Harem Sync: Divine Edition-Chapter 28: The Dome of Annihilation

Isabela looked up, trying to see where Haru had gone, but the rain had intensified, turning into a heavy, cold storm that raged violently, and the airship had already disappeared into the darkness of the low clouds, taking Haru and Kira outside trying to get in.

Vandris stood up, his back slumped, his body bent forward like a wounded animal, and all his lackeys within a two-hundred-meter radius began to wither where they stood, their skin wrinkling, their eyes sinking, their vitality being sucked directly into the possessed body that fed on them like fuel.

Isabela took steps back, watching with growing horror as Vandris shook his head from side to side like a rabid dog trying to rid himself of something trapped in his mind, and then roared, not like a man, but like a monster, the sound echoing across the entire field as his body released dark red smoke from all its openings.

He slimmed down in seconds, fat melting away as the muscles beneath grew, skin cracking and reforming into a texture that was no longer human, and what remained standing there was no longer Vandris the Collector, but something else using his body as a poorly fitting suit.

On the other side of the field, Kaelthar formed a small bubble between his hands, concentrating his energy which shone and pulsed, and when he extended his arms the bubble exploded in a silent expansion that covered the entire mansion, without exception, remaining inside a dark purple dome that sealed the space completely.

Haru and Kira saw it all from above through the storm; it was visible to those outside, every detail inside transparent as if looking through stained glass, but those inside couldn’t see anything outside, only absolute darkness beyond the barrier.

Kira huddled against Haru’s back, ears lowered, body trembling not only from cold but from pure fear as she tried not to look down where the ground was sixty meters away. "I... I, I’m afraid of heights..." she murmured in a strained voice, but Haru didn’t answer, too focused on banging on the door with what little mana he had left, trying to force open any crack he could find.

"I don’t have much time," she thought aloud between punches on the door, "I hope Vandris holds out long enough for me to get in here..."

Inside the airship, Yukihime had fainted some time ago, but woke up suddenly when she began to hear the knocking on the door.

She crawled across the floor with difficulty because her legs didn’t respond properly after so long without moving, she stood up with trembling hands against the wall, and when she placed her palms against the metal door she felt the energy on the other side, she knew that energy, it was Haru, it was Papa, he had really come.

She was so happy that tears welled up uncontrollably, she thought they had left her there forever, she wiped her face with the back of her hand and looked at the golden necklace that was fastened around her neck, she tried to pull it off forcefully but it wouldn’t budge, it was stuck. She gave up and stretched her hands towards the door, concentrating everything she had, trying to release energy against the magic seal that kept the lock locked, but what came out was weak, faded, almost nothing.

That necklace had been placed there by Kaelthar himself and completely blocked her powers, the first time in her life someone had truly managed to do that, and somehow the necklace was also slowly draining her power. She strained harder, forcing herself until she felt a sharp pain in her chest, because she needed to help, she needed to get out, she needed to be with Papa.

In the field below, the puddles of rain that had formed on the ground began to evaporate in a second, turning into vapor that rose and disappeared before reaching the dome’s barrier. Kaelthar’s mages who were still standing fell to their knees one by one, trying to breathe but unable to because their mana was being forcibly drained, serving as a sacrifice to keep the dome active, making everything inside it weigh three times more than normal.

Isabela felt it first because she actively absorbed mana all the time to maintain her strength at maximum, and suddenly realized it wasn’t working, she looked at her own arms and saw the veins glowing faintly beneath her skin.

"He’s sucking up the entire field..." he thought, looking at the center of the dome where Kaelthar stood completely motionless, surrounded by magical circles spinning at different speeds and runes floating in the air around him forming complex geometric patterns. It seemed he was preparing a very powerful spell... his [Ultimate].

While he did this, clones of himself emerged from the ground, five identical copies that positioned themselves around the original body to protect it while he finished the enchantment.

What remained of the guards and minions advanced against Kaelthar’s clones in a last desperate attempt to stop what he was doing, and the fight that began was brutal and technical at the same time.

The clones fought with absolute precision, each movement calculated to cause maximum damage with minimum effort, blocking blows that hadn’t yet been made because they already knew where the opponent was going to attack, counter-attacking vital points with small lunar discs that pierced throats and hearts without waste.

The possessed Vandris also joined the fight, advancing against the clones with impossible speed for something of that size, delivering blow after blow that temporarily destroyed the clones before they reformed as if made of solid smoke.

