The dragon's harem

Fue passed out the moment the Phoenix returned to him, and when he woke up, he was in the infirmary. His entire body hurt like hell, and most of his power had been drained. It would take him years to recover normally, but thankfully, he should have some elixirs ready, so he wasn’t worried about himself.

The one he was worried about was Chi, whom he didn’t know if she was alive or not, if she had survived, or if she had turned into a vegetable after all those years stuck in the shadows. He immediately sat up, “Where is Chi?!”

The healer standing beside his bed gave him a blank stare for a second, and then pointed at the bed beside him. “She is right there.” Indeed, Chi was on the bed right beside Feu, which caused him to pale.

“It can’t be… I can’t sense anything from her.” Feu jumped from his bed and put his ear on her chest, listening for her heart and the flow of energy. He could hear a steady heartbeat, but there was no flow of energy, as if she had never cultivated at all.

“What did happen to her?!” Feu growled, glaring at the healer, and the poor man shook his head. “We saved her life, but there was nothing we could do about her cultivation. At best, she is temporarily crippled, at worst, she’ll never cultivate again in her life.”

“But…? What kind of damage is it? To her soul? Body, or just corruption?!” As Feu cried, the healer shook his head. “Neither, we can’t find a reason why all of her energy halted moving, but that man… Arad. He said that her shadow, the source of her power, is too injured. But we have no way to confirm that.”

The healer looked at the shadow cast by Chi on her bed, “How do we even diagnose a shadow?”

Feu carried Chi in his arms and looked at the healer, “I’m taking her back to my Clan’s palace. I’ll have her rest and get treated there. If Arad said her shadow is injured, then maybe she only needs rest.”

“Wait! What about the tournament? Since you woke up first, you’ll be considered the winner of the match. You still have two more fights this day.” The healer was right since this entire tournament had turned into a mess, and so, they couldn’t just keep losing fighters each match.

“I’ll apologize to Bloody Rose myself later; for now, all I care about is Chi’s safety.” He then disappeared without a trace, leaving the healer standing there, baffled.

The healer sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Now I hate to report this to Lady bloody Rose… she’ll eat me alive.”

“This year’s primary elimination round had been absolutely crazy! We have people getting swallowed alive, clashes of masters, and even monsters! But… we still got one last round, a much-awaited fight between two beloved masters!” She walked into the centre of the stage and lifted both of her arms. “You know who they are! Don’t you all!?!”

The crowd immediately exploded into cheers and started chanting the names of the fighters.

“HAN! HAN! HAN! HAN! HAN! HAN! HAN! HAN!”

“RIAN! RIAN! RIAN! RIAN! RIAN! RIAN! RIAN!”

From the red gate, Han walked in. He was a tall, rugged man, standing at almost seven feet, with a body made of steel, and a chiselled face that was decorated by a thin black beard.

“Sword Demon! Han of the Daron clan, the master of the blade, and the slayer of a thousand men! He is this city’s hero, and the man who slayed our enemies for five days and nights straight!” The referee smiled as she jumped toward him, “And my beloved husband!”

As the crowd cheered, Han approached the referee, looked around, and then asked. “Was this okay? You’re the referee, right?”

She smiled, “Of course! The rules are simple: you get knocked out or give up, you lose. Bias won’t do anything, and ultimately, Lady Bloody Rose has all the power to change my ruling!”

She then pointed toward the blue gate with a large grin on her face. “Then from the blue gate, we got our beloved Han’s archnemesis! The one villain that never knows when to stop!”

From the blue gate, an old man, as rugged and built like Han walked out, carrying a large battleaxe on his back. “The Black Ranger of the frontlines, the chieftain of house Felix, and my father!”

Rian glared at Han, then at his daughter, “How did Lady Bloody Rose even accept this?” He sighed, and the referee smiled with a stupid face. “How am I supposed to know? She picked the matches.”

Han cracked his neck, “Maybe she just wants the fighters to have a genuine reason to beat each other.” He then pulled his sword out, “Like us.”

Rian also pulled his axe. “With all those fights before us? Ours is going to be awfully dull.” He then threw a glare at the referee. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“No, you won’t.” Han smiled as he approached, and the referee rushed to get out of the arena. “Do your best!”

The two stared at each other for a second, and then, they both disappeared. The entire arena floor shattered, and in the next second, they were both standing beside the wall, drenched in blood and wounds.

Arad, who this time was standing in the VIP room, watching the last fight of the primary eliminations with slight interest, frowned. Han and Rian were both masters, nowhere near grandmasters or elders, so they were probably among the weakest ones that had fought so far, but something about them was strange.

“Han is fast, but he can’t match Rian’s skill. Rian, on the other hand, is far more skilled and probably has more experience, but his old and aging body isn’t young anymore.” Arad crossed his arms, and Liana walked to his side. “Indeed, not all people are monsters like the previous fighters. People like those two because they aren’t that far removed from the common people.”

“Arad’s problem is that those two aren’t actually fighting; they are putting on a show.” Kali approached the window and looked down, “Han doesn’t want to harm Rian since his wife would be sad, and Rian has the same problem. They are both holding back a lot, and that makes this match very predictable.”

Arad sighed, “That’s the problem. Look at them, swinging at each other and moving really fast, but there is no intent, no will, and no actual spirit to their fight.” Then looked at the crowd, “But the people are amused, because they can actually see those two swinging at each other, they can see flashy moves and large spectacles.”

Crossing his arms, he frowned, “I’m certain those two can actually fight well in real battle, but all of that is nowhere to be seen here.” He turned around and walked toward the couch to sit beside Eris and Isabelle.

Liana stared back at him. “You won’t finish watching this fight?”

“There is nothing to see… just two idiots swinging at each other without a goal in mind besides showing off.” He leaned back as Kali jumped to sit on his lap. “I know several kids who far surpass those two when it comes to how they approach fights.”

In the end, Rian gave up after sustaining multiple injuries, and Han was declared the winner of the fight. Even though the crowd cheered, and Han greeted them back, something felt off to him. Arad, who had always been standing in the gate of the winner, was nowhere to be seen.