Demonic Dragon: Harem System

The explosion consumed everything in an instant.

The shock was so intense that the world became nothing but light and sound. A white flash engulfed the entire laboratory, followed by a deafening roar as the wave of energy spread like a furious storm. The air vibrated, the ground shook, and then everything was blown away.

Strax felt the force of the explosion push him backwards, but his instinct was immediate. He grabbed Evelyn and Lyana tightly, wrapping their bodies in his own, using every fiber of his existence to protect them from the impending destruction.

Shattered glass sliced through the air like blades, fragments of the laboratory were thrown in all directions, and the heat of the explosion scorched everything around.

Strax felt his skin burn. His back absorbed most of the impact, his flesh tearing, his muscles burning under the overwhelming heat. But he didn't loosen his grip on Evelyn and Lyana, holding them against his chest until the impact finally threw them violently against the wreckage.

A sepulchral silence followed.

The dust slowly settled, while embers and sparks still danced in the air. Where once there had been a laboratory, now only destruction remained. The structure had been reduced to rubble, and the greenhouse above was nothing but broken glass and twisted metal.

Evelyn was the first to move, her eyes still blurry from the impact. She felt the weight on her body and realized that Strax was still standing over her and Lyana. His body rigid, his breathing heavy.

"Strax..."

She tried to move, but then she felt something warm run down her fingers. Blood.

Lyana woke up too, gasping as she felt Strax's overwhelming presence still protecting them both. Her eyes widened when she saw his condition.

"No... Strax!"

They pushed him gently, managing to free themselves enough to see him clearly.

The sight was terrifying.

Half of Strax's back was destroyed. Charred flesh, deep burns and blood running down his skin. His body had absorbed all the fury of the explosion, protecting them completely, but at the cost of a horrible wound.

Evelyn felt her chest tighten, her heart beating furiously against her ribs. Discover stories with My Virtual Library Empire

"Why the hell did you do that, you idiot?" She screamed, her eyes blazing with emotion.

Strax, still on his knees, propped one hand on the floor to keep himself upright. His face was twisted in pain, but his eyes... his eyes were calm. He took a deep breath, his body shaking with the effort of just breathing.

"You... two... were... in the middle..." He muttered through clenched teeth.

"Of course we were! But look at you!" Lyana said, her voice trembling.

She touched his back lightly, but pulled back immediately when she felt the warm, destroyed flesh under her fingers.

Evelyn quickly pulled herself together, clenching her fists. She pulled Strax up by the shoulder, helping him to sit up straight.

"You need healing, now!"

But Strax only let out a weak laugh, his face still contracted in pain.

"I've been through worse."

"Liar!" Evelyn retorted, her eyes watering.

Lyana looked around, seeing the wreckage and feeling the remaining energy still vibrating in the air. It was then that she realized.

"The homunculi..."

Evelyn also realized it immediately. They both turned around, looking desperately among the rubble. The bodies should have been there, but now everything was just ruin and ash.

Anxiety mixed with exhaustion in their expressions. All that effort, all the struggle, and now it seemed that it had all been in vain.

But then Strax laughed.

It was a hoarse, weak laugh, but there was something in it...

"Look again."

Evelyn and Lyana frowned, but obeyed. They looked around once more, this time more carefully, and then... they saw it.

In the center of the wreckage, where the explosion had been most intense, there was a faint glow. A golden glow.

Lyana swallowed.

"Is that...?"

Evelyn staggered forward, pulling one of the broken pieces of wood and metal aside.

Then, among the rubble, two figures were lying. Their clothes torn, their bodies apparently frail... but breathing.

The homunculi were alive.

Evelyn covered her mouth with her hand, her heart racing.

"We did it..." She murmured, disbelief and relief mixed in her voice.

Lyana let out a shaky sigh, her body finally relaxing.

Strax just watched, his face still marked by pain, but with a satisfied look.

He let out a long sigh.

"Great... Now someone get me a fucking healer before I drop dead."

Evelyn and Lyana looked at each other, and then, for the first time since the chaos, smiled.

"Idiot..." Evelyn muttered before starting to prepare a healing spell.

Lyana knelt beside Strax, gently touching his unburned shoulder.

"Thank you..." She said softly.

Strax didn't reply. He just closed his eyes for a moment, letting tiredness take over.

