The dragon's harem

As Arad started flying, he could already see the shadows of massive aerial monsters following him. The scary part was that they were keeping up with him, and sometimes he could even feel them getting closer.

Checking his surroundings with magic, Arad noticed that the whole area was engulfed in Yggdrasil's magic, making it extremely hard to cast teleportation magic. Even his [Void Step] was getting disturbed, which is something that never happened before.

He can't teleport away or use his powerful nuclear breath, which leaves him with very few options to fight. Not that it will make him any less of a menace to deal with.

A massive bird flew down at Arad from above, its radiant green wings burning with wind magic. That was literal; Arad could see the green flames of magic replacing the bird's wings as it accelerated even further.

"A terror bird right out of the start. I'm a bit unlucky, aren't I?" Arad flapped his wings and dodged the bird's charge and swung his claw at its neck. Putting everyone inside his stomach was the right call; fighting while holding them would've been a nightmare.

Arad's sharp claws hit the bird's back feathers and bounced right back. The thing was extremely durable thanks to the massive amount of magic coating its whole body. Unlike a human caster who can control his magic well, this bird couldn't, and that's why its body leaked so much wind magic.

It was like a fire wizard setting themselves ablaze and then punching everyone who came close. Not the smartest strategy, but what did Arad expect from a bird?

The problem here is that the bird is extremely resistant to wind magic, which means that it'll burn like that for a long while before dying. It probably goes into this state while hunting and then calms down afterward, but this also means waiting for the bird to die on its own is probably impossible.

The bird retaliated with a talon swipe, which Arad easily dodged. The bird was fast, but all of its attacks and moves were clearly telegraphed and easy to understand.

"You're one mean twetee, aren't you?" Arad's body flashed with gravity magic, burning in purple flames. He can achieve the same, but unlike the bird, he has better control over his power.

The bird's magic gave it several buffs, the strongest of which was speed. That's why it could keep up with Arad. That burning wind magic also allowed it to generate shockwaves and hurricane winds with each of its wing flames, and form a dense barrier of compressed air around its whole body that acted like armor.

The previous elvish kings called it a terror bird for a reason. It's impossible to take down with magic or arrows; anything short of a fully-enchanted titan arrow fired from a heavyweight bow made for titans could take it down.

The bird was only a tiny bit smaller than Arad's draconic form, which made it several hundred meters in length. Thank whatever arcane power that is keeping those monsters from flying down to the world and causing disasters.

Arad could see a great wyrm killing this bird, or a powerful titan sniping it down with a well-placed shot, but that's it. Nothing less than that could stop this monster.

Of course, Arad won't have a problem killing this thing. If he could use his breath, he would've evaporated it before it could get close. Now, he has to brawl with it.

Arad was good at brawling, too good at it. The burning purple flame around his body was that of gravity magic, compressed and charged to the point that it appeared like raging flames coating his lustrous dark scales.

Gravity magic is powerful, especially in the hands of someone who has so much mana and output to unleash its full power. Arad roared, and the bird jolted, getting forcefully pulled toward him.

Doing both at the same time, pulling the bird toward him, and pulling his claw toward the bird's head. All while charging a powerful blast afterward to repel the bird away upon impact. What Arad wanted was one solid hit to the head, one that would give the bird enough brain damage to drop it down with a single hit.

To do that, Arad's gravity magic must be dense enough to overwrite the bird's radiant coat of wind magic. That wasn't hard to achieve, and Arad's fist indeed smacked onto the bird's head.

The hit produced a massive shockwave, and the bird was flung downward, accelerating to the ground with blood spewing out of its cracked skull. Arad isn't just fast and has a great affinity for magic; he can also hit like a meteor. Producing enough sheer power to drop titans.

"And I won't let you fall down. I need something for lunch, and I'm feeling like eating some poultry today." Arad flew after the bird and sucked it into his stomach, finishing it inside his void.

Arad would've been happy to get such a large piece of meat that would last him a while, but sadly, he didn't have the time. The echoes of their fight had drawn the attention of many more predators, and he could already see a blood-red butterfly the size of a small mountain flying toward him.

The fly's wingspan surpassed half a kilometer, and its long, tubular stinger twitched as it followed the scent of the bird's blood.

"A Death Butterfly, a blood sucking monster that always shows up when big monsters die or get injured. It sucks enough blood to feed itself, lays its eggs inside the victim, and then leaves. The larva hatches a week later and consumes the victim from the inside out." Arad hovered in the air, watching to see if the butterfly would just leave now that the bird's body was nowhere to be found.

The butterfly should only follow blood, so Arad shouldn't look like a target for her, unless he gets injured. Besides, his blood is probably the last thing that the death butterfly wants to taste.

As he expected, the butterfly fluttered around in confusion for a few seconds and then just left to search for another victim. Arad wanted to relax a bit, but it was better if he flew up and left this area behind him. He needs to find a safe place to spend the night with everyone else, or at least for him to hide.

The most terrifying monster that Arad read about in the book only showed up at night. How could such a thing exist? Arad didn't know, and didn't want to know; all he cared about was never meeting that thing.