Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 405

Chapter 405: The Native Camp

The walk stretched longer than Kaiden expected. The forest around them shifted from thick undergrowth to patches of cleared paths lined with tall roots and carved totems. The air carried a heavy mix of greenery, earth, and something else... something that clung to the skin.

He caught the scent when he came close to one of the native tribesmen who was escorting them.

He soon realized that it was a thick, oily musk that lingered around every native walking ahead of them. It wasn’t the natural body odor of human beings, that much was for certain. His brow furrowed as he took a quieter breath, trying to place it. It wasn’t blood or sweat. It had the burn of processed plant oil mixed with crushed herbs.

A strange kind of repellent.

Then Bastet’s ears twitched as she, too, noticed. She turned her head, and her nostrils flared as her golden eyes tracked the group in front of them. "Do you smell it too, Master?"

Kaiden nodded. "Yeah. It’s everywhere. Even on the totems they placed along the pathway."

Bastet’s curiosity turned toward Naira. Before the girl could even react, the feline woman leaned in and sniffed her for a second time. Naira stiffened on the spot, her cheeks heating up.

The poor girl was flustered enough to stumble a step back. She didn’t quite understand what was going on with her; she had never felt like this before. But what she did know was that in her eyes, Bastet was the epitome of beauty, and she didn’t want to appear like an unkept, smelly girl before such a majestic being.

"S-stop...!" she yelped, more begging than forceful.

Bastet ignored her protest as if it never even existed, closing her eyes for a moment before straightening again. "Just as I remembered. You don’t carry the scent."

Naira looked embarrassed for a few more seconds before her shoulders slumped. She looked embarrassed, almost ashamed. "It’s something the elders make, a recipe that keeps the skin-walkers from tracking us. The supply’s very small, though. Only hunters and guards get it."

Aria’s eyes instantly darkened. "So they sent you out there without any?"

The Valkyries exchanged silent looks. Nyx’s expression darkened. Even Bastet’s tail gave a single lash of irritation.

"That’s a death sentence."

"Someone has to go out there and bring food when the hunters fail..." Naira replied with a ghostly face, clearly traumatized by the mission she was given.

"Or just get eaten so there’s one less stomach to feed back in the camp," Luna added grimly.

Before Naira could respond, the tattooed man at the front turned his head sharply. "Enough talk. You will not share our tribe’s secrets with outsiders, girl."

Naira lowered her head at once. "Yes, Raho." Her voice was small.

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed as he watched the exchange with understanding. The way her shoulders hunched told him everything he needed to know; she was being treated as a sacrificial pawn. Whether she succeeded or died didn’t matter; the tribe benefited either way.

Though he wondered why they would send a girl out on such a suicide mission instead of boys. His pragmatic mind told him that not only would boys stand a better chance at returning with some food - even if that chance was increased very little - but in the case of failure, wouldn’t such a cutthroat tribe lament the loss of a young and healthy girl?

Reproduction was any tribe’s lifeblood, and obviously, women were more important there. A single man with good genes - one he suspected this so-called ’leader’ might think himself to be - could impregnate a hundred women.

Anyhow, Kaiden didn’t really need to know the answer to this question. All that mattered was that he now understood how dire the situation at this tribe was - either they were forced to do the unthinkable, which was to throw away young girls into the maws of demonic monsters, or there was something else going on.

Such as a tyrannical leadership going on a power trip.

The path opened into a clearing that looked nothing like a home.

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