Harem Stealer: Reborn with the God-Tier Sharing System Chapter 454 - Ripples

"Elira... is here?"

The Ruler questioned, the demand sounding more like a rhetorical observation than a true inquiry.

The surrounding ocean of shadows refused to be still. They churned and rustled, resembling a man writhing in agony upon the earth, before they surged toward the heavens in a terrifying display and crashed back down with the force of thunder.

The entire chamber appeared to collapse inward, expanding and contracting, formless and shifting like a shadow.

The four dragons clenched their teeth, suppressing any urge to complain as they struggled to keep their heads bowed, their knees pressed firmly against the indeterminate surface of the ground.

Only the Ruler remained untouched by the chaos.

The entity was perched upon a throne hidden from all sight, manifesting only as a formless void of swirling shadows. It was oval-shaped, with smoky tendrils of darkness reaching outward like hundreds of human hands grasping for purchase.

Yet, something else existed within that sentient darkness.

They appeared to be eyes.

However, the sight was far too monstrous to confirm if they were truly eyes at all.

"It," the entity declared, "is impossible."

Instantly, the world froze, as if a pause button had been struck.

The four dragons let out breath through clenched teeth, a desperate sigh of relief escaping them as they hoped—and prayed—that the ordeal had concluded.

"It cannot be," the being repeated. "Had Elira arrived in this final domain, I would have sensed her presence. Such an existence would have whispered its arrival into the very fabric of my being."

The weight of its words hung in the air.

Then, the dragons felt it: the Ruler’s piercing stare bore directly into their very souls.

They cowered even further.

"Or do you perhaps dare to mock me," it continued in a soft tone, "by spreading falsehoods?"

"N-No!" the Water Dragon stammered in absolute terror. "We would never presume to lie in your presence, O Ruler! Never! May Soul Rot consume our spirits if our tongues have uttered a single lie!"

She slammed her brow into the floor with shattering force. Her skull fractured upon impact, and a wave of pain tore through her like a heavy hammer blow.

She bit her lip fiercely, forcing herself to swallow her scream.

The others quickly imitated her display of submission.

"Then, dragons," the Ruler whispered with a chilling gentleness, "perhaps you are aware of Elira’s location."

"Perhaps," it added, "you truly do know."

"Y-Yes!" the Fire Dragon shouted, retrieving a small object from a dragon-shaped ring worn on his index finger.

The item looked like the distended jaw of a dragon, its inner depths radiating a soft, pale white light.

"With this artifact, my lord, her location can be determined," the Fire Dragon explained hurriedly. "We only require a fragment tied to her very existence."

The Earth Dragon took over, his voice more controlled but saturated with fear.

"As the first and most ancient Soul Dragon, her origins have long been a mystery. The Concept Dragons hold fragments of her essence, and we successfully acquired one for our hunt."

He stopped, swallowing with difficulty.

"We can track her down," the Wind Dragon interjected, bowing her head even lower as blood dripped from her forehead. "We can find her and deliver her to you, my lord, if that is your command."

A heavy, suffocating silence filled the room.

It was the sort of silence that made even the proudest dragons squirm like common worms in the mud.

Their lips turned to parchment; their tongues felt like sandpaper against the roofs of their mouths. Their breathing became labored and heavy, as if the air itself was fighting against entering their lungs.

The terror built until the Ruler’s voice boomed once more.

"One chance," it proclaimed. "I shall grant you a single opportunity to bring Elira to me."

"You will carry my authority and my protection. Should you succeed, I will provide what you crave and allow your return to the Waking World."

The shadows coiled tightly, hissing like vipers as the final decree fell upon them.

"But should you fail, dragons," it warned, "you will discover that the Spirit World is no sanctuary for pathetic, miserable souls."

"It is the graveyard of the Universe."

The four dragons exchanged glances, the oppressive darkness weighing down on them—merciless, thick, and ready to extinguish their souls at any moment.

In that heartbeat, Elira was no longer just a target for greed or evolution. She was transformed into their only hope for survival and the key to limitless rewards.

As they looked at one another, their gazes hardened, their determination solidifying with every passing second.

