Demonic Dragon: Harem System

Thanatos remained in front of the open gate while Strax stared at the staircase plunging into darkness. Hades’s authority still pulsed slowly through the walls, recognizing that he had fulfilled the three requirements while, at the same time, seeming to evaluate him every second. The silence there was different from what he had found throughout the rest of the Bottom. There were no voices, souls, or creatures trying to call his name. There was only an absolute pressure, as though that entire region had been built to keep something inside, not merely to stop people from entering.

"You can go," Thanatos said, remaining outside. "The soul is down there. From this point on, you no longer need me."

Strax did not answer immediately.

His eyes remained on the staircase, but his posture changed almost imperceptibly. His shoulders relaxed, his breathing remained normal, and one hand lowered a few centimeters, closer to the point where he could summon Zani instantly. He did not need to look at Thanatos to realize how fucking convenient the situation had become. After crossing regions where even gods avoided walking, she had finally led him to a door only he could pass through and, at exactly that point, informed him that she would stay behind.

"You can’t enter?" he asked.

"No."

"Because of the first condition."

"I already told you. Whoever crosses has to be alive." Thanatos crossed her arms and stared at the passage with ancient disgust. "My authority allows me to reach almost all of Tartarus, but this place was built specifically to exclude entities that already belong to death. Hades wanted to make sure even I couldn’t interfere."

Strax looked at her over his shoulder.

Thanatos held his gaze.

He still did not completely believe her.

"Convenient as fuck."

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have chosen a better method than bringing you to a door you managed to open."

"You tried to cut my neck less than an hour ago."

"It was an emotional moment."

Strax almost laughed.

Almost.

He turned back toward the staircase. The presence hidden far below still existed, distant, concentrated, and clearly tied to Hades’s authority. If it was a trap, standing outside would not help him discover it. Besides, he had already crossed far worse things for considerably stupider reasons.

So he started descending.

The first steps showed no change. The stone remained cold, small blue flames gradually appeared along the walls, and the pressure of the authority increased the farther he went. After roughly twenty steps, Strax felt the structure behind him disappear. When he looked up, he could no longer see Thanatos or even the gate.

Only darkness.

"Of course."

He continued.

Ten more steps.

Twenty more.

Then something moved.

Strax first noticed the change in the air. A gigantic mass crossed the space to his right far too quickly for something that size, followed by the brutal smell of sulfur, ancient blood, and infernal energy. He turned immediately, but a massive mouth emerged from the darkness before he could complete the movement.

Teeth the size of swords closed around him.

"What the fuck—"

The impact broke through his defense and ripped him away from the staircase.

The creature could not completely pierce his body, but the force of the bite was enough to throw him through the side wall. Stone exploded around Strax as he broke through the structure and was hurled directly into the void below.

He began to fall.

The corridor disappeared above.

The darkness opened around him, revealing that the staircase was not built inside any ordinary structure. It crossed a colossal abyss formed by countless platforms, ruined structures, and rivers of spiritual energy flowing through the depths of Tartarus like arteries in a dead organism.

Strax twisted in the air to stabilize himself.

That was when he saw Thanatos.

The Goddess of Death was visible again high above, standing before the gate and watching him plummet hundreds of meters below.

She did not look worried.

Quite the opposite.

Thanatos raised one hand.

And gave him a tiny wave.

Smiling.

Strax stared at her without any emotion.

His expression made it perfectly clear that this conversation would be resumed later.

Then a gigantic shadow crossed in front of the opening.

Three heads emerged from the dark.

Strax finally understood what had attacked him.

"Cerberus."

The creature dove after him.

Its body was monstrously larger than any common depiction of the Guardian of the Underworld. Cerberus looked more like a mountain covered in black fur and bone plates than a dog. Three thick necks supported different heads, each carrying glowing red eyes and jaws filled with irregular teeth. Broken chains still hung around its body, some embedded in the flesh, others dragging entire pieces of Tartarus’s ancient structures.

The central head opened its mouth.

The right head came from below.

The left tried to cut off his escape route.

Strax continued falling.

Then he opened his wings.

The transformation happened in a single burst. Black draconic wings exploded from his back and stopped his fall so abruptly that a pressure wave spread through the abyss. Cerberus passed only a few meters beneath him, all three jaws snapping shut at the same time where Strax would have been.

The dragon hovered in the air.

Cerberus landed on a lower platform with all four paws and destroyed half the structure with its weight alone. All three heads rose together, six red eyes locking onto him.

Strax looked at his coat.

