The Harvester-Chapter 453: Chaotic Spar

Later in the afternoon, Rakna was hovering above the swamps of Fifth Plateau.

"[Reverse Cosmos,]" he uttered calmly and an entire hill in the distance was uprooted from the ground. The muddy water and dark trees on top were also shoved upward.

The therian hummed and flicked his finger, promptly dropping everything. A small earthquake spread from the crashing point and alarmed countless Wilden.

"...I see," he spoke plainly as if he hadn’t just performed some kind of divine intervention.

The Reverse Side was indeed a perfect parallel to the real world. Reverse Cosmos allowed him to control it as if he were its sole God. Any changes occurring in that place would be retroactively applied to the real version.

The important part here was ’retroactively’. The amount of psychic power he used to trigger the phenomenon on the Reverse Side was much lower than what the real result implied. Lifting such a hill with a flick of his finger was absurdly easy because he wasn’t ’actually doing it’.

"Did you bring me here to be a braggart, son?" A woman’s voice chimed.

He smiled wryly and turned toward Ramsa, her crimson wings spread in all their splendor. She had her arms crossed and a glower on her face, watching him closely. Behind her was Lilith, who stood there semi-awkwardly.

"I was just testing a few things since I’m here."

"...is that so?" The goddess glanced at the aftermath of his experiment. "That feeling... it reminds me of how you pulled me out of... ’that’," she uttered. "Is it related?"

"Yes," Rakna nodded. "I pulled you into the Reverse Side for a brief moment and had it toss you toward me, basically. From what I understand... anything that exists in parallel to both ’Sides’ is impossible to be pulled into either; they exist as one. So, naturally..."

He turned back and snapped his fingers. In the blink of an eye, the mess he had made began to fix itself, somehow reattaching itself together as if the very molecules were being controlled.

Lilith watched with her mouth agape while Ramsa had a far more appraising expression.

"If I fix the other side, the same happens here," Rakna shrugged nonchalantly. "But... I can’t seem to be able to find any ’life’ on the Reverse Side. Plants can be considered lifeforms though, so the details need some revision. Space and time are also quite loose over there, so I could potentially teleport or exceed light speed... but momentum remains strange."

"That said..." Rakna mumbled as the two women listened to him. He raised his hand and pointed his palm at the sky. His eyes glowed with pale light as his attributes were allocated to maximize the mind. As soon as it happened, the clouds in the sky parted as if scared of his gaze.

In that moment, people across the Fifth Plateau shuddered in terror.

The sun began to move at speeds visible to the naked eye. The sky darkened with every second that passed and the moon eventually forcefully replaced the bright star. Day left for the night and a glowing crescent hung in the sky.

But Rakna was not done, he rotated his wrist and the moon slowly began to spin.

Lilith and Ramsa immediately understood what was happening as their surroundings shook due to the continuous rise in lunar energy siphoned into the therian’s tails.

As soon as the full moon was formed, three tails grew on Rakna’s back in the blink of an eye and as he lowered his arm, he had already transformed into a werewolf.

Quietly, he looked at the sky with a thoughtful expression. In normal times, he would have felt accomplished by something like this. One could even say he’d be awed at himself. But for some reason... he did not care.

’Another side-effect, I suppose,’ he thought.

Ramsa looked up at the sky. "This is the power you earned from our... ’Simulation’?"

"In part," he answered calmly.

She paused for a moment. "...why did you save us?" She questioned abruptly with an unreadable expression. "Have you not just admitted that we are not real? What kind of foolish child are you to face an abhorrence such as an Outer God to preserve a fake dream?"

Rakna smiled lightly. "You’re asking even after that spirited speech you made to me yesterday?"

She narrowed her eyes admonishingly.

He chortled and waved his hand, terminating the Full Moon and reverting to normal. "Would you like me to share my opinion, mom?"

The title caused Ramsa to tremble, visibly suppressing her delight. She cleared her throat.

"W-what do you mean?"

