Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 148: Boss Battle

“[Aegis Bastion: Divine Bulwark]!”

A translucent sphere of golden energy erupted outward, enveloping Kaiden and the Valkyries in its protective embrace.

The sandstorm raged against the shield, hammering it with unrelenting force, but Jack held firm, his muscles trembling under the strain.

“Don’t… move!” he growled between two strained grunts.

As Kaiden and the others braced themselves within the sanctuary of Jack’s barrier, the battle raged on elsewhere.

Across the chamber, beyond the storm, Vaelira and her remaining team were locked in a brutal fight. She sent Jack to help Valhalla’s Sinners, knowing he lost a bit of usefulness so long as her phantom soldiers were around, ready to tank for them in his stead.

Bastet’s Ancestral Warriors—ethereal figures clad in sunlit armor, wielding spears of golden flame—clashed against Vaelira’s summoned minions.

Leon, whose one arm was already useless, parried a spear thrust at his chest with his longsword. His injured hand trembled under the strain, but he refused to stop.

Dorothy fought with raw fury. Her fists, slick with her own blood, slammed into an enemy’s side, sending it staggering back. But she was slowing. Her breaths came ragged, her body barely holding together.

Sasha loosed an arrow, striking one of the warriors in the head. The summoned being collapsed, dissolving into motes of golden light.

But there were many more ready to take its place.

Vaelira’s eyes blazed with magic. She raised her wand high, her voice ringing out through the chaos.

“Rise, my warriors! Become more than mere echoes! [Imperial Command: Grand Puppeteer’s Edict]!”

The summoned warriors under her control shuddered for a single moment, then glowed with newfound power. Their forms solidified, their weapons sharpened, their movements became faster, deadlier.

With newfound strength, they turned the tide. Vaelira’s soldiers overwhelmed the enemy in coordinated, precise strikes. For every one of hers that fell, two of Bastet’s did.

“Gah!!” Leon gasped.

A spear slashed across his other hand. Blood sprayed. His sword slipped from his grip. He staggered, falling to one knee. “I—I can’t hold it,” he panted, staring at his trembling fingers. He had lost the ability to wield his weapon.

Beside him, Dorothy swayed on her feet, her entire side drenched in blood. She wobbled, her body finally reaching its limit. Her vision blurred, and her breath came in weak gasps.

She was about to keel over, being mere seconds away from total collapse.

Leon could barely move his fingers.

Jack was struggling to maintain his barrier.

Despite Vaelira’s might, the tide of battle was shifting back in the Pharaoh’s favor as more and more awakened were running out of either their stamina, mana, or health.

And Bastet knew it.

For the first time since the fight began, she had free rein to do as she wished to the backline, no longer harassed by Kaiden and his pesky squad. Her burning golden eyes flickered across the battlefield, assessing, calculating. They locked onto Vaelira.

The true threat. The Arcane Puppeteer, who had matched her minions, controlled an army and turned the tide of the large-scale fight with her summoned forces.

Bastet’s muscles coiled. Like a streak of sunlight breaking through a storm, she burst forward, closing the distance in an instant. Vaelira barely had a second to react before clawed fingers wrapped around her throat.

“ACK!!”

The sheer force of Bastet’s grip lifted her from the ground.

A burning heat spread through her veins. It was like she was being branded alive. Her vision swam with tears of pain. She tried to lift her wand, but Bastet slammed her into the nearest pillar.

*Crack!*

The impact sent shockwaves through the chamber. Vaelira’s body went limp. Bastet’s grip tightened. Heat gathered in her palm.

A finishing blow was incoming, and Vaelira knew it. She had only one option left.

Her eyes flashed with resolve. “[Puppeteer’s Gambit]!”

The spectral warriors under her command disintegrated, making their essence pour back into her. The injuries Bastet inflicted began to close; her broken bones knitted back together, and the crushing heat in her body dissipated.

Her fingers twitched.

Then, she smiled.

“Not so fast, brownie bitch.”

With one final surge of strength, she blasted an arcane wave from her wand, forcing Bastet to release her throat.

The Pharaoh jumped back, dodging the attack. Before the feline could make another move, Sasha took aim. The red-haired archer’s mana-infused arrow screamed through the air, crackling with magical energy. It was a clean shot.

A direct hit.

But Bastet’s hand flicked forward, and from her palm, a burst of sand erupted.

*Wham!*

The projectile bounced off of her summoned grains like a pebble.

Effortless.

“Pathetic.”

Sasha’s eyes widened in disbelief.

However… Even the boss monster had underestimated just how far Kaiden was willing to go to secure victory. Vespera’s Ashborn blood was coursing through his veins, refusing to lose no matter what he had to do.

He was already moving, straight through the raging sandstorm. Kaiden sprinted using [Warpath]. Each step was a nightmare. The wind tore at his flesh. Blades of sand sliced his skin open. The scorching heat seared his lungs. His health plummeted.

But he did not stop.

He could not stop.

Bastet still had her back to him.

He switched stances mid-charge.

“[Gluttony Stance: Devouring Strike]!”

Every single essence orb he had harvested from their hours of combat within the pyramid coalesced around his axe.

The blade burned with a deep crimson glow. Kaiden swung for her neck. It was a perfect, fatal strike. An instant kill.

But at the last moment, Bastet’s golden disk flared to life. The artifact shifted in an instant, interposing itself between her and the killing blow. Kaiden’s axe sank deep into the golden construct.

The artifact shattered.

Even still, his blade connected, making a thin trail of blood splatter across the sand.

His [Devouring Strike] activated.

The stolen vitality rushed back into him, closing some of his wounds and ending the debuff she had inflicted upon him. Kaiden straightened his spine. A manic grin stretched across his lips as he lifted his axe to his mouth and licked the blood from the blade.

“Hmm… not bad. So this is how you taste, tanned kitten.”

Bastet staggered back, clutching her neck wound. Her face twisted with utter outrage. Her ears jerked, and her tail lashed violently.

Her entire being radiated fury.

She threw her head back as her voice rang through the chamber like a royal decree.

“Y-YOU… YOU INSOLENT, FILTH-TOUCHED, LOWBORN WRETCH! YOU DARE!! YOU DARE TO MAR PERFECTION ITSELF?! TO LAY YOUR UNCLEAN HANDS UPON DIVINITY? TO TASTE WHAT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO EVEN LOOK UPON?!”

She trembled with uncontained rage as her eyes blazed with pure hatred and condescension.

The very air quivered under the force of her rage.

“YOU ARE LESS THAN DUST BENEATH MY FEET! LESS THAN THE FLEAS THAT INFEST THE LOWLY JACKALS! YOU ARE NOTHING!”

Her tail snapped behind her like a whip.

“I SHALL NOT SIMPLY KILL YOU! NO! I WILL ERASE YOU! STRIP YOUR VERY EXISTENCE FROM HISTORY ITSELF! I WILL MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF YOU SO THAT NONE MAY EVER—”

Bastet abruptly stopped herself.

Her breathing was ragged.

She realized, with seething horror, that her body was shaking.

She had let this mongrel—this lesser thing—get under her skin.

Her wounded pride screamed louder than the pain in her body.

She seethed.

Then, she exhaled.

She straightened her back, lifting her chin in imperious disdain.

Her lips curled into a sneer.

“Hmph. Very well, cur. You wish to dance with the sun?”

Her golden aura flared.

“Then burn.”