A section had been torn away.

He slowly raised his eyes.

"You ripped my clothes."

Cerberus roared.

The sound made the walls of the abyss tremble.

Dozens of souls hidden among the ruins disappeared immediately, and even some of the spiritual rivers seemed to change direction to avoid the creature. Cerberus opened its jaws again, and three different energies began to gather.

Infernal fire in the left head.

A black mass of spiritual energy in the right.

And something much denser in the central head.

Strax narrowed his eyes.

"So you’re not just big."

All three heads fired.

Strax disappeared.

The infernal fire crossed several platforms and turned them into molten rock. The spiritual energy opened a fissure in the wall of Tartarus, while the third attack simply erased an entire section of space for several seconds.

Strax appeared above the central head.

His fist was already covered in black scales.

He descended.

The blow struck Cerberus’s skull with enough force to bury the central head into the platform. The entire structure collapsed several meters, but the other two heads reacted immediately. The left tried to bite him while the right snapped toward his waist.

Strax planted one foot on the central muzzle and jumped.

The left head passed beneath him.

He grabbed one of its fangs.

Cerberus tried to pull back.

Too late.

Strax twisted his entire body and used the creature’s own movement to throw that head into the other one. The collision between the two skulls produced a brutal sound, making Cerberus stagger sideways.

"You’re strong," Strax admitted as he returned to the air. "But you fight like a dog."

All three heads looked at him.

Strax thought for a moment.

"Well... you are a dog."

Cerberus seemed even more irritated.

The creature jumped.

Despite its absurd size, its speed was monstrous. Cerberus crossed dozens of meters in a single movement, reaching Strax before he decided to simply move out of the way. The front paw came first.

Strax blocked with both arms.

The impact launched him into the wall.

Stone collapsed around him.

Cerberus did not wait.

All three heads attacked in sequence, trying to bite him inside the crater before he could recover his position. The first took a kick directly to the muzzle. Strax caught the second by the jaws with both hands.

The third managed to bite him.

Teeth closed over his shoulder.

Black scales appeared immediately.

The sound of teeth grinding against his defense tore through the abyss.

Strax looked at the gigantic eye in front of him.

"You really like biting."

Cerberus clamped down even harder.

Strax smiled.

White Fire appeared.

Not around his entire body.

Only in his right hand.

He pressed his palm against the creature’s tongue.

Cerberus froze.

"Let go."

The fire intensified.

The head immediately opened its jaws and recoiled with a roar, trying to extinguish the spiritual flames that had begun consuming part of its mouth. Strax did not allow the damage to continue. He dispersed the fire before it could cause any permanent injury.

Cerberus noticed.

All three heads hesitated.

It was small.

But Strax noticed.

He stepped out of the destroyed wall and landed on one of the remaining intact platforms. Cerberus stood before him, breathing heavily while infernal saliva dripped between its teeth. The beast still wanted to attack, but something had changed.

It was not fear.

It was evaluation.

"Ah."

Strax crossed his arms.

"So you think."

The central head released a low growl.

The left bared its teeth.

The right simply watched.

Strax looked at the broken chains around the guardian’s body. Hades had probably used Cerberus not only as a protector of the Underworld, but as the final obstacle before his soul. If the creature remained there even after its master’s death, then its loyalty did not depend only on orders.

That was useful.

Extremely useful.

Strax ran a hand through his hair and released a heavy sigh.

"I came here to get a soul."

Cerberus growled again.

"I’m not interested in killing you."

The left head advanced a few centimeters.

Strax raised one finger.

"But if you bite me again, I’ll rip your teeth out."

The creature stopped.

For several seconds, man and monster stared at each other in the middle of the abyss. Cerberus was an ancient infernal beast, created or shaped to protect the domain of the dead. Its body carried an absurd amount of energy, its durability was enough to survive the Bottom, and its presence made even ancient souls flee.

Strax began to smile.

Thanatos had been right.

It really would not be simple.

But maybe that was better.

He slowly spread his arms, allowing part of his true draconic presence to escape. Demonic pressure spread through Tartarus, accompanied by the weight of his bloodline, White Fire, Black Ice, and the authority accumulated within his existence.

All three of Cerberus’s heads reacted.

The black fur stood on end.

Its paws sank into the stone.

But the creature did not retreat.

Strax liked that even more.

He cracked his neck and looked at the monster with an almost resigned expression.

"Looks like I’m going to have to tame this ugly creature."

Cerberus roared.

Strax smiled.

"Yeah. You look excited too."

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