The dragon's harem

Chapter 1384: Tempus Vobiscum: A Trip to the Future

Arad walked around the market, feeling a bit strange since the people seemed to ignore him for the most part, as if he were a ghost. But with his sharp eyes, he could notice some of them shifting as he passed by.

They probably thought that those who showed eagerness would be the first to be rejected, but not all of them cared about getting chosen as ambassadors. Most had families to care for, so what Arad offered wasnʼt appealing.

But Arad was right -something felt off.

The world seemed a bit too quiet, too peaceful, and too abnormal -as if meticulously crafted by someone or something. Arad could finally see it, the people. Their moves were a bit too rigid. As if all of them were on edge, some places awfully empty and the others crowded. The sun in the sky was hot, and the birds had long since fallen silent.

Then, everything looked still, and Arad had remained standing in the same spot for what looked like an eternity. He then frowned, ”Damn it, John. Can you stop messing around like this?”

The old man begging at the side of the street coughed and cleared his throat. ”Listen, you canʼt blame me. Iʼve been punched and killed by you more than once just today. Iʼve got the right to be nervous.”

Arad slowly turned around and glared at the man, then sighed, ”John Darian Uzziel. It wasnʼt that long for me, but I bet it was longer for you.”

”Since the last time we met?” The old man rubbed his chin, ”To me, that was almost two thousand years ago, quite a long time if I do say so myself.”

”For a great wyrm time dragon, no, I bet youʼre already past your twilight by now. What are you doing here... no, what are you doing at this exact time?” Arad crouched down to look at John in the eyes.

”I want you to help someone. Not now. But thousands of years in the future.” John extended his hand to Arad, ”Want to take a look at one of the grim futures awaiting this universe?”

Arad looked at Johnʼs hand for a long moment and then smiled, ”Since Iʼve killed you before, I doubt taking your hand is a wise idea.”

John smiled, ”Wise, youʼre paying attention, good. The one I want you to save is a violent child, a boy with too much responsibility and ego to ask for help.”

”For a dragon, youʼre quite lazy. You shouldʼve been able to save him.” Arad still couldnʼt believe that John, a mighty time dragon, would need help from him.

”Listen, we have all the time in the world. But letʼs not waste it. As a time dragon, my job is to keep the balance of time. By now, you shouldʼve already learned about the role of each of the magic dragons.” John drew four circles on the dusty road.

”The voids are moving bases in the war. The light dragons are messengers. The mana dragons repair the weave of mana, and the us time dragons sustain the fabric of time to make sure the fates are doing their job without a hitch.”

John looked around and then smiled at Arad, ”The catch is that we time dragons are observers. We canʼt directly interfere with the flow of time. We must employ agents to do that. The reason we can travel freely through time is because we canʼt affect time, and time canʼt affect us.” He pointed at the ground.

”If my hand phased right through the ground, I wouldnʼt be able to draw on it. But if my hand can draw on it, then my hand would be blocked from going through.” He looked at Arad, ”In each event, I can choose to either observe or interact. If I chose to interact, then I canʼt observe it, and if I chose the latter, then I canʼt do the first.”

Arad sighed, ”So that thatʼs I come. Youʼll observe the event, and Iʼll change it. I guess, how long will it take, and what are you paying for the job?”

John smiled and reached into his pocket. From his clothes, he produced a clock, a pocket watch. ”This what Iʼm paying you. It will help you control the flow of time inside your stomach.”

Arad could already think of several uses for the pocket watch, so he sighed, ”Fine, what should I do?”

”Just grab my hand, and youʼll be transported to the boyʼs body and take over him. Kill the assassin, and thatʼll be it. The catch is that youʼre limited to the boyʼs bodyʼs potential and power. Itʼs the limitless paradise in the blue sky.”

Arad reached forward and grabbed Johnʼs hand, soon finding himself at the top of a tile roof on a moonlight night. His body hurt like hell, probably suffering from several broken ribs, torn muscles, and a concussion. Thatʼs right, he was now getting crushed in the grasp of a massive snake.

Arad extended his arms outward and ripped the snakes to shreds like it was nothing. His eyes immediately notice the terrified assassin, the spider beside him, and a young girl captured by a disgusting tentacle monster.

”What!” The assassin cried in disbelief, his face twisting in horror.

Arad landed on his feet and could finally feel a bit of the pain receding. He took a deep breath and could sense all of the humans moving around, the floating islands, the massive gravity magic lifting them to the sky.

This future he was sent to, this is the future of his empire, a kingdom of floating continents all lifted into the sky by his own gravity magic.

”How beautiful! Humans are living everywhere, I wouldʼve never expected it to look like this! The limitless blue paradise!” Arad laughed like a maniac, influenced by the boyʼs rushing blood.

”Who are you?!” The assassin screamed, but then quickly sighed, ”Matters not! Kill him!”

The spider jumped at Arad and flung a large net at him. But in that fraction of a second, Arad lifted his foot up and dropped it down on the roof.

The whole Inn they were above quaked and its roof shattered, sending a brick up toward Aradʼs hand. Arad punched that brick and sent it flying toward the spider, piercing her stomach in a splash of blood and gore.

”You feral monster!” The assassin screamed and clapped his hands, ”Drop the girl and kill him!” He commanded the tentacle monster to rush at Arad. But by now, Arad had already gotten used to the boyʼs body, it didnʼt take him a second to push it to the limit and rip through the tentacles with his bare hands.

As he caught the little girl, he could finally tap into the boy. To his surprise, the little girl had almost as much mana in her body as he did as a dragon, which was both horrifying and sad since all of that mana was slowly killing her.

”A little girl? I see, a contract,” Arad smiled. The girl had made a contract similar to those created by the devils. But in this case, itʼs a contract with the fabric of mana. The contract allows her full access, but in exchange, she canʼt use that mana.

”It canʼt be!” The assassin gasped, but that was the last thing he said in his life. Arad grabbed one of the tiles and threw it, shattering the bastardʼs head like a melon.

As Arad put the girl down, he suddenly felt something wrong. ”Whatʼs going on?” And that feeling quickly shifted into a painful headache.

”AH! I see, this boy is contracted as well,”

At that moment, a woman who looked awfully similar to Merlin landed on the roof, glaring at Arad with her glowing, star-shaped eyes.

”The Gravity Dragon!” She growled.

Arad smiled, he could already tell that she was his and Merlinʼs descendant. Just like Merlin, her body burned with enough magic to make most people question her humanity.

”Now thatʼs a fine woman, I can feel magic oozing from your body,”

”Leave the boyʼs body at one! You shall never come back, and peace will persist.” She pointed a finger at him. Her eyes turned into glowing stars as five stars appeared on her forehead.

”The boy is decent,” Arad smiled, It was time for him to return to the past. ”Heʼs already resisting me, commendable. Humans are growing stronger,” And then he could feel John pulling him back, and the next thing Arad knew, he was back on the street, looking at Johnʼs face.

”Easy, wasnʼt it?”