The dragon's harem

Chapter 1736: Slipped Away

Kali took a stance and looked at the ghostly figure with a smile. “Finally, I got you out. Now, to make you spit them out.” She didn’t waste a second and turned back to her destruction form, ready to wipe the entire abyss with the woman standing in front of her.

Kali had spent the past few days looking for a way to drag Entropy out. Unlike the other goddesses, Kali’s strongest point was her destruction, not diplomacy. If she wanted something, her best option was to use violence like a proper demon.

If Kali wanted Entropy to release Arad, she must find and beat her to a pulp and force her to comply. That is the destruction’s way, the demon’s way, and the only direct method she understood.

So, Kali had looked all through the abyss, trying to find anything on Entropy, and she didn’t find much. The only thing she found was the lore of this temple, the Great Temple of Destruction. She was born here, and so was her mother, grandmother, and all of her lineage.

This is the Temple that AO created to seal Destruction itself into a controllable form. So, Kali thought, if this place was able to bring out and seal Destruction, won’t it be able to bring out Entropy? She was certain the temple wouldn’t be able to seal Entropy’s power, but she only needed to find her.

With that plan, Kali began her search for someone attuned to Entropy enough to bait her out. And that person was close all along, a divine goddess nonetheless, and a Wild Magic used to boot. Lucy was her bait, and she needed to make sure she pulled enough wild magic so the Temple would get a hold on Entropy.

Her plan seems to have worked, and as Lucy tried to use her power here, Entropy was getting violently pulled out of hiding by the temple’s ancient power.

But then, something strange happened. The figure of shimmering mist started fading away, disintegrating into nothing. Kali’s eyes opened wide, and she growled, “Coward! Running away just like that?”

Entropy didn’t even bother speaking or using her powers. The moment she started getting pulled in through Lucy into the temple, she cut her connection and started running away. The temple was designed to hold Destruction, not Entropy. Its hold was weak, and soon, Entropy slipped out like a fish out of Kali’s net.

But before she could do anything, the mist was all but gone, leaving two burning blue eyes glaring right back at her. Kali panicked for a second and lifted her arms to block. The impact was heavy, and one of her six arms ended up getting shattered before she was caught off guard.

As Kali landed, she stared at her arm, then back at the man who just shown up. She was fine, just taken aback for a second. She expected Entropy, not this. If she hadn’t turned all of her powers off, someone might’ve died today.

The one standing there in front of her, it wasn’t who expected at all.

“Look at you, forced back to your destruction form.” The tall man there smiled, pointing at his chest with a thumb. “Then I don’t need to hold back, do I?”

The one standing in front of her was Gojo, or to be exact, just his body, piloted by Lucy.

In Limbo, Gojo, who was busy digging a hole, suddenly shifted and turned, taking on Lucy’s body. He stopped casting magic and looked at his hands, “Wait? Can she swap through dimensions? No, she could only do it because Entropy let us leave.”

Lucy was a divine goddess, and Gojo was a mere mortal. Even if he was stronger in battle, she had the bigger soul and was the dominant one when swapping souls. That meant that while she can swap bodies with him whenever she wants, he can’t do the same without her permission.

Gojo was never able to test that power extensively, but he thought the souls were the one thing getting swapped. So, by his older theory, the roles should be reversed now. Lucy’s soul should be here in limbo, and he would be in her body outside.

This change could be due to Entropy’s interference with the wild magic, Lucy’s will, or outside circumstances that he doesn’t know of.

But this was a good thing; now he has one thing to expect. Outside, his body should’ve regained all its draconic might. So, when Lucy finally swaps back, would he retain that power when he gets his body back or not?

Arad rushed to check on him and was surprised. “Lucy?” Arad couldn’t see souls here, so for all he knew, Gojo had disappeared, and Lucy appeared in his place.

