Harem Sync: Divine Edition-Chapter 17: The Child Who Shouldn’t Exist

Heavy rain fell on the mountain. Cold. Hitting the old roof tiles of the mansion.

The structure was old. Cracked stone walls. Rotten wood in the corners. Broken windows covered with poorly nailed boards, it was more like a shell. Something that had once been grand, but now was just... useful.

In the muddy courtyard, workers moved around in the rain. Soaked capes. Boots sinking into the mud. They carried cages. Some empty. Others with something inside.

All covered with dark cloths covering the iron bars. No one could see what was inside, but they could hear it. Low growls, muffled cries, scratches against metal.

The workers didn’t look. They didn’t ask questions. They just carried on.

The mansion was high up on the mountain. Isolated. Far from main roads. Perfect for those who didn’t want to be seen.

Perfect for Vandris.

The child woke up in the dark, the cold floor beneath her, damp stone, the smell of mold mixed with old, dried blood.

She didn’t know how long she had been there. Days? Weeks?

She tried to remember, but couldn’t. She only remembered fragments. Voices screaming, big hands holding her. Pain, a lot of pain, and then... nothing.

She looked around. Almost total darkness, but her eyes slowly adjusted.

She saw the iron bars around her. She was in a small cage. So small that she could barely sit up without hitting her head.

She held her head in her small hands and squeezed, as if trying to squeeze the memories out.

"Mommy... where’s Mommy..." she whispered, her voice hoarse.

But no answer came.

Next to her were other cages. Empty. Doors open. Dark stains on the floor beneath them. It wasn’t rust.

She heard footsteps on the wooden staircase, creaking slowly, one at a time.

The child cowered in the corner of the cage.

A dim light descended. A swaying oil lamp. Casting shadows on the stone walls. And then he appeared.

A fat man. A big belly stretching his dirty silk shirt. An oily, unkempt black beard. Fingers full of rings, gold, silver, colored stones. Expensive clothes, but stained with food, wine, mud.

Vandris.

He stopped in front of her cage and smiled. Yellow teeth.

"Good morning, little jewel," he said, his voice honeyed. Too sweet. "Did you sleep well?"

The child did not answer, just stared, red eyes fixed on him, without blinking.

Vandris crouched down, his knee joints cracking. He set the lamp on the floor. His eyes gleamed with greed as he examined her.

"Today a special buyer is coming," he said, touching the bars of the cage with his fat fingers. "He wants... rare children. And you, my dear..."

He tilted his head, smiling wider.

"You are unique."

The child backed further into the corner. She leaned her back against the cold bars.

Vandris laughed. Low and satisfied.

"Don’t be afraid. He’ll take good care of you." He paused. "Maybe."

He stood up, grunting with the effort.

"Or maybe he’ll kill you in the first few days. But that’s not my problem."

He picked up the lamp and climbed the stairs, slowly, step by step.

The light rose with him and disappeared. Darkness again.

The child stood there, alone, trembling.

Hours later, or minutes, she didn’t know, new footsteps came down the stairs, two men. One of them was Vandris. The other... Tall. Thin. Black tunic with strange symbols embroidered in red. Red eyes shining in the dim light. Hood thrown back.

He looked like a cult wizard.

Vandris approached the cage, took a key from his pocket, and unlocked it. He opened the iron door. It creaked loudly.

"See?" he said, gesturing to the child cowering in the corner. "Perfect. Pure mana. Unknown bloodline. And best of all..."

He smiled broadly.

"She can’t resist."

The wizard frowned.

"What do you mean, she won’t resist?"

"When I caught her, she was in a trance. Walking alone. She entered the cell on her own. She didn’t even try to escape."

Vandris laughed.

"It’s as if... she didn’t even know she was being captured."

The wizard looked at the child. Interested.

"Fascinating..."

He approached slowly, crouching in front of her. He reached out and touched her shoulder.

CRACK.

Sparks exploded from the point of contact.

White. Bright. Electric.

The wizard quickly withdrew his hand.

"What—"

And then... he felt heat inside his chest, rising up his throat, burning him from within. His eyes widened.

"What... is happening..."

White flames exploded from inside him.

Coming out of his eyes. Out of his mouth. Out of the pores of his skin. He screamed.

But the sound was muffled by the fire consuming his throat.

He fell.

Dead before he hit the ground. His body smoking. His skin charred. His eyes burned, empty.

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.

Sparks began to fly from the child again. From her small hands, her fingers, rising up her arms.

She raised her hand, looked at it. She knew what was going to happen, it always did.

Vandris jumped back, sweating with excitement.

"IT’S GOING TO EXPLODE AGAIN!" he shouted, laughing. "HAHAHAHA! THIS IS AMAZING!"

He looked at her. Eyes shining.

"YOU’RE A GOLD MINE! I—"

The sparks began to intensify.

Vandris realized it.

"...Damn it!"

He turned and ran to the stairs.

He climbed them quickly, slammed the door, and locked it from the outside.

