Demonic Dragon: Harem System

Thanatos spent the next several hours being carried by the collar as though it had become a completely normal part of the expedition.

After realizing Strax had absolutely no intention of putting her down, she gave up arguing and simply started pointing out directions with an increasingly empty expression.

Left.

Then across a bridge made of petrified bones.

Then through a gorge where ancient souls crawled along the walls without making a sound.

Cerberus followed close behind, far too large for most passages, forcing himself to partially shrink his body whenever they crossed narrower corridors.

All three heads continued displaying the elements acquired earlier. Small flames occasionally escaped from the nostrils of the left head, ice accumulated around the fangs of the right, while Black Lightning ran through the fur of the central head whenever something approached too closely.

"Right," Thanatos indicated without enthusiasm.

Strax turned.

"Now down."

He went down.

"Not that way."

Strax stopped and looked at her.

Thanatos closed her eyes.

"The other staircase."

"You said down."

"There are two staircases."

"Then be specific."

"Maybe it would be easier if you put me down."

Strax kept holding her by the clothes.

"I don’t see the connection."

Thanatos decided that, if she survived this, she would find a way to establish some metaphysical law forbidding dragons from entering Tartarus.

The problem was that Strax looked far too comfortable in that environment.

The demonic energy of that place fed his body almost naturally, while his draconic authority prevented most spiritual influences from trying to contaminate him.

Even after hours of walking, he showed no signs of fatigue.

In fact, he seemed progressively more comfortable, as though the Underworld were simply another hostile territory his body had decided to turn into an advantage.

Cerberus was also exceptionally excited.

The creature had begun following Strax with the absolute attention of an animal that had accepted a new hierarchy after a traumatic and highly educational experience.

Whenever Thanatos tried to convince the hound to ignore some order, one of the three heads immediately looked toward Strax before deciding what to do.

That irritated the Goddess of Death more than any verbal insult.

After almost four hours, the path finally changed.

The chaotic passages of the Bottom gave way to a massive bridge of black stone suspended over a completely still abyss.

There were no souls, monsters, or any spiritual presence in that region.

The silence was so complete that Strax’s footsteps seemed to echo for several seconds.

On the other side of the bridge stood a gigantic structure partially buried in the rock, resembling an ancient cathedral but without any recognizable religious symbol.

Broken towers rose toward the darkness.

Black stained-glass windows covered the walls.

An enormous pair of doors remained closed at the center.

Thanatos finally pointed.

"It’s there."

Strax stopped.

"Finally."

"You could show a little more respect. This place was built to guard one of the greatest authorities in the history of the Underworld."

Strax crossed the bridge.

"I still think it took too long."

When they reached the entrance, he simply dropped Thanatos.

The Goddess of Death was not prepared.

Her face hit the floor.

She remained motionless for several seconds, processing the destruction of her dignity for perhaps the third or fourth time that day.

Cerberus tilted all three heads to observe her.

The central head released a low sound that could very easily be interpreted as curiosity.

Thanatos slowly stood.

"You did that on purpose."

Strax was already opening the door.

"You wanted to be on the ground."

"I said I wanted to walk!"

"Practically the same thing."

"Not even remotely the same thing!"

He entered without answering.

Thanatos clenched her teeth and followed.

Cerberus tried to follow as well, but the doorway would not allow his gigantic body through.

Strax looked back and pointed at the ground.

"Wait."

The hound sat immediately.

Thanatos became even more irritated.

Inside the structure, there were no chambers, traps, or any of the grandeur one might expect from a divine tomb.

Only a long corridor.

Tall columns lined both sides, while completely black stained-glass windows allowed gray light to pass through, though Strax could not determine its source.

The temperature was low but not unpleasant, and Hades’s presence grew steadily stronger as they advanced.

At the end of the corridor, the structure opened up.

A cathedral.

Empty benches occupied both sides of a gigantic nave.

Black chains descended from the ceiling, disappearing somewhere into the darkness above, while dozens of small blue flames burned on stands scattered along the walls.

Where an altar should have stood, there was only a coffin.

Black stone.

No decoration.

No statue.

No attempt to make Hades into something greater after death.

Strax walked directly toward it.

Thanatos slowed as they approached.

The irritation gradually disappeared from her face, replaced by a seriousness Strax noticed but chose not to comment on.

It might not have been affection in the mortal sense, but Hades had still been part of her existence for ages.

Strax placed both hands on the lid.

There was no ceremony.

He simply pushed.

The stone slid aside with a heavy sound and revealed the body within.

Strax stood still.

It was the first time he had ever seen Hades.

Every previous conversation had taken place through the System, telepathy, fragments of authority, or manifestations that never fully revealed his true appearance.

The man inside the coffin looked far less impressive than Strax had imagined.

Tall.

Black hair already marked by streaks of gray.

A short beard.

A stern face carrying deep signs of exhaustion.

Even in death, there was something regal in his features.

But there was also immense weariness.

Strax sighed.

"So that was your face."

Thanatos remained behind him.

Strax did not pray.

Did not lower his head.

Did not speak any elaborate farewell.

Hades already knew what kind of man he was.

Pretending reverence now would only be an uncomfortable lie for both of them.

He placed a hand over the corpse’s chest.

His fingers pushed between the ribs.

Thanatos narrowed her eyes but did not try to stop him.

Strax pulled.

When his hand came free, there was a heart between his fingers.

