The Incubus System Chapter 1309. You Need a Real Vacation

The Incubus System Chapter 1309. You Need a Real Vacation

I blinked.

I choked. “Why did you say it like that? That’s exactly how a Netplix documentary starts. ‘It was supposed to be a vacation… until the harem snapped.’”

Pearl leaned forward, grinning like temptation incarnate. “That depends. Do you snore?”

Diamond twirled a curl around her finger, deadly smooth. “Or scream.”

Ruby, lounging like a satisfied demoness, sipped her soda with slow, smug elegance. “Or beg.”

Tiffany patted my shoulder with sisterly affection—fake sisterly affection. “Or all of the above.”

I stared at them, half-scandalized, half-melting. “You’re monsters.”

Emma, who hadn’t moved in twenty minutes, finally lifted her head. Her long hair fell like a curtain over one eye, her stare leveled at me with quiet precision. The kind that didn’t need to shout.

“You still haven’t answered the question.”

Her voice was low. Calm. Like a knife sliding across velvet.

I blinked again. “What question?”

“The one from earlier,” Ruby said, setting her drink down and crawling across the plush carpet like a lioness with a dare in her teeth. “The one where we asked who you’re afraid to fall for.”

I blinked, confused. “Since when did you ask that? There’s no question like that before!”

Ruby grinned, all wicked charm and lazy confidence. “It is now.”

Diamond snorted from the couch. “Loopholes, babe. Truth or Dare has no rules once someone looks good saying it.”

“Now answer it,” Ruby said, voice sweet and dark like syrup sliding off a knife.

I scratched the back of my head and muttered, “I plead the fifth.”

Olivia tossed a pillow at me. “Nope. This ain’t a courtroom. You picked Truth, remember?”

Celia giggled, swirling her juice with a glittery straw. “And Truth means no running.”

Pearl leaned in close, chin on her palm, lips pouting like she was about to taste something interesting. “Who, Ethan?”

Even Emma—calm, collected, and always watching—was looking at me now. Quiet. Sharp. She didn’t speak. She didn’t need to.

I was surrounded. Trapped. Shirtless. Lipstick-marked. Emotionally cornered.

And yeah… there was no escaping it.

I opened my mouth. Closed it again.

Then I sighed, full and heavy. The kind of sigh that carried the weight of months.

“You know what?” I finally said, rubbing my eyes. “Forget the question. Forget the game. Can I just say something?”

The room quieted.

The air shifted.

No more teasing. No more poking.

I looked up, surrounded by glowing eyes and dangerous curves, and said—

“I’m tired.”

That word hit the room like thunder.

“I’m tired,” I repeated, softer this time. “Not just like… physically. I mean—mentally. Spiritually. Existentially. You know?”

I let my head fall back onto the pillow behind me, staring at the ceiling fan spinning in slow lazy arcs. Its blades hummed with a distant mechanical sound, like it was struggling to keep up with the tension in the room.

“These past few months? They’ve been insane. Leveling up, learning how to fight, training with literal monsters, managing demon politics, surviving demon lords…”

I exhaled.

“My vacation was supposed to be… I don’t know. A break. Instead, I forgot what it means to just be a person. I haven’t even tasted actual peace. Not once.”

A silence.

A real one this time.

No witty remark. No sly smirk.

Just... understanding.

Then Diamond, oddly gentle, spoke first. “College starts in few days.”

That snapped my gaze toward her.

She nodded. “Orientation’s for new students in two days. Classes the day after.”

“Time flies,” Olivia said dryly, crossing her arms.

“Oh good,” I muttered. “Nothing like a healthy dose of panic to season my insomnia.”

Camila sat up straighter. “Which is why we have to go. Tonight.”

I blinked. “Wait, what?”

“To the villa,” Ruby clarified, crawling closer. “You need a real vacation.”

“Just us,” Mia added, looping her tail around her cup. “No missions. No battles. No trauma.”

“No pants,” Foxy whispered, grinning.

Emma didn’t say anything. But she didn’t need to. Her stare said enough.

“You want me to go to an isolated beach with a dozen of the hottest women I’ve ever met,” I said slowly, “for a single night of absolute peace, quiet, and probably some degree of chaos disguised as affection.”

“Correct,” Tiffany said.

“...and you all promise not to kill me, kidnap me, seduce me into a coma, or trap me in a hot spring full of aphrodisiacs?”

“No promises,” Celia said sweetly.

Ruby held up her pinky. “But we will carry you if you say no.”

I stared. Really stared.

At the glowing eyes, the hopeful smiles, the half-serious threats.

At Larry in the background, who was now holding tissues to both nostrils like a war medic. He waved with one hand and whispered, “Take ‘Nana-chan’ with you. She deserves to see this.”

“You’re not helping,” I said.

“She’s waterproof.”

I gave up.

Fully, completely surrendered to the fact that I was never winning again.

I slumped forward, dropped my head between my knees, and groaned. “Okay. Fine. FINE. Few days.”

They didn’t cheer.

They pounced.

The room exploded with movement.

Celia squealed and hugged me from behind.

Mia spun her tail and did a little dance.

Ruby kissed my cheek with a triumphant “hmph.”

Tiffany shouted “Road trip!”

Pearl and Diamond high-fived. Not delicately.

Camila was already on her phone, calling ahead. “Yes, prep the villa. Stock it with seafood and wine. No, not that kind. The good kind. Also, remove the handcuffs from the master suite. Just put them on the table.”

I stared. “The what?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said sweetly.

Emma stood, brushed imaginary lint off her lap, and nodded once. “Good. You made the right choice.”

“Did I?”

“You’ll thank me later,” she said, and somehow it didn’t sound like a threat. Or maybe it did.

Bags were being packed, people were scrambling, my dog was barking with excitement like he thought we were going camping, and Larry just mumbled something about “witnessing greatness” before flopping onto the floor in dramatic awe.

And me?

I was still shirtless. Still lipstick-marked. Still one foot into what was either a dream or an elaborate trap.

But for the first time in months…

I wasn’t thinking about power levels.

Or titles.

Or death.

Or politics.

Just the wind.

And sand.

And maybe… letting myself feel again.

Even if I had to fight off a dozen temptresses to do it.

“…Are the tentacles coming?” I asked aloud.

“Of course,” Pearl said, brushing her hair back. “You’ll thank us later too.”

I sighed. “God help me.”

Foxy licked my cheek. “Too late for that.”

And with that?

The real vacation began.