Chapter 1339 - 1339: Internal Conflict
Arad stood inside the forest beside Gamond. They were looking at the unconscious pink drakaina with concerned gazes.
“Do you know her?” Gamond pointed with her thumb, and Arad shook his head, “Never seen a pink one before, let alone a greatwyrm drakaina.” He flew a bit into the sky and observed her. “Did you have to beat her that hard?”
Gamond laughed, “Of course! I honored her wish. She came here and claimed to be your wife, so she naturally had to fight me. Showing mercy to her would’ve been an insult. So I had to make sure she felt it well.”
The pink drakaina’s neck was broken, one of her wings ripped apart, her ribs cracked, and soap foamed out of her mouth like she was on the verge of meeting death.
Arad wanted to heal the drakaina quickly to ask her about what had gotten into her head. But with how powerful she was and how delicate her body was, healing her was going to take both time and a lot of holy magic.
“An hour- two maybe, and she’ll need more time to wake up.” Arad sighed and glared back at Gamond, “Don’t do this again, and I mean it.”
She burst laughing, “You’re talking about the others? Don’t worry. Even when we’ll fight, I’ll not go this far.” She flew to his side, “But you must understand something.”
“If you find another drakaina and bring her here, like that metallic one, I won’t complain. No drakaina that lost to her dragon would complain if he brought more drakainas. In fact, she might even feel happy that she had landed someone powerful enough to subdue multiple drakainas.” She leaned on him.
“But, if a stranger came and claimed that she dominated her dragon? That she was a wife, a mate? That’s an insult to the dragon and all the drakainas that submitted to him. You can’t just come and claim that and not be able to back it up.” She glared at the drakaina, “Next time a stranger comes with that claim, you won’t find it unconscious or even injured. You won’t even find her bones.”
“You’re right.” Arad looked at the pink drakaina. She could’ve done the same as Claug and just sat and waited for Arad to arrive. He doubted that Gamond would’ve attacked her if she just posted herself in his domain.
This pink drakaina’s problem was that she proclaimed herself Arad’s wife, that she somehow was superior to him and all the other drakainas.
Gamond only proved her wrong.
As he started healing her, Arad finally remembered where he had heard of a pink drakaina. Lola, the Chromatic Dragon Queen, had once told him that she had a rogue pink daughter who caused her a lot of trouble. This pink drakaina also smells a lot like the Chromatic Queen.
“Doesn’t she smell like the Chromatic Queen?” Arad asked, and Gamond tilted her head, “I don’t know. I lived in Isbert’s world, so I was never familiar with the Queen here.” She looked around, “I don’t even have a lair in this world.”
“We should ask Claug or Luminous.” Arad started healing the pink drakaina as best as he could. He wasn’t as efficient as a cleric or a paladin, but the divine power Kali allowed him to use was already too vast not to use.
“You’re right. They would know more than I do.” Gamond then shifted her gaze back at him. “By the way, did Isdis tell you?”
“That you and all the drakainas wanted to fight?” He replied, and she smiled.
“What else? We’ll fight, and the strong one will lead the others. She’ll get to mate first and be the one responsible for the whole pride.” Gamond smiled, “Don’t worry, I won’t be rough with them.”
Arad laughed, “What did Eris say?”
“Said I’ll end up the one beaten down.” Gamond shrugged, “But I doubt that. She is indeed too powerful but nowhere near me. Claug and that metal drakaina both stand no chance against me. Altair and Kory aren’t even a question. Betty might give me a bit of trouble, but defeating is out of the question.”
Arad smiled, “I see, you’re reasonable, but what do you think I’ll say?”
She looked at him for a long while with a serious face, and then her eyes opened wide, “Don’t get a big head. Especially around Eris.”
“Exactly, she is a vampire and demi-goddess of murder, and don’t forget that she is also a paladin of Amaterasu, giving her enough firepower to resist your cold.” He smiled, “And… don’t forget that she took a draconic form against me in the abyss, even if for a second, she was capable of holding her own, while you didn’t.”
Gamond scratched the back of her head, “If she can substitute mana with divine magic spells, then she might have an infinite plasma source as long as Amaterasu keeps allowing her to suck more energy.”
Gamond flew away, leaving Arad to heal the pink drakaina as she now had many things on her mind.
First, the drakainas were going to live by their traditions and laws. They won’t function the same as the humanoids, which means that unlike Isdis and the others, they won’t be playing the royal game- only Eris and Betty will play.
The reason Eris wasn’t here was that she was already honing her skills, getting ready for the domination battles. Gamond can’t underestimate her and lower her guard.
****
Far away, Eris was sitting alone inside a cave deep underground. Her eyes were closed, and her legs crossed. One breath after another, lightning flashed above her left knee while fire flashed above her right one. Divine magic dripped from her eyes like tears, and her whole skin flushed red, bleeding randomly from beneath her scales.
Something wasn’t working well inside her body. The divine portfolio of murder, her draconic blood, and Amaterasu’s bright divine magic- they all collided violently and refused to cooperate.
The murder portfolio was like a perverted joy derived from gruesome killing- it worked well with her lustful and bloodthirsty vampiric blood- but it didn’t get along with Amaterasu’s magic and her draconic blood.
There were four energies burning within her body, but in reality, just two factions that kept fighting. The Murder Vampire and the Purple Sun Dragon.
This conflict was the reason she couldn’t become a true goddess, and it was also the reason she didn’t evolve into a full dragon. To grow stronger, she might solve this problem first.