Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 585

Chapter 585: The Trial’s Nature

The words lingered, heavy in their neutrality.

[The Successor simply did not embody those paths.]

Kaiden’s brow creased.

[The Successor’s heart was not fully in them.]

[He did not believe in rushing at the cost of thought.]

[He did not believe in endless consumption at the cost of self.]

A pause followed, longer than usual.

[The Heavenly Demon theorized that these trials respond to alignment.]

That earned a quiet huff from Kaiden. "Alignment," he echoed. "So if I’d truly believed in becoming a walking vacuum cleaner being the right path forward..."

[Then Gluttony would have accepted the Successor as such. Granted the Bottomless One fell, defeated by the Successor’s choice. One must prove the correctness of their answer.]

The certainty wavered there.

[At least... that is the hypothesis.]

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed a fraction. "You’re not sure."

Another pause.

[Correct.]

[Even the Heavenly Demon could only make educated guesses.]

[These constructs predate his ascent.]

That, more than anything else so far, told Kaiden how deep down the rabbit hole he was right now. If even that crazy guy who rebelled against the universe wasn’t sure, then...

"Haah..." Kaiden exhaled slowly through his nose, gaze drifting back to the seven-armed titan. The Original Sin remained frozen in place, vast and indifferent, its presence pressing against his perception without ever moving an inch closer.

It was rare, unnerving, even, to hear the Demonic Pornstar System speak with this kind of uncertainty. This wasn’t feigned mystique or deliberate vagueness. This was a genuine absence of knowledge.

Kaiden was quiet for a few seconds longer, eyes fixed on the titan as if trying to read intention out of something that had never once twitched. Then he glanced inward again, lips quirking faintly.

"So," he asked casually, as if they weren’t standing at the edge of something cosmic, "when I begin the next part, are you going to go silent again?"

The answer came without delay this time.

[Correct.]

Kaiden nodded once, accepting it easily.

[The Demonic Pornstar System will be suppressed upon the commencement of the next trial.]

[The overseeing entity does not permit guidance. It wants to hear the challenger’s answer, and only his answer.]

"Figures," Kaiden muttered. He rolled his neck once, working out the last remnants of stiffness, then paused.

"Final question, then."

The system waited.

"Do you know how many times I got eaten by that fat piece of shit? I lost count somewhere along the way."

There was the faintest hesitation.

[If the Successor refers to the Bottomless One-]

"You know I do," Kaiden cut in dryly.

The answer came immediately after.

[One hundred and sixty-three.]

Kaiden blinked.

Then he whistled low, slow, and genuinely impressed. "Wow. One-six-three. What a number."

He let that sink in, shaking his head with a crooked smile. Dying once or twice was one thing. A dozen times was trauma. A hundred and sixty-three times? Being eaten alive at that?

Yeah. What a horrible trial.

[The Successor displayed exceptional mental fortitude during the trial.]

Kaiden paused mid-breath.

His eyebrows lifted slightly as he glanced inward again, surprise plain on his face. "Huh."

Praise wasn’t something the Demonic Pornstar System handed out. Usually, it was a blunt transactional acknowledgment. This was different.

"...Thanks," he said, and meant it.

Silence followed. It was the calm before the storm.

Kaiden turned his full attention back to the seven-armed titan. The Original Sin loomed exactly as it always had, vast and patient, each arm raised as if the universe itself were waiting on its cue.

He straightened, shoulders settling.

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