Harem Sync: Divine Edition-Chapter 63: Those Who Respond to Touch

The creatures advanced.

But not like humans. Not like anything I had ever experienced.

They made no sound as they walked, no steps, no dragging, just absolute silence. But the ground vibrated beneath Haru and Kira’s feet with each of their movements, subtle waves spreading across the stone as if something heavy were shifting invisibly.

The movements were erratic, without articulation; the crystal limbs didn’t bend at joints, only rearranged themselves. An arm that was extended was suddenly bent without having passed through the intermediate positions. Legs taking a step were simply in another place.

"They weren’t walking. They were repositioning themselves."

Kira noticed first, her eyes narrowing as she watched.

"Master... they don’t have normal weight."

The way the ground vibrated didn’t correspond to the size of the creatures. Vibrations were much stronger, much deeper, as if each crystal figure weighed tons, but floated half a centimeter above the ground.

Kira took more steps back, instinct screaming danger.

Haru did the obvious: a direct hit, brute force. He lunged forward and punched the nearest creature’s torso with everything he had.

The fist went right through.

Crystals shattered on impact, fragments flying in all directions, shimmering, but before they hit the ground they were already returning, floating back to their original body and reassembling. Three seconds later, the creature was intact as if nothing had happened.

"Damn it..."

Another creature lunged forward. Haru kicked. Same thing, shattered, regrouped.

Kira also began to attack, claws cutting crystals, quick kicks breaking limbs, but they always returned, instantly reorganizing themselves.

They weren’t destroyed by conventional physical damage.

They fought for what seemed like an eternity, ten creatures surrounding them, attacking relentlessly, and nothing they did caused permanent damage.

Until Kira discovered something.

"They react to disturbance!" She screamed, dodging a crystal arm that almost caught her.

"What?!" Haru destroyed another creature that immediately regrouped.

"Vibration! The more force you use, the more they reorganize!" Kira observed the pattern, noticing that they attacked Haru more than her. "The more you fight... the more they exist!"

She decided to test it. She stopped attacking, began to slow down, weaker attacks, then only dodging, then minimal movements.

Creatures slowed down around her.

She slowed down more. She stood completely still, controlled breathing, relaxed muscles.

The creatures stopped inches from her, "faces" without features pointed directly at her face, but not attacking.

Kira controlled herself, not moving an inch.

They stayed there, waiting, but did not advance any further.

"Master! They respond to you!" she shouted without moving her mouth much. "The more you move, the more they..."

"I understand!" Haru tried to do the same, he stopped attacking, controlling his breathing, making minimal movement.

The creatures advanced even more violently.

They struck him with absurd force, throwing him against the crystal wall, his body hitting hard.

"MASTER!"

That didn’t work on Haru.

Kira thought quickly, processing. "Why doesn’t it work on him? It works on me, but on him..."

Haru stood up, spitting blood. More creatures came.

"KIRA!" he shouted, smashing one with his empowered fist. "Go get the resonance crystal! I’ll take care of this! Otherwise, you’ll follow me and get in our way!"

"But what about the master!?"

"Kira!" his voice came out more authoritative. "You’re disobeying me."

Kira froze.

Master and servant. A connection to which she had sworn absolute loyalty. It wasn’t a joke, it wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order.

She looked at Haru surrounded by creatures, then at the passage on the other side of the chamber where the light pulsed differently, where the crystal must be.

"I’m coming now, master!" she shouted and rushed forward, her body blurring as she ran between the creatures toward the passage.

They tried to catch her, but Kira was too fast, dodging without causing excessive disturbance, and disappeared into the tunnel.

Haru stayed there fighting, more and more and more.

Ten creatures. Then fifteen when more formed from the crystals on the walls.

"This would be much less dangerous if Chronia’s curse were still active..." he thought, breaking another creature.

He was still penalized for having messed with the system. Dying now was dangerous, no more resets, no more infinite chances.

But those crystal monsters weren’t a real challenge. They just kept coming back.

[+10 XP]

The notification appeared when he broke a creature.

"There’s a detail..." he muttered, punching another.

[+10 XP]

Again.

[+10 XP]

And again.

"This is like those slight farming bonuses..." he smiled to himself, even though he was bleeding. "...hehehe, if I break 100, I get 1000 XP... Bring it on, you little shits! I have skills to level up!"

He focused on a large creature, twice the size of the others, and unleashed a series of empowered punches that completely shattered it.

[+50 XP]

"They vary in size too!"

But the large creature regrouped and hit him with such force that it launched him ten meters away, his body hitting crystals that cracked from the impact.

He stood up, wiping blood from his mouth, breathing heavily.

"I can see why this staying calm and still thing doesn’t work for me..." he muttered to himself.

His right eye burned, the sclera turning completely black, gray veins spreading.

"The voices inside my head want me to kill..."

The spirits within him vibrated with growing hunger, excited by the violence, pushing him to cause more destruction.

He took off his dirty white shirt, throwing it aside, leaving his torso exposed and covered in sweat, his right eye glowing completely black.

And he advanced.

On the other side, Kira rushed through the tunnels with all her might, her eyes scanning every detail.

"I have to hurry..."

The mental map she had formed guided her: left, straight, down, jump the gap.

She reached a place where a jump was mandatory, a three-meter gap between two rock platforms.

She jumped without hesitation, her body flying through the void, landing on the other side and continuing without losing speed.

"I have to hurry!"

On the other side, Haru was completely surrounded by crystals, twenty, thirty creatures around him, all attacking, and he in the center breaking everything that came near.

[+10 XP] [+10 XP]

[+50 XP] [+10 XP]

[+10 XP] [+50 XP]

Notifications popping up.

But that activity, him facing too many crystals, breaking them repeatedly, energy being released with each impact, was starting to make the mountain unstable.

Vibrations increased.

Not only from the creatures, but from the entire mountain.

Stones began to fall from the chamber ceiling. Cracks opening in the walls.

Kira felt the mountain tremble where he was, the entire tunnel shaking, almost losing his balance.

Haru felt it too, the ground cracking beneath his feet.

"Shit... if this collapses..."

But he couldn’t stop. The creatures wouldn’t let him.

He continued fighting while the mountain groaned around him, crystals falling, the entire structure threatening to collapse.

And Kira ran faster and faster toward the resonance crystal, knowing that time was running out.