The Harvester

Rakna clicked his tongue after hearing Wis’ warning. “No wonder the old man increased our levels as a group then. I guess we can’t rely on Shin-Woo’s knowledge,” he muttered. “Too many variables now, and I’m the biggest of them to boot.”

 

“Ah, yes,” Hans concurred. “Kim Shin-Woo; he has an interesting story.”

 

“Excuse me,” Caer raised his hand. “But… could you explain what the ‘System dying’ means?”

 

“Oh, right,” the therian exclaimed. “I haven’t told any of you about this. This is something Shin-Woo told me, and to avoid making this conversation even more convoluted, if you want to know how he knew, you can ask him yourself if you meet him. Shortly said, soon, the System is going to fall apart and things such as Resets, Trials, AIs, Statuses, and Plateaus are going to malfunction.”

 

“That’s… concerning,” the pink-haired man frowned. “Would it endanger our lives too?”

 

“Not directly,” Ceresta spoke up to answer. “Such malfunctions would only cause casualties based on specific times and places. That is, of course, if those are as far as it goes. My assumption is that it is due to a core failure. Perhaps… if ignored, we could potentially be ejected into Meuro?”

 

“How grim…”

 

“Well, the worst-case scenario doesn’t apply to us,” Rakna reassured. “I guess you could say all of us here are under the protection of the old man. If it’s a collapse of the System, he can take us out of here before it becomes fatal.”

 

Kaelith harrumphed. “Honestly, I don’t even care about that,” she sighed. “We already have enough worries with the Abyss and that Téra Empress who’s ‘desperate’ to swallow Existence to sate her emptiness… what kind of crazy talk even is that?” She groaned.

 

“Well, I kinda prefer that to Phantasms,” Allan deadpanned. “She has a simple motive. I’m happy that it doesn’t give me headaches. Simple is best, after all,” he nodded exaggeratingly.

 

“Of course, you would think that,” Akronis sneered as he hung from the ceiling.

 

“Fuck you too,” the blond retorted automatically.

 

Caer hummed audibly as he pondered. “Should we publicize this, you think?” He suggested.

 

“Realistically speaking, it has no strategic value,” Kara mused aloud. “What it gives us is a better understanding of the situation, not a solution. Our best option is simply to reveal it to the highest-level Hosts like Lucrecia did with Karaskan’s story. Since they will know we are short on time, we can at least urge the Top Hosts to climb to the 1000th Plateau faster.”

 

“Speaking of,” Rakna raised his voice. “Any news with the Ghoul King?”

 

“Nope,” Kaelith shook her head. “Lucrecia is still working around getting an audience for now.”

 

“If you are talking about the ‘Miracle Plan’, there are already talks of conjoint operations around our Boss and other Guild Leaders,” Caer commented. “At worst, in a month or so, we’ll be ready to tackle the Wendigos… as for the Vampires, it’s going to be a bit more delicate. The vampires alone are a powerful faction, and with the addition of the Téra, it’s a bit hard to raid them.”

 

“…why not assassination?” Rakna suggested and Caer pursed his lips while Merlina closed her eyes and answered herself.

 

“It’s an idea that has already been raised,” she said. “But as far as that goes, only the likes of Afnil Albus, the White Scorpion, would be capable of infiltrating vampire territory and landing a fatal blow on Queen Nesslyria. And as you know, he’s the opposite of an ally at the moment.”

 

“Hm… maybe we can employ either the Church or a Vampire Slayer,” Kaelith contemplated.

 

“Well, we have the latter over here,” Higure snorted whilst pointing at Allan with her chin. “He has the title. His race also makes him superior to most vampires and to some extent, his magic is able to erase his presence even better than any of us can. Sadly, he’s a weakling. So, it won’t work.”

 

“Thank you for the praise…” The ‘weakling’ deadpanned resentfully.

 

“I could do it myself,” Rakna hummed. “I’m… sort of a Nephilim now, after all,” he said and glanced at a few of the System windows that had been pending since he woke up. “I could also easily use the Gemini to mask my aura, my nanites to change appearances, and Sonata’s Skulk Life Down to kill undetected with its Wicked Sanctity perk.”

 

“…”

 

The room fell silent for a moment and everyone collectively seemed to draw the same conclusion in their mind, ‘Wait… isn’t that kind of scary?’

 

But Kaelith abruptly spoke. “Denied,” she uttered flatly. “I prefer a frontal assault than having you go off to potentially die again.”

 

“Of course,” the therian snickered, not disheartened in the slightest.

 

“In the first place, we would need these guys to be present, right?” The vixen added whilst pointing her thumb at Hans and then Cura. “Both their magic and weapon are key to this, no?”

 

“True,” Rakna shrugged and looked at King Gulon. “What’s your final decision, by the way? You did not answer me back at the Arena.”

 

The creature growled in response and the therian immediately smiled, while Cura had to translate for the others. “Gul says ‘I’d be a fool to miss tasting such a unique dish’,” he said. “And that applies to me as well,” the shark man added. “I won’t run away from such an interesting battle. But I would also like to complete our deal soon.”

 

“Right, the spar,” the therian nodded. “The Myth Council meeting is after tomorrow, right? And you wanted to inaugurate Harvest…” He trailed as he looked at Kara.

 

The older vixen shrugged. “Tomorrow is most optimal. Especially since you’ve agitated quite a lot of people today with your performance. They’re eager for more. But it’s not like you need to be there all prepped up. How about lending me a Tail Clone? You don’t need all your tails for a spar.”

