The Harvester

Chapter 390: Desperation

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Designation: Heart/Divine/Demonic/Draconic

Name: ---

Rarity: Exotic

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Description:

A heart originating from a vessel of the Kind Demon. It holds the power of Nox Aeterna and the demonic nature of Angra Mainyu.

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"…" Rakna silently stared at the large muscle while contemplating which way to use it.

"Don't overthink it," Arimane brusquely interrupted his thoughts. "If you try to add that as your last genome, you'll just pop like a balloon. Get the idea out of your head."

The werewolf's expression twitched in annoyance. "Thanks for the heads up…"

"You're welcome," the dragon nodded without shame. "Also, the reason I won't mess with your Life Force is simple; it'll mess up the 'recipe'," he said and pointed at his nephew. "To avoid that, you need to personally be involved in the process of receiving my power. You'll eat it, refine it with your flames, and diffuse it inside your Star."

"…"

"On top of that, since you combusted a lot of my Divinity earlier, you already have broken the balance with your Infernity. We'll fix that by feeding you my demonic energy."

Rakna clicked his tongue but didn't disagree. The Divinity had indeed started pushing back inside the Obsidian Star. 'I thought I had been hiding it well, but I guess it doesn't mean much to him…'

"And finally, if I don't do this, you'll have a hard time properly awakening your Sub-Path."

"…what?" The werewolf blinked at the unexpected topic.

"Listen up, do you know what a Nephilim draws strength from?" Arimane asked with crossed arms.

"…wasn't it something along the lines of converting Sins, Virtues, and more generally, all forms of evil and good into power?"

"Wroong~," the dragon uttered with a look that screamed 'how dumb can you be?'. Rakna's grip on Sonata trembled, itching to throw the lance again. "Being a Nephilim entails reversing the flow of Fate and the World itself. Anything that a normal living being would normally exude out of themselves instead goes back inward."

The explanation flew over Rakna's head but a few of the bystanders overhearing the conversation perked up in extreme curiosity.

"If they indulge in evil, it doesn't come out as demonic energy. It goes back inside as power. If they do good, they don't gain holy energy, it turns into more power," Arimane explained as if it was obvious. "They hate someone? It makes them stronger. They love someone? It makes them stronger. If they kill? Even stronger. If they destroy or create? Stronger."

The spatial layer fell into silence as he fired what seemed to be an infinite number of methods to gain power by merely… living.

"And of course, if someone hates them, loves them, projects their evil onto them, or subjects them to their virtuousness, they get stronger," the dragon sighed. "Basically, Nephilim are all unlimited sinkholes. At rest, they don't release even a single speck of energy."

The Demon waved at Rakna again. "You are partially one. To be exact, you started becoming one when you fell into that 'Blood Pool'. The shiny guy saved your soul, and the Remnants thus had nowhere to go but become your own strength. That marked your crude ascension into a Nephilim. And it is also the most important ingredient of the 'Stone'. It's like the core that pulls everything together and is governed by Sins and fueled by Divine Infernity."

The werewolf furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?"

"Because…" Arimane raised an eyebrow. "If your awakening into a Nephilim does not turn out to be powerful enough, the 'core' will fall apart. The 'recipe' will collapse and you with it."

"…"

"You're holding the solution to that," the dragon jerked toward the heart. "Honestly, you don't even have to do anything other than eat it. You'll become a Nephilim once you do," he stated with a wide grin.

"…that's beyond fishy," Rakna retorted.

"Come on, trust your dear uncle," Arimane smirked. "Did I ever mislead you in the past?"

"About 148 times," the werewolf deadpanned and the dragon froze.

"…what the fuck have you been counting, kid?" He muttered in disbelief.

"You're not denying it."

"I wouldn't even know where to start…" He admitted blankly.

Rakna huffed and looked back at the heart in his hand. Without a word, he used Size Alteration to shrink it to a size where he could swallow it in one bite. "Uh, that works," he commented. "To be clear, old man, I would never use this as my fourth genome even if you told me to."

"Hm?" Arimane tilted his head in curiosity.

"Not only would your abilities annoy me to death every time I use them…"

"Oi…"

"But my instincts have already locked onto one target," the werewolf said. "And you're not it. Sorry to say, but I trust my instincts more than I trust you."

"Haha, I can understand that…" Arimane smiled and watched as his nephew raised the heart to his mouth before abruptly stopping. "Hm? Something wrong?"

"No… I think I just understood what will happen to me when I eat this," Rakna replied calmly and eyed his uncle. "So, before I do it, I need to hear something first."

"What is it?" 

"The Téra," Rakna cut to the chase and Arimane stiffened. This question coincidentally caused the Espectros to react minutely and the spectating group to focus. "I have my assumptions, but I want to hear it from your mouth."

Arimane squinted his eyes and hummed audibly. "I see… how about I answer it this way," he said and raised one finger. "Year one; death rates increased by 1864%, crime rates decreased by 87%, social cohesion improved by 76%, average life force increased by 945%."

