Demonic Dragon: Harem System

The wind from above roared like a symphony of steel against the dragon's wings. Each beat displaced entire clouds, opening clearings in the stormy sky that still roiled behind them. On Strax's shoulders and back, his women clung tightly to the warm scales, some in reverent silence, others still shaken by what they had witnessed.

The archipelago slowly disappeared, swallowed by storms and tidal waves, until it became nothing more than a blur on the horizon. But the tension that remained between them was palpable, as if not even the most violent air currents could dispel it.

It was Scarlet who broke the silence. Her voice was filled with nervousness, but also with a twinge of anticipation:

"What now?" she asked, shouting against the wind, but without taking her eyes off the horizon. "What are we going to do?"

Strax didn't answer immediately. He only flew higher, cutting through the cloak of dark clouds until he emerged into an open sky, where the sun gilded the green and black scales covering his colossal body. The light reflected off his draconic eyes, transforming them into two dark suns.

When he spoke, his voice reverberated through the heavens, deep, firm, and impossible to ignore:

"Let's find this continent that no one knows about."

The words echoed like a sentence. But before Scarlet could respond, Strax continued, his tone heavier and colder than before:

"And you, Scarlet..." the name tumbled from his mouth like a blade being unsheathed. "You're a thousand years old. Don't tell me you don't know anything about them."

The silence that followed was abrupt.

Scarlet froze, feeling all attention turn to her. Cassandra, Bellatrix, and Daniela exchanged instinctive glances. There was no need for words; they were all wondering the same thing: why?

Strax, without turning her head, continued, her voice cutting like steel:

"Frieren may not know. She spent more than half her life sustaining the forest, trapped in a cycle that prevented her from even still. But you..." Her left wing jerked, as if reinforcing the accusation. "You've always been a woman who sought strength. Always. Don't lie to me."

Scarlet clenched her fists, feeling her nails dig into her own skin. The wind blew her red hair like a war flag, but inside she was completely silent.

Her daughters—Cassandra and Bellatrix—stared at her with questioning gazes. Daniela, though less intense, also didn't look away. It was as if they were all waiting for a confession that might never come.

For a moment, Scarlet almost responded. The words burned on her tongue, ready to leap out and defend herself. But something stopped her: Strax's gaze, reflected in one of the scales before her. There was no uncontrolled anger there. There was none of the savage rage that had so often overwhelmed him. What existed was something far worse: clarity.

He knew.

And if she lied, she would lose more than trust. She would lose him.

The silence stretched on until it became unbearable. Cassandra was the first to speak, her voice thick with frustration:

"So it's true?" Her eyes narrowed. "You knew about these continents all along?"

Bellatrix leaned forward, her dark hair flying in the wind, her face etched with disbelief.

"Why didn't you ever tell us, Mother? What are you hiding?"

Scarlet felt the weight of the questions crush her back more than the pressure of high-speed flight.

She opened her mouth, but the words simply wouldn't come.

Strax, impassive, continued his flight, but his silence now weighed even more heavily than his accusations.

It was Daniela who murmured, softer, but still sharp as a needle:

"Mom, we've always trusted you... we've always followed your lead. But now..." Her eyes watered briefly, only to harden immediately afterward. "You should talk more about things, you know? I thought you loved us, hiding these things."

Scarlet swallowed hard.

"It's not like that..." she managed to murmur, her voice almost carried away by the wind.

"Then how?" Cassandra replied harshly. "Because so far it just seems like you've been keeping secrets while we were all lost."

"It's a little comical to think they're talking about this right now." Strax laughed internally.

Scarlet closed her eyes, trying to gather strength. But the memories struck her like blades. The continents existed, and they were much more than just unknown lands.

But confessing it now?

She looked at Strax. The immense dragon, his overwhelming presence, the being she had helped shape, but who now walked on his own, beyond anyone's control. He had exposed her before them all, without hesitation, as if ripping off a mask with a single gesture.

Inside, Scarlet felt anger. She felt pain. But most of all, she felt fear.

Because perhaps Strax was ready for what she had feared for a thousand years.

"Mother..." Cassandra's voice cut off again. "If you don't speak now, you won't speak ever again."

Bellatrix clenched her fists, her anger evident. Daniela merely lowered her head, but the disappointment in her eyes was clear.

Scarlet took a deep breath. Her mouth opened, but before any words could escape, Strax spoke again.

"No matter what she says." The voice echoed like thunder, shutting down any reply. "She will speak. Sooner or later."

The weight of the statement crushed Scarlet even further.

Strax tilted his wings, changing the direction of his flight. Below them, the ocean stretched out in endless shades of blue, but on the horizon, beyond the mist, something could be seen. An outline. A colossal mass of land, so vast it seemed to touch the sky.

"There," Strax roared, his words vibrating like thunder. "That's where we're going."

The horizon opened before them like a veil being torn apart. The mist covering the sea slowly dissipated, revealing the monstrous outline of a continent. Mountains rose like stone walls, so high their peaks disappeared into their own clouds, and endless forests stretched beyond vision. The ocean, which until then had dominated everything, now seemed small before the emerging land.

The women leaned forward, trying to absorb every detail. Daniela opened her mouth in childish astonishment; Cassandra and Bellatrix, though more restrained, couldn't hide their shock. Even Frieren, always so calm, let out a barely audible murmur:

"I... I didn't know there was something so vast beyond our world."

Strax didn't answer. He merely adjusted his flight, hovering above the clouds, observing this new territory like a predator assessing its domain before conquering it.

Scarlet, however, remained motionless, her face tense. She knew these lands. She knew their stories, their dangers, their promises of power. And seeing that continent again awakened feelings in her she dared not express.

Her silence, however, did not go unnoticed. Cassandra, impatient, turned abruptly.

"Look at you." Her daughter's voice was laced with venom. "You feign surprise like everyone else, but I know it's nothing new. This silence only confirms it."