NOVEL WEB Chapter 75: Arkana was waiting for him.
Arkana was waiting for him.
Seated on a throne made of cast gold plates, surrounded by eggs that pulsed slightly with heat. The light in the cave was more intense today, as if the crystals reflected excitement. Or expectation.
She was naked.
Not out of provocation.
But as part of the ritual.
The metallic feathers of her tail arched behind the throne like a living crown. Her bare breasts were marked with golden spiral symbols. A necklace of alchemical plates still adorned her neck—her only piece of clothing. But it didn't cover her. It enhanced her.
Her legs were spread naturally.
Her vagina glowed with a warm hue. Her skin was perfect. Sweaty. Radiant.
"Ready to negotiate again, investor?"
Eren didn't answer.
He just stared at her.
"Today you won't talk about contracts. Or systems."
She stood up.
She descended from the throne like a priestess descending to destroy the visitor's faith.
"You're going to show me... if you know how to silence the system."
Eren remained motionless.
"I call this the ritual of inverse affinity," said Arkana, with a feline smile. "A way to prove that your bond is not born of heat, but of the mind."
She approached him.
Slowly.
Each step made the plates under her feet clink.
"You won't use words."
"You won't use mana.
"You'll just... receive me.
She stopped in front of him.
"And you'll keep thinking while I destroy your focus with my body.
Eren looked into her eyes.
"What if I can't do it?"
Arkana laughed.
Low.
Soft.
"Then you're just another animal dressed in logic.
Eren took off his coat.
Then his shirt.
He let his armor fall.
Without haste.
He stood naked before her.
Arkana approached him.
She touched his chest with her palm.
Heat.
Subtle.
Not magical.
"Think of a number."
Eren blinked.
She ran her fingers up to his neck.
"Now tell me... how many roots are there in a bond that never germinates?"
Eren didn't answer.
Because he wasn't supposed to answer.
She pressed her breasts against his chest.
The heat increased.
"You need to keep your mind active."
"Focus."
"Logic."
"Resistance."
She slid her entire body against his.
She leaned her mouth close to his ear.
"And if you lose control... the egg explodes."
Eren activated his internal concentration mode.
A training technique he used to survive pain, hunger, and sensory deprivation.
Only now the stimulus was the opposite.
Arkana moved down.
Her mouth touched his abdomen.
Then his groin.
She teased him with soft lips, with her warm tongue.
She slid her fingers down his thighs.
She circled his testicles with her nails.
But she never took him for herself.
She never dominated him.
She just stirred him up.
"Imagine a binary matrix," she whispered, biting the side of his hip. "A bond of zeros and ones. But... what if one of the ones is faking it?"
She licked the base of his erection.
Slowly.
"Are you calculating? Or are you reacting?"
Eren kept his eyes open.
Fixed on the wall.
His mind... active.
Forming equations.
Thinking about runes.
Remembering his last fusion with Nyssa.
The code he had broken in Morwynn's contracts.
Liriel's words when she tried to lie.
Everything... except his body.
But his body reacted.
The excitement was undeniable.
Arkana saw him harden.
She felt the heat rise.
"Are you still hard?" she said, smiling. "Then let's raise the rate."
She turned her back.
She raised her hips.
The feathered tail rose.
It opened like golden wings.
Eren saw the perfect, sweaty rear, the shiny, throbbing center between her open thighs.
"Go for it."
She looked over her shoulder.
"But don't lose your mind."
He moved.
He approached.
He grabbed her hips firmly.
He entered her at once.
Arkana screamed.
But not in pain.
In recognition.
"This... is raw calculation."
Eren began to move his hips with precision.
Without haste.
Without emotional impulse.
Constant rhythm.
Measured force.
Controlled breathing.
She moaned, pressing her hands against the floor.
"I can crush you... if you lose focus..."
He didn't lose it.
His mind calculated.
Each movement was a variable.
Each of her moans, a number.
The timing.
The friction.
The muscular response.
Everything was part of an equation.
Arkana came first.
Her whole body shook.
But Eren continued.
Without rushing.
Without surrendering.
After six more thrusts, he pulled out of her.
"Are you done?" she asked, still panting.
"Only if you're done testing," he replied.
She lay on her side.
Smiling.
Panting.
Her body glistened with golden sweat.
"Congratulations, investor."
The system flashed.
[Effective Bond: Partial Success]
[Contract: Pending]
[Item Released: Stable Egg of Volatile Value]
[Status: 1 unit added to inventory]
[Bonus: +10% resistance to emotional manipulation for 24 hours]
Eren got dressed.
Calm.
No rush.
Arkana remained lying down.
