Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 607: Intense Regret

Vaelira looked up at Kaiden from the bed with eyes that had lost their edge entirely. The fire that once animated her words had burned itself out, leaving exhaustion, fear, and a hollow resignation in its wake. Her breathing slowed into shallow, careful pulls as if any deeper breath might invite another unseen punishment.

She swallowed with effort before speaking again.

"...Are you satisfied now?"

The question came out weak, stripped of challenge or spite. It carried the sound of someone who had reached the end of resistance and found nothing left to spend.

Kaiden repeated the words with raised eyebrows.

"Am I satisfied?"

"Yes," Vaelira said, her gaze drifting unfocused toward the ceiling lights. "You got what you wanted. You shut me up and took revenge by cursing me for life. You made sure I’ll never forget this moment for as long as I breathe, and I’ll never even dare to think of going against you."

Her jaw tightened as she forced the rest out. "So I am asking if you are satisfied, or are you going to keep torturing me?"

For the first time since entering the room, Kaiden’s posture changed.

He looked at the defeated woman for a few moments longer before he stepped back from the bed, the pressure he carried receding just enough for the room to feel inhabitable again.

He reached for the chair Talia had occupied earlier and sat down. When he looked at Vaelira from there, the intensity in his eyes remained, yet the edge had dulled, turning colder and more controlled.

"I have never cared about you, Vaelira," he said. His voice stayed steady, stripped of venom and fury. "Back then, you were a girl in school I thought looked pretty, and I liked how you looked when you smiled, unaware of the spiteful cunt that lay beneath. That was the full extent of it. I asked you out once." He folded his hands loosely in front of him. "That is where it ended. I never wanted anything more from you. ’Revenge’ never even occurred to my mind before you forced my hand, and I did not do it because of what happened in school."

The words hit her harder than any threat.

Vaelira let out a long, unsteady breath that seemed to empty her chest completely. Her head tilted to the side, looking right into his eyes while her face rested against the pillow.

"If only I hadn’t rejected you, Kaiden..." she murmured. "If I hadn’t laughed. If I hadn’t gone out of my way to humiliate you for no reason at all."

Kaiden’s expression stayed firm. There was no mercy present in his system. "It is too late for regret now."

He did not raise his voice. He did not soften it either. The sentence landed with finality.

That ship had sailed a very, very long time ago.

"I know..." she replied quietly. "But I still can’t stop thinking about it." Her voice trembled as the thought escaped her.

"If I had gone out with you... Our whole lives would’ve been different. I would have been the girl dating the man who will rise to the very peak, and you never would’ve been mocked... I would have been cherished by you instead of tortured." She exhaled again, heavier this time. "I fucked up so bad."

Kaiden studied her for several seconds before smiling. "I’m happy to see that you’re still the same arrogant, heinous woman even after being slapped around for a bit. You, cherished by me? I would’ve sensed what lay beneath your pretty makeup rather quickly. We would’ve separated long before either of us awakened."

"..." Vaelira’s expression went wry as she closed her eyes for a moment, taking it all in.

Kaiden wasn’t done, however. "As far as I’m concerned, you did me a giant favor. If, by some miracle, you managed to deceive me for long enough, everything would’ve been ruined..."

Vaelira’s heart contorted when she heard the word ’ruined.’

Kaiden still held no mercy for her in his system, saying, "My life now holds power, purpose, and amazing people who stand beside me because they choose to, not because they are impressed by surface beauty or status. I would never trade that for an alternate life with you."

Vaelira’s lips curved into a faint, bitter smile.

"...Figures."

She stared at the ceiling again, the weight of her choices pressing down on her harder than the bindings ever had. The room felt quieter now, stripped of hysteria and rage, leaving only the aftermath of words that could never be taken back.

"What will become of me?"

Kaiden did not answer immediately. He studied her the way one assessed a tool after stress testing it, checking for cracks, weaknesses, and whether it would still serve its purpose. When he finally spoke, his tone carried neither cruelty nor comfort, only assessment.

"That depends entirely on how you behave."

Her throat worked as she swallowed, her breathing steadying as she forced herself to listen rather than react.

"You are an A-tier awakened with a summoner archetype. That makes you rare. It makes you useful. You will remain useful to me for a very long time, even after the girls and I surpass you when it comes to individual power."

"..." Vaelira was shocked to realize she didn’t feel the strength to hiss or argue at the disrespect. Kaiden was one thing, but the girls...? Surpass her? It sounded like a bad joke.

His eyes stayed on her face, watching for denial or flare-ups of ego. It never came, so he added, "As long as you conduct yourself properly, you will be allowed to continue living."

The words landed with immense weight. There was no promise embedded in them, only conditions.

"I see..." Vaelira whispered after a few seconds. The resistance she might once have offered never surfaced. "I understand."

Kaiden shifted slightly in the chair, straightening his posture as his attention sharpened.

"Now it is my turn to ask. Were you the one who betrayed me by relaying information about my dungeon to an external party?"

Kaiden remembered distinctly the masked and robed men who invaded his dungeon right after he was done setting it up. The coincidence was too much; they found it almost instantly.

Furthermore, they seemed to have insider information on what to expect. But, unfortunately for them, Kaiden, wielding the authority of the Dungeon Master who just inherited the abyssal dungeon, did a complete do-over on the realm, changing the landscape and monsters.

Thus, the invaders entered a dungeon they had no relevant information about.

"What? No!" Vaelira gasped, her eyes widening as shock cut through the exhaustion. "What happened-"

"You do not need to know anything beyond what I tell you," Kaiden interrupted. His voice stayed calm, yet the air around him tightened.

"If I find out you lied to me, dying will be the least of your concerns."

The pressure in the room deepened. Vaelira felt it press against her chest, against her spine, a clear reminder of how little distance existed between obedience and consequence. Her body shuddered despite her effort to remain still.

"I understand," she said weakly. "I did not tell anyone about the dungeon. I swear it."

Kaiden watched her closely for several seconds before asking his next question.

"Do you know someone who might have?"