"A fake ceases to be, once it becomes capable of identifying what is fake," Rakna stated. "I believe it’s as simple as that. Don’t you think so too?"

She blinked in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it. Her thoughts spun for a brief moment before she spoke up, "Why... did you accept me?" She asked nervously.

This time, the therian raised an eyebrow at her. "You stink."

"Wha...?!" Ramsa flushed and nearly lashed out while Lilith choked on nothing.

"Of maternal love," Rakna added with a smirk.

The goddess froze and her eyes twitched. "You..."

"I have a sharp nose," he shrugged. "And I don’t think it’s fake. Do you?"

"No. Never," she retorted snappily.

"Then, it’s all good, isn’t it?" Rakna smiled and clapped his hands.

On cue, the sun suddenly returned and Lilith especially had a whiplash.

"You are as real as it gets..." The therian trailed. "And nothing stops me from welcoming it."

Ramsa mirrored his smile and closed her eyes for a moment. "Yes... I suppose it’s true."

"Then—"

"But don’t think your fancy distraction will make me forget," she dryly interrupted him, her tone flipping without warning. "What is this I hear about a harem, young man? And why is that vixen’s mother included too?" She inquired with a cold tone.

"{Aaaand... Game Over,}" Fray promptly joked.

’...damn it.’

Distraction tactic; failure.

* * *

"You failed," Nyx snickered as she leaned against a tree.

"No need to rub it in," Rakna rolled his eyes, sitting cross-legged on the ground. He was back in his subterranean territory after hours of nagging from Ramsa, and currently, they were watching Lanata and Flavia readying themselves for a spar at the request of the latter.

At the same time, the therian was casually writing down runes on the grass. With the addition of the Original Language in its inner workings, every single letter seemed endlessly profound. That was showcased by his proficiency level reaching Excelled. But according to the System, it seemed he was still lacking something to upgrade it beyond the Demi-God tier.

"We all agree this is a light spar, right? Are you girls ready?" He eventually spoke up once he was writing everything.

"Yep!" Lanata nodded with a bright smile, hugging her sword as usual.

Flavia exhaled and an incredible amount of mana began to fill the air. "Yes," she answered with a far more serious voice. Her hands were empty, but she seemed ready to hold something.

"Then..." Rakna palmed the ground. "[Helix IX,]" he intoned and a hemispherical barrier made of countless hexagons, spiral undercurrents, and Lost Runes encased both girls.

Immediately, Lanata had an animated look; innocently speculating that it could probably survive one casual flick from her. Regardless, the erected barrier signaled the start of their battle.

Flavia acted first. "[Inner Blade,]" she chanted and an intricate greatsword made of dark purple metal materialized in her grip. This was the skill dropped by the World Boss killed by Rakna and which he had given to her considering how well it fit her style.

The Chaos Witch’s aura surged relentlessly. She kicked the ground and in the blink of an eye, she found herself clashing against the scabbard of Lanata’s sword.

On impact, the shockwave alone destroyed every single piece of the ground within the perimeter of the barrier and then was crushed again by a wave of gravity, followed again by a sudden burst of spatial energy. Tree roots sprouted from the soil and the wind accelerated.

Lanata seemed surprised when the greatsword wielded by Flavia appeared to be at the source of all of it. And before she knew it, she was forced to jump back because of its weight, stepping over the wood magic that was trying to ensnare her.

Rakna leaned on his hand as he watched. He had to admit; that skill was perfect for her.

Inner Blade was a somewhat weaker variation of the Krymog’s Nirvana Skill. It allowed the user to summon weapons embodying their magic elements. This specific version of the skill allowed for only one to be summoned at once, but it was not a problem for Flavia.

She was a Chaos Witch. Merging every element she had into one was her core strength and thus the sword she currently wielded was one of Pure Chaos. It could enhance her magic like a staff, exert spells, cut as sharp as her mana could afford, and most importantly... tame the violent and intense nature of Chaos Magic with fantastic efficiency.

And Lanata experienced it firsthand. With wide eyes, she was pushed back to the borders of the barrier where she vertically landed before jumping again.