As Evelyn prepared the healing spell and Lyana touched his shoulder, something unexpected happened.

The burns began to disappear.

The charred flesh regenerated before their eyes, muscles and skin restoring themselves in an almost instantaneous process. The blood that had flowed before now evaporated into the air, and the exposed bones covered themselves again as if they had never been damaged.

Evelyn and Lyana froze, their eyes wide as they watched the impossible scene.

Strax let out a heavy sigh, feeling his body restore itself. He rotated his neck, popping the joints, and then rolled his shoulders, as if he were just stretching.

"Well... that was intense." He said, flexing his fingers and feeling the new skin on his muscles.

Evelyn frowned, still in shock. "How...?"

"Vampire and Dragon, remember?" Strax replied casually. "Healing from that kind of injury is as natural as breathing."

Lyana blinked a few times, trying to process what she had just seen. "So... that whole dramatic scene, you throwing yourself into protecting us and almost dying..."

Strax shrugged. "Well, it still hurt like hell. But I knew I'd regenerate."

Evelyn clenched her fists. "You bastard..."

Before he could react, she punched him straight in the chest. It wasn't strong enough to hurt him, but the impact still made a dry noise.

"What was that?" Strax asked, staring at her in disbelief.

"For making us worry!" Evelyn shouted, her face slightly flushed with anger.

Lyana just sighed and shook her head, but a small smile formed on her lips. "You really are impossible."

Strax laughed, running a hand through his hair and looking around. "Well, now that I'm all in one piece again... let's see how our new friends are doing."

He walked over to where the homunculi were lying, still motionless but breathing. The energy around them was calmer now, and their bodies seemed complete.

Strax looked at Evelyn. "Will they wake up soon?"

She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. "Yes... but I don't know what they'll be like when they open their eyes." Evelyn said, but the next moment...

Strax narrowed his eyes as he saw black and gold energy manifesting around the homunculi's bodies. The aura oscillated and pulsed as if it had a life of its own, slowly expanding and making the air vibrate with crushing pressure.

"That doesn't sound good..." Strax muttered, his instincts screaming in warning.

Evelyn and Lyana sensed the danger at the same moment. The energy emanating from the homunculi was unlike anything they had ever felt before-chaotic, unstable, charged with something primal.

"That..." Evelyn started to say, but her voice wavered as she realized that the waves of energy were intensifying.

Lyana took a step back. "Strax, maybe it's better-"

Before she could finish, a crack cut through the air, as if reality itself was breaking apart.

CRACK!

Black cracks began to form in the ground around the homunculi, and the golden energy glowed with blinding force.

"Yeah, I think you'd better leave... now." Strax said, his tone serious, his eyes fixed on the scene in front of him.

Evelyn and Lyana didn't hesitate. They jumped back at the same moment, conjuring magical barriers around themselves.

In the next moment, two pillars of energy rose up, cutting through the sky and sweeping away the surrounding clouds, as if the atmosphere itself was unable to withstand the power being unleashed. The sound of the explosion reverberated for miles, like primordial thunder, and the pressure in the air caused the ground to shake.

"Get back!" Strax shouted, not in fear, but with an urgent warning. His voice was firm, but charged with growing tension. He knew that something catastrophic was about to happen, something beyond what he or anyone there could control.

Before they could react, two bolts of lightning, one black and the other golden, shot out at overwhelming speed, hitting Strax squarely. The force of the lightning threw him miles away. The impact made the sky seem to crack, and the sound of the explosion was so loud that it almost made anyone nearby faint.

"HUSBAND! HUSBAND! HUSBAND!" Ouroboros and Tiamat shouted frantically, the anguish in their voices echoing across the devastated landscape. They launched themselves towards the spot where Strax had fallen, without any hesitation, as if nothing else mattered at the moment. Their words were desperate and possessive, charged with an irrational passion, as if there were no longer any limits to what they felt.

"Fufufu... it's nice to finally meet you... in person..." Strax laughed weakly, the sound coming out of his mouth sarcastically, despite the obvious pain he still felt. His eyes sparkled with a mixture of amusement and disbelief as he looked at the two women. They were naked, oblivious to the situation, the reality around their souls completely given over to obsession.

"Ouroboros and Tiamat... welcome," he said, hugging them.