Chapter 369: Inner Demon
Chisato Hasegawa contemplated seriously. After signing the Soul Contract, she could sense the strength of Haruto's soul.
Logically, with such a powerful soul, Haruto should have long since cleared the critical juncture, freely nourishing himself with magical energy to undergo transformation, then merging with his body to break through to the divine level.
Yet the reality was that not only had he not broken through, but his overly strong soul made it even more difficult to achieve a breakthrough.
She had never understood why before, but after hearing Yuuma Amano's speculation, she finally realized where the problem lay.
Regarding Haruto's three secrets—transmigration, the ability to replicate talents, and the Cuckold Protagonist Template—all the girls who had signed the Soul Contract were aware of them, differing only in how much they knew.
Now, however, everyone understood completely.
Chisato Hasegawa carefully explained the reasons behind it. Though her explanation was quite complex, it could be summarized in one sentence...
Resolving the issue of the Cuckold Protagonist Template would allow Haruto to smoothly complete the qualitative transformation of his soul.
Haruto fell silent for a moment, quickly understanding and accepting this fact.
This aligned with his earlier premonition that after breaking through to the divine level, he would completely rid himself of the Cuckold Protagonist Template's influence.
However, the cause and effect were reversed.
It wasn't that breaking through to the divine level would make the Cuckold Protagonist Template disappear; rather, he first had to resolve the template's influence to achieve the breakthrough.
Of course, if Haruto didn't mind, he could take his time grinding it out.
In fact, the process of nourishing and tempering with magical energy was also about discarding the dross. Once all the negative aspects of the Cuckold Protagonist Template were worn away, he would succeed in breaking through.
Thus, everything formed a closed loop. No matter which method was used, it ultimately came back to how to refine and purify the soul.
"Um... Haruto-san, I have an idea too."
The soft, timid voice of the golden-haired little nun sounded, her snow-white, adorable face tinged with nervousness.
Even though they were all so close, Asia still felt somewhat uneasy when many people were around.
"Asia, there's no need to be nervous."
Haruto reassured her gently, "Just say what you're thinking. It's okay even if you're wrong."
"Mmm..."
Asia clasped her hands over her chest, calming her emotions before speaking slowly, "Back in the church, the priest often advised the congregation that whether thoughts are good or bad, they are still your thoughts. Only by facing those bad thoughts and overcoming them can you truly resolve them."
"I think even if it's a negative influence, it's still a part of Haruto-san's soul. To resolve it, you should face it first, then overcome it..."
Noticing the slightly surprised looks from the other girls, the golden-haired little nun trembled slightly, lacking confidence as she said, "This is just my idea, everyone doesn't have to..."
"Asia, thank you."
Haruto interrupted her with a smile, planting a kiss on her soft, elastic cheek.
Indeed, many hands make light work. Yuuma Amano deducing the root cause was already a surprise, but he hadn't expected the golden-haired little nun, who usually served as the mascot for cuteness, to directly point out how to proceed.
After being praised, Asia was still a bit dazed. Feeling the warmth Haruto left on her cheek, a happy smile slowly spread across her face.
"I'm glad I could help Haruto-san."
...
...
After gathering everyone's ideas, Haruto now understood what he needed to do.
As his strength grew day by day, he had long harbored various speculations about his dual cultivation talent and the fate of the cuckold.
Now standing at the threshold of the divine realm, this has been completely confirmed.
There was no other choice—to continue enhancing his strength, he had to understand the reason.
Both the Dual Cultivation Panel and the Cuckold Destiny were innate abilities carried within Haruto's soul.
Long ago, Haruto had discovered that the panel would change according to his thoughts, albeit slightly, but it indeed did.
However, when it came to identifying the principles behind this ability, he truly couldn't figure it out.
Innate abilities were generally like this, just like Rias's Power of Destruction or Tsubaki's Mirror Alice talent.
They could use them and knew they were innate abilities, but asking them to explain the underlying reasons...
Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that.
The same applied to the Cuckold Destiny—his soul emitted a special attraction to the opposite sex.
