Demonic Dragon: Harem System

The path to Hades’s cemetery crossed a region of Tartarus that seemed to have been built before even the first mortal cities existed. Persephone walked ahead, guiding Strax through corridors of black stone where no flames burned and no souls wandered. Lithara and Albedo remained several meters behind, silent for the first time since they arrived. Even they could feel the difference in that place. It was not merely a territory dedicated to the dead; it was a region reserved for entities that had ruled death itself for ages. The walls carried erased names, symbols of ancient divinities, and inscriptions so old that even Lithara, accustomed to demonic languages, could not recognize half of them.

Persephone opened the final passage with her own authority, and the corridor ended before a vast field covered in black flowers. There was no sky above them, only a gray expanse crossed by small points of light resembling distant stars. Hundreds of gravestones were scattered across the terrain, some monumental, others far too simple to belong to gods. Strax quickly realized that this was not merely the place where Hades had been laid to rest. It was the cemetery of those who had once possessed some right over Tartarus before him.

"He is farther ahead," Persephone said.

Strax did not answer. He continued walking among the gravestones until he noticed a larger structure near the center of the cemetery. There was no statue, mausoleum, or any attempt to turn Hades’s death into a spectacle. Only a tall, wide black gravestone with a few words carved in ancient Greek and a broken crown placed before it. The body was buried beneath that soil, preserved by Tartarus’s own authority even though most of the divine essence had already been incorporated into the Titans’ new seal.

Someone was already there.

A woman sat beside the gravestone.

She wore a long black robe that covered almost her entire body, leaving only pale hands and part of her face visible. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and an enormous scythe rested across her back. The weapon was disproportionate even for someone with a divine appearance, with a curved blade made of metal so black it seemed to absorb the little light that existed in the cemetery. The woman’s presence was different from Persephone’s. It carried no life, vegetation, or natural cycles.

It was simply the end.

She noticed Strax before he fully reached them.

Her dark eyes shifted sideways and examined him from head to toe. Contempt appeared immediately.

"You must be that Demonic Dragon Hades wanted to help," she said. "I hope that—"

"Shut up, Thanatos."

Strax walked past her without even slowing down.

The woman froze.

Lithara stopped too.

Albedo looked first at Strax, then at the woman in the black robe.

He had never met Thanatos.

He did not know what she looked like, what her voice sounded like, or even why the fuck Thanatos was a woman.

Well, fuck it.

Thanatos needed several seconds to process the fact that someone had just entered the cemetery of the former King of the Underworld, recognized her instantly, and told her to shut up before allowing her to finish a sentence. Persephone closed her eyes for a moment, as though she had already predicted that this visit would become a problem. Lithara, on the other hand, had to turn her face away to hide a smile.

Strax ignored all of them.

He stopped before Hades’s gravestone.

For several seconds, he said nothing. He simply read the name carved into the stone and looked at the broken crown placed before it. Hades’s presence still existed there, extremely faint, like a shadow that remained even after its source had disappeared. It was not enough to form consciousness, but it was enough for Strax to recognize that authority he had once mistaken for something much greater.

He crouched.

"You were pretty clever, pretending to be my savior, weren’t you, you old bastard?"

Persephone opened her eyes.

Thanatos turned fully toward him.

Strax ran his fingers along the edge of the gravestone and released a quiet laugh.

"You made it look like the System had been given to me by you. Like you had chosen me, granted me an opportunity, and put something inside me that no one else possessed." His smile widened, but there was no real joy in it. "Except it wasn’t you. You merely detected someone else’s authority and managed to manipulate it enough to make it look like you were in control."

The memory was much clearer now than it had been years ago. After everything Strax had learned about authorities, souls, systems, and entities existing above the world’s conventional structures, that lie had become obvious. Hades had not created it. Hades had not even possessed enough power to create it.

He had merely found a partially open door and convinced Strax that he held the key.

"You had guts," Strax continued. "I’ll give you that. If I had discovered this back then, I probably would have tried to kill you."

He laughed and stood.

There was no true hatred on his face. Hades had deceived him, but he had also given him information, opportunities, and time. Their relationship had never been simple enough to be reduced to gratitude or resentment.

Now there was no one left with whom to settle those accounts.

When Strax stood fully upright, his gaze moved toward Persephone.

The change in his expression was immediate.

"Helm of Darkness," he said. "Give it to me."

Persephone froze.

Lithara lost her smile.

Albedo uncrossed her arms.

Even Thanatos forgot the earlier insult for a moment.

The Helm of Darkness was not simply a relic that had belonged to Hades. It was one of the fundamental symbols of his authority. A Divine Weapon tied to the concept of concealment, death, and dominion over that which should not be perceived. After the god’s death, the relic had remained sealed among the royal treasures of Tartarus because no one knew exactly who would be capable of inheriting it without provoking a reaction from the authority contained within.

"Strax..." Persephone began.

She did not finish.

Thanatos disappeared.

The scythe appeared first.

The enormous black blade crossed space directly toward Strax’s neck, carrying an authority that did not cut only flesh. That strike carried death. Any creature hit by it should feel the bond between soul and body split before even realizing it had been cut.

The scythe struck Strax.

The sound that echoed through the cemetery was not flesh being torn.

It was metal breaking.

CRACK.

The blade shattered.

Half of the scythe spun through the air and fell several meters away, embedding itself in the black soil.

Thanatos remained motionless.

Black scales had appeared over Strax’s neck. They did not cover his entire body, only that specific region, forming a compact layer of the true structure of his draconic body. The authority of death still clung to the scales, trying to penetrate them, but it was incapable of completely passing through that defense.

Strax slowly shifted his eyes toward her.

Thanatos finally understood she had made a mistake.

