Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation

Chapter 985 – No Bonk

Lux looked at the glowing arch.

The roots had woven themselves into a doorway so perfectly it didn’t feel built. It felt grown around an absence. Silver-green veins pulsed through the bark, slow and steady, like the shrine had a heartbeat of its own. Beyond it, the circular chamber waited beneath the hollow heart of the mountain, quiet enough that even Grivven Tollclaw’s corpse-soldiers stopped clicking their horrible legs for a second.

Which was suspicious.

Anything that could make a debt collector ghoul respect silence was either sacred or about to become expensive.

Lux stepped forward first.

Not because the shrine had welcomed him.

Not because he thought ancient elven magic would suddenly appreciate his charming personality, excellent cheekbones, and long history of emotionally unhealthy but financially sound decisions.

But because he had dragged them here.

Ely’s ancestor. Ely’s blood. Ely’s family secret. Ely’s sacred ruin.

Yet Lux was the one who had opened the investigation, pushed the timeline, brought the team, fought the Devourer, and turned an ancient spring restoration into a hostile repossession operation.

So yes, naturally, like every intelligent demon with abandonment trauma and heroic denial issues, he decided the best plan was to walk into the obvious ancient barrier first.

Yue noticed.

”Lux—”

Too late.

His boot crossed the border.

The shrine rejected him.

Not gently.

A silver-green force slammed into his chest like the entire elven race had filed a restraining order with divine reinforcement.

Lux flew backward.

Fast.

His body crossed the passage in a blur and smashed into the opposite wall hard enough to crack blackened stone. Dust burst around him.

One of the reanimated crawlers tilted its ugly head as if impressed. Grivven made a tiny sympathetic hiss through too many teeth.

Lux slid down the wall and landed on one knee.

For two seconds, no one spoke.

Then the system chimed.

[Unauthorized Shrine Entry Attempt Detected]

[Barrier Type: First Song Bloodline Sanctuary Ward]

[Rejection Force: High]

[Damage Report:]

[HP: -18,742]

[DP: -6,109]

[Status Effect: Sacred Rebuff (Minor)]

[Status Effect Duration: 00:00:08]

[Recommendation: Do Not Attempt Entry Without Valid Permission]

Lux coughed once.

A little ash fell from his hair.

He stared at the window.

Then slowly stood, brushing dust from his ruined shirt like dignity could be recovered by hand.

”Okay,” he muttered. ”I got rejected.”

Sira stared at him.

Gula covered her mouth, but her shoulders shook.

Lullaby blinked sleepily. ”The shrine said no.”

”Yes, thank you, field analyst.”

Yue gave him that calm ancient look that somehow contained both concern and judgment. ”You could have waited.”

Lux adjusted his torn cuff. ”I was testing.”

Sira lifted a brow. ”With your body?”

”Efficient. Stupid, I know. But also efficient.”

Grivven Tollclaw skittered closer, ledger clutched to his chest. ”Should I destroy it, boss?”

The question was so earnest it made the silence worse.

Lux looked at him. ”No.”

Grivven wilted slightly. ”Not even a little?”

”No.”

”Can I threaten it with overdue structural fees?”

”Let Ely handle it.”

Grivven snapped upright. ”Understood, boss. No shrine destruction. Yet.”

Lux pointed at him without looking. ”Remove the yet.”

The ghoul’s grin became tragic. ”Understood, boss.”

Ely was already moving.

Lux turned sharply, but she had not rushed recklessly. She walked toward the border with careful steps, one hand raised, eyes fixed on the silver-green veins pulsing through the root arch.

The barrier sensed her.

For one moment, it softened.

Then flared.

Not as violently as it had with Lux, but enough to push against her palm before she even touched it. Her hair lifted around her face. The silver light pressed against her chest, urging her back.

Ely swallowed.

”I am Ely Vireleth,” she said softly. ”Descendant of the forest bloodline. I restored the First Song Spring. I’m not here to harm this place.”

The barrier pulsed.

No opening.

Ely tried again. ”I came to speak to the one inside. To my ancestor. Please.”

The light sharpened.

Still no.

Sira’s fingers twitched with irritation. ”It’s rejecting her too.”

”Not fully,” Yue said. ”It is testing.”

Gula tilted her head. ”Ancient places are exhausting. Why can’t they use doors?”

Lux said, ”Because then people like me would pick the lock.”

”That explains a lot.”

Ely pressed her palm closer. The ward buzzed against her skin, and she winced but did not pull away. ”I don’t want to take anything. I just need to understand.”

The barrier did not budge.

Lullaby yawned. ”I can help.” She lifted her pillow-hammer with both hands. Sloth power gathered around it, soft and heavy, like sleep preparing to fall on an entire mountain.

Yue caught her wrist gently. ”Wait.”

Lullaby blinked at her.

Yue shook her head. ”It will only make it worse. This ward is not an enemy blocking us from entering. It is an old rule. If we strike it with authority, it will remember force. Let Ely handle it.”

Lullaby lowered the hammer slowly. ”Mm. No bonk.”

”Not yet,” Sira said under her breath.

Lux stepped nearer, careful not to cross the border again. ”Can you handle it?”

Ely glanced back at him.

”I guess.”

A pause.

Her cheeks flushed a little, frustration returning. ”But... what should I do?”

No one answered.

Because for once, nobody knew.

Lux had systems, greed authority, upgraded absorb, daggers that could drain wealth from reality like a rude banking miracle, and a summon who considered unpaid breathing a crime. Yue had ancient knowledge. Sira had confidence sharp enough to cut glass. Gula could detect hunger in the emotional texture of a room. Lullaby could slow violence by being sleepy at it.

And none of that could tell Ely how to speak to a shrine that was not asking for words.

She stood there in front of the barrier, palm hovering near the light, and slowly became quiet.

The melody returned first as memory.

A distant thread of song.

The same one they had heard while following the path. Wordless. Low. Root-deep. Not music made for entertainment, but for recognition. A song that had once taught the forest how to open, how to remember, how to be home.