The dragon's harem

“Sister! Look at this place, it’s vast, and flat!” Astrid gasped as she stood at the peak of a small hill, looking at the vast green fields in front of her. She was used to the dense jungle and forests of the Beastlands, so this scenery was a strange one for her.

Frida stood beside her and looked forward with a frown. “This is going to be a lot of work. Like, really a lot. I know I said we could do it since we had nothing better to do… but, this might not be fun after all.”

Astrid smiled. “A lot of work, but it’ll be fun. You use earth magic to dig, and I’ll kill any monster that approaches. I’ll even help you pull large boulders so you won’t waste your mana on them.” She smacked her fists together, and her golden eyes flashed with light.

Before Frida could say anything, Astrid had vanished, and the ground where she stood cracked. Northwest, a large monster had appeared. Was it coming for them? Frida wasn’t sure, but Astrid was going to kill it anyway.

The monster was strange, looking like the unholy child of a crab, a lobster, and a centaur. The lower part of a lobster, the pincer arms of a crab, and a humanoid torso akin to that of the centaurs. Coal black carapace covered its whole body like a suit of armor, and even though it looked to be slow, Astrid knew this thing could move if it wanted to.

It moved, glared at the charging Astrid with madness dripping from its eyes, and roared. Astrid didn’t know what this monster was called, but she decided to call it Uncle Crab Horse, because it looked like an old human uncle with crab arms.

The Crab Horse charged as well, and the two met in the middle. It swung its massive pincers down, and Astrid dodged with a swift step. Between them both, Astrid was far faster in her humanoid form, and so the Crab Horse wasn’t going to catch her with ease.

“It’s been a while since I fought something! You’ll make a decent dinner!” Astrid clenched her fist and threw a fist at the Crab Horse’s side, but her attack was easily tanked thanks to the thick black carapace covering the creature’s body.

“HARD!” As she cried, the monster’s massive pincer arm was already flying toward her head. But at that moment, someone jumped from the side and got between her and the pincer. The pincer arm flashed with sparks as it clashed with the massive shield and was deflected back.

“We got a civilian involved! A white-haired dog girl in weird clothes. Take her back!” The young man shouted, grabbed Astrid by the arm, and threw her back as far as he could.

Astrid easily landed on her feet, and gave the young man a weirded stare. “Who are you?”

“WHO ARE YOU! Back away if you don’t want to die!” The young man yelled at her as he blocked the monster’s second attack, dodged the third, and swung his sword at its massive legs.

“Ah! Damn it!” A shady man approached, “Don’t tell me I gotta pull the tranquilizer. Get away before I send you to sleep!” He pointed a gun at Astrid, then shot at the monster’s face. “You’re in our way. And you’ll get hurt.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do? You back away. This monster isn’t something humans should face.” She shoed him away, then turned back toward the Horse Crab, ready to jump into the fight once more.

“Bitch! I told you get away!” The rogue yelled at her again, and this time, she glared at him. “What did you just call me?”

“I called you a bitch, because you’re one and act like one, dog lady. Fuck off, or do you want to die?” As he was about to drag her away, a woman grabbed him by the ear and pushed him aside. “Chester, Go assist Nigel. You don’t know how to speak to anyone, so keep your mouth closed.”

As Chester joined Nigel in the fight, the woman approached Astrid. “I’m Lisa, a cleric serving Amaterasu. We’re an adventurer’s party, A-rankers. That monster is S-rank Black Rider Shrimp. We are here to kill it, so please stay away to be safe. And, I apologize for Chester’s rude behavior.”

“Apology alone won’t help.” Another woman approached from afar; this one wore a robe, leaned on a large staff, and looked exhausted. “Get him to change the way he speak.” She looked at Astrid and Lisa. “I’m Tristina, a wizard.”

The moment she got a bit close, the Horse Crab, now known as the Black Rider Shrimp, jumped and swung his pincers down at her. A barrier sparked, and the princes were deflected with a shockwave.

Tristina smiled. “Aren’t you a smart crustacean.” She swung her staff.

[Thuder Bolt]

A flash of light sparked, and a lightning bolt flew right at the Black Rider Shrimp, jolting it for the fifth time in their fight. By this moment, only the wizard Tristina was able to deal a lot of damage to the monster with her spells, so it held a grudge against her.

Earlier, this thing had chased her for almost half an hour, and that was the reason she was exhausted and out of breath.

Nigel, Chester, Tristina, and Lisa… where did she hear those names before? It was quite a while ago, in one of Arad’s tales.

“Lisa, take this woman away and come back quickly. We’re going to need healing soon; damage is accumulating on Nigel.” Tristina rushed in, and Lisa grabbed Astrid by the hand.

“Excuse me, but we have to get away, now.”

Astrid looked at Lisa with a smile and laughed, “Yeah! I remember, it’s you guys! Weren’t you like… F-rank?” She shook her hand away from Lisa’s grip and started walking toward the Black Rider Shrimp.

“I told you we need to get away!” Lisa cried, and Astrid wasn’t listening.

“I can’t let you guys get hurt then.” With each step, Astrid’s feet dug deeper into the ground as her weight increased. She was about to transform into her Fenrir form. Lisa could sense the strange magic, and she stayed silent for a second, trying to understand what kind of power Astrid had.

Astrid’s pale skin grew rougher, and soon was covered with a thick white fur, her clothes melted into her form, and she became massive, standing on all four, she was over fifty meters tall at the shoulders.

A silver wolf with three tails, red claws, and glowing golden eyes. Just like their mother Hati, Astrid and Frida were Fenrirs, legendary divine beasts. Even if they couldn’t reach a fraction of their mother’s power, they were still forces of nature.

Lisa cried, the other three looked back with terrified faces, and the Black Rider Shrimp sensed Astrid’s presence for just a second and decided to run away. But before he could get away, she leapt at him in the blink of an eye.

Astrid’s fangs crushed the Black Rider Shrimp’s black chitin armor, and its silver flesh oozed out. It screamed, but that wasn’t going to get out of Astrid’s massive jaw. It was like watching a massive silver wolf bully a small dog, an unfair fight.

“Who is she?” Chester screamed, and Nigel jumped back as quickly as he could. “Doesn’t matter, that thing is going to die. Size alone is to her advantage.”

Astrid bit harder, and the Black Rider Shrimp snapped in half. Her sharp fangs were too much for its armor to endure, causing the fight to end with a single strike. This was the reason Astrid didn’t start the fight with her true form; she knew that she would one-shot the monster, and instead decided to have some fun fighting it with a handicap.

“Oh! My! God…” Tristina gasped. “That’s fur, the multiple tails, and the sharp snout. A Fenrir!”