The Harvester

“Tch, how dare these filthy fish be so close to my residence,” the aristocrat spat as he looked on at the pair of merfolk children with a disgusted look. He waved his hands at his bodyguards. “Get rid of them, definitively,” he commanded offhandedly and turned around.

One of the guards nodded with a stiff expression and began to draw his sword, but before he could fully pull it out, strings of shadow wrapped around his hand and a large ebony wolf with crimson eyes landed in front of the children.

The aristocrat turned back again, a scowl on his face. “What? Whose mutt is this?!” He asked loudly whilst glaring at the passersby. Most of them walked away with their heads low, but some people with seemingly higher strength were casually watching the situation in interest.

The aristocrat frowned and followed their line of sight to a woman with angelic beauty quietly approaching. She eventually stood next to the shadow wolf, a neutral look on her face.

“…I am Nefertrion Xaris; name yourself,” the nobleman said calmly, putting aside his infuriation to ascertain who would defy him.

“Astraea. That’s the only name I have to give,” she replied with a steely voice. She had no sympathy for low lives who hurt children. Justice was one of her Domains. What kind of goddess would she be if she ignored this affront?

Xaris’ eye twitched and eyed the bodyguard closest to him. The latter answered without even being asked, “The wolf is a summon with nothing unique about it… but it is level 120 and capable of magic and several other skills. It’s a high class. As for the woman… I cannot see through her in the slightest, but I can sense divinity around her, albeit somewhat diluted. I can also tell that she isn’t the wolf’s creator.”

“Divinity?” He raised an eyebrow and scanned the woman’s body. “Calling yourself Astraea? What is it; delusion or truth? Some sort of vessel?”

“That is none of your business,” Astraea coldly shot back. “What you should be pondering is what you were about to do to these children.”

“Hmph, what is there to contemplate? I am giving them enough mercy as it is. Dirty halflings not even capable of breathing underwater, polluting these streets,” Xaris responded without an ounce of hesitation and the goddess’ hands clenched into fists. The aristocrat snorted. “What? Were you expecting me to take them in as servants out of pity? How droll.”

“You--!”

“Your opinion matters not. You,” he cut her off and looked at the bodyguard who still had his hand wrapped in shadows. “Kill that wolf and carry out your previous order. Do the same to the woman if she gets in your way.”

The guard nodded and put strength in his arms, the shadows bursting apart, and the sword drawn in a single movement. Astraea grimaced at that. Purely from the weight of presence, those people were at least level 200 at the lowest. Rakna’s wolf wouldn’t last long and she herself had no way to fight.

‘Should I seek help from Lord Monarch?’ She thought. ‘No… he must already know. I should only need to wait a bit,’ she concluded and watched as the bodyguard dashed toward the wolf. But before he could swing his sword and end the shadow creature’s life, a third party suddenly intervened and grabbed his wrist.

The swing was forced to a stop and a gust of wind spread outward. Astraea blinked in surprise as a tall figure shoved the bodyguard backward. The newcomer then stepped back, letting everyone see what he looked like.

He was a rather handsome young man with plain black hair and eyes. He also possessed features that Earthlings would recognize as Asian. He wore a sort of runic robe and an inner streamlined armor. A sheathed sword was hanging at his belt to his left and a sachet to his right, which seemed to house scrolls.

“I am sorry, but I heard your conversation,” he spoke up calmly. “I couldn’t help but intervene.”

“Another annoyance?” Xaris let out some anger. He truly had no wish to deal with random pests like these but at this point, backing down would be an affront to his pride. “Who is it this time?”

“Kim Shin-Woo,” he simply replied, his expression neutral.

“Level 103, sir. He’s a Host from this year,” the bodyguard from earlier spoke again.

“So, it’s just another nonentity.”

“However,” the appraiser quickly added and leaned in to whisper. “He also seems to be affiliated with the Silver Sacrament.”

Xaris’ eyes widened. “What…? Why would the strongest Guild of spell blades recruit a fledgling?”

“So, how about it, could we just forget this ever happened?” Shin-Woo said amiably.

The aristocrat gritted his teeth; this whole situation had gotten much more irritating. The crowd had also grown in size and it was sure that this would lead to rumors. In the worst-case scenario, if there was too much noise, the enforcers might come to check.

‘That would be even harder to deal with,’ Xaris thought. He glanced at the children, who cowered under his stare, then viewed Astraea. He observed her and his mind unconsciously focused on her beautiful appearance. At that moment, he grinned as an idea came to him.

The goddess who was the subject of his scrutiny felt a chill down her spine.

“I see,” the noble eventually said and waved at his man to back down. “Let’s settle this in a more civilized way. How about a deal? I will forgive those children, and perhaps even compensate them for the trouble. In exchange, how about you come to my estate so we can discuss an acceptable arrangement?” He said with a shameless smirk.

