Demonic Dragon: Harem System-Chapter 812: I want to sleep.

The world had quieted down in an almost uncomfortably quiet way after everything that had happened. It wasn’t absolute silence—there were voices in the distance, the sound of footsteps, fragments of conversations—but still, it seemed distant, as if everything were happening behind a thin layer of reality that didn’t fully reach him.

Strax was alone.

Not by abandonment.

But by choice.

The crater still existed, marked by the scars of combat, by the black glass that reflected the sky in a distorted way, as if that place had been removed from the world and imperfectly pasted back together. Further away, Cassandra, Daniela, and Rogue were occupied with simple things—too simple for those who had just seen someone die.

Daniela spoke loudly, complaining about something that probably didn’t matter as much as she pretended. Cassandra answered more calmly, although her attention wasn’t entirely on the conversation. Rogue remained quieter, occasionally glancing in his direction, as if checking if he was still there.

Strax realized this.

And so he stayed where he was.

Without interrupting.

Without calling.

Without inserting himself into that moment.

Because there was something he needed to understand first.

He looked at his own hand.

For a moment, there was nothing.

Only skin.

Only form.

Only the newly created body that still seemed... too correct.

Then he lightly closed his fingers.

And called.

The flame appeared effortlessly.

White.

Small.

Silent.

It didn’t crackle.

It didn’t consume oxygen.

It didn’t sway in the wind.

It simply... existed.

Hovering over his palm like a contained presence.

Strax tilted his head, observing it with genuine attention, not as someone admiring something beautiful, but as someone analyzing something dangerous.

Because it was.

He knew it.

He felt it.

That flame wasn’t heat.

It wasn’t ordinary energy.

It wasn’t even something that could be reduced to a simple concept.

It was... continuity.

It was what kept something existing.

What allowed one moment to lead to the next.

That a body remained whole.

That a story wasn’t interrupted.

And yet—

It could also end it.

He gently swirled his fingers.

The flame followed.

Submissive.

But not weak.

Never weak.

"How strong is this... really?" he murmured to himself, his voice low, almost thoughtful, without any hint of arrogance.

Because now it wasn’t about power anymore.

It wasn’t about defeating someone.

It was about understanding.

He had already seen what happened when it was used without limits.

He had felt it.

He had been consumed by it. And yet... it returned.

Unable to resist.

But understanding.

His expression softened slightly.

"If this is life..." he continued, even more quietly, as if organizing his own thoughts. "Then... how far does this go?"

He closed his fingers.

The flame vanished.

Without a sound.

Without a trace.

As if it had never existed.

And, for a moment, he just stood still.

Thinking.

Then he sighed lightly.

And closed his eyes.

The world around him disappeared.

Not like a sudden blackout, but like a smooth transition, as if he were simply... shifting his focus.

Inward.

When he opened his eyes again—

It was there.

His world.

Or, at least, what it used to be.

But something was wrong.

Strax frowned slightly.

Because he expected... something.

He expected to see surreal landscapes, fields of blood-red flowers, scarlet rivers flowing slowly under a distorted sky, dormant volcanoes breathing heat, jagged mountains and frozen peaks contrasting with the controlled chaos that defined that place.

He expected to see that strange balance between the infernal and the peaceful.

But—

There was almost nothing.

The ground existed.

Flat.

Vast.

But empty.

No texture.

No defined color.

Just a neutral surface, as if it hadn’t yet been... decided.

He turned his gaze slightly.

Nothing.

No river.

No mountain.

No temple.

No flower.

No chaos.

No order.

Just space.

Silent.

Vast.

Incomplete.

Strax stood motionless for a few seconds, absorbing it all, trying to understand.

"...What changed?" he asked, though there was no one there to answer.

Because it didn’t make sense.

His mental world had always been... dense.

Full.

Loaded with symbols, emotions, everything he was, organized chaotically, yet still coherent.

This wasn’t that.

This was...

Empty.

He took a step forward.

The sound didn’t echo. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

There was no response.

It was like walking on something that hadn’t yet decided to be real.

Strax squinted slightly.

