October 16, 2026

The Incubus System Chapter 1553. My Private Life Stays Private

Its pupil remained focused on me.

“Still, it doesn’t mean I give you my permission,” I added firmly. “My private life stays private. Understand?”

A long silence followed.

“Understood.”

Finally. An agreement.

Since our extremely questionable friendship negotiations were apparently finished, I decided to reclaim the sleep this oversized interdimensional menace had stolen from me. I lay down in the middle of the void, folded my hands over my stomach, and closed my eyes like a dead man resting inside his coffin.

“There. We're done. Now let me rest in peace.”

The surrounding darkness became quiet.

“I will let you rest.” Its voice sounded different. Softer. “Thank you… for being my friend.”

My expression relaxed. That was surprisingly sincere. For something capable of terrifying entire civilizations, it sounded almost innocent. Maybe agreeing to become its friend wasn't such a terrible decision after all.

I opened my eyes to give it one last look. And immediately regretted it. A gigantic red pupil was staring directly into my face.

RIGHT. IN. FRONT. OF. ME.

My breath caught. What the actual…

Everything went black.

I jolted upright in Emma's bed, nearly throwing the blanket aside. My heart hammered violently. Cold sweat covered my forehead and back.

For several seconds, I could only stare into the darkness, trying to convince my body that I wasn't about to be swallowed by a colossal eyeball.

Beside me, Emma remained peacefully asleep.

I slowly looked toward her. Then back at the ceiling. That bastard. My newest friend had nearly scared me to death. And somehow, I suspected this was only the beginning.

I dragged a hand down my face, trying to calm my heartbeat. The image of that enormous red pupil remained painfully clear in my mind. I could still remember how it had suddenly appeared inches away from my face, filling my entire vision like the universe had decided to stare directly into my soul.

And that thing wanted to hang out with me? Great. I'd officially befriended a cosmic nightmare with absolutely no understanding of personal space.

I glanced at the clock.

6:02 AM.

Apparently, having a conversation with an ancient eldritch creature consumed considerably more time than expected. Especially when the conversation ended with the supernatural equivalent of someone shoving their face against yours while you were trying to sleep.

I exhaled slowly.

At least I had learned something. The creature had no sexual desires of its own, enjoyed watching other people's private activities, and wanted friendship badly enough to approach someone like me.

A deeply disturbing combination. But interesting.

I looked down at Emma.

She was still sleeping peacefully beside me, her hair scattered across the pillow and one hand resting near where I'd been lying. Her expression was relaxed, completely unaware that I'd just spent the night negotiating friendship terms with something that probably existed before the concept of demons.

For a moment, I simply watched her. The anger from last night had faded. Not disappeared. Just settled into something quieter.

Emma had been right. I needed more than pleasure or distraction. I needed somewhere I could stop thinking about everything for a while. And she'd given me exactly that.

I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

She stirred faintly but didn't wake.

I brushed a strand of hair away from her face before carefully slipping out of bed. Time to go home. I raised my hand.

[You have opened a portal.]

A circular opening of darkness appeared beside me, revealing the familiar interior of my bedroom.

I stepped through.

The portal closed behind me.

My shoulders relaxed almost immediately.

There was something comforting about returning to my own room after spending the night moving between dimensions, dealing with angels, and discovering that the space between worlds apparently contained an extremely lonely monster.

I took one step forward.

“Damian!”

“Welcome home!”

Two figures launched themselves toward me. Before I could properly react, Syntyche and Nefaris crashed into me from opposite directions. My balance disappeared. I stumbled backward. And the three of us fell onto the bed.

The mattress bounced beneath our combined weight.

For several seconds, I stared at the ceiling with two very affectionate women practically pinning me down.

“Damian, welcome home~” Nefaris purred, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

Syntyche pressed closer from the other side. “We missed you.”

I chuckled. “Hey, I only left for a little while.”

Syntyche lifted her head. Her expression immediately became accusing. “You returned to the Demon World without telling us.”

Nefaris nodded against my shoulder. “We went there looking for you, but you were already gone.”

I sighed. “Yeah. I had some things to handle.” I continued, “Afterward, I spent some time in Ledred. Then I ended up staying at Emma's place.”

Nefaris studied me. “So that's where you were.”

“Pretty much.”

Last night had moved quickly, and somewhere between dealing with the angel assassins, organizing Lust City's defenses, and deciding I was officially finished playing light dimension's obedient little subject, I'd neglected to tell them where I was going. Not my finest decision.

I brushed Syntyche's hair away from her cheek. “Sorry.”

Her expression softened.

But something she'd said earlier suddenly registered. “Wait.”

Both women looked at me.

“You went back to the Demon World?”

They nodded.

My eyes narrowed slightly. “So you already know about last night's attack?”

“Yes,” Nefaris answered.

“The king told us,” Syntyche added.

I frowned. “My father?”

“He sent a messenger to us,” Nefaris explained. “We were informed that angels had attacked Lust City and that you had already dealt with them.”

I exhaled through my nose. “Did he tell you anything else?”

Syntyche exchanged a glance with Nefaris.

That immediately caught my attention. The warmth of our reunion remained, but something more serious settled over their expressions.

Syntyche looked back at me. “He told us we might be heading toward an open war against the Light Dimension.”

I went still.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

I slowly leaned my head back against the pillow. So Dad had already started preparing them. I couldn't blame him.