The dragon's harem

Chapter 1504: He’ll Crush You Like a Tomato

When Denki woke up, it was already morning, and she found herself asleep on the couch inside Arad’s room. He was asleep on the bed, with everyone else piled on him like pillows.

She sat up, trying not to make any noise, but she immediately froze, finding that Balina was fully awake and staring at her.

Balina moved and walked away from the bed, ”I hope you had a good night’s sleep. We need to move soon.” She reached toward the hanger beside the door and picked a gown to cover herself a bit.

”She didn’t kill me?” Denki looked at Claug, who was sleeping on Arad with her large ass on his face.

”Of course she won’t.” Balina pointed at Claug’s arm, ”See? Fully healed without even leaving a scar. You might’ve dealt more damage if you hit her on the chest, but a limb, that won’t be a problem.”

Balina then smiled, ”And before you ask, she just turns a lot when sleeping. I’m sure she was upright yesterday.”

Arad moved a bit, and suddenly he was standing beside the bed. Everyone asleep on him just fell on each other on the bed. He looked at Denki and smiled, ”Good, you look fine, not a single scratch.”

Denki looked at herself; her clothes were tattered, and she looked in a sorry state, but that was just her appearance. Physically, she was healthy, and all the wounds from yesterday’s fight had faded away.

It was then that Denki’s opened wide, ”Wait! Who took the hit? The shock?!”

Arad tapped on his chest with a smile, ”Yours truly here. It stung a bit, but not that much. You might’ve gotten Claug really mad if she was the one to get hit, then, even I won’t be able to save you from her.”

”That... could kill mature dragons.” She gasped, and Arad shrugged.

”Mature dragons and I aren’t the same, and Claug is an Ancient drakaina. You’re skilled, but not powerful. Overall, you’re strong for your age.” He slowly turned toward the bed, ”Wake up, I know half of you aren’t asleep.”

Claug opened her eyes, and so did Gamond and Zul; none of them was asleep. But Eris and Kory were knocked out, stacked on each other like sardines, and almost snoring.

Gamond approached Kory and pulled her by her leg, dragging her out of the bed to wake her up. ”Wakey! Wakey! Tis time for work!”

Kory landed on her feet, still fast asleep and barely able to move. She stirred a bit, stuck between the dreamland and reality, reached forward, and stumbled on her own feet. As Gamond caught her, Kory finally rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up.

”Come on! At least wear something, and then move like a zombie if you want. You’re embarrassing yourself in front of the new girl.” Gamond smacked Kory on the back and pushed her toward the hanger where a coat waited for her.

Kory yawned, tiny flames sparking in her throat. ”New girl? She can kiss my ass.” She yawned again and reached for the coat.

Gamond sighed and then looked back at Eris, who was hugging the pillow, now that her warm pillow, Kory, had disappeared. ”You’re the last one, Eris. Wake up, we’ve got work to do.”

Eris yawned, rolled on the bed, scratched her stomach, and then went back to sleep, ”I’ll... get...”

”Come on!” Gamond pulled her out of the bed just as she did with Kory, forcing her to wake up and move to wash herself.

With everyone awake, Arad was the first to finish washing his face and putting on all of his clothes. He sat at the door, waiting for everyone. Like usual, even though Eris was the last to wake up, she was the first to finish getting ready.

Right after her came Denki, who looked at Arad for a second, then at Eris, then back at the room. Kory was busy brushing Gamond’s hair, Zul was helping Balina, and none of them had a decent set of clothes on yet. Even Claug was still in the bathroom trying to tune her human form.

”You’re fast.” Arad looked at Denki, and she paused for a second, ”Fast? They are slow.”

”No, you’re fast. Dragons usually only sleep once every few years; they aren’t used to waking up each morning and getting ready in minutes. Eris and I are a different story.” He leaned on the wall. ”So, what about you?”

”I used to lead a cult of humans that worshiped Tiamat. So, I woke up and followed their schedule.” She looked at Eris for a second and then averted her eyes.

”Want to ask how a half-dragon is here?” Eris smiled, ”I’m half purple dragon, half elf. I’m also a vampire, and a demi-goddess of murder.” She looked at Denki, ”If you think I’m a pushover, I can give you a painful massage.”

