Harem Of Eternal Yandere Beasts: My Legendary Wives

Chapter 63: The Missing Branch

The ghost pulse vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared. One moment the intense resonance existed, vibrating directly through his core, and the next it was gone entirely. There was no lingering vibration, no residual magical signature—nothing. It felt as though someone on the other end had abruptly realized the connection was open and severed it instantly.

The vast subterranean library fell into a tense, suffocating silence. Vale kept her eyes locked onto the central crystal pillar, Selene stared at Vale with wide eyes, and Orion closely monitored both of them. Their rigid postures told him everything he needed to know; this was a complete anomaly.

"Explain," Orion said, breaking the quiet.

Vale remained silent for several seconds, her gray eyes narrowing as she mentally calculated how much information to reveal. Finally, she let out a slow breath.

"Historically, there were three known Sovereign branches," she said, gesturing toward the surrounding archives. "The Academy Branch, which survived here by dedicating itself to research. Then, the Northern Branch, and the Frontier Branch."

Neither of those regional designations meant anything to Orion yet, but his attention sharpened as Vale continued, her expression darkening with every word.

"The Academy Branch maintained consistent, secure contact with both of them. Until fifteen years ago."

"What happened to them?" Orion asked.

Vale’s jaw tightened. "No one knows. That’s the honest truth."

The answer caught him off guard. In his experience, people usually left behind some kind of trail, even if it was just a fragment of rumors.

"No clues at all?"

Selene took over the explanation, her voice unusually stiff. "The regular correspondence just stopped. Their communication formations went entirely dead overnight, and not a single survivor or refugee ever made it back to the capital. Absolutely nothing."

An entire hidden lineage disappearing without a trace wasn’t an accident. To have two separate factions vanish simultaneously suggested a coordinated strike. The mystery was deep, and a familiar, wry thought crossed Orion’s mind: the old bastard running his interface would have absolutely loved this development.

To his slight chagrin, Orion realized he was beginning to agree with that chaotic sentiment.

"Could that signal have been a simple structural malfunction?" Orion asked, looking back toward the pillar.

"No," Vale replied instantly, her confidence unshakeable. She pointed to the glowing stone. "The Legacy Archive is an ancient, self-sustaining diagnostic network. It doesn’t experience false positives. The resonance was absolutely real."

Selene nodded in agreement, crossing her arms tightly. "I felt it too. It was faint—just enough to notice—but it was definitely there."

Orion frowned, catching a detail. "You barely felt it?"

"Not clearly, no," Selene admitted, looking visibly annoyed by the fact.

Vale’s expression turned thoughtful as she studied Orion. "Which means the spiritual connection was strongest with you. By a wide margin."

Silence settled over the chamber again as Orion processed that piece of information. If the signal favored him over Selene, it likely had everything to do with his unique Sovereign Core, the Mythic Summoning System, and the specific architecture of his cultivation path.

Right on cue, the cold blue light of his interface flared to life right in front of his eyes.

◈ SOVEREIGN PATH UPDATE ◈

New Objective Available: Investigate the Missing Branches.

* **Rewards:** Unknown.

* **Risks:** Unknown.

* **Probability Of Complications:** Extremely High.

*Recommendation: Proceed anyway. It will be interesting.*

◈ ◈ ◈

Orion closed his eyes for a brief moment, suppressing a groan. Of course the System was encouraging him to walk directly into danger. The ancient construct was entirely impossible.

"Something funny?" Selene asked, her sharp violet eyes locking onto his face. "You’re doing that weird, tiny smile thing again."

"I am not," Orion lied smoothly.

"You absolutely are."

Vale watched the bickering pair for a second before letting out a tired sigh. "It’s the System, isn’t it?"

Orion blinked, caught off guard. "You know about that?"

"Not its exact parameters," Vale clarified, folding her arms. "But historical records indicate that every single successful Sovereign cultivator eventually starts talking to an internal entity. We call them guidance constructs."

Selene nodded vigorously. "Yeah, and mine gives absolutely terrible, passive-aggressive advice."

Orion stared at them, the revelation completely redefining his understanding of his own abilities. "You have one too?"

"Obviously," Selene said, looking confused by his shock. "As far as the lineage’s research is concerned, a highly advanced spiritual construct manifests naturally once a Sovereign Core reaches a specific developmental threshold."

It was massive piece of context. Orion’s mind raced, realizing that his System wasn’t a unique anomaly, but an inherent feature of their shared heritage.