Satisfied.
"The system fears you," she said, almost in a whisper. "Because you understand the value of something... even before you touch it."
Eren did not respond.
He just wrote down:
[Arkana:]
[Valid tool.]
[Sensitive to rational structure.]
[Use with caution.]
The sound of metal echoed throughout the hall.
Eren lay on a makeshift mattress of coins. Some were still warm. Others were sharp. None were comfortable.
Arkana walked naked on the gold, her feet steady. Each step she took jingled like an incomplete transaction.
The light from the cave reflected off her golden thighs, her polished belly, the metallic feathers that swayed like fragments of living armor. The alchemical necklace still wrapped around her neck, but now it was purely aesthetic.
She climbed slowly on top of him.
Without urgency.
Like someone who knows the value of scarcity.
"Have you ever bought something you didn't want... just to see if you could handle the loss?
Eren didn't answer.
Arkana smiled.
"Today, I am that loss. Need character sheets and glossaries? Visit MV^LEM^PYR.
She bent down.
Her hot vulva rubbed against his abdomen. The contact was wet, controlled. She leaned with one hand on his chest, sliding her hips to the exact spot.
She fit.
Slowly.
The penetration was firm.
The system didn't even react.
No buff.
No bonus.
That was not a reward.
It was a duel.
"You're in," she moaned, ironically. "Let's see how long you can last."
She began to ride.
Irregular rhythm.
Controlled.
Like a market fluctuation.
With each rise, she stared at him.
With each descent, she searched his eyes for any crack.
A gasp.
A sigh.
Anything.
Nothing.
Eren looked at her as if observing an investment equation.
Arkana began to sweat.
The sweat was golden.
It ran down her firm breasts, dripped between her fingers, fell on his chest, and accumulated between the coins.
"Do you always pretend you don't feel anything?" she whispered.
Eren finally spoke.
"You're trying to control the pleasure curve."
She smiled.
"And?"
"The graph isn't impressive."
She laughed. She laughed loudly.
Then she squeezed her own breasts and moaned even louder, riding harder.
The sound of skin against skin mixed with the echo of coins jingling filled the room like a dance between flesh and capital.
"I'm the most volatile asset you've ever touched," she said, arching her back.
"Unstable," Eren replied.
"High risk."
"Excessive emotional margin."
She shuddered.
The rhythm fluctuated.
Her hips accelerated, then retreated. Her knees trembled under the effort. She was beginning to lose control. But she smiled. Like a trader watching the collapse and loving the chaos.
"What if I break you?" she gasped.
"The curve stops."
"What if I take you with me?"
"You become an expense."
She bit her lower lip.
Her eyes trembled.
"You really are cold."
"Rational."
"That... that makes me hate you."
"You are... incorruptible."
Eren did not respond.
She accelerated.
Her thighs slammed hard.
The screams came out torn.
But he did not move.
Hands under his body.
Eyes fixed.
Minimal breathing.
She tried to touch his face.
He turned away.
"Bonds aren't made through the face," he said.
She laughed.
Almost crying.
"Do you hate me?"
"I value you."
She trembled again.
Harder.
"I'm... almost..."
"And you still haven't given anything."
She moaned loudly.
She screamed.
She collapsed on top of him.
Her body trembled.
Her legs no longer responded.
Her tail wagged as if it had lost its balance.
She bit his shoulder.
But Eren didn't even blink.
"You wanted to dominate me," he said.
"I wanted to..."
"But you couldn't."
"No..."
She laid her face on his chest.
Her heart was beating fast.
His... was almost static.
Her breathing was ragged.
His... hadn't changed.
Silence for a few seconds.
Then she whispered:
"Okay."
"You win."
"You're... a real investor."
[System: Bond Updated]
[Arkana – Affinity: 82%]
[Status: Submission recognized | Tactical control released]
[Bonus: Expanded economic authority in the region – +25% local influence]
She slid off him.
Her legs were still shaking.
She sat down beside him.
She laughed, exhausted.
"Most people cry. They scream. They fall in love."
Eren got up.
He began to get dressed.
"Emotion is an expense."
She looked at him sideways.
"You're still going to fail because of that."
"Not as long as the system has logic."
She lay down among the coins, arms open.
The feathers of her tail slowly closed.
"Would you like another egg?"
Eren looked at her for a second.
"In three days."
She nodded.
"Bring something in return. Something priceless."
He walked toward the cave exit.
The sound of his footsteps muffled by the gold beneath his feet.
Behind him, Arkana laughed once more.
"Just don't expect the next egg to come easy... Now that he knows how much it's worth... he'll charge interest."