Chapter 204: Kallamos Artoria
The hall fell into complete silence, with only the crackling of the fireplace in the background. Strax's heart plummeted into his throat, and for a brief moment, nothing happened. But then his body began to tremble, and an aura of power started radiating from him.
The dragon's power surged through Strax like a tidal wave, and he dropped to his knees, his eyes turning red as his veins ignited with energy. The process was visibly painful, and Strax grunted, but he held on, his sheer willpower evident.
"Ahhh... fuck..." he groaned, clutching his throat, which felt as though it was burning from the inside out. The pain was excruciating.
"Strax!" Beatrice shouted, moving to help him, but Evelyn grabbed her arm.
"Leave him," Evelyn said, her voice calm but authoritative. "He needs to go through this alone. That's the price."
And then...
"Where am I?" Strax questioned, seeing nothing but an open palace, vast as the entire city of Eldoria. He was confused; one moment, he had clearly been with the girls, but now...
"A lowly being dares to consume the heart of this Dragoness?" A sound echoed—yes, a voice, but from where? Who knew?
But Strax had already seen the message... A different message, a red and gold box, one he had never seen before. The message box seemed to be burning...
[A Dragon gazes upon you.]
Once again, it rang out like a distant notification, a calm sound filling the entire hall.
'Dragons and their great souls... Just like Ouroboros and Tiamat, a Special Domain...' He thought, recalling the Golden Halls of Tiamat and the Palace of Ouroboros in his mind...
[You are within the Heart of Kallamos, the Untamed.]
"I wonder how a lowly being can connect to a dead soul... How many years has it been since I died? Six hundred?" Strax finally managed to see where the voice was coming from. The direction was clear... It couldn't be anywhere else...
The throne.
His eyes shifted, and there she was—an incredibly sensual woman seated upon the throne, legs crossed provocatively.
Her bronzed skin glowed in the ambient light, a warm, golden hue, almost as if she were a statue sculpted from living bronze. Her hair fell in two carefully braided strands, a soft beige color with golden highlights, framing her face perfectly.
A subtle fringe covered part of one eye, adding a layer of mystery to her gaze. Her eyes, however, were what truly captured Strax's attention—deep amber, almost hypnotic, glowing with the inner fire of an immortal dragoness. There was something in her eyes that suggested ancient knowledge and absolute power, something that transcended death.
The horns adorning her head were as impressive as her presence. They rose from her forehead in graceful branches, resembling a stag's antlers but black as night. Small jewels and golden ornaments glimmered along the horns, decorated like trophies from past eras. Some strands of her hair seemed to weave through the horns, creating a mesmerizing blend of beauty and power.
Her body was a masterpiece of sculpted perfection. Hourglass-shaped with pronounced curves, she stood with a regal posture, as though her silhouette had been crafted by the gods themselves. Her pointed ears were reminiscent of an elf's, and the dress she wore was provocative yet exuded a dark elegance.
Long, flowing sleeves gave her a regal dignity, while the abyss-black fabric seemed to absorb the light around her. The dress had slits along the sides, revealing parts of her golden, perfectly sculpted skin.
However, the most striking detail was what adorned her chest: two black hands that appeared to be shadows, delicately yet powerfully holding her voluptuous breasts, almost as if the shadows had come to life to serve her.
"A lesser being desires me? How irritating." She spoke, waving her hand and sending Strax flying back, crashing into a pillar.
"Uhhgrt!" He roared in pain but quickly rose again, cracking his neck...
"Miss... Why so rude?" Strax muttered, almost daring her.
The dragoness on the throne raised a delicate eyebrow, but the disdain in her eyes was unmistakable. She watched as Strax rose to his feet with a calculated calm, like a predator sizing up its prey before deciding its fate.
"You are audacious... and pathetic," she responded, her voice dripping with venom and condescension. "A lesser being like you dares to challenge my authority?"
She stood from her throne, each movement fluid with a predatory grace. The way she approached him, silent yet imposing, made the space around them feel smaller, as if the air was tightening. With every step, the power radiating from her pressed down, making the atmosphere dense, almost suffocating.
"You think that because you consumed a fragment of my essence, you can challenge me? That this gives you the right to desire me?" She shook her head, clearly disgusted. "You are nothing but a vessel for a fraction of the power I once wielded. Nothing more."
