Harem Startup : The Demon Billionaire is on Vacation-Chapter 153: The Hypocrisy

Chapter 153 – The Hypocrisy

Lux could already see the familiar penthouse lights gleaming at the top like a lighthouse beacon guiding ships into the devil’s arms. Almost there.

Corvus flapped lazily beside him, barely working his wings as he glided on a current of stolen shadows. The raven looked far too casual for a bird that once gnawed on divine contracts for breakfast.

’You know,’ Corvus said, voice echoing through Lux’s thoughts, ’that’s what I hate about the Upper Realm. The hypocrisy.’

Lux didn’t respond.

Corvus continued anyway, like he always did.

’I mean, I always thought the ones that wanted your head were the usual suspects. You know. Fire pits. Dagger-stained backrooms. Downstairs nonsense. But lately?’

Lux chuckled. Bitter. Rough.

"That shit," he muttered. "Turns out I’m more controversial upstairs than in Hell."

Corvus scoffed. ’At least down there, they stab you in the front. The Upper Realm? They write a poem about your execution and call it balance.’

The raven was mid-rant when it happened.

System notification.

It shimmered in faint blue across the inside of Lux’s helmet. Cold. Clinical.

[WARNING: Anomaly approaching.]

[Scanning...]

[Signature Identified.]

[Affinity: DEMONIC.]

[Threat Level: Class Unknown.]

Lux’s eyes narrowed.

"Oh no..." he murmured.

Then the sky cracked.

Darkness spread like ink spilled across glass. Silent. Swallowing. It rolled in from nowhere—no wind, no warning. Just a dome of shadow erupting around him, devouring every streetlight in a heartbeat. The world dimmed to gray.

Everything went quiet.

Like time itself had exhaled and pressed pause.

Lux slowed the bike to a crawl, then braked gently—boot pressing into the pavement with a subtle hiss. He flipped up his visor and took a breath. Air still existed. Just barely.

Corvus landed on the handlebars, feathers ruffled. His voice was lower now. Tense.

"Uh-oh..."

"Yeah," Lux muttered. "I feel it too."

He scanned the shifting veil around them. The world was still, but it wasn’t peaceful. It was the stillness of a loaded crossbow.

Lux huffed. Cold breath in warmer night air. "System."

[Awaiting command.]

"Investigate the source. And the sin affinity."

[Investigating source of anomaly...]

[Tracing sin signature...]

He waited.

But the system didn’t finish.

Because that’s when the wolves came.

First one.

Then three.

Then a dozen.

Dark. Shifting. Twitching shadows with glowing eyes and half-real bodies. Shadow Wolves. Mid-tier demonic summons. Good for fear. Great for intimidation. Absolute trash for killing someone like him.

Lux’s brows furrowed. "Really? That’s the best they’ve got?"

The wolves didn’t answer.

They snarled and charged.

Lux twisted his wrist and activated the summoning mark carved into the back of his hand.

"Summon."

A pulse of red-black light flared from his palm and struck the ground.

The shadows reacted immediately—pulling inward, warping, bending—and then split open like stitched night.

Something crawled out.

No—not something.

Him.

The three-headed beast emerged like a secret finally said out loud. Black fur that shimmered like wet oil, glowing crimson lines etched across each head’s jaw. Each one had different eyes. One glowed silver. One glowed violet. One glowed gold—and burned like judgment.

[You have summoned: GRAEVOS, The Maw of Regret]

[Rank: Apex Familiar]

[Affinity: Shadow / Rage / Loyalty]

[Status: Hungry. Waiting.]

Lux cracked his neck.

"Kill them."

Graevos didn’t howl.

Didn’t roar.

It simply moved.

A blur of mass and shadow slammed into the first wave of wolves, tearing through their smoky bodies like paper soaked in blood. One head bit, another one clawed, and the third one—Lux swore—laughed.

It was a massacre.

Lux watched with mild disinterest as his summon did what he did best. Clean up other people’s failed ideas.

He dismounted slowly, hands still wrapped in gloves. He walked calmly, stepping over a bisected wolf that tried to reform mid-air but dissolved with a final hiss.

Corvus adjusted his perch on Lux’s shoulder, voice grim.

"That wasn’t an assassination attempt. That was a message."

Lux nodded. "Amateurs."

"But amateurs with access. To forbidden summoning layers."

"I noticed."

Graevos finished the last wolf with a crunch.

The shadow dome trembled.

Began to retract—slowly—as if realizing it no longer had a purpose.

Lux tilted his head. "System. Resume scan."

[Tracing sin affinity...]

[... ...]

[PRIMARY TRACE: ENVY]

[SECONDARY TRACE: GLUTTONY]

[Origin: Obscured.]

[Possibility: Proxy-based summoning.]

[Danger Rating: Escalating.]

[Recommend caution.]

Lux narrowed his eyes. "Envy and Gluttony... huh. Lovely."

Corvus clicked his beak. "A jealous glutton. Sounds like one of your exes."

Lux didn’t answer.

His gaze turned toward the end of the street—toward the line where shadow met citylight. He could feel something watching. Waiting. Not present. Not fully.

But close.

Close enough to plan. Close enough to taunt him.

"They wanted me to know," Lux said quietly.

"Yeah. They wanted you to see the signature. Knew you’d scan it. Smart."

"Or cocky."

Corvus sighed. "Is there a difference?"

Lux didn’t know. Not anymore.

He glanced back at the dark three-headed beast now sitting calmly like a loyal dog carved from hell.

His fingers curled into a fist.

"Mark it," he said.

[Enemy profile saved. Target behavior logged. Sin signature mapped.]

"Next time," Lux said, voice low and cold, "I’m sending more than a familiar."

And he meant it.

Graevos stood beside him, panting steam into the air like a dragon on a leash, blood mist clinging to his middle jaw. Then it disappeared like a shadow.

Lux exhaled and flexed his hand once. His fingers buzzed with demonic power. Not from exhaustion—no, he hadn’t even started. But something in the air felt unfinished. Like the main course hadn’t been served.

[New Notification – URGENT]

A crimson flash pulsed across his visor. It wasn’t the usual soft blue. This one came red. Deep, urgent red.

[DANGER: High-level demonic anomaly within combat radius.]

[Calculating distance... 7 meters.]

[Rear trajectory. High-velocity attack inbound.]

Lux felt it before the warning even finished.

Pressure. Behind him. Sharp, fast. Like the air had grown teeth.

He didn’t turn.

He didn’t flinch.

"Barrier," he whispered.

A pulse of energy erupted around him in an instant—clean, gold-etched, shimmering like molten obsidian. The impact hit his back like a thunderclap—crackling against the shield with a sound like glass snapping under water pressure—and dissolved. Harmless. Ineffective.

Lux let the barrier fizzle out with a breath.

Then, slowly, he turned around.