Demonic Dragon: Harem System - Chapter 727

Chapter 727: It’s my emergency food.
The thin mist still moved like ghostly breath when Strax returned to the center of the cave—the egg nestled in his arm, pulsing with a slow, hungry glow. He ran his thumb over the cold surface, and the egg vibrated slightly, like a frosty kitten trying to purr.

“Yeah, you like warm mana, huh?” he murmured, almost laughing. “You’ll turn into a glutton…”

The egg gave another hungry pulse.

Strax sighed… and smiled. But then his eyes lifted. The entire cathedral still glowed. And there was… a lot there. A lot indeed.

He straightened his posture, adjusting the egg against his chest as if holding a fragile artifact, and took his first step among the mounds.

And the mounds were…

Wealth. Absurd wealth. Wealth worthy of a dragon that lived before civilization decided that gold was currency.

“Wow…” he hissed. “But you were QUITE a hoarder, weren’t you, old man?”

The blue light reflected off the crystals, the precious metals, the runes. Each step elicited a small “ching” as Strax accidentally kicked a stray coin.

An entire corner of the cave was basically a frozen lake of gold coins. Some ancient, others so old that the metal had oxidized beautifully, turning almost amber. He bent down, picked up a coin, and flipped it between his fingers.

“Eldrani civilization… that doesn’t even exist anymore… must be about a thousand years old?” He tossed the coin into the air and caught it with his other hand.

“Cool. Collectible.”

The egg vibrated slightly, as if judging.

“Don’t look at it like that, you’ll also like a cradle made from this.” He said, smiling as if communicating with the egg, and turned to another side, where there were several weapons.

Strax walked to another pile.

Deep steel spears. Axes with runes that glowed just by looking at them. A hammer so heavy that a normal mortal would simply break in half trying to lift it.

He ran his hand over a bluish blade, so cold it froze the air around it.

“This here…” he murmured. “It was made with draconic mana. Pure. Undiluted.” He looked closely, but quickly changed his mind.

“No… I think the weapon was made of common mana and the environment strengthened it over time. But it’s impressive for a blacksmith to make a weapon that absorbs energy. Or rather, several of them.”

He raised the sword. It sang in the air, as if happy to be released from the pile after ages.

“But I already have Zani.” he sighed. “It’s going to Dad’s inventory.”

He threw the sword back. And entered the portal that led to the storage ability he devoured from the System.

The egg trembled, clearly disturbed. “Hey, no need to be jealous,” he said, smiling, and went to the nearby artifacts.

Circles of runes trapped in eternal glass. Hourglasses that ran backward. A crown made of bones of… something. A necklace with a gem that wouldn’t stop spinning, even without mana.

And, atop a stone… A ring.

Subtle. Simple. Pure silver with a blue crystal set in the center.

But its power made the cave vibrate.

Strax picked it up. The ring reacted, lighting up.

“This… wow. This amplifies icy mana by 300%.” His eyes widened. “It’s almost moral theft to take something like this. I’ll give it to Cassandra.”

The egg vibrated.

“Okay, okay!” he laughed. “I’m not going to use you as a battery for this. Not yet.”

The ring went into his pocket.

The fourth battery was the most dangerous. Natural crystals created from the breath of ice dragons—substances so charged with mana that a normal human would drop dead just from touching them.

Strax picked one up.

It pulsed like a heart.

“This is worth the whole palace,” he commented. “Twice as much. Maybe three times as much if I find a desperate goblin merchant.”

He hoarded four crystals at once.

The egg reacted IMMEDIATELY, trembling on his arm.

He looked at it.

“Hey… calm down. You’re not supposed to eat that. You’ll explode.”

The egg remained quiet. It just pulsed, offended.

Strax walked to the end of the cave, where the ice was darker. There, he found…

A statue.

Or at least, it looked like one.

It was a smaller ice dragon—perhaps half the size of the skeleton he had absorbed. Perfectly preserved, with its wings spread, as if frozen in the exact instant it tried to protect something behind it.

Strax frowned.

“It’s not a statue. You died too…”

And behind it was another small pile of metal, but nothing compared to the rest.

It was evident: that dragon had tried to protect the egg.

And failed.

Strax ran his hand over the creature’s frozen head.

“You fought to the end, didn’t you?” he murmured. “Fine. I’ll take care of the little one now.”

The egg vibrated, as if it understood.

It clapped happily.

“Right! Draconic looting rule number one: we leave nothing behind. The deceased here won’t use it anyway.”