Strax, pain still throbbing in his back, forced a cocky smile, cracking his neck once more. He wasn't the type to back down easily, not even when faced with a being who vastly outclassed him. "I just think... you could be a little more polite, you know?" His voice carried that dangerous edge of someone who'd stared death in the face more than once.
The dragoness paused, her narrowed eyes fixed on him as if pondering whether she should crush him right then and there.
"You're a fool," she murmured, her aura pulsing with restrained fury. "But... curious. Let's see how long your defiance lasts before the weight of true dragon power crushes you."
She waved her hand, attempting to do something... but then... she froze, a flicker of surprise crossing her face, unable to hide the shock that followed.
The world around them began to crack like glass, distorting before her eyes as the overwhelming pressure of two colossal presences weighed down on everything.
"Huh?" She looked around, her voice shaky and uncertain. The cracks in the air widened, splintering with an ear-splitting sound.
Within seconds, the grand palace where she once ruled disintegrated, shattering like fragile glass, and amidst the destruction, two enormous dragons emerged, each exuding a force so immense it was impossible to ignore.
The first, a golden dragon, radiated power with every beat of its wings. Its colossal form gleamed like pure gold, shining and imposing. Beside it, a more serpentine figure, with scales black as the deepest night, moved with the fluidity and grace of an oriental dragon, its elongated body rippling through the air as if dancing.
"Your audacity surprises me, child," Tiamat's deep voice echoed, heavy with judgment. She observed the smaller dragoness with piercing eyes, her multicolored gaze blazing with an almost divine intensity. Tiamat, the Dragon Queen, was a being of immeasurable presence, every word vibrating in the air like a decree.
Beside her, Ouroboros, the Serpent Dragon, spoke with a serene yet threatening calm. "Your existence must be erased... for daring to lay a hand on my husband." Her voice was like the whisper of an impending storm, deadly and unstoppable. The massive black dragon coiled through the air, her eyes locked onto the dragoness with a fury barely restrained.
She moved like a force of nature, twisting as she slithered to Strax's side, enveloping him in her protective embrace, her massive form encircling him lovingly while her eyes glowed with a silent rage.
The dragoness, who had exuded arrogance moments before, now seemed minuscule in the presence of these legendary entities.
She stumbled backward, her horns trembling slightly as her confidence faltered.
"You... you shouldn't be here..." she murmured, retreating, the fear now evident in her voice. The power of Tiamat and Ouroboros was something she had never faced before, and no matter how ancient or proud she was, she stood before forces far beyond her comprehension, beyond anything she could ever hope to defy.
She was but a snake in the presence of dragon gods... Small, insignificant.
"You dared to touch what belongs to us," Tiamat said, her voice a low growl that made the air around them tremble.
Before the dragoness could react, she caught a scent... something she had never experienced before.
"D-d-d-d-demonic d-d-d-dragon!" she stammered, her eyes widening in both horror and excitement. Her body betrayed her, legs trembling and clamping together, and without control, she fell to her knees, feeling the wetness spreading from her core, trickling down her legs.
She gasped, every breath a mixture of desire and despair, as the lustful scent overtook her mind and body, an instinctual submission to the unmatched power before her.
"She took a while to understand," Ouroboros murmured, a hint of disdain in her voice.
"A remnant of her soul," Tiamat explained, watching the scene unfold. "Her senses are finally returning."
"She's really aroused... It's because of his scent. Even we, with all our experience and power, feel the pull. But for a common dragon, for someone like her..." Ouroboros paused, his serpentine smile growing more twisted. "It's like staring into the embodiment of desire itself. She has no control over herself now, an endless waterfall of lust."
The dragoness trembled, her breaths labored, her body visibly overwhelmed by the scent and aura Strax emitted. The demonic power mixed with his draconic essence was something she could never have anticipated, let alone resisted.
"Can I kill her?" Ouroboros asked, turning to Strax, who remained silent... after all, he had something more important to consider. He had a beautiful woman kneeling before him, and his interest in her had undeniably grown.
[Analysis]
[Name: Kallamos Artoria]
[Age: 289 years old]
[Cultivation: Supreme Emperor Stage]