As for provoking hostility from the same sex, even without the Cuckold Protagonist Template, being surrounded by outstanding members of the opposite sex would still invite envy and resentment.
This innate ability, while attracting the opposite sex, also amplified hostility from the same sex and suppressed his growth.
If Haruto hadn't crossed over and used his Dual Cultivation Panel to rapidly enhance his strength, suppressing the flaws of this talent, the original body would have either collapsed into suicide or been killed one day by an enraged rival.
Just like the Dual Cultivation Panel ability, Haruto was aware of this flaw, but he couldn't pinpoint its cause.
Completing this flaw, or rather eliminating it, was the key to Haruto achieving his second life metamorphosis.
The method remained tempering the heart through worldly experiences, but it wasn't about comprehending life—it was about comprehending himself.
As Asia had said, whether good or bad, it was all his own.
This negative influence was like an inner demon. Only by overcoming the inner demon created by the Cuckold Protagonist Template could Haruto achieve mental clarity and complete sublimation.
Only by conquering the inner demon, eliminating it, and then absorbing it could his soul become whole.
As for how to do it, Asia had also explained.
The first step: confront the inner demon directly.
Since gaining immense strength, Haruto had consistently suppressed the Cuckold Protagonist Template, almost completely restraining it now, leaving no room for it to cause trouble.
To truly achieve direct confrontation, Haruto learned the same self-sealing technique from Chisato Hasegawa.
Thanks to inheriting Chisato Hasegawa's divine bloodline talent, he learned it quickly.
When Haruto completed the self-seal, the suppressed Cuckold Destiny immediately grew restless.
Haruto could lift the seal at any time, but unless absolutely necessary, it was best not to do so.
Abandoning the process midway would likely nullify all previous efforts.
Trying the same method again in the future would only increase the difficulty.
Haruto's physical attributes and spiritual awareness remained intact, allowing him to clearly perceive the changes within his soul.
Even though he was still in the mansion, surrounded entirely by girls—all connected to him—he could vaguely sense waves of malice closing in from all directions.
This was the inner demon.
Haruto took a deep breath. His physical attributes were still there, and the Dual Cultivation ability was passively effective, so he didn't have to worry about his head turning into a pasture of green during his worldly tempering.
With that thought, the gloom in his heart instantly dissipated by half.
In truth, compared to being targeted by rivals, he was more worried about being cuckolded.
The second step: overcome the inner demon.
Haruto recalled the few works in his memory where the cuckold protagonist turned the tables, trying to find a method from them.
After much contemplation, he realized that ever since his transmigration and personality change, he had already done everything necessary for the original protagonist's counterattack, yet he still hadn't overcome this negative effect.
"Take it slow. Tempering the heart in the mortal world, tempering the heart in the mortal world—nothing is accomplished overnight."
Haruto let out a long sigh and decided to live like this for a while, observing how this soul talent would manifest.
Once he fully understood his "enemy," overcoming it wouldn't be far off.
Reverting to being "ordinary" still had an impact on Haruto. The most noticeable change was that every day at school, ordinary girls at Kuoh Academy would practically go into heat upon seeing him.
Only those with considerable strength or strong mental fortitude could resist this soul-deep attraction.
To avoid interfering with Haruto's plans, Rias and the others consciously maintained their distance at school.
If he were surrounded by powerful women every day, neither the infatuated girls nor the troublemakers amplified by inner darkness would dare approach Haruto.
Even so, the legends Haruto left behind at Kuoh Academy still made the troublemakers hesitate.
Instead, the girls seized the opportunity and became increasingly proactive.
Within just a week, Haruto felt like he had returned to the early days after his transmigration.
He received love letters every few days and almost daily after school had to go to the academy's confession spot—the now-bare cherry blossom tree—to keep appointments.
Whether it was because ordinary people's willpower was too weak or because this world simply had too many troublemakers, after a week, people started causing trouble for Haruto again.
But the current Haruto was no longer the weakling he used to be. Not to mention his physical attributes remained at S-rank (the result of martial training).
Even with the same physical attributes, his combat skills alone allowed him to take on over a dozen opponents.
If he fought ruthlessly, he could handle twenty or thirty without issue.