The dragon's harem

Chapter 1009: Our Monster

Arad returned with Altair, and the dragon-hunting journey started immediately. Arad, now a powerful Pricolici with a vampire and werewolf pirate crew and a massive horde of cursed sea monsters, had found himself with enough power to feel confident again.

The poor Prince Jack had found himself without his pirate crew, it was a devastating event, but he didnʼt blame it on Arad as this wasnʼt the first time a dragon sank a pirate ship. He quickly formed a new crew and set them to work again, thankful that he didnʼt send his assistant with them or she wouldʼve died.

At this moment, Arad was sitting with Jack and the king in a meeting at the royal palace. The kingʼs advisors as well as Mary, Mesharra, Echidna, Plum, and even Altair were all present.

They all saw what Arad could do so no one dared speak up first, just seeing him sitting on a throne just like the king on the opposite side of the table was enough symbol of status, but the king went far enough to yield him the right to speak first.

”Strange attacks by mainly cold monsters, like yetis, white dragons and drakes, cryomancers, and even a titanic ice golem... that looks fun.” He giggled with an evil smile.

”Thatʼs a Moving Glacier, itʼs considered a construct like a golem, but this one has a personality and a mind of its own.” An old woman who looked in her mid-fifties spoke, giving Arad a sharp glance. ”The one we spotted is five miles tall and has a roaring blizzard of snow and hail that howels around it spanning over fifty miles in each direction.”

The woman was Arch-magus Vultrious Belalaina of Fernolia. She is the Archmage of this kingdom, or as she likes to be called, the Arch-magus. Arad is currently showing her his magic and having her give her opinion on them so he can improve. In this whole kingdom, only two people dared to speak with Arad directly.

Jack who Arad made it clear that heʼs grateful for, and Belalaina whom Arad wants to show him if heʼs making any mistakes with magic.

”Sorry...Heʼs a Moving Glacier, not any ice golem.” Arad replied to her with a smile and she nodded, ”Donʼt mix them up. We need to know exactly what weʼre fighting so we can prepare for it. The simple tactics that would work on any ice golem wouldnʼt work on a smart Moving Glacier. Make sure to understand what youʼre saying and understand how other people will interpret your words. What if she heard you say an ice golden and thought she could defeat it with a single lighting bolt?” Belalaina pointed at Mesharra, ”Youʼll get her killed.”

It was horrifying to see Arad listening to Belalaina like that even though she was far weaker than him. If it was any other person the nobles of the kingdom mightʼve thought that they could manipulate him if he was this docile, but on the opposite, seeing him act like that was more terrifying than anything they wouldʼve imagined.

Arad wasnʼt arrogant, even with how much power he held now, he still tried to do better and wouldnʼt look down on anyone. While other powerful beings drown in arrogance and stagnate their power and growth. Arad was allegedly found getting yelled at by a maid this morning. He had brought several deers and large fish that he hunted as a gift for Jack and as an apology for causing the death of his crew.

The maid was appealed when she saw how terrible Aradʼs butchering job was and gave him an earful. She thought he was just a servant tasked with delivering the animals to the castle because he came wearing common clothes and his body was all dirty from the hunt.

That maid went on and started teaching Arad how to butcher hunted games and even made him write a confession letter to the castle that it wasnʼt the maids who messed up the gifts but him.

The king of course got word of a maid yelling at Arad and sent a soldier to fire her immediately and sentence her to the chopping block if Arad looked angry. When the soldier brought the guards and tried to drag the maid away, he didnʼt know that Arad was in the adjacent room trying to perfectly butcher a deer.

Arad phased through the wall like a ghost, glaring at the guards with a body covered in blood. It was only then that the maid knew what kind of monster she was dealing with, and the guards almost lost their lives. Of course, with her being in Aradʼs shadow, the maid wasnʼt harmed nor fired.

Any noble or a powerful hunter wouldʼve raged at the maid for her attitude but Arad took the chance to learn something. A creature at his power was still looking to learn more and was growing stronger by the second.

Back at the castle, the king looked at Arad, ”That Moving Glacier was seen moving with two adult white dragons resting on its shoulder and a whole flock of snow wyverns.”

”Gamondʼs minions, it has to be her. What did they do until now?” Arad looked at the king with a serious face.

”Nothing, they didnʼt attack anyone nor get close enough to civilization to harm it with the storm. But...their existence is blocking several hundred roads and jeopardizing the economy of all northern kingdoms including our own.” The king looked really worried.

