Demonic Dragon: Harem System

After a long time...

"He's taking his time..." Evelyn said pacing back and forth, the last time she had seen Strax was six days ago when he had entered the seal of the two swords... Which, by the way, broke a few minutes ago.

Both the Black Sword of Ouroboros and the Golden Sword of Tiamat had been destroyed and lay there in pieces...

Then, suddenly, a gust of wind formed, gathering all the fragments into a single point, opening...

"A portal..." She spoke, seeing the fragments circle in a sort of circle, and then He stepped out.

He didn't utter a word. His eyes were empty of emotion, as if something inside him had changed, shattered and transformed. The two souls, of Ouroboros and Tiamat... were firmly between his fingers, the orbs glowing a pure white. The glow emanating from them seemed darker than any light, as if they carried a weight beyond comprehension.

Without any expression, Strax walked slowly over to Evelyn. She stood there, watching him cautiously, her gaze fixed on the warrior. There was a slight tension in the air, as if the space between them was charged with unspoken meanings.

With a sudden movement, Strax held out his hand, offering the two glowing spheres. His face remained impenetrable, and the words he was about to utter would be few, but charged with a profound truth. The silence was oppressive.

As Evelyn received the orbs, she felt a wave of cold, intense energy envelop her. The souls inside the spheres pulsed with an energy that seemed to go against nature, as if the very fabric of reality was being touched.

"Those... are their souls." Strax finally spoke, his voice low and grave, without any trace of the vibrant, intense personality he used to have. He sounded almost... empty. "Do what has to be done, please"

Evelyn looked at him, noticing the change. The disconnection emanating from Strax was palpable. He wasn't the same man who had fought with such fury, with such emotion. It was as if something inside him had gone out, a flame that had been extinguished after burning for so long.

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She didn't know what to say. What would she say to someone who had defeated the legendary Artorias, overpowered enemies and even taken the souls of two powerful entities, and now seemed to be... lost?

"Are you... okay?" She asked, her voice soft, filled with a concern that dared not be too audible.

Strax remained silent for a moment, the distance between him and Evelyn increasing as he moved away. His eyes were empty, as if the weight of the things he had seen and done had erased something fundamental inside him. The pain, loss and anguish were no longer visible, as if time and events had turned his soul into a wasteland.

"I saw some things I didn't want to see..." He murmured, his voice lower now, more distant, as if he were speaking to himself and not to Evelyn. The tranquillity he conveyed was almost disconcerting, a cold calm that in no way reflected the intensity with which he had fought moments before. "Just do as I ask."

He didn't expect an answer, and Evelyn, faced with his closed aura, knew that nothing he said now would make any difference. The words were locked inside him, buried under a layer of ice.

Strax then turned, his steps heavy and determined. He looked at the portal that was beginning to fade, its fragments dissolving into a golden spiral. The emptiness was palpable, as if something much bigger was at play, beyond what they could perceive. The air around him became more tense, a sense of inevitability hanging over them.

"Come." The order came out of Strax's mouth with an almost imperceptible coldness, but the force that accompanied it was clear. He held out his hand, palm facing Evelyn, as if summoning her to a destiny that had already been set.

Without hesitation, Evelyn took a step forward, more by instinct than of her own volition, sensing the gravity of the situation, feeling that, somehow, she was being pulled into something that transcended her understanding. The portal closed before them, its fragments coming together with almost mystical precision.

And then Strax made the move that would mark a change. With a subtle but determined gesture, he created a new blade - a sword forged by the convergence of the souls he possessed. The Sword of Artorias. The air around it seemed to distort, as if space itself was affected by the blade's presence.

It was magnificent, but terrifying at the same time. The blade shone with the strength of past battles, Artorias' heritage fused with the energy of Ouroboros and Tiamat, creating a weapon that radiated an immortal essence. The metal was of an ethereal silver hue, with marks of ancient power engraved along its surface, as if telling stories of ancient warriors and forgotten battles.

Strax held the sword with a somber naturalness, as if it were an extension of his own will. He raised it briefly, its blade slicing through the air with a silent hiss. It was impossible not to feel the weight of history imbued in it.

"Strong." He spoke, his voice deep and full of bitter understanding. "Now I have a better sword"

Evelyn watched, her eyes reflecting the sword, and the feeling that something deeply significant had happened there seemed to pulsate in her mind. Strax was no longer just the warrior who had faced Artorias. He had absorbed something, become something more.

"That sword is..." Evelyn murmured, her eyes fixed on the blade Strax held. Something deep and disturbing was emanating from her. She could feel it, as if an ancient energy was trapped there, but in a different way. "A million spirits... what the fuck is that..." She asked, her expression tense, feeling the presence of something she couldn't fully understand, but knew was of the utmost importance. As the future queen of the elves and guardian of the abode of the spirits, her connection to the afterlife ran deep, and she knew that this was something beyond any artifact she had ever encountered. Something of a... different power.

The sword pulsed with a dense energy, and Evelyn couldn't understand what had happened in there, as if she herself was being touched by something beyond mortal perception. "What happened in there...?" She thought, feeling slightly dizzy, as if the souls captured by the blade were trying to communicate with her.

Before she could lose herself in her thoughts, the sound of a knock on the door interrupted her concentration. The door suddenly opened and Lyana entered, her eyes quick and curious. Noticing the tension in the air and Strax's position, she frowned.

"What happened to him?" Lyana asked, but Evelyn just shook her head, a gesture that indicated she didn't know what was going on either.

Lyana, clearly puzzled, walked over to Strax, trying to understand what was going on. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked, putting her hand on his shoulder, trying to offer a little comfort, but before she could realize it, the situation took a completely unexpected turn.

With a swift and unforeseen movement, Strax pulled on Lyana's arm, as if acting on instinct. The move was so quick and brutal that, in the blink of an eye, she was already on her knees, her arm immobilized under Strax's crushing force. The pain was instantaneous, and Lyana screamed, her voice a mixture of surprise and discomfort.

"Hey, you're hurting me!" She exclaimed, her breathing ragged from the intense pain spreading through her body. She tried to move, but the pressure on her arm and the strength with which he held her prevented her from reacting.

Strax, finally realizing what he had done, seemed shocked by his own reaction. He immediately let go of Lyana's arm, his face contorting in a mixture of regret and confusion. "D-desp... I'm sorry." His voice was hoarse, as if the weight of his own actions had affected him more than he had expected. He pulled away, breathing hard, his guilty expression now visible.

Lyana, still stunned by the pain, looked at him with wide eyes, but didn't say anything immediately. She knew something was happening to Strax, something that was beyond their comprehension, but the way he had reacted to something as simple as touch unsettled her. Something inside him was... broken. And Evelyn, who watched in silence, felt that whatever was happening to Strax was something much bigger than either of them could understand at that moment.

"You're... different." Lyana finally said, in a low voice, as if she was trying to reach something that was inside Strax, but she still couldn't understand.

Strax didn't respond immediately. He just looked at the sword in his hands, as if searching for answers in it.

"Sorry. I'll come back later." Strax said, leaving the laboratory...

"What the fuck's gotten into him?" Lyana asked with her hand on her own arm, sore and bruised...

"I don't know... but something pretty serious happened in there..." Evelyn said before picking up the two souls and placing them on the two men's chests.

"Are you really going to do this?" Lyana asked.

"Well, the plan is to bring them back. Let's see if they can help him get back to normal, or explain what happened," Evelyn said.