Demonic Po*nstar System Chapter 794: Counter Strategy

The girls around him had already grasped the item. Aria’s grip tightened momentarily on his before releasing. Luna’s smile widened. The rest of the group chimed in with similar excitement a moment later.

Scarlet’s lower lip protruded.

"That’s the second time today! You know I can’t stand holding back!"

Her red-gold lance flared with heat in her palm, but a single glance from Vespera quickly extinguished the glow.

Across the vast expanse of the Cavern, the initial scavenger had scurried halfway towards their formation, its four eyes keenly observing the closing distance before it let out a piercing shriek.

The sound, a bizarre mix of a screech and a bell’s clang, erupted from its hooked mouthparts, and the entire assembled Safe Zone swarm responded in unison.

A hundred throats unleashed a layered chorus that echoed off the cavern walls. Wings, once folded flat against their bodies, snapped open from flanks, backs, and spines. These were thin membranes on the scavengers, ragged bat-like expanses on the striders, and coiled, feathered collars flared wide from the serpents’ hoods. Half the swarm ascended from the ground on their initial wingbeats.

The other half charged forward.

Kaiden’s Monolith rank adjusted their stance, Quakelords hefting their massive mauls onto their shoulders. Further back, the Skyfiends launched themselves from their perches, wings spread wide, while Gorefiends emerged from the ceiling, and Nightshrouds began to spread darkness through the upper reaches of the corridor.

Kaiden raised a hand.

"Step back, everyone. We’ve got this under control. Use this opportunity to study the enemy." Indeed, his summoned creatures possessed remarkable intelligence. Abyssal entities, particularly his newly enhanced ones, were capable of observation and independent thought.

The Monoliths halted their advance, and the Quakelords lowered their mauls. Overhead, the Skyfiends returned to their perches, the Gorefiends retreated back into ceiling crevices, and the Nightshrouds drew their darkness back into themselves. His summoned ranks maintained their positions, awaiting further orders.

Every individual in the formation turned their gaze towards the approaching horde, and the process of observation commenced. The Monoliths lowered their horns, bracing for the ground assault, while the Gorefiends’ jaws gaped behind ceiling cover, their curved teeth assessing the angles of the aerial attackers.

His formation was imprinting the Claimant’s initial wave into their memory with the composed focus of predators poised to eliminate any trespassing intruders in their domain.

Kaiden stepped forward.

His women followed him closely.

Aria positioned herself to his right, moonlight already coalescing between her fingers.

Luna stood to his left, her Stormblade crackling with crimson lightning.

Bastet was half a step behind his right shoulder, her bare feet planted on the abyssal stone, her golden eyes fixed on the swarm with the same sadistic grin.

Calypso stood behind her, wielding her axe with both hands, waves of orange heat radiating from her crimson skin.

Nyx was a step further back, a coral-pink haze flowing along her fingers.

Alice’s halo intensified its golden glow above his head, brightening by another notch.

Seven figures stood resolute against the encroaching horde.

The Paragon of Sin occupied the center, flanked by his six Sin-infused champions, each wielding a Sin Fusion previously unseen by the world.

The horde charged onward.

Kaiden’s formation retreated slightly, opting not to meet the onslaught head-on.

The first wave of the horde breached the Safe Zone boundary at full velocity, entering a clear expanse of the Cavern with no immediate resistance. Twenty meters of bare abyssal stone stretched before them. Thirty meters. The ground assault accelerated into the space deliberately left vacant by the defenders, while the aerial units dispersed into the sky above. The horde plunged deeper into the Cavern before any contact was made.

At the forty-meter mark, their line shifted.

"How dare you attempt to invade my Kaiden's sanctuary..."

Aria was the first to ascend. Her moonlight gathered beneath her boots, lifting her silently into the path of the aerial wedge, her silver hair flowing behind her as her Sovereignty-violet irises ignited. A dozen silver crescents materialized around her at her altitude, suspended motionlessly with their edges angled outwards.

Her voice transformed, shifting from serene to sharp and full of animosity.

"Perish, you wretched mongrels." The judgment had been rendered.

The vanguard of the aerial wedge impaled themselves on the waiting blades, their momentum driving the rank behind them onto the same sharp points. What had been launched as a cohesive wedge shattered against a grid formation meticulously established by the Sovereignty fusion in the airspace.

Luna had already vanished by this point.

"Look at the sadist charging in! We can’t let her have all the glory!" she exclaimed with a laugh, throwing herself into the thick of the fray. She became a crimson blur, first through the ground assault and then through the aerial column, a crackle of lightning marking her position each time she reappeared.

Each swing of her Stormblade detonated on impact, producing a sound the Cavern had never before witnessed. Striders and scavengers were torn asunder in her wake, and a flier plummeted mid-flight, crashing onto the attackers below. The fusion had amplified every strike into an act of devastation.

Instantly, a beam of golden light shot upwards from the halo crowning Kaiden's head, slicing through the remnants of the flier squadron. Fifteen meters of wings and bodies were obliterated by the Radiant Sovereignty beam, its deep violet undertone proving more potent than Alice's own earlier efforts.

"Time to farm levels and protect our home, Besties~"

Nyx manipulated space, closing in on the stragglers. Her coral-colored mist enveloped four fliers simultaneously, compressing them. The Spatial Drain fusion simultaneously siphoned their mana, causing her own meters to rise as the four unfortunate creatures crumbled.

"Ah... I can finally inflict damage directly on monsters?" Her cheeks flushed, her breath quickening. "This is incredible!"

Bastet remained unmoving, rooted to her spot. A slow, radial pattern of cracks spread from her ankles across the cavern floor. Any serpent that dared to cross her established perimeter found itself crushed beneath an immense pressure, a weight the Divine Dominion fusion exerted without release. The stone groaned under the strain.

"Ahahah! After enduring all those agonizing hours of waiting, the real fun is about to begin!"

Calypso let out a single laugh before plunging into the densest cluster of the ground surge. Before her axe could even complete its swing, the first strider sliced across her ribs. The wound began to mend, smoking slightly, and the strider's subsequent attack faltered mid-swing. Carnage Feast had claimed its initial victim. A heartbeat later, she brought her axe down upon the creature's skull, already benefiting from the buff gained from her second kill.

With a single, clean pull, Kaiden's greatsword emerged from the blood coating his right forearm. Its promised weight settled comfortably into his grip, exactly as the stat window had indicated.

The enhanced numerical values had become integrated into his very bones, and these reinforced bones were now performing as their amplified statistical potential dictated. The first strider in his path lunged forward in a two-legged charge that would have compelled his pre-fusion self to brace for impact.

His greatsword swept in a single arc, bisecting the strider from its left shoulder to its right hip. Neither the arc nor the swing required any noticeable effort from him.

The severed halves landed on either side of his boots as his momentum carried him into the next engagement.

'Huh.'

The calculations presented in the stat window had been an understatement.

'Defending my home with my girls at my side, XP numbers pouring in, the stream going wild... If this isn't truly living, then what is?' he mused as he swung his sword, unleashing a titanic shockwave from the blade's path.