Demonic Po*nstar System Chapter 1068: Military Powerhouse

"Agreed," the Moon Valkyrie said.

"..."

"With Eclipse behind these monsters..." the shrine maiden continued, then stopped to study the order again. "No. Even without Eclipse. These creatures alone... Kaiden, you have the ability to put together the strongest military force in the world."

Her voice had grown soft with awe. The woman who had welcomed him to Japan as the head of its great Circle was staring at a purchase he could make without leaving his seat, and Kaiden felt his chest swell with pride.

He had known the creatures were powerful. Hearing her struggle to describe what they meant made him want to see every last one standing before him.

Nyx came closer, her attention moving between the flying formations and the heavy troops.

"We could leave enough to protect home and still take an army wherever we needed it," she said. "Kai... We could send them ahead of us. Have them there already when we arrive."

"Exactly." His smirk widened. "Or come home knowing someone’s going to have a very hard time following us."

Alexandra looked back at the creature he had enlarged. Her fingers loosened against the dais as she imagined those immense bodies standing between their home and anyone trying to reach it.

"I’d like that," she said quietly.

Yunohana folded her fan against her palm, still watching the formations turn. Kaiden gave her a moment to take them in before opening the last species on his list.

"Eight more for the magma regions," he said.

Her eyes followed his hand back to the catalog.

"You’re still choosing?"

"I wanted a few more of those too."

Four Dreadwyrms, three Magmashapers, and a Pyremother joined the queue, each purchased at the same maximum level. The brood queen’s preview filled with the lesser serpents she could produce, and Luna made an approving noise beside his ear.

Every one of these creatures would belong to him. They would defend the people standing around his throne, answer when he called, and follow him through either gate if he wanted an army on Earth.

The thought sent a fierce thrill through his chest.

He had spent so long rushing toward whatever threatened his family, trusting that he and his women could reach it in time. Now he was buying enough strength to make an approaching army discover that it had come to the wrong fucking house.

[Purchase total: 180,000 DMP.]

[Deploy to existing defensive assignments?]

"Yes."

The throne vibrated beneath him.

Far beyond the palace, a roar rolled through the Cavern. Another answered from the depths, carrying up through the stone until the molten channels along the walls quivered with it.

Kaiden felt the new creatures arrive through his bond to the domain.

Heavy presences struck the defensive line in groups, Monoliths planting their feet while Quakelords lifted their weapons beside them. In the live deployment windows, basalt mauls rose above broad shoulders, each head large enough to smash an armored vehicle flat.

Then the wings came.

Gorefiends dropped from gathering light with their talons spread, screaming as they caught the air. Behind them, Nightshrouds opened their mouths and swallowed the glow around the arrival points, leaving scores of burning eyes suspended in blackness.

The shrieks reached the palace a moment later.

"Holy shit," Luna breathed.

Across another window, magma heaved around the new Dreadwyrms. One thrust its head above the surface and roared, molten stone streaming from its jaws while the channel surged against its banks.

Calypso had both hands on the throne now, leaning over him with an expression of delighted disbelief.

"Darling, look at them!"

He was looking.

With Aria’s hand warm on his shoulder and his new creatures roaring through the windows, Kaiden felt an ambition grow so large that he had to laugh.

He wanted the greatest army on Earth.

He wanted to open his gates and have the world watch his forces march out until everyone who had ever considered coming for his family understood how badly they had misjudged him.

And he still had 336,120 points left.

Yunohana watched him from beside the dais, her fan forgotten against her dress.

"Kaiden... How many more could you buy?"

His smirk returned as he turned toward her.

"About twice as many."

"Oh dear."

A chime sounded over the last of the roars.

Kaiden opened the notification immediately, already eager to see what the next rank would give him.

[Rank 5 military requirement fulfilled.]

[Ascension suspended.]

[Insufficient domain area. Minimum requirement: 20 km2.]

His smile remained in place for another second.

"Area?"

The interface offered to open the tactical map.

Kaiden accepted.

His dungeon rose above the dais in miniature, the old defensive routes curling around each other before meeting the green of the Verdant Expanse. Creature markers covered the Cavern’s chokehold so densely that he couldn’t see the floor beneath them.

He enlarged that section.

A Monolith stood wedged sideways between two others, trying to turn without putting its maul through a Gunner’s head. Behind them, a Quakelord had planted one foot on a crouching companion’s back and was climbing over it to reach the position Kaiden had assigned.

There were monsters underneath that one too.

Above the crush, Gorefiends clung to every available perch. A Skyfiend attempted to fold its wings between two of them, received an offended shriek directly into its ear, and shuffled onto the back of a second Skyfiend.

The second one sank beneath the weight until its talons rested on a Monolith’s horns.

Nobody looked pleased.

Kaiden moved the view to the next defensive station.

More bodies. More wings. A Basalt Gunner’s face pressed into the plated backside of a creature twice its width, while the Nightshroud sitting on its head tried to climb onto something taller.

He had sent the new army to reinforce positions already occupied by the old one.

"...Fuck."

Luna folded over the throne’s armrest, laughing.

"Kai! What the fuck did you do to them? You’re organizing one heck of a freaky monster orgy!"

"I told them to reinforce the positions. I didn’t realize..."

On the projection, the buried Gunner finally worked its head free and looked up, directly into a hanging pair of talons.

Luna tried to say something, but another helpless laugh escaped instead. She pointed at the creature while Kaiden watched it struggle to turn its head.

"Haaah. Yes, I should have checked first."

"They’re still trying to follow your instructions," Nyx said, smiling despite herself. "Could you give them somewhere else to go?"

"On it."

Aria stroked his hair, her shoulders shaking against his arm.

"Kai... I feel bad for them. Let’s not be too sparing."

The Moon Valkyrie knew her lover well enough. He’d rather buy more monsters than land. But she considered it her duty to ensure her man was treating the adorable minions who protected her family day in and day out properly.

"Yeah." Kaiden closed the live view before the Gunner could suffer another indignity.

Twenty square kilometres for Rank Five.

His original dungeon had been eight. The conquered cavern had added some ground, but most of the beautiful new arrival points belonged to defensive stations designed around a much smaller force.

He had enough points to remedy that.

Kaiden opened the landscape catalog beside the map, and his irritation gave way to interest as he began moving the previews around.

"Alright. Let’s give them some room."