Harem Of Eternal Yandere Beasts: My Legendary Wives

Chapter 70: The Hall of Founders

The room became quiet. It wasn’t a thoughtful silence, but a dangerous stillness—the kind that followed a statement nobody wanted to hear.

*Waiting for you.*

The words lingered, heavy and unavoidable. Orion looked at Vale. "How certain are you?"

The instructor’s answer came immediately. "Very."

It wasn’t encouraging.

Selene folded her arms. "This is insane."

Nobody disagreed. A man presumed dead for fifteen years had appeared inside one of the most heavily protected academies in the Empire. He had breached the perimeter, triggered ancient Sovereign formations, sent a blood-beacon, and now occupied the Hall of Founders—all while waiting for Orion.

Insane seemed accurate.

The communication crystal at Vale’s waist flashed again. She listened to the report, and her expression grew even darker, a talent Orion was beginning to notice she possessed.

"What now?" Selene asked.

"The instructors sent three Gold-rank combat specialists," Vale said. "They never reached the Hall."

Silence returned to the room. "What happened to them?"

"They stopped," Vale replied slowly. "They reported no injuries, no combat, and no hostile action. They simply refused to move forward."

*Interesting,* Orion thought. *Very interesting.*

The Sovereign Core stirred. It wasn’t a warning, but an old recognition, as though something ancient had just clicked into place. Orion remembered his initial trial—the pressure, the presence, and the overwhelming certainty that resistance was meaningless. It was a superior will. A superior authority.

The possibility settled heavily. Caelum wasn’t blocking the faculty with force. He was blocking them with his presence.

"He advanced farther than everyone else," Rowan spoke quietly from his cot. The boy looked exhausted, yet determined, like someone forcing himself to remember painful things. "My grandfather said the branch called him a genius." He paused, his lips thinning. "Then they stopped calling him that."

"What did they call him instead?" Selene asked.

Rowan’s answer arrived immediately: "The Successor."

The word carried weight, not because of its meaning, but because of how Rowan said it. It sounded like a title, a warning, and a memory people preferred not to discuss.

Vale closed her eyes briefly, calculating. Then she made a decision. "We’re going."

There was no hesitation. The authority in her voice ended all debate.

Ten minutes later, they crossed the academy grounds. The atmosphere had transformed completely. Emergency formations glowed across the campus, students were being evacuated from the central districts, and combat instructors occupied strategic positions. The entire academy looked ready for war.

As they approached the Hall of Founders, the crowds disappeared. The noise faded, and even the air felt different—heavier and completely still, like the world itself was holding its breath.

The Hall stood at the center of the academy: a massive stone structure with pillars and centuries of history carved into every surface. It looked less like a building and more like a monument. A declaration.

Nobody guarded the entrance. That was the first strange thing. The second was the open door.

The third was the man sitting on the stairs.

Caelum looked exactly like the image from the Archive. He had black hair, dark clothing, and a sword resting beside him. He looked young, far too young, suggesting someone barely older than Orion. But his eyes suggested something much older.

The moment Orion saw him, the Sovereign Core exploded with activity—recognition, connection, conflict, and thousands of questions.

Caelum slowly looked up. His gaze passed over Vale, Selene, and Rowan, before finally settling on Orion. A smile appeared, small, genuine, and unexpectedly warm.

"There you are," Caelum said. They were the exact same words from the resonance, spoken in the same calm, certain voice, as though this meeting had been inevitable.

Nobody moved. The academy’s emergency formations hummed around them. Instructors watched from distant rooftops, and powerful cultivators remained hidden nearby, prepared to fight or die if necessary. Caelum ignored all of them. His attention never left Orion.

"You’ve grown differently than I expected," Caelum remarked.

The statement immediately annoyed Orion, mostly because it implied expectations existed. "What exactly were you expecting?"

Caelum’s smile widened slightly. "Not this."

*Helpful. Very helpful.*

Selene stepped forward. "You’re Caelum. The Frontier Branch survivor."

The man nodded. "I am." He paused, looking toward the distant horizon. For the first time, a complicated mix of regret and sadness crossed his expression before it vanished. "But I wasn’t the survivor."

Orion’s eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

Caelum’s eyes returned to him, calm and steady. "It means the Frontier Branch died. And I killed it."

Silence reclaimed the plaza. The world seemed to stop, and even the wind disappeared. Rowan staggered backward, Selene froze, and Vale’s eyes widened. For the first time since they had met him, Caelum looked tired. Genuinely tired.

"My family believed the Sovereign Path was incomplete," his voice remained calm, as though discussing the weather. "They were correct. They just discovered it too late."

Nobody interrupted. Nobody dared.

"The Hunters came because of me," Caelum said flatly. "I led them there."

There were no excuses or justifications. Just the truth. Orion watched him carefully, looking for deception or manipulation, but found none. That worried him more.

"The Archive showed us a war," Vale finally spoke.

Caelum nodded. "It was a war."

"What were you fighting?"

For the first time, the man’s expression changed. It wasn’t sadness or regret, but fear. It was gone almost instantly, but Orion saw it, and so did everyone else.

Caelum slowly stood. The movement was simple and ordinary, yet every hidden instructor immediately activated their cultivation. Every formation brightened, and every instinct screamed danger.

Caelum paid them no attention. He locked his eyes onto Orion as the Sovereign Core pulsed violently, almost desperately.

Then he asked a single question that shattered everything they thought they understood.

"Tell me, Orion," Caelum murmured. "When your System speaks to you... does it still call itself the Old Bastard?"

The world froze.

A second later, a blue notification appeared in Orion’s vision. For the first time since Orion had awakened it, the words were completely serious.

◈ MYTHIC SUMMONING SYSTEM ◈

...Well.

This is unexpected.

◈ ◈ ◈