"They're now part of your harem??? What did you do???"
Katara asked in extreme confusion and interest
"Nothing? They asked and confessed to me, which I accepted considering all the situation and condition of everything, aaand... They're now a part of my harem!"
"What about those lights? Why did it flash? Is this your doing??"
"Uh... It's fate! Yeah, it's fate"
Philip quickly thought of a fake reason so that he wouldn't reveal the existence of the system
"Fate??"
"Yes! Since they are now a part of my harem, they are now bounded to me by fate through those rings. If danger approached them, they will be protected"
"Right... What about us?"
"Of course, everyone will also be protected! Those rings will also give more power after all and they can also protect you"
"Oh? You mean having these rings will give us more strength and protection?"
Katara asked mischievously
"Yes?"
"If your harem received this... Will I also receive it if I became a part of it??"
Katara asked in a kind of seductive manner towards Philip, to which most people, especially Sai and Ken, look at her with eyes of disbelief and disgust
"Maybe? Do you want to be a part of it?"
Philip smiled and didn't back down from Katara's provocation. He teased her back and challenged her through his eyes
"Naaah! A god and mortal relationship is not allowed... I'll ignore Sai and Alucard's relationship though!"
Katara backed down and behaved on her seat. Philip called her bluff and she stopped teasing Philip
"..."
However, Philip's answer to Katara made other's hearts waver, especially to people who already had feelings towards him
'If I became a part of his harem... Will I also obtain a ring and it will give me more strength, power, and protection?'
These thoughts are mostly what's passing by the women's minds
"..."
On the other hand, the men could only smile wryly because there's no way they could be a part of Philip's harem. A reverse harem exist, but they know Philip is straight after all
Although, they're curious as to what will happen if they did became a part of his harem
This news also spread throughout the mansion as maids overheard their conversation from afar. Of course, nothing came too much out of this because they know they wouldn't be able to reach Philip, who is a high existence in this world after yesterday's World Conference
"Well... Now that that's out of the way... We can continue with the gifts?"
"..."
Everyone nodded and Philip sat back down on his seat. A lot of people has several questions, like how did a ring materialize from out of nowhere and if Philip has some kind of ability or power that do so. Though, they didn't dare ask because they're pretty aware that Philip would just try to avoid the topic
"I guess it's my turn!"
Vanessa enthusiastically stood up and quickly went towards Philip, almost like a child excitingly trying to give their parents their gifts. It looks like she has some kind of doll on her hands
"Well, let's skip all the sappy comments and go straight to the point..."
"Alright?"
"Here! Here's my gift! Happy birthday!"
Vanessa shoved the gift towards Philip and he casually received it
"What do you think?"
"..."
Philip looked down on the gift as he lifted it up. He observed and inspected it closely just to be sure of the object
The object is certainly a doll. It has legs and feet, arms and hand, and a head. The skin and flesh are pretty soft, almost close to the real thing. What's strange is that the chest and buttocks were fairly large, almost similar to someone he knows. The hair also feels real and the face has uncanny similarities
"..."
Despite being certain, he doesn't want to rush to conclusions. So, he lifted his head and faced Vanessa, who is somewhat close to his face
Everyone that's witnessing this is judging it as normal, but still strange than what's actually normal. The gods, Saykranians, and the squadron members plus Rue and Satou were not amused
"Uh, Vanessa, what is this?"
"It's a doll! A Vanessa Doll to be exact!"
"Vanessa Doll?"
"Yes! It's a perfect replica of me in a doll form! What's special about this is that whatever you do to it, I will be able to feel it!!"
"..."
Philip realized what this doll is for. His body unconsciously recoiled backwards and his mouth went agape from genuine surprise. His eyebrows also instantly furrowed
"..."
Everyone that's watching had narrowed their eyes after hearing Vanessa's explanation
"I can already feel you touching me around my back and arms just by holding it!!!"
Vanessa began to act strange. She started to breathe heavily and her cheeks became flushed. She started to sweat a little bit, but good thing she's wearing a night gown under her fur coat
"..."
Everyone was silently stunned, even Tenshi who has the most composure out of everyone. The gods are in disbelief of this mortal and the Saykranians took a mental note to avoid Vanessa
"This is possible because of the Philosopher's Stone that you gave me and the Ars Magna that you gifted me! This is the fruit of my hardwork!"
"Oh! This world also has a Philosopher's Stone? That's good"
Sai commented
"But it's in her hands..."
Ken gave a side comment
"Don't worry guys... It will be in safe hands if it's with her. She has Ars Magna after all"
Philip explained
"Ars Magna?"
Katara asked
"Oh?? The gods don't know anything about it?"
"I'm not ashamed to say that we don't... Do you guys?"
"No"
"I never heard of it"
Sai and Ken answered
"Well... Uh, thank you for the gift Vanessa. You can go back to your seat. I'll play with it later..."
