Gathering Husbands with a System in a Game Like World [BL]

"Don’t touch him."

Caelum’s voice cut through the chamber as the entity’s hand remained extended toward Kai, golden light surrounded him, it wasn’t a barrier exactly, the radiance clung to his body like a second skin pulsing softly with every beat of his heart while the violet energy pressing against it twisted and hissed before dispersing.

The entity stared at the light, for the first time since its awakening it looked genuinely fascinated, "So this is a divine blessing in activation by the user.."

His voice then dropped into a brooding deep voice "hand it over"

Kai’s entire body twitched in fear.

"You are not having it"

"We shall see about that"

Caelum held Kai and jumped back a great distance, his eyes narrowed, he had been watching the creature since the moment it appeared, every movement, every attack, every fluctuation in its mana had been carefully observed, even when he attacked it , he observed, and now after seeing the golden protection around Kai something had clicked.

Caelum raised his sword, "I’ve found something."

Elias glanced at him, "About our little monster?"

"The vessel."

The amusement in Elias’s expression faded as Caelum pointed his sword toward the entity, "Look at its body."

Kai did, and for the first time he truly saw it, the figure was not truly flesh, its form had become a translucent purple humanoid sculpted from living glass, sharp crystal plates covered its shoulders, arms and chest while fine cracks of deeper violet light ran through the glassy surface like fractures in a window under pressure.

"Disgusting" he muttered under his breath.

"Look closer, there is a crack on thr breast area" Caelum added and everyone did, there was truly a dent spiderwebbed on the breast area of the right.

"Every time it uses a large amount of power," Caelum continued, "those cracks spread."

"Who made the dent?" Nox asked reasonably and Caelum chuckled.

"That would be me"

"You landed a hit? I thought you didn’t" Kai exclaimed in Shock and they all smiled with no one particularly giving him an answer.

The entity’s smile disappeared.

Caelum smiled even wider, it was the first genuine smile Kai had seen from him since arriving, not warmth, not amusement, satisfaction, "It has a weakness."

Elias’s eyes gleamed, "Now that’s interesting."

Dexter stepped closer, "How bad is it?"

Caelum watched another crack crawl across the entity’s glassy shoulder, "Bad enough that it cannot continue indefinitely."

Nox looked up from his notebook, "Then the body is failing."

"Yes."

"And if the body fails?"

Caelum’s expression hardened, "We don’t know."

Kai immediately turned toward the System.

Do we?

[The entity is dependent upon the vessel for physical manifestation.]

Kai’s heart jumped.

So if the vessel collapses...

[The entity will be forced to abandon its current manifestation and would loose it’s physical form.]

That sounded like good news until the next line appeared.

[Outcome upon forced separation: unknown.]

Kai frowned.

Can the original host survive?

A pause.

[Insufficient data.]

Kai clenched his fists, that wasn’t good enough, the prisoner was still somewhere inside that body, he couldn’t just gamble their life,

"We need another way, i mean the original owner of the body coul still be alive for all we know"

Caelum looked at him, "I agree."

Kai blinked as the knight continued, "We don’t know what happens to the original consciousness when the vessel collapses, until we know we shouldn’t deliberately destroy it."

The entity laughed softly, "How noble."

Caelum ignored it, "Hey detective" he said to Nox.

The demon detective raised his head, "You can perceive residual phenomena correct?."

"Among other things."

"Can you determine whether the original consciousness is still present?"

Nox’s expression became serious, "I can try."

His eyes changed, night-blue light spread across his pupils, the world around him seemed to distort as phantom images appeared throughout the chamber, the Curator, the prisoner, the ritual, chains, blood, violet energy, Nox watched the images overlap then his expression changed, "There are two."

Kai stepped closer, "What?"

"Two distinct traces."

Nox pointed toward the entity, "The original consciousness is still there."

Relief flashed through Kai, "Then we can save them."

Nox didn’t answer, Kai’s relief faded, "What?"

"The traces are intertwined."

He closed one eye, "They aren’t merely sharing the body anymore."

His voice became quieter, "The corruption has threaded itself through the prisoner’s life force."

Kai stared, "So separating them..."

"Could kill the host."

The chamber fell silent, the entity smiled, "You finally understand."

Kai glared at it, "Shut up."

Elias laughed under his breath, "That’s probably the first useful thing you’ve said."

The entity’s eyes moved toward him, "Do you want to die first?"

Elias smiled, "I’ve had worse offers."

Caelum raised his sword, "Enough."

The entity’s attention returned to him as Caelum took a breath, "We don’t have to separate them immediately."

Kai looked at him, "What are you thinking?"

"We weaken the entity."

Caelum pointed toward the fresh cracks spreading across the glassy purple surface, "Every time it exerts itself the vessel deteriorates."