Arad pointed at Eris, ”She is the one who healed you and Claug’s arm. Get her mad at you, and you might be left to suffer for hours before getting healed next time.”

Denki froze in place. Now that she looked closer at Eris, she could indeed sense a sharp divine presence. Tiamat was a human once and had become a goddess of dragons. So who is to say that Eris won’t reach the same level given enough time?

”Sorry... I didn’t mean to stare.”

Eris giggled, ”Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you aren’t just nervous, you’re probably afraid that speaking up would get you in trouble.” She turned and looked at Arad, ”But we go with one rule here. When Arad is around, we’re all the same.”

Denki looked at Arad, and then back at Eris, as if asking what she meant. ”As long as Arad is here, no one is going to harm you. And even after he leaves, no one would try to get back at you.” Eris reached up and smacked Arad on the shoulder, ”But, if you went too far, he’ll be the one teaching you a lesson, so mind yourself.” She looked at everyone.

”We all fought him at some point, except Zul and Balina. But neither of them can even deal with Gamond, so Arad isn’t someone they can fight.” Eris looked at Denki, ”If you want to fight him, just ask.”

Dekni looked at Arad, finding that his arm was bigger than her hips and her face could fit in his palm. If he were to smack her even once, he would probably rip her in half.

Besides that, he took her discharge yesterday, and he is still moving like it was nothing.

She looked at Arad for a long while, ”Can we just... try it once?”

Arad nodded, ”While everyone is getting ready? Of course.” In a second, the three of them were sitting on the same stone as yesterday, only now, it was all charred from Denki’s discharge.

Eris sat on a stone far away to watch, and Denki took a deep breath. ”Can I attack first?”

”Of course.” Arad smiled, and Denki immediately flashed at him, throwing a fully charged punch at his chest. She wanted to see how he would react; this electric discharge was as powerful as the one she had done yesterday to knock Claug down. If Arad even as much as flinched, that would give her an opening to combo a second, maybe even a third one.

But to her surprise, Arad didn’t even move, took her hit standing there with his usual smile. Terrified, she tried to jump back. He was stronger than she ever expected; she was sure such an attack would at least sting.

Before she could get away, Arad threw his arm and grabbed her by the wrist, twisted her arm, and grabbed the other wrist, locking both of her arms behind her back before she could even understand what was happening.

Denki panicked. How did she allow him to tie her like this? And he was only using one hand to pin both of her arms?! She tried to escape, but Arad’s palm kept her arms tightly locked together.

In her panic, she forgot to protect her legs, and Arad’s other arm flew downward and grabbed her by the ankle. She cried, and that was enough time for Arad to twist her leg and catch the other ankle in the same palm.

Arad lifted her up, her two hands locked by the wrists in his right palm and behind her back, and her feet locked by the ankles in his left palm.

Denki tried to jolt him, but no matter how hard she tried to use it, it was all useless. Even her iron dust failed to scratch him; it was as if an invisible barrier coated his scales.

Arad pushed her legs up, forcing her knees to touch her chest, and folded her into a squat, then pressed her down to prevent her from moving anything besides her fingers and toes.

”See?” Eris called from the back, ”Between his hands, he can crush you like a tomato. Even Gamond struggles to wrestle out of his grasp, and she had surpassed her twilight.”

Arad released Denki, and she fell down, landed on her feet, and then fell to her knees, her limbs still shaking. Forget fighting Arad; she can’t even hope to be a threat.

”Can you stand?” Eris jumped down and approached her, ”This idiot didn’t crush your ankles, did he?”

Arad frowned, ”I know how to control my strength, she is fine... probably.”

”I’m fine.” Denki stood, ”I’m just a bit...” She looked at Arad for a second, then Eris, ”Scared, I never faced something that I can’t at least fight.”

Arad patted her on the head, ”Come on, I’m not that scary. And you’ll get strong quickly.”

He pulled them all back to the room, and Gamond looked at them with a surprised face, ”Wow! She is still standing!”

Denki shook her head, ”I was on my knees a second ago. My hands are still shaking.” She took a deep breath and approached the water jug on the table to drink.

”ARAD!” In the meantime, Gamond approached Arad, ”At least be gentle with the new girl! Don’t break her hips on the first time! And that was fast! Give her more time!”

Denki spat her water out.