"Ugh! Yes! Please!"
Vanessa trembled as she went back to her seat. As soon as she sat down, her demeanor changed from insane to calm and collected. The other's that saw this were amazed rather than surprised. It's like she has multiple personalities or she can expertly control her emotions
Philip then placed the Vanessa Doll next to the stack of books. The doll looked like it's sitting and relaxing against the books
"Well, first of all... Is there some kind of a Diety of Art?"
"Diety of Art? The long time that I have lived for... I don't think there were any divine beings for art"
"Same here... There's no Art God nor mastery for art"
Katara and Ken answered
"Really??"
"Yeah. Though, there are the God of Drawing, Goddess of Painting, God of Sketch, God of Shading, Goddess of Curves, and many more if that's what you're looking for..."
"Same... Those mentioned has masteries for each"
"I see..."
「 ... 」
'This is strange...'
「 ... 」
'There are only divine beings of the branches of Art... If there are no God or Goddess of Art... Is there only the True Deity of Art?? Just like how there's no divine being of love, worlds, technology, and everything?'
「 Yes... There's just the True God of Art. The eighth True Deity that you have learned 」
'Eighth??'
「 Yes 」
"By the way... Why do you ask anyways?"
Katara continued the conversation
"Ah, well... Ars Magna directly translates to the Great Art... It is a power that allows one person to create and perceive art to the level of manifestation with no limits and restrictions"
"Hm?"
"..."
"It's on the level of command, where one word can manifest the concept. Think of it as a spiritual or mental form of the Philosopher's Stone"
"..."
"..."
The gods became silent
"I think the opposite of Ars Magna is Ars Goetia? Ars Goetia contains the 72 demons of King Solomon... In other words, the 72 Great Demon Lords or the first 72 children of the Demon God. Of course, Ars Goetia is not possessed by anyone since it's too dangerous. I won't know how to obtain it either"
"..."
"..."
The gods were still silent. They are just staring at Philip with blank expressions
"No comment?"
"..."
"..."
"Okaaay... Let's continue then guys"
"Very well then, it's my turn..."
Camille elegantly stood up from her seat and walked over to Philip while ignoring the gods. She knows that the gods had something in mind after learning about Ars Magna, but decided that she won't do anything. It's none of her business after all and she will keep quiet and be a bystander unless her power is needed to do something
Camille walked elegantly, almost seductively, and she raised her right hand in a motion, opening her palm
As soon as she arrived in front of Philip, red energy and aura were collected above her hand and formed a sphere. The sphere became intense as a harmless tornado swirled around the room as it pulled red energy towards itself
Eventually, the sphere elongated vertically and formed a diamond or a red crystal with four sides. The crystal is almost transparent, but very red. It also emits a faint red light and releases some sort of red roots, red veins, or red worms around its surface, like it's alive
"..."
Philip looked at the red crystal with interested eyes
"What is it?"
"It's the Red Catalyst..."
Camille said with a smile
"Red Catalyst??"
Philip lifted his head and made eye contact with Camille. He then slightly turned his head towards Tenshi, who has a confused and worried look on her eyes after hearing Camille's words
"Yes. It is what you think, but the difference is that this catalyst contains half of my witchcraft... Although it's contained, I can still access it, so it is fine whatever you want to do to it..."
"Okay...? What makes red special???"
"I don't know... That Red Catalyst contains that question, as well as the question, what is red? Red is a primary color, but how can you describe it as a whole, as an entire concept? What is its power? Magic Red Eyes? Pureblood? Evil? Red Magic? Why red? All those questions are contained in that catalyst"
"I-I see..."
『 Condition requirement has been met! 』
『 You have received the Red Catalyst! 』
"Happy birthday! I hope for more birthdays to come..."
"Thank you... And please don't!"
"Haha, I knew you'd say that! Here you go..."
Camille softly pushed her hand forwards and the Red Catalyst flew towards Philip. He caught it and it hovered between his palms
The Red Catalyst looked like a pylon that's occasionally emitting red lightning and sparks around, like an actual catalyst
Camille also started to walk back to her seat and take a sit, elegantly
Philip then went ahead and tried to put the Red Catalyst below him, off of everyone's vision, but instead, he talked to Emily
'Emily, can this be placed in the World of Absolute Nothingness?'
「 Yes 」
Without Philip asking a second time, Emily went ahead and took the Red Catalyst into the ⟨⟨ World of Absolute Nothingness ⟩⟩. Philip's black world is slowly turning into some sort of dimensional space and storage
『 ... 』
'Thank you'
「 No problem 」
At this moment, it was Alucard's turn for his gift. He stood up and went towards Philip. All of his movements had meaning and the way he moves seem domineering
His status as the Pureblooded Vampire King is taking in effect, especially since it's almost prime time at night for vampires
> 9:23 pm