed out,

but in that opening Echindaʼs thorns had managed to catch and tie him to the tree, which Plum immediately swung to catapult him out of the city.

At that moment the werewolf swung his arms, ripping the top of the tree apart alongside

Echidnaʼs curse, alone beneath the blue moon, he took a deep breath and his chest inflated. ”A ROAR!” Both Arad and the little girl shouted, but their warning was far too late.

The werewolf screamed at the ground, the shockwave of his voice crushing the inn and several

houses beside it, killing everyone inside and leaving the lucky ones alive. The little girl and Mary were protected by Echidna.

As Echidnaʼs curse vanished they saw a sea of corpses around them, all crushed down by the

sonic shockwave. Plum flew away to keep as many people as safe as possible around Arad and the werewolf.

The little girl had dropped her rifle when she needed to hide to avoid the shockwave and she

could see it in the rubble, but since it was a bit too far she snatched a flintlock from one of the guardʼs corpses and shoved it inside her pants with some bullets and gunpowder.

In a split second, Arad flew into the sky with two massive bat wins, standing right before the

werewolf with a body burning with blood magic. The blue moon in the sky turned bright red as Arad punched the werewolf into the nearest church.

The werewolf managed to regain his balance mid-air and landed on the roof of the church,

holding onto the cross-like star of Yog. Arad slowly floated down in front of him, and the two had a stand-off above the church.

”Now thatʼs over a hundred people dead.” Arad looked at him, ”I came to this city since Iʼve heard of a werewolf that is on the loose, didnʼt expect it to end up like this.” ^Arad, no use talking to him. His soul had already shattered, the thing before you is nothing more than an animal following what little sense and instinct still remains in his brain. The last thing he was thinking of before his soul snapped into madness was probably killing

anyone that harmed his family, now heʼs going on a murder spree until he dies.^ Akasha

explained in Aradʼs head. ^Give him the mercy of death, before more souls are lost to his madness.Ʌ

PEW! A bullet came out of nowhere and pierced the werewolfʼs head. Aradʼs head snapped back and looked, it was the little girl shooting all the way from the inn. ^Bitch! Weʼre in the other half of the city and the middle of the night!!^ Akasha couldnʼt

believe her eyes. And before Akasha could give the little girl a second look, Arad lunged and

pulled out his gun and great sword, ”Iʼll put you to rest, come, your little daughter had worked hard enough.”

Arad swung his greatsword and the werewolf his claw. When the two hits impacted, the roof of the church was blown to bits and the nuns rushed out in terror.

Blood spikes flew everywhere as the priest responsible for the church looked out, seeing the

werewolf lifting the nearby horse stable whole with one arm, chugging it toward Arad who was flying down from the red moon.

The stable smacked Arad out of the sky and the werewolf was about to leap at him, only for

Arad to appear out of red mist behind him. The werewolf jumped away and Arad reached into his magical pocket, pulling a whole canon.

The priest who was watching gasped, that canon is one of the canons that the guard mounts

over the walls to fight giant monsters or destroy siege equipment, itʼs not something that should be fired anywhere near people.

BOOM! Arad fired the canon and the werewolf swung his claw down, slashing the shell in half

but his palm was obliterated. That wasnʼt any canon ball, it was one made of pure silver

melted from a Yogʼs statue in the same way Arad had made all of his bullets.

As the werewolf noticed that his hand wouldnʼt regenerate, Arad had already shifted weapons

into a pair of small daggers which he swung flying straight at the werewolf, aiming for the

throat.

The werewolf slashed Arad across the face, ripping his eyes out but Arad managed to cut the werewolfʼs throat, sadly he regenerated almost immediately as the daggers were only blessed by Mary. The werewolf was strong enough that everything besides the most holy of objects

couldnʼt hurt him.

Aradʼs blood quickly returned to his wounds as he healed, this was a battle of freaks, two beings beyond human comprehension were spilling their blood, sending the whole city into

panic.

