Reborn as a Leader: King's Debauchery, SSS-Yandere Harem and Evolution-Chapter 31: A Dilemma

’....’

’Who?’ Akhil inquired, reconfirming what he had just heard. The words from the system triggered a vague memory from a few hours ago when the system had attempted to complete a sentence regarding how those two were still watching him, but he had ignored it at the time.

Currently, the name that had just been mentioned by the system triggered a recollection, as he found things slightly suspicious. It seemed there might be a twist he was unaware of until now.

[Miss Laila, do you forget her, Host?]

’No, I mean, what do you mean by the artifact being controlled by her?’ Akhil kicked Lilith in the face, causing her to lose consciousness as she fell to the ground, writhing before losing consciousness again.

Initially, he wanted to interrogate her, but now it appeared there were more important matters to address.

[Not controlled, she is exactly inside of it.]

’....’

[....]

’Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’ Akhil appeared much calmer as he inquired, standing there with an array of emotions igniting in his mind. He recalled all the things he had done after arriving in this life, unaware that he was carrying both of those girls as spirit artifacts.

To be exact, it wasn’t a new term for him, considering he had heard a myth that when an artifact crosses a certain tier, it awakens its own consciousness.

However, he had not anticipated that his own two artifacts would have consciousness. And one of them was a very familiar figure.

[I did.]

’And Niharika?’ Akhil had guessed the probability of Niharika being trapped inside the sword but did not anticipate it to be true.

Naturally, if it weren’t for his memories and the body he had inherited—a body imbued with the memories of the future—he wouldn’t have been able to adapt and behave like this after accomplishing his life’s single goal.

Now, he felt the pain of his past still lingering within him.

[Yes, Miss Niharika is in the sword.]

’....’

’Do you know what you did?’ Akhil appeared visibly shaken, largely because he had acted with the Queen while unaware that he was being watched by those two psychopaths.

He had known them for too long, even witnessing them commit atrocities, including the murder of their own father.

The very person they had acted for was sleeping with another woman.

Moreover, he couldn’t process the thought of what might happen if, somehow, Niharika were to manifest above him, just like his shield did when he was asleep.

Given the circumstances, he pondered the fact that he was alive, with no harm inflicted upon anyone until now.

He guessed two possibilities were at play: primarily, that both of his artifacts, due to being low grade, could not manifest enough energy to act on their own; and secondly, that the trauma of his own death had likely impacted their minds to such an extent that they chose to ignore his actions for now.

’So, are they weak, which is making them restricted, am I correct?’ He just confirmed this fact through the system considering he was sure about the second factor in action but for the first one, he needed confirmation from the system.

[ Indeed, their souls are tied to artifacts ]

’Show me the abilities of my sword artifact.’ Akhil directly inquired about the abilities that an artifact shows with each tier of advancement though, of course, one cannot upgrade their artifacts.

But for him, it was a different matter, so he wanted to know already if he were to upgrade his sword to the different tiers above, what abilities would his artifact unlock.

The reason he wanted to know this was that, after what he had done with the Queen in front of the blade and the shield, he most probably would definitely not want himself to be killed by his own artifact.

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Shattered Tier: Apprentice Blade

Appearance: A plain, unassuming sword with faint inscriptions that seem to shift under the light.

Abilities:

Basic Slash: Simple yet sharp attacks with increased cutting efficiency.

Sword Intuition: Grants the wielder the instinct to block or dodge incoming attacks.

Sword Barrier I: Summons a faint, translucent shield around the user, deflecting weak projectiles.

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Dim Tier: Resonant Edge

Appearance: The sword glows faintly with an inner light, runes beginning to shine during combat.

Abilities:

Sword Negligence: Negates weak magical spells or low-tier curses when the blade is drawn.

Hundred Sword Barrage I: Temporarily summons spectral blades to strike in tandem with the wielder’s attacks.

Sword Link: Allows the wielder to mentally connect with the blade, sensing enemies nearby through the sword’s awareness.

---

Wisp Tier: Thousandfold Blade

Expand....

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Ember Tier: Emperor’s Blade

Expand....

Cannot access more due to unavailability of data.

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’Same as before’, Akhil observed the abilities of the sword, which didn’t change much from before, just like in his past life when, by using Void Flux, he was able to temporarily unlock his sword’s second tier, the Dim Tier, and gained the same abilities as mentioned.

He had reached the integrity of around 395% to unlock the Dim tier but wasn’t able to move further and was killed.

Through the information in front of him, he confirmed that he needed to unlock these abilities by upgrading his artifact.

Which, not the least, he wanted.

After knowing that his own artifact possessed both of those women’s consciousness, he definitely did not want to give them strength enough to strike his own neck.

’I will just not use my artifacts.’ Akhil weighed the pros and cons, and knowing that those women were already a hassle, upgrading his artifact would only mean that they would just hinder his path.

So he thought to leave it be.

Thinking that, he just turned to leave the cell to calm his mind, but was halted in the middle due to a mechanical voice.

[ Host, you cannot leave them locked in there; their souls will vanish. ]

’What?’ Hearing the system’s voice, he halted, inquiring.

[ After your death, both of them spent a whole four years of their lives after killing their father, and then went as far as using nuclear weapons for obsession points, ultimately committing suicide. Given my promise, I followed their request to make them once again close to you, but due to the lack of a suitable body in this world, I infused their spirits into your artifacts...]

’.....What?’

[ If you do not upgrade your artifacts in the future, both Miss Niharika and Miss Laila will die without having a chance of reincarnation. ]