Demonic Dragon: Harem System-Chapter 818: Now you decide who comes with me

Strax settled slowly onto the makeshift throne in Asgard’s great hall, the weight of battle still echoing in the air. The silence wasn’t comfortable—it was heavy, full of tension, like a rope about to snap. Beatrice sat sideways on his lap, like a queen who had just emerged from a war. Her body still trembled slightly, her wounds visible, but her gaze... her gaze remained firm.

Around them, they were all gathered.

And none of them seemed at ease.

Monica shifted her weight to one leg, arms crossed, looking at Beatrice as if analyzing a target. Samira slowly twirled the spear in her fingers, the soft sound of the metal cutting through the air being the only thing breaking the silence for a moment. Scarlet smiled—that light, playful, yet dangerous smile. Tiamat remained motionless, imposing as a mountain, while Kali played with one of her blades, twirling it naturally between her fingers.

Ouroboros leaned against a column, observing everything as if it were just another inevitable event. Xenovia maintained her posture straight, but her eyes were attentive. Xyn and Kryssia... aligned, silent, ready.

It was a contained battlefield.

And in the center—

Beatrice.

Strax let out a long sigh.

"Okay."

His voice was calm.

But it carried weight.

"Now someone is going to explain to me... exactly..." — he glanced at them all — "why the hell this happened."

Silence.

One second.

Two.

And then—

Monica was the first to speak.

"She was complacent."

Direct.

Without softening.

Her gaze didn’t leave Beatrice.

"She wasn’t training. She wasn’t improving. She just complained."

Beatrice frowned slightly, but didn’t answer. "Monica continued.

"While everyone else was getting stronger, she was standing still."

The tone wasn’t cruel.

It was... factual.

"So we decided to give her a push."

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"A push?"

Samira chuckled softly through her nose.

"If you call that a push..."

She rested her spear on her shoulder.

"I call it pressure."

Scarlet stepped forward, tilting her head slightly, her eyes gleaming with interest.

"And it worked."

She looked directly at Beatrice.

"I expected you to last... what? Two minutes?"

A smile appeared.

"You lasted much longer."

Beatrice looked away for a second.

Scarlet continued.

"Of course... Tiamat, Ouroboros, and I weren’t fighting seriously."

A slight shrug.

"But the others were."

Samira raised her hand.

"I confirm."

Monica nodded.

"Without holding on."

Kali smiled.

"Not at all."

Scarlet looked back at Strax.

"And yet..."

She crossed her arms.

"She didn’t fall."

Silence settled again.

Different now.

More... heavy.

Strax looked down.

At Beatrice.

She avoided his gaze for a second.

And that already said a lot.

"Is that true?"

The question came calmly.

Without judgment.

Without anger.

Just... wanting to hear.

Beatrice took a deep breath.

And then nodded.

"I was... standing still..."

Her voice came out lower than usual.

But firm. "Everyone was improving..."

Her fingers lightly tightened on his clothes.

"...and I wasn’t."

The silence around them shifted.

It wasn’t tension anymore.

It was... attention.

She continued.

"I trained... but it wasn’t enough..."

Her gaze rose, meeting his.

"And I knew that."

Strax didn’t interrupt.

She took another deep breath.

"I was falling behind."

The words came out heavier.

More honest.

"And I hate that."

Silence.

Scarlet smiled slightly.

"Finally spoke."

Monica nodded.

"It was obvious."

Samira gave a small smile.

"But she needed to admit it."

Beatrice closed her eyes for a second.

And then opened them again.

"So I asked."

Their stares intensified.

"I asked them to fight me."

She didn’t flinch this time.

"Without holding back."

Strax tilted his head slightly.

"Against all of them?"

She hesitated.

For a second.

"...yes."

He sighed.

He ran a hand over his face for a moment.

"Do you realize how stupid that is?"

Beatrice grimaced slightly.

"...I do."

"And you did it anyway?"