****

Back beside the inn, the little girl screamed, ”Let me! I must kill him!” Mary held her in place so she wouldnʼt run away. Mesharra and Echidna were trying to catch up to Arad and the werewolf, those two monsters were moving all over the city at an extreme speed which made

catching them nearly impossible.

”No! Youʼll die! They can fight, we canʼt. Youʼll just get in the way.” Mary shouted at her, holding her from the waist as she flailed around.

”I said put me down or Iʼll shoot you!” The little girl growled.

”Yeah, yeah. Arad said to not let...” BANG! Mary felt a sharp pain in her thighs. As she looked

down, a massive hole was blown there to the point she could see her bone. The little girl had a flintlock hidden beneath her clothes.

Mary fell down as the little girl rushed away, picked up her rifle, and ran in the opposite

direction to where Arad and her father were fighting.

Mary looked to the side and noticed that one of the dead guards didnʼt have his gun on his

waist. Earlier amidst the chaos, the little girl mustʼve stolen it.

The little girl knew her father better than anyone else, she had been hunting him for the past month. Arad isnʼt the one controlling this fight, heʼs busy trying to fight without killing anyone. Her father on the other hand is the one in control, rampaging all around. Her fatherʼs immortality isnʼt that omnipotent, it relies on food, and eating humans. She had

seen him needing to eat two weeks ago when he took a lot of damage when she blew him apart

with a bomb. His favorite meal was young women, and thus she made her way to the cityʼs largest bath.

When she reached the bath, the lady owning it tried to stop her, seeing that she was a little

girl with a rifle and covered with blood and dirt. After hearing the loud explosions in the distance, she became too wary and wanted to call the guards immediately. ”You there! Put that thing down!” The owner growled at her. ”Shut your mouth and move out of my way. Unless you want everyone here to die!” The little

girl growled at her.

”Huh, nice joke. Iʼll be calling the...” BANG! The little girl shot her in the foot and rushed

inside, kicking the door open, and ran between the naked and terrified woman who just heard

a gunshot.

The little girl reached the open-air bath and climbed a tree that was planted inside and perched in it, waiting. Countless women submerged their bodies in hot water, a large soup pot of humans. Some of them were old and wrinkly, but she could see some young women

inside as well. The air carries their smell across the city and her fatherʼs powerful nose should pick it up.

By the time she arrived here, Arad and her father were fighting for a while. As she expected,

after just a minute of waiting and several tubs and soaps thrown at her, her father came

crashing down from the sky, landing right in the middle of the bath.

The little girl jumped down from the tree, landing on her fatherʼs shoulders, pointing the rifle

right at his skull as Arad caught up, seeing her pulling the trigger. ”Rest in peace!”BANG! She

fired straight through his brain and into his spine.

Arad noticed that even while starved, her father was still about to regenerate so he jumped in,

biting him from the neck. It only took Arad one second to suck the paralyzed werewolfʼs

blood, putting the poor man out of his misery.

^So you killed me?^ Arad saw a tall man standing inside his soul beside Akasha. He

approached him with a smile, ^I see, a powerful vampire.^

^It wasnʼt me. It was your daughter.^ Arad replied with a passive face. ^Ann isnʼt my daughter. Iʼm sure youʼre mistaken about something, sheʼs still a little girl, and

wouldnʼt even be able to...^ As the man was speaking Arad interrupted him.

^A little girl? You mightʼve not realized it was insane for the past month, but she had been

hunting you for a whole month, and sheʼs the one who finally put a stop to you. I just finished you off.^ Arad shared his memories through blood with the manʼs soul.

^She has grown a lot...take care of her for me...^ His soul finally shattered, leaving only his

lycanthropic blood flowing inside Arad.

^She mightʼve not been your daughter, but you sure raised a wolf. Rest in peace...^ Arad was standing in the hot water, holding the werewolfʼs corpse in his hands with the little

girl standing on the edge of the bath, pointing her gun just in case. The terrified naked woman

around them remained silent, not uttering a word.

”Heʼs dead...” Arad said and turned toward the little girl, ”Ann...your father is proud of you.

Says youʼve grown a lot, and heʼs sorry for all the trouble he caused you.”