Demonic Dragon: Harem System - Chapter 740
Capítulo 740: Next Room
The passage was narrow at first—narrow for a dragon, of course. For Strax, it was just enough to walk with the egg resting on his arm, as if he were going to a fair.
Mercedes, however, felt squeezed between two living, pulsating walls that seemed to whisper with every breath she took.
She tried not to touch the ice.
She tried not to look at the ceiling—because it moved.
She tried not to think about the fact that everything there seemed conscious.
Strax, on the other hand, walked as if on a pleasant stroll, hands free, posture relaxed, tail swaying lightly. The egg on his arm pulsed slowly, synchronized with the corridor, as if the place itself were guiding his steps.
The silence was absolute—until Mercedes finally exploded:
“Can you at least pretend you’re… I don’t know… worried?!”
Strax raised an eyebrow, without stopping walking.
“Why?”
“WHY?!” Her voice reverberated off the walls, echoing like a mocking whisper.
“Because we’re in a forbidden ancient tomb, following a passage you opened by DESTROYING A WALL, with a dragon egg that should barely exist and that is… is… waking up! And you—”
She pointed at him.
“—are walking like you’re going to buy bread!”
Strax sighed lightly, like someone listening to a complaint repeated for the thousandth time.
“I know where I am.”
“That doesn’t help me!”
“But it helps me,” he replied, turning a corner without hesitation, as if he had already walked that corridor countless times.
Mercedes ran to catch up with him.
“Strax, I feel like something is watching us. Like… like the place is breathing.”
“It is.”
She stumbled.
“HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?!”
Strax touched the wall with his fingertips. The ice vibrated in response, emitting a low, deep tone, almost like a colossal purr.
“She’s aware of us.”
Mercedes’ eyes widened.
“She… who? The Empress?”
Strax shook his head.
“The tomb.”
Her breath hitched.
“The tomb is… conscious?”
“It’s part of it,” he replied. A statement so simple and direct that it became all the more terrifying.
Mercedes pressed a hand to her chest, trying to contain her heart pounding in panic.
“And you don’t find that… frightening?”
“What is there to fear?” Strax asked, genuinely confused.
“Strax…” She stopped walking. “You’re too calm. Too calm. It’s as if you know exactly what’s happening.”
He finally stopped and turned to her.
Those eyes—red with bluish slits—gleamed in the dim light.
“I know.”
Mercedes swallowed hard.
“…How?”
Strax lifted the egg slightly.
“She shows me.”
The entire corridor reacted. Faded runes lit up along the walls.
Shadows moved like echoes of ancient wings.
Mercedes took a step back, breathless.
“‘She’… the hatchling?”
Strax nodded.
“She recognizes everything here. Every stone. Every mark. Every path. It’s instinct. Memory. Blood.”
Mercedes was as pale as the crystals beneath her feet.
“And you… understand this?”
“I was made for this.”
She blinked.
“Made?”
Strax continued walking, as if he hadn’t said anything relevant.
“With every step I take, she helps me remember what I need to know.” “But you’re not an ice dragon,” Mercedes insisted.
“No.”
Strax smiled—a smile that betrayed fangs and danger.
“But she is. And that’s enough.”
Mercedes hugged herself.
Silence stretched.
They walked for minutes—or was it hours?—while the blue light guided their steps. With each stretch, Mercedes was certain: Strax wasn’t just calm.
He was connected.
As if the entire tomb recognized him almost as much as it recognized the egg.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Strax… you already knew all this was here, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
The answer came quickly. Naturally. Without hesitation.
Mercedes stopped again.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?!”
Strax looked at her over his shoulder, calmly.
“You wouldn’t have believed me.”
Mercedes opened and closed her mouth several times without sound.
Then, very quietly:
“…I really hate it when you’re right.”
Strax shrugged.
“It’s not my fault.”
Mercedes mumbled something unintelligible, clutching her coat tightly.
The tunnel narrowed, then widened, until finally opening into a new chamber—round, vast, and filled with floating crystals.