"...I did."

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Almost a smile.

But restrained.

"Of course you did."

Scarlet let out a low laugh.

"She’s stubborn."

Kali tilted her head.

"But it was efficient."

Tiamat finally spoke, her deep voice echoing softly through the room. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"She didn’t break." Simple.

Direct.

Heavy.

Strax looked at Beatrice again.

"And you think that was the best way?"

She didn’t answer immediately.

She thought.

Really.

And then—

"...no."

That caught her attention.

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"No?"

She shook her head slightly.

"It was... desperate."

Honest.

Raw.

"But I needed something."

Her eyes tightened.

"I needed to feel... real pressure."

Silence returned.

But now—

There was understanding in it.

Strax remained silent for a few seconds.

Just observing.

Analyzing.

Weighing.

And then—

Scarlet broke the silence again.

"Regardless..."

She tilted her head slightly, looking at Beatrice with genuine interest.

"...she’s a genius."

That made some of them glance sideways.

Monica narrowed her eyes slightly.

Samira raised an eyebrow. Strax said nothing.

Scarlet continued.

"She reads movements too fast."

Her fingers moved slightly, as if drawing patterns in the air.

"She adapts."

A smile.

"She improvises."

She crossed her arms.

"But she doesn’t use it."

Her gaze intensified.

"She has absurd talent..."

A pause.

"...but she doesn’t trust it."

Silence.

Beatrice paused slightly.

Scarlet stepped forward.

"You overthink."

Direct.

Unfiltered.

"You hesitate."

She pointed slightly.

"And that almost killed you five times."

Samira raised her hand.

"I counted seven."

Kali smiled.

"I counted more."

Monica shrugged.

"But who cares." Scarlet ignored him.

Her eyes still on Beatrice.

"If you stop holding back..."

She tilted her head.

"...you’ll become a real problem."

A heavy silence fell.

But it wasn’t negative.

It was... recognition.

Strax looked at Beatrice.

And this time—

She didn’t look away.

There was something different there.

It wasn’t shame.

Nor insecurity.

It was... absorption.

She was listening.

Really.

"So..."

Strax finally spoke.

His voice calm.

But firm.

"You want to get stronger."

She nodded.

Without hesitation.

"You want to stop falling behind."

Another nod.

"And you thought the best idea was to fight nine people at the same time."

She grimaced.

"...when you talk like that, it sounds worse."

A few laughs escaped.

Loose.

Contained.

Strax let out a small chuckle through his nose.

"Because it is."

He was silent for a second.

And then—

His hand rose.

And landed gently on her head.

Lightly ruffling her hair.

"But..."

His eyes softened.

"...I understand."

That made Beatrice blink.

Surprised.

He continued.

"Just don’t do that again."

His tone changed.

Slightly firmer.

"Without me."

Scarlet smiled.

"I knew it."

Monica rolled her eyes.

Samira gave a low laugh.

Beatrice looked at him.

"...so you’re going to train with me?"

Strax tilted his head. "I already said I’m going."

A small smile appeared.

"And unlike this..."

His gaze intensified.

"...it will be controlled."

Kali sighed.

"How boring."

Ouroboros spoke, for the first time since they entered.

"Evolution doesn’t have to be chaos."

Her eyes gleamed slightly.

"But chaos accelerates."

Strax looked at her.

"And it also kills."

She smiled.

"Only those who don’t keep up."

Silence returned.

But this time—

It was light.

Because the tension had lessened.

Strax sighed again.

"Finally."

He gently adjusted Beatrice in his lap.

"It’s over."

His gaze swept over everyone.

"Everyone’s resting."

Some huffed.

Others simply accepted it.

He looked at Beatrice again.

"...and you."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You’ll recover first."

She opened her mouth to protest—

But he interrupted.

"No discussion."

She grimaced.

"...bossy."

He smiled slightly.

"And you like it."

She blushed slightly.

And this time—

No one commented.

