Harem System In A fantasy World

Chapter 258: A hundred times over

Celeste walked through the long, dimly illuminated passageway that led into the holy land.

The smooth black stone beneath her heels echoed softly with each step, the air growing cooler and heavier the deeper they went, as if the place itself carried an ancient presence that pressed gently against their senses.

Lucius and Dorian walked ahead of them at a steady pace, while keeping their expressions unreadable as they led the way. Lilith remained at Celeste’s side, her presence warm in contrast to the quiet solemnity that surrounded them.

For most of the journey, no one spoke.

The silence was not uncomfortable, but it was heavy, filled with unspoken thoughts and anticipation, especially knowing what awaited at the end of this path.

Until Lilith broke it.

She turned her head slightly, a teasing smile forming on her lips as her eyes slid toward her daughter.

“So…” she began lightly, her tone deliberately casual, “tell me more about my son-in-law.”

Celeste let out a quiet breath.

“…Mother,” she said, her voice carrying a faint note of exasperation, “I’ve already said this many times over the past week, there really isn’t much more to tell.”

“Hmmmmm…” Lilith hummed softly, clearly unconvinced.

Celeste hesitated for a moment, then spoke anyway.

“He just… makes me feel special,” she admitted, her voice softening slightly despite herself, “and he is caring… and strong…”

She paused briefly.

“…and maybe a little bit of a pervert.”

Lilith chuckled immediately at that, clearly amused.

“Oh?” she said, her tone turning playful, “and he is also good at…?” Celeste’s steps faltered ever so slightly.

A blush crept across her face, “…He is good at… That.”

Lilith tilted her head, her smile widening just a little.

“Hmmm?” she pressed gently, “What is… that?”

“Never mind,” Celeste said quickly, her voice coming out just a little too fast as she averted her gaze, clearly unwilling to entertain that line of questioning any further.

“Fufu…” Lilith chuckled lightly, clearly amused by her reaction, though she did not press her any further this time, choosing instead to let the moment pass.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him,” she added casually, her tone warm, though there was still a hint of curiosity lingering beneath it.

Before long, the narrow passageway opened up.

And they stepped into the enormous cavern.

The change in space was immediate and overwhelming, the ceiling stretching far above them into darkness, while the walls around them began to glow with that familiar, eerie light, illuminating the vast chamber in a dim, crimson hue.

Vein-like vines crawled along the stone, thick and organic, pulsing steadily as if alive, their deep red glow ebbing and flowing in a rhythm that felt almost… conscious.

The air itself seemed heavier here.

Lucius did not hesitate.

He walked forward, his steps measured as he approached the large basin at the center of the cavern, where the vines converged and coiled together, forming the familiar structure that held the ancestral heart.

Dorian followed just behind him.

And Celeste and Lilith trailed after, their footsteps echoing softly as they moved deeper into the heart of the holy land.

Dorian and Lucius came to a stop just a step before the blood-filled basin, their figures framed by the dim crimson glow.

For a brief moment, neither of them moved, as if acknowledging the presence of something far older than themselves, before Lucius finally stepped forward.

Celeste did not show any real surprise at the sight before her.

After all, she had seen this place before.

In one of her least glorious moments as a child, she had wandered too far and gotten lost within this very cavern, long before she understood what this place truly was.

Lucius turned his head slightly and looked back at her.

“Come,” he said as he gave her a small, reassuring nod.

Lilith placed a firm hand on Celeste’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, a silent gesture of encouragement, and Celeste responded with a small nod of her own before stepping forward.

She walked past Dorian with measured steps and a calm expression before she came to stand beside her father at the edge of the basin.

Her gaze lowered into it.

The basin was filled with a thick, eerily dark blood, its surface shifting subtly as if it were alive, and at its center, a large, pulsing heart floated, its rhythmic contractions sending faint ripples through the liquid, each beat echoing faintly through the cavern like a distant drum.

Celeste’s eyes lingered on it for a moment.

Then Lucius spoke. “Cup the blood with your hands,” he instructed calmly, “and drink.”

Celeste took a slow breath and did as she was told.