"[Chaos Sequence,]" Flavia chanted coldly, chasing after her. Her hair and clothes fluttered as her power wrapped around her. "[Fifth Measure.]"

She swung her sword with all her might and Lanata’s pupils briefly became horizontal. Moving at speeds Rakna himself would have a hard time tracking, she tried to parry the Chaos Blade.

"Eh?" But even she couldn’t help but be flustered by what happened next.

The purple sword, right before clashing, completely stopped. All impetus disappeared as if it had never been swung. But yet... an enormous amount of aura and mana could still be felt pushing it forward.

"[Pendulum,]" Flavia voiced out and the sheep girl’s eyes widened in shock right before she was engulfed by a large wave of chaos energy.

The Helix Assembly cracked instantly and Rakna grunted. He gestured with both hands and two more layers of barriers appeared to contain the explosion. Nyx glanced at him, noting how there was a stream of spiritual energy flowing in and out of him.

He smiled at her gaze. "My Assemblies recycle the forces they block and send them back to me as mana and internal energy. But right now, with my runes, I’m making sure all of it gets redirected into repair."

"I see," the night goddess nodded. "A self-replicating barrier. Perfect for containing a battle if the combatants are not seeking to escape it."

"Aye," the therian snorted as he saw the Chaos Energy scatter right as Flavia landed back on the ground, her sword hefted onto her shoulder. "Still, she’s starting strong..."

"In techniques, yes. But she is holding back on her output," Nyx commented.

As soon as she said that, a pink aura emerged and snuffed out the rest of the dark purple energy. Lanata resurfaced with a completely different mood.

Her expression was hollow and her eyes were wide open with their long black pupils. A glint was reflected on a small bit of her sword out of its sheath. For some reason, she didn’t seem intent on fully removing the scabbard at all.

Flavia’s behavior was strangely similar; with an expression far icier than her usual attitude.

If anything...

"Those are the eyes of a killer," Nyx pointed out with a scowl. "Both of them. Lana reminds me of warriors immersed in mortality, but Flavia... possesses the hidden sharpness of an assassin."

Rakna remained silent. With his eyes glowing golden, he calmly observed Flavia. If he had to be honest, he knew she had always been hiding something from him.

Of course, it wasn’t anything as outlandish as a bloody past. In fact, the former teacher had the cleanest criminal record possible. But that ’something’... was not necessarily tangible. It was like an inconvenient secret she kept deep inside herself.

The best proof imaginable was none other than Hans, who had called her ’crazy’ more than once.

Still, Rakna smiled. Ultimately, nothing would change who she was to him.

"You might be right," he eventually answered and Nyx frowned in confusion. "But if I had to say, your guess is slightly off. An assassin would certainly be adept in erasing any trace of intent, but that’s not what’s happening here," he refuted. "She’s holding back, as you said... but in more ways than you think."

Perplexed, Nyx didn’t have time to ask anything before Flavia charged again.

"[Chaos Sequence,]" again, she chanted and a pillar of black energy swallowed her. It was as if her dark purple had entirely fallen into the pits of chaos. It swirled around her and began to take a specific shape.

Lanata sensed something unusual. There was a second force interfering with the Chaos. Made of pure psychic energy, it was molding the Chaos Energy like clay.

Telekinesis. The first skill Flavia ever relied on, and her greatest asset. It would be ridiculously foolish to believe she hadn’t practiced it to the extreme.

As a rare, growth-type Nirvana Skill, it had already gone beyond plain telekinesis. By marrying it with magic into a Craft, Flavia was capable of fueling and manipulating spells with her mind.

And while Chaos Magic was a completely different beast to control, it wasn’t excluded.

"[Second Measure,]" her voice echoed as a black armor set covered her head to toe. It hugged her body firmly and released dark purple smoke. She visibly had taken inspiration from Rakna’s own armored spell. However, their designs differed greatly.