 

“Good idea,” Rakna replied and Gulon seemingly protested with an annoyed growl. “Oh, come on, it’s not like the quality of my energy changes with one less tail. Nor does the number of types. You will get your fill.”

 

The living weapon huffed and then went quiet.

 

“…you know, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Allan interjected. “How do you understand this guy?”

 

“Beast Tongue,” the therian answered simply. “It’s a special skill that comes with my title as Beast Emperor. It allows me to understand and communicate with creatures that fall under the category of ‘beast’.”

 

“Isn’t that a bit too vague?” Caer commented. “There are a lot of creatures that can be defined as a beast by definition. Does that mean your Emperor Title applies to all of them?”

 

“Now that I think about it, it’s indeed extensive,” Kara said with a finger on her chin. “Wouldn’t that mean you are capable of defeating about… half of the Wilden in the System by just ordering them to stand down?”

 

Rakna shrugged. “I suppose. Though, the further away from a ‘beast’ they are, the less my coercion would be effective. Gulon can be considered an ancient beast, but he’s quite far from the typical type, usually defined by four-legged wild animals.”

 

“It comes down to perception as well, doesn’t it?” Nyx tilted her head. “For example,” she pointed at Akronis. “A bat is certainly an animal but people would rarely call it a beast. There is one thing that usually makes people consider something beastly; ferocity. Allan’s werebat form would fit the term better from that aspect.”

 

The blond blinked and snapped his head toward Rakna. “Oi, you better not use that shit on me.”

 

Rakna snorted in amusement. “Don’t worry, you’re probably too much of a blockhead for it to work on you anyway,” he joked and Allan gave him a blank stare. “With that said,” the therian followed up with a clap of his hands. “That’s enough plotting. For now, let’s just wait for the Ghoul King’s response and the mounting forces against the Wendigos. We can get stronger until then.”

 

Caer sighed with a smile. “I suppose so. A month is quite a lot for someone like you, isn’t it? All of you even received Eternal Night’s blessing, so it would be judicious to take advantage of it. I’ll be sure to help you convince the Leader to have Throne of Glory assist you as well.”

 

“Thanks,” Rakna smiled. “Though, I’ll try that myself during the test.”

 

“Hm, then, I guess it’s about time I go back hunting,” Zialtra said as she stood up from her seat. She grabbed a few snacks prepared by Flavia earlier in passing and headed toward the exit. “Thanks for the story time, midget,” she waved at Hans.

 

“You are welcome, gorilla.”

 

The Hunting Queen snickered. “See you all on the battlefield,” she said and left the house.

 

“I suppose we should go too then,” Caer followed up. “We have quite a lot to ruminate over and we might as well start gathering a bit of information,” he added and smiled at Rakna. “See you during the test. And have fun at the Myth Council.” With a chuckle, the eye-smiling man left and Merlina quietly nodded at everyone before following after him. 

 

“Ah, right!” Though, before the door fully closed behind them, Caer’s head peeked back inside and he squinted his eyes at Rakna. “You better not make a pass on my daugh— agh!” His sentence was never finished as Merlina yanked him back outside by the collar.

 

“…” The therian deadpanned at the shut door and avoided Kaelith’s gaze. Instead, he turned toward the shark man standing next to his weapon. “What about you, Cura? Do you want to stay for the night? We can spar tomorrow.”

 

Cura silently pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “No need. Call me when you’re ready and I’ll come back,” he said and hoisted Gulon. “Good night,” he uttered and left.

 

“…well, that was that,” Higure huffed.

 

“By the way,” Rakna raised his voice. “Cetus has been recalled to Egregore, right?”

 

“Ah, yes,” Astraea nodded and smiled. “He should have been unsummed by now. He said he wanted to go swim a bit in Atlantis until his time was up since it was a good occasion to do so.”

 

“I see. What about Lana? She didn’t come with you?”

 

“Heh,” Higure immediately smirked.

 

“…what’s that for?”

 

“Nothing,” she shrugged. “She just went to her house to pack up.”

 

“Pack up?”

 

“Yep! She joined the Guild, right? I told her she could move in here,” the lioness grinned.

 

“…what?” Kaelith blinked and her expression twitched. “When did you do that…?”

 

“Wait,” Allan raised his hand. “You invited the girl with an extremely scary background to live with us? Is that it?”

 

Higure laughed. “I did, indeed.”

 

“Well, personally, I have no problem with it,” Flavia said with a pacifying smile. “Who wouldn’t like such an adorable girl? I’m sure she’s going to be a great addition.”

 

Hans let out a snort. “To what? The house? Or Xiorra’s harem?”

 

“Probably both, no?” Kara answered with an amused tone.

 

Kaelith rolled her eyes. “How many is that?” She muttered to herself and started counting on her fingers whilst everyone watched her wryly.

 

At the same time, the entrance clicked open and a bundle of pink hair shyly emerged, followed by a pair of twinkling green eyes. “Hello?” The sheep girl greeted with a blushing face, her ears going up and down in an excited manner.

 

“…” Kaelith stopped counting and looked up. Her expression went through a few variations until she pouted at Rakna. “That’s not fair. Why do you keep bringing in girls that I can’t bring myself to dislike even a little bit?”

 

Rakna genuinely wondered if he should ignore the question, but in the end, his mischievous side won the battle, “My unparalleled charm.”