Chapter 120 – Strip
They turned a corner, walking away from the central park area. The tension slowly faded behind them as the crowd dispersed and returned to whatever peaceful, harp-infused lives they lived. A few brave souls watched from afar, but no one followed.
"I guess I can throw so complaints," Lux said. "One of which includes getting yeeted into Limbo without a warning."
"That shouldn’t have happened," Selena said. Her tone sharpened, that disciplined edge returning to her words. "Especially not there. In public. Soone went through a lot of trouble to make it look like an automated layer-trap."
"Mmhm. Clean design too. Efficient. Arrogant. Definitely soone with a God-complex."
Selena gave him a look.
Lux grinned. "What? You were thinking it."
They reached a side gate—an arched stone pathway surrounded by glowing ivy and carved pillars, guarded by a sleeping moon-hound who didn’t even raise his head when Lux passed by. Smart dog.
Through it was a more private courtyard. Quieter. Warr. A crystalline pond shimred in the center, its water laced with holy sigils that moved like koi. A few birds perched in suspended air, frozen mid-song until their presence cleared the ward.
Lux glanced around. "Didn’t know angels had VIP lounges."
Selena gestured to a stone bench. "Sit."
Lux dropped onto it with a dramatic groan. "Wow. You really do want to talk."
She didn’t smile this ti.
Instead, she stood in front of him and started scanning him with soft pulses of divine energy. Her hands hovered over his shoulders, his chest, his arms.
The remnants of the battle form were still there—burnt edges, minor fractures, traces of holy corruption that hadn’t healed yet.
"You pushed too hard," she murmured.
"You were busy getting force-yeeted."
"You didn’t have to go full psycho."
Lux raised a brow. "You’ve t ."
Silence.
Her hands hovered near his collarbone, where so of Azion’s divine backlash still lingered in faint glowing threads. She pressed two fingers gently there.
A light pulsed. Warm. Soft. Cleansing.
Lux’s breath hitched, but he didn’t move.
"That tickles," he muttered.
Selena didn’t laugh. Just whispered, "I’m sorry."
Lux blinked again.
"...For the tickle?"
"For not being there."
His eyes shifted. The smirk faltered. The silence thickened between them.
He looked at her, really looked this ti. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away.
And for once, Lux didn’t deflect. Didn’t joke. Didn’t drop so sarcastic comnt about her being too holy for regrets.
He just said, "It’s fine."
Then, after a beat—
"You ca back. That’s what matters."
Selena didn’t speak right away. Her fingers curled faintly, the heat of her battle aura still not entirely gone from her skin. A part of her wanted to say more—sothing soft, sothing warm—but her heart had already stumbled enough today.
So instead, she turned toward him with that familiar calm, tilted her head just slightly, and said—
"Strip."
Lux blinked. Slowly.
"...Pardon?"
"Strip."
He squinted at her. "Did I... hear that right?"
She crossed her arms, one brow raised. "You did."
Lux leaned forward on the bench, both elbows on his knees, hands folded like he was preparing for a particularly scandalous courtroom trial. "You want to... strip."
"Yes."
A beat.
"This is still the Celestial Realm, right?" he asked, glancing upward like soone might drop divine HR paperwork on him from the clouds. "I didn’t take a wrong turn into Lust Sector?"
"You’re injured," she said, completely serious. "I need to do a full check."
Lux stared. Then his gaze drifted lazily to the open arch behind them—the one they’d walked through earlier. "The entrance is literally right there. Open wide. In public."
Selena didn’t flinch. She extended her hand.
Light spiraled outward, tracing sharp runes in the air with clean precision. The archway shimred and collapsed into a solid barrier of pale gold light, runes lacing the edge like locks on a vault. A pulse echoed as it sealed the courtyard completely.
"There," she said. "No one can co in. Only us."
Lux’s expression didn’t change. But sothing flickered in his eyes. Surprise, maybe. Or just a quiet ’what the hell is going on here?’ realization.
"...Okay," he said slowly, cautiously. "It’s a bit weird. But fine. If I start glowing and vanish into disciplinary court, I’m blaming you."
"Duly noted."
Lux sighed and loosened his tie with a flick of his fingers. Then he unbuttoned his suit jacket, folded it neatly over the side of the bench, and tugged his shirt free.
Selena tried—tried—not to stare.
She really did.
But—
He was lean, sure, but built like soone who didn’t go to the gym for aesthetics. His body was all sharp lines and wicked grace, like he was sculpted to fight, seduce, and then disappear before morning light. His torso bore faint markings from his demon lineage—runic scars that shimred faintly under celestial exposure. His skin still held the battle residue, glowing threads of lingering divine backlash woven through the bruises.
She swallowed.
Then forced her voice to remain steady. "I need to scan for hidden damage."
Lux nodded, arms casually relaxed. "Knock yourself out."
She raised her hands again. Magic pulsed outward—soft, radiant. Her fingers glided near his shoulder first, brushing the edge of a faint burn.
He winced slightly.
She frowned. "Still hurts?"
"Not enough to complain."
Her fingers moved lower, across his ribs. She paused when she saw the bruising—then blinked.
Wait.
The skin looked healed. But the energy inside—
She narrowed her eyes. Focused harder.
"...You have internal wounds."
Lux blinked. "Do I?"
"You didn’t say anything."
He shrugged like it was nothing. "That seraph was high level. He could drag into Limbo, rember? No low-level angel’s pulling that off. So yeah. I couldn’t escape untouched."
Selena stared at him. Her heart thudded once, painfully.
"You were bleeding internally and said nothing?"
He gave a lopsided grin. "What, you want to fill out a celestial injury form? I’m a devil. We just walk it off."