While the therian’s armor could be described as a fantastical biotechnological marvel, hers was a far cry from the futurist aesthetic. Rather, it embraced a medieval image exuding both sturdiness and ferocity.

"[Flow,]" the witch’s voice echoed and the chaotic energy around her exploded. In the blink of an eye, she rocketed forward at thrice the speed. She swung her sword as soon as the sheep girl was in range.

Lanata skillfully altered her stance, and in a show of uncharacteristic dexterity, she deflected the greatsword with a simple nudge of her sheath. Yet, she was surprised by how it made her hand tremble; this kind of strength should belong to Hosts far higher in level.

But Flavia wasn’t done with just one attack. She did not allow her weapon to go out of control for even a second. Her Chaos Magic had reached ’Six-Fold’. All her affinities were one; that included Gravity, Time, and Space. The weapon was rebellious against those components.

There was barely a delay between Flavia’s swings. As soon as she finished one motion, the next had already been initiated. Amidst this onslaught, it felt as if gravity, especially, was being jerked around, and Rakna’s barrier kept splintering as the two girls flickered left and right.

Lanata was fully on the defensive. Without any emotions visible, she silently dodged every strike without breaking a sweat. Her feet traced lines on the soil and air without a single misstep.

"As expected," Nyx remarked. "Lana’s far more skilled than she lets on. That footwork is magic in and of itself. And Flavia’s armor... it’s enhanced with telekinesis? No, it’s made of it."

"Like an exoskeleton," Rakna mused aloud. "She’s using kinesis to emulate physical power... and looks like it bridges more than a few attributes. It’s at least two or three hundred, depending on how much psychic energy she invests."

"That aside..." The therian tilted his head. "I didn’t know Flavia had gotten this far... she might be even more modest than you are," he commented with a snort and Nyx rolled her eyes. "It’s quite fascinating to see ’Chaos Theory’ incorporated into magic."

Nyx nodded in response.

Meanwhile, Lanata finally shifted stances. She was done dodging. In the blink of an eye, a burst of pink, tangible Spiritual Intent manifested around her arm and stopped Flavia’s initiative with a bizarrely soft counterforce.

From Rakna’s perspective, the Intent resembled wool. This was the first time he had ever seen someone emit Spiritual Intent so uniquely, not to mention how colorful and visible it was.

She effortlessly halted Flavia’s advance and without wasting a single movement, she pressed the butt of her scabbard against the witch’s chest plate. One of her hands held the sheath in place as the other was used to palm the hilt.

"[Apalí Kórna,]" the sheep girl whispered and the small bit of her blade was sheathed. The force traveled through the scabbard and slammed against Flavia’s armor.

A burst of pink aura coursed through the witch’s body and forced her to recoil. However, unlike what Lanata expected, her Intent did not unravel the armor itself.

Back to her innocent expression after hiding her blade, she opened her mouth wide.

Below her helmet, Flavia’s amber eyes flashed with sharpness and the Spiritual Intent suddenly split into countless lines that spread under the Chaos Armor. Then, they were discharged behind her in the form of miniature beams of energy.

They carved a symmetrical pattern into the ground.

"[Five-Fold Chaos,]" Flavia spoke up frostily, a geyser of pure ebony chaos surging from her and coalescing into a daunting magic circle dripping with purple, liquid-like mana.

Lanata promptly planned to draw her sword again but something threw her off guard before she could. Flavia merely flicked her finger and she momentarily lost her sense of balance.

"Ah...!" The sheep girl blinked in a stupor as she felt herself fall... upward.

’Gravity isn’t all about pressing down,’ Flavia thought to herself as she channeled gravity through her telekinesis. She had learned over the past months that more often than not; it was far more advisable to invert the gravity of her opponents rather than increase it.

Such an opening was incredibly easy to exploit.

"[Apocalypse Beast Evocation.]" Her words incited a roar that resounded loud enough to cause a small earthquake. She spread her arms and her magic circle expanded even more.

Nyx’s eyes popped, her posture becoming more guarded. She knew what it was... but she didn’t expect to see it used by her friend at her level of power.