Nox nodded slowly, "You’re proposing that we force the vessel beyond its limit."

"Exactly."

Kai frowned, "But if it collapses..."

"We find another method before then."

Caelum looked directly at him, "We don’t destroy the vessel, we push it until the entity becomes vulnerable."

Kai understood, they weren’t trying to kill it, they were trying to make it desperate.

The entity’s smile returned, "You think you can exhaust me?"

Caelum raised his sword, "Yes."

The entity laughed, "Then try."

It attacked, the chamber disappeared beneath violet light.

"Move!"

Caelum’s command came just before the floor exploded, Kai jumped backward, Dexter caught him by the shoulder and pulled him out of the path of a violet blade, "Careful."

"I saw it."

"You almost got hit."

"I was distracted."

"By what?"

"The fact that we’re fighting something that can vaporize people."

Dexter grinned, "Fair."

A massive shadow passed overhead, Kai looked up as Midnight was changing, the little demon cat’s body expanded violently, dark green fur erupted across its frame, its limbs lengthened, muscle formed beneath the thick coat, two horns curved longer from its head, within seconds the small companion had become a massive tiger-like beast, it landed with a thunderous impact.

Kai stared, "You could do that?"

Nox calmly climbed onto Midnight’s back, "Yes."

"That’s cool"

Midnight roared then charged, the creature raised one hand, a violet barrier appeared, Midnight slammed into it, the barrier cracked, Nox leapt from the beast’s back and drove both hands into the fracture, dark energy erupted, the barrier shattered.

Caelum was already there, his sword swept forward, the entity blocked the strike, Elias appeared behind it with a dagger flashing in his hand, the blade bit into the glassy surface and left a new crack, Dexter attacked from the opposite side, for several seconds the chamber became a blur of movement.

Kai stepped back as his Arcane Eye activated, information flooded his vision.

[Vessel integrity: 86%.]

Another exchange.

[Vessel integrity: 81%.]

Another.

[Vessel integrity: 74%.]

Kai’s eyes widened, it’s working.

The entity slammed Caelum into the ground, Elias’s dagger flashed again and carved another fracture across its arm, Dexter struck its ribs, Nox attacked from above, Midnight tore into its flank, the creature staggered.

[Vessel integrity: 70%.]

Then the entity roared, violet energy erupted in every direction, everyone was thrown away, Kai’s golden protection flared, the blast hit him and the blessing absorbed the impact, Kai slid backward but remained standing.

The entity stared at him, "You."

Kai breathed heavily, "What?"

"You are interfering."

The entity’s eyes narrowed, "The blessing is shielding you from my corruption."

Kai looked at the golden light surrounding his hands as the System spoke.

[Divine protection is resisting external corruption.]

Kai’s expression hardened.

Can it protect the others?

[Current output insufficient.]

Can it become stronger?

[Potentially.]

How?

[The blessing responds to perceived danger.]

Kai’s eyes widened as the entity moved, Kai barely raised his arms, golden light exploded outward, the creature’s attack struck the divine protection, the impact sent a shockwave across the chamber, Caelum shielded his face, Dexter dug his feet into the ground, Elias vanished, Nox’s coat whipped violently behind him, Midnight roared, the golden light expanded, for one brief moment it covered everyone.

Kai stared as the System spoke.

[Protection expanded.]

The entity stepped backward, its expression changed, "Interesting."

Kai breathed hard, "whew! I thought you got me there!" He exclaimed in relief

The entity looked at him, "You are carrying something precious."

"Yeah, i have heard that a thousand times."

Kai lowered his hands, "And you’re not getting it."

Elias appeared beside him with the dagger still in hand, "I like that answer."

Kai glanced at him, "Don’t make it weird."

"I wasn’t."

"You were."

"I absolutely was."

Dexter laughed, the momentary levity disappeared when the entity attacked again, the battle continued, minutes passed, the vessel deteriorated further.

[Vessel integrity: 57%.]

[49%.]

[41%.]

The entity became increasingly violent, its movements lost their earlier elegance, it was burning through power, Caelum noticed, "It’s getting desperate."

Nox nodded, "The deterioration is accelerating."

"How much longer?"

Nox looked at the creature, "Not long."

Kai felt hope then he saw something else, the cracks in the glassy purple body were spreading inward toward the prisoner’s heart, his expression changed, "Stop."

Nobody heard him.

"STOP!"

Caelum immediately pulled away, Elias vanished backward, Dexter landed beside Kai, "What happened?"

Kai pointed, "The corruption is reaching the heart."

Nox looked, his face paled, "If the core reaches it..."

"The prisoner dies," Kai finished.

The entity smiled, it had heard them, "Now you understand."

Caelum looked furious, "You’re doing it deliberately."

"Of course."