But then the spirits within Vandris realized that Kaelthar’s seal was draining even spiritual entities partially bound to matter, and a brutal internal conflict began because some wanted to flee Vandris’s body to escape the seal while others wanted to continue possessing him to maintain physical power.

Vandris lost control in the middle of the fight; his right arm contorted on its own and his fingers turned into black claws while his left arm remained normal and tried to pull his right arm back. One of his legs began to walk forward while the other tried to walk backward, causing him to stagger like a drunkard amidst the clones, who took advantage and began to land precise blows.

His mouth opened and closed uncoordinatedly, trying to speak but only disjointed sounds came out, like ten different voices speaking at once, some screaming in panic while others roared with rage.

Kaelthar observed everything with clinical interest, his head tilted slightly to the side, but he didn’t stop making the hand signs that kept the Ultimate spell building, as if he were watching an experiment go wrong in a completely predictable way and didn’t care in the slightest.

Kaelthar raised his left hand for the first time since the seal had begun, and the runes on the surface of the dome began to glow brighter as he activated the second stage. The dome stopped passively draining and began to collapse inward, compressing everything inside it little by little as if the air had turned to concrete being squeezed by an invisible press, the weight increasing exponentially with each passing second.

Vandris fell to the ground completely out of control, his body writhing in violent spasms as the spirits fought internally for control that no longer existed.

On the airship...

Haru was banging on the door with decreasing force, each punch weaker than the last, when the system urgently notified...

```

[CRITICAL ALERT]

◊ Gamer’s Eyes Module: DISCONNECTED

◊ Target: Vandris "The Collect

```

Haru read and understood immediately; his plan was falling apart at the worst possible moment, and he thought quickly:

"Damn, he fell too soon..."

<MINUTES BEFORE ARRIVING AT THE COURTYARD>

Vandris and Haru were still on their way to the courtyard, surrounded by guards, and Haru had begun to explain what the Gamer’s Eyes would be without going into too much technical detail, just enough to increase the collector’s greed.

"You’ll be able to see information about anyone, any object, stats, weaknesses, everything a gamer sees. Imagine the value of that for someone who collects rarities."

Vandris had become interested immediately, his eyes gleaming with pure greed, and accepted without hesitation. "Do it," he had ordered, stopping in front of Haru and tilting his head forward.

Haru had extended his bound hands and touched Vandris’s forehead with his fingers.

```

[Gamer Kit Module: Copying]

◊ Module Selected: Gamer’s Eyes

[Copy Complete]

◊ Target: Vandris 2° "The Collector"

[Installing...]

◊ WARNING: Forcing Gamer Core into incompatible vessel

[Compatibility: 12%]

◊ CRITICAL WARNING: This will cause severe neural damage

◊ Damage will affect both USER and TARGET

```

Haru had read that and thought: "This will be my escape when I need to..."

<>

Haru’s knocking on the door weakened drastically until it stopped completely, blood began to trickle from his nose in thick streams that the storm wind scattered to the side...

Kira, who had closed his eyes trying not to think about the height while clinging to Haru’s back, opened them when he felt that he had stopped knocking on the door, and when he looked ahead he saw that he was bleeding from the nose, His eyes were losing color and brightness as his head slumped forward as if the muscles in his neck had shut down.

"My God..." Kira murmured, panicking, "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" She shook him by the shoulders, but Haru didn’t respond; he was truly fainting, and then his hands, gripping the edge of the door, began to loosen.

Kira looked down instinctively, and dizziness hit her like a punch to the stomach. The ground was so far away it seemed unreal, and she tried to move despite the paralyzing fear to somehow hold Haru, but when she tried to reposition herself, the movement caused their balance to shift, and Haru let go completely.

They began to fall.

TAH!

The airship door exploded from the inside out, twisted metal flying in all directions, and the two falling suddenly began to float as if gravity had been turned off just for them. Yukihime stood at the entrance of the door she had just blown apart with the last vestiges of power she had managed to gather, and even with the necklace draining everything from her, she had forced pure telekinesis to catch Haru and Kira before they fell too far.

She tried not to faint as she floated the two of them to just above the airship’s entrance, exerting mental strength that physically ached in her brain, and when she got them close enough she tried to pull them inside but couldn’t complete the movement because her vision suddenly darkened and she fainted, falling backward inside the airship as her telekinesis stopped instantly.

Haru and Kira, who were two meters from the entrance, began their fall again, now plummeting towards the collapsing violet dome below as the storm hammered everything mercilessly.