Dragon Across the Multiverse (Si-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 37: After the Frost

We all watched silently the spot I was looking at for a moment, the others now curious to see who I was referring to. Then the air shimmered briefly before shattering like glass, revealing a figure.

It was an extremely beautiful girl in her teens, with snow-white hair and icy blue eyes. She was dressed in a white-and-blue dress with matching blue boots. Finishing off her appearance was an ice-blue necklace around her neck and a yellow headband resting in her hair.

She wore a pleasant smile and would have appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary—if beautiful—girl, if not for the utterly suffocating presence radiating from her unconsciously. The surprising thing was that she wasn’t even trying to intimidate anyone and had her magicules perfectly under control. Otherwise, she would have surely killed everyone here except myself.

Just her mere existence was enough to instinctually warn everyone of her might.

“You were taking too long, so I decided to see what was keeping you, Beloved,” Velzard said by way of greeting as she walked toward me, utterly ignoring everyone else, a slight sway to her hips.

Immediately, everyone except myself began sweating nervously, with the Oni maids beside me unconsciously sliding behind me for protection.

Doraim and Guchi were not so fortunate, however.

The devil dropped to one knee unconsciously, staring at Velzard in utter horror, while Doraim tried to make himself as small as possible, even letting out a pitiful whimper as he hastily took human form and fell onto his ass.

Studying her for a moment, I tilted my head curiously as I noticed her power had massively increased since the last time I’d seen her, before smiling happily.

“I see you have regained your former power. Congratulations. That must have taken a lot of work,” I complimented her as she reached me. I met her halfway, and we shared a brief kiss.

Pulling away after a few seconds, Velzard smiled and immediately took her place at my side, claiming my left arm.

“It was mostly due to the Shroud you gifted me and the time chamber you have back home. It would have taken a bit longer without them. Now I no longer have to listen to my little sister brag about being the second strongest after you,” she explained calmly, still disregarding everyone but myself as if they didn’t even exist.

Her calm demeanor did nothing to ease the nerves of those watching her with wary, terrified eyes.

Letting my eyes glow briefly as I took a deeper look at her, I noticed she had gotten rid of the parasite living inside her soul, Twilight Valentine. I let my eyes return to normal, deciding to speak with her about it later.

“As great as it is to see you, Velzard, could you please rein in your presence?” I said, finally returning to the matter at hand. “You’re scaring my guests.”

At my words, Velzard finally took her attention away from me, first turning to the Oni maids behind us and watching them as they nervously stared back at her for a moment. Then she shifted her gaze to Doraim and Guchi, who still hadn’t left their positions.

“My apologies,” she muttered, a fake smile gracing her lips. In the next instant, the suffocating presence surrounding her vanished as if it had never existed, finally allowing everyone to breathe easier. “I didn’t realize you were dealing with such weaklings that my mere presence would affect them so,” she added lightly, mocking them and causing both to flinch.

“I also couldn’t help but overhear that little lizard there say something so audacious that I thought I was hallucinating for a moment,” she continued without slowing down, her gaze pinning the still-terrified Doraim to the ground and making him crawl back with another whimper.

“Did you really just declare yourself to be the one true ruler of the Dragons?” she asked calmly, one eyebrow lifting as she emphasized the last word. “Maybe that’s true for this pathetic world before my beloved arrived, but to have the gall to say such a thing in his presence…”

Not wanting to interrupt her rant, lest I become the subject of her ire, I wisely chose to remain silent for now and simply observe, only prepared to step in if things escalated further.

“Do you—any of you,” she paused, briefly casting a glance toward the Oni maids behind us, causing them to instinctively take a step back, “have any true idea just who stands before you?” she demanded, tightening her hold on my arm to emphasize who she was referring to.

When no one answered and they merely stared at her in either nervous silence or outright terror, her smile widened slightly and she tilted her head.

“I’ll take that as a no. I will say no more, just know that if you show my beloved any disrespect in my presence, I will not tolerate it,” she declared, shaking her head.

“At least you have proper servants here,” she muttered, giving the Oni maids one last look, noting that they didn’t truly fear her like our guests did and were merely a bit nervous around her.

Now that things had settled down, I decided to retake control of the conversation before either Doraim or Guchi said something that might piss Velzard off.

