The dragon's harem

Chapter 2294: Arad’s Hibernation VI

The process itself was simple. Gamond needs to first establish a divine link with Isdis through their shared affinity for cold magic, and then Isdis would have to link herself with Eris as a divine covenant. It is similar to how gods can create a divine pantheon where multiple gods join their power to benefit both their people and themselves.

Isdis considered the idea deeply, and this wasn’t the first time it was suggested. She had thought about it for weeks now: to pool everyone’s power into a single bowl. Kali would stand at the top of power, with everyone else taking care of different aspects of divinity.

Kali could be the leader of war and battles; Eris could assist her while acting as a beacon of hope and warmth to people. Isdis would provide the soothing cold and peace, maintain everything under control, and even Mira and Isabelle would be able to help in creation and production. Even Kossuth had joined, so that only means that Arad’s collection of divine beings would just keep growing larger and larger, so this entire arrangement was unavoidable.

”I got it.” Isdis smiled and leaned back, calling one of the maids to massage her back. ”A divine pantheon might be a good thing. That way, we could balance our power so we could fight in situations like this.” With Arad hibernating, his wives needed to band together to protect themselves, as the last battle has proved something important: Even their most powerful can fall without Arad there to protect them.

”It’s not about fighting, but survival.” Gamond moved slightly, and Isdis could clearly feel the air around them get colder. Gamond’s goal wasn’t power, dominion, or glory. All she wanted was to preserve the nest they now rest in.

Gamond smiled. She stood, and stretched.

The moisture saturating her light blue hair froze and fell down like shattered glass around her toes. Her skin seemed to turn into a bright shade of white for just a second as muscles rolled beneath her skin. Isdis could clearly see her muscles rearranging and hear her joints cracking, and they were all followed by a pair of white wings bursting out of her back, and a thick white tail emerging from her lower back.

Gamond’s beautiful blue nails and toenails extended into sharp claws as her abs and tights tensed, followed by her tail making a sudden swing, crackling like a whip.

Even Isdis could tell with a single look. Gamond’s body wasn’t just perfect; it was at the apex of life, the final evolution of the strongest predators of the universe, the dragons. But one thing about it was wrong, and noticing it was unsettling. It wasn’t something that any regular human could spot, but Isdis, as the divine of peace and control, could see it.

Gamond’s body lacked the natural breaks a regular body would have. The ones that prevent it from breaking itself apart. If Gamond wanted to push herself, she could punch hard enough to shatter her bones and tear her muscles apart.

Those limiters are what allow living bodies to grow strong without breaking themselves apart with harsh training, but sadly, Elder dragons lacked that, so most of them train past their limits, wasting any potential growth.

”Gamond, how about you train less? Allow your body to rest and recover better. Don’t sit in Kossuth’s flames until your heat storage is saturated; only go a bit over half, and spend the rest of your time studying fire magic to learn better ways to release that heat, instead of just dumping it on me and focusing on cold.” As Isdis spoke, Gamond turned toward her with a sharp glare and glowing blue eyes, and smiled.

”You dare lecture me?” Gamond growled, and the maids behind Isdis were already shaking. Isdis herself wasn’t bothered at all. ”You’re one of the queens, right. But you’re still a maid hired by me, so I should be able to say this much. You shouldn’t disobey even if I order you to suck my toes.”

Gamond burst out laughing. ”True. You aren’t wrong.” She sucked her wings and tail back into her body, stretched, and looked at Isdis with her fists resting at her hips. ”I’ll follow that advice.”

”And...” Isdis waved her hand. ”Don’t leave for Kossuth’s domain for now. Stay here, and I mean it. I got a letter from Alcott that they are expecting a Cursed Metal Elder Drakaina to come into the Mortal World, and she is tracking Arad.”

Gamond’s eyes opened wide as she smiled. ”Hoo... want me to break her body just as I did with Balina?”

Isdis nodded. ”If possible, without causing a lot of destruction and deaths. I heard that water is a good insulator for the curse, so ice might work just as well.” She stood as well. ”But leave the initial contact for Alcott. If he can deal with her peacefully, or hunt her down, then all good. But we don’t want him to risk his life with the curse. The last thing we want is an Arad waking up to his father’s funeral.”

”Alcott’s funeral? That’s impossible.” Gamond laughed as she walked out of the bath. ”Alcott won’t be taken down by just that. I bet even if Tiamat herself were to attack, he would still find a way to stop her invasion.”

****

Far outside, Alcott was standing at the peak of a nearby mountain, looking down at an endless grassy plain. His eyes narrowed, and he pulled out a pair of metal detector rods.

Those rods were provided by Violet to locate the possible openings where the Cursed Metal Drakaina can appear from, and what Alcott was doing now was looking for the openings big enough to allow the drakaina inside.

First, the Cursed Metal Drakaina wasn’t going to fly down from the sky. She was going to teleport directly into the mortal world using magic, and she wouldn’t land in space, but on the surface. The reason for that was simple: her magic was probably trying to locate Arad and target him, instead of just being random.

Alcott then picked up a scroll, opened it, and it burned into flames. ”Jack, the result is negative. Locate another spot, and get Abel to send a few demons here. We need to keep an eye on this spot anyway.”

Jack’s voice replied from the flames. ”Got it, the demons should be on their way now. Your next location is two hundred kilometers north. Do you need a teleportation gate?”

Alcott spread his vampire wings with a smile. ”No need. I’ll get there quickly enough on my own.”