But several smiles appeared.

Because in the end—

Despite the chaos...

Despite the struggle...

Despite the insanity—

That place... was still home.

The atmosphere still carried remnants of the previous tension, but now there was something more stable in the air. Breathings were more controlled, postures less rigid. Even so, no one truly relaxed completely in that place—not when everyone there knew that the next problem was never far away.

And this time...

He had already arrived.

Strax remained silent for a few seconds after finishing the subject of Beatrice. His gaze slowly swept over each of the women present, as if assessing something beyond what was visible. Cassandra, Daniela, Rogue, Cristine, and Yennifer were still there, observing, absorbing the dynamics of that group... and perhaps understanding, for the first time, the true weight that place carried.

Then he let out a light sigh.

"Since everyone’s finished trying to kill themselves..." he began casually.

Some rolled their eyes.

Others ignored him.

But all heard.

"...there’s something else."

That was enough.

The atmosphere changed again.

Subtle.

But perceptible.

Yennifer crossed her arms.

Cristine tilted her head slightly.

Daniela narrowed her eyes.

Strax rested his arm on the back of the chair, still holding Beatrice in his lap, but now his gaze was more serious.

"I received a letter."

Silence.

Kali was the first to react.

"Romantic?"

Strax didn’t even look.

"No."

Scarlet smiled slightly.

"What a pity."

He ignored her.

"It’s from the Royal Capital."

This caused some expressions to change.

Not all of them.

But the ones that mattered—

They changed.

Tiamat remained motionless.

Ouroboros smiled slightly.

Mionica uncrossed her arms.

"Go on."

Strax didn’t hesitate.

"It’s from the Celestial Emperor."

This time—

The impact was clear.

Even between them.

Even in that group where monsters, gods, and aberrations coexisted as equals—

That name still carried weight.

Samira exhaled slowly.

"So he finally decided to show up..."

Yennifer stepped forward.

"Not show up."

She corrected.

"Summon."

Strax nodded slightly.

"Exactly."

He raised his hand, as if still holding the letter, even though it wasn’t there.

"He wants to meet me."

Silence.

But it wasn’t a surprise.

It was... confirmation.

Cristine crossed her legs.

"Of course he wants to."

Her smile was small.

Calculated.

"You’ve basically become an impossible problem to ignore."

Mionica spoke immediately afterward.

"That’s not good."

Direct.

No beating around the bush.

Kryssia tilted her head slightly.

"Or it’s exactly the opposite."

Xyn remained silent.

Observing.

Analyzing.

Strax rested his elbow on the arm of the throne.

"He said he wants to meet the man who defeated the monarchs."

A small smile appeared.

"And ’talk about the future’."

Scarlet let out a low laugh.

"Ah, I love that."

Kali smiled.

"It means polite threat."

Yennefer nodded.

"Diplomacy."

A pause.

"Or a test."

Ouroboros finally moved, uncrossing her arms from the column.

"Or curiosity."

Her eyes gleamed slightly.

"He’s been observing until now."

A step forward.

"And only intervened now."

She tilted her head. "That says a lot."

Strax looked at her.

"It says I crossed the line."

Ouroboros smiled.

"Or that you finally became interesting enough."

Silence.

Tiamat spoke, her deep voice filling the room.

"The Emperor doesn’t move without a reason."

Simple.

Absolute.

"So this is a move."

Strax nodded.

"Yes."

Beatrice, who had been quiet until then, looked up at him.

"...and are you going?"

The question came out lower.

But loaded.

He looked at her.

And answered without hesitation.

"I’m going."

This surprised no one.

But it didn’t reassure anyone either.

Mionica frowned.

"This could be a trap."

Samira shrugged.

"Probably."

Scarlet smiled.

"Definitely."

Kali added:

"Definitely."

Strax chuckled softly.

"Now you decide who comes with me, I’m going to take a shower," he said calmly, getting up after dropping that bombshell on them.