The dragon's harem

Chapter 1008: The Afterlife and Punishment

The dragon stared back at Aradʼs burning red eyes and roared. A silver stake emerged right from his mouth, piercing Aradʼs heart. Without wasting a second, the dragon immediately followed with a full-power lightning breath, putting all his remaining energy to ensure he evaporated Aradʼs whole body.

”Hahahahaha! That silver stake had been prepared for a hundred years to slay Akasha. I donʼt know how you did it, but you have her powers, which also means her weakness. Go back to Yog and regret your deeds in hell...GUH!” His face twisted as he stopped laughing. Aradʼs body appeared after the lightning cleared, he was standing unharmed with the stake still wedged in his heart.

Arad slowly reached up and pulled the stake out, putting it in his pocket to sell later, silver is expensive. ”Sorry, but I seem to have two hearts now.” He lifted his arms. Accursed black flame roared from his left arm while divine lightning thundered from his right arm.

Aradʼs body started growing larger and larger until he looked like a titan holding the heavens above the dragonʼs head, glaring down at him with a smile.

****

Echidna gasped, ”Those curses! When did...no, he painted my nails.” Arad was using her curses and she could tell how he did it, she didnʼt teach him a thing. But she quickly realized that Aradʼs skills with curses were already high, his human body was the only thing holding him back.

”Thatʼs my weather magic!” Mesharra cried, terrified and amazed. It took her ten years of study and even more battle experience to use that magic well, and Arad had now pulled it out of nowhere.

”He was watching and learning.” Echidna growled, ”Now that Iʼm thinking about it, how could he read a book once and learn everything in it? His learning speed is abnormal.”

Plum who was in the mountain had also noticed that Arad was the one who protected everyone earlier with plant magic, and he had now made himself bigger with size magic. She did use it a lot before him, but size magic is supposed to be something that only fairies can cast, Humans replicated it through spells, but those were extremely hard to learn. ”Is he some kind of ancient deity?”

Mary looked up, ”But...” She could see Arad towering over the clouds, his muscular body glowing with magic as if it was sculpted from marble. Yog had asked her to worship Arad, and now he was looking more and more like a god, a being far above mortals and one that they could only look up to. ”He looks...so...beautiful.”

Arad clenched his fists together, mixing the cursed black flame and the divine lightning into a single black-and-white crackle of magic, ”Yog isnʼt stupid enough to curse hell with me.”

Arad swung his fists down and crushed the dragon down like a bear crushing a tiny bird, splattering him all over the sea floor. The massive waves exploding back were stopped by a massive wall of trees that Arad forced to grow from the seaweed on the shore.

”I do not have the right to tell the people of this world how to live their lives...but this was for the murder of the pirates, the fish, the fishermen, the soldiers, the injured, the scared, the destroyed homes and lives...” Aradʼs voice boomed across the sky, everyone in the kingdom behind him could hear his words.

”Justice and righteous deeds are arbitrary, even if your actions were justified, you died today for killing my daughter Ann. How am I going to face her father now?”

Arad slowly shrunk back to his normal size and landed on the shore before Mary and the others. ”Time to clean everything up. That dragon caused us enough trouble.”

****

The dragon opened his eyes standing alone in a massive marble hallway. He looked down, finding himself in his humanoid form wearing a white robe.

The marble hallway was decorated with golden sculptures of great wizards and magicians, paintings of many of them lined the walls with their names and dates of birth and death marked down to the second.

”Where am I?” He mumbled, trying to shift into his draconic form, but he couldnʼt.

At that moment, he heard a door open behind him. He had just looked back and there shouldnʼt be any door behind him. ”Whoʼs there?” He looked back and saw a steel maid looking at him. ”You canʼt use magic here, and you canʼt shift either, you wonʼt fit inside.”

”Who are you?”

”Number 998528728976548523, a steel assistant of Yog. Youʼre dead, and sheʼll see you soon for your counting.”

”The counting? So I was killed.” He looked down with a sad face, ”Iʼll probably end up in hell now, is that right?” He looked at the maid.

”I donʼt know. Itʼs not my job to know. My job is to walk out of that door, tell you that youʼre dead, and await your counting, and thatʼs over for me.” Her eyes turned off and her body disappeared.

The counting assistants of Yog, one is made for each living being, their entire existence reason is to tell that person that they are dead. After which the assistant gets disabled and recycled into another assistant.

Mortal life seems short but appears limitless when compared to the counting assistants. Number 998528728976548523 only lived for those few seconds.

The dragon smiled, ”So this is so no one asks Yog to allow them to live longer and do better... Once your life is over, itʼs over. Whether you go to heaven or hell, itʼs already over, and now itʼs the time you hear of the result of your life.”

As he mumbled, the door behind where Number 998528728976548523 stood appeared, and a voice called. ”Enter.”

When he walked into the room he could see her, Yog sitting crosslegged on her large wooden desk, staring at him with an amused face. ”Sit.” She waved her hand and a wooden chair

appeared for him.

He took a seat.