Shin-Woo’s expression switched to a frown this time and Astraea froze on the spot. There was no way an entity of infinite knowledge such as her wouldn’t understand what this man was trying to do.

By offering an agreement, he would shield himself from critics of his conduct by other nobles in the off-chance that they use his conduct here as a weapon against him. Within political spheres, this was common behavior.

However, the implications of his ‘invitation’ were sickeningly obvious. Not only would he have the chance to silence her as he wished, but he obviously intended to spur her into giving herself away.

“Hey, don’t accept this…” Shin-Woo whispered to her. “This man’s family is one of those that sit at the top of New Athens but I should have enough connections to help,” he said and looked over his shoulder at Astraea whose face was shadowed due to her drooping head. “Hey, are yo--?!”

Everyone abruptly shuddered and stepped back from the woman, a tyrannical surge of dread washing over them. Then, a holy aura erupted around Astraea and pure white wings unfurled out of her back.

Xaris’ group was shaken just as much as the onlookers nearby but the aristocrat quickly recovered and formed a loathsome smile. “An angel, is it? That is a new one. I don’t have anything of the sort in my collection,” he said whilst scrutinizing the angelic woman’s face distorted by anger.

Astraea’s buttons were being pushed far too much. She was a goddess of many Domains compared to others. In the state she had been summoned from Egregore, she ruled over Justice, Innocence, Purity, and Precision.

Justice had been defiled in front of her eyes. Her Innocence and Purity were being besmirched right to her face. And, most importantly, she who also had the name of Virgo and Libra, was being insulted in the worst of ways; being offered a deal with such revolting stakes on the balance.

“You…” She uttered. “Do not deserve the mercy of justice,” she declared and her aura inexplicably became many times stronger and Xaris’ bodyguards moved to shield him. Shin-Woo raised his arm to shield his eyes, his expression looking startled but otherwise not too agitated for some reason. 

“Be prepared--!” As she seemed about to unleash even more power, a hand landed on her shoulder.

“Now, now, calm down,” another stranger intervened, and the moment he appeared, the holy aura was silenced in an instant. Astraea blinked in shock and snapped her head to the source.

It was a pale man with long rosy hair, his eyes thinly squinted, giving the impression he had them closed at all times. He was wearing a white gothic-styled suit with cherry blossoms drawn on it as well as a white and golden overcoat hanging off his shoulders and partially covering his arms.

“If you release more power than this, Egregore will erase your existence for attempting this kind of stunt and breaking your shackles,” the elegant man said and the goddess forgot all about her ire to replace it with bewilderment.

“You are…?!” Xaris gasped out as he spotted him.

“Uh, uh,” the rosy-haired man waved his finger, slightly opening his sharp eyes. He pulled his arm away from Astraea and smiled broadly. “Now is not the stage for me, I’m afraid. You have a much bigger wolf to pacify at the moment,” he stated.

On cue, the shadow wolf that had been quietly sitting next to Astraea opened its mouth and a ball of darkness shot out. Xaris’ head bodyguard promptly moved in front of him to defend him but the shadowy sphere never hit.

It slowed down to halt barely a meter in front of them before expanding into a rectangular shape with a rippling surface. Before anyone could react, the ripples became stronger and the shadows began to reflect what was in front of them.

Xaris saw himself appear in the reflection and scowled. “A shadow… mirror? What is this for?”

Right after he was done speaking, a noise of glass breaking resounded and the bodyguard stiffened for a split second. Everyone else became rooted on the spot and some unfortunate souls outright fainted. 

In that small timeframe, the shadow mirror distended forward and a hand emerged, passing over the bodyguard’s shoulder and clawing at Xaris’ skull as if it was seeking to crush it. The aristocrat not only felt like his lungs had stopped functioning but his very body began to lose all strength.

Then, slowly, the other end of that arm surfaced from the mirror. “I have to admit…” A voice echoed as a crimson wolf mask made out of bone-like material gradually appeared; every second passing increasing the terror filling the air. 

“I was having quite a good time just now…” The voice continued and the shadow mirror began to move back, materializing the rest of the mask’s wearer at the same time. When Xaris saw the tails fan out through the fingers grasping his head, his mind made one conclusion after considering the incredible level of intimidation he was currently experiencing.

After all, there weren’t many beings in the System that could release this kind of oppression that was strong enough to knock out others. In fact, those with the notoriously strongest intimidation skills are well known to be the King-Title bearers. And at a much higher level… the Emperors.

Xaris started sweating, panicking from the fact even his strongest bodyguard, well over level 400 and who should have been able to easily fend off this surprise attack, had been intimidated long enough to allow him to die if his attacker had so pleased.

“Now, kindly answer me, how do you suggest I punish you?” Rakna’s demon-like voice sounded a third time and Xaris wondered if this was what it felt like to meet the devil.