Harem Stealer: Reborn with the God-Tier Sharing System Chapter 494 - Vessel

In a dim, secluded alley where shadows dominated and light barely penetrated, Rue Octave slumped with his back pressed to the sleek yet icy wall.

Shallow, ragged breaths escaped him, while sweat drenched his face and body in an alarming manner.

His eyes stared wide, the hue of his pupils shifting between shades of gold that appeared similar yet distinctly different.

Golden blood dripped from his hand, originating from the lifeless body of Castria lying sprawled to his left on the ground.

Castria's skull lay split apart; the spot that once held the brain now revealed a haunting void.

The scene sent chills through him, leaving Rue overwhelmed by terror.

He couldn't fathom why he had slain his companion. He couldn't understand why he had extracted the brain and devoured it.

Yet Rue understood that such details held no importance anymore.

Rather than journeying to the Spirit World, Castria's soul had been drawn into Rue's own. With dual souls now merged, Rue ceased to be solely himself.

Not entirely.

A faint remnant of his true essence lingered, observing with icy horror the figure seated serenely within his Mind Palace.

"All of this," Rue's voice quivered without restraint, "all of this stems from you?"

His question aimed at the woman perched on a throne before him, her golden gaze so steeped in indifference that it could freeze the entire cosmos.

Her green locks flowed softly over her shoulders, lustrous and fine. She sat bare, reminiscent of Eve in the Garden; her impassive expression betrayed no concern for her nudity.

"Two Records..." Aurelia, The First Abomination, murmured to herself, sensing the pair of pilfered records she had once taken now blending within Rue's being.

"Still insufficient." She grumbled once more, her voice laced with clear discontent.

Impatience was building within her.

Tainting—even corrupting—the pilfered Records of countless individuals with shards of her essence had proven no simple feat. Yet she had accomplished it repeatedly with these.

Far tougher, however, was gathering the majority of those Records and forging a new existence for herself from the ground up.

Such an endeavor might stretch across centuries, but Aurelia refused to endure such a delay.

Elves awaited her slaughter. Not even oblivion's grasp on her soul, nor a Progenitor's intervention, would deter her from this pursuit.

She found herself startled by her own pettiness, a trait she hadn't possessed before. Aurelia suspected it all traced back to the youngest one.

A faint smile tugged at her lips, but she forced it away.

One lingering matter demanded attention.

Her present circumstances forced her toward the final recourse.

Aurelia turned her focus to Rue, regarding the pitiful man as if he were refuse she had spat from her lips.

Though merely Soleil's lackey, Aurelia discerned untapped potential in Rue for her purposes.

Decision made, she gestured summoning toward Rue. In a flash, he hovered before her, writhing and contorting like a ensnared insect.

"What-!"

"My Vessel." Aurelia declared, her tone sharp as shards of ice stabbing into Rue's ears, "You shall serve as my Vessel, Wretched, until my form reaches completion. Venture forth to those whose records I claimed and eliminate them if required."

"What?" Rue's eyes bulged in shock, "Light above, no!" He shook his head vigorously, "I can't possibly! See me as I am—Soleil's mere slave! You expect me to slay them all? Even the Forbidden Stolen Records?"

Had the First Abomination descended into madness since her demise?

She demanded that he, Rue Octave, confront beings like Horus?

"Just kill m-!"

"Silence." Aurelia commanded icily, her golden eyes searing into Rue's, "Death shall be your final mercy under my watch. That much I vow. No options remain for you. Your fragile mind buckles beneath my presence."

Her hand lashed out, clamping vise-like around Rue's neck. His face flushed crimson at once, veins swelling on the verge of rupture.

Aurelia pressed on, her words turning ever more frigid and lethal with each moment, "Regardless, you will function as my instrument. Choose: submit as a willing tool or resist as an unwilling one."

Rue gasped for air, his lungs burning empty.

"M-My fate?" Rue forced out, as Aurelia's hold constricted further. She appeared truly intent on ending him.

"Your fate?" She barked a bitter, joyless laugh. "I witnessed your deeds against Premier."

"Soleil!" Rue rasped, "Soleil did not-!"

"It makes no difference." Aurelia interrupted his frantic pleas, "You tormented my brother's son. You inflicted agony on my nephew countless times. Do you believe that's the end?"

Aurelia's smile turned glacial,

"We do not forget, Wretched. Retribution comes for every one of you. And you will face it first."

Aurelia hurled him aside, sending Rue slamming into the ground, tumbling several rolls before halting.

The impact stung sharply, but it paled against the suffocating dread enveloping his thoughts.

Premier had escaped thanks to the Dreamspawn and his sibling. Assault could strike without warning.

Soleil had departed alongside Horus, oblivious to the peril looming over his life, as Aurelia's vengeful influence gripped Horus tighter than he realized.

Now, Rue found himself hijacked as a host for this embodiment of nightmare.

He drew in a sharp breath, only to discover even that act filled with dread. Respiration itself turned treacherous.

Rue barely managed to slump against the ground, gazing into the vengeful blaze in Aurelia's eyes before awareness snapped back to his form, next to his friend's corpse.

Self-awareness persisted within him, yet he sensed his body slipping from his control.

It resembled a marionette aware of its strings; every motion, deed, and choice forever beyond his grasp. Suddenly, Rue transformed into a mere observer of his existence. His lips parted for a scream, but laughter erupted instead.

The laughter belonged not to him. It was Aurelia's.

Thus he laughed, while the fragment of his soul wept in silence.

Within Rue's Mind Palace, Aurelia's chuckles continued. They rang hollow, brimming with visions of Esmeray, the elves, Soleil, and the Celestial...

...all utterly destroyed or suffering far worse.

Did they truly imagine they could strike without repercussions?

"That's not how the world turns." Aurelia stated, her mirth fading, "Yet this Wretched won't suffice for the trials to come."

She halted, glancing upward,

"Return it to me," she voiced aloud, "you're complicating matters needlessly."

The Records responded with a chill resonance.

{How, I painfully wonder, did you regain your true memories and identity?}

"You know exactly how. Cease delaying and hand it over."

{Spare me the nonsense, Earth.}

Aurelia exhaled wearily, "Sky, not now. Where's Harmony? Or Cloud? Even Dancer or Meadow? You're the last I'd choose to converse with."

{Today, I'm all you've got. Your Seed was forfeited to become this version of yourself. Retrieval isn't possible.}

"Lend me yours. I'll reshape it into Earth's Seed. For all my disdain toward you, we're opposing faces of the same essence."

{I desire your end, Earth. We warned it was folly. But you ignored us. For what gain?}

"Those two justify the cost. You've witnessed them—I was correct! Now, with my True Memories restored, I can-!"

{Too late, Earth.} Sky nearly scoffed. {Lilith's firstborn has ensnared the Second Child of Sin. His soul belongs to another now.}

Aurelia's expression soured abruptly.

"What?" -End of Chapter 494-