Demonic Dragon: Harem System

Selene did not take the two of them directly to the homunculus wing.

Frieren clearly would have preferred that, considering she was still staring at the enormous gates like someone who had just discovered a forbidden library, but the Great Witch insisted on showing them the rest of the territory first.

According to her, if Strax was truly considering allowing the Congregation to establish itself in Asgard, he needed to understand exactly how large a commitment he was accepting.

It was not merely a few hundred Witches, one Tower, and half a dozen laboratories.

It was an entire academic civilization built over thousands of years.

The three followed an elevated platform that circled part of the crater, allowing them to observe almost the entire Congregation.

From there, Strax could better understand the absurdity of the place.

The natural crater was enormous, surrounded by mountain chains that formed a kind of wall around the territory, but almost nothing inside obeyed normal architectural rules.

Towers floated without any foundations, entire buildings were constructed horizontally against vertical cliffs, gardens grew upside down beneath suspended islands, and bridges of light appeared only when someone needed to cross them.

Gravity itself seemed more like a suggestion than a law.

Frieren walked several steps ahead, observing everything with almost childlike attention.

"How much mana do you spend just keeping all of this running?"

Selene let out a small laugh.

"Too much."

"That isn’t a unit of measurement."

"It’s the unit we use when someone from administration asks."

Strax looked at her sideways.

"So you have a Monica too."

"We have four."

"My condolences."

Selene smiled, but her expression subtly changed when she looked toward the more distant floating structures.

One of the islands at the edge of the crater shifted almost imperceptibly before a series of runes lit up beneath it and corrected its position.

Strax probably would not have noticed without his perception, but Selene followed the movement until it completely stabilized.

"That is exactly one of the reasons we want to leave this place," she explained. "The Congregation was built over a network of natural and artificial magical cores. When our predecessors arrived, this region had an exceptional concentration of mana. The first cores simply organized what already existed. Then we added more as the Tower grew."

Frieren immediately understood the problem.

"You’re consuming more than the region can replenish."

"Exactly."

Selene raised her staff and pointed toward several locations scattered around the crater.

Small lights appeared over mountains, beneath lakes, and between structures, revealing dozens of formations hidden under the terrain.

"We currently have one hundred and seventy-three major cores functioning, along with thousands of smaller ones. Some are more than two thousand years old. We can restore structures, replace crystals, rebuild circuits, and improve efficiency, but we cannot create infinite mana."

Strax followed the lights.

"How much worse has it become?"

"One hundred years ago, approximately seven percent of the energy produced was used only to maintain the basic structures of the Congregation. Currently, we are close to twenty-three percent."

Frieren immediately turned toward her.

"That’s enormous."

"It is."

"In another hundred years..."

"Maybe forty percent. Maybe more."

Selene dismissed the lights and continued walking.

"We are not at risk of collapse tomorrow. Or even in ten years. Perhaps we could remain here for another few centuries if we reduce experiments, shut down sectors, and abandon some facilities."

Strax looked at her.

"But you don’t want to."

"We are Witches."

"Good answer."

Frieren nodded as though that were perfectly logical.

Selene led them to a natural balcony built into the side of a mountain.

From there, they could see the great river flowing upward against gravity, splitting into dozens of suspended channels to supply different laboratories.

"We spent thousands of years building this to enable research. It would make no sense to preserve the Congregation by destroying the very thing that justifies its existence."

"Then why don’t you simply move?" Strax asked. "You have teleportation. From what I’m seeing, you can probably move buildings too."

Selene remained silent for a few seconds.

"We can."

Frieren finally looked away from a group of towers and stared at her.

Selene pointed toward the entire crater.

"We can teleport this."

Strax stopped.

"All of it?"

"Practically all of it."

He looked at the central tower, the floating islands, the buried laboratories, the inverted rivers, and then back at Selene.

"You were serious when you said Magic Tower in Asgard."

"I never said we intended to build a new one."

Strax closed his eyes for a moment.

"Monica is going to kill me."

"You say that a lot."

"Because it happens a lot."

Frieren, on the other hand, seemed interested only in the technical part.

"How do you intend to move a formation of this size without destroying the internal connections?"

Selene began answering immediately.

