Demonic Pornstar System

The steam swirled around them languidly; the bath they rented for the day was truly a cozy place. Laughter hung in the air… until the system pinged.

[Yunohana Tsukikage has donated 1000 Chronos]

For a heartbeat, Kaiden thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But no; the familiar name gleamed at the very top of the feed. It was the same woman from the Bastet Q&A video, one of the most notable people in the Shogunate Circle, Japan's leading guild.

The chat detonated.

- BladeOtaku99: Y-Y-YUNOHANA?! THE Shrine Maiden?!

- GhostHunter: Bro got 10k USD dono from the hottest woman in the universe… Life is not fair…

- ShrineDefender: Impossible. She doesn't even show up for interviews!

- KnightofJustice: Don't be fooled! She must've come here to voice her hatred of this despicable man!

That was when the message attached to the donation began reading.

[The sight of so many spirits united in warmth brings harmony to the heart. Baths such as these are not merely for the body, but for the soul. May your evening be as serene as the water, and may you find strength in each other's company.]

- Lady Leia: Kekeke! You're a delusional clown @KnightofJustice

- Kaiden's Wife: 🤡🤡🤡

As the fangirls began tagging the haters with rather condescending messages, the Valkyries froze mid-giggle and exchanged surprised glances with one another.

But the silence only lasted a heartbeat.

The feed shot using Kaiden's POV shifted to Aria, showing her damp hair and cheeks that were touched with pink from the steam. She smiled brilliantly, making Kaiden forget to take a breath for a moment. She was far too beautiful in the haze of the bathhouse.

The Moon Valkyrie looked directly into his eyes before addressing the Japanese woman. "Lady Yunohana, thank you. Your kind words mean so much to us. Things aren't easy right now… but as long as we stand together, I know we can weather any storm!"

…

Far away, Maximilian's face twisted with fury. His fist clenched on his knees. "That meddling Japanese bitch dares…!" he hissed, voice full of venom. "She should just be sipping her tea and not interfere!"

"Yeah, this is strange… She rarely ever speaks up, even when it comes to domestic matters, let alone international ones like this." Harold muttered under his breath.

Next to him, Elise's sharp nails dug into her boytoy's thighs as the woman scrolled through the chat. Her canines flashed when she growled. "It's still mostly the mob tearing him apart… but not all of them."

- PureHeart: If Lady Yunohana stands with this guy, he can't be that bad…

The words were few, but Elise knew their weight. Yunohana's approval planted doubt in the masses. After all, the accuser was a rather unknown man who was the CEO of a porn company, and the one who stood on their side was none other than a truly beloved figure of the post-mana apocalypse world.

She was exactly what the masses liked: a woman who climbed to the top using her own strength. But Maximilian was a product of the old world, a rich and powerful man with a stacked bank account and many connections.

Maximilian's teeth ground together audibly. His mind swirled with vile thoughts, and he reached toward Alexandra to use her body to vent. But as he shifted toward the woman, the door slammed open for a second time. His assistant stumbled in again, face white with panic.

"What now?!" Maximilian roared, eyes blazing. "Speak, damn you!"

The man nearly tripped over himself in his rush. "B-boss! We-we're under attack!" His voice broke, his chest heaving.

"Alice Ashborn is here! She says… she says that she's going to kill us all! She says she'll obliterate ChronosX! Our guards are fighting her outside!"

The color drained from Maximilian's face as if his very blood recoiled at the name. For the first time in a long time, genuine fear flashed in his eyes.

Alice Ashborn.

Every soul in the room felt the air grow heavier. The youngest of the Ashborn siblings, yet somehow the most notorious. An S-tier Awakened, feared even among her kin. They called her:

'The Light That Destroys'

It was thanks to her radiant element, which she used for anything but positive things. Light wasn't gentle in her hands; it seared, shattered, and annihilated.

Her reputation for collateral damage rivaled even her mother's; entire building complexes have been reduced to ruin in the wake of her rampages.

These days, if a monster outbreak occurred and the Awakened Association called upon New Dawn to take care of it, the orders were accompanied by strict instructions to leave her behind, for she would cause more damage than the monsters themselves.

"What… what have we done for that crazed teen to have a vendetta against us?!" Maximilian gasped, his voice breaking with the first true note of desperation.

Elise downed the last of her wine and slammed the glass onto the table. Her voice was cold, hard, and commanding. "Such questions can wait. If Alice Ashborn is here, we cannot stay. We have to move back to the HQ for our protection."

Anton Krieger's eyes snapped wide, and when he spoke, his normally steady voice carried an immense tone of urgency that cut through the smoky room. "If Alice Ashborn is here… then something worse may lurk in the shadows."

Those words froze the entire gathering. Elise stiffened, unintentionally releasing her empty wine glass from her fingers to land on the plush carpet. Maximilian jolted upright onto his seat as his gaze began darting wildly across the dark corners of the chamber as if expecting a figure to peel itself from the gloom.

The name surfaced unbidden in their heads, a terror whispered to frighten children into obedience. Indeed, it was her they used for such a task. Not ghosts, not monsters, but her:

Vespera Ashborn.

The Shadow Monarch.

If the mother had come, they would already be corpses. No walls, no guards, no desperate escape would save them. Death would have arrived the moment she decided to butcher them.

And yet… they still breathed. Their hearts still pounded, frantic but alive. That grim fact was the only thread of logic they had to cling to. As they were alive, Alice was moving on her own.