The Harvester

Chapter 409: “Did you have fun?”

Rakna sighed as he walked back down the stairs to the ground floor. Nyx had made him stay with her for several hours, and the sun was setting already. It wasn't as if he didn't enjoy his time with her but… he would have preferred to be able to move.

At that moment, he briefly halted his steps when he sensed a brief wave of demonic energy wash over his territory, fused with a noticeable spark of Infernity.

The therian hummed and looked in a certain direction. "Did Evelyn wake up?" As soon as he said that, Astraea and Higure hurried out of one of the first floor's few bedrooms and immediately set their sights on him.

"Ah! Perfect timing, devourer of mine!" Higure smirked and swiftly approached to drag him down the stairs. "Your help is needed for this one."

"…" Rakna immediately had a bad feeling and on cue, the door they had exited began to open.

"Oops! We don't have much time," the lioness said and 'abandoned' the therian in the middle of the living room. She fled upstairs with Astraea and crossed Lanata and Kaelith who were about to go down to check what was happening.

"Is something wrong?" The sheep girl asked innocently while eating ice cream.

"Oh…" Kaelith exclaimed in wonder as she peeked through the railings. The taller figure of Evelyn came out of the room; her hair wholly black and darkening her face. "I think I get it," she giggled.

"Okay, wait a--" Before Rakna could even say anything, the half-devil used Blink to teleport herself right on top of him, pushing him down on the couch. Her bangs parted to show her dark eyes and the therian shivered when he saw the desire they contained.

"I can't hold back…" The former succubus rasped out, her face red.

"Well then," Kaelith grinned. "We'll give you the floor for the night, wolfy. We'll eat in Flavia's room since she has a mini kitchen. See you in the morning!" She waved happily and went back up. Higure laughed and followed the vixen along with a flustered angel and a curious sheep in tow.

"…" Rakna slowly gazed back into Evelyn's eyes and her Blackened mind seemingly rejoiced as she licked her lips. If he had to be honest, he had absolutely nothing to complain about but… 

'…I'll really have to say goodbye to peaceful nights in the foreseeable future.'

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Some minutes later, Kara walked to the house with a fox kit tightly held in her arms. She sneakily opened the front door by a few centimeters and peered inside through the gap.

"Oh my," she put a hand to her mouth, her lips curving. "How lively… I'm almost jealous. Perhaps I should have laid my claim today as well?" She giggled to herself.

"Ah, is Master procreating?" Fiora's head suddenly appeared above the vixen, her voice hushed. It only took her a glimpse of what was going on inside for the Qilin to blush a bit. "Oh…"

"I know, I know," Kara nodded repeatedly. Of course, both of them were using their mana to snuff out the sound of their voices in order not to bother Rakna, whose senses could probably pick them up from kilometers away if he wished so.

Meanwhile, Oz sat at the back with a deadpan expression. If there was a world record for the most inexpressive face a wolf could make, he would have won it. And now, he simply stared at the pair of women, one of which was apparently his subordinate now, peeping at his creator mating with another woman.

After gaining further intelligence, the summon could only wonder.

'…is my creator a philanderer?' He asked himself seriously and then a possibility flashed through his mind. What would have happened… if he had been summoned as a female wolf?

Oz shivered and put his paws on his head to repress the thoughts.

Unbeknownst to him, Kara and Fiora were looking at him at that moment.

"That pup's thinking of something weird, isn't he?" The Fox Matriarch commented.

"It seems so," Fiora tilted her head.

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The next morning, Rakna woke up lying down on the couch. His arm was wrapped around Evelyn's waist as she slept on top of him in her birthday suit, almost nuzzling into his neck with a smile.

The therian sighed. "At least, she's back to normal," he snorted fondly as she observed her emerald hair. He adjusted the blanket he had conjured for them before going to sleep after she had passed out and started working his way out of her embrace… which turned out to be quite the challenge.

He eventually succeeded in getting out without disturbing her and dressed himself. Thankfully, he had already cleaned the mess they had made so there wasn't anything to worry about there.

"{…so, your Lust Magic leveled up thrice, huh?}" Fray remarked.

