Dragon King's Harem Chapter 589. Roots and Dragon III

Dragon King's Harem Chapter 589. Roots and Dragon III

The moment I said it, Elowen went insane.

Her entire monstrous body convulsed, roots slamming against the broken hall like a cornered beast clawing at its own cage. The pulsing heartwood below her glowed brighter, green and gold and black all twisted together, ugly as sin. It beat like an actual heart, each pulse sending poison mist rolling through the cracks in the floor. The air thickened. The remaining flowers trembled. Even Nightmare reacted in my hand, the blade humming like it wanted to bite that core so badly it almost pulled my arm forward by itself.

“Don’t let him reach it!” Elowen screamed.

Roots erupted.

Everywhere.

From the floor. From the walls. From the ceiling hole. From Durharn’s shattered throne. Thick, thorn-covered roots whipped toward me from every angle, no elegance anymore, no royal technique, just panic dressed as violence.

I pushed off the ground with my wings, not flying fully, just using the blast to throw myself sideways. The first root smashed through the spot where I stood. The second came for my ribs. I twisted midair, dragging Nightmare across it, fire mana burning a black line through the bark. The third root rose beneath me like a spear, and I folded one wing tight, letting it graze past my side instead of piercing through.

Pain ripped along my ribs.

Hot.

Sharp.

Annoying.

[Damage Received]

“Your Majesty!” Evelina shouted.

“I’m fine!”

I landed hard on a broken chunk of throne stone, knees bending, boots sliding across frost and poison sap. Before Elowen could crush me, Seraphel came from above like a falling ember. Her spear flashed red, cutting through three roots in one sweep. Fire trailed behind her, controlled and beautiful, close enough to burn, careful enough not to ignite the entire palace. Her hair had come loose completely now, flame-lit strands whipping around her face, dress torn at the thigh from battle movement, and gods help me, the woman looked like war decided to wear perfume.

“Move, Dragon King,” she said.

“I am moving.”

“Move better.”

Wow.

So supportive.

I launched forward again, using the frozen roots as stepping stones. My wings snapped once, twice, carrying me low across the battlefield instead of up into open air where Elowen’s thorn storms waited. The core pulsed beneath the cracked floor ahead, protected by layers of roots coiling over it like ribs. I needed one clean path. Just one.

Elowen knew that too.

“Thorn Funeral Rain.”

The ceiling hole darkened as thousands of black thorns formed above us.

“Oh, come on,” I muttered.

They fell.

Not like arrows.

Like judgment.

Evelina stepped into the center of the hall, golden light exploding around her body.

“Mass Healing Light.”

Warm light washed outward in a wide circle, touching me, Sela, Marissa, Al, Seraphel, the Fairy Queen, our soldiers, even several wounded dwarven guards still crawling away. My wound closed halfway instantly. The poison scratches along my arms stopped burning. Marissa’s shoulder wound sealed enough that she could lift both hands again. Sela’s bruised cheek healed. Al’s mana steadied, though sadly his personality remained incurable.

Then Evelina raised both arms.

“Barrier.”

The golden barrier spread overhead like a dome of sunlight.

The thorn rain hit it.

-CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK!

The sound was horrible. Like glass being chewed by metal teeth. Evelina gritted her teeth, feet sliding back, her dress fluttering violently around her legs from the force. I saw her shoulders tremble.

My chest tightened.

No time to worry.

So I moved faster.

“Sela! Left anchor!”

“Already!”

Sela slammed her palm into the ground. Earth mana surged through the broken floor, rising into jagged stone pillars that pinned Elowen’s left-side root cluster down. She didn’t just trap them, she crushed them inward, forcing the root network to expose a glowing vein feeding the core.

“Marissa!”

Marissa spun, brown hair flying around her face, eyes sharp, lips curled in that beautiful dangerous smile that always made me think, yes, this woman might poison my enemies and then ask if I want tea. She scattered seeds from her palm. They hit the exposed root vein and bloomed instantly.

Blue-white flowers crawled across the green-black vein, eating into the poison flow. Elowen screamed as the vein turned pale.

Al lifted one hand lazily, though sweat was dripping down his face now. “Coffin Thread.”

Black threads shot from every shadow under the broken furniture and wrapped around the weakened vein, pulling tight.

“Now,” Al said.

I didn’t waste it.

[Shadow Walk Activated]

I vanished into the shadow beneath my own wing and appeared at the exposed vein.

Nightmare swung.

One clean cut.

The vein snapped.

Elowen’s entire lower body jerked.

Not enough.

Still not enough.

She retaliated with a roar, her giant wooden hand coming down toward me, fingers sharpened into poisoned stakes. I jumped backward, but not fast enough. One thorn pierced through my shoulder.

Pain flashed white.

My teeth clenched.

Evelina’s light hit me instantly.

[Healing Light Activated]

The wound burned, then closed around the thorn enough to stop the bleeding. I grabbed the root-stake still stuck through my shoulder and grinned through the pain.

“Bad idea.”

I yanked myself forward along the thorn instead of pulling away.

Elowen’s eyes widened.

Yeah.

Dragons were stupid like that.

Romantically stupid. Violently stupid. Historically problematic.

I ran up her own root-arm, Nightmare blazing hotter. She tried to shake me off, but Seraphel’s fire chain wrapped around her elbow and held it in place for half a second. The Fairy Queen sent a wind burst under my feet, launching me higher.

I flipped once, wings flaring.

[Elemental Mana Sword: Fire-Ice Dual Edge]

Nightmare came down across Elowen’s wrist.

The cut severed the entire arm.

The massive limb crashed to the floor, poison sap splashing everywhere. Evelina’s barrier caught most of it. Marissa’s antidote flowers swallowed the rest. Sela raised an earth wall to protect unconscious Seranaya.

Elowen shrieked. “YOU BEAST!”

“Late observation,” I hissed coldly.

I landed near the core ribs, sliding on one knee, one hand touching the icy floor for balance. My shoulder screamed. My ribs ached. My wings burned from blocking too many thorns. But the core was closer now. I could feel it. Beating. Hiding. Terrified.