Demonic Dragon: Harem System

The flight back had no conversations.

Not because there were no questions.

There were too many questions.

What was that eye? Who was "he"? Who did the voice belong to? Was the seal trapping that thing, or merely delaying its entry? Why did the beasts obey the circular movement? Why was the sand being offered to the black sphere? And, worse, how much time remained before that door truly opened?

None of those questions were given voice during the return.

Strax flew ahead, faster than before, but not in panic. There was control in every beat of his wings, a restraint so rigid it seemed more dangerous than any explosion of rage. White Fire and Black Ice still glimmered across a few points of his scales, appearing and disappearing like reflections of an internal storm. He did not look back, but everyone knew he was listening to every breath, every wingbeat, every small sound of discomfort from the group.

Samira stayed right behind him, with Monica in her runic saddle. The administrator said nothing. That, by itself, was a terrible sign. Monica always had something to say, something to organize, someone to reprimand, or an order to issue. At that moment, however, she only held the saddle support and stared ahead with a pale face, but eyes working far too quickly. Even frightened, she was calculating.

That was Monica.

Daniela flew with Frieren on her back, and the mage held the instruments against her chest as if they had become less important than the thought consuming her. She no longer complained about the samples. She did not ask to go back. She did not try to justify the scientific necessity of risking her own life. She stayed silent, and that made Daniela even more uncomfortable than her usual comments.

Cassandra, carrying Ouroboros, flew in absolute silence.

Ouroboros had her eyes closed.

But she did not look like she was resting.

She looked as if she were listening to something no one else could perceive.

When Asgard finally appeared on the horizon, surrounded by snow, factory smoke, and railway lines, the city seemed smaller than before. Not physically. The walls were still strong. The barriers still shone. The guards still patrolled. But after seeing a fissure in the world and a colossal eye on the other side, any city seemed small.

Strax landed first in the mansion courtyard.

The impact made the runes on the ground light up. He returned to human form before the dust had fully settled, his expression hard, his eyes cold, and his jaw locked. Samira, Daniela, and Cassandra landed soon after, allowing Monica, Frieren, and Ouroboros to dismount. As soon as Monica’s feet touched the ground, she turned to one of the nearby guards.

"Close southeastern access."

The guard immediately stiffened.

"Lady Monica?"

"All secondary routes. No caravan leaves. None enters without inspection. I want the towers on double alert, guild teams on the roads, and messages to every advance post in less than ten minutes."

"Yes, Lady Monica."

He ran off.

Monica turned to another.

"Call Rogue. Call Yennifer. Call Albedo, Lithara, Beatrice, Tiamat, and anyone else inside the city. I want everyone in the war room."

The second guard ran too.

Strax walked without waiting.

"Frieren."

"I saw it," she said.

"I know you saw it. I want to know what you saw."

"Not here."

"Then walk."

They entered the mansion like a contained storm. Maids stepped aside without asking anything. Assistants dropped papers and opened doors. A messenger nearly collided with Strax, saw his face, and decided he would survive better if he flattened himself against the wall.

The war room was located in an inner wing, reinforced by barriers and isolated against eavesdropping. The central table was large enough to hold maps of half the continent, and the walls had runic panels, communication crystals, and shelves filled with classified reports. Monica entered and immediately began transforming fear into function.

"Southeastern map."

Two assistants opened the map.

"Beast reports from the last forty-eight hours."

Another ran to the archives.

"Records of desert ruins, ancient seals, solar cults, subterranean entities, anything related to golden eyes, shadows, or doors."

Frieren raised her hand.

"Also search for mentions of inverted sand, geological sacrifice, and mass locks."

Monica looked at her.

"Geological sacrifice?"

"The sand was being offered."

"I am going to pretend that sentence did not make my day worse."

"It should make it worse."

"Frieren."

"I am helping."

Strax stopped at the head of the table.

"Silence."

The room obeyed.

Even Monica.

He placed both hands on the map and looked at every person there.

"We do not know what that thing is. We do not know how much time we have. We do not know whether the seal is opening from wear, external interference, or because something on the other side has started pushing. But we know enough to act."

Samira folded her arms.

"Do we start with evacuation?"

Monica answered before Strax.

"Not a general evacuation. That would create panic and push refugees onto roads that may become beast targets. First, preventive blockade, route reinforcement, and silent preparation of shelters."

Cassandra pointed to the map.

"The beasts were being pushed north and west. If the flow increases, they will reach these smaller villages first."

"Then those villages receive extra supplies today," Monica said. "And an ordinary justification. Winter exercise. Security inspection. Anything that does not mention a giant eye behind a cracked seal."

Daniela let out a dry laugh.

"Yeah, better not put that in the notice."

The door opened.

Yennifer entered first, emerging from the shadows with a frown. Behind her came Beatrice, Albedo, and Lithara. Tiamat arrived shortly afterward, apparently irritated at having been summoned before finishing something. Rogue entered a few seconds later, still wearing part of her guild equipment, with an expression that clearly said she had already expected bad news, just not of this scale.

