The dragon's harem

Chapter 2007: The Dark Horse

Right in front of Liana’s eyes, Kali grew two more pairs of arms and engulfed the pile of diamonds with her palms, then, using her harrowing strength, she crushed them all into a single, massive diamond. And as if that alone wasn’t enough, she started cutting the diamond with her bare nails, shaping it into a refined jewel in a way that only a divine like her could.

While everyone else in the room, mainly Liana’s guards and the arena staff, didn’t fully understand the magnitude and scale of such a feat, Liana herself was mortified. She knew that it was impossible to crush diamonds with sheer strength into diamond; she knew that even if someone had such power, the diamonds would just shatter, but somehow, this little girl did it.

She herself was considered an elder in this world; she had seen countless young and talented cultivators, and she always warned them that in the vast world, there is always someone stronger. Even she had her father above her in power, and several other elders that surpassed her might, but this little girl blows them all away.

Where was she hiding? Why didn’t she show up until now? With how she looks, anyone would’ve mistaken her for a random abandoned child, and offending her must cause a natural disaster.

”Here, take it!” Kali extended her hands toward Liana, holding the now egg sized diamond with all of her hands.

”I humbly accept your gift, Great Elder.” She took the diamond, looked at it for a second, then hid it away. ”As expected of Arad’s master, the world is really vast.” She mumbled, and Kali looked at her.

”Arad’s master? No way... I’m indeed stronger, but I’m still just one of his wives.” She then pointed back at Eris, ”She is one of his wives as well.” She then jumped onto her chair and relaxed there.

Eris quickly approached her, ”What are you talking about now?”

Kali waved her hand. ”She’ll find out eventually; dealing with those pests won’t be a day’s job, and those two would eventually open up to the vastness of the universe. Don’t worry, I already talked with Yggdrasil about it.”

One of the arena staff standing on the wall lifted her hand. ”Should we... be listening to this?”

Kali stared at them, ”Probably not. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe.” With a single flick of her fingers, all the staff looked dazed and started staring at their own feet like mindless zombies.

”That was...” Liana gasped, and Kali smiled. ”You can tell? I wiped their memories and prevented them from registering anything unwanted as they stand guard here.”

Eris sat down, and then did Liana with a hesitant, terrified face. ”Shouldn’t Tina be Lord Arad’s wife?”

”Tina is the headmaid of his house, a servant. He is here to cure her, and being his wife is just a cover-up story.” Kali looked at the arena. ”As you might’ve expected already, this isn’t my true body, and neither is that Eris’s true body. Those are vessels that we use to hide our power otherwise; you and everyone here would just die from being close to us.”

She then pointed down, ”Isn’t the fights about to start?”

Liana looked at the arena and nodded. ”Yeah, the first stage is about to start.” As she said that, a woman walked to the middle of the stage, lifted both arms, and shouted.

”The great tournament of this year is brought to you by one of the strongest Elders in the entire world, the peerless master Bloody Rose herself. The winner of this year’s tournament would have the right to be her disciple and further improve their power. It is a great honor, one that many had long since dreamt of!”

As the entire crowd cheered, Liana herself was sitting on her chair, burning with shame. She was now sitting between two beings that could easily crush her like a bug, so getting complimented and glazed like this only made the situation more awkward.

”Then without wasting any of your time! We’ll start with the most interesting of all fights! We had a last-minute contestant register yesterday, and would you believe it? The inspectors of Bloody Rose approved of this contestant’s registration even though it was already too late!”

The crowd started shouting and screaming, and they only got crazier the moment she pointed toward the blue corner: ”Welcome the dark horse of this year’s great underground fighting tournament, the Lumberjack Arad!”

The moment Arad walked out of the gate, the crowd fell silent, and all of them simply stared at him, unable to believe how massive he was. Standing at over three meters tall, most men only reached his belt in height, and those arms being thicker than a woman’s hips only made him look more like a titan than anything else.

At the start, the crowd was against someone coming at the last minute and getting special treatment, but when they saw Arad, that opinion changed. ”Whoha! We got a freak today; no wonder they let him on!” A man shouted, and soon was followed by another. ”Is he even human!?”

”I bet he can choke a horse with those arms!” One man laughed, and soon a woman mumbled in the back. ”I wonder how big it is.” The entire crowd went silent and glared at her, and she looked at them as if she didn’t understand why they did that.

”What? I’m free to ask. Probably it is as big as that of an ox.” She shrugged, and then one guy sighed, ”Shut up! Strumpet! No, why are you in the middle of the men’s row, you rancid dual cultivator!”

She glared at that man, smiled, and waved her hand, ”How about this? Want to do it later?” He looked around him, hesitating to refuse, ”We’ll talk about it later.”

She then sighed, ”Arrogant narcissists, you openly insult us, but can’t refuse the power and potential we grant. I find it appalling that people like you still exist, even when every elder had to dabble once or twice in dual cultivating to achieve their peak.”

As the crowd argued among themselves, the referee had had enough of listening to them and began introducing Arad’s opponent. ”Coming out of Bloody Rose’s personal entourage, a man who had honed his skill for several decades and had mastered the art of unarmed combat and the mightiest weapon of them all, the pen!” She clapped her hands and pointed at the red gate.

”Everyone! Give one of our esteemed masters a warm cheer! He is The Lore Master, Omi Ho.” As the man in fancy blade robes walked in, flexed his arms, and cracked his knuckles. Despite allegedly being over two hundred years old, he looked no older than twenty with silky long black hair, a gentle smile, and burning red eyes.

”So, you’re that man.” Omi Ho smiled, ”I’ve heard of you, but seeing you in front of me is a real experience. I can see why Our Esteemed Elder took interest in you. I’m Omi Ho, a keeper of secrets, and Bloody Roses right hand and Quarter Master.” He gave Arad a gentle bow, and Arad returned it.

”I’m Arad, a humble Lumberjack. I should thank your sister for approving my late registration then.” The moment Arad said those words, Omi’s face darkened and he darted forward at blinding speed, aiming at Arad’s throat with a sharp knife.

”Shut up!” Omi growled, and the referee shouted, ”STOP!” She didn’t start the fight yet, so Omi was breaking the rules.

Arad dodged the attack, and pushed Omi to the side with one arm.

”The match is over! Omi, you’re breaking the rules, the fight didn’t start yet!” She shouted at him, and Arad laughed. ”Let him be, I must’ve said something that offended him.”

She blinked twice and then screamed, ”HEEEEEE! Wait, Omi is Blood Rose’s brother?! Those rumors were right!?” The crowd also just noticed what Arad had said and then broke into an excited frenzy.

”Bastard! How did you find out? Who told you? A spy, another clan, what was it?” Omi growled, and Arad just crossed his arms. ”How did I know? You smell like her.” Arad is a dragon, and he could tell people closely related just by their smell.

The referee quickly shook her head. ”That’s for later! The fight is over; you’re disqualified!”

Arad waved his hand. ”Is there really a need to disqualify him? I’m his opponent, and I don’t mind him attacking whenever he wants.” He then threw a smile at Omi, ”Besides, if I exposed a secret of his, letting him fight like this is only fair.”