The dragon's harem

Chapter 2104: Control

The entire Meteor shook and cracked as it was heated and frozen faster than a human can blink. Above its cold, rocky surface, two flashes of light danced, moving at an incredible speed as a purple sun backed the entire meteor like a potato.

The level of destruction caused by those two was simply appalling; entire mountains were heated white, and then cooled so rapidly that they shattered into pieces, before getting molten to glass.

Isdis cut Eris across the chest, and the divine goddess of murder baked her skin until it became crispy and golden brown like a nice steak. For a moment there, it looked as if the fight was over. Isdis, after all, didn’t have any healing capacity, and so such a grave wound was debilitating.

The fight should’ve ended there, but Eris wasn’t going to let her get off the hook so easily. This fight would only end when she wants to, and so, her next attack fully healed Isdis’s wounds, allowing her to keep fighting.

Isdis shifted her grip and swung right back at Eris’s face, missing her by a hair’s breadth. The pain of her body getting burned to a crisp was mind-boggling, yet she wasn’t that bothered by it in the heat of battle. Many knew that Isdis could fight, but very few knew that out of Arad’s wives, she is one of the few who could get stabbed ten times yet still move through the agony.

Eris punched Isdis’s wrist, trying to disarm her, but quickly found out that Isdis had frozen to her palm, making them inseparable. Her blood was a part of her body, and even after becoming a frozen blade, they were still one.

”For a mortal, you’re holding quite well.” Eris looked at her with a smile, ”I’ve seen angels that would kneel down from such wounds.”

Isdis immediately rushed at Eris, trying to stab her with a swift move. ”A Queen cannot fall.” Her stab got dodged, but she quickly turned it into a slash and cut Eris’s shoulder. ”We either die standing, or live until our bodies crumble down from age.”

Arad will rule his empire for the rest of eternity, but Isdis still intends to stand at the top for as long as she lives. No matter who Arad marries or who gets in, she would still stand above them as the one moving the machinations of the empire.

It wasn’t a lust for domination or power, but a pure will of control. She cannot trust anyone to do a better job than herself when it comes to the empire’s politics, and would always rather have everything under her fingers.

From what Eris knew and what Aella and the others told her about their night with Arad, she is now fully aware that if Isdis could, she would have everyone follow her lead. If it was acceptable, or at least reasonable, she would have every other wife kiss her feet and bow down, all for the sake of keeping Arad’s empire running smoothly.

The reason Isdis could take on the tremendous task of managing the royal court for the entire empire, even though any other king or queen would’ve collapsed ages ago, was that she liked that job. She was a bard who sang, danced, and entertained people, while subtly twisting their minds with sweet whispers of ethereal worlds. She was a soldier, a knight who led battalions to war, and what’s most important now, she was the empress holding the most political power in the biggest empire in the mortal world.

Her bard background helped her speech and charisma, her knightly deeds gave her the respect of the army and the soldiers, and her princess origin gave her the support of the people. Eris was almost certain that it was all planned to create the perfect Queen.

The reason Isdis was getting sadder by the minute wasn’t that she felt weak, or because she got bored with her hellish desk job, it was because if the other wives kept getting stronger, she would slowly lose her control over them. They’ll become forces that she cannot move, and thus, cannot answer back to Arad for them.

Eris was now a powerful goddess, and so, Isdis could not tell her what she could and could not do. If Isdis were to create a policy, and Eris disagreed, the people were more likely to trust the divine. How is she supposed to maintain everything that Arad trusted her with, if she cannot keep a leash on the other queens, the women with the most power and ability to disrupt the empire’s future, whether they were aware of it or not?

The last such event was Merida’s showing her demonic power, and that had put quite a huge stress on the castle. If Isdis could order Merida around, she would’ve had her keep her demonic power a secret and slowly reveal it over time to lessen the blow.

What if one day, Eris wanted to reveal her murder nature? Can Isdis convince her otherwise? Would she be able to stop her? Would a goddess even listen to reason? Most likely, not.

Of course, Isdis knew that she could always ask Arad to tell them off, but if she kept doing that, eventually, the others would see it as her using Arad to bully them. She can’t force Arad to look like he is favoring her over them, so she needed to be strong enough to stand up to the others.

Sadly, no matter how powerful Isdis gets, or how much respect Eris gives her, she would never hold real power over the divine. She won’t even be able to order Gamond around, who is a mortal yet stands above everyone else.