"You..."

Strax grabbed her by the neck.

There was no time to react.

His fingers closed around the Goddess of Death’s throat and lifted her from the ground with ease. Thanatos’s aura exploded immediately, shadows spreading across the cemetery while hundreds of small specters appeared around them. Strax did not even blink. He tightened his hand slightly, and the demonic authority circulating through his arm crushed part of the divine energy before she could complete any technique.

"And you," Strax said. "Give me Hades’s soul."

Thanatos’s feet hung several centimeters above the ground.

She grabbed his wrist with both hands, trying to reduce the pressure on her throat. For the first time since Strax had seen her, the contempt had completely vanished from her eyes.

"W-why...?"

Strax tilted his head slightly.

"Because I need to become a Dragon God before we start a divine war."

Persephone remained still.

Lithara and Albedo said nothing either.

The sentence had been delivered with the calm of someone explaining why he needed to buy a new sword.

Strax continued:

"I could spend decades trying to create concepts from scratch, developing divine authority, finding worshippers, accumulating faith, and building my own domain until the world recognized my existence as a god." He tightened his fingers a little more, and Thanatos released a strangled sound. "But I don’t feel like it."

His eyes began taking on the heavy glow of his draconic form.

"I am already a Demonic Dragon. I already possess enough authority to destroy lesser divinities, and my body can withstand divine energy without falling apart. What I’m missing is a complete structure. A consolidated concept. An authority the world already recognizes."

Strax finally looked toward Hades’s gravestone.

"And the soul of a King of the Underworld is the easiest path."

Persephone stepped closer.

"You intend to devour him."

"Yes."

"Do you know what exists inside his soul?"

"More or less."

"No, you don’t."

Strax looked at her without releasing Thanatos.

Persephone kept her voice firm. "Hades was not merely the ruler of Tartarus. His soul carried death, underground riches, judgment, the passage of souls, authority over the dead, and part of the very structure separating the world of the living from this place. Even after what he sacrificed to rebuild the barrier, what remains is still a complete divine soul."

"Better."

"It may try to transform you."

Strax smiled.

"Things have been trying to transform me since I started devouring everything that looked interesting."

"You are treating this lightly."

"No. I’m treating it as food."

Thanatos tried to break free again. A wave of black energy ran through her arms, but Strax slammed her into the ground before she could finish. The impact opened a small crater between the gravestones. He did not release her throat and crouched with her, keeping the goddess pinned against the ground.

"You attacked first," he said. "So don’t make that face."

Thanatos stared at him with pure hatred.

"His soul does not belong to you."

"It does not belong to you either."

"I am Death!"

"And he is already dead. Your job is over."

Lithara covered her mouth, clearly enjoying herself more than she should.

Persephone rubbed her forehead.

"Strax, release Thanatos."

He looked at her.

"Is she going to attack again?"

Persephone turned toward the fallen goddess.

"Are you?"

Thanatos remained silent for several seconds. The anger in her eyes had not diminished, but the broken half of her scythe was visible only a few meters away. She understood perfectly well the difference between attacking someone by surprise and actually possessing enough strength to defeat them.

"No."

Strax released her.

Thanatos immediately moved away, bringing one hand to her throat. Red marks were already beginning to disappear under the influence of her divine authority, but the humiliation would remain much longer.

Strax turned back toward Persephone.

"The Helm."

"You really intend to take everything Hades left behind?"

"No."

The answer surprised her.

Strax pointed toward the gravestone.

"I want two things. His soul and the Helm of Darkness. Tartarus is yours. The riches are yours. The throne is yours. The troops are yours. I have no interest in ruling the dead."

Persephone studied his face.

"Why the Helm?"

"Because if I’m going to absorb Hades’s authority, I need an object that stabilizes the transition. A relic directly associated with his concept will prevent part of the authority from dispersing."

Frieren would probably be proud of that conclusion.

Or extremely concerned.

Possibly both.

Persephone looked toward Thanatos.

The Goddess of Death was still kneeling, holding her own throat and clearly wanting to kill Strax, though she had quickly learned that wanting something and being capable of doing it were different things.

"Thanatos," Persephone said. "Where is the soul?"

The woman slowly raised her eyes.

"You cannot seriously be considering this."

"I am."

"He is going to consume Hades."

"I heard."

"He is going to take part of the Underworld’s authority."

"Good. Less work for me."

Thanatos looked genuinely offended.

Persephone shrugged.

"Did you hear the plan I just explained? We have Titans awakening, monsters infesting the lower regions, Primordials who do not recognize my authority, and Zeus preparing a war while waiting for the Planetary Core. If Strax can turn my dead husband’s soul into enough power to kill gods, I see no reason to leave it gathering dust."

Lithara began laughing.

Albedo looked at her.

"I’m starting to like her."

"I already did."

Thanatos stared at Persephone as though she had been betrayed by the entire moral structure of the universe.

Strax simply waited.

Finally, Persephone looked back toward the gravestone, and her expression became serious.

"The soul isn’t here."

Strax narrowed his eyes.

"Then where is it?"

Persephone pointed downward.

Far below.

Toward a region of Tartarus that had not even appeared on the previous map.

"Hades knew someone would try to take it after his death. So he placed it in the only place where neither Zeus, nor the Titans, nor any ordinary god could simply enter."

Strax felt something shift in the depths.

A distant presence.

Ancient.

Heavy.

Persephone continued:

"He left his soul in the Bottom."

Strax slowly smiled.

"Good."

Thanatos stood, still angry.

"You don’t know what exists down there."

"Then we’ll finally find out."

Strax looked at Hades’s gravestone one last time.

His voice lost the little humor that remained.

"You really left far too much work behind before dying, old man."

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