"The Congregation has been rebuilt several times throughout history. Approximately eight hundred years ago, one of the Great Witches created a territorial displacement matrix. The system divides the infrastructure into twenty-four spatial blocks linked to a central Anchor. We do not teleport every building individually; we move the space they occupy."

Frieren went silent.

Strax recognized that look again.

"Don’t start."

"I didn’t say anything."

"But you thought it."

"I want to see the formation."

Selene smiled.

"Later."

Frieren looked slightly offended, but continued following.

Strax returned to the main topic.

"If you can move, why did you stay here for so long?"

"The location."

Selene crossed her arms as they walked.

"There are few territories developed enough to support our infrastructure. We need a minimum mana concentration, varied natural resources, space, and commercial access. That already reduces the options drastically. Then we have to consider politics."

"Monarchs."

"Monarchs."

She sighed.

"They are not exactly a threat to us. Some could probably cause significant damage, but none would gain much by starting a war with the Congregation. We have no interest in fighting them either."

"Then what is the problem?"

"The Heavenly Emperor."

Strax narrowed his eyes.

Selene continued calmly.

"The Monarchs are part of a larger power structure. Some are independent in internal matters, others barely receive direct orders, but all exist beneath the shadow of the Emperor. If we moved the Congregation into a Monarch’s territory, we would have to recognize that sovereignty."

"And follow their rules."

"Exactly."

She began counting on her fingers.

"Special taxation. Restrictions on research considered dangerous. Mandatory surrender of artifacts in certain situations. Registration of high-level Witches. Movement restrictions. Forced participation in territorial conflicts. Some Monarchs even demand access to research results produced within their borders."

Frieren made a face.

It was a minimal expression, but enough for Strax to notice that this might have been the most offensive thing Selene could possibly say to a researcher.

"That would be irritating," Frieren commented.

Selene looked at her.

"Very."

Strax let out a small laugh.

"I’m starting to understand why you stayed hidden in a crater for three thousand years."

"Isolation is exhausting, but political interference is usually worse."

They reached another platform, this one near a small station where dozens of Witches entered and exited transportation circles.

Selene greeted several of them with a nod, but none interrupted the group.

Strax watched the movement for a few seconds before organizing everything in his head.

"So that was it."

Selene looked at him.

"That was what?"

"You were looking for a new place, but any sufficiently developed region already belonged to some power connected to the Heavenly Emperor. If you moved, you would remain strong, but you would have to accept rules you don’t want."

"Correct."

"And then Asgard appeared."

Selene did not answer immediately.

Strax continued.

"A new force, independent of that centralized power. I appeared, started taking territory, killed the White Flame Monarch, put the Beast Monarch under control, and no one from the Heavenly Empire managed to force me to stop."

Her small smile confirmed it before her words did.

"You’re direct."

"Saves time."

"Then yes."

Selene rested the staff against her shoulder.

"When Asgard began growing, we initially believed it would simply be another temporary territory created by someone too powerful and politically incompetent."

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks."

"I wasn’t finished."

"Continue."

"Then you built roads. Railways. A functional administrative system. The Adventurer’s Guild began attracting people. Merchants started using your routes because attacks decreased. The population grew, but instead of collapsing, you kept expanding the infrastructure."

She looked directly at him.

"And then we understood that you were not simply conquering land."

Frieren was listening quietly now.

"You were creating something."

Strax put his hands in his pockets.

"When someone outside the Emperor’s structure appeared and started building a territory of his own, you saw an opportunity."

"A rare opportunity."

"To get what you want without sacrificing everything you already built."

Selene nodded.

"Exactly."

She turned to look over the Congregation below.

For the first time since they arrived, there was no academic excitement in her expression.

It was something much calmer.

"For us, Asgard could mean a new home."

Strax noticed she had chosen that word carefully.

Not headquarters.

Not territory.

Home.

"We don’t want to live isolated forever," Selene continued. "Many Witches enjoy the peace here, but others have never known a real city. Some were born inside the Congregation and go decades without interacting with outsiders. That preserved our knowledge, but it also created problems."

"Arrogance?"

"A lot."

"Thought so."

Selene laughed.

"Social stagnation too. Lack of new perspectives. Research that ends up circulating among the same schools of thought. Establishing ourselves in Asgard would mean constant contact with adventurers, demons, elves, dragons, independent alchemists, craftsmen, and people who would never currently be allowed deep inside the Congregation."

