Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 261

Chapter 261: Rapid Progression

As soon as the last drop of cursed blood from the constructs hit the stone floor, the party moved forward. Just one step.

*Grrrrrgle.*

All ten of them froze.

Then, again.

*GRRRRRRGGGL.*

Kaiden, Aria, Luna, Nyx, Bastet, Leon, Jack, Sasha, Diaz, and Vaelira all looked at each other because a strange chorus of synchronized, inhumanly perfect stomach growls echoed through the corridor.

"Okay... That’s not natural..." Nyx muttered.

"Yeah... The chances of all of our stomachs growling at the same time are basically zero, especially considering we ate recently..." Kaiden agreed.

As if to confirm their assumptions, that was the exact moment when a ding rang through their heads. All at once, a system notification materialized in front of their mind’s eyes.

You have been afflicted with [Curse of Devouring Dominion].

—The Heart is hungry. All who tread its halls are to feed it.

—Hunger will grow as you move further toward the Heart, or use mana.

"That’s just fucking fantastic... We really needed a hunger debuff right now," Luna let go of a gamer girl curse with a roll of her eyes.

"Damn it! I knew I should’ve eaten two breakfasts!" Jack groaned.

Leon rubbed his forehead. "We’ll need more than the rations we’re carrying right now. If it’s draining our vitality to feed itself, we’ll burn out fast unless we eat often enough."

"Agreed. I’m not fighting through a cursed hellhole while my stomach’s trying to eat itself," Jack grunted.

Kaiden nodded. For once, they were all in agreement. "Talia’s supply cache should still be right by the entrance."

They did just that, swiftly moving back.

"I’m the one with the most Endurance stat here, so I’ll make a noble sacrifice and haul the heavy packs," Jack decreed.

"I’ll help," Leon added while reaching for another bag.

Kaiden stepped forward, too.

But before the trio could take more than a step...

"You boys don’t need to bother." Vaelira’s voice rang out with smug magnanimity.

The Arcane Puppeteer stood with her hands clasped behind her back and her lips curved into an imperious smirk.

"I don’t like wasting my mana on logistics as that’s far below my station, but I can’t have my frontline getting winded before we reach anything worth fighting. This is the last time I enter a dungeon with a limit on the number of entrants... I need my dungeon slaves- I mean aides."

She extended a single hand forward.

"[Summon Legion]."

The shadows responded.

A familiar sight unfolded before them as twelve figures emerged. They moved in perfect unison. They gave off the image of practiced soldiers answering the call of their general.

Bastet’s eyes instantly hardened at the sight. "Those are the same ones..."

A pair of Wailing Bone Juggernauts charged them with horrifying cries. Leon, Kaiden, and Jack formed the front while Bastet’s solar aura scorched the creatures’ edges and Vaelira’s minions rushed in to overwhelm the monsters with numbers.

The worst ambush came in a shattered ballroom when dozens of Hollow Dancers emerged.

These were strange monsters who had their limbs snapping at inhuman angles and jaws clicking like castanets. They tried to charm and disorient, but Vaelira deployed her legion in phalanx formation, together with Jack taunting them while Kaiden, Luna, and Diaz flanked the monsters to backstab them. At the same time, the ranged combatants dealt continuous projectile damage.

Even during these fierce encounters, they only had to dip into their healing potions a few times. The group setup was just that well-functioning.

Despite the dungeon’s growth, the team was prevailing.

The dungeon was evolving, yes. But humans had their own edge.

Adaptability.

Ingenuity.

Ten diverse classes working in tandem.

All enemies they faced were higher-level than any one of them... but not all ten of them combined. And that was the beauty of it: they didn’t need to be the strongest individually. They just needed to be the more competent group.

And there was another upside: the XP gain.

While shared between the group, the level gap between them and their foes meant that the experience gain was noticeably boosted. Even with sometimes all ten people taking a piece, they were steadily leveling up. Everyone could feel it; each step forward in this cursed place made them stronger.

Even the dungeon’s new hunger curse, as daunting as it sounded, wasn’t turning out to be the disaster they feared. True, they were eating about 30% more than normal, but thanks to Talia’s preparation and Vaelira’s logistics solution, they had enough food and drink for weeks, perhaps even months, not days.

More importantly...