[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-harem-startup-the-demon-billionaire-is-on-vacati":3,"chapter-harem-startup-the-demon-billionaire-is-on-vacati-harem-startup-the-demon-billionaire-is-on-vacati-chapter-422":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1410633,1864,"Chapter 422: Coin of Equal Blood","harem-startup-the-demon-billionaire-is-on-vacati-chapter-422",422,"\u003Cp>Chapter 422 – Coin of Equal Blood\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sira bit her lip. \"Mmm. True.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Warning: Provocation successful. Rage aura rising from all three targets. Psychological taunt landed.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dravik snarled. \"Enough talk—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Lux flicked his wrist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fifty floating orbs—black, glowing with ember veins—burst into formation behind him. They hovered, humming with dark energy, each one a tiny sphere of debt. Curse-encoded. Pressure-sensitive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Demonic Orbs: 50 units summoned.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re right,\" Lux said, adjusting his grip on his daggers. \"You’re stronger. You’ve fought longer. You’ve bled more.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He floated closer, black wings spreading with sharp grace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But I didn’t come here to match strength.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He twirled one dagger—graceful, silent, efficient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I came to outlast you. To out-think you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sira floated beside him now, eyes glowing Pride-gold. \"And maybe humiliate you. For fun.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lux’s aura thickened—his orbs pulsed, his wings twisted with Greed’s hunger, his tail lazily flicking like a predator circling a buffet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t need to overpower you,\" he said quietly. \"I just need to outbid your will to survive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised a hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, and by the way?\" he added, voice lighter again. \"I hate redoing my wardrobe.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then snapped his fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first wave of orbs launched—zigzagging through the air like pissed-off demonic pinballs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Combat had begun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The orbs launched like a swarm of angry, debt-fueled wasps—zigzagging through the air in synchronized bursts, each one humming with the promise of small-scale economic ruin. They pinged off the ground with unnatural bounce, curved mid-air like sentient billiard balls, and detonated with minor explosive curses that smelled faintly of sulfur, scorched ink, and overdue invoices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warlords scattered—Karzon flung up a molten wall, Dravik smacked two orbs out of the air with a slab of bone shield, and Lama pirouetted through the swarm, her chain whip lashing in wide arcs that deflected a few back toward Lux.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grinned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even as the battle exploded around them, Lux’s hand went to his side, reaching through dimensional space with a single snap of his fingers. His storage opened like a slit in reality—smooth, precise, invisible to the naked eye—and he pulled out a small black cube with gold-etched corners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The weight of it changed the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything slowed. The dome itself seemed to tense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Sira turned her head. \"Oh. You brought that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lux tossed the cube gently into the air. It hovered, spinning slowly, gold lines glowing brighter with every rotation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Negotiations failed,\" he said coolly. \"So we’re going with plan B: force an audit.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Item Deployed: Artifact – Equity Balancer, \"Coin of Equal Blood\"]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Grade: Legendary – Greed Core Artifact]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Effect: Temporarily enforces a relative balance of combat power within the active domain. All entities’ power output capped to local average.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Duration: 15 minutes. Cooldown: 48 hours. Warning: Effects are indiscriminate.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cube detonated in a burst of golden light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not with fire or pressure. No. With rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dome shuddered. Every spell flickered. The mana field snapped into a new shape—recalculating, rewriting. The difference was instant and brutal. Lux felt it like adrenaline injected directly into his bloodstream. His muscles hummed. His mana surged. The ceiling lifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the warlords?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dropped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[System Alert: \"Coin of Equal Blood\" Artifact Activated.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Effect Applied: Combat Power Equilibrium Enforced Within Domain.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Average Combat Output Calculated: 94,230 (Normalized)]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Adjusting Stats to Match Combat Average... Standby.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>⠀\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Subject: Lux Vaelthorn – Adjusted Combat Output: +34%]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status: Enhanced. Mana Flow Stabilized. Physical Buffs Applied. Skill Efficiency Boosted.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Subject: Sira Shadowborn – Adjusted Combat Output: +28%]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status: Enhanced. Pride Core Stabilized. Emotional Aura Amplified.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Subject: Karzon the Unbound – Adjusted Combat Output: −21%]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status: Suppressed. Molten Furnace Weakened. Skill Cooldown Extended.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Subject: Dravik the Glutted – Adjusted Combat Output: −26%]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status: Suppressed. Necromantic Reservoir Compressed. Summon Cap Lowered.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Subject: Lama Mournflame – Adjusted Combat Output: −24%]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status: Suppressed. Flame Magic Reduced. Mimicry Disabled.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Karzon grunted, almost stumbling as his molten hammers dimmed, the bright sigils etched into his gauntlets sputtering out like snuffed candles. His core forge—normally roaring beneath his skin—shrunk to a low flicker. The heat around his armor dulled, no longer warping the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dravik wheezed as if someone had tied a bungee cord around his gut and pulled. His bloated aura compressed violently, like a balloon being forced into a shoebox. The fog around his rotting flesh thinned. Even the corpses around him trembled, unsure whether to collapse or scream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lama’s fire whip flickered mid-air, the enchantment dimming like someone unplugged her from the infernal socket. Her form shimmered, unstable—her mimic skill shorting out before it could even copy Sira’s claws. She froze for half a second, jaw tight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lux floated higher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sira’s eyes glowed brighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the battlefield had officially changed hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lux’s smirk returned, slow and venomous. \"We’ll call this... competitive standardization.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Karzon snarled. \"You—cheating—bastard!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I prefer the term: ’environmental adjustment for financial clarity,’\" Lux said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sira licked her claw. \"Translation: You’re fucked.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lux blurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Agility kicked in, muscles surging with boosted stats. He shot forward like a black arrow—daggers in both hands, wings slicing through the air like finance-approved guillotines. His orbs followed behind him in a trailing arc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He targeted Karzon first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The forge demon raised a hammer in panic—just as Lux vanished and reappeared at his side with a teleport snap. The dagger in his left hand slashed across Karzon’s arm, sparks flying as blood hissed on impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—Lux touched him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Midas Touch.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The effect was instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Golden light crawled from the point of contact—Karzon’s bicep turning to polished gold, scales and all, up to the shoulder in seconds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Karzon screamed, voice echoing like a collapsing mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Skill Activated: Midas Touch (Greed – Signature Skill)]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Effect: Converts impacted flesh into enchanted gold. Partial conversion possible. Duration: 8 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Status Effect: Movement Debuff – Applied.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Karzon swung wildly with his one good arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lux teleported again—two meters up and to the left—just as one of his orbs ricocheted off the ground and slammed into Karzon’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>-Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The explosion wasn’t huge, but it was precise—right between the shoulder blades. Karzon lurched forward, golden arm dragging him off-balance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lux dropped onto him like a debt collector with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>",1023,"2026-06-05T23:57:11.779Z",1,"novelbin.me","0bb811c3e47a65f9a8c69065e535643cad2122cecb31f0e79508fb684d0e7d00","harem-startup-the-demon-billionaire-is-on-vacati-chapter-423","harem-startup-the-demon-billionaire-is-on-vacati-chapter-421",878,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fharem-startup-the-demon-billionaire-is-on-vacati-cover.jpg"]