What Isdis wanted wasn’t solace in power, but control, dominion, and authority over everything. While that would’ve been bad if it were anyone else, Eris could already sense that what Isdis wanted was to simply perfect and optimize the empire, to ensure that Arad could conquer the entire universe.

If Arad was a normal king, she would’ve had him conquer the entire world. She is a great queen, an empress that should stand at the top, because only she has the cold and calculated nature perfect for such responsibility.

But then, something strange happened. The moment Eris acknowledged that Isdis should be able to order her around for the betterment of the empire, she felt weaker, and she found it harder to pull her power against Isdis.

Something was pulsing in the depths of the darkness, something cold, horrifying, and insidious. Looking up as she kept fighting Isdis, she could see it, even though it was too far away and invisible to mortal eyes.

”Control? Since when... no, it’s from that!?” Eris growled, and she could see Isdis’s wounds healing with divine magic in real time. She could feel a harrowing will crushing down on her mind, and she had to resist with murder if she didn’t want to get pushed down.

”Peace only thrives under Control.” As Eris growled and punched Isdis’s sword away, Isdis blinked, ”What? What do you mean?” As she stopped fighting, so did Eris.

”Bitch... don’t tell me you’re that dense, look at your own soul. Can’t you feel something strange?” Eris growled at her, and Isdis frowned, ”What did you just call me?”

”Your Great Majesty, Empress Isdis Lior Ruris of the great empire, wife of the king of nothing, her highness of pure cold and ice.” She gave her a bow, ”Want me to kiss your toes as well? Just look at your soul, what do you sense there?”

Isdis’s frown faded, and she sighed, ”Stop it... That’s enough.” She then scratched the back of her head. ”Look at my own soul? I don’t know how to do that.”

”Close your eyes, relax your entire body, and try to listen to your own heart beating. That should be enough.” Eris sat down, and so did Isdis. It was horrifying how those two were clashing just a second ago with enough power to tear an entire kingdom apart, only for them to suddenly stop.

Isdis sat down and did what Eris told her, and for a moment, she still looked confused, but then, she cried. ”What the...”

”You saw it? That’s the Control Portfolio; you cracked out of the heart of the Peace Portfolio.” Eris reached toward Isdis’s chest and touched it with one finger. ”Peace can only thrive in Control. The reason that goddess of peace came to us before was that she couldn’t leave Arad, a strange variable, outside her control and knowledge.”

”Wait, so I’m a demi-goddess of peace now?” As Isdis cried, Eris shook her head. ”No, you’re of Control. The previous goddess had peace as her primary side, but you’re the opposite of her; control is your front.”

Isdis looked at her chest... ”So, I can become a full goddess, right?”

”Well, that is the problem. You’re already full-fledged divine.” Eris sighed. ”The Control Portfolio seems to be based on, of course, Control. It grows stronger the more beings you can control, and you already have too many powerful people that would do you bidding already.”

Eris started counting, ”Arad, me, everyone in the quarter, and the people of the empire, they all willingly follow your control, especially the citizens of the Ruris kingdom who hail you as their hero princess.” She then scratched her chin, ”But I think the biggest factor is Arad himself. If you got him under your control, then the portfolio already has enough power.”

”Wait... I don’t have anyone under my control. I can’t order you around.” As Isdis gasped, Eris hit her with a chop to the head. ”Listen here, you don’t understand just how much everyone is willing to follow your lead.”

She approached her, ”Do you think Aella loves sucking toes? No, she loves having her toes sucked, but she hates doing it, and it would make her puke. The fact that she willingly sucked yours when you asked means she is willing to obey and follow your orders if the need arises. Everyone is the same.”

Isdis was silent for a long while, and Eris looked at her with a smile. ”But now, that peace portfolio Arad just got has acknowledged you as its master.” She then looked up, ”But, I’ve never heard of someone becoming a divine immediately... maybe it has something to do with your blood that is linked to stillness, or the fact you got Arad himself under you...”

Isdis crossed her arms. ”I can feel the portfolio inside my chest, I can feel the warm divine magic, but how do I use it?”

”I’m too resistant for it to work on me, especially since you don’t even know how to use it. How about we ask one of the maids to be your testing subject?” Eris stood, and Isdis followed her... ”Ah, but I believe we should get back and get you dressed up first. I’m certain the angels of Peace are already heading toward here to find you, their new master.”