Ashen sat quietly, the jungle air cool against his damp skin. Lyria was still curled beside him, her breath steady now, divine aura slowly dimming around her body. The dream had ended, but its aftertaste lingered—sweet, heavy, unforgettable.
She looked up at him, moonlight caught in her silver lashes. "That… was a dream, wasn't it?"
Ashen nodded. "If it was, I don't think I ever want to wake up again."
She chuckled lightly, then leaned into his shoulder. "Strange… I feel lighter. Like something inside me cracked open, and the darkness just... slipped out."
The system pulsed quietly.
> [Emotional Echo Registered. Divine Sync Progress: 63%]
[Trait Bonus Retained: "First Flame" — Lust Bond Acceleration +12% (Priestess Class Only)]
[New Memory Fragment Stored: Forbidden Touch – Temple Years]
Ashen's eyes flicked toward the notification but didn't comment. Lyria's warmth beside him was grounding—too fragile to break with system chatter. For a few seconds, the world was just them, no lust trials, no hidden gods. Just two people… and the aftermath of something real.
But silence never stayed long.
A strange ripple passed through the trees nearby. The jungle stirred—not with danger, but with awareness. As if something had watched the dream… and approved.
Ashen slowly rose to his feet, stretching.
"Time to go back," he muttered.
Lyria followed suit, conjuring a soft moonlight cloak around herself, shielding her nakedness with elegance only a fallen priestess could carry.
"Will you tell them?" she asked softly.
Ashen tilted his head. "Tell who what?"
"Nyari. Elira. About… us."
He smirked, brushing a leaf off her shoulder. "If you think those two don't already feel something changed, you underestimate their claws."
Lyria sighed. "Then... let them scratch."
---
The path back to the dorm wasn't long, but every step felt heavier.
Ashen's thoughts swirled—not from confusion, but from anticipation. His system had grown quiet again, like it was waiting.
> [Status: Core Activity 47% – Stabilizing... Awaiting External Stimulus]
"Typical," Ashen muttered under his breath.
They arrived near the clearing where the dorm structure shimmered between enchanted barriers and natural vines. The outer grounds were silent—too silent.
Ashen narrowed his eyes. "That's weird. Nyari usually jumps on me before I even knock."
Lyria smirked. "Maybe she smelled another woman on you."
"Maybe," Ashen replied. "Or maybe she's asleep."
But he knew better.
He entered quietly.
---
The door creaked open, revealing a darkened hall bathed in soft green light. His senses sharpened. Even without being fully Incubus, his instincts were predatory.
"System," he whispered mentally. "Anything off?"
> [Environmental Scan Active... No Threat Detected.]
[However… multiple Lust Resonance Points detected inside.]
He turned toward the common room—and paused.
Nyari was asleep on the couch, curled up in a blanket, her tail twitching in her sleep. Elira sat at the window, staring at the moon, naked but unbothered, a teacup steaming in her hands.
"Lyria," Ashen whispered, "I think I walked into a trap."
"I'll take the upstairs room," Lyria replied with a graceful smirk. "If you survive the next hour… you'll find me."
Ashen gave her a mock salute. "Noted."
She vanished with moonlight glimmering under her feet.
---
Elira didn't turn immediately.
"You're late," she said after a few seconds.
Ashen stepped inside, trying to keep his expression neutral. "Got a little... sidetracked."
She sipped her tea. "Mm. I thought you might. The air shifted. It always does when you've crossed another line."
Ashen raised a brow. "You talk like I'm some cursed artifact."
Elira finally turned her head, a smirk playing on her lips. "No. You're worse. You're an evolving danger. And I'm still figuring out why I'm addicted to it."
Ashen was about to respond when Nyari stirred, sniffing in her sleep.
"…Ashen?" she murmured groggily.
Then she sat up, blanket slipping off, revealing far more than modesty would allow. Her eyes blinked twice, then narrowed playfully.
"You're back. And you smell… suspicious."
Ashen chuckled. "I swear I just stepped out for fresh air."
"Liar," she purred, crawling toward him on all fours, tail swaying dangerously. "You reek of moonlight… and someone else's release."
Ashen raised both hands. "I come in peace."
Elira stood now too, placing her cup down.
"So what's the plan?" she asked, walking toward him. "We wait till morning… or burn the night away again?"
