Demonic Po*nstar System Chapter 779: New Upgrades

Scarlet briefly captured Kaiden’s attention.

She remained positioned against the corridor's wall, a Nightclaw resting on her shoulder as if it were a luxurious wrap, while another serpentined around her ankles with unhurried curiosity. Her gaze surveyed the pack with the same placid indifference she displayed towards all surroundings. A visitor had entered his dungeon, and now she was poised to move beyond the Safe Zone, past both corridors, venturing into the Verdant Expanse and the grand cathedral at its core. He had never permitted any outsider such deep access. The intimate knowledge of this place was precisely the kind of information a determined adversary could exploit to formulate a siege strategy.

His gaze then met Vespera's.

She met his eyes directly, her demeanor calm and unperturbed. She herself had escorted Scarlet into his dungeon and had offered no subsequent requests regarding her security. This was all the assurance he required. Vespera was not prone to security oversights.

He let the matter rest without a word spoken.

“Let’s go!” Nyx was already grasping Scarlet’s wrist, guiding her further into the dungeon's depths.

Before long, the spectacle unfolded once more within the abyssal palace walls, the formidable Flame Monarch being enthusiastically led from one chamber to another by an exuberant Space Valkyrie.

Scarlet passively allowed herself to be guided for the second time within a mere ten minutes, as Nyx spoke at a remarkably rapid pace. “The cathedral is the central point, but the outer walls are a must-see; rumor has it Cali herself designed those lava flows, and the throne is actually constructed from bones, and oh my goodness, we absolutely must locate Melty at some point…”

Scarlet followed this impromptu tour, responding with a subtle smile and brief murmurs of acknowledgment.

Kaiden observed his magnificent space companion enthusiastically guiding the legendary Flame Monarch, pulling her by the sleeve and rattling off details about every nook and cranny of the palace. A faint smile touched his lips.

Then, the interface pulsed against his senses, drawing his focus back to it.

Mid-Tier.

A distinctive chime resonated through Kaiden’s mind just as he was about to access the system menus.

[Mid-Tier Ascension Complete. Dungeon compliance with new operational parameters is under review.]

[Creation Mode: Enabled. Cooldown period reset. Editing permissions restored for all previously finalized terrain.]

[Notice: Tier-restricted rules necessitate adjustments before Mid-Tier advantages can be accessed.]

[Minimum corridor dimensions have been elevated. The current corridor (3m x 3m) falls below the Mid-Tier threshold of 8m width x 10m height.]

[All Mid-Tier benefits remain locked until compliance is achieved.]

Kaiden read the notification twice.

‘Ugh.’

His thumb rhythmically tapped the armrest.

The rule, though irritating, was logical. He detested admitting it, but the reasoning behind it was sound.

The system had always enforced such balance. Dungeons were required to maintain at least two accessible paths. A Dungeon Master couldn't simply seal themselves off and dare intruders to find them. The privilege of ownership came with inherent responsibilities.

If achieving Mid-Tier meant facing monsters capable of overwhelming his current defenses, it was only fair that he be required to provide the opposition with adequate space to maneuver. Otherwise, the dungeon’s expansion would devolve into an even more brutal meat grinder, funneling invaders into a single-file slaughter.

The notification pulsed once more. Below the compliance requirement, a new option had appeared.

[Automatically Apply Minimum Tier Compliance? (Free)]

[Upon confirmation: the Abyssal Corridor and Magma Spiral will be expanded to meet Mid-Tier minimum requirements. Existing layouts, trap placements, and ambush chambers will be retained where feasible, with proportional adjustments made. Creation Mode access will remain available for further customization.]

This offered a complimentary, one-click solution for the expansive renovation, saving him the tedious task of manually pushing walls outward in Creation Mode for the next hour.

He mentally selected the button, accepting the proposed upgrade.

The dungeon responded instantaneously.

Kaiden activated the scrying view, and the cathedral's illumination around him dimmed. His consciousness descended with the system into the Abyssal Corridor, which was now actively transforming.

Stone flowed and shifted. Walls receded like a tide drawing away from the shore, while ceilings ascended as though the rock above had decided to defy gravity. The constricting passages he had engineered to permit a maximum of two armored combatants at a time now expanded into broad thoroughfares, wide enough for six or seven to advance abreast. The height increased sufficiently for a horse-sized aerial creature to gain altitude and execute a dive-bomb attack.

The ambush chambers, once confined caves, swelled into spacious rooms, their original shapes maintained but their scale tripled. The trap arrays embedded along the floors broadened without altering their positioning. The perches for the Nightclaws, situated along the upper crevices, retreated further into newly formed darkness, allowing the pack to resettle without issue.

The overall structure remained the same, yet it had transformed into a passageway through which a mountain’s entire army could march without being funneled into single file.

He adjusted his viewing perspective.

The spiraling magma followed suit. The corridor's walls stretched outward, causing the magma pool below to expand. However, the concealed passage Kaiden had engineered for Melty and her sisters remained intact, and the slime-coated stepping stones, though larger, retained their trap-like functionality.

The final chime sounded moments later.

[Compliance Achieved. All Mid-Tier benefits unlocked.]

[Creature upgrades available.]

[New Defenses Unlocked.]

[Master’s Domain: Available for configuration.]

[Structural purchases unlocked.]

A grin spread across Kaiden's face as he eagerly anticipated the details of these new features, pulling up the main interface.

[Dungeon ID: #A23-6679]

[Tier: Mid]

[Rank: 4]

[Dungeon Master: Kaiden Grey]

[Available DMP: 18,100]

Noting the DMP total, he navigated to the Creatures tab.

[Current Roster]

[Abyssal Maulfiend ×40]

— 24 at Lvl 99

— 16 at Lvl 40-60

[Abyssal Nightclaw ×50]

— 20 at Lvl 99

— 30 at Lvl 40-90

[Abyssal Salamawyrm ×6]

— 6 at Lvl 99

Calypso peered over his shoulder, her horn nearly grazing his ear, to read the roster. "So. What forces do we have at our disposal?"

Kaiden scrolled into the Maulfiend's details. The twenty newly acquired units accounted for the majority of the max-level creatures. The remaining twenty were older, summoned upon inheriting the dungeon to guard the choke points within the Abyssal Zone, where the narrow corridors funneled invaders into a single-file kill zone. Back then, DMP was scarce, making resource management a critical challenge. He had maxed out a few units and allocated the rest across whatever levels he could afford at the time. These were adequate for human raiders advancing two abreast into a kill zone, but insufficient for the formidable opponents the Claimant would undoubtedly deploy. The Nightclaw statistics were more varied. As they operated as a swarm, Kaiden reasoned that a mix of powerful and weaker units made sense, given their reliance on numbers rather than individual might. The Salamawyrms presented a clearer picture, with all six being max-level. As they were solely responsible for defending a single path, Kaiden felt uncomfortable compromising their strength, especially if an invader possessed the ability to withstand the magma environment. He returned to the main view and selected one of the Level 99 Maulfiends. Beneath the standard upgrade slider, a new option appeared. [Evolution Available] [This creature has reached the previous tier’s maximum threshold. Mid-Tier access permits evolution into specialized variants. Evolution is permanent. Once selected, the unit cannot be rolled back to base form.] [Evolution paths: 3 available. Select entry to view.] Kaiden’s pulse quickened involuntarily. Branching paths—the same Maulfiend could transform into three distinct monsters, depending on his chosen direction. Kaiden selected the first entry. [Evolution Path 1 of 3 — Monolith]