Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 1088: The Dungeon Master’s Vow

Gold letters formed above the steps as the dungeon submitted his request to the forces governing Dungeon Master authority. Milo sat forward to read the answer through the feed.

[A binding covenant may place irrevocable conditions upon Dungeon Master authority. State the proposed terms.]

”Every Dungeon-Born in my domain will retain the rights and dignity of a person,” Kaiden began. ”They will be entitled to the protection of fair laws, a hearing before punishment, and the freedom to question me or refuse demands beyond the duties they freely accept.”

Taigi’s lips parted. She was staring at him now, and Milo remembered the recording of her begging forgiveness on the floor while the chief watched her suffer.

”Each person will choose how to live and work. Becoming Dungeon-Born will never oblige someone to become a combatant. I will respect their choice to remain a civilian or leave military service.”

”I will never use their dependence on the core, its sustenance, or their resurrection to compel obedience. I will not order them into private vendettas or use them to enforce my personal political ambitions. If I ask for their help in something personal, they will be free to refuse.”

”My lord...” Taigi struggled to begin. ”We follow you willingly.”

”I know. But I’d like to make certain that remains your choice. I don’t need the Dungeon-Born to be my mindless minions. I already have the summonable monsters for that.”

Milo looked toward Mrs. Weller. She was listening with her mouth pressed into a line, following every word through her own interface.

”Combatants will still face pain, dangerous battles, and the discipline they agree to when they join,” Kaiden said. ”I owe them proper training and care. I cannot promise that nobody will suffer, but I can bind myself against knowingly exploiting, degrading, or abusing them.”

The gold script expanded as the dungeon recorded his terms. Taigi read alongside him, her attention catching on the next condition as he spoke it.

”If I knowingly violate these rights, I forfeit my authority as Dungeon Master. I won’t be able to withdraw or alter this covenant, or evade it by ordering someone else to do the abusing for me.”

”Forfeit...” Taigi’s voice caught. ”My lord, what would happen to our people? To the core?”

”The inhabitants must remain alive and protected. The core must continue sustaining them while they choose a successor. Whoever takes my place will inherit these obligations along with the authority.”

The dungeon answered beneath the accumulating terms.

[Upon forfeiture, the Core and its inhabitants’ life bonds will remain intact. Essential sustenance, restoration, and defenses will continue under autonomous management.]

[The Dungeon-Born will select a successor. This covenant will bind all subsequent holders of the domain’s Master authority.]

Taigi bowed her head toward Kaiden, tears slipping down her cheeks.

”My lord... I would never have thought to ask this of you.”

Kaiden smiled softly, patting the woman’s shoulders. ”We all know humans can get corrupted as they amass power and influence... Or with the mere passage of time. Think of this as an assurance that, should the man you bowed to that day change, you will not be bound to serve the twisted creature he became.”

Unable to speak, Taigi merely nodded.

After one more pat of her shoulder, Kaiden returned his attention to the golden terms. The dungeon placed one final warning beneath them.

[Consent will bind this covenant beyond administrative repeal or override. Willful violation will revoke Master authority without a right of restoration.]

[Warning: This vow is one-sided and benefits the Dungeon-Born exclusively.]

[Do you accept?]

Milo’s heart began pounding. Kaiden was still reading. The warning remained before him, giving him time to refuse it, and Milo wanted him to accept so badly that he was afraid to move.

”It still doesn’t make you ready to fight, Milo,” Mrs. Weller whispered. ”You’re fourteen.”

He heard her. He kept watching the man standing beneath those words, waiting to find out whether he would accept an irrevocable limit on his own authority.

Kaiden looked straight into the camera and had the expression of a man whose next word cost him absolutely nothing.

”I accept.”

The golden script closed around him, its lines drawing together over his chest as the dungeon sealed his consent into the core linked to his life. A moment later, Taigi gasped and raised a hand toward her own unseen interface.

”It’s here... My lord, the covenant. I can read it through my bond.”

[Covenant sealed. All current inhabitants and future invitees may inspect its terms through their Core connection or invitation.]