“You’ll have to forgive my lover,” I said with a small smile before coughing lightly into my hand. “She’s extremely protective of me.”

“Anyway, I don’t believe I properly introduced myself earlier. My name is Akari Tempest, and I’m a humble farmer at the moment. Please, come in,” I finished, finally welcoming them into the village.

Too nervous to refuse after a single glance at the smiling Velzard at my side, Guchi and Doraim quickly agreed, the latter finally pushing himself off the ground and nervously coughing into his hand.

“T-Thank you for your hospitality. And don’t worry about Miss Velzard, I know the feeling,” Doraim muttered, making sure never to meet our eyes directly.

“Y-Yes, as Master Doraim said, please pay no heed to it,” Guchi added next, looking just as nervous.

With the crisis averted for now, I finally invited them inside the village, giving them a small tour and even gifting Doraim a barrel of wine as a silent apology for having to deal with Velzard.

Once the alcohol was in his system, our first meeting was soon forgotten, as Doraim grew drunk and started acting normal again.

During the tour, however, I noticed other residents who hadn’t been present earlier watching Velzard curiously, more than a few throwing her jealous glances as they saw her glued to my side, my arm hugged firmly between her breasts.

Velzard, of course, paid them no attention at all and pretended they didn’t exist, much to Rurushi and Tia’s mild irritation. Since Velzard didn’t really get along with anyone except myself, her siblings, or those whose strength she respected, I left it alone and mentally informed them that I’d explain things later once our guests had departed.

The hours passed quickly before Doraim and Guchi finally had to leave, and we soon found ourselves seeing them off at the front of the village, with Doraim hanging off Guchi, drunk off his ass.

“Thanks once again for your hospitality, Akari-sama,” Guchi said with a bow, even with his master passed out on his back.

“Think nothing of it,” I waved his concern away with the back of my hand. “Just like I said earlier, we’re willing to trade with you just like the Demon Kingdom, as long as you respect our rules while you’re here.”

“Then I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again,” he said with another bow. Before leaving, however, he cast a wary glance at Velzard, who was still standing by my side.

“B-By the way, Velzard-sama?” he asked hesitantly.

Blinking as she was addressed, Velzard stopped paying attention to the Inferno Wolves and focused on the devil instead, making him sweat slightly under her gaze. “What is it? I’m in a good mood, so I’ll answer your question, depending on what it is.”

“Y-You’re too gracious,” he bowed again before straightening, swallowing, and finally asking, “If I’m not being too rude… what did you mean when you said Doraim-sama was no longer the true ruler of dragons?”

Raising an eyebrow at the bold question, I turned to Velzard, seeing her smirk faintly. I decided to let her handle it. We’d be leaving this world soon anyway, and whatever they learned about me here wouldn’t matter in the long run.

Hearing the question, the girls beside me, including representatives of each race along with our angel guards, also focused their attention on her.

“Hoh, well that’s obvious if you think about my words,” Velzard said with a smirk as she snuggled closer to me. “My beloved here is the strongest dragon in existence, with the power to create or destroy worlds on a whim~”

Her smirk widened slightly at the many gasps and wide eyes her response caused.

“Wha—?”

“A dragon?”

“I knew there was something draconic about Akari-sama’s eyes!”

“No wonder he’s a literal beast in bed~”

The last comment caused me to tense slightly. Coming from an elf, it was no surprise, but I still slowly shifted my gaze toward Velzard.

She was no longer smirking.

All amusement had vanished from her eyes.

“We’ll be having a talk about this later,” she whispered, only loud enough for me to hear.

I nodded rapidly.

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“Master deserved it. He’s been far too much of a pervert lately.” I heard Ciel mutter smugly in the back of my mind.

‘I didn’t hear you complaining, Ciel! So give me a break!’ I immediately shot back, causing my cute Manas to sputter for a moment before going silent again.

‘That’s what I thought,’ I added in silent satisfaction as I finally refocused on Guchi and Doraim.

They had sobered up slightly at the reveal and now wore pale expressions as they stared at me.

Seeing that I didn’t deny it, and that the girls behind me, while surprised, had accepted it as if it were no big deal, Guchi gulped loudly, sweat pouring down his face.

“T-T-Thank you for agreeing to my request,” he stammered. “W-We will be taking our leave now. P-Please take care.”

With that, Guchi all but power-walked out of the village, and the moment they crossed the barrier, the two of them immediately teleported away.

