The dragon's harem

Chapter 1851: Precious Soul

As they walked into the golden palace through its titanic gate, the three found themselves standing at the start of a long line of stairs with angels lined on each step, and each angel was stronger than the one on the step below.

”Kalis is the Divine Demon Goddess of Destruction; she commands both demonic magic and divine magic, the same way Amaterasu commands cursed magic and divine magic.” Lunara looked at them, ”But her divine magic is much weaker than her demonic one.”

”That doesn’t seem to be the case.” Shuten looked around and frowned. ”All of this, it’s far more than any god I’ve ever seen. Even Divine Jemima pales in comparison.”

Ibaraki looked around, then nodded. ”I do have a divine contract with Jemima, and that is how I can empower my thorns, but this is indeed more divine magic than hers.”

Jemima is the divine goddess of agriculture, plants, and wild vegetation. She blesses all of the farmers and common people with her holy magic, and was known to be a good goddess loved by all due to her general neutrality. It doesn’t matter if you’re a devil, demon, or an evil, crazed bastard with a lust for savagery and bloodshed; if you farm, she’ll bless your plants, because that is what she ultimately cares about: the greenery.

Ibaraki farms and grows her demonic roses and thorns in her abyss layer, which is how she got the divine goddess blessing. It’s a similar story to Lunara, who got the blessing of the goddess of the moon.

Many people think the gods hate demons, but in reality, just as they don’t hate wild tigers or parasitic wasps, they can’t hate demons for what they are. Demons are known as evil, primal, bloodthirsty, and drowning in their carnal desires, and that is true; that is the reality. The gods know of that, they understand it, and deal with it.

”Kali’s main source of clean divine magic, the one that isn’t demonic, is her orphans’ portfolio. Just as you might expect, the number of children she actively protects, their power, and quality also matter. What’s more, many of those orphans end up becoming nuns or priests at the churches of other gods, making Kali entitled to some divine magic tax from those gods as well.”

Lunara smiled as she looked back at the two. ”But there is one orphan in Kali’s domain that is giving her more than two-thirds of her entire supply of divine magic, not counting the demonic divine magic, of course.”

”Some of those kids became a god?” Shuten replied, and Ibaraki added. ”No, Maybe, Arad?”

Lunara shook her head and looked at them with a grin. ”That orphan is Kali herself. Her mother died giving birth to her, and her father, Asura, the former God of Destruction, was murdered while transferring his power to her.”

”Wait... is that even possible?” As Shuten cried, Lunara nodded.

”As it seems, while many gods embody concepts, not many of them actually were born from it. Primordial concept gods, like Kali, Stillness, Entropy, and Creation, are much more powerful than the others because of such things.”

She looked at them. ”Kali, is this universe’s Self-Destruction button, and the universe didn’t want her to remain weak and get controlled by the other gods, so when she became an orphan, and was still weak, it killed the former god of orphans, and gave the portfolio to Kali. The universe itself has a will and will correct reality to assure its survival.”

Shuten gulped, ”So, why are you telling us this? I’m sure some of this knowledge isn’t supposed to be shared among anyone, even demon lords or gods.”

”Shuten-doji, Ibaraki-doji, did you know that both of you fall under Kali’s divine protection?” She looked at them, then smiled. ”Or at least, the bodies you possess once belonged to blessed orphans.”

”Shuten-doji, this body of yours belonged to a little girl; her father was a drunkard who abused her and her mother. One day, he went too far and killed the mother, only to be killed by his daughter later.” Lunara looked at the ceiling. ”The little girl took her father’s drinking gourd, and knocked herself out for weeks before dying in the forest, and eventually, getting buried by a wandering merchant.”

”So, when I was born and later needed a human body, Kali blessed me with that...” Her eyes opened wide. ”Wait! Demons’ bodies belong to actual people?”

”Not all of them, but the ones Kali grants are. It’s the same with Tiamat and the bodies she gives to dragons.” Lunara then looked at Ibaraki, ”And you... If I remember correctly, your body belonged to the daughter of a noble family.”

