Champion Of Lust: Gods Conquer's Harem Paradise!

When the mist had first started spreading, Pyris's sharp eyes had been drawn to the orb—the pulsating, ominous centerpiece that practically screamed power and control. It radiated raw, unfiltered energy, a swirling mix of dark greens and golds, and was undeniably the source of this whole ordeal.

Yet even as he studied it, Pyris dismissed the idea of attacking it outright.

He had initially thought, This can't be the key. Too obvious. Too convenient. And Pyris hated anything that screamed convenience in a trial like this.

But now, after breaking free of his own illusion, something unexpected caught his attention. As the mist retreated from his form, Pyris's gaze instinctively snapped back to the orb. Its once-blinding glow had dimmed ever so slightly, as if the energy it had commanded with such arrogance was faltering.

He stepped closer, careful not to disturb the fragile equilibrium of the space, and his dragon-enhanced vision honed in on an anomaly.

A crack.

It was tiny—almost imperceptible to the naked eye. A hairline fracture, so delicate it would have gone unnoticed by anyone else. Yet there it was, running faintly along the orb's surface, a whisper of imperfection in something that had seemed invincible.

Pyris's thoughts churned. He traced the fracture with his gaze, noting how the once-fluid energy ripples surrounding the orb now stuttered, their rhythm disrupted.

Something's different… something significant.

His mind raced, connecting the dots. When I broke free, it must have drawn on its reserves to compensate. Pyris smirked, the realization blooming in his mind.

He crouched lower, his hand brushing against the ground as he continued his observation. "Whoever breaks free… damages it," Pyris murmured to himself, piecing together the mechanics. "It can't sustain itself without them. If the cracks grow… if it weakens enough…"

The thought trailed off, his sharp mind already calculating. The implications were clear now. This orb wasn't just the source—it was the anchor.

The key to freeing everyone wasn't brute force; it was a coordinated effort. It was a delicate balancing act between weakening the orb and protecting the trapped victims before the mist drained them dry.

Yet there was a caveat, one that chilled Pyris's analytical calm.

As the orb cracked further, it would inevitably tighten its grip on the remaining victims, draining them faster to recover its lost energy. A self-defense mechanism. Of course.

Still, the knowledge gave Pyris hope. He glanced back at the others, their forms shrouded in the mist, each fighting their own battles. "If we can force enough of them to break free…" he murmured, his mind already turning over possibilities.

The cracks might spread, eventually reaching a critical point where the orb could no longer sustain itself.

But he also knew it wasn't that simple. His gaze hardened.

He patiently explained to Alera...

_____

The mist swirled maliciously, a tangible mockery of purity, wrapping around the prisoners like a greedy serpent. Pyris stood a few steps from the orb, his sharp gaze dissecting its behavior.

The orb screamed serenity, pulsing with a greenish-gold glow that belied its sinister nature.

"...So your plan is to kill the husks we found here? Even though they're already half-dead, they still serve a purpose to the mist and the orb?" This was beyond what Alera had expected. It was so...

"That's so easy! Let's do it!" she agreed immediately. They were already half-dead anyway, right?

"You bloodthirsty wife of mine!" Pyris flicked her forehead. "Remember, I said there's a risk. If others die, it would drain the three faster than we can save them to recover the lost energy, they will die.!"

"Oh..." Alera realized. "But we can do it faster, I mean, you have the superspeed ability, right?" Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

Pyris nodded. "Yes, I do have it, but I don't think I can be fast enough to save a soul immediately. Remember, the mist can access their souls, right? Who's to say it won't drain their soul essence instead if it senses danger?"

Although the chances were only five percent, the odds felt uncomfortably high.

"You said you had a plan, right? But all I hear is you explaining a plan we can't execute!" Alera complained.

Pyris remained undeterred. "Don't get worked up! Here's where you come into play, lovebug." He stood up and walked over to where the orb was. He stared at it.

"I want you to taint it," he said, the smile vanishing from his face...

