Demonic Po*nstar System Chapter 751: Delusion

Mariana stirred awake at 5:47 AM. Precisely thirteen minutes ahead of her alarm.

Her gaze lifted to the ceiling in her quarters at the New Dawn guild hall, and for three seconds, all seemed ordinary. White ceiling, gray walls, the steady drone of the mana-controlled climate system. Then last night's events pieced back together fragment by fragment, turning that ceiling into a fixation worth staring at endlessly.

She rose from bed.

Shower. Teeth brushed. Hair blow-dried straight, secured neatly in regulation style. Foundation smoothed on with firm hands, since her hands remained firm, with no cause for them to shake. Concealer dabbed under her eyes where purple shadows lingered from a sleepless night without tears, as she had shed none.

She studied her reflection in the mirror.

The face staring back appeared calm. Professional. A trusted New Dawn operative in uniform, hair pinned back, features impassive. This was the woman who had served beneath Magnus Ashborn. Hand-selected by the guild leader from a destitute nation, granted numerous privileges and vast hopes for her path ahead.

She had never doubted if the leader she followed merited her loyalty, and she wouldn't begin doubting now.

"It’s a smear campaign," she informed her mirror image, voice soft yet resolute. "The man in the footage was a dupe, meticulously crafted to resemble him perfectly. And Vespera..." Her jaw clenched. "Vespera masterminded it all."

Her fingers gripped the sink's edge.

"A wife who deserts her husband in his darkest hour. Who plunders everything he created amid the assault. Who poisons his own children against him before filing for divorce like a cold deal."

Those words rang true. Firm. They embodied the reality, and reality ought to feel unshakeable.

The mirror woman's eyes showed red rims. Mariana disregarded them.

She departed her quarters, heading toward the guild leader’s wing.

The initial investigator emerged at the intersection of residential and operational halls. A woman in Association uniform, eyeing a tablet, who glanced up as Mariana went by then averted her gaze indifferently.

Mariana continued onward.

By the third hallway, four were present. Two in suits examining papers outside the strategy room. Two others inside, glimpsed through the doorway, sifting filing cabinets leisurely. They held full legal power and saw no need to hurry.

Mariana avoided looking their way.

Entering the administrative wing, the numbers swelled. Association staff at every doorway. The operations center stood ajar, consoles taken by outsiders extracting data and logging files. Coffee had been fetched by someone. Its aroma wafted through the corridor, everyday and cozy, as if this were routine work rather than a takeover.

Cassian’s voice hit her ears before she rounded the bend.

"That cabinet holds my personal files. You can’t just open it and start reading through it!"

Mariana slowed her pace. The Ashborn—no, Morvane twins stood in the hallway beyond the records room, still in yesterday’s outfits, both appearing unrested. Cassian’s arms crossed as he wedged his shoulder against the doorframe. Calix flanked him, copying the stance.

The Association officer facing them was a fortysomething woman with reading glasses and a tablet. She kept her eyes down.

"Section 14-C of the Awakened Regulatory Code grants the Association full access to guild records during an active investigation." She tapped her screen. "Including personal files of guild leadership and members."

"We know what the code says," Calix interjected. "But there are documents in there that contain classified operational data-"

"Then those will be flagged and handled by our secure review team." The woman hadn’t lifted her gaze. "Which is also covered under 14-C."

Cassian’s lips thinned into a line. He shot a look at his brother. Calix returned it. Two warriors honed to tackle issues with mana and brawn, stranded in a hallway where such skills meant nothing, outmatched by a woman wielding a tablet and a code citation.

"This is bullshit," Cassian grumbled.

The woman tapped her tablet. "Noted."

Mariana strode past without pausing. She lacked the stamina for it. The twins might bicker with officials until exhausted, yet it would alter nothing, for those in the building ignored reputations, battle feats, or monster slays by Cassian and Calix.

They valued code subsections. And they possessed plenty.

A novice investigator, fresh from training by his appearance, entered the hall with a pile of folders. Spotting Mariana’s approach, he stepped aside.

"Morning," he offered.

She went by silently.

The private hallway of the guild leader proved the most dreadful. Two Association agents armed to the teeth guarded the doorway. They recognized her immediately and permitted entry, though their gazes trailed her with cool professionalism.

Mariana halted right outside Magnus’s office door.

For an instant, she lingered there, adjusting her uniform and raising her chin high.

She rapped on the door.

The heavy wooden panel muffled the knock entirely. Quiet lingered—three seconds, then four, stretching to five.

"What?!" Magnus’s sharp voice sliced through the door. Exhaustion from a sleepless night laced his tone; she could tell.

Mariana’s throat tightened. She forced a swallow.

"Guild Leader, it’s Mariana." The words emerged softer than planned. Clearing her throat, she added, "I just wanted you to know... I’m here. Whatever you need. You can count on me, I’ll always be by your-"

"I don’t have time for this." His reply snapped out, clipped and furious. "Go hunt monsters or do whatever the fuck you want. Stop bothering me."

Silence.

Mariana’s hand hovered mid-air from the knock, lingering suspended for what felt like ages before dropping limply to her side.

All the poise she’d crafted before the mirror—the makeup, the neat hairstyle, the rehearsed lines—vanished in one shaky exhale. Her sight grew hazy as a single tear traced down her left cheek, unstoppable.

"I’m sorry for bothering you," she murmured to the unyielding door.

She pivoted and began to walk away.

Three steps. Four. The guards observed her slip past them wordlessly.

Suddenly, a roar tore through the hallway from behind.

"THEY DARE?!"

Something smashed apart. Thick glass slamming against a wall. Magnus’s bellow exploded once more, distant yet thunderous, the raw fury that had simmered deep inside him all night.

"THEY FUCKING DARE?!"

Mariana stiffened in place. She whipped her head back toward the office, eyes bulging, fresh tears glistening on her cheeks.

Further bangs echoed. Another heavy thud. The entrance guards shared a quick look but remained rooted.

"Is everything-" Mariana began.

"You should check the news." The younger agent delivered the line without glancing her way. His voice stayed casual, almost indifferent, as if he’d gotten the alert moments ago.

Mariana gaped at him. Her hand fumbled into her pocket, retrieving her phone. Trembling fingers unlocked the news app.

That headline dominated everything—every site, every app, every alert. The identical phrase flooded her screen, all while she’d waited pathetically at that door, desperate to help.

NEW GUILD REGISTERED: ECLIPSE

Below it, the subtitle.

ECLIPSE: KAIDEN GREY REGISTERS NEW GUILD WITH VESPERA ASHBORN AS REGENT

Mariana’s phone clattered to the floor, its screen cracking on impact.

In the office behind, Magnus’s screams raged on.