Demonic Dragon: Harem System

"Big sister! Wait for me!" The little boy ran after the teenage girl with white hair and a black dress, while she walked steadily without slowing down. She really seemed not to want his company, but the little boy kept pestering her as he followed her to a mansion slightly older than the others.

He looked at the mansion's entrance and trembled slightly with fear at how old it was. Cobwebs hung everywhere, and the pillars were covered in black dust, as if it hadn't been cleaned in years and had been abandoned.

"S-sister! D-don't go in there!" He trembled with fear as he watched his older sister enter the place, her black dress starting to get dirty with dust, turning the edges of her skirt gray as it brushed against the mansion's old wood. The boy clenched his fists tightly, glanced at the place, and took a deep breath to follow his sister inside.

"Calm down, it's just an abandoned mansion," he thought, mustering up courage and entering the foyer.

Passing through the shadowy entrance, the boy felt a shiver run down his spine. The mansion seemed even more frightening inside. The walls were lined with faded wallpaper, torn in several places, revealing dark, aged wood underneath. The furniture was covered in yellowed white sheets, and the air was thick with the smell of mold and decay that quickly irritated the boy's nose.

"Atichnn!" He sneezed, kicking up even more dust in the air. But quickly recovering, he called out again, "Big sister!" His voice echoed through the empty hall. The teenage girl with white hair didn't respond, continuing to advance down the main corridor, her steps echoing on the creaking wooden floorboards.

"Why are you like this?! Why are you doing this?" he asked, his voice still trembling with fear. His sister finally stopped and turned to him, her lilac eyes looking at him, making him even more afraid.

"You wouldn't understand," she said calmly, her cold tone hitting the boy brutally. "There are things you wouldn't understand," she remarked.

The boy swallowed hard but couldn't back down. He didn't want to be there, but he couldn't leave her alone, especially seeing the state of the place. He took more hesitant steps, watching as she began to descend a wooden staircase that seemed to be on the verge of collapsing at any moment due to the creaking sounds of the wood.

When his sister stepped on the last step leading to an underground door, a strange sound echoed through the mansion... A faint whisper, as if the walls were trying to say something. The boy looked around, searching for the source of the sound, but found nothing but darkness.

"Sister... did you hear that?" he asked, his voice trembling with fear as his body shivered. "I heard," she replied, without looking back. "I-I think we should go back..." he commented, but his sister ignored him and held firm, "This is why we're here," she said.

She was already at the beginning of the staircase, heading towards the narrow hallway with only one door at the end of it, her hands sliding along the walls, feeling the rough texture of the tattered wallpaper. Despite hesitating, the boy followed her, his little heart pounding in his chest. With each step, he felt the fear growing, but also a certain determination to accompany his sister.

Strax knew Xenovia was strong, but...

*Bonk*

He was so immobilized by the fear he felt that he barely paid attention to what was in front of him and ended up hitting his head on the girl's back, who had stopped walking. She had stopped in front of the old door, its surface marked by various deep scratches, and the doorknob was rusty.

Xenovia put her hand on the doorknob and looked at him one last time before opening the door. "Be careful," she whispered, and with determination, she made the movement, forcing the doorknob to turn, and thus the door was opened, revealing a slightly dark room.

A cold breeze passed through both of them, making all their hairs stand on end. Strax shuddered at the bad feeling coming from the room ahead of him.

Despite this, looking back at his sister still standing at the entrance, he managed to see what was inside the room, illuminated by its own flickering light. He saw a black sword, stuck in a stone pedestal in the center of the room. The blade trembled, emitting a sharp and disturbing sound that resonated in his mind.

"W-what is this, Sister?" he asked, gripping his older sister's dress tighter, his fingers trembling just from seeing the sword in front of him. Of course, he knew it was a sword, that was obvious, but he didn't understand the feeling it conveyed.

"A dark spirit," she replied, her voice remaining completely calm and unchanged as if this were... normal... "A hidden family relic, it calls to me." She commented.

The boy couldn't understand why his sister was so... calm and why the terrifying sword in front of her was simply... common to her, at the same time Xenovia's gaze was really different... as if finding it beautiful or something, a look Strax had never seen in her eyes.

She started moving again, towards the pedestal. Looking back at him again, she said, "Stay here," ordering, her voice as cold as ice.

He felt something, wanting to protest and pull her immediately, to hold her and leave as fast as possible, but his body didn't respond, his body was paralyzed by fear and the aura of the sword. All he did was watch as Xenovia slowly reached the pedestal, her steps echoing throughout the room.

As she approached the pedestal, the sword began to vibrate more intensely, the sounds turning into indistinct whispers that seemed to come from all directions. She reached out and, with a determined movement, grabbed the sword's hilt. When she did, a wave of black energy spread through the room, pushing the boy back and throwing the girl against the wall with great force.

*BOOM*

"Sister!" he shouted, trying to get up, but his legs wouldn't obey. The older sister, however, seemed to have been hurt, blood running down her forehead. But the sword remained firmly in her hand. Strax saw that and ignored it, quickly heading towards the girl, ignoring the sword's aura.

"Sister..." Strax said, helping her to stand up, and with great effort, Strax approached her face and stroked it with tearful eyes, the girl's wounded forehead made him quite sad, tears filled his eyes. "Sister, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied coldly, despite the visible pain. "Let's get out of here." Strax saw that... "Get out of here?! You almost died! I was worried about you! You idiotic sister!" He shouted at her, and even trembling, he pulled the girl, demonstrating a strength he didn't know he had.

Turning his back, he gestured. "Get on my back, I'll carry you." He said firmly, and the girl looked at him while holding her wound, "You're weak," She said coldly, and Strax ignored it. "Weakness is not being able to help my injured sister," He replied, without looking at her.

Xenovia's eyes opened in surprise, and then she agreed, letting her heavy and tired body rest on the back of her younger brother, who made a tough face due to the weight, but didn't retreat, slowly he... carried her to the main mansion...

"Xyn told me it was good to refurbish this place, it seems like your mother really liked it." Xenovia said, bringing Strax out of his thoughts. "And this is an important place for me," she murmured.

Strax read the message in front of him, "Xyn... the sword that carries the will of a Black Phoenix, how could I forget that day?"

[You unlocked sealed memories, you advanced in understanding yourself]

Strax read the message somewhat nervously. "Damn System... sealing my memories to control my life and do what it wants with them... I'll kill whoever created this crap," He thought.

*Come get me...*

A strange sound echoed in his ears as he began to enter... A faint whisper of a hoarse woman...

"Did you hear that?" Strax questioned, but Xenovia said nothing and continued to walk towards the mansion entrance... "You're being called by a sword," She said, without any hesitation, just speaking into the wind, and Strax looked at her.

"The voice you heard is probably the sword that chose you calling you," She concluded and opened the doors as he entered, seeing the scene that he could never forget... the same entrance, the same furniture, the same wallpaper...

"Wow," He murmured at the sight, how luxurious and beautiful that structure was, unlike before when it just seemed like a big abandoned mansion from a horror movie.

"I kept it exactly like the original construction," Xenovia said as she guided him to a guest room, where there was a table with tea prepared, two sofas facing each other with only the table separating them.

"Now tell me... Why did you bring me here, Xenovia?" Strax said, looking into her eyes.