Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 845: Stampede

[Claimant Turn.]

The Kaiju hadn’t played a single card since the match started.

[Card Played: Stampede. Both Masters may advance multiple pieces. Claimant: up to 3. Defender: up to 2. After the Stampede is over, the card’s holder may initiate combat.]

”Wait, what?” Multiple girls were surprised by this turn of events.

”Does this mean it can make two extra moves technically?” Alice asked.

”Attacking is a move in itself, so yeah...” Bastet murmured. ”What a strong card.”

But there was no time to dawdle.

The board erupted.

Enemy pieces surged forward in a wave, and as the distance closed Kaiden focused on the shapes rushing toward his line.

The system answered with designations, labels materializing above each figure when his gaze held, the same kind of titles that hovered above his girls.

Champion 5, the Bladed Stalker. The humanoid with blades fused to each arm, the one whose joints bent the wrong way. It slid from B1 to B2 without a sound.

Champion 6, the Rampart. The massive quadruped with tusks longer than a human’s whole body followed the rest forward from C1 to C2, plating splintering the stone beneath its hooves.

Champion 8, the hulking armored shape with the volcanic carapace and too many limbs, crept from E1 to E2.

All four back-row pieces were in Row 2 now, flanking Champion 7 the Serpent that was already there, every one of them within ranged join distance of the center.

Kaiden advanced Bastet one square to D5, closing her support range behind Scarlet, and the Dominion field she’d been radiating since the board formed pressed heavier across the center.

He pushed Nyx forward to C5, one row behind Vespera, while sighing inwardly.

’Playing chess with the girls and mom as my pieces, against a colossal creature that was born days ago... What a fucking time to be alive.’

The Stampede wasn’t done.

[Champion 3 advances to D4. Clash initiated: Champion 3 (The Ravager) vs Scarlet.]

The insectoid lunged from D3 into Scarlet’s square with bladed forelimbs spread wide, and the grid beneath them flared red as the clash transport began building.

”Just one?” Scarlet’s flames roared up her forearms as she cracked her knuckles and watched the Ravager close the distance. ”Hey, mountain! You better send more than one if you want this to be a fight, because this little bug won’t last ten seconds.”

The arena formed around them.

White floor, white sky, identical to the isolated combat dimension that had held Luna and Aria’s first clash, and Scarlet was already grinning as her flames roared to full burn in the open space. The Ravager stood forty meters away with its blade-arms spread.

”Finally. Alright, bug, let’s-”

The Kaiju sat behind its board with six burning eyes fixed on the grid. One of the cards orbiting its massive silhouette drifted free from the constellation and dissolved into the board’s surface.

[Claimant Card Played: Ensnare. Target: Scarlet.]

Dark light erupted beneath her feet. Crystalline bands of compressed energy spiraled up from the arena floor and locked around her wrists, her waist, her ankles, and every flame on her body went out at once.

[Scarlet: Ensnared. Unable to move or participate in clashes until attacked or status is broken.]

”What now?!”

Her grin vanished as the restraints locked tight, every flame guttering to nothing, but the Ravager was still standing forty meters away with its bladed forelimbs twitching.

However, the Flame Monarch wasn’t a rookie awakened who hadn’t experienced her fair share of annoying problems in her many dungeon dives.

’If it hits me, the Ensnare breaks. ”Until attacked.” That’s what it said.’

”Hey.” Her voice came out low, almost friendly, which was worse than any shouting. ”You’re right there. Might as well take a free shot while this poor female mage can’t even dodge. You’ll likely kill me on the spot.”

The Ravager’s head cocked, compound eyes reflecting the crystalline bands wrapped around its prey.

Its blade-arms twitched, chitin clicking, and saliva dripped from mandibles that were already parting as the creature leaned forward into what was about to be a killing lunge.

But just then, a guttural scream tore through the arena from beyond the combat boundary, deep enough to shake the stone floor, and the Ravager flinched like a dog hearing its master’s voice.

The Kaiju’s roar carried through the dimension walls with the blunt authority of a creature recalling its piece, and the insectoid’s forelimbs folded shut as the killing instinct drained out of its posture in a single beat.

It turned and walked out of the arena. Its shape dissolved through the combat boundary and reformed on the board at D3, and Scarlet was left standing alone in the white dimension with nothing but her cage and silence.

”...It left?” Her voice cracked across the empty arena. ”It can just leave?! But we’re in the combat dimension and I’m not dead! What the hell is this shit game?!”

She drove her fist into the nearest band. A hairline fracture split across its surface before the crystal sealed itself shut.

She hit it again, same spot, and the fracture came back wider, lasted a heartbeat longer before closing.

Third hit. Fourth. Fifth.

”Just you wait... When I get out of this...” She hit it again, growling straight at the Kaiju, the crack splitting wider with each strike.

She kept hitting, one strike after another on the same fracture point, each blow buying a fraction of a second more before the crystal repaired itself.

...

On the viewing pane above Kaiden’s hand, Scarlet stood alone in the arena dimension with no opponent in sight, hammering at her cage one strike at a time. Each crack spread a little further before sealing, and she wasn’t slowing down.

’She’s breaking out.’ He watched the fractures widen and close and widen again, running the math against the turn timer. At that pace, it looked like she’d take a few turns minimum. ’I keep being surprised by how much tactical insight it can show... It recognized the danger of Scarlet and understood what its cards do, and here we are. It wasn’t anything overly strategic, but still...’

”Is it getting smarter?” Aria read his thoughts.

”It’s certainly not the same beast as the one back in the mountain range...” Calypso murmured.

”But it’s still simplistic,” Bastet added.

[Board State]

[♚ Claimant]

[Row 1: [] · [] · [] · [] · [] · []]

[Row 2: [] · C5(B) · C6(C) · C7(D) · C8(E) · []]

[Row 3: [] · [] · C2(C) · C3(D) · C4(E) · []]

[Row 4: Luna(A) · [] · Vespera(C) · ⛓Scarlet(D) · Calypso(E) · []]

[Row 5: [] · Aria(B) · Nyx(C) · Bastet(D) · Alice(E) · []]

[Row 6: [] · [] · [] · [] · [] · []]

[♔ Successor]

[C1 (Siegehorn): ELIMINATED. Scarlet: ENSNARED.]

[Defender: 8 pieces (1 ensnared). Claimant: 7 pieces.]

[Cards remaining: 3 banked.]

”Son. She’ll break out soon. We’ll hold on until she does. Don’t get overwhelmed.”

”You don’t have to worry, Mother,” Kaiden spoke with a calm tone, to which Vespera replied with the faintest of nods.