The Belalaina looked at Arad, ”Means no food or firewood for the winter, no clothes, no weapons, nothing. Even if we found another way to supply goods, the price would inflate so much due to travel times that we might as well not bring anything.”

”They must be dealt with...what about the red dragon to the east?” He turned toward an old man who sat with them. The large man wider than life had a long curly mustache and a single tooth, and his multicolored clothes made him look more like a jester.

The man growled, ”He asks for a lot of gold, and maidens each year. Calls it a tax for us living on his land. The bastard doesnʼt even protect the area like the green dragon before used to.” He looked at Arad, ”We must slay him.”

”I wouldʼve said to leave him alone if he killed bandits and powerful monsters in the area to protect it...but now he seems to be acting like a bandit himself.” Arad nodded, ”Iʼll deal with

him.”

”And then there is the black dragon beside that area....”

The nobles and royals kept listing all the dragons and large monsters that were causing trouble in the kingdom. Arad was a terrifying monster, but he was their monster, and at least for now, he seemed to be on their side. All they could do was use the monster to hunt monsters.

”Iʼll trace a route for us to use.” Mesharra said, looking at the armyʼs general, ”I need a map for the kingdom.”

”Thatʼs confidential, we need assurance that it wonʼt leak out to other nations, or dragons. We wonʼt give it to you.” The general replied with a rustic growl.

”Then how are we supposed to do that?” Mesharra growled back at him, ”If you and the army could deal with those monsters and dragons you wouldnʼt be here discussing this with us. You canʼt do it, and now are trying to make sure we wonʼt do it. Do you know how much lives and money those monsters are causing the kingdom? You could fuel two wars before you reach

that amount.”

Arad waved his hand at Mesharra, ”Calm down, calm down, our man here is right. Thatʼs their precious map, if it fell into enemiesʼ hands, most of their war tactics would fail.” Arad looked at him with a smile, ”Youʼre afraid of me using that against you. Large-scale bombardment and traps are your only hope of standing a chance against me, right?”

”No, youʼre wrong.” The general replied, slightly worried.

”I bet you Iʼm not. Youʼll need me not to know the possible locations for a surprise attack to work. I read the books, all of them.” He looked back at the wall and a pirate woman walked out like a ghost, her body engulfed in burning red blood magic.

She handed Arad a sealed scroll and looked at Jack, ”Former captain, nice to meet you again.”

”Ah...Lina, I see youʼve become a vampire.” Jack smiled at her and she nodded, ”Right before I could drown, my lord Arad here turned me into a vampire so I can keep on living.”

”Wait!” The general cried, ”That scroll?!”

”Yes, this is your precious map.” Arad smiled, ”I had her pick it up from your royal treasury. I didnʼt read it yet, you can see itʼs still sealed.”

”The guards!” The general stood, ”Did she kill them?”

”Calm down, I just walked through the walls like I did just now. Barricades and locked doors

canʼt stop us.” Lina glared at him.

”Sheʼs right.” Arad threw the map to the general, ”Take it. As you can see, I can take it whenever I want. Iʼm choosing not to do it.”

”You monster...” The general growled and Arad started giggling.

”Yes, Iʼm a monster to you. What I want is an opponent to use and test my magic on, and it would be great if those opponents happened to be your enemies and other monsters threatening the world.” Arad looked at the king with a large grin on his face, ”Why donʼt you keep doing what you do best? Try to use me and pit me against those monsters? You were thinking about it, let him fight and if he happens to get weaker will kill him.”

”No! Yog wouldnʼt want...” The king gasped but Arad stopped him, ”No...she said to obey me,

not to keep me alive. Youʼre all welcome to try and kill me, she just gave me the option to make that impossible.”

”Are you... insane?!” The Arch-magus stared back at Arad, ”Do you know what youʼre

saying?”

”HehehehehehehehehehehehahahaHAHAHAHAHAH!” Arad burst laughing, ”Iʼm not insane, my existence here is temporary, and I want to make it as short as possible. I donʼt mind cleaning a bit for you if itʼll make me stronger and get back to my wives faster.” ”You have wives?” The king stared at him with a lifted eyebrow and a confused expression. ”A lot of wives, and I intend to add more...one is waiting, and I hate waiting.” From the outside, the midnight full moon turned bright red as the people gasped, looking at

the castle with terrified faces. A long ghostly figure stood on the longest tower, crimson flames bursting from his body like tentacles.

”The first is a red dragon...so how about I try killing him with fire? Itʼll be fun.”