The egg vibrated so strongly that its pulse shook the air.
Strax smiled.
“We’re close.”
Mercedes felt a shiver run down every inch of her skin.
Because, this time… it wasn’t fear.
It was the feeling that something enormous, inevitable, and too ancient to be understood was about to happen before them.
And Strax? He walked like someone arriving home.
The corridor finally began to open.
First, like a breath of fresh air—a larger space ahead, a broad breeze that dispelled the claustrophobic feeling.
Then like a glow.
A soft bluish light that didn’t come from torches, nor runes… but from something alive.
Strax exited the passage first, his body casting an immense shadow on the polished ice floor.
Mercedes emerged behind him, breathless, but still standing.
And then she saw.
The next hall was gigantic.
A natural dome, so vast that the ceiling faded into blue darkness, dotted with pulsating crystals that resembled frozen stars.
The floor was a plain of pure ice, marked by concentric circles—signs of ancient rituals.
Strax stopped in the center, his eyes scanning the space with immediate recognition.
Mercedes, breathless, approached.
“This place… looks like an inverted sky.”
“Very large,” murmured Strax. The egg on his arm trembled violently—not with irritation, but with excitement, as if it recognized the place from afar.
Strax raised his chin, sniffing the icy air. A slow, predatory smile formed on his face. “She likes it here.”
“Yes, I noticed…” Mercedes whispered, hugging herself to keep warm.
Strax turned to her.
“Step back a little.”
Mercedes’ eyes widened.
“Why? Are you going to… blow something up?”
“I don’t intend to,” he said, though his expression didn’t inspire much confidence.
Mercedes grumbled, but took a few steps back.
Then Strax extended the egg toward her.
“Hold her for a little while.”
Mercedes froze.
“What?!” She stared at the giant egg as if it were a cursed artifact about to devour her. “Why are you giving me this?!”
“Shut up and hold this.” Strax spoke calmly and placed the egg in her hands—so calmly that Mercedes didn’t even have time to protest.
And then it happened.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
The egg—now enormous, heavy, vibrant—rested perfectly in Mercedes’ trembling hands.
Without trembling.
Without gleaming with anger.
Without shuddering.
It just… accepted it.
Mercedes blinked several times, perplexed.
“He… he doesn’t hate me.”
Strax tilted his head, observing with genuine interest.
“No. She tolerates you.”
“‘Tolerates’…?” Mercedes repeated, half offended, half proud.
“For a newly hatched dragon, this is the closest thing to affection you’ll get.”
Mercedes smiled foolishly, hugging the egg more tightly than she should have.
Strax saw this.
And smiled.
Not the predatory smile from before.
Something smaller.
Rarer.
Almost… content.
“Good,” he murmured. “Now I can do what I need to.”
Mercedes’ eyes widened—again.
“What, exactly??”
Strax didn’t answer.
Instead… he clapped his hands.
BANG.
The sound reverberated through the hall like encapsulated thunder.
The echo returned a hundred times louder.
And then…
The darkness lit up.
Thousands—THOUSANDS—of tiny orbs of fire appeared instantly, floating like red fireflies.
They spread across the ceiling, the walls, the floor…
Until the entire cave was illuminated by a warm, dancing glow.
Mercedes was so enchanted for a second that she thought:
“This is even… beautiful…”
…until she looked up.
And saw.
And it froze.
Yes. There was light.
But the light revealed… inhabitants.
Covered in every inch of the walls, ceiling, and cracks:
Hundreds of thousands of tiny, white and bluish creatures, with long, scaly bodies like salamanders, glowing eyes, and small horns.
They all turned their glowing little heads toward the sound—toward Strax.
Mercedes screamed silently.
“ES-ES-ES—”
“Ice Salamanders,” Strax murmured, almost didactically.
“Absurd proliferation. They react to heat and vibration.”
All the creatures began to move at the same time, undulating like a solid sea.
Mercedes hugged the egg like a magic barrier.
