Demonic Po*nstar System Chapter 772: Usurper

Vespera Ashborn was a considerable distance away, traversing the administrative wing of the Eclipse guild hall, when the event transpired. Suddenly, every communication artifact within the building went dark, their runes simultaneously draining of power. Although she couldn't pinpoint Kaiden's exact location due to the chaotic interference, she possessed an intuitive sense of his general direction.

Before she could consciously summon it, the ambient darkness within the hallway responded. It detached itself from the walls, corners, and the spaces beneath furniture, coalescing at her feet before ascending her legs. Soon, she was enveloped in a cocoon that absorbed both light and sound. The astonished faces of Eclipse staff members bore witness as their guildmaster vanished into the night.

The resulting shadow elongated, transforming into a pathway that seemed to tear through the fabric of space itself, and Vespera stepped into its passage. The outside world dissolved into a blur of motion, a velocity so extreme it would have been fatal to anyone lacking a Vitality stat below 250.

She traversed miles in a single breath.

As she made her journey, the colossal mountain lunged. Its four legs, resembling mighty peaks, drove forward with earth-shattering force, cracking the ground beneath them. Its summit-like head dropped towards the ridge where Kaiden stood, six pupils converging faster than any creature of its immense size should be capable of moving.

Then, an eruption of darkness blazed between them. Vespera materialized in the air above her son, her hand already outstretched. A forceful wave of shadow slammed into the colossal monster's descending limbs, while simultaneously, tendrils ensnared Kaiden's team, yanking them backward across the stony terrain. This provided crucial distance and invaluable time.

The shadow impacted the monstrous entity, yet produced no discernible effect. What followed was akin to water splashing against a cliff face; the darkness dispersed, scattered, and failed to find any purchase on the enormous mass.

And the mountain let out a howl.

The sound struck Vespera at point-blank range. Her shadows lost their coherence as her eardrums ruptured, and blood began to stream from her nose and ears. The sheer pressure wave threatened to pulverize everything on the ridge into dust.

Despite the onslaught, she did not falter. Her hands moved through intricate patterns, drawing upon reserves that would have depleted a lesser mage in mere seconds. The tendrils she had wrapped around her son's team solidified into barriers denser than steel. The crushing pressure wave collided with these defenses and shattered. The girls stumbled but remained intact. Her son, too, remained unharmed.

However, while she successfully protected them from the concussive force of the howl, Vespera bore its brunt upon her own body, and she bled.

For a single, suspended moment, the scene remained frozen: a mother positioned between her son and a god, blood coursing down her face, her stance already shifting into the initiating posture of a counterattack. Behind her, the individuals she had protected were recovering from a blow that should have been fatal. Above them all, a creature whose scale was measured in kilometers scraped its crown against a sky of the wrong hue.

Then, the creature took a step back. The movement was slow and deliberate. It retracted its head from its position above the ridge, lowering its colossal form. All four legs folded beneath its immense mass until its chin rested upon the stone, bringing its six eyes as level with the humans as physically possible.

It fixed its gaze directly upon Kaiden, and him alone.

The Paragon of Sin met its stare. He could feel his mother drawing him away, her shadows coiling around his limbs, tugging him towards safety. His companions' voices, though muffled by the ringing in his ears, reached him, and Alice's presence flickered urgently above his head.

Yet, his eyes remained locked onto those six immense pupils. What he perceived within them was not mere destruction, nor the unfocused instinct of a beast acting according to its nature. Instead, he recognized something akin to acknowledgment, and beneath that, a clear challenge.

The monster's mouth slowly parted. The fissure, from which monsters had previously poured, widened further. From the depths of that impossible throat emerged a new sound, low and guttural, directed at the ridge with the force of a cannon.

The sound assaulted them as raw force. Kaiden's feet lifted from the ground. His team members scattered around him like fallen leaves, and Nyx's spatial manipulation struck him simultaneously with his mother's shadows—two desperate forces working in unison to prevent them from being flung into the heavens.

And through it all, Kaiden's vision was flooded with text.

[USURPER-CLASS THREAT DETECTED]

[The Claimant has challenged your authority as Dungeon Master.]

[You must defend your domain or surrender it willingly.]

[Warning: a defeated Dungeon Master does not get to retire peacefully. A defeated Dungeon Master becomes property of the new sovereign, bound to serve until released or destroyed.]

[The Claimant has extended a courtesy!]

[You have been granted 12 hours to prepare your defense.]

The text windows stacked upon each other, flashing with urgency.

Then, the Claimant rose. Its four legs straightened, and its crown ascended beyond the clouds. The six eyes shifted away from Kaiden's face, turning towards the sky. Its mouth opened wider, and the howl it released this time was aimed directly at the heavens, rolling across the range like an irrefutable declaration.

Then, it leaped.

The sheer force of its departure was far more devastating than any attack it had launched. The very earth groaned under the strain. A concussive wave of displaced air flattened every tree for kilometers around. The ground where it had stood crumbled inward, an entire section of the mountainside collapsing into a sinkhole of immense proportions, sending debris skyward in a plume that obscured the sun entirely.

And the Claimant ascended, soaring beyond the horizon, past the highest reaches of the sky, much like a warhead with an unknown destination.

However, the monstrous entities it had birthed did not follow. They remained, all of them. Thousands, tens of thousands, winged and twisted and ravenous, they descended upon the landscape where human competitors and Association officers alike stood utterly paralyzed by the spectacle they had just witnessed.

The terrified screams began.

...

Kaiden managed to regain his footing.

A maelstrom of chaos surrounded him—dust, flying debris, and the distant din of battle erupting across the terrain. His companions were slowly getting back on their feet, their voices, strained and concerned for each other, were indistinguishable through the ringing in his ears. Aria was kneeling beside his mother, her silver hair dusted with debris, her hands remarkably gentle as she helped Vespera tend to a bleeding nose. Even the Shadow Monarch permitted the assistance, her gaze fixed on the sky where the Claimant had vanished and where the monstrous horde was now descending, yet she remained still while Aria tended to Vespera.

Behind them, Calypso’s boisterous laughter echoed across the ridge, a boisterous, almost manic expression of relief from a demoness who had just narrowly escaped an unfathomable ordeal. The rest of his companions clung to each other, drawing shaky breaths.

Kaiden’s gaze remained fixed on the horizon where the Claimant had disappeared, a slight, wry smile touching the corner of his lips.

"What the fuck..."