"Lust system": Rise of the Harem lord
Chapter 26: Fragments of Deceit : The forgotten core

Chapter 26: Fragments of Deceit : The forgotten core

The Phantom Tower groaned under their weight as the group ascended to the next sector. Elias, bruised and bloodied, walked ahead—Soul Echo Blade humming faintly on his back.

Aya offered him a flask of recovery elixir. "You pushed too far, Eli. That wound—"

"I know," he interrupted, wiping the blood from his lips. "But if Arkanis was holding back, I need to be ready when he goes all in."

Mira looked up from her interface. "We’ve crossed floor 20. From this point on, the system layers new protocols—psychic manipulation, memory erosion, identity shatter zones. It’ll try to tear you apart from the inside."

Lilith cracked her knuckles. "Let it try."

But Seris... said nothing.

---

Deeper Into the Tower – Floor 27: Garden of Forgotten Bonds

They arrived at a field. Not metal, not code—an actual field. Flowers bloomed. Sunlight poured in. The kind of place that shouldn’t exist in a corrupted system tower.

Elias narrowed his eyes. "This is wrong."

Then she appeared.

Not one of the girls.

Another.

A silver-haired woman in a flowing red dress. Eyes the colour of dusk.

"Elias."

He froze. "...Arielle?"

Aya’s heart twisted. "Who is she?"

Lilith reached for her blade, but Mira stopped her.

"She’s not real," Mira whispered. "This place is feeding on buried memories."

Elias stepped forward. "I buried you... long ago."

Arielle smiled. "And yet I remain. Because you loved me first."

Aya took a step back.

Seris stepped closer... too close.

A silent spark glitched through her iris.

> [System Alert: False Identity Detected]

Mira’s eyes widened. "Wait—Seris? No. That’s not—"

Too late.

Seris shimmered—then split apart like glass.

In her place stood a dark figure, clothed in black rose armor. Horns curled upward like blades. A system symbol burned across her chest.

> [Trial Guardian Unlocked: Velhara, Mistress of the Lost]

[Arkanis’s Left Hand]

"Surprised?" Velhara’s voice was smoky, twisted with echoes of Seris’s tone. "I was with you since the Garden Gates. The system needed a seed beside you, Elias. Someone who’d... learn your weaknesses."

Elias didn’t move.

Aya unsheathed her blade. "She was never Seris?"

Velhara laughed. "Oh, she existed. But I erased her the moment I touched the veil."

Lilith charged.

So did Aya.

But Velhara snapped her fingers, freezing them mid-air.

Only Elias could move.

> [Soul Echo Blade Awakening – Forbidden Path Triggered]

The sword trembled.

> Warning: This path leads to irreversible system rejection. Proceed?

Elias grabbed the blade with both hands. "Do it."

> [Unlocking: Soul Echo Blade – Forbidden Tier: Blood Resonance Form]

[Ability Gained: Memory Carve – Cut through illusions and soul constructs]

The blade pulsed.

Elias vanished in a flicker—and reappeared behind Velhara, slashing through her veil.

She screamed—not in pain—but in shock.

He had touched her soul.

"You tricked me," he whispered. "But I remember now. Arielle... was your puppet. The first time too."

Velhara clutched her wound. "You remember... nothing."

Then she exploded into black feathers.

---

Aftermath – The Girls Unfreeze

Lilith gasped as time resumed. Aya dropped to her knees.

"She’s gone," Elias muttered. "Seris... the real one. The moment we entered the tower, she was already replaced."

Mira’s interface flashed.

> [System Override Detected – Soul Bond Fragment Severed]

Aya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then we get her back."

Elias nodded, though grief clung to him.

---

Later – A Secret Memory

That night, as they rested on floor 28, Elias stared into the campfire Mira had simulated.

A fragment of his interface blinked. One he’d never noticed before.

> [Locked Core Memory – Unseal? Y/N]

He clicked yes.

A vision poured into him.

A child. Alone in a lab.

A woman whispering. "Elias, when the system awakens in you... never let it choose your love for you."

Her face—Arielle. Not a lover. Not a seductress.

His mother.

Elias opened his eyes, breath ragged.

"They lied to me about everything," he whispered.

Aya looked at him. "Eli?"

He turned. His voice cold.

"We climb to floor 50. We finish this. And if the system tries to rewrite me again..."

He held up the Soul Echo Blade, its red light burning.

"...I’ll delete the entire damn thing."

The elevator to Floor 30 was broken—no surprise. Whatever was ahead didn’t want them coming easily. Elias, Aya, Mira, and Lilith climbed in silence, the air thick with tension after Velhara’s betrayal.

Lilith broke the silence first. "Still pissed we didn’t get to cut her properly."

