Villain's Refund System: The Protagonist's Harem Is Mine

Silver steel crossed beneath Damien before his boots reached the sabotaged trial floor.

He twisted midair, catching the first construct’s blade against his saber, ’the safety ward never started and six killers surround this landing, excellent family hospitality.’

Impact threw him across one moving wall while five more armored bodies unfolded from black alcoves.

Each construct wore a faceless Sterling helm above narrow silver plate, with different weapons held inside formal family guards.

[Sterling trial construct]

[Level: 318]

[Safety restraint: Disabled]

The second profile opened beside a spear carrier before Eye of Reckoning failed against the remaining four.

[Level: 327]

[Foreign command: Kill claimant]

’Every one outranks me by sixty levels or worse, shit, Mother apparently designed exams for people she genuinely disliked.’

The spear reached Damien first, driving through his coat after Flicker deposited him near another moving wall.

Iron Veil stopped its point above skin, though a chain construct caught his ankle and pulled both legs away.

Damien hit the floor while a heavy sword split black stone beside his head.

[Flesh Debt: 88]

"Wait your turn unless family tradition abandoned basic manners too," he said, cutting the chain before another loop closed.

No construct reacted to speech, and Sinner’s Brand failed across their foreign command marks.

[Brand rejected]

[Targets registered as Sterling property]

’Of course the Ledger respects ownership paperwork during attempted murder, fine, break the command before collecting anything.’

The chamber walls rotated around a central hexagon, moving every alcove clockwise while constructs kept formation through memorized steps.

Damien Flickered against their rotation, then reached the smallest gap between spear and chain.

His saber cut one elbow joint, but silver plate repaired itself through a line connected to the chamber wall.

Eye of Reckoning followed that line toward six control grooves beneath the moving floor.

’They heal through separate wall channels, good, make their perfect formation tear its own cables apart.’

Damien stepped behind the chain construct and waited until the heavy sword committed toward his shoulder.

Flicker carried him upward at the last moment, leaving both constructs inside the same descending strike.

The sword split chain armor and buried itself through one glowing floor groove before either machine recovered.

[Control channel severed: 1/6]

Silver repair light vanished around the damaged construct while its broken elbow remained open.

Damien landed on its back and drove his saber through the exposed joint into the command core beneath.

[Construct destroyed: 1/6]

[EXP gained: 816,000]

The remaining formation changed instantly, placing two shields between Damien and every visible control groove.

’They learn after each death, damn, at least nobody can accuse Sterling training of becoming repetitive.’

A crystal window opened above the chamber, showing Cassius beside Orren inside the armory.

His brother’s concern reached the viewing spell before any attempt to restore safety wards.

"Damien, the gate suffered an unprecedented malfunction, so conserve strength until Father forces an exit," Cassius called through the crystal.

"Your unprecedented malfunction carries a foreign order using my name," Damien replied, blocking one shield edge against his forearm.

"The trial reads hostile intent from every claimant and may have mistaken your unusual Aspect," Cassius answered, glancing toward gathered elders beyond the armory doors.

’He called this my fault before the second construct fell, good, keep talking while every witness watches concern arrive too quickly.’

Damien caught the shield rim beneath Mina’s angled grip and pulled its construct into the chamber’s rotating wall.

The machine braced against stone, allowing the spear carrier to thrust through its open shoulder without hesitation.

Damien ducked, and the spear entered another control groove behind the shield before he cut its exposed neck.

[Control channel severed: 2/6]

[Construct destroyed: 2/6]

Cassius pressed one palm against the trial crystal while red ward errors moved around his silver sleeve.

"Your accusation can wait until everyone survives this failure," he said, pushing mana toward the sealed gate, "remain near the central hexagon."

"Nah, that hexagon carries the kill command into every wall," Damien replied, running away from its brightening center.

The floor erupted where Cassius had told him to stand, releasing six black spikes through empty air.

Several elders recoiled behind the viewing crystal while Orren turned slowly toward the heir.

’Beautiful timing, brother, damn, even his helpful advice keeps aiming for my organs.’

Two sword constructs attacked together as the chamber compressed around its central hexagon.

Damien accepted Stay of Execution when one blade entered beneath his ribs.

[Stay of Execution]

[Damage deferred: 60%]

[Time remaining: 01:00]

He trapped the embedded blade under one arm and Flickered with its owner toward the opposite wall.

The second construct followed through a mirrored Sterling cut, exactly matching the first machine’s exposed back.

Its saber pierced the repair line before Damien kicked both armored bodies into the moving stone.

[Control channels severed: 4/6]

The wall crushed their open cores together and left two twisted shells beneath red ward light.

[Constructs destroyed: 4/6]

[Flesh Debt: 402]

’Four down, twenty-eight seconds remain before my side remembers the sword still inside it.’

The spear construct abandoned formation and threw its weapon toward Damien’s trapped shadow.

He cut the shadow line with his saber guard, then let the spear strike a fifth floor groove behind him.

Repair light failed around its legs before Gutter Style carried Damien beneath the machine’s reach.

His pommel broke the knee joint, and one rising cut entered the core below its silver chest plate.

[Construct destroyed: 5/6]

The final heavy sword construct absorbed every remaining repair channel, raising its profile beyond the chamber’s original calibration.

[Sterling execution construct]

[Level: 386]

[Safety restraint: Disabled]

’One hundred twenty-eight levels above me, fuck, the quest really saved its expensive bastard for last.’

The construct swung once and broke two moving walls through raw force, opening the chamber toward Sterling residence foundations.

Damien Flickered past its sword, but the machine changed direction before his afterimage faded.

Its armored fist struck his mouth and launched him across the central hexagon beneath Cassius’s watching crystal.

[Flesh Debt: 617]

[Debt capacity: 71%]

The Stay timer reached eleven seconds as the construct raised its sword above Damien’s damaged ribs.

"Brother, release your Aspect now before that balance becomes lethal," Cassius said, real urgency breaking through his polished tone.

"Helpful, except Reckoning needs an actual branded debtor before release," Damien replied, tasting blood across two loosened teeth.

’The command mark owns it, so brand the foreign rune rather than Sterling property, come on, Eye, find that ugly hook.’

He focused through pain and found black residue buried beneath the construct’s chest seal.

Sinner’s Brand entered the foreign mark this time, turning its hooked command bright red below silver armor.

[Foreign command branded]

[Debt reassigned]

The construct’s sword fell as Damien released Reckoning upward through its marked chest.

[Reckoning]

[617 Debt × 2.0]

[Damage released: 1,234]

Silver-black force broke the command rune and carried every repair channel through the construct’s back.

[Construct destroyed: 6/6]

[Bloodright gate ambush survived]

[First reward unlocked]

[Sterling Saber Art: Silverlight Draw]

[Trial access granted]

The Stay timer expired before Damien could read further, folding him onto one knee beneath the dead construct.

’Reward acquired, nice, now somebody please stop the chamber from falling into our dining room.’

Every severed control groove turned black when the foreign command died, and the moving walls began rotating without limits.

Stone tore away above the chamber, revealing Sterling residence foundations beneath rooms filled with relatives.

Orren struck the viewing crystal and shouted through a failing connection.

"The runaway ward will breach our central residence unless its crossing sequence is severed," he said, displaying two intersecting silver lines.

Damien recognized the pattern from Vivienne’s childhood sword lessons inside the original novel, not any Sterling form he could perform.

’Ashe Mirror-Edge, shit, I know what cuts it, but this body has never learned the movement.’

The first foundation pillar split above him while a white cape appeared beyond the collapsing trial gate.