The dragon's harem

As much as everyone loved the peace and quiet, it was never in Arad’s fate, as the very fabric of the universe was changing and shifting around him. Three days had passed quickly with Mira creating countless small trinkets to show in her crowning parade, and the Divine Hall of Mira was now full of nobles, merchants, and countless people from all walks of life who came here to see their demigoddess queen.

As expected from a demigoddess of greed, the biggest attraction of the event wasn’t a march through the city like Aella did, but a single, massive auction where all of the divine trinkets she made were being sold at exorbitant prices. And with how greedy she was, Mira accepted more than just gold as payment.

People could pay with land, money, contracts, and even their lives to appease the demigoddess and purchase what she had created. Not a single item in the auction was below S-class in value, and there were even a few that could be justifiably considered as divine artifacts, and there was even one that drew the eyes of Amaterasu herself.

While commoners couldn’t afford anything, many of them still attended the auction just to get a chance to see such divine tools. What they didn’t know was that their presence in the auction had saved their very lives in the future. Later that day, blood would paint the capital streets red.

A single, simple-looking wooden bowl that is used for drinking. By using a simple prayer, anything placed in the bowl that isn’t of significant life could be aged for a time. Amaterasu has seen the bowl and bought it with the core of a dead star, a massive sphere that was three hundred kilometres wide of solid iron. Two of her angels delivered the core to Arad’s stomach, and Mira handed the goddess the simple bow she so desired.

“Isn’t that core too much for this bowl?” Mira stared at her, “At best, you’ll use it to age wine.” As Mira said, if wine were to be placed in the bow, the user could easily age it for as many years as they desire, and adding a piece of wood into the mix would even add flavour similar to that of barrels.

Amaterasu smiled, threw a smile at the bowl, and then glanced back at Mira. “Of course, you’re just a demigoddess now. You don’t think like the gods.” She flicked her hand, and a golden bottle of wine appeared in her palm.

“Mortals would think of using a bowl the way it’s supposed to. To eat and drink from.” She poured some of the wine into the bowl and handed it back to Mira. “But I’ve got a better use for it.”

Mira took a sip, blinked, and then stared at the bottle in Amaterasu’s hand. “What kind of wine is that?”

“Demons’ holy wine. The most expensive wine in the universe.” Amaterasu looked at the bottle and grinned, “The grapes are grown in the depths of the abyss, then processed directly by Kali, Seluna, and me. The goddesses of Destruction, sun and moon.”

She looked at the wine. “It’s as red as blood, glimmers like the full moon, and burns the throat like the rising sun. This isn’t something mortals can taste. One drop can kill anyone who isn’t a divine.”

“I can see why it’s the most expensive wine.” Mira handed the bowl back to Amaterasu and then threw a glance at the crowds who were watching and waiting for the next item.

“No, you can’t see.” Amaterasu giggled. “It’s not expensive because it’s rare, but because we crush the grapes with our bare feet, me, Kali, and Seluna.” She spawned a second bottle and threw it toward Arad in the back.

“You’re a mortal, aren’t you. Emperor Arad Orion, you should keep this one for your wives, Eris, Cerilla, and Mira here.” She smiled, “Of course, if you can drink a single sip from it without dying, I’ll give you two more bottles. So, what do you say? A cheer in this blessed sunny day?”

Arad was sitting on his massive chair, wearing noble clothes instead of his usual armor since this was an official ceremony. He caught the bottle and started at Amaterasu as the air around him started vibrating and growing denser.

Even though he was smiling, all of the people watching felt fear. The air around him had changed, and that couldn’t mean anything good.

Arad stared at the bottle, and all of the muscles on his upper body flexed at once, ripping his clothes off as he leaned forward and chuckled. “One sip, you said.” He looked at Mira. “Mind holding the bottle for me?”

Mira approached him, grabbed the bottle, and held it still.

Arad lifted his massive arm, which was already thicker than Mira’s hips, and extended his middle finger out of his fist. The veins on his arm bulged, and he made a single powerful swing, cleanly slashing the bottle’s head without spilling a single drop.

“I never drink a single sip.” He took the bottle from Mira’s hands and sniffed it. “Smells nice.” His eyes then shifted back to Mira, “Mind putting your hands together?”

As Mira did as he said, he poured the wine into her hands until they were full, brought them closer to his lips, and drank the whole thing. As he finished, he filled Mira’s hands once more and drank it all until the bottle was empty, and then leaned back on his chair.

“Tastes better form my wife’s hands.”

Amaterasu clapped her hands and then giggled. “Wine that only the gods can drink, yet you downed the whole bottle. The bottle itself was made from the demon goddess’s indestructible gold, yet you cleanly slashed it open with one finger, and here you’re sitting on your throne, while I stand.”

She pulled two more bottles. “I like the arrogant ones with power to back their claims, cheer, Emperor of the Mortal World.”

The next item on the list was a sword forged by Mira herself. The steel for the blade was made from the iron Arad got from the dead star core he got in Euri’s world and the charcoal of Qliphoth, then it was forged in a forge heated by the heat of Eris’s sun, and finally, the handle itself was made from Yggdrasil’s wood and cooled in vampire’s blood.

The sword could age anyone struck by it by one month for every three seconds of contact, teleport to the user’s hands, cause excessive bleeding, and once a day, it can revert the user’s body to its state an hour in the past. But there was a catch, it could only be wielded by someone who could resist the will of the vampire’s blood and its contact whispering for murder.

Alcott was about to buy it, but apparently, it was already sold before the auction even started, and even he, Arad’s father, couldn’t get it. The one who got it was awfully close to Mira, her maid, Camilla, and she didn’t just get the sword, but a set of prayer beads.

She had become a paladin of Mira, exchanging a whole life of devotion for the demigoddess’s support, and in exchange got three gifts. The sword, the praying beads, and lastly, lycanthropy, directly from Arad.