The entity spread its arms, "You wanted to weaken me, so I will make certain you understand the price."

Kai’s blood ran cold, the creature was going to overload itself, not because it wanted to win, because it would rather destroy the vessel than let them separate it.

Caelum realized it too, "We need to stop it."

Everyone attacked, Kai used his Arcane Eye, the core was visible, a tiny mass of violet energy buried deep inside the chest, but there was something else, a second signature, the prisoner’s life force wrapped around it.

Kai stared, there had to be another way, there had to, he searched, he analyzed, he looked again, nothing, then he noticed Dexter, the fox beastman was standing closest to the core, his eyes were fixed on it, he understood.

Kai shook his head, "No."

Dexter looked at him, Kai stepped forward, "No, don’t even think about it."

Dexter smiled faintly, "I wasn’t thinking anything."

"You’re lying."

"Maybe."

Kai grabbed his arm, "We’ll find another way."

Dexter looked down at Kai’s hand then back at him, "You always say that."

"Because there is always another way."

"Is there?"

Kai didn’t answer, Dexter looked toward the others, Caelum was fighting desperately, Elias was carving more cracks with his dagger, Nox was shouting instructions, Midnight was attacking without hesitation, everyone was fighting, everyone was trying to save the prisoner, and the vessel was still collapsing.

Dexter looked back at Kai, "You know what I like about you?"

Kai’s eyes became wet, "Don’t."

"You don’t give up on people."

"Dexter."

"You did it with me."

Kai shook his head, "Don’t."

"You barely knew me."

"Stop."

"And you still cared."

Dexter smiled, "I don’t think many people would’ve."

Kai’s grip tightened, "You’re not dying."

Dexter gently removed Kai’s hand, "I know."

"No, you don’t."

"I do."

Dexter turned, Kai grabbed him again, "Dexter!"

The fox beastman looked over his shoulder, "I’ve already made my choice."

Kai stared at him, Dexter’s expression was strangely peaceful, "The core is exposed."

Nox looked toward them then his eyes widened, "He’s right."

Caelum understood immediately, "No."

Dexter looked at him, "There’s no other way."

Caelum’s jaw tightened, "There might be."

"There isn’t enough time."

The vessel cracked, the entity screamed, violet energy erupted even more, Dexter charged.

"Dexter!"

Kai ran after him, Caelum caught Kai around the waist, "Let me go!"

"You’ll die."

"I don’t care!"

"You will if you go after him."

Dexter reached the core, the entity turned, "You."

Dexter smiled, "Me."

The creature attacked, Dexter didn’t retreat, he drove both hands into the exposed core, the world went silent, the entity screamed, violet cracks exploded across its glassy body, Dexter’s own body began glowing.

The System appeared before Kai’s eyes.

[Warning.]

[Candidate 004 has initiated irreversible life-force synchronization.]

Kai’s face went white.

Stop it.

[Unable to interfere.]

Stop it!

[The candidate has voluntarily accepted the consequence.]

Kai screamed, "DEXTER!"

Dexter looked at him, for a moment his eyes were completely clear, no fear, no regret, just affection, "I’m sorry."

Kai shook his head, "Don’t say that."

Dexter smiled, "I had a good time."

The words struck Kai harder than any attack, Dexter’s gaze shifted past Kai toward Elias, the assassin stood frozen, Dexter smiled faintly then he spoke, "Take care of him."

Elias didn’t move, his face was empty, Dexter’s smile disappeared, "Promise me."

A long silence then Elias answered, "I promise."

Dexter nodded, "Good."

The core shattered, golden light and violet energy collided, the entity screamed, the vessel began collapsing around Dexter, Kai watched helplessly, Dexter looked at him one final time, "Don’t forget me."

Then the light consumed him.

The entity was ripped from the body, its scream echoed through the chamber as its form dissolved into violet fragments, the prisoner collapsed, Caelum caught them, the corruption vanished, then silence followed.

Elias walked forward, he found Dexter’s body among the debris, he knelt, for several seconds he simply stared then he lifted Dexter carefully into his arms, Kai couldn’t move.

The System appeared.

[Will of the Fourth Husband acknowledged.]

Kai’s breathing stopped.

[Candidate 004: Dexter Runt.]

[Life status: deceased.]

[Final will registered.]

A second notification appeared.

[Candidate 004 requires succession.]

Kai stared at the words through blurred vision as the System continued.

[Succession conditions satisfied.]

[Replacement process initiated.]

Kai looked toward Elias, the assassin was still holding Dexter, there was no smile on his face, no teasing, no arrogance, nothing, only silence, and beneath the fading violet light Kai realized that the man who had entered his life as a thief had just died to save it.

The fourth position was about to belong to someone else, but Kai didn’t know if he wanted it to.

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