Chapter 835 – Invasive

For one suspended second, the world felt almost quiet.

Lux’s boots landed against her shimmering scales, abyssal tendrils still constricting her elongated body. Up close, the cracks along her pearl-like surface were worse than he’d thought. Black demonic power pulsed inside them like infected veins. It wasn’t elegant corruption. It was invasive. Parasitic. Ugly.

He pressed his palm flat against one of the fissures.

"Absorb."

[Skill Activated: Absorb]

[Target: Sovereign-Level Demonic Residue]

[Warning: Containment Capacity Exceeding Recommended Threshold]

[Sir, this is medically unwise.]

"Do it!"

The demonic power surged into him.

Not gently.

Not politely.

It tore out of her like molten tar and slammed into his body in a violent rush. Lux’s jaw clenched instinctively. His back arched slightly as the energy forced its way into his veins, spreading through him like burning mercury.

Pain.

Raw. Expansive. Relentless.

It wasn’t a stab or a slash. It was pressure. Like his bones were being widened from the inside. Like his organs were being told to make space for something older and heavier than they were designed to hold.

[Containment: 47%... 63%... 79%]

[Host Body Adapting...]

[You are currently functioning as an overfilled wine bottle.]

Sweat beaded along his temple despite the infernal heat radiating from him. His breath shortened. He kept his posture steady, but inside, inside it felt like he was being forced to expand. Like a container stretched past its limit.

’C’mon...’, he whispered under his breath. ’Just a little more...’

The dragon screamed.

Not in relief.

In rage.

Her body thrashed violently, scales grinding against the abyssal tendrils. The demonic corruption resisted extraction, lashing back through the link Lux had created. It didn’t calm her.

It enraged her.

Her movements became frantic, uncoordinated, like a mind losing coherence.

Naomi’s voice cut through the chaos. "Lux! Watch out!"

He realized too late.

Her tail, massive, scaled, and no longer fully restrained, whipped around in a brutal arc.

Impact.

Lux felt it before he saw it.

Ely’s barrier flared into existence at the last possible second.

The shield shattered in one devastating swipe. The force still clipped Lux, sending him spinning mid-air. He tasted blood. Not dramatic. Just enough to sting his pride.

He teleported instinctively, reappearing several meters away as he canceled Absorb.

The abyssal tendrils snapped under the dragon’s furious strength. She tore herself free, rising into the air in a writhing spiral of madness and corrupted radiance.

Lux hovered, wings steady, breathing heavier now.

His body hurt.

Not surface-level hurt. Deep. Sovereign-level power was still trying to settle inside him, pressing against his limits like a storm trapped in a bottle.

[Containment Stress: Stabilizing at 82%]

[Host Endurance: Remarkable. Questionable Judgment: Consistent.]

He wiped a streak of blood from his lip with his thumb and smiled.

"Alright," he muttered. "If brute force doesn’t work..."

His eyes darkened.

"Abyssal Court of Desire."

The battlefield shifted.

Crimson shadow bled outward from Lux’s feet, spreading like a living tide. The ground cracked as the domain expanded, saturating the air with heavy, intoxicating pressure.

[Domain Activated: Abyssal Court of Desire]

[Willpower Suppression Field Established]

[Manifestations Summoned]

From the crimson shadows, figures emerged.

Succubi and incubi formed from pure Lust energy, sleek, predatory, and merciless. Their eyes glowed with hunger as they launched themselves toward the dragon in coordinated swarms.

They didn’t attack her scales.

They attacked her will.

They clung to her form, whispering into her ears, dragging shadowed hands across her cracked scales, trying to suppress the curse’s grip. Those manifestations were not gentle. They were relentless. Every movement slowed her, every second stretched.

The dragon roared in confusion and fury, shaking violently to dislodge them.

Lux hovered at the center of the domain, tail flicking lazily behind him. Outwardly, he looked composed. Almost amused.

Inside?

His pulse was pounding.

’Hold her steady... just for a second...’

The succubi tightened their hold. Incubi wrapped around her body, forcing her downward. Her movements slowed, just barely.

That was enough.

Lux teleported again.

He reappeared directly in front of her face, inches from those blackened eyes. He could see it clearly now, the curse wasn’t her. It was layered over her like a mask. Her true consciousness flickered beneath.

"Sorry," he whispered.

He pressed both hands against her cracked scales.

"Absorb."

[Absorb. Maximum Intake]

[Warning: Sovereign Overflow Imminent]

The demonic power exploded into him.

This time it wasn’t a stream.

It was a flood.

Lux’s body convulsed mid-air as the corruption ripped free from her cracks and poured into him in violent torrents. His wings trembled. His armor flickered under the strain. Veins of black energy traced along his skin.

Pain crawled up his spine.

Across his ribs.

Through his skull.

It felt like his body was being expanded from within, like his soul itself was being stretched to accommodate something enormous.

He gritted his teeth.

Sweat rolled down his temple.

’You wanted power,’ he told himself grimly. ’Congratulations.’

The dragon screamed again, but this time, something shifted.

The blackness in her eyes flickered.

For the briefest moment... Gold returned.

The succubi shrieked in triumph as the curse began to peel away in ragged strands.

Lux didn’t stop.

He couldn’t.

If he let go now, the curse would snap back into place.

His fingers dug deeper against her scales.

"Come on..." he whispered, voice rough.

The dragon’s body convulsed again, but slower now. Less rage. More resistance.

The domain pulsed violently around them.

[Containment: 94%]

[Host Structural Integrity: Critical]

Lux laughed hoarsely instead.

"You’re not killing me today," he muttered through clenched teeth.

Below him, Naomi, Ely, Rava, and Mira watched with wide eyes.

They could see it now.

The demonic corruption was physically leaving the dragon.

And flowing into Lux.

His silhouette against the crimson domain was breathtaking and terrifying. Wings outstretched. Horns cutting through the mist. Body glowing with unstable sovereign energy.

He looked like a fallen king claiming a throne made of madness.

He was fighting to stay conscious.

He could feel the curse pressing against his will, trying to fracture him from within.

The dragon’s roar shifted again.

Less rage.

More pain.

More... awakening.