The dragon's harem

Chapter 2163: Fattening for Hibernation

Arad’s draconic body is growing rapidly in size. Altair, who sat above him, could notice that easily, and the first thing she did was call Arad’s mother and Merlin. It wasn’t just his size, but power as well. His draconic soul was burning hotter and hotter each second, and it was causing Altair to fear for Arad’s life.

What if he exploded? What if his draconic soul erased his injured human soul? What if he transformed into something else? Maybe a half-dragon, half-nymph creature. What will she do then? Can she just sit still and do nothing now?

When his mother arrived seconds later after receiving the call, she gave Arad’s massive body a look before noticing how horrified Altair was. This was the first time that Violet showed one of Arad’s wives her true draconic body, and it was understandable that Altair was almost about to pass out of fear.

Violet’s draconic eye -just the pupil- was far wider than the gap between the moon and the mortal world. Altair couldn’t even see the start and end of Violet’s head, and seeing that titanic figure only made her even more confused. Just how big do void dragons get? And the answer was always even bigger than anyone could imagine.

At this size, the sun could fit comfortably in Violet’s titanic jaw, and Altair wasn’t even close to fathoming that. Just how would a fight with her using her draconic body look? Is there even a world out there where she could walk around with her true draconic body? Probably not.

A void dragon’s elder body is made from nothing, so there was no limiter on how big they could get. Just like how whales could get much bigger in the sea than any land animal on the ground, a void dragon can get even bigger living in space than anything in the worlds.

Forget winning in a fight; even if Altair were to go all out and hit Violet’s exposed pupil with all of her might, she wouldn’t even make her flinch. As the people in the mortal world looked up, they could see the stars shifting a bit as Violet’s body of nothing bent light like a prism due to its gravity. Gravitational lensing at its finest.

After looking at Arad for a few seconds, Violet shifted to her humanoid body and landed on his back beside Altair, and the drakaina gasped. ”Mother Violet...” She backed away like a terrified kitten.

That was an expected reaction. Dragons lived and died by strength. To them, it was everything, and size was a clear measure of it, especially when it was about someone like Violet. For Altair, to fight Violet was like an ant squaring up to Arad in his draconic form.

Violet looked at her with a smile. ”What? Scared of seeing me? Don’t worry, you would be almost as big if you became an Elder Void drakaina. But I’m still far bigger than most due to my heritage.” She was one of the void dragons’ eldest and strongest, and size reflected how much matter she was ready to burn out in a fight. They were the same as black holes. The more mass they got, the bigger they became.

On top of that, Violet was Altair’s mother-in-law, and that had made Altair’s fear even worse. For the few dragons who maintained their family, like the metallic dragons, the parents usually are far too strict about who their children marry, and they only want the strong. It was quite surprising that Violet wasn’t shoving her nose in Arad’s marriages.

A clear example of that was Gamond, who only gave her daughter away when Arad showed up, as he was horrifyingly powerful. Now, thinking about it, Altair couldn’t tell who was a scarier mother-in-law, Gamond or Violet.

”I can’t imagine ever being that big.” She shifted to her humanoid form and approached Violet. ”But... what about Arad? Will he be all right?” Changing the topic quickly both helped her check on Arad and avoid discussing size with Violet any longer.

Looking down at Arad, Violet was just a bit worried. ”He is breaking down the matter he has stored in his stomach as food and storing that energy. In terms that mortals understand, he is fattening up as his body is expecting a long hibernation during his next evolution.”

She knelt down and touched his scales, closing her eyes to scan his entire body. ”I see... the energy he got from consuming Eris’s attack. His human body had grown from three meters to five, but his draconic body had stayed mostly the same. It is only now growing bigger. When that energy runs out, we might have a problem.”

Removing her hand, she threw a look at the worried Altair. The poor girl was already sweating a bit, feeling that she was useless, unable to help Arad even though she was a void drakaina. Violet understood that feeling, but had nothing she could help Altair with. If she wanted to feel better, she needed to find a way to help Arad with her own power.

”I think it would be best to find him food. Cursed ore, or just pure matter.” She walked across his back and then flew forward until she reached his massive head. Landing right between Arad’s titanic black horns, she looked down at the back of his skull. ”He should wake up at least once before evolving. He won’t go straight to it. That isn’t how our bodies work.”

At that moment, Merlin’s voice rang in Violet and Altair’s heads. ^I’ve heard Arad is getting bigger. Is it an inflammation?^ She had thought that Arad might be sick, or having some complication related to his injured human soul. As even now, they barely understood anything about how souls work.

Violet looked toward the mortal world. ^No, he is digesting the matter he had stored inside himself from Eris’s attack to generate energy and store it. Like a bear getting fatter before winter. You were tracking those bombs, right? I suggest you find them for Arad quickly, before his body starts devouring the world inside his stomach.^

^Wait, what?^ Merlin gasped, ^Are you sure? Would the people be consumed as well? How would it work?^ She had to get more details; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to set a clear timeframe that they could work with.

Violet scratched the back of her head. ^How would I know? Can you tell what would be digested first inside your stomach? Of course you can’t. The point is that if he runs out of matter, everything else would be on the menu. Get those bombs, and I’ll drag a few decent meteors for him.^

She flapped her wings and flew into the empty space. ”Altair, keep an eye on him. I’ll go and find him some snacks.”

Merlin gulped, clenching her fists as she started thinking, squeezing her brain to the last drop. But then, her thought train crashed as Eris called. ^I was listening. I’ll handle feeding him. I’ll have Isdis help me. You form an array to protect the worlds inside Arad’s stomach, and the private quarter as well.^