She was speechless. Her hands hovered over his chest now, over the pulsing glow beneath his sternum.
He exhaled, slower this ti. "You don’t have to worry, you know. I can heal myself. Give a minute and—"
"No."
She stopped him, her palm pressing against his chest—firm, warm, glowing. Her eyes locked on his.
"Let do it."
He blinked.
And for once—didn’t argue.
Her magic flowed outward, curling into him. The light wasn’t aggressive. It was clean, soft, like velvet. Healing poured into the damage beneath his skin—binding torn muscle, soothing bruised vessels, rewriting ruptured mana threads.
[System Notification: All internal wounds have been healed.]
[Divine Restoration successfully applied.]
[Body Status: Stable]
Selena let out a small breath of relief as the glow faded.
Her hands dropped back to her sides.
Lux looked down at his chest, then back up at her. "Can I put my shirt on now, or are we doing the full spa package?"
She rolled her eyes, heat rising to her cheeks. "Yes. You can get dressed."
He chuckled and reached for his shirt, slipping it back on. The tie followed. The suit jacket. Sharp lines reassembled like nothing happened. He leaned back against the bench, arms over the top, gaze tilted toward the soft, glowing do sky.
The mont stretched again.
Warm.
Quiet.
Almost normal.
"So," he said finally. "Now what?"
Selena didn’t answer right away. She just watched him. The way his shoulders dropped now. The ease returning to his expression. That little smile playing at the corner of his lips, half-guarded, half-exhausted.
It hit her harder than she expected.
He could’ve died in that fight.
And no one would’ve co for him.
Not from this realm.
Maybe not even from his own.
She blinked once. Exhaled.
"Now we report," she said softly. "You give the details. I send them to the right people. We follow protocol."
Lux sighed. "So... business talk."
"With a little heart," she added.
He turned his head, looked at her. The grin curled wider now, uneven and cocky.
"You softening on , Selena?"
She didn’t answer.
She just sat beside him.
And let the silence stretch a little longer.
The wind passed overhead—gentle and warm, carrying the soft hum of distant ward-songs. The crystalline pond nearby rippled with glowing fish-like sigils that flicked through the water without sound. For a mont, it felt like the rest of the realm had fallen away.
Just the two of them, sitting on a stone bench under the sky that didn’t quite accept him—but hadn’t cast him out either.
"Maybe," she said at last.
Lux blinked.
He sat upright a little, brow lifting. Not smugly. Not sarcastically. Just... surprised.
"...Huh," he said.
That wasn’t what he expected. Not from her. She didn’t bend her words unless they were carefully calculated. That "maybe" wasn’t careless—it was intentional.
"You’re not denying it," he said.
Selena didn’t look at him. She watched the pond instead, eyes reflecting the light with a kind of practiced calm.
"I didn’t say I’d confirm it either."
Lux tilted his head, amused and... curious. This wasn’t the usual back-and-forth they did. This was sothing quieter, sothing with edges he didn’t know the shape of yet.
"So, what—you like now?" he asked lightly.
"I didn’t say that."
"But you didn’t say no."
She exhaled softly. "You’re annoying."
Lux grinned. "That’s not an answer."
Selena finally looked at him. Her expression unreadable—firm, but with sothing softer just behind it. Sothing she wasn’t letting through.
He tried again, this ti quieter. "Why take care of yourself then? You could’ve just handed over."
She didn’t answer imdiately.
So Lux kept going. Testing, gently.
"You know... I thought you’d drag to Archon Vizreel. He’s the Guardian of Balance. Stoic, glowing, big wings, talks in riddles. Or maybe Celestria. And you will let her glare at ."
Selena raised an eyebrow. "She doesn’t glare at you."
"She does," Lux said. "And I respect that. But instead, you brought here. Alone. Healed yourself."
"I’m your escort," she said.
Lux smirked. "Not because you like ?"
She rolled her eyes, but her posture shifted slightly.
"That’s a sha," he added with a teasing sigh.
Selena looked back at the pond. "You keep asking questions like you want to say sothing."
"Do I?" Lux asked.
She glanced at him sideways. "Do you?"
He mirrored her gaze with a tilt of his head. "I an, you were blushing earlier."
"That was the light."
Lux laughed, low and amused. "Of course."
They sat like that for a few monts—half conversation, half silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, it was... strangely grounding.
But Lux wasn’t done poking.
"You’re not usually this gentle," he said, watching her from the corner of his eye. "Today’s more... hands-on."
"I’m doing my job."
"And?"
She shrugged. "And maybe I don’t want to see you crawl back into hell half-alive."
Lux nodded slowly, his smile flickering. "Now we’re getting sowhere."
She said nothing.
He leaned back again, letting his eyes drift up to the glowing do sky. "Y’know, I think I forgot what this place slls like."
Selena looked at him. "What?"
"Up here," he said. "The air’s always clean. Fresh. Purified. Like bottled serenity. Hell’s got texture to its air. Spice. Burnt coin. This place?" He inhaled. "Tastes like forgiveness."
She watched him. Quietly.
"And that’s weird, right?" he continued. "Because you all don’t really do forgiveness. You tolerate. You file paperwork. You monitor." He turned his head again. "But this place still slls like second chances."
Selena shifted. "You think we don’t give those?"
"I think so of you are trying," he said simply. "But you’re not used to soone like sticking around long enough to want one."
Selena didn’t reply.
Instead, she reached into the air with two fingers, summoned a glowing datasheet. A screen hovered midair, runes gently scrolling.
"Let’s report then," she said.
"Back to business?" Lux said, tone light.
"Yes."
He smiled.
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