He raised a second finger. "Year five; from the initial values again, death rates decreased by 67%, crime rates decreased by 62%, social cohesion improved by 68%, average life force increased by 1996%, casualties of poverty and famine decreased by 85%, corruption increased by 32%, and finally, the number of Worlds dying every day to self-ruin decreased by 78%."

The flood of statistics spoken by the Eternal Night God caused more than a few people to just listen dumbfounded. Only a select few had the proper context to understand what it was about, while the others were either confused or gradually coming to a plausible conclusion.

"…you haven't changed," Rakna snorted in amusement. "Proudly and accurately keeping track of your experiment's results. 78% less world destruction? Compared to that, the first-period death toll and a measly 32% increase in corruption is a cheap price."

"I know, right?" Arimane chuckled in response, but it sounded somewhat hollow, his smile sharp and his eyes closed.

"That's all I wanted to hear," Rakna added in finality and promptly devoured the heart. A pillar of purple and black energy erupted where he stood and was followed by a howl-like roar.

Arimane immediately felt 'The Scavenger' activate. This Nirvana Skill was like none other in its ability to plunder a target's power. Realistically speaking, as the Kind Demon, he is more than able to regenerate his heart at will. Additionally, it would rationally not carry much of his power.

That was the case for most creatures in Existence. The heart was a simple part of their physiology, not the source of their strength. But 'The Harvester' did not care; the skill used it as a medium to cast something akin to a unique World Law. 

That Law was simple: 'If Rakna Xiorra eats your heart, your power will be stolen'. It didn't matter if the target was dead for centuries, or if their soul was completely gone; the World would see to it that the Law was respected. This was an ability born from the hunger of a Nephilim.

Looking down at himself, Arimane saw Soledad's bindings fall off his body, but not because he had shaken them off; they simply had nothing to restrain anymore. His body was already cracking and dissipating.

Instead, the pillar of energy shrouding Rakna became even bigger and bolts of lightning escaped from the top, thunder resounding everywhere. The howl of the werewolf became louder as if he was hollering in both pain and rage.

Merlina widened her eyes as the energy became too much to hold back with her aura alone. She lifted one arm and a beautiful gauntlet appeared around it. Summoning one part of her Soul Armor, she let it shine and manifest an even greater spectral defense.

Everyone behind her winced when Rakna's roar was heard a third time. Kaelith squeezed her arms whilst biting the inside of her lips. "Why does it sound as if he's in pain?" She mumbled worriedly.

Kara, on the other hand, had a solemn expression. "Think about it, Kae… Rara's ability has always had a certain limit from what he told us, didn't it?"

"You mean…?"

"Oh! So, that's why he bought hearts from my Trafford," Zialtra exclaimed. "Last I heard, he picked only those around level 200 or 300. And the lass who came to buy more in his name…"

"500," Evelyn stated firmly. "That is the maximum level I dared to use in making Cardiac Pills. And that is considering my method drastically reduces the toll normally put on Rakna's body… But the heart of the Kind Demon can't even be compared to that…"

"Why would the old guy make him eat it like that in the first place?" Higure frowned. "From what I know, 'Harvester' breaks down the heart's power into dormant Traits and skills. But 'Scavenger' pours out everything in one go."

"The answer is there," Nyx chimed in. "As you said, 'Harvester' converts the power into dormant potential. But it nonetheless takes 'space'. Each person has a different 'capacity' for both body and soul. Rakna's is probably incredibly high but for someone like Reigen… it would be like trying to fit an ocean inside a river. It would erase his existence from the inside out. But to use 'Scavenger' instead means drowning Rakna inside the ocean instead. Why would he…?" She trailed, unsure.

"…Wis," Flavia quietly called for an explanation afterward and the hat atop her head sighed.

"The Kind Demon seeks to 'kickstart' a Nephilim awakening," Wis answered simply. "By now, it is of no surprise that Rakna Xiorra has quite a set of special circumstances. Shortly said, the Demon wishes to infuse untold amounts of power into the 'Obsidian Star' until it spills out. The boy will experience a state where his entire soul is filled to the brim as if redefining what he is into nothing more than a sentient bundle of energy."

"What would that accomplish?" Azheim asked in confusion.

"Well, of course," the hat snickered. "What does a beast rely on in the end? Survival instinct."

As if on cue, the rampaging pillar of energy abruptly shifted. In the blink of an eye, it stopped rising upward and instead began bloating into a dome. It verged closer to the group and Merlina was about to intervene when it stopped just a few meters away from them.

Then, it began to rewind its path, returning to its epicenter. The energy flowed inward, not letting even a single spark or ember go in any other direction. It continued like so until all of it had been fully retracted inside the now untransformed therian.

Rakna heard several System notifications ping him but right before he lost consciousness, he used the last of his strength to glare at Arimane. "Asshole… you could have… warned… me…" He uttered and promptly blacked out.

But right before he collapsed, a sheep appeared out of nowhere and cushioned his fall with its pink wool. Lanata then quickly came up and patted her sheep summon who bleated happily. 

"Good job," she praised while everyone else also began to walk up.

"…he grew his sixth tail," Kaelith remarked as she gently brushed aside his bangs.

