Harem Overlord: I ALWAYS Finish Quick!
Chapter 79 Ryan's Choice

"Shade, we're done here," Ryan called out, looking at the disheveled Hannah on the floor.

Shade creaked the door open and peered inside, seeing Hannah's blissed-out expression as she lay drooling on the floor.

"I asked you to cure her of her curse, not the symptoms of it," Shade said, looking a little disappointed at Ryan. 'I thought he could be our master. Unfortunately, it appears he's just another hot… hot head,' Shade thought, shaking his head to clear the visions of debauchery that had entered his mind.

"I think you should take a closer look, Shade," Diana said from behind Shade, her eyes gleaming with awe.

Shade raised his eyebrow at Diana before moving closer, placing a hand on the slobbering Hannah.

"Well, I'll be damned," Shade whispered in excitement and astonishment.

Not only had Hannah's curse been lifted, but it had also been replaced by something actively helping her.

"What is this power inside of her?" Shade asked, turning towards Ryan.

"From where I come from, it's called liquid gold, but you probably know it as baby milk."

"That's your life essence?" Shade asked, recognizing the phrase baby milk.

"Yeah, don't you have enhancers here?"

"Enhancers… Do you mean others have this power where you come from?" Shade asked, widening his eyes.

"It's pretty rare on Ravier, but there are thousands," Ryan said, trying to gauge Shade's reaction.

"I assume your planet is not connected to the Multiverse. Yes?"

Seeing Ryan nod, Shade sucked in a deep breath, unable to contain a grin.

"Does your planet have an Owner?"

'Can someone own a planet?'

Ryan was about to say he didn't know when a girl with long brown hair, who was with Diana, when Ryan was knocked unconscious, walked into the room.

"He needs to be on his way since he's past the test," the girl said. "My name is Kaitlyn, and I'll be your guide to the test site."

===

Ryan flew side by side with Kaitlyn, each on their magic swords. Although Ryan's 'Flying Stick' wasn't the most useful for combat, it couldn't fly more than 10 feet off the ground, looked more like a long toothpick than a sword, and…

'I need an upgrade,' Ryan thought as he glanced over at the midnight black blade under Kaitlyn's feet.

[Harem Alert: Harem Member 'Emily' has sent a distress signal]

[Select this prompt for location]

Ryan did a double-take looking at the message. 'Is she even in the same realm as me?' Ryan thought.

When he was transferred, he didn't exactly know his situation. All he understood before the portal had disappeared was that he hadn't ended up in a G-Rank realm.

Clicking on the location, Ryan now knew she was in the same realm and was relatively close.

Ryan now had a decision to make. He could turn his back on Emily and continue towards the testing site, or…

'I made an oath.' Ryan had sworn to Emily that her problems would be his problems. He swore he would protect her, even if she acted strange to him this morning.

'A true man always keeps his word.'

'...Also, it would be a shame to lose both a slot and someone influential within the human empire.'

Ryan decided he needed to know exactly why Emily was acting the way she was and if the situation was fixable. He knew deep inside what he had to do if it wasn't.

"Kailyn!" Ryan shouted, swerving his sword to a stop.

Kaitlyn maneuvered the air like a fish in water, doing a clean 180-degree turn on her sword. "What's the matter?"

"One of my women is in trouble. I need to save her," Ryan said, turning toward the direction that the prompt pointed him in.

"Here, take this," She said, handing an item to Ryan.

"Thanks."

===

Ryan plummeted through the chilly air, his flying stick weaving through the forest. 'Maybe Emily sent the warning by accident.'

Coming dangerously close to slamming into a large pine tree, he refocused his mind and allowed his sword to follow Emily's coordinates.

Breaking so hard that he spun in a circle, Ryan leaped off the stick and ran to the boulders in the darkening forest. No sounds came from the woods, the stones, or anywhere surrounding him.

"Emily," he whispered. Nothing. "Emily," he said a bit louder. Nothing. "Emily!" he shouted. Nothing.

He climbed on the boulders and peered inside the crevice. There was something. He reached his hand through the gap in the rocks and grabbed onto cold metal. He slid it out. 'Emily's saber!'

He stood on the boulders and slowly turned in a complete circle. Dusk was deepening the colors in the sky, bringing out the deep blue of the evening's light.

He threw up the device Kaitlyn had given him and activated its thermal energy function.

Ryan watched as long red images crawled through the screen. Two humans and four animals.

He turned his screen in all directions until he found the thermal energy heading through the forest.

Ryan latched the saber to a leather strap on his back, jumped on his stick, the device's holographic screen floating in front of him, and again flew through the trees, desperately chasing quickly fading thermal energy body prints.

Seeing the prints extended for several miles, he turned off the device and flew without the thermal map.

If he were looking at something besides his path, the flight would take much longer.

The forest was silent save for hoots and caws from night birds of prey. They wouldn't attack humans, so Ryan wasn't concerned… at least, he hoped.

Soon Ryan threw up his hologram and noticed that the thermal heat energy slowed up ahead and was hovering down a steep mountain.

Ryan quietly flew down toward the base of the mountain, carefully dodging any branches that might give his location away.

Closing the gap to where the thermal energy stopped, he rose up to where the trees were thinning to see if he could grasp the situation and determine the danger.

He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from gasping with utter shock. Hundreds of bones and skeletons littered the ground at the base of the mountain in what looked like a dried-out old riverbed.

A small trail cut through the remains leading to the mouth of a cave. Flying closer, Ryan could see piles of red energy coming through the thermal screen.

An increasing fear began storming his mind and capturing his breath. 'Emily is dead. There's no way I let someone die… not again.'