The Harvester

Chapter 445: Clear Stone

In a transitory dimension, stuck between one and another, Rakna was stopped as if some kind of massive gate was barring his path. He felt as if at the mercy of a massive fortress.

From the depths of his wings, a pair of golden crosses flashed intensely. He was not surprised by this situation, nor was he worried. He figured the System wouldn't let him navigate outside its boundaries, even if it was to a 'world' connected to itself.

There was no time for hesitation. Rakna 'placed his hand' on the gate and pushed. After all, there was no way a Nephilim would tolerate such an insulting obstacle. But that was not enough. The authority of his Sub-Path was ultimately proportional to his strength.

The System had been made with greater defenses than that. So, he had no choice. He had to cast something with the sole purpose of breaking through this boundary.

With the addition of Greed Magic… he may have just enough to try it. He could feel it. Five out of the seven had been gathered. One of the major 'ingredients' was close to completion. It wouldn't permanently achieve anything, but it could potentially 'activate' something temporarily.

As such, Rakna poured all of his Sin Magic into his Obsidian Star.

Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Lust, and Greed. They radiated from his Tenth Tail and flowed into the core of the Obsidian Star, mixing themselves with the rest. It was strangely smooth. The Soul Flames welcomed them, the Divinity and Infernity accepted them, the Star Energy submitted itself, and the causality compressed them together.

For just one second.

A single red slit appeared in Rakna's eyes. It split Cross Sight right through the center, mingling with the golden light and spilling out of his eye like the other two lines. The six-pointed symbol glowed and Rakna merely spoke his will.

It wasn't a spell. It was an order. He was demanding obedience from reality. The 'gate' crumbled under his power, neither violent nor soft. It was as if it had disintegrated at his touch.

❮ ◈ ❯

Error!

Skill Parsing Failed!

Status Parsing Failed!

---

You Have Created A Domain Embryo!

You Have Manipulated Existentiality For The First Time!

---

Error! Error!

System Integrity Failing! Encoding Limits Threatened!

Suppressing Domain Awakening!

Suppressing Existentially!

Error!

Suppression Protocol Unstable!

Canceling Skill Creation…

Canceling Title Creation…

Success!

---

Warning! Warning! Warning!

The Host Is Breaching The Periphery!

Please Return At Once!

---

Error!

Contingency Program Not Responding!

External Partition Failing!

---

Connection To Main Server Lost!

Initiating Sleeper Pro—

The system prompts stopped prematurely and Rakna disappeared.

* * *

Rakna opened his eyes. He was standing on Haltoan's corpse again. And the first thing he did was look down at the ground. For not even a second did he try to look around or up.

He breathed in. First, he noticed a strange sense of emptiness; the System had shut down. Based on the notifications, it should have gone into sleep mode. He couldn't access it, but his status was still the same. Otherwise, if he had truly escaped the System's constraints, who knows what kind of chaotic surge in power he would be having right now.

Other than that…

"…should I greet you?" Rakna spoke up carefully. There was a reason he didn't dare to look up. It was his only choice in order to survive. Even with Arch Madness, the otherworldly 'gaze' he felt from above seemed to be shaking his mind already.

If he turned to the sky right now, he would most likely see a dissected world. He was like a fish inside a bowl… and the Dreamer was looking inside. If he tried to confirm Azathoth's appearance so directly, then this time he would certainly go insane.

At that moment, Fray's sarcastic voice echoed in response to that thought, "{How astute. But are you sure you're not insane already? An intelligent person wouldn't have returned here.}"

'Oh… you are alive,' Rakna responded blankly.

"{What is that indifferent tone?}" The fabulist grumbled. "{I will have you know I had a traumatic experience because of you. Your entire Soul Realm was filled with eyeballs earlier. Thankfully, it didn't affect me much thanks to you acting as a buffer.}"

'That's an unsettling view to imagine…' The therian's expression twitched. He didn't exactly feel comfortable with the knowledge of his soul having been parasitized like that.