A summoning spell tied to Chaos itself. One that existed to summon one of the three Apocalyptic Beasts, sealed long ago in the fabric of dimensions. It was following a war that caused the end of many Realities; she had only heard of it.

This spell in particular could only mean one target: The Apocalyptic Beast of Anarchy, Kaos.

"How...?" Nyx mumbled. Kaos was not a supreme creature, far from it. But it was still a monster of such might that weaker Pantheons would flee on sight. She was dumbfounded to see a yet-to-mature Chaos Witch summoning it from within the depths of Systema.

"[Head of Kaos,]" Flavia intoned, uncaring of her reservations, and a heavy pressure enveloped the surroundings. A giant snout emerged from the magic circle and clanging noises reverberated as chains dangled from the edges of the summoning portal.

The snout was accompanied by flesh covered in hard, dark material. It wasn’t scales. It was like thin horns, sewn into the creature’s body and forming an uneven surface. Its skull’s shape was not unlike a dragon, but at the same time, it was much more animalistic.

Serrated horns spewed out from its neck instead of the top of its head and then bent and pointed upward. Its visible eyes were white and unicolor, with only a slit separating them in the middle.

Before more of the creature’s body could be seen, the chains tied to its horns and nailed into its jaw halted its advent like a leash. Ultimately, a ’Five-Fold Chaos’ spell could only afford to bring out limbs or the head, the rest could only remain chained down.

The monster roared again, sounding like a low-pitched screech. If it wasn’t for Rakna’s barrier, it alone would have damaged his territory and everything in it.

"Crap..." The therian also stood up, summoning all his Valkals to help him draw runes. ’So much for holding back. Where did the light spar go?’ He thought sarcastically.

On the other hand, Lanata watched Kaos with a sparkling face, full of curiosity. She had forgotten to care about the inverted gravity at the same time.

Without its summoner’s input, Kaos opened its mouth and a mass of Chaos Energy rampaged in its maw. With each fluctuation, it was as if the oxygen in the air was getting thinner.

"Annihilate, Kaos," Flavia raised her voice and for a split second, the lips of the creature curled as if it was laughing. Immediately, it cried out and an ear-piercing boom shattered the barrier; none of the runes managed to resist.

A beam of black and purple Chaos erupted toward Lanata, who was being carried into the sky. It was like a tsunami of power, in which a flow of energy was bouncing back and forth in a random pattern.

To some extent, the attack itself resembled an otherworldly beast.

Right before she was engulfed, Lanata’s eyes dilated. And as her silhouette was shrouded, a quiet metallic click was barely heard.

"[Helix VIII!]" Rakna urgently used as much power as he could to form a cylindrical barrier. He encased the trajectory of the attack, which was thankfully not turned toward the house. He drew dozens of runes on it with his Valkals and Nyx stepped forward.

Shadows extended from the sole of her foot and crawled onto the Helix Assembly; just enough to strengthen its structure. All of it happened in less than a second, and as soon as it was done, the repercussions struck back.

Kaos’ breath punched through the fake sky of the underground territory with a thundering noise and at the same time, the barrier rattled from the initial shockwave before the chaos energy was suddenly sliced into two distinct waves.

Whatever slash that was, it cut right through the Assembly and atomized the walls of the cavern, digging crevasses impossible to find an end to. As for the two stray waves of Chaos, they outright obliterated the magic formation Rakna had set up to imitate the sky and caused a cave-in.

"[Reverse Cosmos,]" the therian’s voice sounded amidst the mess. With an exasperated sigh, he held a hand up to put the rubble in stasis and concurrently raised a wall of Obsidian to dampen the rest of the waning forces.

Fortunately, Kaos soon closed its maw. Lanata also surfaced unscathed, her pink Spiritual Intent dispersing the dust and chaotic energy. Her sword was half-unsheathed and she rectified that by tapping the hilt back into place.

