CRACKLE!

The queen looked back, sensing a faint disturbance in the forces. “What was that?” She gasped. The dark void around her quaked, blowing like a breeze.

The elf goddess sighed, “This place is isolated from the outer world. It’s a lone demi-plane in the infinite void of the astral plane.” She lifted her hand, pointing behind the queen.

“That void brat’s natural habitat is the astral plane. His magic is slowly digging its way, and soon he will reach us.” The goddess flicked her finger, causing the world tree behind her to quake.

The branches crackled, slowly sinking into the ground as the leaves blew away, leaving a faint smell of lemon.

“It can’t be. This place is protected by you. How could Arad jump in?” The queen gasped. She is in the presence of a goddess. A mortal shouldn’t be able to enter.

The astral plane is a limitless void. The gods see it as a waste to leave such space unused, especially since it has nothing their presence can crush.

Sylph, the goddess of the elves, smiled from ear to ear. “In the past, a red drakaina lived her life as a housewife, raising her two daughters in peace. But one day, the dragon king got a prophecy from the dragon goddess and decided to pull her out of her house to be one of his mates, and wanted to kill her two daughters. What do you think happened?”

“I don’t know. She got taken away or blessed?” The queen replied with a puzzled face. In the historical texts, the ancient chromatic dragon king was a multicoloured, rainbow-like dragon with all the elements under his claws.

The current dragon queen is the former king’s cursed daughter that got the blessing of an elder god who rose to power in her time.

“In a rage, she ripped the king to shreds and jumped to hell chasing the dragon goddess, and killed her in a year. She then got the title of the fire goddess.” The elf goddess laughed, “Don’t underestimate dragons, the first overgod AO made them as a symbol of power, and the second overgod didn’t bother to change much.”

“I can’t believe it,” The queen looked down, thinking about it.

“If all it took to transform a housewife dragon to a god killer is taking her family from her, then you can’t underestimate any dragon, especially this void kid.” The elf goddess turned around, “Mess with him, or his wives, and history might repeat itself.” She glared at the queen, “He would rip you to pieces, tear the kingdom apart and chase me to the end of the world,”

“That can’t be right, you can beat him, right?” The queen gasped.

“I can with ease,” Sylph smiled, “But, that’s what the first dragon goddess thought and she ended up killed,” Her body started disappearing, “Albeit, I have the strongest monster to call for help,” She could feel that silky silver beard on tip of her fingers.

“Don’t let your rage take over, this is my last warning,” The goddess’s voice echoed across the darkness.

DING! The goddess disappeared, and the queen stood in the darkness, “I know dragons are powerful, but can they really get strong enough to kill a god?” She walked back, opening the gate to the throne room.

BAM! The moment the gate opened, she faced Arad’s growling jaw, grunting as the whole room cracked. Arcane magic seemed from his claws, sending shivers down her spine.

^A few more minutes and he would have broke in,^

“You’re alive?” He growled, his hot breath blowing her hair back.

“What happened?” The queen gasped, glaring behind him and seeing Dalla standing behind, “You’re there as well?”

Only Dalla knew of her regularly going in, this was the first time in a hundred years that someone else noticed.

CLACK! Arad shifted back into his humanoid form, looking at the gate behind the queen, “What is that place? How did you get completely erased,”

“I didn’t get erased. I just had some work to do,” The queen replied. She isn’t supposed to expose the elf goddess’s involvement in the matter. “It’s a private room where I can work in peace.”

“A special private room?” Arad stared at the queen. ^Wait? Is there something like that? If I’m going to build a castle between Alina’s mountains, I want a room like that.^

“You could say so,” The queen puffed her chest, waving her hand to close the door before Arad could jump inside, “It doesn’t just muffle someone’s presence. It’s linked to a faraway location which causes all my traces to disappear the moment I step inside.”

Usually, when someone uses invisibility, silence spells, or magic to hide their aura and breath, they can’t completely erase their traces, and Arad is used to using his senses to track them. To him, it was like a man seeing a house vanish into thin air when the queen went inside.

“How did you get it? I want one.” Arad stared at the queen. Such a useful looking room, he won’t pass the chance of having one.

“You can’t get one,” The queen sighed, “It’s a blessing by our goddess. We, mortals, can’t make such a thing even with a thousand years of work.”

Arad sighed with a sad face, ^You don’t need it, but we might be able to get one in the future. Now how about we deal with the mess in the castle?^ Doma said with a smile, and Arad looked back.

CRACK! A brick fell from the ceiling where Arad had fallen through, “Oh, that mess.”

“What did you do?” The queen cried, rushing toward the hole and staring with a shocked face. “Who did this?”

Arad looked away, “Not me,”

CRACK! The queen’s neck snapped, glaring back at him with red glowing eyes, “It was you? How many floors did you break?”

Dalla gasped, “Heh! She’s about to rage, I told her that’s a dangerous skill,” she sighed, walking toward the hole.