”Did she die in thorny roses and vines?”

”Nope, she was a talented fire sorceress who could even cast spells at seven years old, so her family was accused of witchcraft, and her parents got executed in front of her. So, she went on a rampage and burned the entire city to ash, and she was later put down by a powerful wandering swordsman.” She looked at Ibaraki, ”Guess what? He killed her, and she immediately resurrected as a demon and killed him.”

Ibaraki blinked a few times. ”Wait! The first I remember as a demon is killing a man in a snowy forest before getting violently pulled into the abyss.”

Lunara smiled. ”Yep, unlike Shuten, you are the same girl, just turned into a demon. As a human, you had the blood of a fire demon. For roses, I don’t know why you have them, probably since you loved roses in your life.”

Ibaraki lifted her palm, focused on it, and crimson flames burst out. ”Wait! You’re right!”

”So, what I’m trying to say is that Kali picked and protected both of you. Demons are hated for valid reasons after all. So, when you meet her now, show some respect, and keep in mind, the man behind her is even scarier.”

”Arad Orion, is he really that strong?” As Shuten asked, Lunara shook her head. ”He is really powerful, and he is just an adult void dragon. Just imagine what he’ll be when he becomes an Elder Dragon, or even after that. Even now, he can fight Nyar and kill gods, as a mortal.”

The two could remember Arad fighting Susanoo and winning. Anyone else would’ve died, but he was toying with the dead god. If he is this powerful now, in a hundred years, he’ll be thousands of times stronger.

”Remember the rules.” Lunara said as they reached the great door to Kali’s private quarters.

Back in Arad’s castle, Kaede fell on her face, drenched in sweat. She had been getting loved by Arad for more than an hour straight, and she finally couldn’t take it any longer. Even in a human-sized form, he was too massive for her; It could barely fit in.

At first, she only planned to do it with Arad a few times until she got pregnant, but now that she had done it, something was indeed strange. It was painful, but strangely, it felt really, really good. Unlike most of Arad’s wives, she was half fallen angel and half fairy, and had quite the control over her own body and emotions, so she noticed the strange shift.

”Arad, are you using any charm or seductive magic?” She asked, and he shook his head. ”No, I’m not...” He then looked at the walls. ”Merlin! Are you doing anything?”

A second later, Merlin’s voice came in. ”What?”

”Did you use any magic on us? I didn’t sense anything.” Arad asked, and she replied, ”Of course not, last time I did my hip cracked. Did something happen?”

Kaede looked at the wall where Arad was looking. ”Merlin! I’m quite good at controlling my body and emotions, so I’m certain something is strange with Arad. Does he have anything that might help in bed?”

”No, he doesn’t. What did you feel exactly?”

Kaede thought about it for a second, ”That I belonged beneath him, and that I should never miss this chance to get pregnant.”

”Isn’t that what most of...”

”No, you don’t get it. Something is weird; those feelings don’t align with what I think. It’s as if... Maybe...” She threw a glance at Zephyr. ”Do you know anything?”

Zephyr looked at her with a wry smile. ”I don’t know...” She, in fact, knew. Arad is AO, the overgod, the primal soul that breathed life into all other souls. The girls’ souls are merely happy to be given a chance to copulate with his soul. That usually takes the form of a deep sensation of belonging and longing, since all souls came from him, they seek to return to him.

”That face!” Kaede pointed at her. ”I know it! You know why!”

Zephyr sighed. ”Fine, I know why, and it’s not harmful, at least not to his wives.” She looked at them, ”Arad’s soul is big, very big, powerful, luxurious, and precious. He housed multiple divine portfolios with ease after all, so mortal souls are attracted to it, and want to create new, stronger souls with it.”

”Do you know about love at first sight? That’s what happens when two people with really compatible souls meet. Arad’s soul is so good that it’s almost compatible with anyone in that way.”