Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 846

Chapter 846: Protect the Shadow Mommy

Vespera was alone at the front now with three enemies one row ahead and three ranged behind them. The plan Kaiden had built around two center hammers was dead, and the board didn’t care about his feelings on the matter.

[Defender Turn.]

Two new cards joined his orbit, bringing his hand to five, and two of them clicked together before the second finished arriving.

Scout. Resolute.

Information plus protection. If the Kaiju was willing to use cards surgically now, he needed to see what else it was holding.

[Card Played: Scout. Reveal all enemy banked cards.]

The Kaiju’s constellation flickered and inverted, faces turning visible for three heartbeats. Five cards orbiting the creature’s silhouette, and Kaiden’s eyes found the threat.

Sunder. Minus thirty percent defense.

’Resolute blocks debuffs cast after its activation, but not those cast before it. The buff is invisible and the opponent won’t know who received it. A mind game...’ He glanced at the second card still orbiting his hand. ’If I can read who it’s aiming at, I can shut the Sunder down before it lands.’

His gaze dropped to the board. Obsidian at E3, Calypso at E4. One advance and they’d clash. If the Kaiju played Sunder on Calypso before that fight, it stripped her tank advantage entirely. The escalation race against Obsidian was built on her durability. She’d break before Carnage kicked in.

’Resolute on Calypso and send her in. Block the-’

He stopped. His gaze shifted from Calypso to Vespera at C4, holding up the middle with Scarlet frozen in a cage and three enemies one row ahead. If the Kaiju played Sunder on her instead and attacked aggressively, the center would collapse.

’I can’t protect both of them.’

Calypso was the play his heart was telling him. Obsidian was right there, the threat practically drawn in crayon.

But his brain...

Vespera was the center pillar, and without Scarlet the entire middle rested on her. If she went into the next fight debuffed...

His mind moved toward Calypso’s square, and then it moved to Vespera’s.

[Card Played: Resolute. Target: Vespera. Immune to debuffs.]

The shimmer wrapped around his mother’s frame instead of Calypso’s.

Vespera glanced down at the golden light, then up at her son, and the look that passed between them said everything neither of them would.

Calypso watched the shimmer settle on Vespera.

She looked back at Kaiden, and the tilt of her horns said she’d read the board faster than he’d expected.

"Smart call, Darling. Shadow Mommy is our ace, I know that."

The guilt sat behind his sternum, but he didn’t waver.

"You won’t die after getting eliminated from the match..." Bastet purred.

The demoness sent the cat a wry look, her tail flicking in disapproval. "Who said I’m getting eliminated, you tits for brains felinid?"

"..."

Kaiden decided not to move a piece, because his board was already set up and he wanted to stall for time until Scarlet returned.

[Claimant Turn.]

[Card Played: Sunder. Target: Vespera.]

’...Phew.’ An immense weight left Kaiden’s chest, though the sting of guilt remained.

[Sunder negated. Resolute active.]

The debuff dissolved against the shimmer wrapping Vespera’s frame, dark energy scattering off the protective field.

Kaiden stared at the board. The Kaiju hadn’t gone for Calypso at all. It had targeted Vespera, the same piece he’d agonized over protecting, and his last-second switch had intercepted a play he wasn’t even trying to counter.

[Champion 2 advances. Bone Weaver moves to C4.]

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