She lowered herself slightly and dipped her jade-white hands into the basin, her fingers breaking the surface of the dark blood as it parted around her skin; the contrast between pale and crimson was strikingly beautiful.

The moment her hands were fully submerged, her heartbeat quickened sharply as a surge of mana flooded into her body from that single point of contact.

It was overwhelming.

She brought her hands together, forming a small bowl, and slowly lifted them up. The thick red liquid pooled between her palms as it dripped faintly between her fingers, and without hesitation, she raised her hands to her lips, tilting them just enough to drink from the point where her palms met.

She had expected something unpleasant and filthy.

But she showed none of it on her face lest she offend her parents for showing such disrespect.

But then tasted nothing. There was no metallic tang or the thickness you would expect from blood. After all, she would know.

Despite how it looked and how it moved, the liquid was impossibly light on her tongue, almost like water, slipping down her throat with ease as if it carried no substance at all.

She swallowed.

And then it hit her.

Boom!

Every pore in her body felt like it had been forced open all at once, and in truth, they had, as an overwhelming flood of mana surged through her veins, filling her beyond capacity in an instant, far more than her body could contain.

It spilled outward through every possible channel.

Badum—!

A pulse detonated inside her head, and her vision shook violently as her balance gave way beneath her, her body staggering backward without control.

Lucius caught her immediately.

“There, there,” he said, his voice steady, though to Celeste, it sounded distant, muffled, as if she were already drifting away from it.

Her vision blurred, and the world around her swam.

Her lashes fluttered weakly, fighting to stay open as darkness crept in from the edges of her sight.

“Do your best.”

It was the last thing she heard, then everything went dark.

Lucius lowered himself carefully, sitting down as he pulled her into his chest, supporting her weight as her body went limp in his arms.

Dorian let out a low chuckle as he watched the scene, his gaze lingering on Lucius.

His arms were steady and unmoving as if nothing in the world could pull him away from that spot.

“I assume you are going to stay with her until she wakes?” Dorian said lightly, and though it sounded like he was simply asking, there was a knowing look in his eyes.

Lucius did not even hesitate.

“…Naturally,” he replied calmly, as if there had never been any other option to consider.

…

Celeste’s eyes fluttered open slowly.

Her lashes lifted as her vision adjusted to the strange world around her, and the first thing that met her gaze was an endless sky, one that looked both black and deep blue at the same time, as if the colors were layered on top of each other rather than blending.

It stretched out infinitely in every direction.

She knew she was looking at the sky only because she could feel that she was lying down, her body resting against something that felt solid yet strangely fluid at the same time.

The silence was absolute.

Not a single sound could be heard.

It was as if the very concept of noise had been stripped away from this place. Even the air felt… absent.

And yet, she could breathe.

Slowly, she pushed herself up to her feet. Her movements were careful as she steadied herself, her eyes scanning the space around her, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

The space was vast.

No…

That wasn’t quite right.

It felt infinite.

The ground beneath her feet was completely water, a dark, reflective surface that rippled faintly with each step she took, yet held her weight as if it were solid, and when she looked down, she could only see a few centimeters beneath the surface before everything faded into darkness, the same deep black-blue that seemed to define this entire world.

Was it black? Or was it blue? She couldn’t tell.

And it stretched on endlessly. Above her. below her and all around her.

There were no landmarks and no structures as far as she could see.

Not a single point of reference but just an empty, infinite expanse.

Despite the fact that she had been lying on water, her body was completely dry, and her clothes were unchanged.

She wore the same elegant black dress she had worn the day she came back home, or at least one identical to it, since she owned several of the same design. It was something she had always preferred for casual clothing.

She stood there for a moment, taking it all in. The space was… strange to say the least.

“I could have killed you one hundred times over already by now.” The voice was light and emotionless.

It cut cleanly through the silence.

Celeste’s head snapped to the side instantly, her body tensing as her crimson eyes searched for the source; her heart skipped as a chill ran through her.

’When did he—?’

’Where did he come from!?’

Her eyes trembled when they landed on the figure casually standing a few metres away from her.