“Darling, now that they’re gone, can you please explain properly just who Velzard-san is?” Rurushi asked immediately, taking the lead as several others nodded in agreement.

“I don’t really mind who she is,” Ria said with a bright smile. “Akari already said she’s his lover, so that means she’s one of us~”

“Indeed,” Ann nodded. “As one of Master’s lovers, you are welcome.”

Velzard, however, said nothing. Instead, she turned her gaze toward everyone, deliberately looking each of them over.

“Alright,” she said calmly. “By a show of hands, how many of you have already slept with him?”

Sweating now, I tried to take a step back, only for Velzard’s grip on my hand to tighten into an iron vice as she patiently waited for an answer.

I watched in mounting horror as, one by one, every single girl present raised her hand. Some looked proud. Others looked embarrassed, faces flushed bright red.

With each raised hand, I felt my soul slowly leave my body, Velzard’s grip tightening even further as she unconsciously began using her natural strength.

Crap. I’m dead.

Mechanically, she turned her head toward me. Her smile was far too wide, her eyes now golden and glowing faintly as she tapped into her true power.

“Would you mind explaining why you’ve been acting like a horn dog while you’ve been away, beloved?” she asked sweetly. “Here I was worrying about you, only to find out my beloved husband has been fooling around with who knows how many women.”

Finding no way out of the situation I’d dug myself into, I turned to the only being who could possibly help me.

‘Ciel! Help!’

“You reap what you sow, Master. I warned you this would happen.” she replied coolly, immediately betraying me.

‘Traitor!’ I yelled back mentally.

“Well?” Velzard asked, one eyebrow rising as ice slowly formed beneath her feet.

“…Mercy?” I offered, forcing a nervous grin.

“…Wrong answer.”

=====

Several Days Later

After Velzard had gotten her anger out of her system by punching me a few times with her full strength, which I accepted without complaint or magical resistance, deciding to own up to my deeds, things returned to normal for the village.

Well… almost.

Thanks to Velzard, all nighttime activities had ceased for the time being, much to the annoyance, and slight anger, of some of the others. Again, most of them were elves. Of course, no one dared say anything, fearing Velzard’s wrath after witnessing firsthand just how devastating each of her fifty punches had been.

Punches that were delivered high up in the sky to ensure the village wasn’t destroyed.

Each one carried enough force to displace the surrounding clouds, and one of them even formed snow clouds over the village, despite it being the middle of summer, after Velzard let her control slip slightly.

I dealt with that quickly, of course, but the vivid image of the sky shifting from hot and sunny to what looked like the beginning of a once-in-a-lifetime blizzard was still burned into everyone’s minds.

Moving on.

With Velzard joining us, things largely returned to normal as we all worked around the large farm like we always had. The only exception was Velzard herself. She wasn’t used to manual labor, nor did she seem interested in trying. Instead, she spent most of her days wandering the village, sampling everything it had to offer, and making a few adjustments to the barrier surrounding it.

Word soon spread across various parts of the world about our village, thanks to both the Demon Kingdom and Doraim. Not long after, we received our first new visitors: a group of Beastmen looking to trade.

Having foreknowledge of this, I made sure to instruct the girls to treat them properly, since their arrival meant we would soon be welcoming some Kemonomimi girls, like Sena.

After that, the Elder Dwarves finally arrived and were welcomed warmly once everyone discovered just how skilled they were at making alcohol.

Likely to maintain friendly relations out of fear of being destroyed, Doraim and Guchi became somewhat frequent visitors. The dragon, in particular, took a strong liking to our alcohol and always brought treasure or other precious trinkets whenever he visited.

Never one to say no to free stuff—and no, I’m still not a hoarder, since everything goes neatly into my inventory—I welcomed him every time with open arms. It also gave me a chance to spend time with other men who weren’t after my girls. Velzard had even stopped paying Doraim any attention, much to his visible relief, simply ignoring him whenever he came by.

After messing with time once again, another year passed in the outside world, and I soon found a familiar scene unfolding before me.

This time, instead of a wyvern attacking the village, it was an actual dragon, a green-scaled one with red horns.

‘Looks like Doraim’s little visits were finally noticed,’ I thought with amusement as I watched Lastimun, Doraim’s daughter, prepare to release her breath attack.