Infinite Harem System: I Grow Stronger From Every Female Lead
Chapter 17: Syr’Nathira Val Archaian

Chapter 17: Syr’Nathira Val Archaian

"...Looks like I made it in one piece."

The voice of a young child echoed through the dark cave, dimly lit by a glimmering stream.

Arthur looked at his reflection through the stream that seemed almost unnatural.

Contrary to what people believed, the abyss beneath the Hollow Mountain wasn’t some endless pit of despair.

In fact, it wasn’t that deep to begin with.

However, people had come to that conclusion because no one, absolutely no one, had ever made it out alive.

But that wasn’t because of the Hollow Mountain itself, but because of the person trapped inside it, or rather, imprisoned.

Arthur removed a single tangerine from his pocket and placed it on the floor.

In the game, there was a phenomenon most gamers didn’t witness, as they cleared the game too flawlessly.

But to the few who did see it, it was catastrophic.

The real ending maker.

The woman who created mana and force to begin with.

And the only person ever recorded to have wielded both energies besides Arthur.

The first time he met her wasn’t in the "real ending maker," but during his fourth route, when he was trying to escape Ha-Joon and Melissa, who came to take the elixirs from the Arcain clan.

At that time, Arthur had tried to stop them but ended up getting on their bad side and being tagged as a villain.

Lee Beom-seok later made Arthur jump off the cliff, intending to end that route and start afresh.

But instead of dying, he stumbled into this peculiar cave.

He could have ended up like the other gamers and NPCs who fell into the abyss, if he hadn’t had the tangerine he was planning to eat for dinner.

The strange presence seemed to be obsessed with them and spared his life, later agreeing to become his master after a month of boring exploration in the cave.

To his surprise, after he ended that route, she always seemed to remember who he was in every other route and trained him.

Arthur knew that without her help, he wouldn’t have been able to finish the game.

She was the mother of all awakened and the one who first wielded energy.

And also the one who was cursed by the gods.

Syr’Nathira Val Archaian.

"So you decided to pay me a visit..." The voice paused. "...My one and only disciple."

Arthur hesitated to answer.

He knew that there was a possibility that Nathira knew who he was, but hearing her say it was a little strange.

"I had a lot to do, Master."

The voice chuckled softly. "Is that so? Then are those things more important than freeing your master?"

Arthur felt a heavy force fall on him. Struggling to stay on his feet, he muttered, "You were just pixels before. And I found myself in a new world. Isn’t it obvious that I would think of myself first?"

"..."

The pressure around the cave disappeared in an instant, as a loud sigh echoed.

"You really are good with your tongue, Beom-seok."

He breathed heavily. "Isn’t that why you trained me in the first place?" _{fre/ew.ebnovel.c om}

"I guess you could say so..." she added. "But how did you enter this world?"

Arthur stared at nothing, confused. "Why are you asking me? I didn’t even know this was a world to begin with."

"Is that so?"

Arthur took a step forward, staring into the depths of the stream. "You won’t tell me how I ended up here if I asked you, right?"

"Yes..." The voice yawned. "Now get me out, will you."

Arthur nodded. "Yeah, whatever. Can you not nag for a second?"

Nathira was always a... uhmm, quirky person.

She loved to flaunt her power and strength but also wanted people to love her and speak to her casually.

And because Arthur had done exactly that when he met her, probably because she was a game character and he had nothing to lose by failing one more time, she got really close to him.

Arthur took a step back, then rushed forward, jumping into the lake.

At the very end of the shallow river was an altar.

This was the first altar ever made for the tether ceremony, but because of its instability, the people of ancient times had used it as a catalyst to seal his master.

That was also one of the reasons Arthur came to save his master on this specific day.

This was because only during the Awakening Ceremony’s week was it possible to release his master.

Since the altar needed the blood of someone who hadn’t formed a tether yet.

And the reason his master hadn’t lured someone to free her was simple:

Whoever frees her becomes her master.

That was because, just like what happened to Isabella, their tether would be linked to that of their savior.

But unlike Isabella’s, hers could be removed, as long as her master agreed.

Arthur held his breath firmly, the cold from the water seeping into his body.

He felt his eyes blur, but he pushed forward.

"Aren’t you done yet? I taught you to be better than this..."

Arthur felt his anger boil as his master continued. "And don’t you dare die, you are my property after all. Yes, and you need to explain why I smell other girls on you."

Arthur completely ignored her words, removing his upper garment and pulling a small dagger out of his pocket.

Unlike normal tether altars that needed mana crystals to function...

This one needed only one thing:

Blood.

Arthur spilled his blood on the ancient altar.

Everything stood still for a moment, as the bubbles of blood hovered around the water.

Slowly, the blood began moving closer to the altar that was on the floor of the stream.

The moment the blood made contact with the ancient stone of the altar—

BOOM!

The blood erupted out of the water as Arthur tried his best not to be blown off by the sudden wave.

"This was so damn easier through the screen!" he yelled loudly, as he let the mana flowing through the water enter his skin.

His dragon scales began to become pronounced, as twin horns sprouted out of his forehead.

Moving his hand front and back, he swam closer to the center of the river.

Route 8, the only route where Arthur Arcain had successfully awakened.

And it was here that it happened.

So a thought entered Arthur’s head:

What would happen if he, who awakened an SSS-rank talent, awakened his tether in the altar that made his predecessor awaken even with his illness?

Arthur let out a mad grin, swimming closer to the altar’s center.

The mana that flowed through his skin made his blood boil, and his skin look like he was infected by some sort of moving virus.

『 Your core is overloading 』

『 Heart core is forming 』

『 Your tether has been successfully formed 』

『 You have unsealed the Primordial Dragon 』

『 Your name has been etched in history 』

『 You... 』

『 You have... 』

The system notification kept ringing in his mind, but he ignored it and moved closer to the center.

If he was doing this, he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

Route 6’s Bad Ending: kill the ancient dragon.

When Ha-Joon had gotten that mission from his system, he thought he was done for.

And yes, he was screwed.

But that was beyond the point.

The main reason Ha-Joon had failed wasn’t because he was weak.

No.

It was because the ancient dragon couldn’t be killed—not by normal means, at least.

Only one sword was able to kill him.

The sword that slayed gods. And the core component for Nathira’s sealing.

The god-killing sword:

The Star Cleaver, Nxyrebus Val Pentdragon

No matter how many times Arthur had played it, even after discovering that the sword was inside the water, he was never able to get it.

Because the game always skipped everything when he saved Nathira, as if glitching.

But now, this was his reality.

And there was no way it would glitch.

He hoped.

Arthur extended his hand into the pool of blood that had formed around the altar.

The blood oddly didn’t mix with the water, but none of that mattered.

The system continued ringing weird notifications in his head.

Not only was he busy at the moment, but his blurry eyes made it impossible to even glance at them.

A cold sensation filled Arthur’s hand as his grip tightened on the hilt of a blade.

With a single pull reinforced with all his mana, he pulled the blade out of the altar.

As soon as he caught a glimpse of the blade—

SNAP!

The sound of his master’s invisible spatial chains breaking rang in his head.

The next moment was a blur, as the water exploded, shooting him out of it.

He could see glimmering light that resembled mana stones as the darkness enveloped him.

The last sensation he felt was the warm feeling of—

Well...

Boobs. Soft Boobs.

─── ✦ End of Chapter ✦ ───