A new purpose took root deep within their hearts.

Elira would be captured.

No matter the cost.

No matter the method.

She would be taken, serving as their golden ticket to glory.

The emergence of Noah’s new bloodline did not pass entirely unnoticed by the cosmos.

Standing in the heart of the great void, the Son of Emptiness tilted his head from side to side, the twin pits of nothingness that served as his eyes reflecting a slight confusion.

Slowly, he turned his palm toward the sky and squeezed it into a fist. A surge of invisible power thundered through the void, possessing enough force to wipe out millions of Noahs in a fraction of a second.

Despite this, the Son’s brow remained furrowed. He relaxed his fist, letting his arm drop to his side.

Looking upward, he whispered, "How peculiar. Something is amiss. What could it be? I cannot say, but something connected to me is fundamentally, drastically wrong."

"I can sense it within my own non-existence. Am I a target? No, this feels like a different sort of focus."

He tilted his head again, staring into the deep abyss. "Is it them? That seems unlikely. The only way they could pose a threat is by uniting, which is a physical impossibility."

What then was occurring?

His mind raced with incredible speed, analyzing every variable and probability, even those that appeared entirely impossible.

Eventually, his train of thought led him toward the Perfected Reality, and then toward the three beings—!

"Why, I wonder, old friend, are your thoughts dwelling on me?" The Son of Emptiness’s internal monologue was cut short by a voice, causing a thin smile to touch his lips.

"Now, without a doubt, something is wrong," he remarked. "If even Gaia is the one to initiate a conversation with me."

"Wrong?" Gaia’s voice rasped. "The only thing wrong is you interfering with me and your decision to grant your power to three of my children."

"I have remained quiet for long enough, Son. What is your objective?"

"My goal is your protection, Gaia," he replied. "To shield you from those others. Not out of affection, but because your demise would leave us even more vulnerable."

"How can such insignificant creatures assist you in that endeavor?"

"That is a detail you are not permitted to know," the Son snapped back. "That is where you are profoundly mistaken," Gaia’s voice grew colder. "You are utilizing my children. You are exploiting my creation for your 'noble' goal of saving me. How grand! But I possess the right to understand what is happening to them and what their future holds." The Son went silent for a moment before speaking. "Will Eternal, are you not old enough to realize? Some truths are better left in the dark. You do not grasp the magnitude of what seeks to consume you. But I do. Do you know how long this conflict has raged?" he asked, then provided the answer himself. "You do not, Gaia. I have been here guarding you since you were nothing more than a seed of a wish from one of The Old."

"Have I failed you yet?"

Gaia found herself speechless. She had arrived seeking the Son’s true motives, only to be met with the stark reality of whom she was confronting.

She was dealing with an entity older than herself, something that had been present since before she even understood her own purpose. Suddenly, a chilling dread for her son began to well up within her.

Out of her cursed love for Noah, she had assisted him in an act he never should have performed.

Today, Will Eternal had stepped forward to speak to the Son because she sensed a threat—not to herself, but to the one she reluctantly loved.

The Son of Emptiness had detected an anomaly, and for a being of his stature, a sense of "wrongness" was something that demanded an immediate investigation.

Especially for an entity like the Son.

She pressed her lips together, unsure of what to say next.

Noticing her silence, the Son prepared to speak again, but stopped as eyes larger than entire universes began to shimmer deep within the void.

He made a sharp, annoyed clicking sound with his tongue and drew himself up. "What is required shall be done," the Son finally stated. "And never forget, Gaia."

"Power attracts Power. That is why you are under siege. That is why I am here. And that is why those three will eventually step onto this stage."

He cracked his neck audibly.

"Now, let us begin, my dear friends. Another round? Fine, fine, fine! Let us settle this bloodily and quickly today!"

"Yellow, today I will shatter your fragmented self. Wise, today I shall tear out your eyes; they truly disgust me!"

The Son of Emptiness laughed maniacally and charged into the fray.

Gaia withdrew her consciousness back to her own realm, her mind spinning through countless scenarios to find a way...

A way to help her son escape the inevitable vengeance of the Son of Emptiness.

-End of Chapter 454-