"Shut your mouth," Rakna didn't even bother defending himself. He walked to the kitchen and took a few snacks for himself. At the same time, he prepared tea as well as chocolate milk for Evelyn as he knew she liked it.

When he returned to her, the therian smiled and crouched. He brushed the hair away from her face and then gently pinched her cheek. "Wake up. Or do you want me to use soul power again?"

The half-devil squirmed a bit and blinked her eyes open. Her vision remained blurry for a moment before she could probably see Rakna's face. Then, with an extra two or three seconds, the memory of what she had done made itself known in her head.

"…!" Her face flushed and she swiftly retreated under the blanket with a high-pitched noise. "I can't believe I did that…!" She squealed into the fabric.

On cue, a certain fire puppy jumped onto the couch's backrest. "I'm afraid you did," Natsu uttered without mercy and she cried out as if imitating a kettle.

"Well, it's good to see you're the same as always," Rakna snickered. "Here, take this."

Evelyn shyly revealed her eyes from below the blanket and accepted the milk. "Thank you…"

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," the therian added and he sat next to her. "In a way, you received a Sin comparable to mine. But yours is encapsulated into your Race and Traits instead of a skill. It took you by surprise is all. The only reason I could resist any bad effects of Sloth at the beginning was because I was rather distant from that kind of indolence."

Natsu nodded in agreement. "But you, girl, have a less mature willpower. Your Lust merely made you act impulsively toward My Lord because of your feelings toward him."

"Not to mention my magic calmed it down much more efficiently," Rakna said with a playful smile and she pouted.

"I get it… stop teasing me, you two," she mumbled.

"Anyway, you better get dressed too," the therian said as he took a sip of his tea. "Everyone is almost awake, you know? I can tell they're waiting upstairs. I made a new outfit for you with my 'craft'. It's folded over there. Since you, well, 'grew' a bit and ripped your clothes apart yesterday."

"Ah…" Evelyn devolved into an even bigger blushing mess at the reminder. "Wait… waiting?!"

"Yes, my dear!" Kaelith's mirthful voice sounded from the stairs. "Did you have fun?"

"Eh, ah… wait… right…" The half-devil's eyes spun. Now that she thought about it, they had spent the night in the living room and neither Rakna nor herself had done anything to block out the noise they made. "You… heard…?"

"Hahaha, loud and clear!" Higure's voice came next.

Evelyn then immediately retreated into the blanket to squeal again.

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"Hm, are you sure this is all you want?" Rakna asked Evelyn as they rode the elevator to his training room. The latter was wearing the combination of a dress and a skin-tight battle suit he had created for her. The color scheme was mainly dark green and black, fitting her new Devil Ifrit form which she had access to at any time.

"Yes," she smiled. "Even if you say any favor is okay… last night was more than enough for me," she blushed faintly. "And I think this is a really good gift already."

"Well… I could have entrusted 'him' to you for free anytime if you asked," Rakna shrugged as they stepped out when the doors opened and the lights automatically turned on. "Unfortunately, I grew stronger a bit too fast for 'him' to keep up."

They walked a few meters into the training ground before stopping and he activated the spatial storage of his Necromancer ring for the first time in a while. His shadow expanded and released a large figure from within it.

An intimidating chimera with hooved legs, disproportionate features, monstrous horns and fangs, and a furred body with skin patches; the former Guardian of a Labyrinth Ordeal.

"His name's Aster," Rakna spoke as he patted the creature's arm holding a great axe. "I gave him a name in honor of what I saw inside the Ordeal. Can I ask you to keep that intact?"

Evelyn smiled. "Of course. I'll be sure to take good care of him. I'll make him the strongest Chimera the System has ever seen!" She pumped her fists with a determined expression.

Rakna chuckled and wordlessly renounced his control over Aster. He transferred it to her a second later without difficulty. The connection was mostly based on mana supply so it wasn't that hard to transfer between people as long as he had enough control.

"I'll try to forge a ring for you that can hold chimeras later," the therian said. "I should be able to do something of a decent tier with Flavia's Space Magic, my Craft, and my Runes."