Ashen's mouth opened—then closed.
And that's when the system chose to interrupt.
> [System Update: Dual Sync Detected]
[Passive Skill Unlocked: Lust Heat Buffer – Temporary stamina regulation while handling multiple high-compatibility partners.]
"Perfect timing," Ashen muttered under his breath.
But Elira heard.
"Another upgrade?" she asked, stepping dangerously close. "You really don't sleep, do you?"
Nyari was already clinging to his back now, tail coiling around his wrist. "You left me cold for too long. I need to be… reheated."
Ashen looked at both of them.
Both beautiful. Both dangerous.
And both completely his.
He sighed with a soft grin.
"Let's see if history remembers me better than it tried to erase her."
Ashen's words rang through the Crimson Hollow as the ground beneath their feet pulsed with an ancient, ominous glow. The statue of Nyxa — the Forbidden Moon — cracked open along the third eye embedded in its forehead, releasing a shrill hum that cut into the silence like a blade.
Lyria stepped back. "This isn't just a shrine. It's a seal."
The system responded.
> [Warning: Memory Guardian Manifesting.]
[Entity Classification: Lust-Echo Warden (C-rank)]
[Emotional Pressure Imminent. Engage with caution.]
From the statue's chest, a misty silhouette began to form — a humanoid shape made of blood-red vapor, adorned in divine tattoos, its eyes weeping silver. It didn't roar. It didn't move. It simply watched Ashen.
Lyria grabbed his arm. "This one isn't like the fiend. It remembers her. Nyxa. And you… might remind it too much of what she once loved."
Ashen stepped forward. "Then let's see if love still kills."
---
What followed wasn't a battle of blades. It was a test of essence.
The Lust-Echo Warden attacked not with claws but with memories. Touches that triggered visions. Screams buried in pleasure. Ghosts of priestesses begging for touch and punishment alike.
Ashen held his ground.
His Lust Core throbbed under the pressure, emotions threatening to override him. But Lyria's presence — warm, glowing behind him — gave him clarity.
> [Trait Triggered: Emotional Anchor – "Moonbound Link"]
[Lust Core Stabilizing… 91%]
When the Warden lunged, Ashen met it not with violence but with dominance.
He stepped into its strike, hand glowing with condensed lust-fire, and drove it into the Warden's chest.
Silver light exploded — not from pain, but release.
The warden let out a low, breathy moan as its form began to crack apart, dissipating into red petals that floated through the Hollow like memory fragments.
> [Trial Complete: Forbidden Shrine Conquered.]
[Reward Obtained: Nyxa's Fragment of Truth – 1/3]
[Lust Core: 97% Stabilized. Trait Unlocked: Forbidden Memory Access (Locked until Moon Pulse Event)]
Ashen fell to one knee, panting.
Lyria knelt beside him. "You resisted it."
He gave a faint smirk. "Wasn't the first time someone tried to drown me in lust."
They stood slowly, the Hollow dimming as the power faded. The statue closed its eye, returning to dormancy. But Ashen could still feel it — a thread of divine lust now anchored to him, like a sleeping deity curling up in his soul.
They exited the Hollow in silence.
---
Later that night — after returning through the moonlit trail, after Lyria kissed him goodbye outside his dorm with a softness that didn't match their wild past — Ashen finally stepped into his room.
And froze.
Because waiting for him were two very different kinds of trouble.
Nyari, sprawled on the bed, wearing nothing but a dangerously sheer nightgown and an impatient pout.
And Elira, standing by the window in nothing but shadows, sipping wine with casual defiance.
Ashen raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"
Nyari licked her lips. "We waited. And the bed got cold."
Elira's eyes shimmered with faint moonlight. "So we decided to warm it up. With or without you."
Ashen's aura flared. The lust he'd contained during the trial, the heat barely bottled under divine pressure — all of it came flooding back.
The system chimed.
> [Lust Core: 99%]
[Environment Scan: Dual Partner Interaction Imminent]
[Auto-Condition: Incubus Surge Recommended – Suppress or Engage?]
Ashen exhaled slowly, closing the door behind him.
Suppress? No.
Tonight, he needed to burn it out.
He walked toward the bed, loosening his shirt.
"And you two…" his voice dropped an octave, rough with command, "better get ready. Because for you, this night will never end."
—
TO BE CONTINUED