Demonic Dragon: Harem System

The island was immense.

A desert of twisted trees, broken mountains, and black rivers that ran like congealed blood. Daniela walked across it as if it were just another battlefield, yet the weight on her shoulders was unlike any other.

Her body burned. Every muscle screamed.

And yet, she didn't stop.

The metallic sound echoed in the air—the snap of blades, the air being cut, the strangled screams of nameless creatures. Faceless demons, misshapen shadows, and grotesque beasts fell in droves before her, but no victory seemed to ease the pressure crushing her lungs.

Daniela panted, dragging her blood-stained sword on the ground for a moment before swinging it in another destructive arc. The ground cracked with each blow, the air exploded in flashes of energy. And yet, no matter how many kills she made, nothing lessened that uneasy feeling.

"Tsk…" She spat blood, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "What the hell is this?"

Daniela, Scarlet's daughter.

Daniela, Cassandra and Bellatrix's sister.

Daniela, Strax's wife.

A title greater than any warrior should bear—and yet, she felt... diminished. As if each blow drained something other than energy.

She raised her sword again, bringing it down in a diagonal slash that reduced three monsters to dust. The impact cracked the ground in deep lines, scattering embers into the air.

And she laughed. A hoarse, bitter laugh.

"Seriously?" she shouted into the distance, as if expecting an answer. "Cassandra and Bellatrix aren't here, and I have to endure this damned hole alone?"

Rage burned more than exhaustion.

Each word was spat out between clenched teeth.

"My sisters are gone, and I'm here... alone!" Another slash. Blood exploded in crimson spray. "Do you think I'll go down that easily?"

More monsters emerged from the shadows, an endless swarm. Daniela swung the blade with a violent flourish, splitting the air. A crimson bolt of lightning cut the horde in two, their bodies evaporating before they hit the ground.

Sweat dripped down her forehead, plastering her hair to her face. She was exhausted—but she wouldn't stop. She never would.

She bit her lip until it bled.

"And you?" she murmured, her tone lower now, almost a venomous whisper. "Where the hell are you, Strax?"

Her husband's name hung in the air, like an accusation.

He should have been there. He should have found her.

And yet, nothing.

Another blow. Another roar.

She crushed an enemy underfoot, swinging the blade in a vicious arc that cleaved ten in half at once. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and Daniela lifted her face to the sky.

"How many more will I have to kill before you show up?" she shouted, her voice reverberating in the void. "How many?"

Her hands shook. Not with fear, but with fury.

She hated to admit to herself that she felt weak. That his absence hurt more than any wound.

"Ridiculous," she spat, kicking the body of a creature away. "I am Daniela, Scarlet's daughter. I don't need anyone to come and save me."

But her voice wavered on the last word.

And for a moment, her chest tightened.

Scarlet.

The memory of her mother pierced her mind like a knife. Crazy, ruthless, unpredictable—and yet, capable of crossing entire worlds just to search for her daughter.

Daniela bit her lip again, blood running in a thin stream.

"The old woman... that crazy woman would come looking for me without a second thought. But you?" Strax's name was almost lost between clenched teeth. "You're not here yet."

Her eyes blazed, filled with hatred.

And, in a fit of fury, Daniela plunged her sword into the ground. The impact opened a crater, red flames exploding in waves that incinerated everything within hundreds of meters. The flash illuminated the entire island, as if the sun had risen just to watch the massacre.

The silence that followed was absolute.

No monsters. No noise.

Just her.

Daniela gasped, her knees nearly giving way, her entire body trembling.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to catch her breath, trying to keep her mind on track.

And then… everything stopped.

Literally.

The wind froze in the air.

The leaves suspended between sky and ground stood still, as if gravity had given up on existence.

Even the blood dripping from Daniela's blade stopped mid-stride, shimmering in suspended drops, trapped in nothingness.

She looked up.

And her chest heaved with her next breath.

The sky… faded.

Not into clouds.

Not into shadows.

It faded. It became an absolute void, formless, colorless, lightless. A blank space that reflected nothing—it simply devoured everything.

Daniela gripped the sword until her knuckles turned white.

She took a step back, her entire body on alert.

The silence… changed.

It was no longer just an absence of sound.

It was something alive. A silence that breathed against her ears, heavy, suffocating, like an invisible pressure trying to crush the world around her.

"…What the hell is this?" he growled, his voice deeper than usual.

Her heart raced.

Not with panic—but with instinct.

It wasn't the ordinary fear of predator and prey.

It was the raw, primal sensation of being watched…that something had chosen her.

The entire island contracted.

It wasn't a metaphor—it was real. Like a massive lung ceasing to breathe, as if the world itself had hesitated before collapsing.

Daniela held the blade steady before her, the tip pointing toward the void surrounding her.

Sweat ran in rivulets down her temple, her muscles tensing.

And even exhausted, even bleeding, her lips curved into a crooked smile.

A smile that didn't hide her fatigue.

But it displayed, naked and raw, the provocation.

"Heh... great. Finally something interesting."

Her crooked smile didn't last long.

Because nothingness... she replied.

A crack ran across the empty sky, like glass shattering in slow motion. There was no sound—only vibrations that echoed straight to her bones. Lines of crimson light snaked through the space, forming symbols she didn't recognize. They swirled, dissolved, then returned in even stranger forms, as if trying to decide which language to use to announce the inevitable.

Daniela narrowed her eyes.

Her grip on her sword tightened.

"...Do you really think I'm going to fall for this nonsense?" she said, spitting on the ground.