The dragon's harem

Chapter 1201: The Ghastly Village

The maid led Arad to a comfortable and sunny room with minimal furniture. It was clean, had one large chair and a desk, a sofa, and a table with a bottle of fresh water. This room was supposed to be used by Isdis in case her office got crowded, but now the maids have to furnish another one since Arad took this.

Arad looked at the chair, he couldnʼt fit in it, so he dropped to the ground, closed his eyes, trying to reach inside his soul and pull the portfolios out.

The maid looked at him for a moment, bowed, and then turned to quickly get out. To her luck, her apron ended up getting caught on the door knob and she plummeted face first. This time, Arad was trying to pull a divine portfolio, so he didnʼt notice her falling until he heard her hit the ground.

When Arad opened his eyes, all he could see was the maid reeling to stand, her hands shaking, and her nose bleeding. She looked at him with an embarrassed face, winced, and ran away.

From what she told him before, he was certain she was well paid, well fed, and wasnʼt overworked. He couldnʼt understand how she managed to survive this long without hurting herself so badly.

But that didnʼt matter to him now. He was looking at two divine portfolios and trying to understand how they work. This was the mission of his third clone. As the first was with Meryem, and the second is now prowling the outskirts.

The fourth clone, though, was chasing demons.

Arad walked through the outer edges of the forest past the mountains. Several villages were located here, and he had smelled a strange, arid scent in the air. The area was just outside his territory, but it was still a part of the kingdom and within his magic range. It was just that it was outside Lociʼs back.

Arad walked toward the old village, his eyes burning with purple magic. He couldnʼt sense anything strange, besides that the village seemed empty. He didnʼt know what to do; something was off, his senses were screaming, but he couldnʼt understand what that screaming meant.

He looked at the swaying wooden gate and took a step inside. The houses looked fine, the streets were clean, and there were even some basins with clothes still wet inside them. He focused on his senses, but still couldnʼt sense a single life around. Did the villagers migrate into the castleʼs village or Alinaʼs? No, they wonʼt leave their clothes and doors like this.

Arad was starting to slowly get worried. Not many things can slither past his draconic senses. But almost immediately, a young girl drew his attention. The black haired little girl reached with a shaking hand and touched his leg, barely reaching his knee in height.

Arad looked down, his eyes opening wide. The little girl looked calm, but miserable. Her clothes were torn and bloodied, her other hand held a ripped teddy bear, but her eyes were calm, her face betrayed all emotions.

”My lord, something, there is something you must see.” She said with a shaking voice, as if she were on the verge of crying.

Arad was still shaken by the village, but he decided to listen to the little girl anyway. He let her lead him across the village, and she led him to a long-forgotten mine. Flies and mosquitoes were flying out of the locked gate.

Arad looked at the little girl and waved his hand, asking her to run away and hide. He then approached the mineʼs gate and kicked it open. Inside were the butchered villagers, hundreds of them, all ripped apart.

Arad raised his fist and leaped into a horde of demons, plunging his arm into the chest of one and ripping the heart out.

”DEMONS ARE INSIDE!”

A second later, a battalion of vampires flew out of the shadows to kill the demons. Blood flew like a raging river as Arad rushed past the countless corpses and clawed his way through the tight cavern. He didnʼt have time to think about anything else, he needed to find where all of those demons were coming from.

He couldʼve called Kali to deal with them, but demons arenʼt allowed to enter the mortal world without being summoned. If they were here, that means there was either a cult or a mad wizard who caused this disaster. The solution was simple: kill all of the demons and whoever summoned them.

The demons here were powerful, but compared to Arad and his vampires, they were far weaker. He could just run through them and theyʼll explode, but he still lamented the fact that he didnʼt arrive here sooner. The villagersʼ corpses were at least a week old.

Soon, he reached the deepest parts of the mine and finally found the source of the demons, a mad wizard with a face full of rot and bulging cysts. With one look, Arad felt his head reeling back; magic was at work here.

The wizard cried as he jumped away, his eyes opening wide in fear as he saw Aradʼs massive shadow dawning on him. He waved his hand, and soon the shimmering black gate behind him pulsed, and a horde of demons rushed out.

Arad kicked one of the demons and ripped another in half with his bare hands. He wanted to use more power, but that would blow the mine away. Something strange was indeed happening here… those demons were drawing in madness and frenzied bloodlust. They lunged at Arad, unafraid of death, their only goal was to chew on his flesh.

Arad wanted to capture the wizard alive to interrogate him, but if this kept on, the madman might end up eaten by his horde of demons. To make sure that doesnʼt happen, Arad let Darkness out, and the whole mine drowned in impenetrable darkness. Only Arad and his vampires could see.

The demons were ripped apart and thrown, crushed. Seconds later, the darkness resided, and the gate was already shattered. Aradʼs massive figure towered over the mad wizard.

Now that Arad got closer, he could finally see the wizardʼs magic. He seems to have been a magic that covered his presence and features from being further away, so now that Arad stood in front of him, that magic faded away.

”A cultist of Sawless… that Demon Lord is dead, but your kind still seek troubles.” He grabbed the wizard by the head and lifted him.