"{You don't say.}"

As they both talked to each other to relieve their tension, something finally occurred in response to Rakna's earlier question. On the ground in front of him, the soil liquefied, then solidified back into some kind of gelatine-like substance.

The therian's expression twitched as a large eyeball formed right there. He reflexively closed one of his own, clicking his tongue at the small amount of ache it brought to his mind. Though, it was nothing compared to before.

"{Good lord, not again…}" Fray whined. "{Why is he so obsessed with eyes…?}"

'…it's that or tentacles,' Rakna deadpanned. 'Also… is it not obvious, in a way?'

"{What is?}"

'I saw his body. He doesn't have eyes. That's just how we rationalize it. Rather, it's more accurate to say that he is made of organs that have the same function as an eye. His appearance is relative.'

"{…what is the difference?}"

'Well…' Rakna grimaced as the Outer God's 'eye' snapped toward him after fully forming. 'What if they are a representation of his powers? What if, for each of the millions; billions; trillions; endless eyes he has, he can have a different dream? One eye closed is equal to one dream.'

"{…}" Fray didn't reply. He couldn't say anything witty about that kind of thing. This Simulation was supposed to be just one single dream, after all. What Rakna was implying was that Azathoth could sustain the existence of such worlds for as many eyes as he could close. 'How absurd…'

- E̴k̸l̵a̴ ̸K̵i̷r̵ -

Words appeared inside the eye's iris and Rakna ignored the pain that came with it. He instantly knew what it was; the Original Language. He didn't want to try his luck activating Crystal Sight, but it wasn't even needed to decipher those words anymore.

The Insight given by Arch Madness allowed him to actually read the writing without feeling like his head was going to split for once. As for knowledge of the language… he could read it without the Sage's sight. Since when? He didn't know. Osmosis? Insight? The Nephilim skills?

"{What… is he saying?}" Fray tentatively spoke up. "{I cannot even grasp the words' shapes. They escape my understanding as if they are fleeing my gaze.}"

"…Ekla Kir," Rakna slowly repeated, not feeling burdened. There was nothing mystical about the words coming out of his mouth. It was as harmless as when Wis told them the System's name.

"It roughly means… 'Bright Stone' or 'Clear Stone'."

"{Huh? Why is he saying that to you?}"

"He's not saying it… that's what he's calling me."

"{…}"

Soon after, the eye blinked and the words changed. This time, the number of words contained in the new sentence caused the wind to blow. A stringent sound resonated as if the world couldn't contain the power contained inside the language.

To be exact, the words were barely restraining the power of the one expressing them. There was no way just any mortal language could handle an Outer God's articulation. The Original Language was the only tongue that Azathoth could use to indirectly communicate with the weak.

- Q̶a̸r̵ ̶A̴z̸a̵l̴ ̶F̷e̵r̵ ̸V̵a̶t̴r̷i̵ ̴L̷a̵p̸u̸r̵ -

Rakna squinted as the wind ruffled his hair and clothes.

"{Well… those words certainly have power when he uses them. So? What did he say?}"

"…'Do you seek my dream?'," Rakna voiced. "Though, 'Lapur' here can be interpreted to be more direct than that. Rather than seeking, he's saying I'm coveting it. It sounds like a question too, but it's phrased as a statement."

"{Great. How do you even answer that?}"

The therian silently stared at the Dreamer and opened his mouth, "…I do."

Instantly, the eye blinked and new words formed, once again exuding power into the World.

- F̸e̸r̶ ̶V̸a̷t̵r̷i̷ ̸K̶a̷o̸ ̶V̸i̵s̶l̵e̸ -

'…shit,' Rakna cursed in his mind as soon as he read the new question.

"{What's wrong?}"

'He's asking what I'm offering.'

"{Oh…}" Fray exclaimed. There was no point in wondering how bad that was.

"…can I ask you instead, what would you accept?" Rakna replied.