What the orb drained from its victims was their energy and life essence, but it did so slowly, allowing their bodies to keep absorbing more mana from their surroundings and what it fed them. In this way, it could extract the purest energy.

"The orb absorbs only their pure energy, which means dark mana isn't its thing!" Pyris pointed to a nearby husk—a man with long black hair, tall but disturbingly thin compared to the others. "He has death magic and darkness magic, and it's affecting him faster than the others!"

The orb was draining his life essence faster, forcing his body to convert his mana into life essence just to sustain itself.

"The life essence of a person remains pure regardless of their ability or element. That only changes when they break the mortal shackles. So, his pure life essence is still untainted by his dark mana, so to speak," Pyris explained.

"Then isn't he..."

"...supposed to be the healthiest of them all? No! The orb is a bitch! It's draining his life essence faster than the others, forcing his body to replenish it by converting his dark mana. He's having it harder than anyone else!" Pyris mused.

"It's ironic for this so-called "righteous" thing to be in such a dark place like the Abyssal Labyrinth. Most ironic—draining people!" Alera as she spat sarcastically could almost imagine a sly, self-righteous grin on the orb's nonexistent face.

"Right," Pyris chuckled. Alera could be cute when frustrated. "So, lovebug, I want you to feed as much death mana as you can to this "righteous" bitch, just to disrupt its flow. But it's going to hurt like hell..."

He teleported a safe distance away from the orb as Alera nodded. She didn't know how it was supposed to hurt her just by giving it death mana. Her reserves were like endless streams of energy, so she wasn't worried about running out before Pyris finished.

That was the only way it could hurt her, right? Until Pyris shouted...

"Now!"

Immediately, she touched the orb. Her violet death energy swirled around her, feeding into it.

The orb pulsed violently, and a powerful wave of life energy hit Alera square in the stomach.

Guawahhh!" she coughed, blood splattering onto the ground. Her knees buckled, but she managed to stay upright.

"That hurts," she hissed through gritted teeth, glaring at the orb. "You're going down, you sanctimonious piece of trash."

Her death mana flared, swirling around her hands like a storm. She pressed her palms to the orb's surface again, forcing the dark energy into its core.

The orb pulsed violently, releasing waves of energy that threatened to throw her off. Each pulse felt like a sledgehammer to her chest, but Alera stood firm, refusing to relent.

"Maniac," Pyris muttered with a grin. He admired her resilience but knew time was short.

With a burst of superspeed, Pyris blurred toward the first husk -a man with curly black hair and a serene smile frozen on his face. He flipped his dagger mid-air, striking the man's chest with its hilt, death mana coating the blow.

The man's heart stilled for a moment, his body collapsing to the ground but it wasn't an aim for kill.

Just to stop his life flow for a split second.

CRACK!

A sharp sound echoed as a jagged fracture spread across the orb's surface.

"One down," Pyris muttered before dashing to the next victim.

The second husk, a frail woman with auburn hair, barely moved as he approached. Pyris repeated the motion, hitting her chest with precision.

CRACK!

The orb's light flickered, dimming slightly as another piece of its energy waned.

Meanwhile, Alera snarled as another wave of life energy surged into her. She stumbled but quickly regained her footing, her death mana intensifying.

"You think you're tough?" she growled. "I'm tougher."

The orb trembled, its glow sputtering under the onslaught.

Pyris reached the third victim, a short man with a crooked nose. This time, the mist lashed out, forming tendrils to block his path. Pyris dodged, his superspeed leaving afterimages in his wake.

"Not today," he muttered, slamming the dagger hilt into the man's chest.

CRACK!

The orb shuddered, its fractures spreading wider.

Alera gritted her teeth, sweat streaming down her face as she held her ground against the orb's retaliation.

"You're doing great, lovebug," Pyris called over his shoulder, earning a glare from Alera.

"Finish it before I lose my patience!" she snapped, her voice strained.

*****

"This chapter was wild to finish. I'm a bit sick. But I'm sure with enough support guys I will be fine." Said Pyris (⁠•⁠‿⁠•⁠)