"Phew...!" She took a deep breath afterward as if released of something. "That was a close one! I can’t let Rammy out. He’s too mean for a spar," she rubbed her head bashfully.

"..." Flavia was hushed, standing below Kaos’ head. Then, without warning, her armor expelled a purple light that branded the ground around in another pattern, implying that some damage had been redirected. With it, her greatsword and right gauntlet crumbled to dust.

Blood dripped down her hand quietly.

Kaos’ eyes glowed menacingly and the chains rattled as if it was about to open its mouth again.

"Stay put. Who told you to move on your own?" Flavia interrupted with a glare.

The creature’s eyes flickered toward her and slowly, there was a tilt as if it was about to point its maw toward her instead. The Chaos Witch’s eyes narrowed even more. There was a brief stare-off before Kaos’ lips once again curled into a smirk, displaying monstrous fangs.

With a guttural sound coming from the depths of its throat, it cackled ominously and obediently retreated into its summoning circle. Its chains dragged the edges of the ’portal’ until it closed.

Unfazed, Flavia scoffed and glanced at the cave’s ceiling. Two tunnels that reached the surface of the Plateau, and from which beams of sunlight descended... It was too bright to come from the swamp’s gloomy sky, however. It only meant one thing; Kaos had vaporized those thick clouds.

Then, she looked down to her left and flexed her injured arm. Right there, on the ground, a deep trench as wide as a person seemed to taunt her.

"...is that roughly the scale?" She muttered to herself. Then, abruptly, her expression reverted to a gentle countenance. "Hey, Lana. How much strength would you say you used on that slash?"

"Hm? Hmm..." The sheep girl tapped her chin with her index finger. "I don’t know?"

"Different question then. What would have happened if you had unleashed Rammy just now?"

"Oh! That’s easy!" She smiled brightly. "I would have killed everything in that direction," she said innocently and pointed at the overall direction of her attack.

"...when you say everything..."

"I don’t know?" Again, Lanata was unsure. "Everything on the Plateau?"

Flavia breathed in quietly. "I see. Understood. Say... are you fine continuing our spar?"

"Mhm! Sure! It’s fun!"

"Then..." The Chaos Witch’s voice darkened and Chaos Magic began to bubble near her shoulder blades, ready to grow a certain pair of wings. "[Chaos Seque--]"

"Okay! Stop right there!" Rakna intervened and she was startled. He walked toward them with a shake of his head and started the process of repairing the ceiling. "If you’re going to continue, get out," he deadpanned.

"Oh..." Flavia realized the problem.

"Use those tunnels you so ’lightly’ made before I close them," the therian teased. "Seriously, you should have been more honest if you were going to be so heavy-handed," he grunted. "I’ll make a training room capable of resisting more, I guess. Though... I’m not sure I can make something for Lana’s attacks."

"Hehehe..." The sheep girl giggled timidly. "Sorry. Rammy doesn’t like holding back. And I’m not sure why, but he’s super excited to fight Flavia," she added mystified.

"Just... go out," Rakna blankly said.

"Yes, sir!" Lanata saluted giggling and showcased incredible skill by fizzling out of view. Rakna did not need to locate her. He had sensed it already... she had dashed to the surface already, with nothing but speed.

"I still have a long way to go," Flavia chuckled and her hair began to rise. Her telekinesis crushed the ground and she shot up through the tunnels.

Rakna followed her figure with his eyes and used Reverse Cosmos to close after her. He clicked his tongue when he saw that he couldn’t restore the magic formation with this. The Reverse Side had a peculiar relationship with magic on top of living beings... he’d have to study it.

"Valkal," he muttered, and at the speed of his thoughts; his tails rebuilt the formation, enhancing it beyond the original design. Once the fake sky was restored, Nyx spoke up.

"We will most likely experience a few earthquakes for the next few hours," she snorted.

"...I’ll go check on Elora to make sure didn’t have a heart attack," Rakna joked, heading toward the Pavilion in which their local elven receptionist resided.

Nyx chuckled at the thought.

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)re𝒆web(n)ovel.com