CHAPTER 109: TRAP

Chapter 109 – Trap

He couldn’t feel the ground beneath him. Couldn’t even feel the weight of gravity, yet he knew they were descending—or being pulled deeper.

And beside him—

Selena.

Still in his grip. Still close.

Her hand trembling faintly in his. Her body brushing his side in the fall, breaths shallow and uncertain.

This wasn’t a transport error.

This wasn’t a misfire.

This wasn’t ambient holy energy.

This was a trap.

A deliberate one.

Set mid-day. In the middle of a public park. In the heart of the Celestial Realm.

In broad daylight.

An assassination attempt.

Here.

Lux’s eyes narrowed. His mind raced. But there was no opening—no spell he could cast in this kind of displacement. No sigils. No teleportation. Not even spatial anchoring would hold in this kind of holy flux.

He knew how this worked.

This was a dimensional slip. A divine-layered cage that pretended to be warmth and silence and peace—but beneath it was judgment. The kind that stripped you bare and burned your soul for answers.

And the worst part?

Selena was dragged with him.

That—

Was not acceptable.

Lux didn’t say anything.

He didn’t curse. Didn’t panic.

He simply shifted—just slightly—and wrapped his arms around her. Mid-fall. Mid-light. Mid-unknown.

He held her close. Pressed against his chest. One hand on her back, firm and protective. One on her waist.

Selena flinched at first, surprised. But she didn’t pull away.

She couldn’t see his face—

But his jaw had clenched.

This wasn’t just a random act of divine curiosity.

This wasn’t a test of virtue.

This was personal.

And it wasn’t going to end the way they wanted.

He didn’t let go.

The light kept spinning. Soft, yet absolute. The kind of brightness that didn’t glare but smothered. No edges. No sound. No resistance.

Until—

Both of them moved.

Wings burst open.

Lux’s massive, obsidian-black demon wings tore out from his back with a crack of heat and shadow, disrupting the golden glow around them. Charred embers sparked from where his feathers brushed the void, like ink bleeding into sunlit paper.

Selena’s wings unfurled seconds later, pure white edged in gold. Six of them. Holy, beautiful, radiant in a way that only angels could be—wings made of light and discipline and song.

Their combined auras clashed. Shadow against brilliance. Sin against virtue.

And yet—

They moved together. Instinctively.

A pair.

They twisted mid-fall, angling their wings to catch any current, any foothold of magic, wind, resistance—anything that might stop the endless descent.

But nothing worked.

There was no air. No gravity. No sky. Just an invisible pull.

Something beneath them—somewhere beneath them—dragged like a divine vacuum. Or worse.

It sucked them.

Not like wind or a pit.

No—this was surgical. Intentional. A spatial command written into the light itself.

[You Have Been Transported]

[Location: Unknown – Celestial Realm Coordinates Not Registered]

[System Note: Dimensional Layer Appears Isolated. External Communication Disabled]

Lux clenched his jaw tighter. His wings flared wider.

Selena stayed close, her body trembled slightly in his arms. Not from fear. Not entirely.

But the light was shifting.

From above to below. From warmth to weight. The free-fall was ending.

Fast.

Lux moved first. Instinct. Combat-readied instinct.

He twisted midair, hooking one arm around Selena’s shoulders and the other behind her legs. Carried her bridal-style in a tight arc, pulling her into his chest as the world below began to form—ice, marble, snow, stone.

A surface.

Hard and fast and cold.

"Hold on," he muttered.

He angled his wings down, prepared to tank the entire impact himself—he could take a dozen divine spears to the back, but he wasn’t letting her hit first. That was the rule. His rule.

But—

-Fwoomp!

A soft burst of golden glow enveloped them both like a cushion. Lux blinked.

They didn’t crash.

They landed. Smooth. Controlled. Almost... gentle.

A holy barrier flickered once before dissolving like melted snow.

Lux glanced down.

Selena’s fingers were stretched toward the ground, glowing faintly. Her magic. Her barrier. She had deployed it just before impact. Probably mid-fall. Probably when he wasn’t paying attention.

"...You okay?" he asked, looking at her closely.

She didn’t answer.

Her mind had... blanked. Just short-circuited.

Not because of the fall.

Not because of the cold.

Not even because of the weird dimensional pocket they were in.

Nope.

It was because Lux Vaelthorn had just hugged her like a hero in a tragic drama.

Pressed her against his chest.

Shielded her with his body like some overprotective incubus knight.

She could feel his heartbeat—still steady. Still strong. Still that infuriating rhythm that made her face go hot.

He hadn’t even noticed what he’d done.

And now—he was still holding her.

Oh god.

Her face was red. She knew it was red.

And the way he looked at her? Not flirty. Not smug. Just... concerned. Honest.

Which made it worse.

"Sorry," Lux muttered, realizing it a second too late and pulling back. "That was—uh, I crossed the line. It was an emergency—"

"It’s fine," Selena cut in quickly. Too quickly.

Lux raised an eyebrow.

She turned away, brushing her dress down like that could hide the blush seared across her entire existence.

’Get it together, Selena,’ she screamed internally. ’You are in middle of emergency.’

But her heart wouldn’t slow down.

Not even a bit.

The air was cold. Unnaturally cold. Like snow inside a dream.

They stood in the middle of a vast, snowy courtyard. The snow wasn’t falling—it was floating. Suspended like tiny flecks of holy dust in the air, unmoving until you touched them. Then they vanished.

A few feet ahead: massive gates of an ancient temple.

Or rather... what used to be a holy temple.

Cracked marble columns twisted toward the sky like bones buried half in light. Vines of gold-threaded ivy crawled up their surfaces, long abandoned. The steps were wide, ceremonial. The whole structure looked like it had been yanked from time and dumped in a glacier.

Lux narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah... this feels like Limbo," he muttered. "The Celestial version. Or some upper-tier sub-pocket of judgment. Either way—real cozy hospitality."