It did not look like an organ.

It was completely black, almost metallic, with golden veins crossing its surface in geometric patterns.

There was no blood.

Instead, tiny particles of divine and demonic energy escaped with every residual pulse, even though Hades was dead.

The object seemed to breathe on its own, responding to the presence of Tartarus around it.

Strax brought the heart closer to his face.

"This is more of an artifact than a heart."

Thanatos finally approached.

"Hades’s heart was transformed during the first centuries of his reign. The authority of Tartarus stopped merely flowing through it and became part of the organ itself. After millennia, there was no longer any difference between flesh, relic, and authority."

Strax turned the heart in his hand.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Thanatos watched his expression and immediately became suspicious.

"What are you going to do?"

Strax looked at her.

"Eat it, obviously."

"Strax, maybe you should first—"

He put the entire heart in his mouth.

Thanatos fell silent.

Strax swallowed.

For a single second, nothing happened.

Then the world exploded inside him.

Demonic energy tore through his body like a black tide.

It was nothing like ordinary mana from Tartarus.

It carried ages of condensed authority.

Death.

Judgment.

Underground riches.

Souls.

Dominion.

Mixed within it was pure divine energy, fragmented but still powerful enough to make Strax’s body react as though thousands of lightning bolts had struck him from within.

Black scales erupted across his neck.

His eyes became draconic.

His muscles swelled.

The skin around his arms cracked into luminous lines before immediately rebuilding itself.

Thanatos stepped back.

"Shit."

Strax bent slightly.

His heart beat.

Once.

The cathedral trembled.

Twice.

The blue flames went out.

Three times.

A wave of black energy burst from his body and swept through the entire hall, tearing apart some of the benches and making the hanging chains swing violently.

The stained-glass windows began to vibrate.

Strax tried to control the energy.

He could not do so immediately.

Hades’s authority encountered his draconic and demonic nature and began colliding with it, searching for somewhere it could settle.

One part tried to transform his core.

Another tried to find a divine structure that simply did not exist.

Strax raised his head.

And roared.

The sound tore through the cathedral like an explosion.

Every stained-glass window shattered at once.

Black fragments rained through the hall while the roar traveled down the corridor, crossed the bridge, and made Cerberus jump to his feet outside.

The entire structure shook for several seconds, and an enormous amount of demonic energy poured through the broken windows like black smoke.

Thanatos shielded her face with one arm.

When she could finally look again, Strax was still standing.

The partial transformation began to recede.

The scales slowly disappeared.

His muscles returned to normal.

His eyes regained their usual appearance.

The pressure, however, remained different.

Heavier.

Deeper.

Thanatos noticed immediately.

"You absorbed it."

"Part of it."

Strax opened and closed his hand.

Hades’s energy now circulated through his body, but it had not created what he truly sought.

There was no divine domain of his own.

No concept had formed.

His body had simply absorbed an absurd amount of power and incorporated fragments of Underworld authority into what he already possessed.

He sighed.

"We’re going to have to do this the hard way."

Thanatos blinked.

"You failed?"

"I got power."

Strax looked down at his own chest.

"A lot of power."

A small black flame appeared above his hand, different from White Fire and also different from ordinary demonic energy.

For several seconds, faces appeared within the flame before fading away.

"I also picked up some fragments of authority. Death, souls, Underworld... probably other things I’ll have to separate later."

Thanatos approached.

"So you became a god."

"No."

"You devoured the heart of one."

"That doesn’t automatically turn anyone into a god."

Strax extinguished the flame.

"The path to divinity isn’t that easy. Divine power is only raw material. To truly ascend in existence, I need something that recognizes me as a concept, not merely as a powerful creature."

Thanatos watched him carefully.

Strax looked disappointed, but not surprised.

Perhaps he had already expected that possibility.

"So what’s the hard way?" she asked.

Strax looked at the open coffin.

"I’ll have to do the ascension properly."

"Create a concept?"

"Or take one I can fully accept."

Thanatos narrowed her eyes.

"You just said you didn’t want to do that."

"I still don’t."

"But you will."

"Unfortunately."

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed again.

Then pointed toward the cathedral exit.

"Let’s go back."

Thanatos looked toward Hades’s body.

"And the soul?"

Strax remained silent for several seconds.

The energy he had just absorbed gave him a clear answer.

What had been inside the heart was not the complete soul.

Hades had separated parts of himself.

The heart was a reservoir of power and authority.

The true essence was still somewhere else.

Strax smiled faintly.

"The old man is still making me work."

Thanatos almost looked pleased by that.

"I warned you."

"Don’t look so happy."

He started walking.

"First I need to get the Helm of Darkness."

Thanatos immediately became serious.

"Why?"

"Because if I’m doing this the hard way, I’m going to need a divine anchor. A relic that carried Hades’s authority for ages is better than trying to start from nothing."

"You know the Helm won’t simply accept you."

Strax walked past her.

"Then I’ll make it accept me."

Thanatos remained still for a moment.

Then she looked at Hades’s opened corpse, at the empty space in his chest where the heart had been, and at the shattered stained glass around them.

She took a deep breath.

"Of course you will."

Strax was already walking down the corridor.

"Come on."

Thanatos looked at him.

"This time I’m walking."

Strax stopped.

Thought about it.

"Fine."

She looked surprised.

Then he added:

"But if you take too long, I’m carrying you again."

Thanatos immediately quickened her pace.

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