Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 347: Family in Danger

They stopped. Almost as one, their steps faltered, their heads turned, and their eyes followed the sound.

At the far end of the alley, a young woman stood frozen with her back pressed against the brick wall, her arms spread protectively in front of two small children who clung to her legs. The mother was trembling, her face pale, but when the shadows moved and the monsters poured in following the trail of Kaiden’s group, her voice broke into a desperate growl.

”Get back!” she cried, forcing strength into her tone that her body could not carry.

Her hand darted to the side, snatching up a wooden broom that must have fallen from a doorway nearby. She then began swinging it wildly, shoving at the beasts with sheer defiance.

”Mom!!”

”Mommy, I’m scared!”

The children sobbed behind her, wailing for their mother in hopes that she could pull off a miracle as the monsters tightened their circle.

The beasts were not in a hurry, contrary to how fervently they rushed after Kaiden’s group.

Now that they found their targets, their pace slowed drastically.

They stalked with their wings scraping the walls, claws dragging along the stone, and eyes glinting with amusement. One dipped forward just far enough to make the woman scream and hit it on the head with the broom, which achieved absolutely nothing, then pulled back again, savoring her panic.

Another hissed with its tail lashing against the ground. The sound of its move made the woman flinch, and the kids cried out in total hysteria. An existential fear oozed from every fiber of their bodies.

That was the exact reaction that they wanted. They wanted the children’s cries. They wanted the thrill of watching prey break before they tore it apart.

Kaiden froze in place.

His greatsword pulsed in his grip, the Blood Monarch’s Gauntlet visibly begging to be unleashed again, but Kaiden’s mind was in turmoil. The Awakened Association had cleared only the single closest building around the dungeon gate before the outbreak, thinking it would be enough. Everywhere else, families were still trapped in their homes or on the streets. Thousands of lives must have already been lost in the first few minutes of chaos.

If he stopped here, if he threw himself into this fight, he would be risking everything. Luna, Aria, Nyx, Bastet. His women, his anchors, his reasons for fighting at all. They were already bleeding mana, already marked by the masked men hunting them. The cold, rational choice was to push forward, to survive, to trust that the government’s forces would eventually come to clean up the mess.

But reason clashed with instinct. He was not a hero. He had never pretended to be one. Yet neither was he the kind of man who could simply walk away. The thought of turning his back as children were devoured alive twisted his stomach into iron knots.

Before his decision could settle, the choice was made for him. Nyx’s hands cut through the air while her eyes blazed with the desire to protect. Space split apart at her command, and a shimmering wall erupted between the family and the circling monsters. The barrier stretched and stood strong even as the claws of the angered monsters raked against it.

”I won’t let you,” she hissed.

Aria’s voice came next. ”[Lunar Volley]!”

Magic cascaded from her staff. Crescent bolts rained down upon the beasts, tearing through flesh and bone with relentless force. The alley erupted in white-blue brilliance as screams of agony echoed when the monsters convulsed under the barrage. The mother shielded her children’s eyes as the night turned into daylight for a moment. Her own tears were running freely while she clung to them with everything she had.

Kaiden’s conflict burned away, replaced with the raw fire of Wrath. His women had made their stand, and he would not dishonor their choice by hesitating a moment longer.

He raised his greatsword. The crimson aura burst forth once again as the Paragon of Sin charged back into the fray.

The blade thrummed in his grip, vibrating with hunger and joy at being allowed to slay even more enemies, but Kaiden’s crimson eyes weren’t locked on the monsters anymore. For a fleeting second, he observed the family while running toward them.

The children were staring at him. A boy and a girl, maybe four and six years old. Their small faces were streaked with tears. Their mother’s body blocked most of them, but not their eyes. Wide, terrified, uncomprehending.

Kaiden’s gaze lingered on the boy, who refused to blink. The kid’s chest heaved, his little fists clutched in his mother’s dress, but he stared anyway, straight into Kaiden’s burning crimson eyes.

And then Kaiden smirked.

His lips curved in a sharp, confident grin. Without breaking stride, he crouched, muscles coiling, and sprang into the air. His armored frame soared over the trembling mother and her children while the greatsword blazed in a streak of bloodlust.

The boy’s head tilted back, eyes following him upward, mouth parting in awe.

”Wow...” he whispered.

Kaiden came down. His boots cracked the stone beneath him as he landed between the family and the incoming horde. His blade carved the first beast clean through, making red fractures start glowing in its chest before it erupted into gore.

The monsters shrieked, enraged, and rushed in from all sides.

Behind Kaiden, Bastet announced her presence with the flashiest of moves. Her palms ignited in miniature suns, and the tanned felinid thrust her hands forward. A wall of pure solar fire exploded across the alley entrance. The blaze roared high, sealing them from the main street and the endless tide behind it. For one breath, for one heartbeat, the family was safe.

Kaiden’s Wrath Stance began the harvest of his enemies as he swung his blade in sweeping arcs. Fractures spread across carapaces, detonations ripping beasts apart. Luna’s lightning screamed past him, cutting down those that slipped too close, her Stormblade crackling as she danced to his side and began butchering the monsters with her speed and destructive element.

Aria’s staff shimmered as lunar arcs began shining brilliantly for a moment before slicing wings and limbs in bursts of silver.

While her friends activated themselves, Nyx, calm and collected, walked toward the family. Her barrier pulsed once before dissolving into sparks of bent space. She knelt before the mother.

”Follow us if you want to live.”

The woman’s trembling knees gave out for a second. Tears of immense relief began spilling as she clutched her children tighter. ”Thank you... Thank you, thank you!” she sobbed, words breaking apart as she bowed her head in reverence, pressing her forehead to the floor.

Nyx gripped the woman’s shoulder. ”Save it. My family is fighting as we speak, so let’s not waste any more time.”

The monsters screamed in fury. Claws scraped against brick and stone. Bastet’s sunfire wall held, but some outright ignored its existence, deciding to suffer extreme burn damage just to get through.

But the smarter beasts had changed tactics. They began scaling the walls, talons hooking into the brick, or wings flapping in the air as they dragged themselves up onto the roofs above.

”They’re coming from above!” Aria saw it clearly from the back, alerting her allies.

Shadows lunged from the rooftops, wings folding as they dove straight into the alley from every direction.

This was when Kaiden got an idea.

”Follow me!” he shouted and began rushing straight toward the nearest building’s wall.