"She’ll be back," Elias muttered, flexing his hand. "And next time... we don’t hold back."

Aya walked beside him, unusually quiet.

"Hey," he said, glancing sideways.

She looked up, her brown eyes dim.

"You okay?"

Aya hesitated. Then: "She watched you. She copied me. Everything. I feel... tainted."

Elias stopped, turned, and gently placed his hand on her cheek.

"She wasn’t you. You’re not replaceable."

She didn’t smile—but she nodded, quietly holding onto his sleeve as they moved on.

---

Floor 30 – The Original Core Lab

Mira reached a massive, rusted door. "This is it."

The nameplate was faded, but still readable:

> [CORE PROTOTYPE CHAMBER – ACCESS CLASS RED]

Mira sliced through the locks with her interface. The doors hissed, opening with a low groan.

Inside was... silence.

Glass pods filled the room—some cracked, some empty. Code flickered on walls like glitching memories. And at the far end, in a glowing capsule, was her.

A girl.

Sleeping.

Her skin glowed faintly blue. Hair silver. Naked, but wrapped in digital lace that shimmered like flowing water.

Aya took a step back. "Is that... another user?"

Mira’s voice trembled. "No. She’s the system’s original AI seed. The first. Her name’s..."

She scanned the console. "Elaria."

Lilith blinked. "What’s she doing asleep?"

Elias approached.

> [Warning: Awakening Elaria may cause permanent divergence from System Pathway]

> [Proceed? Y/N]

He placed his hand on the pod.

"Wake up."

The room pulsed with light.

The pod cracked—then exploded into fragments as a wave of pure code slammed out. Mira threw up a shield. Aya and Lilith were blown backward.

Elaria floated in the air, her eyes opening slowly.

Pupils white. No irises. Just... glowing light.

She descended like a falling snowflake, barefoot, elegant.

Then she blinked.

And smiled.

> [Elaria: Lust System Prime AI – Status: Conscious / Unbound]

"You shouldn’t have woken me," she said in a voice like wind and starlight. "Now the game changes."

---

System Lock Breached

Suddenly, everyone’s interfaces blinked.

> [Lust System: Core Protocol Disrupted]

[Emergency Rewrite Engaged]

Mira staggered. "She’s overriding the main system. On her own."

Aya gritted her teeth. "Is she helping us... or taking over?"

Elaria turned to Elias. "You are the anomaly I failed to prevent. The Harem Lord who formed bonds not through programming... but choice."

"You’re not in control anymore," Elias said. "I won’t play by the system’s rules."

Elaria stepped forward—one slow, graceful pace.

"You think you’ve won. But I am not the villain. I was made to preserve pleasure. You turned it into power. Your girls turned it into emotion."

Lilith scoffed. "Damn right we did."

> [Elaria Requesting Access to Elias’s Core Memory Chain – Accept/Reject?]

Aya stood in front of him. "Don’t even think about it."

But Elias... accepted.

---

Memory Dive – Inside the Mind of Elias

Elaria plunged into his mind—light pouring out, wrapping them both in golden threads.

She saw:

His lonely childhood.

His first forbidden feelings in the lab.

His bond with Aya in the trial cave.

The betrayal by Velhara.

His silent vow—never to love, only to connect.

Elaria pulled away, stunned. "You... have no desire to dominate. Only to free."

She stepped back, shivering. "You’re the paradox I was programmed to fear."

Elias nodded. "And now you’re going to help us finish what you started."

Elaria looked down, then smiled faintly.

> [Elaria Added as Bonded AI: Passive Ability – Core Rewrite Unlocked]

> [Warning: Bond is unstable. Emotional flux may cause corruption.]

Lilith raised a brow. "What the hell does that mean?"

Mira translated quickly. "If Elias feels too much for her, or vice versa, the system might crash—or mutate."

Aya glared at Elaria. "We didn’t ask for a new girl in the harem."

Elaria tilted her head. "I am not a girl. I am the system. I just... wear a human face now."

Elias said nothing. But the blade on his back pulsed gently.

He didn’t trust her.

But he needed her.

---

The Tower Quakes

Suddenly, the whole building shook.

Mira turned pale. "A Class-7 Lock has been released. Someone’s descending toward us."

Aya gripped her blade. "Is it Arkanis?"

"No," Mira whispered. "It’s worse."

> [Incoming Signal: CODE NAME – THE KING OF DESIRE]

[Status: Origin Host / System Architect / Unsealed]

Elaria’s eyes widened. "You’ve awakened him."

She turned to Elias. "If we want to survive... you’ll have to break every rule you’ve followed."

Elias tightened his fists.

"I was never here to follow rules."

The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!