"What exactly does yours say to you?" Orion asked, genuinely curious.

Selene instantly laughed, waving her hand dismissively. "Absolutely not. I’m not telling you."

"Why?"

"Because it’s incredibly embarrassing."

Despite his pressing, Selene stubbornly refused to elaborate, leaving Orion to wonder just how bizarre her version of the construct actually was.

With the mystery of the signal temporarily tabled, Vale shifted the discussion back to the technicalities of Stage Three. She guided them through rows of highly technical research logs, and Orion found himself thoroughly absorbed by the dense, complex material.

The core theory was brilliant. Stage Three wasn’t designed to brute-force a cultivator’s raw internal power; instead, it acted as a spatial expansion for the Core itself. The Sovereign Core functioned as a central network nexus, linking the contractor directly to their summons. By entering Stage Three, a cultivator vastly increased the bandwidth of that spiritual network—deepening the contract bonds, drastically improving combat synchronization, and allowing for accelerated, shared growth.

It was an incredibly elegant design. A stronger network directly empowered the summons, and stronger summons naturally feedback-looped into a stronger Orion. Everything reinforced everything else. It was efficient, elegant, and inherently dangerous—three traits the Sovereign Path seemed to possess in spades.

Hours flew by as reading turned into intense discussion, which quickly devolved into a heated debate over mana-flow safety parameters between Selene and Orion. Vale watched them from her desk, looking quietly amused by how quickly they had fallen into a rhythm.

By the time they finally climbed out of the hidden library and stepped back into the fresh air, the sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the academy towers in deep shades of gold and violet. Groups of students were heading back to their quarters, and the distant training arenas were still humming with late-evening practice. The rest of the campus moved on completely unaware of hidden libraries, missing branches, or ancient secrets under their feet. It was probably for the best.

Selene walked casually beside Orion, her hands shoved deep into her uniform pockets as she stared at the path ahead. "You learn surprisingly fast."

Orion glanced at her. "So do you."

"True," she said smoothly, offering no false modesty. "How long have you actually known about your Sovereign path?"

"Only a few months," Orion replied. "What about you?"

"Almost a year. I’ve just been floating around the academy, waiting for another user to finally show up."

"Why?"

Selene gave him a flat, sideways look. "Because being the only person carrying an extinct legacy is incredibly boring and annoying."

They eventually reached a major crossroads where the residential pathways split into different dormitory districts. Selene came to a stop, her demeanor dropping its usual sarcastic edge, turning uncharacteristically serious.

"The signal we felt today," she said quietly. "The missing branches."

Orion nodded. "Yeah."

"I don’t think it was a random echo or a coincidence," Selene murmured, her violet eyes dark. "The timing feels entirely too deliberate. Like someone was specifically waiting for a new presence to connect to the network."

Orion didn’t disagree. The alignment of his arrival and the sudden broadcast was too precise to be anything else. Someone out there was either actively reaching out, or responding to his awakening.

"Be careful," Selene added abruptly. She caught herself a second later, looking thoroughly annoyed by her own uncharacteristic display of concern. "Ugh. That sounded way more dramatic in my head than it did out loud."

Orion let out a genuine laugh, earning himself a sharp glare that was entirely worth it.

As he walked the final stretch back to Dormitory Seven, the sprawling academy campus felt distinctively smaller than it had that morning. The hidden library was anchored beneath its foundations, a piece of his legacy was sitting right beside him, and somewhere out past the defensive walls, a lost branch of his bloodline had just broken a fifteen-year silence. The board was actively shifting.

Inside his spiritual space, Cipher stirred with a quiet hum, and Mist shifted comfortably within the contours of his shadow. As he approached his front door, he looked up to see Luna sitting casually on the edge of the roof tiles, waiting for his return. The familiar, chaotic sight brought a brief smile back to his face.

Then, a fresh notification bled through his vision, shattering the momentary peace.

◈ MYTHIC SUMMONING SYSTEM ◈

*Warning: Host has been observed.*

* **Observer Identity:** Unknown.

* **Threat Assessment:** Pending.

*Current Recommendation: Do not travel alone.*

◈ ◈ ◈

Orion stopped dead in his tracks on the stone path, his smile instantly vanishing.

For the first time since he had unlocked the interface, the System didn’t sound amused, mocking, or sarcastic. It sounded genuinely concerned.