Harem Overlord: I ALWAYS Finish Quick!

Looking up at the scoreboard, Ryan saw that only six participants remained. 'Perfect, I only need to eliminate one more for my plan to start.'

"Mark, James," Ryan called, making the two turn toward him.

Ryan pointed, "See that guy?"

They both nodded.

"He's the other one alone, and those two are separate," Ryan said, pointing to the other two contestants.

"I'll go distract those two while you both go and eliminate him. How does that sound?" Ryan asked, eyeing the duo.

Mark and James looked at each other before nodding. "Sound good to us," James said.

"No problem here," Mark said, chuckling.

Ryan nodded, and the group split. Ryan made his way a distance from the pair of his supposed allies and then headed to the other side of the hill and sat down."

'Let's see their plans,' Ryan thought, activating his bloodline.

Sending out his energy, everything within a 50m range came into view.

Focusing on James and Mark as they walked away, Ryan listened to their conversation.

"Do you think Angel bought our act?" James asked, turning to Mark.

Mark shrugged, "Either way, once we eliminate this straggler and meet up with Dennis and Robbin, we'll throw him off the hill and decide who gets thrown over."

'Dennis and Robbin must be the two other competitors,' Ryan thought.

'Looks like they were going to betray me, just like I thought.'

Ryan had been observing Mark and James as the three trudged through the mud eliminating the competitors.

They had acted suspicious the entire time, glancing sideways at Ryan and the remaining participants every few seconds.

Deactivating his bloodline, Ryan followed Mark and James, hoping they wouldn't turn around as there wasn't much cover.

"Grab his legs, Mark!" James yelled, rushing toward a man caked in mud, smiling viciously.

"The Dragon Empress is mine! And there's nothing you can do about it," said the man as he dove toward Mark.

Caught off guard by the man's sudden assault, Mark was tackled by the man as the two fell into the thick mud below them with a squelch.

However, the fight wasn't fair, as James was soon atop the man beating him into submission.

James didn't hold back as his punches rained down on the man, turning his face into a bloody mess.

After the man stopped resisting, James picked up his feet, Mark picked up his arms, and the two threw him over the edge.

As the two laughed triumphantly, watching the plummeting body, a cold voice sounded behind them, "Death to those who betray me."

James and Mark started to turn but began screaming in fear as they flew over the ledge, plummeting into the mud lake below.

"Congratulations remaining participants!" boomed a voice, amplified by a large set of speakers.

"We have our three finalists!"

Confetti dropped from above as the two other contestants, covered in mud, were coated with a layer of confetti for their troubles.

Ryan hadn't taken a mud bath once and cleaned himself free of glitter, save for his mud-covered knee-high boots.

A loud whirring came from the sky. As the three contestants looked up, they saw three sets of seats attached to long cables descending from a helicopter.

The contestants looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders, and then each took a flying seat to the helicopter. Once aside, they buckled in, and the hovering helicopter took off.

"Make yourselves comfortable," the pilot said, "we're going to the Dragon Empress's private beach-side vacation home."

"What are we doing there?" one of the contestants asked.

The pilot laughed, "convince her."

"Convince her of what?"

Ryan answered, "Who to choose."

'This is getting more like a dating show by the second,' Ryan thought.

[Yoko, is this custom common in the Multiverse for picking harem members?]

'Maybe I should have been doing that this whole time for my harem,' Ryan thought.

[No,] Yoko responded. [I've never heard of something so strange.]

[But then again, the fact that these lizards proclaim themselves as dragons is also strange in my eyes.]

Getting no help from Yoko, he turned to his last two remaining rivals.

Ryan put on a cheerful smile, turned, and stretched out his hand to the closest rival, "Name's Ryan."

The man shook his head, signaling to Ryan that he couldn't hear.

Ryan tapped the microphone on his headset.

The seatmate turned on the microphone on his headset and stretched out his hand, "Name's Dennis. Nice to meet you, Brian."

Ryan smiled, "Ryan," and then motioned to the man now sleeping next to Dennis and asked, "I suppose that's Robbin then?"

Dennis chuckled. "I guess it wasn't an accident that Mark and James were pushed off last?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Ryan shrugged. "They slipped. What can I say?"

Dennis grinned. "You look like you have a question on the tip of your tongue, tell me, what do you want to know?"

Ryan furrowed his brow. 'Am I that easy to read?'

"Yes," was Dennis's response to his unasked question.

'Well, guess if I'm strong enough, I don't have to hide my emotions,' Ryan thought.

"What is the deal with this competition?"

"What's the point of all these silly tests?"

"You mean you don't know?" Dennis asked.

Ryan shook his head.

"The Dragon Empress loves these things called 'Dating Shows' in the fantasy world."

"She's been known to pay top dollar to any cultivator who can remember a show and recreate it with the help of her artists."

Ryan bit his tongue, trying not to show his surprise.

'Dating shows in the fantasy world too?'

"Would one of these shows happen to be called 'The Bachelor'?"

"Yeah, you got it," Dennis said, slapping Ryan on the arm.

Bringing his hand away, Dennis winced.

"You've got some strong arms there, bud."

Ryan had instinctually sent energy to that one spot as he sensed Dennis's arm approach, so when Dennis slapped it, it was like slapping a brick wall.

"Haha," Ryan tried to laugh it off.

"I'm sure not as good as the Dragon Empress's."

Dennis sighed, imagining the Dragon Empress's biceps.

'Dragons sure have a weird thing for strength,' Ryan shook his head.

[Yoko, I've been meaning to ask you if you've sensed any people from the human empire following me.] Ryan asked.

He had been so focused on the other empire constantly watching him that he hadn't paid attention to the original empire that had followed his every move since the beginning of his adventure on Ravier.

[Oh, you mean the letter?] Yoko asked, yawning.

[What letter?] Ryan asked, confused.

[The letter you received informing you of your expulsion that had the tracking powder on it.]

Ryan violently coughed on his seat and had to turn off his microphone not to blow out Dennis's eardrums.

After the coughing stopped, he heard Dennis ask, "Are you okay, bud?"

Clearing his throat, Ryan turned back on his microphone and replied, "Yeah, sorry, I think a bug flew into my throat."

[What do you mean tracking powder?!] Ryan screamed telepathically at Yoko.

[It's just a low A-Rank tracking powder, It's not like-] as Yoko started, her words suddenly faltered, and she cringed.

[Oh, I forgot. Master's not as strong as he is in my dreams.]

Yoko had been having wondrous visions of her and Ryan defeating world after world in their conquest to conquer every world of vile, filthy rodents like that creature named 'Volf'.

She had been having these visions so frequently that she forgot that Ryan was only C-Rank in cultivation and couldn't conquer even this tiny planet, let alone an entire solar system.

[Well, the tracking powder worked until we passed into the Red Dragon Empire's territory. It will reactivate when we leave,] Yoko said sheepishly.

Scratching his head, Ryan asked, [Can you disable it or delay it from activating?]

Yoko thought, then said, [No, but I could tell your servants how to do it.]

[Remember, inside your palace, they have all their energy, meaning they can use their full Master Ranked abilities.]

[My servants are Master Ranked?!]