For a moment, Azathoth's gaze was still. It took nearly ten seconds before he blinked and gave an answer. The effects of his words were even stronger.

- Q̴a̸ ̶V̷a̸c̷ ̶H̷o̶r̷t̴ ̴.̶ ̸Q̶a̶ ̴F̶e̵r̶t̷ ̵G̸r̷i̶v̸a̴ ̴I̵t̷r̶ ̷S̸a̵b̶a̴n̶ -

Rakna clicked his tongue internally. 'That's not much better.'

"{…}"

'He's telling me to 'let him choose'. And he guarantees not to take my life.'

"{But he could take pretty much everything else…}"

'But I don't have a choice,' the therian grunted. 'I've already come here. I can't leave without doing anything. That's not even an option. But then again, will he accept if I decide to give up? There is a massive imbalance in this dynamic. He can take whatever he wants; I wouldn't be able to resist.'

"Aah, damn it…" He rubbed his head and sighed. "Azathoth," he raised his voice and the patterns inside the eye glowed in attention. "I accept."

"{Wha…?! Rakna! Even for you, that's beyond reckless!}"

'Coming back here was beyond reckless,' he dryly retorted.

"{Still--!}"

At the same time, a pitch-black pupil swirled inside the Dreamer's eye. It began to bloat out of its organ and take a different shape. Then, abruptly, it sprouted upward into some kind of limb.

'A tentacle… is what I wish I could call it,' Rakna thought. In a way, it was because it had no clear form that a mortal mind had to consider it a tentacle. If there existed a limb of which every single feature cannot be rationalized by sight, wouldn't it look like a wriggling appendage?

Rakna reflexively tilted his head backward as Azathoth's limb moved toward him. But he refused to step back. Honestly, he could have tried to bargain a little. Maybe he should have suggested a few of his powers as offerings before letting him choose on his whim.

'But the idea in itself might be more dangerous,' he concluded. 'I asked what he would accept. I did not ask what I could give him. If I had started arguing…' He stopped his thoughts there. 'As long as it doesn't kill me… I should be able to make up for it later, even if it destabilizes the 'recipe'.'

Thus, he watched as the absurd appendage approached very slowly. It made sense. This part of the Dreamer's body was relatively microscopic. It's like ensnaring an insect smaller than an ant with the tip of one's nails.

But, as it was about to touch his chest, a flash of crimson briefly overtook his vision and someone grabbed the appendage. "…!" Rakna's eyes widened. Sporting vermillion wings, a familiar woman had grabbed Azathoth with a strained expression. 'She was conscious?!'

"I don't know what is happening…" Ramsa rasped out, exhaustion still audible in her voice. None of her injuries had healed either. Yet, she firmly stopped Azathoth with her hands releasing arcs of solar energy. "But… I won't let my child… sacrifice anything for my sake…"

Rakna's gaze shook. She should have already seen his current appearance. He had come with his real body; not the one given by the Scenario. She understood that; she must have. If Soma could notice the truth of his existence, then she could as well. It simply meant Azathoth never bothered to make it impossible for them to do so.

"You…!" The therian was ready to rebuke her, but the near-instant shift of Azathoth's pupil made him shudder. The Dreamer stared at his own creation. Although by nature, she was immune to the madness he could induce, touching a part of his body, as remote as it was, was already eating away at her arms.

"Stop it!" Rakna shouted, displaying a rare amount of agitation. Azathoth was not retaliating, but it was not out of consideration or generous patience. The Dreamer was simply honoring his part of the deal; if he erased Ramsa, it would count as damaging the Dream, and thus their trade.

"Do you even know what you're dealing with?! You can't stop him! He's allowing you to! This is not something we can win against!"

"Then leave!" Ramsa yelled in return, freezing him in place. Tears flowed down her face. She did not care even as her hands were starting to meld with the Outer God's limb. She didn't stop using her powers, nor did she let go. Instead, she cried. "You do not belong to this world, do you?! Then you have no responsibility here!"