"And I don't sense anything from him at all," Kryas added curiously. "No energy, no aura; just pure physical presence. It goes way beyond the protection of Sloth that I know of."

"Of course," Arimane's voice rang out and everyone startlingly focused on him, almost forgetting that he was still there due to his continuously decreasing aura, now making him appear as some sort of half-exorcized ghost. "If Humans are wielders of Sin, Nephilim are its rulers."

"So, you're saying it worked?" Nyx inquired with narrowed eyes.

"Hahaha!" The dragon laughed good-naturedly. "That, it did. It might have been a little painful for both him and the ones inside his Soul Realm, but they'll walk it off," he shrugged. "As for me, I'm pretty much done here."

Arimane looked down at himself with a hum and then gazed at the sky. "But I suppose I have the time to leave a few parting words," he stated and brought a frown to the faces of the Espectros who wanted nothing more than him to disappear for good.

"Hey!" The dragon abruptly shouted at no one. "You're watching, right? You wayward child!"

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Swimming in a void of emptiness, a pair of eyes opened softly, revealing irises resembling several geometrical shapes overlaid atop one another, with each slowly and independently rotating.

"Father…"

A whisper pierced through the emptiness.

"[What is your goal?]" The voice of the Kind Demon reached her. "[You, who has reached the peak defining me? What do you desire to do with a power that matches mine?]"

"…"

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"…no answer, huh?" Arimane muttered to the silence of the spatial layer, ignoring the stares he was being given by everyone. "Or can I not hear you from all the way to Meuro?" He asked.

A beat of silence passed and then, a black line was traced in the dimensional storm that made up the sky of this place. With an ominous noise, an ellipse was torn open, and a giant eye composed of so many intricate layers peered down at them.

Right away, an oppressive force descended. Even the Phantasms were not spared. They paled and trembled as the 'eye of emptiness' scrutinized them, making them feel like nothing.

Only two people stared right back, Arimane… and Hans. The others could only force themselves not to lower their head and nothing more. Even Lanata had a mortified expression, her cheeriness nowhere to be seen, while someone like Ceresta was trapped by an intensity of emotions she could have never imagined experiencing.

Though, it seemed Cetus, who had been rather quiet until now, could muster enough grit to look at it vaguely. That extended to Astraea who was a Star Entity like him.

"There you are," Arimane grinned and the eye, who had been affixed on the unconscious form of Rakna, turned to the dragon. "Are you the one? The Téras closest to me?"

There was no response and he chuckled.

"I have to say, for Meuro to birth you of all things… it's beyond unexpected," he said. "That's not a place even I can take lightly, and you have tamed it... Or perhaps, a more accurate way of putting it would be; you became one with it."

"So, the question is, what do you want?" The dragon mused. "If you truly are the embodiment of emptiness, logically, only one thing could bring you contentment… hah," he snickered as he ultimately did not require an answer to understand. "You as well are desperate, huh?"

The watching eye's shapes slowed down as if emulating a squint.

Arimane huffed at the Espectros. "Desperate spirits," he uttered. "Desperate prisoners," he said while glancing at the Hosts nearby. "And a desperate monster," he finished with a smirk aimed at her; the Téras Empress of Emptiness. "What do you say, does that describe you well?"

"…you will not stop me, Father."

The voice that resounded from the sky was soft and cold. But the effect it had on its listeners was more than just disorienting. Empty; that's how their mind suddenly became. It was as if the voice alone could dispel all of their thoughts and emotions… Who knew what a touch would do?

"Is that your answer?" Arimane replied with a sad smile. "It won't work, you know? It will only worsen it. False hopes are cruel."

"It does not matter… My existence is void, my purpose empty. Is it such a heinous desire for at least one of them to be different?"

The dragon quietly shut his mouth.

"The next time we meet, Father, I shall be your opponent."

With those parting words, the eye rapidly closed and the dark line faded away completely, lifting the domineering sense of power and desolation that had been weighing on the surroundings.

"Aah…" Arimane sighed audibly. "I tried," he chuckled wryly and turned to the people crowding his nephew. He could tell that many of them were slowly being overwhelmed by today's events. 

"Well, that's my cue. Take care of the kid for me, okay? Also, my dear nieces-in-law, I hope you can tolerate him in the foreseeable future," he said with a grin and laughed at the blushing faces he got in return.

As soon as he said that, his body began to fade and the Espectros finally relaxed, now sure that he couldn't rekindle his life force; the vessel was indeed dead.

But right before the dragon went away completely, he exclaimed as if he had just been struck by a genius idea. "Ah! Wait, thinking about it, the kid's quite similar to that Empress… A Nephilim who devours to quell his hollowness and a Téras who swallows to quell her emptiness…"

The picture painted by those words caused Kaelith and a few others to deadpan.

"Hahaha! Tell the kid when he wakes up!" Arimane laughed. "Get that girl in his harem and half the problems will be solved! Hahaha…!" Eventually, his silhouette completely disappeared while in the middle of laughter. 

The silence that followed only lacked a tumbleweed to be nothing less than unforgettable.