“No, this is me. Gojo.” Gojo walked around in Lucy’s body, looking at his hand. “All of her divine powers are suppressed here. But she does have a decent pool of mana.” Just like them, Lucy’s body here was suppressed to a mere human.

This meant that Entropy can even suppress weaker gods, not just mortals. The fact that Yog, Death, and the Mother of all life were able to retain their power is only thanks to their already harrowing might.

“Arad, I guess, Entropy can seal the powers of those weaker than her while in this realm. So, if she managed to seal our powers, then she is stronger than us combined. We can’t defeat her in a fight.” That was just the reality, and Gojo just confirmed it. They long suspected Entropy to be a being on the level of gods like Kali and Amaterasu, and it was just made clear.

Back in the Temple of Destruction, Kali stood up with a sigh. She healed her arm and then stared at Lucy with a disappointed face. “Do you really think you can do better with his body alone? This isn’t what I expected. But very well.” Then, in the blink of an eye, she disappeared, and Lucy was sent flying back with a huge dent in her chest.

As she was forced to switch back, Gojo coughed a mouthful of blood in Limbo, and she rolled on the ground, looking at her small hands having returned to her.

“You can’t even make use of a tenth of his power, and even if you could bring his best, you’d still lose this quickly.” Kali walked toward her, stretching her six arms. “Out of all primordial concepts, I, Destruction, I’m the one made for combat.”

“You… forced us to switch back?” Lucy stood, unable to believe what Kali just did. With just one punch, she somewhat managed to reverse the wild magic.

What Kali did was simple. Gojo and Lucy swapped with magic, and she attacked that magic directly and destroyed it. Gojo and Lucy aren’t powerful enough to resist the will of destruction, so it was an easy job.

“Of course. I wasn’t looking to fight you, but to drag Entropy out. You’re a goddess and user of wild magic, so if anyone could become her vessel, it has to be you. So, I wanted to use the power of this temple to force her into your body, so I can beat her to a pulp and get Arad back.” Kali shifted back to her little girl form and stared at Lucy. “She almost fell into my trap. Only if you didn’t try to switch with Gojo, who was in Limbo, her domain.”

Lucy barely managed to stand, and she glared at Kali. “Wait! So, you were trying to beat me with her?” She just realized that from the start, Kali was intending to use her as bait. “You demon!”

Kali shrugged. “I’m the demon goddess, the one they look up to. Also, you’ll be fine. I was about to only beat Entropy’s soul, not yours. But now, she won’t ever show her head in front of me after this.” She sighed and helped Lucy stand. “Want to keep training?”

“Next time, tell before you try to do something like this.” Lucy squeezed Kali’s hand as hard as she could, but she couldn’t even hurt her.

Kali smiled. “Of course I won’t. If I told you, she would’ve known and never shown up.”

Lucy scratched her head, “You were out for so long, so you probably don’t know. But Arad and Gojo can return now. Entropy isn’t holding them anymore. They just wanted to secure a base in Limbo before returning.” She took a stance, ready to keep fighting.

“That is why I was able to switch bodies with Gojo.” And the two kept training. Kali’s plan seems to have failed, but at least she now knows that Arad could return whenever he wants. It didn’t change anything, though, and she would make sure Entropy cries blood the next time she sees her.

Back in Limbo, Gojo had to take a rest and gather himself. When his body returned, it wasn’t damaged, but he could still feel the pain from Kali’s punch. He could also feel traces of Entropy’s magic in his flesh, and he knew something had happened.

“Yog, what did happen?” Gojo asked not expecting an answer, but to his surprise, Yog was already there beside him. “Kali baited Entropy out and almost had her. To be honest… I’m the one who saved her. Last time Kali had someone, she crippled them beyond repair.” She looked at him with a smug smile. “The last time I saw Kali this mad was with Creation, and you know how she is almost powerless now. I didn’t want Entropy to end up the same; that would be bad for the universe, especially now.”

Yog smiled, rubbing her fingers as if she is expecting to be paid. “Also, now Entropy owes me one.”