"No... this isn’t right."

He turned, more attentive now, searching for any sign, any fragment, any trace of what that place used to be.

Nothing.

Then—

He looked up.

And stopped.

The sky.

Previously nonexistent, now it was there.

But it wasn’t an ordinary sky.

There were no clouds.

There was no clear depth.

It was... space.

And, in that space—

Two bodies.

The first was impossible to ignore.

A sun.

Gigantic.

White.

But not a pure white, not a vibrant light.

It was an opaque white.

Dense.

Almost heavy.

It didn’t illuminate intensely.

It... imposed its presence.

It was too big.

Too close.

As if it were always there, observing, constant, without variation.

Strax felt something in his chest as he looked at it.

Not heat.

Not exactly.

But... continuity.

Life.

Something that never stopped.

That always moved forward.

That always existed.

He recognized it.

Instinctively.

Without needing to think.

Then his gaze moved.

To the other side.

And there—

Something else.

A moon.

As big as the sun.

But different.

Black.

It didn’t reflect light.

It didn’t absorb it completely.

It was... extinguished.

As if it were there, but not fully present.

Its surface seemed incomplete, as if part of it existed and part was still being formed.

And, unlike the sun—

It didn’t press.

It... pulled.

Subtly.

Like a distant abyss.

Silent.

Waiting.

Strax fell silent.

Looking from one to the other.

The white sun.

The black moon.

The constant.

And the inevitable.

He took a deep breath.

Slowly.

"...So that’s it," he murmured, more to himself than anything else.

His eyes narrowed slightly, not in distrust, but in gradual understanding.

"Life..."

His gaze returned to the sun.

"...and death."

Then he looked back at the moon.

Which still seemed...incomplete.

Weaker.

Less defined.

As if it were still...growing.

Strax tilted his head slightly.

Thoughtful.

"You’re not quite there yet, are you?"

There was no answer.

But he wasn’t expecting one.

He crossed his arms, still observing the sky.

And then something occurred to him.

Something simple.

But... significant.

His gaze moved again, alternating between the two bodies.

The sun didn’t change.

Neither did the moon.

They simply were.

Fixed.

But there was... a feeling.

A subtle transition in the environment.

Almost imperceptible.

As if something was beginning to... turn.

Or perhaps not the sky.

Perhaps it was him.

Perhaps it was the world itself.

Strax exhaled slightly through his nose.

"...Wait."

He looked again at the surrounding space.

Empty.

But now—

It no longer seemed... incomplete.

It seemed... waiting.

Like a stage before the play begins.

Like a space that hasn’t yet been filled.

But that will be.

He raised his gaze one last time to the divided sky.

The opaque white.

The silent black. Two presences.

Two forces.

Two directions.

And, for the first time—

His world wasn’t just a reflection of who he was.

It was... something in formation.

Something that could change.

Grow.

Evolve.

Strax tilted his head slightly, a small smile appearing, not arrogant, not overconfident—just... curious.

"...Now there’s day and night?"

He let out a soft laugh, low, almost silent.

"Interesting."

And, in that emptiness, something began to move.

Not visible.

Not yet.

But present.

Like the first breath of a world that was still learning to exist.

Strax opened his eyes slowly, as if returning from a place far more distant than just a few seconds of silence would allow him to imagine. The real world gradually returned, first the weight of his own body, then the air entering his lungs, then the sounds around him—voices, wind, the slight crackling of the still-warm crater floor.

For a moment, he didn’t move.

The sensation was strange.

Not of weakness.

But of adjustment.

As if he had returned to a place that still needed to reorganize itself to accommodate him again.

He looked at his own hand once more, opening and closing his fingers slowly, feeling the structure, the firmness, the presence... everything there, everything working, everything responding. There was no flaw, no pain, not even a trace of what had happened before.

But there was change.

He could feel it.

And that was... enough for now.

Strax let out a small sigh and then began to walk, leaving the center of the crater. His steps were firm, but calm, unhurried, as if the world could wait a few more seconds to return to its normal rhythm.