[Kaiden Grey’s Dungeon Master authority is henceforth conditional upon the rights of his people.]

...

In Washington, the President remained at the conference table while his advisers made their calls. Through his own interface, he watched Grey smile toward the woman sharing the broadcast.

Six months ago, the world hadn’t even known this boy’s name.

Now Eclipse had hundreds of awakened fighters taking his lead. His dungeon resources could somehow buy monsters to reinforce the army guarding his private world.

And now he was reaching for unawakened people who had spent the apocalypse waiting for someone else to save them, people whose homes were gone and whose plans had ended with the deaths of their families. Grey was offering them somewhere to belong and the power to build a future there.

The President could imagine what that meant to someone living in a disaster shelter. Work that made them stronger, children growing up behind defenses their parents could help maintain, a chance to fight the things that had ruined their lives.

Their gratitude would be directed toward the man who made it possible. Whatever lives they chose in his dungeon, their homes and strength would be part of the world he was building.

Beside him, the legal aide spoke into her phone.

”The entire agreement, please. I need every obligation checked.”

The President heard her and kept watching Grey. The boy had just placed his own authority at risk if he abused those people, binding himself before the world while his applicants watched. Every frightened person considering the offer now had another reason to trust him.

He was deeply afraid of how much power Grey could gather by giving people something they desperately wanted.

Grey had surrounded himself with powerful, intelligent people, and they trusted him enough to follow his lead. He could bring them together, put their strength to work, then offer the rest of humanity a place beside them.

On the broadcast, Taigi stood proudly beside him. Grey looked toward her with the same soft smile he had given his viewers, and the President shuddered.

’What a frightening man you became, Kaiden Grey.’

...

Back in the garden, Kaiden thanked the viewers for listening and asked them to take their time before making a decision. Nyx ended [Harem Vision] with a thought, letting the final stream of comments disappear from her sight.

”It’s off, Kai.”

Coming down the steps, he rubbed both hands over his face. He had managed to keep speaking while people promised they would agree to anything for a chance at the life he offered. Now that he could stop, he felt sick with guilt.

Some of those people would be children. They would arrive grieving, furious, desperate to become strong enough to hurt the things that had taken their families.

And he would gain soldiers.

His own soldiers, bound to his world, growing stronger beneath his authority. Every person who found a new purpose in his dungeon would become part of the power he commanded.

”Kai?”

Nyx caught his wrist before he could cover his face again. At the worry in her voice, he tried to smile for her, but his mouth barely moved.

”I feel like shit.”

Aria and Yunohana came out of the shade beside the steps, with the others following close behind. They had stayed beyond the broadcast’s view while he made his announcement. Seeing their concerned faces made it harder to pretend he was pleased with himself.

”I just invited homeless children to join my personal army. I’m basically one of those African warlords arming children with AK-47s and telling them to fight.”

The words tasted foul. He looked toward Alice as she reached him, then away again.

”I stood there saying I’d want to murder a man who offered this to my child. Then I went through with it anyways.”

Nyx released his wrist to cup his cheek.

”You also told them they could live there without ever fighting for you.”

”You saw those comments. Some of them would crawl through broken glass if it meant they could kill a monster afterward.”

He hated how well he understood that desire. The thought of losing someone standing here could make him want to tear the world apart. Give that hatred to a child who had already lost everything, then offer them power...

”They’ll come because they’re hurting and I’ll become stronger because they came.”

”Yes,” she answered softly. ”You will.”

For a moment, he could only look at her. Her thumb moved along his cheek while she held his gaze.

”And they’ll have somewhere to live. People to care for them. A future they want to wake up for. Those things will be real too, Kai.”

He closed his eyes when she kissed him, grateful for the tenderness even while his stomach remained tight. Her lips lingered against his before she drew back just enough to speak.

”The dungeon will reject anyone who isn’t ready. A child who still belongs on Earth won’t become yours because they wrote an angry comment.”

”Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Who really knows how it works?”

”We do, Kai. Trust your system.”

Alice slipped beneath his left arm and hugged his waist, pressing her cheek against his shirt.

”Big Brother, I’m underage too, and I’m doing fine.”