The dragon's harem

Abandoning their camp as soon as they had breakfast, which was just heated soup from yesterday, they kept heading toward the ruined city of Baldator.

The city shouldn’t be that far away. Getting above the hills in the distance should allow them to see it, but moving in the thick snow wasn’t easy, and going up a hill was even harder.

It wasn’t even a strength, skill, or endurance problem. The snow just crumbled beneath their feet, sending them tumbling back down to the bottom of the hill.

Going around the hill wasn’t possible because it stretched too far away, making a roundabout trip impossible. Clearing the snow also wasn’t an option, because it would take them ages.

This only left them with one solution, and it was to use magic. Gojo shouldn’t have a problem clearing a path for them, but that option was risky, thanks to a vision that Haru had.

“If we use magic, a monster would attack us. Which monster depends on time, where we are standing, and which monsters are nearby, but we’re going to get attacked.” Haru was sitting on the sledge as they took a short rest at the hill’s foot.

Arad looked at her, and then at the hill. “I can run to the top and throw a rope to pull you all up.”

Gojo shook his head. “That won’t work; we’ll sink into the soft snow, and you’ll be just pulling extra weight. Even with your strength, it’s impossible.” He sighed. “Usually, people use magic around here to move and then clean the monsters up. But, there are no humans here to thin down the monsters’ population, so we’re going to face powerful ones.”

He stood, stretched, and then looked at the hill. “I guess I’ve got no choice. Let’s see what kind of monster will show up. Hopefully, it will be something manageable without us needing to spend the night in the cold.”

Gojo’s mana tank was full, but he had to leave some to build a house at night, so he would really rather not use more than 80% of his reserves. Arad could probably survive a night in the cold just fine, but everyone else, including him, would freeze to death.

Death herself said she’ll protect them from death… but he found it hard to believe her words. He stood and extended his hand toward the hill. “I should just do it. If we stay here too long, we’ll have to return to the stone camp and waste a whole day.”

Arad stood. “You’re right. We can’t avoid monsters all the time.” He cracked his neck and extended his hand to the ground, growing a stone spear from the earth buried under the white snow.

Liliana and Haru dragged the sledge away and stayed back. The last thing they want is to get caught in the chaos and end up being a burden. They both can fight, but it won’t be easy for them to help Arad and Gojo.

Those two brothers were far different from all other adventurers, and assisting them was near impossible, unless one was just as much a monster as they were. What confused Liliana more than anything was that Arad and Gojo didn’t have a level or system now.

From what she understood, the system is a power granted to the weak mortals by the overgod’s Arcangel Aria, and the whole reason behind that is to give them a fighting chance against a possible abomination invasion.

So in short, it was a mandatory conscription in a war they had no idea was taking place. That also meant the Archangel Aria won’t be wasting her energy and power on powerful Void Dragons like Arad and Gojo; they don’t need her power and help to stand their ground.

However, there was a problem now. Arad and Gojo had been turned into mere humans here, and they didn’t regain their system, which was probably Entropy’s doing.

After seeing Arad kill the bison, Liliana came to realize that a fundamental understanding he had was wrong. The system isn’t removed to conserve the Archangel’s power; it’s removed to allow those with power to keep growing.

Gojo’s fingers flashed with light, a basic ice spell. [Cold Wave]

Liliana had seen that spell many times, but now, Gojo was doing something amazing and extreme with it. He was tearing the spell’s fabric apart and rewriting it from memory.

Entropy might’ve robbed them of their harrowing power and might, but she couldn’t erase the knowledge those two had.

Gojo’s magic skills far outclassed any wizard, not because he had raw size and mana capacity, but because he could use it better than anyone else could.

The sparks of magic flew away from his fingers and washed over the hill, causing the snow to rumble. Did he try to erase the snow? Turn it into ice? Move it away? No, why would he bother?

All Gojo did was tickle the soft layer of snow right above the solid side of the hit, shaking it a bit, and then, a small avalanche cascaded toward them with unimaginable force.

Now, as the snow approached them, spelling doom, Gojo pointed his fingers up, commanding the earth hidden beneath the snow in front of him to rise and form, turning it into a massive, bladed shield.

Everyone huddled behind the stone shield, and Gojo smiled. “Hold still, it’s going to be loud!” He shouted and the avalanche hit the shield, causing it to shake and crack.

In the hope of limiting his mana usage, Gojo didn’t infuse the shield and made it from mundane stone, hoping that it would hold up, but it seems he was wrong.

The avalanche was small, but it still carried so much power and force behind it that it was terrifying, and one mistake could get them all killed, burned beneath the flood of snow.

“Ops, was I a bit too stingy? Fine…” Gojo tapped the shield with his hands and the cracks marring its surface. The snow kept flowing, and the shield cracked once more, forcing Gojo to fix it more and more.

When the avalanche stopped and the bare surface of the hill showed, Gojo finally dismissed the shield with a satisfied smile. “Now, for the not-so-fun part.” He tilted his head, and something massive burst out of the piled snow to their left.

A massive white spider with the upper torso of a woman growing out of its head burst out of the snow, rushing at them at blinding speed. The thing looked absolutely horrifying and disgusting. The spider half was covered in fine twisting white hair, not fur, and it’s humanoid half looked just like that of a pristine woman, if not for the eight red eyes on her face, the massive open maw beneath them, and the fact she still had a lower mouth where the spider’s mouth should be, right where her human groin should’ve been.

That was a hole with a lot of sharp teeth in it, with two, one-foot-long, poisonous fangs to the sides.

“A brider!” Liliana cried, but before the brider could reach them, Arad was already in the monster’s path, swinging his spear down.

As expected of a monster, it easily saw and deflected Arad’s spear with its humanoid hands, even though they looked thinner than Haru’s arms.

He tried to strike again, but it grabbed both of his arms with its hands, trying to bite him with her lower mouth while screaming at his face with her upper one, splashing his face with all kinds of disgusting fluids.

But as the monster screamed at Arad, its voice sounding like the mix of a screaming woman and a mooing cow, he too shouted back at her face, causing her to shut up for a second.

Then, his foot flew forward with full force, finding its way knee deep into the monster’s lower maw.