Climbing the glazed slope was simple. The black ground reflected fragments of light, distorting his image with each step, as if it hadn’t yet decided which version of him to show.

When he finally reached the edge, the voices became clearer.

Daniela was speaking—loudly, as always—about something that clearly involved too much work and too little patience.

Rogue responded more practically, while Cassandra seemed to mediate the conversation, as if she were already accustomed to the dynamic between the two.

The three stopped almost simultaneously when they noticed his approach.

For a brief moment, no one said anything.

Not for lack of conversation.

But because there was still that silent need to confirm, again, that he was there.

Really there.

Strax stopped a few meters from them, placing his hands in his pockets in a relaxed manner, looking from one to the other as if nothing had happened. "So..." he began, tilting his head slightly. "What do you want to do now?"

The question came out simply.

Directly.

Almost too casual for someone who had just... done all that.

Rogue was the first to react, crossing her arms as she let out a long sigh, looking over her shoulder toward the crater.

"Well," she said, pointing with her chin at the enormous glassy hole behind them, "we should probably start by fixing this."

Strax followed her gaze for a second.

The crater was... considerable.

A perfect monument to everything that had happened there.

He made a small grimace.

Rogue continued, now with a slight hint of irony: "Unless you want to leave it there as decoration."

Daniela immediately snorted, crossing her arms more tightly.

"No decorations, this place is going to become a huge problem if anyone decides to show up here," she said, gesturing exaggeratedly. "We need to get people to level this, rebuild the ground, sort out this whole mess..."

She paused, glancing at Strax.

"...preferably someone who isn’t us."

Cassandra let out a small, more restrained sigh, but nodded in agreement.

"Yes... this will be hard work," she said calmly, analyzing the crater with a more technical eye. "But it’s not exactly urgent for us."

She looked back at Strax.

"We can organize this later."

Daniela shrugged.

"It’s all the same to me. I’m free now," she declared, shifting her weight to one leg, clearly with no intention of starting any kind of work at that moment.

Cassandra nodded slightly.

"Me too," she added, more calmly, but still watching Strax intently, as if she wanted to assess whether he was truly alright.

Strax listened to the two of them, absorbing the information, and then let out a small sigh, running a hand through his hair.

"Right..." he murmured, glancing back at the crater for a moment.

Silence.

Then something seemed to click into place in his head.

He blinked.

"Ah."

The three of them looked at him at the same time.

Strax frowned slightly, as if he had just remembered something inconvenient.

"I had to go to the main territory of the White Flame Monarch."

The silence that followed was immediate.

Daniela raised an eyebrow.

Rogue tilted his head slightly.

Cassandra... closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath before answering.

"You literally almost died," she said, opening her eyes again and looking directly at him. Her voice wasn’t loud, but there was firmness in it. "That can wait."

Daniela pointed at him immediately.

"Exactly!" she agreed, with more energy. "You’re not going to walk around like nothing happened, are you?"

Rogue uncrossed his arms, looking at Strax more practically.

"Besides, if the problem is reconnaissance or information," she said, with a slight shrug, "we can solve this without you."

Cassandra nodded.

"We can ask Cristine to send scouts from the Shadow Guild," she suggested casually, as if she’d thought of it before. "They’re discreet, quick, and know how to handle this kind of situation better than anyone."

Daniela nodded in approval.

"Perfect. Let the spies do their job. That’s literally what they’re for."

Strax was silent for a moment, absorbing the idea.

It made sense.

More than that...

It was practical.

He didn’t need to go personally.

Not now.

He let out a small sigh, this time lighter.

"...Yeah," he agreed, nodding slowly. "Good idea."

Rogue raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Wow," she commented, with a half-smile. "You agreeing without arguing. Really, something has changed."

Strax shrugged.

"I know when I don’t feel like working," she replied, without any shame.

Daniela let out a short laugh.

"Now you’re back to normal."

Cassandra just shook her head, but there was a slight relief in her expression.

Strax remained silent for a few more seconds, looking around, feeling the environment, his body, his presence... everything there, stable.

And then he spoke, simply, almost lazily:

"I want to sleep."