Chapter 108 – Favoritism
"No," she said. "Tips can trigger envy."
Lux raised an eyebrow. "That’s the reason?"
She nodded. "Each guest would leave different tips. Rich or poor. Big or small. Then judgnt happens. Then favoritism. It starts with sothing small like serving attitude and ends in jealousy. That’s not how this world works."
He leaned back. "Fair. Makes sense. A little... strict, but yeah. I get it."
She tilted her head. "So... no tipping."
He shrugged. "Okay."
He stood up, stretching slightly, smoothing the robe back into place. He looked around again, soaking in the atmosphere. The quiet energy of the restaurant. The flow of people outside. The peace.
Then he turned to her.
"So," he said. "What about you? You looked like you wanted to say sothing before we ate."
Selena blinked.
He was watching her again. Closely. Not pushing, but open.
She hesitated.
Then looked away.
"...No," she said quietly. "Nothing important."
Lux didn’t push. Just nodded, slowly. "Fine. But..." he tilted his head with a little grin, "I hate being unfair."
She glanced at him.
"I’ll return the favor," he said. "Soday."
Selena t his gaze.
And smiled, even if it trembled a little. "I’ll wait for it."
Lux didn’t reply imdiately. He just stared at her with that unreadable expression he wore when numbers were crunching behind his eyes. Not equations—calculations. The kind that mixed emotional variables and long-term value like a corporate risk assessnt wrapped in charm and good hair.
Then he smiled back. Lopsided. Real.
"Alright. So—where are we going now?"
Selena stood too, brushing nonexistent dust off her sleeve. "Anywhere you want. As long as it’s legal."
Lux narrowed his eyes. "Define legal."
"No governnt buildings. No archives. No restricted gates. And definitely not the Temple of Judgnt."
Lux huffed. "So boring."
"We just had lunch. How about walking around the park?" she offered.
He didn’t respond at first. His eyes had drifted sideways, still faintly amused.
Then her next words landed.
"There are usually people with pets."
His head snapped toward her. A second later, a flicker of sothing soft lit his eyes. "You had at pets."
The park was just a few streets away—technically a large open sanctuary, a seamless blend of nature and harmony, frad by trees that humd softly when the wind moved through them. The cobblestone paths were smooth and warm underfoot, flanked by gardens of pearlescent lilies and translucent moss that shimred like dew under the noonlight.
Selena walked beside him in silence as the city’s subtle musical resonance faded into the sound of laughter, barking, and wing.
The Celestial Realm didn’t do "normal" playgrounds—here, it was gentle hills and glades of magic-infused grass. Birds flew low like living chis. Small clouds hovered under tree branches to provide cooling shade.
And everywhere?
Pets.
Dozens of them.
Fluffy ones. Slippery ones. Ones with three tails. Ones that blinked sideways. Every creature had a glow—not divine, not magical—just that peaceful aura of being loved and well-fed.
Lux slowed down and let out a quiet, reverent sigh.
"This," he said, hands in pockets, "is really heaven."
Selena chuckled beside him. "You sound like a kid."
"Not my fault your realm raised its hospitality score," he said, already walking toward a huge golden retriever sprawled on the grass like royalty. "And this guy? He’s majestic."
He knelt, reaching out carefully—slow movents, no sudden gestures.
Lux might have been a Greed demon, but he respected dogs. They had a sense for things people didn’t. Besides, no demon worth his salt wanted to be on a golden retriever’s bad side. Those eyes were judgnt incarnate.
Just as Lux’s hand was about to ruffle that perfect golden mane—
[Warning: Surge in Angelic Power Detected]
[Level: Anomaly Tier 3]
[Source: Unknown – 0.001% False Alarm Probability]
[Coordinates: Direct Vicinity]
Lux froze.
His palm hovered mid-air above the dog’s head.
The dog blinked up at him.
Wagged its tail.
Lux didn’t smile.
Angelic energy wasn’t rare here. It shouldn’t be a problem. But Lux wasn’t just relying on instinct—he was relying on his System. And his System was a special. Hand-coded. Firewall-forged. Built from a cocktail of infernal algorithms and arcane logic. Which ant—
If the System gave a warning?
It was gospel.
He slowly pulled his hand back, straightening up.
[Alert: Anomaly has moved – now centered within a 3-ter radius.]
That ant... him.
Selena?
Lux turned slowly, just as the warning updated again.
[Warning: Holy Surge Reaching Critical Threshold. Spatial Instability Detected.]
His heart didn’t race. His thoughts didn’t scatter.
He had lived too long for that.
But his body moved.
In a blink, he crossed the space between them, reached for her hand—and grabbed it.
"We have to go," he said in a low voice, pulling her forward.
"W-What?" she blushed, clearly caught off guard by the touch. "Lux?"
"No ti," he muttered.
He wasn’t sure what was coming—but the surge felt deliberate. Too centered. Too refined. This wasn’t ambient holy radiation or a proximity spike from so priest passing by. It had intent. It was focusing. And Lux didn’t like that.
They made it three steps.
Then the System spoke again.
[Spatial Trap Activated: Holy Class – Type Sigma Seal]
[Escape Route: Null]
[Displacent: Imminent]
"Oh for fu—"
The space around them bent. Like the air was suddenly made of glass and soone had tapped it with a tuning fork.
The shimr of the sky turned inward, collapsing like a do folding over itself. His grip tightened on Selena’s hand.
And then—
Everything exploded in light.
They fell.
Endlessly.
There was no ground. No up. No down. Just... falling—through light that bent around them like lted glass, through warmth that wasn’t heat but pressure, pressing against skin, breath, thoughts.
There was no pain.
But also, no sound.
Just warmth.
Overwhelming, absolute warmth. Like falling face-first into a sunbeam that never ended. Like drowning in light.
Lux tried to see—anything. Shapes. Movent. Boundaries.
But there were only pale gold streaks stretching across an endless void.
Colorless. Voiceless. Quiet.
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