Triple X System

Glancing toward Elara, Kyle could see that she was also completely lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes were darting around erratically, tracking the phantom memories of the blonde, blue-eyed noblewoman that had just flashed behind her eyelids. She was entirely checked out of the room, her brow furrowed in a deep, internal panic. Kyle quietly observed her for a moment before turning his focus inward, preparing to ask Snow the obvious next question.

But before he could even form the thought, Snow already debunked the idea that Elara would have any clue about who had turned Yua.

[Do not bother pressing the witch on the identity of the creator, Host,] Snow’s voice chimed inside his mind, accompanied by a rapid scrolling of genetic and racial data streams. [Apparently, converting a specific race into another entirely different species is not a simple feat by any means. It is a rather severe, violent, and highly complex process that fractures and rewrites the target’s fundamental soul code. It cannot be accomplished by a standard high-tier creature or a rogue sorcerer. Such a conversion can only be performed by powerful individuals whose authority sits just a fraction lower than actual gods and demigods.]

Listening to her analysis, Kyle’s mind naturally drifted back to the deep, unresolved mysteries of his journey. If rewriting a soul’s race required the authority of an near-deity, it made him wonder about other unexplained anomalies. He wondered just who the creator of the dragons that attacked the Lumia Kingdom was, and if such an incredibly powerful individual was somehow secretly linked with his own System. The scale of the forces moving in the dark was staggering.

*Maybe I should ask the deer,* Kyle reasoned, his eyes dropping to the runic tattoo on his left hand. *Wait... if it’s linked with me through a soul contract, doesn’t that mean it can actively hear our conversations right now?* He began to feel a sudden spike of paranoia. He had signed a literal soul contract making the beast one of his official companion slots. He could communicate telepathically with it at will, utilizing the exact same mental frequency he used to speak with Snow. If the deer was listening to the system’s deductions, his entire tactical advantage would be blown.

[No,] Snow firmly denied, her tone absolute as an iron wall. [Though you signed a soul contract making it one of your beast companions, its consciousness is entirely anchored to your baseline soul matrix. It is not linked with the System in any capacity. The System operates on an isolated, primordial wavelength that strictly prohibits any form of external interaction, interception, or interference from entity companions. Your thoughts directed to me are perfectly secure, Host.]

Kyle exhaled a quiet breath, incredibly thankful for hearing that confirmation. The last thing he needed was a powerful, cryptic entity reading the system’s analytical data. He cleared his mind, focusing back on the immediate mystery of Yua’s lineage transformation.

’Snow, you mentioned someone else turned Yua,’ Kyle calmly asked internally, leaning his back against the cold stone of the cave. ’If it requires the power of a near-deity, and it wasn’t Vladimir... you have a working idea of who did it, don’t you?’

Pausing for a moment, the system’s processing arrays hummed silently before Snow let out a low, heavily weighted sigh.

[If my biological theories and historical data matrices are correct—which they invariably are—Yua was turned by none other than your demon wife, Lilith.]

The bombshell dropped with a deafening mental force, causing Kyle’s crimson eyes to widen a bit in absolute shock. His breath hitched in his throat. *Lilith?*

[Think of it logically, Kyle,] Snow explained, throwing up a detailed breakdown of Lilith’s historical achievements and attribute scalings. [Lilith does not just hold the titles of the second strongest demon in existence and the Demon of Lust for nothing. Her spiritual threshold is astronomical. To maintain her position directly beneath the Demon King, she must possess a unique, high-tier racial skill or authority that allows her to permanently alter or transform individuals into specific species at a severe cost to her own essence.]

Kyle’s heart began to beat significantly faster, a sudden, blinding rush of adrenaline surging through his veins. This new set of information was just overwhelming, but it was incredibly, profoundly good. It washed away the lingering dread of Vladimir’s manipulation, replacing it with a fierce, burning hope.

’Of course...’ Kyle muttered internally, a broad, breathless smile threatening to break through his serious expression. ’How couldn’t I have thought of that?’

Ever since his sudden, violent split from his women on planet Vaanderwood, he had been operating under a singular, desperate goal: get stronger fast, hunt down the fragments of his scattered harem, and rescue them from whatever horrors the cosmos had thrown them into. It was an incredibly challenging, agonizing task, but he had been fully prepared to die trying, pushing his stats to the absolute limit. But never for once had it crossed his mind that such a protective possibility was possible from the very beginning. They hadn’t just been tossed into the void defenseless.

[I am betting an entire pool of XXX points that during the exact microsecond Lilith used her spatial authority to transport you safely to the Lumia Kingdom, she simultaneously did the exact same with the others,] Snow boldly declared. A small, stylized avatar of her appeared in his peripheral view, sporting a cocky, triumphant smirk like a proud scientist who had just successfully finished deciphering a tough, unbreakable cosmic code. [She didn’t just scatter them randomly, Kyle. She granted each of them a specific, powerful lineage gift tailored to help them survive the brutal environments of their current worlds before she lost her grip on the portal.]

Listening to her deduction, everything finally made perfect sense to Kyle. The puzzle pieces locked into place with a satisfying, logical click. Of course Lilith was that strong. She was the second best to Lucifer, the literal King of Hell himself. It was a complete no-brainer that she possessed hidden, world-bending skills that could outmaneuver the baseline rules of the universe to protect her family. She had rewritten Yua’s soul code to ensure Kraken’s dark energy wouldn’t dissolve her flesh, transforming her into a high-tier vampire before sending her through the rift.

’Thank you, Snow,’ Kyle inwardly thanked her, his voice softening with deep gratitude.

The system avatar crossed its arms, letting out a cute, defensive [Hmph!] before vanishing from his line of sight, returning to her standard background processes.

Kyle turned his head, his gaze shifting past the silent, meditating figure of Elara. He looked straight out of the narrow mouth of the basalt cavern. Far in the distance, past the jagged rock formations and the wide, desolate plains of Kraken, the planet’s two massive red suns were slowly dipping beneath the jagged horizon. The bleeding crimson light of the day was gradually swallowed by a thick, heavy violet shadow, as a freezing, starless night completely blanketed the skies.

Kyle stared out into the deep, encroaching darkness, the runic tattoo of the horned deer on his left hand pulsing with a steady, quiet warmth. His resolve hardened into something unbreakable, his crimson eyes burning like twin embers in the cave.

”Just hold on a bit longer,” Kyle whispered into the freezing wind, a solemn, absolute vow echoing from the depths of his soul. ”I’m coming to get you all.”