"…"

Her sobs became even worse. "I won't let you…" She cried, her divinity seeping into her tears and splashing against the ground in orange embers. "I don't care… who you truly are… I won't let my son… suffer… again…" With each word she spoke, her eyelids became heavier.

Soon enough, she would fall back into unconsciousness, caused by Azathoth's presence. Yet, she did not let go even a little bit. In fact, her grip kept getting stronger. The power of the sun spilled out of her body, even if it had no chance of harming the Outer God.

Rakna gritted his teeth as the heat swept over him. Even though she was about to pass out, her sheer willpower was combusting her life. At this rate, she would self-destruct even if she were to be killed.

'Her and now you… how stubborn can you be…' The therian clenched his fist and snapped his eyes toward Azathoth's avatar, which was sprouting another tentacle aimed at her. The red and gold star reappeared in Rakna's eyes and he reflexively opened his mouth,

-- R̸a̸i̶t̷r̶a̸! --

The original word was unconsciously spoken with power and the world rattled, dispersing some of Ramsa's energy in the process.

"{…!}" Fray trembled from inside the Soul Realm and the Outer God's limb halted. The Dreamer turned his attention away from Ramsa, the giant eye narrowing slightly.

Rakna silently pointed his palm at the Sun Goddess. "[Reverse Cosmos.]"

A Path Skill that only had one line of description.

It had already been documented by Eye of Symphony before the System shut down.

❮ ◈ ❯

Reverse Cosmos

A new legend shall rule the World Beyond as the Master of The Reverse Side.

Note: This is a skill unique to the Host and operates on a spectrum not envisioned by the Main Frame. The System does not possess the capacity to regulate its application.

❮ ◈ ❯

As soon as Rakna activated the skill, Ramsa disappeared without a trace. He staggered backward as if he had caught something and by the time he ended the motion, she had reappeared held up from her waist by his arm. Somehow, this sequence of events was bizarrely fluid.

Her eyes were half-lidded and gleaming with tears. "No…" She uttered weakly and Rakna quickly sealed her powers with his own. "Please… lea…ve…" She mouthed weakly, but eventually could not resist further when he used Sloth to put her to sleep.

"Azathoth," Rakna spoke slowly, Cross Sight and Sin glowing in his eyes, and pushing away the insanity of the Outer God's existence with newfound strength of mind.

There was no hesitation. The Dreamer renewed his advance much faster this time. It seemed he had judged that this 'ant' could handle a bit of a rougher treatment.

However, to the shock of both parties, the Outer God included, something interrupted him once again. But it was nothing like the desperation of Ramsa.

Rakna held his breath as a slender arm suddenly extended from over his shoulder, disintegrating the tentacle with but a touch of its finger. The unknown presence behind him was not inferior to Azathoth himself and not any less eldritch by nature either.

"As expected, you are kind," a soft feminine voice echoed next to his ear. It was awfully harmless sounding for such a ridiculous aura. Her tone was tender and gracious, but beneath, there was an overwhelming sense of emptiness that threatened to swallow Rakna whole.

The therian stiffened as he instantly realized who it was. The Sinful energy faded from his pupils as if defused and his movements became helplessly rigid. He looked back in cold sweat and there she stood.

An 'impossible creature'… that shouldn't have been this beautiful.

She was taller than himself, her deep crimson eyes looking at him intently. Her smooth dark skin contrasted with her immaculate white hair, of which the locks were unconstrained, reaching the ground and acting as crude covers to preserve the modesty of her bare, sculpted body.

Black tattoos carrying a strain of madness were strewn all over her figure; never retaining a clear shape or location no matter how much or how long you observed them.

She gazed right through Rakna's entire being and despite her cold expression, he felt something forcefully seep through his body and mind. Joy that wasn't his. Happiness consumed him from the outside; something she was directing at him.

"My dear cousin."