The Incubus System Chapter 1428. The Same Path
The Incubus System Chapter 1428. The Same Path
Puriel tilted her head, eyeing me suspiciously. “What’s with that grin?”
I instantly wiped it off my face and cleared my throat. “What grin?”
She cringed slightly. “That one. The smug, proud, secretly-soft one.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said flatly, turning away as if the bookshelf had suddenly become fascinating.
Smooth. Totally smooth.
I coughed lightly and shifted the topic. “Anyway, do you know a way to help him?”
Puriel tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I’m not sure. But I can try. I can’t exactly make him grow wings, though.”
I froze mid-step.
“…Wings?”
She nodded, utterly serious. “He requested wings.”
I cringed so hard I physically recoiled. “Ah… yeah. That sounds exactly like him.”
I couldn’t help it, I chuckled. The mental image of Larry dramatically spreading imaginary wings while shouting something heroic nearly broke my composure.
Puriel watched me with a soft, amused expression. Then, slowly, she stepped closer.
One step.
Then another.
Her presence grew warmer, more intimate. The air around us seemed to soften.
I raised a brow. “What?”
She stopped just a step away from me, close enough that I could see the subtle glow along her skin, the sincerity in her eyes.
“Do you want to grow your angelic power more?” she asked quietly.
No teasing. No hesitation. Just a sincere offer.
My expression shifted, the humor fading into something more contemplative.
“Yeah,” I said without pause. “Of course.”
The answer came from instinct. From necessity. From the growing realization that if I was going to walk the line between Light and Dark, I couldn’t afford to neglect either side.
Puriel studied my face, as if searching for doubt. “It won’t be easy. Strengthening your angelic side means confronting parts of yourself you’ve kept sealed.”
I tilted my head slightly, a crooked smirk forming despite the seriousness of her tone. “You mean pain?”
She shook her head gently. “Not only pain… but also darkness. Brutality. Massacre.”
That wiped the smirk right off my face.
I frowned, confusion knitting my brows. “What do you mean?”
Her eyes held mine, unwavering, almost unsettling in their calm conviction. Then she said something that made my brain short-circuit for a full three seconds.
“Use your Siphon skill on me.”
“…Huh?”
I blinked. Once. Twice. Maybe three times for good measure.
“No,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “That’s dangerous.”
“It’s an experiment,” she replied softly. “Trust me.”
Trust her. Right. Because draining angelic mana from a fallen angel while my demonic reserves were already full sounded like a fantastic, totally safe, absolutely not catastrophic idea.
I opened my mouth to argue again, but the determination in her gaze stopped me. She wasn’t reckless. She wasn’t naïve. If she believed this was necessary, then there was a reason.
Still, I hesitated.
This felt wrong.
Familiar… but wrong.
After a long, silent moment, I stepped closer. My hand lifted slowly, hovering near her shoulder as if waiting for the universe to send a last-minute cancellation notice.
I placed my hand gently on her shoulder and whispered, “Siphon…”
[You are draining your partner’s mana. Are you sure you want to do this?]
[Yes / No]
I glanced at her one last time. She nodded.
I swallowed. “Yes.”
Power surged instantly.
Warm. Radiant. Angelic.
Her mana flowed into me like liquid light, filling every corner of my being. For a brief, beautiful moment, it felt incredible, like standing beneath a waterfall of pure energy.
Then reality kicked in.
My demonic power was already full. Completely topped off. Thank you, recent extracurricular activities.
So instead of merging smoothly, the incoming angelic energy had nowhere to go.
And my body… rejected it.
Pain exploded through me.
I gritted my teeth as the glow intensified, radiating from beneath my skin like molten light trying to break free. Every nerve screamed in protest as the excess energy forced my internal channels to expand beyond their limits.
Yeah. I knew this pain.
The overload. The rejection. The sensation of being filled with too much power… so much that the body had no choice but to evolve or break.
I clenched my fists, muscles trembling. “Tch!”
The room flickered with alternating pulses of dark and light energy, shadows stretching and recoiling as golden radiance bled into the air. It was chaotic. Terrifying.
And then…
[Angelic Seal Break Progress: 81%]
My eyes widened.
Eighty-one percent.
But before I could process it further, I heard Puriel’s ragged breathing. The warmth beneath my hand weakened, her body trembling as her mana was siphoned away.
Oh no.
I immediately canceled the skill.
The energy flow stopped abruptly, leaving a lingering hum in the air. Puriel’s knees buckled, and she collapsed forward. I caught her just in time, wrapping an arm around her waist and lowering her carefully onto the bed.
“Damn it, you’re crazy!” I snapped, my voice sharper than intended.
She smiled weakly, her golden eyes still shining despite her exhaustion. “But it worked… right?”
I stared at her, still shaken by the intensity of what had just happened. “Yeah,” I admitted quietly. “It worked.”
“Do you understand what it means?” she asked.
I fell silent.
Because yes… I understood.
It meant I could siphon angelic mana to accelerate the breaking of my seal. The key condition? My demonic power had to be completely full beforehand. The overflow forced my body to expand, adapt, and integrate the angelic energy at an accelerated rate.
Efficient. Dangerous. Addictive.
My expression darkened slightly as a memory surfaced.
Erebus.
This was the same path.
He also did it to Lord Damon thousands of years ago.
I looked down at Puriel resting against me, her breathing slowly stabilizing. She trusted me. Offered herself willingly to help me grow stronger.
But power gained this way… came with a price.
“I get it,” I murmured. “I can use angelic mana to break my seal faster. But it’s risky.”
She nodded faintly. “I trust you to know your limits.”
That trust weighed heavier than any power surge.