The Incubus System Chapter 1209. Loyal Friend
The Incubus System Chapter 1209. Loyal Friend My fingers twitched slightly as I hovered my hand closer to Larry’s neck, checking for pulse
The Incubus System Chapter 1209. Loyal Friend
My fingers twitched slightly as I hovered my hand closer to Larry’s neck, checking for pulse again—not because I doubted it, but because I needed something to anchor me before I did something reckless. The slow, uneven rhythm under my touch said he was still hanging in there. Barely.
Then—he shifted.
A shallow inhale first. Then a groan. Then—his eyelids fluttered.
He blinked once. Twice. His pupils didn’t really focus right away, like he was looking through me instead of at me.
Then his lips parted.
His voice came out as a whisper, dry and cracked.
“…The Great Demon?”
My breath hitched.
But he blinked again—this time slower, more grounded—and his face twisted into something familiar.
“No… Ethan?”
I grabbed his shoulder gently and leaned closer. “Yeah,” I said, nodding. “It’s me. Ethan. You’re safe now.”
His expression softened. And then…
The dumbest, smug little grin pulled at the corners of his cracked lips. Even through the bruises, the blood, the pain—he still had the nerve.
“I didn’t tell them,” he rasped. “About you, man… I didn’t say a word.”
My throat tightened.
“They were mad because of it…” His chest heaved, the words costing him more than it should. “But I won. I didn’t say a word.”
I stared at him for a second, unsure whether to smile or punch something.
“They asked you about me?” I asked, voice low.
He nodded slightly. “Yeah… they asked me… why the holy vaccine didn’t react to you.”
My gaze slowly shifted to the walls. Two vertical strips of pure holy energy hummed in the background, still faintly crackling with residual charge. Powerful. More than anything I’d ever been exposed to during the 'experiments.'
They had tied him between that. Like a fucking battery.
I clenched my fist.
That wasn’t the same shit they used on me. This? This was some next-level purification rite. Not a serum. Not a drug.
This was ritual-grade cleansing.
“They… want to build an army,” Larry croaked. “To catch you…”
I looked down at him again.
He wasn’t smirking now. His expression had turned dead serious.
“They want to make you fight demons… for us… humans.”
I exhaled. “That’s what I do.”
He shook his head slowly. “No… they want… full control. Like they control the demon hunters. Leashes. Collars. Chains. You’d be their weapon, not their ally.”
His fingers tightened around my sleeve.
“You need to be careful.”
I nodded once. “I will. I promise.”
He let go. His hand dropped like it was too heavy to hold up anymore.
“You need to get out of here,” I said.
I stood and raised my hand and opened a portal—straight to my house, where Yuffy, Celia and Puriel were. The safe zone. I could feel the air shift instantly on the other side.
[You have opened a portal]
“Go,” I said.
Red didn’t argue. Didn’t waste a second. He stepped through the portal with Larry slung gently across his back.
The moment the portal shimmered shut, I felt the temperature in the room drop.
Not physically.
But me.
Something cold settled inside my chest. Not hesitation. Not dread.
Just focus.
Miranda’s voice broke the silence.
“So… what’s next?” she asked. Calm. Casual. But her eyes were sharp. Ready.
I looked around the lab, looked at the twisted machines. The flickering holy circuits. The mirrors. The syringes. The scent of blood and silver in the air.
“They’re sniffing around me,” I said. “Around Ethan Strongheart.”
Rave huffed. “They’re making it obvious, huh?”
“Too obvious,” I said. “This wasn’t random. They know something.”
I turned toward the back wall. Another security glyph flared when I moved too close, but I ignored it.
“I’m not hiding anymore,” I said.
And then I raised my hand again and opened another portal.
[You have opened a portal]
This one didn’t lead to safety.
This one led to the demon world.
Miranda and Buni stepped back slightly.
“Syntyche. Nefaris!” I called them.
And while the portal yawned open behind me like a hungry mouth, I activated my telepathy.
[You have connected to Elenna.]
‘Elenna,’ I called out in my mind. ‘I need your help.’
There was a pause. Then her voice came, snappy and amused.
‘Is this for the news? That explosion at the government building? That was you, wasn’t it?’
‘Yup. That’s me.’
‘Of course it is,’ she sighed. ‘Damn it, Ethan. What now?’
‘Bring your reporters,’ I said. ‘All of them. Cameras. Drones. The whole package. I’m about to give you an exclusive headline the world won’t forget.’
A silence.
Then laughter.
‘You crazy demon. I’m on my way.’
The connection dropped.
I turned back to the others.
I turned back to the others.
“We’re taking over this facility,” I said.
“And if the guards show up?” Buni asked, stretching her neck until it cracked.
“We’ll operate like before,” I said flatly. “Knock them down or kill them.”
Miranda gave a short nod. Rave just smiled and flexed his hands, shadows pooling at his feet like he was itching to rip someone’s spine out for fun.
But then my eyes drifted.
Back to the two vertical bands of radiant energy still humming against the wall.
They looked calmer now, no longer actively channeling—but the divine heat still licked at the air. Buzzing. Burning. Alive.
They used this on Larry.
They used it like a purification crucifix.
To scrape him clean.
To break him.
I stepped forward.
The light singed my senses before I even touched it. Smelled like scorched air and sanctimony. Sharp and clean, too clean. Like someone dipped sunlight in bleach and pretended it was medicine.
I raised my hand.
“Energy Siphon,” I muttered.
[Skill Activated: Energy Siphon ]
[Target: Divine-class Mana Construct – Unstable]
The air screeched.
Light buckled inward.
Like something holy just realized it was being eaten alive.
My skin cracked. Not bleeding—glowing. Purple-black veins of corruption slithered up my arm as the divine power surged into me like a reverse lightning strike.
It burned.
Holy fire clawed into every cell of my body, shrieking in protest.
But it was too late.
Too slow.
Too soft.
I welcomed it.
I drank it.
My body shook as the heat fused with the void inside me, morphing, mutating, being rewritten into something wrong.
[Energy Conversion: 78%]
[Divine Affliction Resistance +35%]
[Sin Core Resonance Detected]
[Your power has evolved…]
I stood there, steam rising from my shoulders, holy mana curling off my skin like incense.
And then—
I laughed.
Low at first.
Then louder.
Then louder.
Until it echoed across the lab, bouncing off every warded wall and security mirror.
A laugh that wasn’t human.
A laugh that promised ruin.
A laugh that didn’t ask permission.
Because they made me their enemy.
And now?
They’d get to see what that really meant.