“And now?! Are they going to attack??”
Strax crossed his arms, perfectly calm, as if he were analyzing insects in the garden.
“Maybe.”
“MAYBE?!”
He took a deep breath.
“Well…”
He turned his face slowly, observing the living mass that stirred in all directions.
“…mass extermination is always an option.”
Mercedes’ eyes widened.
“STRAX!!!”
He grinned fiercely.
The ice salamanders began to move as a single organism—a living wave rippling down the walls, cascading in blue and white cascades, each creature clinking softly like ice fragments crashing against each other.
Mercedes clutched the egg to her chest.
“Strax… STRAX… please tell me this is just a figure of speech!”
Strax watched the swarm with the calmness of someone watching rain fall.
“No. Figures of speech aren’t my style.”
“Where exactly in your style is ‘optional genocide’ written?!”
Strax tilted his head.
“In the part where they’re going to try to devour us in five minutes.”
The salamanders advanced.
But not hastily.
Not aggressively.
In fact… they were curious.
First, they crawled.
Then, they slid down the pillars.
They approached, bobbing their small heads, sniffing the air, emitting a vibrant sound reminiscent of clinking crystals.
Mercedes swallowed hard.
“Maybe… maybe they don’t want to attack us. Maybe they’re just… analyzing…”
One of the larger salamanders—one with sharper horns—rose on its hind legs, sniffed in her direction…
And leaped.
Mercedes let out a high-pitched, hysterical scream.
The leap was interrupted mid-air.
Literally.
The creature froze in mid-movement, frozen as if time had been paused just for it.
And then… it was gently pushed to the ground, as if an invisible hand had pushed it aside.
Mercedes blinked several times.
“…Strax…?”
He was staring intently at the egg in her arms.
The salamanders shrank back, retreating immediately—like frightened little dogs—and began to rearrange themselves on the walls, avoiding coming closer than five meters to the egg.
Strax smiled.
“She doesn’t like them.”
Mercedes gasped.
“S-S-She did this??”
“Of course.” Strax crossed his arms. “She may not have been born yet, but she already rules this place more than any other living creature here.”
Mercedes looked at the egg, now glowing faintly blue.
“She… is really awake.”
“Yes.”
More salamanders began to approach—but all stopped at exactly the same distance. The entire hall seemed divided between two forces: the living swarm and the egg’s territory.
Strax raised an eyebrow.
“Since she doesn’t like them…”
Mercedes immediately panicked.
“NO! Don’t go on a massacre!”
“But it’s practical,” Strax observed, very seriously. “I can clean this room in three minutes.”
“STRAX, THIS IS NOT TO BE TURNED INTO A CLEANING JOB!”
The salamanders clinked loudly, as if sensing the rising tension. Some raised their tails, emitting a menacing vibration. Others opened small mouths, spewing icy vapors.
Mercedes’ eyes widened.
“They’re getting aggressive!”
“Yes,” Strax affirmed, smiling. “That makes it easier.”
“STRAX!!”
He tilted his head, now finally taking a step forward.
“The salamanders guard this place by instinct. They react to intruders… it’s natural.”
Mercedes took a deep breath, trying to control herself.
“So… there must be another way!”
“True,” Strax agreed.
Mercedes was relieved for a split second.
Until he finished:
“But they all take longer.”
“YOU’RE IMPOSSIBLE!”
Strax took another step forward.
The salamanders reacted.
An entire wave rose up… as if preparing to attack.
Mercedes cowered, hugging the egg.
“STRAX— DO SOMETHING!!”
“I already did.”
“DID WHAT?!”
Strax looked at the ceiling.
Mercedes looked too.
And immediately regretted it.
The small orbs of fire that Strax had created before… were multiplying.
They split.
And split again.
Then again.
In dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Mercedes’ eyes widened.
“Wait… wait… Strax… STRAX—”
He raised his hand.
The salamanders stiffened.
The orbs lowered.
And then Strax spoke with complete serenity:
“They decided. I’m just responding.”