“I’m counting ten, including the two reinforced ones.” Dalla looked up the hole, an exhausted smile covering her face. ^This doesn’t look like a hole, as if he disintegrated the floor as he passed instead of breaking it.^

“Golden chains rage from within,” The queen mumbled, golden lines emerging on her skin as she started glowing with white light. 𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶

^A warlock? So she’s a monk and a warlock, wonder if she’s over level 40,^ Doma smiled inside Arad, ^Get ready. As paladins call upon their god’s power, warlocks call upon a higher being like devils, angels, or monsters to grant them magic,^

Arad smiled, “Let me try as well,” he lifted his palm, pointing at the queen with his eyes closed. “Infinite curses boiling in darkness,” He mumbled, black tattoos crawling on his skin.

CLANG! A massive golden warhammer appeared on the queen’s shoulder as golden chains danced around her body like snakes. “Farryn!” The ghostly figure of a large blood-elvish woman dotted with plate armor appeared behind the queen, dripping her aura like oil.

Dalla growled, stepping away as she kept her eyes on the queen. “A warlock of the archangel Farryn, there aren’t many people who can face her divine power. The queen had to make a pact that forced her to serve the elf goddess for life just to call on the angel’s powers.” She stared at Arad.

^I can’t sense any pact magic around him, his words are an empty threat.^ She smiled as Arad lifted his palm up. ^He;s bluffing,^

“Arad! Don’t fight her with your own power!” Dalla shouted, “That apparition is of an angel, it’s holy magic. One hit and you will turn into ash.” She knew Arad was a vampire and didn’t want him to die.

CLANG! Out of nowhere, a large stone sword emerged in Arad’s hand, landing on his shoulder, and a gust of dark magic started swirling around his body.

“Heh?” Dalla gasped, taking a step back.

The ghostly figure of a pink-haired hag emerged behind Arad, lifting her hands above his shoulders.

“Something is granting him power without a pact or a contract? That can’t be real,” She glared at the queen, “Stop! You two can’t clash here!”

Arad isn’t a warlock, but he has something that most don’t. A powerful being willing to grant him power without restraint.

Doma smiled inside Arad, ^Be grateful that I don’t ask for a written pact like others. She seems to have the monk, warlock, and barbarian classes. Knock her with a solid punch. I will deal with the source of her power.”

BAM! Arad lunged forward, and the queen did the same.

CLANG! The queen swung her hammer down, and Arad swung upward with the stone claymore. A shockwave of curses and Holy magic raged, shaking the castle.

CRACKLE! The queen’s golden chains coiled around Arad like snakes, strangling him and burning his skin with holy magic.

Dama’s ghost smiled behind Arad, “Divine chains, what a fickle thing to deal with. You ask too much of this old hag,” She lifted her wrinkled palms, crossing her fingers as a gush of black smoke gushed out of her dry lips.

Hail to the Snakes

The queen’s necklace and wristbands jerked to-like, turning into worms that soon became large snakes, entangling her body and dropping her to the ground.

DON! Farryn’s ghost above the queen swung its hammer at Arad’s head. He is tied with the divine chains and can’t dodge or teleport away.

The attack wasn’t normal, but instead dripping with divine magic, a holy smite that even Lydia can’t hope to match. A strike is fresh from an angel.

CLANG! A black barrier emerged in front of Arad, taking the hit and shattering.

“You look so young and beautiful,” Doma started crying, “How good for you, how good for you…” She stared at her with tear-filled eyes, “HOW GOOD FOR YOU!” Eye Of Envy

SWOSH! Farryn’s body burst into flames, her holy magic rapidly disappearing back into the heavens.

A great curse, I see. Farryn smiled, Give Cerilla a good hit in my stead, BAM! She disappeared and Cerilla lost consciousness, drained of all of her power.

CRACK! As the chains around Arad shattered into golden mist, he looked at Doma. “Why do you look like that? And why are you crying?”

^It’s just the conditions for an eye curse. When a person sees another person with greater fortune and blessing, they are prone to envy them and wish ruin upon their lives. Envy is a curse that causes people to lose what they were blessed with.^

Doma explained the curse directly into Arad’s mind as she faded back into him.

Arad took a deep breath and approached the queen, “A monk, warlock, and a barbarian?” He stared at her.

“A level forty-five. She barely got five levels into barbarian and still cannot control her rage,” Dalla approached them, “What about you?”

“Don’t want to say,” Arad stared at her, “Unless you told me about yourself,” He smiled.

Dalla smiled back at him, “Level fifty-five. Twenty levels as a dancer bard, and thirty-five as a slapper monk.”

“Want the unbelievable truth, the real lie, or the sensible answer?” Arad looked at her.

“A draconic mage, a sorcerer as you might call it, and I didn’t reach level twenty yet. The rest is innate power,” Arad smiled, lifting the queen.

“I didn’t expect you to reply,” Dalla smiled. “But you can expect our support in the future.” Dalla didn’t believe Arad and is certain he lied. The power he holds is beyond their understanding, so decided on the safest option, supporting him until further details are revealed.