The child looked at the wizard’s body, smoking, burned from the inside out. She left the cell slowly. Sparks still flew from her, uncontrollably. Jumping into the air. Ricocheting off the walls. She hadn’t done anything, hadn’t wanted to do anything, but it happened as always.

She looked at the stairs urgently. The door was locked.

There was no way out. Or was there?

She looked at the walls, old stones with cracks everywhere, and in one crack... light from a small gap, rain was coming in there.

She ran straight to the wall, hugged the stone with both hands, and then...

EXPLODED.

It wasn’t just the wall, it was the whole basement.

The explosion of white mana radiated from her like a wave, invisible but devastating. The stone shattered. Cracked. Flew in all directions.

The wooden beams of the ceiling broke, the floor above gave way, and part of the mansion, the entire east wing, was blown into the air.

BOOM.

The sound echoed through the mountain, muffled by the rain, but still thunderous.

Huge rocks flew. They fell, but none touched her.

The sparks around her repelled everything like an invisible shield. Every rock that approached was deflected. Pushed away. Falling to the side, behind, in front.

But never on her.

She looked around. Debris, smoke, distant cries from workers.

And ahead... Dense, dark, wet forest. She ran there, without thinking, without looking back.

The mountain was a steep descent, with the rain, the mud slipping under her feet. She fell and got up, slipped again, rolled, hit a log, stopped. She got up again, staggering, and kept running.

Her feet sank into the mud, her torn clothes stuck to her small body, her white hair was dirty with dirt, water, and dried blood.

She didn’t know where she was going, she just ran.

And behind her, at the top of the mountain, a column of smoke rose, Vandris’ mansion, partially destroyed, slowly burning in the rain.

It wasn’t long before she heard voices behind her.

The sparks around her body had calmed down. The stormy night extinguished them, one by one. Under the heavy rain, in the darkness of the forest, she became visible. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"There! The child!"

"Get her! Vandris pays 500 coins!"

Three mercenaries armed with short swords, fast and accustomed to chasing.

She tried to run faster, but she was small, weak, and tired. Her legs trembled and her feet bled.

One of them caught up with her and grabbed her arm.

"Gotcha!"

And then... She felt the same heat rising up his arm, burning from the inside out, screamed, let go of her, and fell to her knees, holding his arm. His skin was melting. Exposed flesh steaming in the rain.

The other two hesitated.

"What the hell is this?!"

But they advanced anyway. Greed overcoming fear.

She desperately wanted to run again, but she stumbled. She fell face down in the mud, water hitting her face.

"N-No... I don’t want to..."

The mercenaries approached, swords raised. And then... Her mana exploded. It radiated from her like a bomb.

The two mercenaries were thrown backwards, flying several meters. They hit trees, their necks breaking on impact.

She looked at her own hands, trembling. Weak sparks still came out of her fingers.

"I... I didn’t mean to..."

Tears mixed with the rain on her face, she got up and kept running.

Voices again, but different this time. They sang an incantation.

Two wizards appeared among the trees. Their blue robes were soaked. Their wooden staffs glowed with red runes.

"Child," said one of them, his voice firm but not threatening. "Stop. We won’t hurt you."

She stopped and looked at them, panting.

"...Really?"

One of them smiled.

"Really. We just want to take you back to—"

The other cast bright red magical chains, which wrapped around her arms. They tightened. They pulled.

She screamed.

"YOU LIED!"

And then... Everything exploded, not with fire this time, but with pure, blinding white light.

It shone so brightly that for a second it seemed like morning.

The entire forest lit up. The shadows disappeared. The rain reflected the light like thousands of falling diamonds.

The magical chains disintegrated. They turned to dust.

One of the wizards was thrown far away. He hit his head on a rock. He stopped moving. Blood flowed, mixing with the rain.

The other tried to get up, but she looked at him and without meaning to, without understanding, she felt something pulling. His mana was sucked out.

It left his body like white smoke, flowing into the air and entering her. He screamed, tried to resist, but couldn’t and fell drained and dead.

"I... am I a monster?"

At the top of the hill, Vandris stood there with his arms crossed. He saw the child run. He saw the mercenaries fall. He saw the wizards die.

Beside him, a nervous guard asked:

"Sir... she’s running away. Aren’t we going to—"

"No." Vandris interrupted. His voice was calm. Cold.

"But she killed seven people! And destroyed—"

"I know." Vandris smiled. "And that’s why I’m letting her go."

The guard frowned.

"...Sir?"

Vandris continued to stare at the child below. Disappearing among the dark trees.

"Collectors are never in a hurry," he said, adjusting a ring on his finger. "She’ll get tired. She’ll get hungry. She’ll look for help."

He turned.

"And when that happens... someone will find her. And that someone will bring me back the jewel I lost."

He paused.

He looked back.

The child was gone, completely, as if she had never been there, no presence, no sound, no trace.

Vandris raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting... she’s learned to hide."

He smiled wider.

"Even better. When I get her back... she’ll be worth twice as much."

The child stopped running and leaned against a huge tree.

She couldn’t hear any voices anymore. She couldn’t see anyone else, so she lowered her head.

"I’m a monster..." she whispered. "No one will want me..."