The dragon's harem

Chapter 1180: Suppressed Rage

Back in the future, Arad opened a beautiful door crafted by the most talented carpenter in the kingdom, his wife Mira. He looked inside the vast room, and his face grew grim. Something wasnʼt right. Most of his wives were inside, sitting around a large round table, their faces contorted with worry.

He threw everyone a glance and walked to his chair, obviously the biggest one, and it was also the only empty one. As he took a seat, he could see his wives slowly shift, and he even caught a glimpse of Isdis gulping, her fingers twitching, and her eyes struggling not to look away.

Something happened, something bad, really bad. It didnʼt seem to help that Isdisʼs chair was right beside him at armʼs reach. Each time he moved a bit, she would flinch a bit, throw a worried glance at everyone in the room, and as if trying to speak, her lips would move a bit but fall silent.

After several deep breaths and a long minute of silence, Isdis was finally about to speak. But before she could open her mouth, one of the maids walked away from the walls and stood between her and Arad.

The maid was tall, well built, and her raven hair dripped behind her back like a river of pure darkness. Her brown eyes fixed on Arad, looking him straight in the eyes. It was just for a split second, but Arad noticed that all the maids threw her terrified glances. Even the maid herself, he could smell her fear; she was moments from breaking down, but nonetheless, she kept a calm face.

”We found Miraʼs father in hell. Sara, Gamond, Lunara, and Matilda went inside and were lost. I was the one who sent them.”

After saying those words, the maid fell silent. She didnʼt even breathe. Her eyes narrowed and her body tensed, but she remained still, waiting for Arad to reply. Countless horrors flashed in his head, but soon they were all pushed down; fury burned in his soul, but that was also drowned.

Arad looked at the table, held his head, and sighed. The maid fell to her knees, shaking on her own. His hand moved and tapped her on the head. ”Calm down.”

He already guessed what the maid was doing. She was trying to take the blame for Isdis. Hearing that the four were probably dead in hell was bound to send him into a rage. The maid stood between him and Isdis, claiming that she was in the wrong, so that if he was going to hit or kill anyone, it would be her and not Isdis.

From what Arad could see from the other maidsʼ reaction, she was acting out of order, but nonetheless trying to preserve the integrity of the royal family by throwing herself into the fire of his rage.

She failed to understand one thing, though, even if he was seething, there were things that he wouldnʼt do.

He needs to think of something, but first, the maid still isnʼt breathing. It was then that Arad noticed that only a second had passed since she had fallen to her knees. His thoughts were too fast.

He looked at her with a smile, which looked horrifying to her. ”Calm down, first, a maid can never decide such a thing, except Tina maybe. And besides, I thought no one could die in hell?” His eyes then burned with an ever-consuming black void. ”Merlin, open a hell gate to wherever they were lost.”

This dragon was about to go on a rampage in hell, but Aellaʼs shaking voice reached his ears. ”Wait… it isnʼt that simple.”

Arad turned toward her, the wrathful void in his eyes faded away, and was replaced with incandescent purple flame. He took a deep breath, looked at the maids standing beside the walls, and waved a hand, ”Take her to rest a bit, she has seen enough for today.”

Soon, the maids carried the terrified maid away.

”Youʼre…” Isdis was about to speak, but he stopped her, ”First, Iʼm indeed angry, but not at any of you. If I lost four people, it wonʼt make sense to kill another one in a fit of rage. Iʼm not that stupid, and if I were Doma wouldʼve stopped me.”

He leaned back on his chair, ”So? Does anyone care to explain to me what happened? In detail, while Merlin built the hell gate.”

After taking a sip of water, Isdis explained everything that happened in detail. Arad listened carefully. They landed in hell, spent several hours there, and then, suddenly, all their signals disappeared.

Merlin was keeping an eye on them using a wisp of her magic. She lost contact with those wisps, and thatʼs how they knew something had happened. There is also the archdevil that fought Arad before; Merlin summoned and sent her with them. That contract didnʼt burn away, so the archdevil is still alive, but not much can be figured out.

”First, I doubt they are dead. There arenʼt that many things that can one-shot Gamond or Lunara. Certainly not both at the same time.” He looked at Isdis and patted her on the head, ”So calm down, you didnʼt send them to their deaths.”

He looked down with a dark face, ”Even if they died, hell would bind them as well. Just instead of having to only save Miraʼs father, I would have to pull them out as well.” His voice then grew deeper, ”But… Not before I burn hell down.”

Soon, Aradʼs roar would boom across the ninth layer of hell.

****

Long before that, while Arad was still busy with Nina, the girls were finally about to leave the Temple of Treachery. Asmodeus sent Haru with them, the blind and deaf seer, to be their guide, but she also gave them a golden soul coin. On one side of the coin, a brilliant sun burned with furious flames, and on the other side, a dark eclipse engulfed the world in pure darkness.

The girls didnʼt trust anything that Asmodeus gave them, but strangely enough, the coin was an artifact of Amaterasu. Since they were venturing into the maddening darkness, the soul coin could be used to bring forth light and dispel the darkness.

Their next stop would be the palace of the Rakshasa.