"What happened?" Rogue asked.

Strax looked at Frieren.

"Explain."

Frieren placed on the table a runic plate she had used during the expedition. The metal was stained by a shadow that should not remain there. She touched the edge of the object, and a trembling projection appeared above the map. It was not perfect. The image failed, distorted by magical interference, but everyone saw enough.

The desert.

The crater.

The rising sand.

The black sphere.

The circling beasts.

Then the fissure.

And the eye.

The projection went out the instant the eye appeared, as if even the recording could not bear to hold that image for long.

The entire room went silent.

Albedo was the first to speak.

"What an unpleasant thing."

Lithara looked at her.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"I could say something worse, but we are in a meeting."

Tiamat smiled, but without humor.

"Finally something interesting."

Monica looked at her coldly.

"Do not say that as if it were good."

"I did not say it was good. I said it was interesting."

"I hate living surrounded by all of you."

Strax tapped two fingers on the table.

"Frieren."

The mage took a deep breath.

"My initial theory is that the entire desert is part of a containment mechanism. The dunes, the ruins, the crater, the sphere, and perhaps even the beasts. Everything is participating in a function. The sand is being pulled, refined, or consumed by the sphere, but not as ordinary food. It looks like an unlocking or maintenance process."

Cassandra added:

"The voice told us to go back. Before he saw."

Rogue went still.

"And he saw."

"Yes," Daniela said.

Ouroboros, who had remained near the wall until then, opened her eyes.

"He did not see completely."

Everyone looked at her.

Strax narrowed his eyes.

"Explain."

"It was only a crack. A brief contact. A gaze through something that is still almost closed."

"Almost," Monica repeated.

"Yes."

"Almost closed is not closed."

"No."

Monica ran a hand through her hair, the closest gesture to despair she allowed in public.

"Wonderful."

Ouroboros approached the table.

"But now there is a thread."

Strax grew serious.

"Between him and us?"

"Between him and the world."

The room grew even heavier.

Ouroboros touched the desert point on the map.

"Before, he was pressing against a door without knowing exactly where it led. Now he has felt air on the other side."

Daniela closed her eyes.

"That is much worse."

"Yes," Ouroboros said.

Strax looked at the map.

For several seconds, no one spoke.

Then he made the decision.

"Three fronts."

Monica raised her eyes.

"Defense, research, and containment?"

"Yes."

She nodded immediately, as if she had already prepared the categories in her head.

Strax pointed at Rogue.

"Guild on alert. I want hunters on the routes, trackers in the forests, and messengers ready. No heroes trying to investigate the desert on their own."

Rogue nodded.

"I will threaten everyone personally."

"Good."

He looked at Monica.

"Defense of the city, villages, and routes."

"I already started."

"Of course you did."

Monica ignored that.

"I will reinforce the southeastern towers, prepare shelters, move supplies, and create a containment line before the first villages. But I need to know whether you authorize the use of larger barriers outside Asgard."

"Authorized."

"That will be expensive."

"Do I look like I care right now?"

"No."

"Then there."

Monica wrote it down.

Strax looked at Frieren.

"Research. Find out what you can without needing to go back there immediately."

Frieren made a minimal grimace.

"That limits quite a lot."

"Good."

"That was not a compliment."

"I know."

She sighed.

"I will need the sand, the stained plate, the complete reports, and access to the capital’s old archives if possible."

Yennifer smiled.

"I can get archives."

Monica looked at her.

"Legally?"

Yennifer smiled wider.

Monica closed her eyes.

"Do not answer."

Strax turned to Ouroboros.

"And you?"

"I will observe the threads. But not for too long. If I look too deeply, he may look back through me."

That sentence killed any comment in the room.

Strax nodded slowly.

"Then do not look too deeply."

"I will try."

Samira rested the greatsword against her shoulder.

"And containment?"

Strax looked again at the southeast marked on the map.

"Me."

Monica immediately answered:

"Not alone."

"I said I am the containment. I did not say I am leaving now."

"Good."

"But if that opens before we understand it, I will be the first thing between him and Asgard."

Tiamat smiled.

"And I will be second."

Beatrice, who had been quiet until then, spoke with a firm voice:

"No. We will be."

The silence changed.

Albedo and Lithara exchanged a look. Samira raised her chin. Cassandra nodded. Daniela took a deep breath, irritated at agreeing with something so dangerous. Rogue crossed her arms. Yennifer smiled sharply.

Strax looked at all of them.

For an instant, he seemed about to refuse.

But he did not.

He only released a heavy sigh.

"You are a problem."

Monica answered without emotion:

"You collect problems. Do not complain about the collection."

"Fair."

At that moment, a communication crystal on the wall lit up.

An assistant approached, listened to the message, and went pale.

Monica turned immediately.

"Speak."

The assistant swallowed dryly.

"Report from southeastern tower three. New beast movement. It is not large yet, but... they are coming in a straight line."

"To where?" Strax asked.

"To Asgard."

The room went still.

Strax closed his eyes for an instant.

When he opened them, there was no exhaustion left.

"Then it has begun."