Frieren looked around.

"That really would help."

Selene nodded.

"And Asgard would gain access to everything we bring. Not just six hundred Witches. Libraries, laboratories, techniques, training schools, specialists, and magical infrastructure built over millennia."

Strax breathed slowly.

It was difficult to deny that the proposal was excellent.

But excellent did not mean simple.

"I’m not against it."

Selene immediately turned toward him.

"Really?"

"If I were against it, I would have already left."

She accepted that.

"But I want to do it properly," Strax continued. "I’m not putting an entire magical city inside Asgard tomorrow and then discovering that six hundred Witches think my laws are optional."

Selene smiled.

"Fair."

"We also need to choose territory, calculate energy, food, transportation, and integration with the rest of the city. And if you really intend to teleport this whole place, Monica is going to want every damn detail."

"Lady Monica seemed quite..."

"Terrifying?"

"Competent."

"Same thing."

Frieren silently agreed.

Selene became thoughtful for a moment before asking the next question.

"Then may I ask you something?"

"Depends."

"What are your plans?"

Strax looked at her.

"For Asgard."

She made a wide gesture, symbolically encompassing everything they were discussing.

"If we are going to abandon a territory maintained for thousands of years to establish ourselves inside your kingdom, we need to know what that kingdom intends to become. Not just today or ten years from now."

Selene kept her eyes on him.

"Do you want to conquer the continent? Destroy the Heavenly Empire? Create a dynasty? Subjugate other peoples? Build a military power? A theocracy? I need to know because that completely changes how the Congregation can help and, more importantly, whether we truly want to be part of it."

Strax fell silent.

The question was fair.

Perhaps fairer than any other asked that day.

He looked at the impossible city built inside that crater.

Thousands of years of work existed around them.

If Selene was truly going to place all of that under Asgard’s protection, she deserved to know where the man commanding that kingdom intended to go.

"I don’t have any cruel plans," he finally answered.

Selene waited.

Strax shrugged.

"I don’t want to enslave the continent. I have no interest in forcing everyone to worship me. I also don’t wake up in the morning wondering how many territories I can conquer before dinner."

"That’s reassuring."

"I’m just building something that makes me happy."

Selene seemed surprised by the simplicity.

Strax continued.

"I want my home. I want Asgard strong enough that no one can show up and decide they can destroy what I built just because they have a greater title or a bigger army. I want my wives safe. My family safe. The people who chose to live here safe."

He looked at his own hands.

"If I need to become stronger to achieve that, I will. If I need to build an army, I will. If I need to kill a Monarch, I will. If a god decides my family is an obstacle, then I’ll figure out how to kill gods."

Selene remained completely silent.

"But there’s no grand philosophy behind it," Strax concluded. "I like what I have. I want to protect it and make it better."

Frieren watched him for a few seconds, then looked away as though that answer was exactly what she had expected.

Selene, however, started smiling.

Strax noticed.

"What?"

"You’re much more ordinary than I imagined."

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"Ordinary?"

"When reports about you first started arriving, I imagined some creature completely obsessed with power. A conqueror, perhaps. Then I learned that you defeated Monarchs, founded Asgard, gathered dragons and demons, built an army, and started changing the political balance of an entire region."

"And that means I’m insane?"

"Usually."

She moved a little closer.

"But your motivation is frighteningly mundane."

Strax laughed.

"I want a good home and my women happy."

"Exactly."

"That’s an excellent goal."

"I didn’t say it was bad."

Selene looked once again toward Asgard, which she still could not see, only imagine on the other side of that distant portal.

But at that moment, her expression was different.

More decided.

"Actually," she said, "I think that makes the proposal much more interesting."

Frieren had already started walking again toward the artificial life wing.

Selene noticed and hurried after her.

"Wait! I still haven’t shown you the spiritual reconstruction sector!"

Frieren did not slow down.

"You can explain while we walk."

Strax watched the two move away and sighed again.

"Of course."

Selene turned around while walking backward.

"Strax!"

"What?"

"If I show you the matrix that teleports the entire Congregation, will you decide today?"

"No."

"And if I show you the artificial dragon?"

Strax remained silent for two seconds.

Selene smiled.

"Knew it."

He started walking after them.

"Show me the dragon."