Demonic Po*nstar System Chapter 770: Final Day

The morning felt like a victory parade.

Kaiden moved through the Eclipse wing, his companions following in varying stages of preparedness. Every chamber he passed contained someone who paused their activities to offer him a genuine smile – the kind that reflected relief after studying the rankings.

They had essentially secured the rookie track. The lead Eclipse held over the second-place team was so substantial that commentators on the awakened news networks had ceased feigning suspense. Just one more day of dedicated effort, followed by a closing ceremony to make it official.

"Good luck today, Kaiden!"

Brittany sat in the lounge, her hair tied back in the practical knot she favored for administrative tasks. She raised her coffee cup in a salute as he went by. Trisha, beside her, was absorbed in a tablet, but she looked up briefly to give him a smile brimming with her gratitude.

He returned the smile and continued on, rounding the corner into the main atrium, where he almost collided with Vaelira.

The A-tier woman halted abruptly. She stared at him, her eyes widening, her lips parting to form a word that never emerged. "Something important..." Without even completing her excuse, she spun on her heel with the athletic fluidity unique to an A-tier and hurried away, going in the precise opposite direction of her original path.

Very briskly, indeed.

Kaiden watched her retreat, a silent grin playing on his lips.

'What a well-behaved young lady,' he thought. 'Though leaving like that was rather impolite... Still, it's a significant improvement in demeanor compared to that snarky fox who used to mock me.'

Kaiden shook his head and proceeded on his way.

...

The day's endeavors commenced in the same manner as the preceding week.

They ascended into the deeper ranges, Alice settling into her Conduit halo above Kaiden's head with a contented hum. By midday, they were slicing through the mountainside like a perfectly synchronized unit. A cluster of Boulderjaws was obliterated by a combined assault from Aria and Bastet, with Kaiden's greatsword finishing off the remnants. A pack of Glasswing Darters attempted to ambush them in a narrow ravine, but Nyx greeted the swarm with a deluge of boulders, while Luna unleashed several thousand volts of lightning.

A small and feeble Venomfang Stalker, a juvenile, darted from cover and tried to paralyze Calypso during their approach; she merely laughed at its sluggish attempt and buried her axe in its skull.

The kills accumulated, the points steadily climbed, and the stream chat scrolled by rapidly.

Kaiden monitored his notifications between encounters. Another level achieved. Another thirty stat points awarded.

By the time the sun reached its zenith, they had accumulated enough points to expand their lead beyond the point of contention. Aria descended gracefully from her perch on a ridge, the epitome of lethal beauty with her silver hair shimmering in the light. She wordlessly extended her hand towards Kaiden, her customary gesture when she desired a moment of comfort amidst the battles.

He took her hand and drew his lovely moon close.

Then, the shriek erupted.

It emanated from deeper within the range, from an indeterminate direction, reaching them first as a palpable pressure before manifesting as sound. A wave, imbued with a terrifying voice, swept across the mountains with such force that it vibrated Kaiden's skull and deafened him with a high-pitched whine.

Birds plummeted from the sky within an unseen radius. Somewhere below the ridge, a tree split audibly down its trunk and collapsed sideways.

Everyone on the ridge staggered. Calypso's ears began to bleed, Luna steadied herself against a planted Stormblade, and the rest of them reeled backward, hands clapped to their heads.

Then, the creatures reacted.

Every monster within sight turned simultaneously in the same direction, beginning to surge past them. The stragglers from the Boulderjaw pack thundered by in an unbroken line, heads bowed, eyes vacant. A pair of Mirecrawlers rapidly scaled a sheer cliff face. A distant silhouette, previously a Cragweaver on its web, detached itself from its own threads and began to gallop on eight legs towards the heart of the range as if summoned.

Kaiden slowly turned in a circle.

None of the stampeding creatures acknowledged Kaiden's group. A Boulderjaw passed so close that its flank scraped Luna's shoulder, yet it didn't even turn its head.

His hand instinctively moved to his communication artifact, only to find it inert. The runes were dark, the mana within the device depleted, and the crystal remained black when he tapped the interface.

"My comms are down," Nyx stated. Her voice sounded peculiar to him, muted and distant, and he realized his hearing was still impaired.

"Mine too."

"Same here."

"Master, the stream..."

He accessed his system interface. The broadcast indicator glowed red. That pulse, emanating from the screech, had not only disabled all signal artifacts on the mountain but also disrupted the Awakened Media Platform, a platform no human had ever managed to influence.

<Big brother.> Alice’s voice echoed. <This situation is extremely, extremely dire.>

"Indeed."

Subsequently, the horns blared.

These were Association horns, sounding from the direction of the evacuation beacons strategically placed at every checkpoint throughout the region.

A swift movement in the sky revealed an Association officer, speeding past their location. "Evacuate!" he boomed repeatedly, his voice amplified by a raw mana construct that carried across the entire area. "All combatants must evacuate immediately!"

Kaiden's expression turned grim.

The puzzle they had been investigating for weeks. From twenty distinct dungeons, all monsters were converging on this mountain range for an unfathomable reason. The competition itself was initiated because the Association aimed to uncover the root of this mysterious phenomenon, offering rewards as incentives for the guilds to cooperate.

Convergence. The depths of the range had been beckoning them.

Today, it was summoning them home.

"We are departing," he announced. The girls were already moving before his words concluded.

They pivoted towards the south.

For a fleeting moment, the mountain range fell silent. The evacuation horns ceased. The monsters had all passed by. The only audible sound was the wind whistling over the stones.

Then, the mountain itself stirred.