The Incubus System Chapter 1526. Wearing a Dead Man’s Coat
The Incubus System Chapter 1526. Wearing a Dead Man’s Coat
The angels watched us carefully.
I looked back at them and let my voice settle into calm authority. “I'm Erebus.”
The lie tasted strange. Like wearing a dead man’s coat.
“Why are you here?” I asked. “Did the king send you?”
The golden-haired angel answered this time. “No.”
I waited.
He continued, “We found a path here.”
My stomach tightened. “A path.”
“Something similar to a crack between dimensions,” he said.
He looked around.
His gaze moved over the gate, the towers behind it, the red lights, the living city, the demon guards, the distant skyline where pleasure palaces and military wards shared the same streets because apparently my realm believed in multitasking.
“And I could say…” he added slowly, “this place isn’t bad.”
I went silent.
The angel seemed almost embarrassed.
“I thought the Dark Dimension was similar to wasteland.”
Licheri gasped behind me. “Wasteland?”
Leon’s eyes narrowed.
One of the demon guards muttered something very unholy under his breath.
I didn’t move.
Because that line?
That innocent little comment?
Bad.
Not because he insulted the city.
Okay, slightly because he insulted the city. So he insulted Licheri. In addition, now the Demon World was experiencing the same thing the human world had before.
A door opening where it shouldn’t.
Angels could now enter the Demon World.
And if angels could enter the Demon World…
Demons could enter the Light Dimension.
Zatan, Beel and their goddamn mess.
I looked at the angels. “Did anyone else find this path?”
The silver-haired angel hesitated. “We are not certain.”
It was clearly a lie. Angel was a bad liar. “You are lying.”
His jaw tightened. “We found it during patrol.”
“Where?”
The angels exchanged a glance.
Leon’s hands shifted, ready to turn into claws.
My guards tensed.
The city barrier hummed, reacting to Licheri’s mood.
I lifted my hand without turning.
Everyone stilled.
The golden-haired angel said, “Near a broken corridor east of the lower celestial border. It opened into a road outside this city.”
Licheri floated closer to my shoulder and whispered, “That is not supposed to happen.”
“I noticed.”
The silver-haired angel studied me. “You are calm.”
“I’m not.”
For some reason, that made the golden-haired angel blink.
I stepped closer to the barrier.
The angel light in their hands brightened slightly.
I smiled under my mask. “Relax. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be standing outside the gate having a cultural exchange.”
Leon coughed behind me, like he was trying not to enjoy that.
Licheri whispered, “Diplomacy.”
The silver-haired angel lifted his chin. “We came to investigate. Not attack.”
“Your hands are glowing.”
“So are your guards’ eyes.”
Fair.
I glanced back.
Several demon guards looked away.
‘Subtle, guys.’
I returned my gaze to the angels. “So what do you want? Return to your place?”
The golden-haired angel went still.
The silver-haired one inhaled slowly. “Yes. That was our intention. But the crack already shut once we came.”
A headache began forming behind my eyes. “Great,” I muttered. “So now you’re trapped here.”
His jaw tightened. “Temporarily.”
“Sure. That makes it sound professional.”
The silver-haired angel lowered his glowing hands slightly. “If we are trapped here, perhaps you could allow us to look around while you arrange a return path.”
“No.”
The word came out immediately.
No hesitation.
Because my instinct said no.
My logic said no.
My paranoia stood up, slammed both hands on the table, and screamed ‘absolutely no’.
Licheri floated near my shoulder and nodded her tiny white furball body with shocking seriousness. “No.”
Leon said nothing, but his silence agreed so hard it practically wore armor.
Demons were not angels.
And angels were not tourists.
If I let two angels “look around” Lust City, one of three things would happen.
One, some demon would attack them on sight because holy wings in a demon city were basically a moving insult with feathers.
Two, the angels would see something normal for Lust City and decide it was corruption deserving purification. Which, to be fair, Lust City after sunset had enough neon, perfume, and exposed thigh to make monks reconsider life choices.
Three, they were lying.
Always a possibility.
Actually, not even possibility.
Probability wearing white armor.
They said they came here by themselves.
Maybe they did.
Maybe they found a crack and got curious.
Or maybe the king pulled the strings after I mocked him this morning.
After I siphoned his gifted power from Nathan and bowed like a performer and told him without words, ‘Send more’.
And now?
Two angels at my gate.
How convenient.
I smiled. “No. Stay here.”
The angel’s eyes narrowed. “You would hold us prisoner?”
“I said stay here. Prisoner has walls. Right now you have fresh air and a nice view of the city you called a wasteland.”
Licheri puffed. “Which was rude.”
The silver-haired angel bowed his head slightly. “I apologize for that comparison.”
Licheri stared at him. Then whispered to me, “He apologized. I dislike that. It makes him harder to hate.”
“Stay focused.”
“I am focused and offended.”
I looked back at the angels. “I’ll try to contact the Light Dimension.”
The silver-haired angel tilted his head. “Oh? How?” he asked. “Is it the queen?”
My body stilled.
The air between us shifted.
He continued softly, too softly, “Or that fallen goddess?”
My jaw tightened.
“Or maybe…” the other added, watching my eyes, “someone else?”
For one second, I said nothing.
Then I understood.
Oh, I got it.
That was how it worked.
They were not lost or merely trapped.
They were the king’s subordinates.
Their mission was not to invade Lust City.
Their mission was to find who helped me.
The king was checking for the traitor on his side.
And once he found them?
He would remove them.
Lysathiel.
My thoughts flashed to her face on the rooftop. The tired eyes. The calm bitterness. The way she said she and her husband never talked for too long. The way she used queen’s emergency discretion like a knife hidden inside paperwork.
Yeah.
Aurelion must have gotten suspicious of his wife.
But… She had good reason to help me.
She was trying to negotiate. Trying to become a bridge between me and her husband before this turned into war. Trying to keep the human world from becoming a battlefield.
But kings who loved purity didn’t trust bridges, even though he'd already given his permission to his own wife.