”Vulnious Faljon Rovanhiim, son of Galinia Plion Drona and Rudilion Faljon Rovanhiim. Youʼve lived for five thousand six hundred and fifty-four years, six months, four days, nine hours, forty-three minutes, and seven seconds if I counted from the moment your egg

cracked.”

”Thatʼs indeed me, albeit I canʼt be sure of my age, you know better than me.” He looked at her with a smile, hiding a deep fear for what was to come.

”How shall we do this?” Yog looked at him, ”We can get it quick, or have a long chat. You pick, weʼve got all the time we want.”

”Letʼs get it done with, I doubt I can bear to wait.” He shook his head and she smiled. ”Weʼll then, albeit you have almost twenty times more good deeds than bad, a lot of innocent people were harmed in your endeavor to do good, so most of them bear a right to what you have.”

She waved her hands, ”After most of them took their rightful share from you, now youʼre left with no good deeds. Those who didnʼt get to take anything from you would instead give their bad deeds as a way to take their share. Youʼre left with almost ten times more bad deeds than you started with, and no good deeds to speak of, youʼre going to hell.”

”Not a surprise, I knew this would happen.” He shook his head, ”But I canʼt deny I feel a bit

sad and betrayed.”

”Now thatʼs done, for the extras.” Yog smiled, ”Youʼre dead and will never get out of my afterlife. So Iʼll answer some questions for you. Anything whether it was about the present,

future, or past.”

”First, if you didnʼt lose all your deeds you wouldʼve ended up in rank 10 heaven, a good one. Your wife would also end up in rank 10 heaven so you two couldʼve been together. The person that killed was Arad Orion, and you couldʼve never beaten him.” She giggled, ”I always surprise people with strange facts about their lives, some things that even they didnʼt know. Get ready to hear yours.”

”Is there a need for this?” He looked at her with a confused face.

”Of course, especially for you.” She pulled out a large book and started telling him about

everything that happened in his life, from the smallest thing like where he put his dishes to who stole money from him. She had a full record of his life and told him everything about it. That session alone took over two hundred years as she lectured him about his whole life. ”Do all...people go through this?” This lecture in itself felt like torture.

”We have infinite time here so yes. But now for the last little bits.” She smiled, ”Your wife is

dead. She was here right before you.”

He froze in place, ”Impossible! Who killed her?!”

”That little girl Ann, you mightʼve not....” She explained in detail how his wife died and he

sighed, ”Damn it...I shouldʼve known from the start.”

”Anyway,” Yog waved her hands, ”Your wife is now in heaven, while youʼre going to hell.

Quite sad, right?”

”Indeed...just tell her that Iʼm sorry.”

”AH!” Yog smiled, ”One last thing, Iʼm sorry too. That last fight you had with Arad... I

scripted it all. I needed you to kill Ann and some people in the kingdom; That eagle keeps messing things up, but at least... Ah! About Arad.. he also needed someone to test his magic

on.”

Hearing those words, he froze in place, ”Wait? What did you just say?”

”I planned it. How you went to drown Arad, how your wife died, how you got killed and lost

all of your good deeds, I planned it from the start, far long before you were an egg.” She burst laughing as he stared at her with a terrified and devastated face.

”You...planned everything...all those deaths, all of that suffering, all...”

”Yep, and it was fun.” She looked at him with an evil grin, ”But...as much as I love seeing

people suffer, Iʼm quite pragmatic and only follow plans for the greater good, just like how you were thinking when blasting everything.”

She stood, ”So...one last thing, I told your wife that you would end up in hell earlier so she

begged me to give you some of her good deeds, or all of them so you two can swap places. The latter sounded interesting, but Iʼve decided to split her good deeds.” She looked at him, ”Sheʼs waiting in the fifth heaven, youʼll be heading there to her.”

”What?” He almost didnʼt understand a word of what she was saying. ”But...since I used you and all...I canʼt leave you hanging...so...itʼs my heaven, Iʼll do what I want.”

She waved one finger, ”I teleported her to the tenth heaven, youʼll go to her there as well.”

A door opened and he stood like a dead man, his scrambled brain failing to keep up. ”One last thing. Everyone only thinks of themselves when they come here. No one wants to go

to hell, Iʼve seen people wanting to sacrifice their parents and children only so they can avoid hell.” She smiled, ”But your wife was ready to throw herself into hell to save you. Go kiss her claws and carry her over your back.”

As he left for his wife, Yog looked down at a massive ledger that appeared before her and crossed his name. ”Heʼs done...” She looked at the floor, seeing a direct feed of everyone cleaning on the beach, Arad had just found out about the beggar who tried to loot Annʼs body. ”Should I help...nah...let him and her sort it out.” Yog ignored them and went back to her

work.

****

Arad sat on his chair inside a large tent as Mesharra and Mary dragged the beggar inside and threw her on the floor. ”Here she is. We were healing the wounded when she appeared and started looting Annʼs body.”

”I said we should just kill her.” Echidna was standing in the corner, watching with a smug

face.

Arad glared at the woman for a second. Mesharra and Mary could tell at a glance that the woman had made him angrier than anything they had ever seen.

