Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 667

Chapter 667: Momentary Retreat

Kaiden looked over his girls.

Calypso was still bleeding from four places. Luna’s Storm reserves were so low that her hair had stopped crackling. Aria’s eyes flickered at the edges, exhausted. Nyx was standing perfectly still, which meant her spatial awareness was costing her concentration just to maintain. Bastet’s tail wasn’t even making its usual, lazy swishes, limping behind her butt.

It was a bad omen if Kaiden ever saw one.

They’d won. They’d killed a level 79 boss nearly thirty levels above them, a gap so wide that most analysts would call the attempt a death sentence rather than a strategy. The system had rewarded them accordingly, millions of experience points each, the kind of haul that turned weeks of grinding into a single glorious afternoon.

But Lady Luck had a sense of humor, and pushing her generosity twice in quick succession was a good way to find out how funny she thought you were.

"We’re done for the time being," Kaiden said. "No more fights until we recover."

Nobody argued.

Not even Luna, which told him everything about how depleted they actually were. On a normal day, the gamer girl would’ve pointed at the leaderboard or quoted just how much XP one kill gave them. Now, she just exhaled and nodded.

Then she grinned.

Nyx grinned.

They looked at each other.

Luna raised her hand. Nyx met it with a crisp high-five that echoed across the basin.

"Let’s go!" Luna grinned.

"I’m so happy!" Nyx cheered.

They’d skirted death. They’d triumphed. And the numbers on their status screens were proof.

After the tension of the Magnus confrontation, the reality of what they’d just accomplished settled over the group. They were alive, they were significantly richer in experience and nobody had suffered overly serious wounds.

Kaiden turned to his stream pickup and addressed the chat.

"As you heard, we need to head back to the Runewoven camp to get checked and recover. Also, eat something that isn’t dried rations." He paused. "Internet Wife, put up a vote. Do the viewers want a replay of our earlier fights in the week, or do they want to stay with us live?"

— [MOD] Kaiden’s Wife: 😳😳😳 Kai called me internet wife on stream again!! Write that down, everyone!

— [MOD] Kaiden’s Wife: One time is a lucky coincidence. But twice?!

— [MOD] PrincelessPrincess: ... You were given a task, damned woman.

— [MOD] Kaiden’s Wife: !!! One moment please!

— [MOD] Kaiden’s Wife: Vote is up!

The results were instant and overwhelming.

Ninety-three percent chose to stay live.

The chat had just watched their team kill a level 79 boss with a thirty-level disadvantage, witnessed a mysterious Conduit ability, and then seen their streamer tell Magnus Ashborn to respectfully fuck off. The viewers didn’t want replays. They wanted to be here, in the moment, dissecting every second with each other in real time.

— 44xStorm: Why would Ìi watch a replay when I just saw the greatest 20 minutes of streaming content in history?!?!

— MoonlitHeart: We’re not going anywhere. We LIVE here now, and you better not banish us!

— SinnerDevotee: I called in sick to work for this. I’m not leaving until Kaiden falls asleep.

They began the walk south.

...

The Pyrawalker Titan was still alive.

Kaiden’s group came upon the fight about two minutes into their retreat, rounding a ridge to find Ashbound locked in exactly the kind of grinding, brutal engagement that the Titan was designed to produce. The creature’s volcanic hide was cracked in a dozen places, molten light bleeding from wounds that should have been fatal on anything with less raw vitality. But the Titan was level seventy-eight, and level seventy-eight meant it could fight at full intensity for the better part of a week.

Ash’s team was giving it everything.

Brittany’s blade carved into the creature’s flank as it swung at Ash. Stacy had abandoned her shield entirely and was using both hands to drive energy bolts into the gaps in its armor. Trisha was limping, her left pauldron cracked, ranged attacks coming slower now as her mana flagged.

Ash himself was drenched in sweat, his armor scorched black from repeated exposure to the Titan’s heat aura. His grin was gone. The camera drones still orbited him, but he’d stopped performing for them about ten minutes ago.

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