Harem Cultivation System

Thessaly’s diagram grew more crowded by the day — red ink marking confirmed Kargekin activity, blue marking suspected fragment locations, and a rapidly shrinking margin of time scrawled in the corner that nobody wanted to acknowledge out loud.

"Two locations left within reasonable range," she reported, tapping the map with a precise, unhurried finger. "An abandoned shrine to the northeast, and a submerged ruin off the coastal cliffs to the southwest. Both show resonance signatures consistent with fragment presence."

"Two locations, one group." Haruki studied the map, already anticipating the problem before Thessaly finished laying it out. "And no way to know which one Kargekin’s targeting next."

"Correct." Thessaly’s tone remained clinically flat, though something in her expression suggested she disliked the conclusion as much as he did. "Which means, logically, we split the search."

"Split." Ariel’s frown deepened. "Haruki-sama, we’ve never operated separated before. Not really. Not since the plane."

"I know." He rubbed at his temples, weighing the risk against the alternative — losing another fragment to Kargekin by default simply because they’d been too cautious to divide their efforts. "But if we don’t move on both locations simultaneously, we’re handing Corvin’s people a free fragment. After the watchtower, I don’t think they’ll hesitate to press their advantage."

Nibel, still visibly carrying the tension of her encounter with Corvin three days prior, spoke up from where she’d been quietly cleaning her scythe by the war room’s window.

"I’ll take the shrine," she said, not looking up. "If Corvin’s people are involved in either location, I’d rather be the one who runs into them again. I have unfinished business regardless of which site he shows up at."

"Nibel—"

"I’m not asking permission, Haruki. I’m informing you of my decision." Her purple eyes finally lifted, steady despite the tightness still lingering around them. "I appreciate the concern. I don’t need it clouding a tactical decision that makes sense on its own merits."

Haruki held her gaze a moment longer, weighing the wisdom of pushing back against the wisdom of trusting her judgment, and ultimately chose the latter.

"Fine," he said. "But you’re not going alone."

"I’ll go with her," Vex offered, already rolling her shoulders in obvious anticipation. "If Corvin’s smart, he’ll bring backup this time. I’d rather be there to make that backup regret existing."

Nibel’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile, but close. "Acceptable."

"Then Ariel, Rosalia, Thessaly, and I take the coastal ruin," Haruki decided, already turning toward the map’s southwestern marking. "Sana, can your instruments track resonance activity remotely, in case either site’s fragment gets disturbed while we’re mid-search?"

"I can rig something," Sana said, already reaching for her equipment. "Give me an hour."

The group split at dawn, Nibel and Vex heading northeast toward the shrine’s overgrown ruins while Haruki, Ariel, Rosalia, and Thessaly made the longer trek southwest toward the coastal cliffs, the ocean’s distant roar growing steadily louder as the terrain shifted from packed dirt roads to windswept, salt-crusted rock.

"The submerged ruin should be accessible through a sea cave at low tide," Thessaly explained, consulting a separate set of notes as they picked their way down a narrow cliffside path. "According to older guild survey records, it was originally a coastal watch station before the tides shifted and swallowed most of the lower structure."

"Convenient hiding spot for something people didn’t want found," Rosalia observed.

"That was likely the intent, yes."

The sea cave, when they finally reached it, yawned dark and dripping at the base of the cliffs, waves lapping at its threshold with a rhythm that made the whole approach feel like walking into the mouth of something patient and half-asleep.

"Stay close," Haruki said, crimson Dao-light forming in his palm to push back the darkness as they ventured inward. "If this place is anything like the vault, I don’t want anyone wandering off alone."

The cave twisted deeper than its entrance suggested, ancient stonework gradually replacing natural rock the further they descended, until finally they emerged into a half-flooded chamber, water lapping at their knees, and at its center, embedded in a crumbling stone altar rising just above the waterline, a second fragment of Lougen pulsed with the same faint, unnerving heartbeat as the first.

"There," Thessaly said quietly, already wading toward it with careful, measured steps. "Exactly where the resonance patterns indicated."

They almost made it without incident.

The water around the altar erupted without warning, dark shapes surging up from beneath the flooded floor — not corrupted beasts this time, but armored Kargekin operatives, at least six of them, weapons already drawn, clearly having been lying in ambush the entire time.

"They knew we were coming," Rosalia snarled, hammer forming in her grip as she moved to intercept the nearest attacker.

"Or they simply guarded every possible location and waited," Thessaly said, retreating from the altar as two operatives converged on her position. "Either way, the tactical situation has changed considerably."

Ariel’s butterflies tore through the first wave with practiced ease, crimson essence shredding through armor that hadn’t accounted for her particular brand of Dao, but for every operative that fell, another seemed to surge up from the flooded depths to take their place.

"There’s more of them down here than there should be room for," Haruki said, blades flashing as he cut down a third attacker, water churning red around his boots. "This isn’t an ambush. This is a garrison."

"Then we’re not just fighting for the fragment," Thessaly said grimly, driving an elbow into an attacker’s throat with brutal, practiced efficiency despite her scholarly bearing. "We’re fighting for whatever this location actually is."

The chamber’s water level began, subtly, to rise — whether from the tide shifting or something more deliberate, Haruki couldn’t immediately tell, and the mounting urgency of the fight left little room to investigate further.

"Haruki-sama!" Ariel’s voice cut through the chaos, urgent. "The altar — it’s reacting to the fighting!"

He turned in time to see the fragment’s pulsing glow intensify, water around the altar beginning to churn and boil despite the cave’s chill, and understood, with a sinking certainty, that whatever was about to happen next was going to make this fight considerably more complicated before it got any easier.

— End of Cultivation —