”Why did you try to loot her? Sheʼs only a child.” Arad growled. ”Need things to sell, canʼt buy food without money. The little girl looked far away from

everyone so I thought I could loot her and dart away before anyone caught me...didnʼt know they were keeping a close eye on her corpse.” The woman replied and Arad sighed. ”Food?” Arad sighed, ”I donʼt buy it, your eyes look lively enough.” He could see blood

flowing inside her veins and muscles, no matter how he looked, she didnʼt seem starved. ”Please believe me, I didnʼt eat anything for over a week!” Her pleas fell on a deaf ear, Arad wasnʼt going to believe just her words.

”Iʼll give you one last chance. I already confirmed you arenʼt starving, but if you can prove my

eyes wrong, Iʼll spare your life.” He knows sheʼs lying, ”Itʼll show on your body if youʼre

starved, do you mind taking off your robe?”

”You want me to strip?” she gasped. ”Thatʼs how youʼll prove youʼre starving. One week is enough to leave a dent in any human.” of a child.”

He sig ”But even that alone isnʼt an excuse for looting the

The woman sighed and took her robe off. She didnʼt want to die, and most of all, wanted to

prove that she wasnʼt lying. That robe was all she got so she stood naked before him, and that was all it took for Arad to know that he was wrong.

Her body was indeed blessed with good muscles, but thatʼs all she got. He could already see

her spine from the front and her hips were concaved enough that he could fill them with

water.

”Sorry...you can wear your robe again.” Arad sighed, his eyes were wrong. No, what he saw was right, his interpretation of it was wrong. Seeing blood flow and muscles wasnʼt enough,

he must focus deeper into the thin blood vessels of the skin and organs to see them in the

future.

”Did you believe me now?” She looked at him, ”Whatʼs now.”

”I told you, even if you were starving, I can forgive your life, but I canʼt allow you to go unpunished. That little girl was entrusted to me by her father. I killed the dragon who killed her, and you desecrated her corpse.” He lifted his hand, ”Pick one. Turn around and give me

your butt, one slap and you wonʼt be able to walk straight or sit down for a week. Or Iʼll give you to the local guards to throw you in jail for...” He looked at Mesharra.

”I talked with them, looting dead people who arenʼt bandits is considered a great crime.

Sheʼll be stoned in the plaza and then thrown in jail for at least twenty years while working in the coal mines. The money she made will be used to pay for her needs in prison, and the rest should be given to the victimʼs family or donated to charity in the victimʼs name.”

”Iʼll take the slap...” The woman didnʼt even hesitate. She turned around and extended her

butt toward Arad, ”How bad could it be?”

Arad looked at her for a second, ”You might want to take on the flesh, without any clothes...”

He feared the clothes would get stuck to her skin and make healing her a complex matter, which might lead her to have a scar.

”You just want to see my butt.” She sighed, lifting her robe up. ”There are enough forests outside, why would I care to look at yours?” Arad lifted his palm

and swung it down at her butt. The slap could be heard from the other side of the city and was followed by the womanʼs agonized cry.

As she rolled on the ground, Mary healed her immediately. Everyone was shocked to see that

Aradʼs slap had ripped the skin off her body. Those were Dallaʼs slaps, extremely painful but non-lethal unless the target dies of a heart attack.

”Give her some new clothes and get her dressed. Iʼm taking her back to bury Ann beside her

fatherʼs grave.” With his power now he could afford to fly over the sea. Heʼll just make a quick trip back and return.

”Youʼre taking her with you?” Echidna looked at him, ”Wonʼt she just slow you down?”

”Iʼll have her apologize to them after we bury Ann.”

”But they are already dead...just bury Ann. That woman already got punished.” Echidna

couldnʼt understand what he was trying to do.

”Even the dead have rights, her father has the right to face those who violated the sanctity of his daughterʼs dead body. Sheʼll apologize to him and Ann, weʼll keep going after that.” Mary brought the woman, who was named Altair Aquila a fresh batch of warm clothes as

sheʼll be flying over the sea with Arad. No matter how much Altair tried, she couldnʼt wear pants or panties without screaming in pain so she ended up with just a robe and a large coat for the time being.

Arad carried her and Annʼs body. Flew over the sea and returned to where they buried Annʼs father, he buried Ann beside her father and had Altair apologize to both of them. After returning, Arad told her to leave, but she didnʼt have any place to go, and she still had

six days of pain before her butt stops hurting, she couldnʼt even sit or walk normally now.

Mary told Arad that Ann asked her to give the woman some slack so he decided to at least help

a bit.

”Teach her how to wash clothes and have her help you cook. Sheʼs coming with us.” Arad decided to give her a job for the time being, but when he leaves for his world, she must go find

another place to work. Albeit that with her past, no one in this kingdom would employ her. Albeit how it seemed, Altair was thrilled about her new job. All she had to do was wash their

clothes, cook food, and follow orders and sheʼll get a roof over her head, a stable income, and a chance to get close to Mesharra...an inquisitor like her might be able to get her some

loophole in the law after Arad is gone.