It opened the storage dimension. “So… LET’S TAKE EVERYTHING.”

The ground glowed.

And the piles began to disappear, swallowed by the dimensional rift as if Strax were sucking up the entire treasure into an infinite backpack.

Coins, weapons, crystals, artifacts, everything going away in golden and bluish waves.

The egg trembled excitedly, as if applauding.

Strax held on tight. “Okay, little one. It’s official.”

It gave a wide, predatory, and amused grin. “We got rich today.”

And then it turned its back, ready to leave the nest.

Strax returned to Cristhalis as if returning from a stroll in the market—calm, whistling, carrying a gigantic, gleaming egg in his arms as if it were a baby wrapped in a blanket.

The difference?

The “baby” emanated pulses of icy mana so strong that any other mortal would have frozen their soul just by getting close.

Strax didn’t even feel it. He was fine. Even happy.

He crossed the outer gates. The guards shuddered all over.

“M-Mr. Strax…” one of them gasped. “What is… this?”

Strax smiled, making space with his shoulder. “It’s my emergency food.” And he continued walking, leaving the guards unsure if he was joking or not.

…

When he pushed open the bedroom door, Scarlet was sitting on the bed, reading… or pretending to read, because as soon as he entered she looked up.

She saw the egg.

Her eyes widened.

She closed the book.

She got up from the bed.

And only then did she open her mouth: “WHAT. IS. THAT. IN YOUR LAP???”

Her voice echoed as if amplified by magic.

Strax entered as if nothing was happening. “A gift.”

“A GIFT??” Scarlet lunged forward, grabbing the egg with both hands as if it were a cursed object about to explode. “This is a DRAGON EGG! A. DRAGON. EGG! You— you brought this here? INTO THE PALACE??”

“Well, I wasn’t going to leave it there, was I? I warned you I’d go see what was bothering me in the mountains.” Strax shrugged. “He’s even cute. He reacts well to my sister.”

“CUTE?!” Scarlet almost choked with indignation. “Strax, this is going to hatch! This is going to hatch in here! This is dangerous! You literally—literally—brought a problem of catastrophic proportions into the room!!”

Strax tilted his head, watching the egg pulsate in his arms.

“Relax. He’s a little hungry, but it’s okay. He got a little of my sister on the way.”

“GOT WHAT???” Scarlet slapped her forehead. “Great. Perfect. I love it. Now we have a dragon hatchling addicted to you. Nothing can go wrong, REALLY!”

Strax laughed, going to her.

He gave the redhead a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Honey, calm down. It’s just a baby dragon.”

Scarlet grabbed his collar.

“THERE ISN’T ‘JUST’ ONE BABY DRAGON!”

“Yes, there is.” he grinned slightly. “It’s right here.”

The egg trembled happily.

Scarlet closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath.

And murmured, defeated:

“If this destroys the ceiling, I’ll rip yours off…”

“Hey. Hey.” Strax hugged her with one arm, the egg in the other. “Nothing will happen. I already absorbed its ‘father.’ So… technically I’m the official guardian.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened again.

“You ABSORBED A DRAGON??”

“Dead.” he corrected, completely casually. “And huge. It was beautiful. Now it’s me. Everything’s fine.”

Scarlet simply ran her hands over her face, as if rethinking all the choices that had brought her to that moment.

“Strax… we came here to relax…”

“I’m totally relaxed,” he replied, smiling. “And I got a pet.”

Scarlet: …

The egg pulsed again, as if asking for affection.

Scarlet looked at it.

At Strax.

Back at the egg.

And then murmured:

“Yeah… it’s really cute.”

Strax smiled victoriously.

“I knew you’d like it.”

Scarlet crossed her arms, taking a deep breath.

“Okay. Fine. BUT— you’re going to explain this to Mercedes. I’m not.”

Strax winked.

“Explain what?”

Scarlet huffed.

“That you’re bringing a little dragon to live in HER house while she’s already freaking out about… well… those nights.”

Strax gave a slow, mischievous smile.

“Hm. Now I’m excited to tell her.”

Scarlet threw a pillow at him.

“DON’T PROVOKE HER!”

He laughed, easily dodging.

“I will provoke her.”

The egg trembled, as if agreeing.

Strax lifted the little one and murmured:

“Look here, little one. Daddy’s first mission: to meet Aunt Mercedes.”

Scarlet hid her face in her hands.

“This is going to be a catastrophe…”

Strax?

Strax was beaming.

“It’ll be fun.”