"Well, I'll happily accept it," the former succubus smiled brightly. "Oh! On a side note, do you want me to try making some potions or pills that work with your 'Philosopher Craft'?"

"Uh, that's an interesting idea," Rakna rubbed his chin. "There are few things I wanted to try with my Craft; essentially superior versions of our current Transpiths. But for your alchemy… I guess there are some things we can test. I'll be out to meet Eva later today; we'll look at it together when I come back. Is that fine?"

"Of course," she nodded.

As she said that, the elevator chimed and someone came out with a giddy step. Astraea skipped to them, her wings wagging and almost making her glide with every step.

"Lord Monarch, can I ask you to grant me a favor like the others?" She quickly asked.

The therian tilted his head. "You helped me several times, so, sure, but what is it that you want me to do? If you want to be completely freed from Egregore, I don't think I can do that quite yet."

She smiled wryly and shook her head. "That is a tall order I wouldn't dare to ask. It's… I just now had an idea. I have friends inside Egregore… could you perhaps manifest them as you did for me?"

"You did mention you had some form of awareness in your Realm before," he nodded. "But you know I'm limited in who I can summon, right? I can probably push it a little with the Crystal Sage's power, but ultimately, it's better for them to be related to stars."

"Yes, I'm aware. My best friends were Artemis and Aphrodite… I'm aware at least one of them can be called through a constellation, no?" She asked hopefully.

"Well… sort of," Rakna mused. "Honestly, I could summon both. In the end, my bridge to Egregore was merely created by my usage of star magic. It doesn't mean I cannot build upon it. Aphrodite could react well to the Sin of Lust. But that's something that would require a bit of trial and error."

"Regardless," the therian smiled. "Artemis is feasible. She's not a main figure in constellations but she is an intrinsic facet of Orion," he stated and conjured a beautiful brush of obsidian.

He drew the main stars of the constellation, which amounted to only seven points, but then added two additional ones to form the most popular representation. On top of that, he drew minor stars that depicted Orion's bow; a concept that helped him get closer to Artemis' Domain.

The last step was pouring enough mana and have a proper magic formation, which he adjusted a bit with runes. Once he was done, he flicked it with his finger as always and the energy spiraled into the silhouette of a woman, bringing with it a wave of Divinity.

The Goddess that came out of the light looked rather hardened in appearance. She had white hair going no further than her shoulders, bright orange eyes of which the left was crossed by a scar, a leather garb befitting a hunter, complemented by ornate white robes, and a right arm covered to her elbow by a long black glove.

The newly summoned Star Entity looked around in confusion, briefly glancing over to Aster with a small scowl, and then focusing on a person she recognized.

"Rea…?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes!" The angel beamed and rushed to hug the Goddess of the Hunt. "It's so good to see you!"

"This is… odd," the huntress muttered as she awkwardly returned the gesture. "This might be the first time I ever interacted with another Egregore Entity outside of the Realm..."

"Is this satisfying enough?" Rakna asked with a smile.

"Yes!" Astraea let go of her best friend and bowed. "Thank you, Lord Monarch."

"Wait, so you are…?!" Artemis observed the therian properly and her eyes widened. It seemed that much like her fellow goddess; she knew about who he was and will be. "I-it's an honor," she greeted with surprising deference. "I am Artemis, Goddess of The Hunt. I shall be at your— eh?"

Before the huntress could finish, Astraea interrupted her and pulled her arm, dragging her toward the elevator with an excited gait.

"W-what are you doing, Rea? I must pay my respects…"

"Lord Monarch doesn't care about those things, Arte!" The angel grinned. "Come, I'll introduce you to the others!"

"But--!" Artemis couldn't say anything as the elevator doors closed on her.

"…they look like very good friends," Rakna snorted.

"True," Evelyn giggled. "It's nice to see Astraea so excited too."

"I agree. Well, I'll leave you with Aster," the therian said. "Don't hesitate to ask if you ever need help or resources. I quite like this big guy, so I won't regret any splurging."

The half-devil smiled and turned toward the undead chimera. "I will."