The boy's heart hammered in his chest, watching from his sofa while gripping a handful of grapes and a bottle of water.

The moment Bastet and Calypso began their work, the stream's perspective jolted in his mind. Kaiden's point of view vanished, much to the boy's annoyance. He was his hero, he preferred to watch his stream over the girls'! But so did the monster girls' streams vanish from his sight. A black notification flashed across the corner of his screen:

[Restricted content detected. Switching to an age-appropriate POV.]

And just like that, he was locked out.

No matter how many times he refreshed, no matter how often he grumbled under his breath, the feed refused to return.

Instead, he was stuck watching from Aria's perspective, who stood with her back turned to the hallway where Elise's screams crawled through the marble walls. She stood in a different room entirely. Despite that, the cries were there, though in the form of a muffled, broken noise behind stone and distance, blurred enough not to paint nightmares.

Restricting children like this wasn't Kaiden's doing; it was the Awakened Media Platform itself.

Whenever the system detected adult-rated content - whether sexual or graphically violent - it reacted instantly. If it were a monster battle with blood and claws, it would splash the screen with censorship, blotting gore behind grey filters and distortion. But when it came to humans torturing humans, or awakened combatants suffering grave injuries, real screams, real agony, the rules were harsher.

The only exception was the underage awakened combatants, namely those who had already leveled up at least once after killing a monster or another human. The platform seemed to be of the opinion that if a child was a combatant, then they deserved to be treated as a responsible awakened.

Some argued that it was likely doing it because restricting their access would pose unfair disadvantages. They were already part of this life-or-death battle against monsters and other awakened humans; not letting them view the same battle footage as the adults could would not be fair.

Anyhow. What mattered was that underage viewers - aside from the aforementioned small populace of awakened combatant children - were cut out. Immediately. No warnings. No countdown.

And the streamer lost them.

Most kids never came back after that kind of abrupt blackout, thanks to their brains being fried after doomscrolling on their iPads since they were babies. They needed an instant hit of dopamine, not the blank screen telling them they are blocked from witnessing what was going on. Thus, their minds wandered until they landed on a new awakened stream to watch.

Which was why Aria stood where she did.

She wasn't part of the torture, deliberately staying in another room, somewhere the screams were distant enough to be "environmental audio," not graphic content. That way, the platform wouldn't flag her perspective as adult-only. That way, Kaiden's stream didn't hemorrhage viewers.

They wanted everyone to see what was going on here.

So while Bastet calmly snapped bone and Calypso peeled pain from flesh with lyrical precision, the boy watched Aria's POV.

And what he saw nearly stopped his heart.

Aria stood in front of a tall mirror framed with polished silver. Her reflection was simply heavenly, sharp as moonlight on still water. Her long silver hair flowed down her back like woven starlight, silky and perfectly brushed, not a single strand out of place.

Her face was painfully beautiful; symmetrical, soft yet sharp in all the right places, with eyes like pale moons that sparkled with mischief. She wore her usual Moon Valkyrie gear: elegant crescent-shaped pauldrons, a fitted chestplate sculpted like it was made just for her curves, and a skirt of layered silver fabrics. A staff rested against her, designed to be sleek, polished, and crowned with a crescent moon.

The boy's heart took off like a machine gun.

His hand launched a grape into his mouth. Then another. Then he grabbed his water bottle and chugged as if he'd been stranded in a desert for seven years. His mother's voice echoed in his skull:

"If you want a girlfriend like Aria one day, you have to be disciplined like Kaiden! Hydrate and eat your fruits!"

Or something like that. The boy couldn't remember exactly what was said, but he got the gist of it.

He nodded vigorously to no one and doubled his pace, so much so that his opportunistic mother sneaked in even more fruits and veggies into his plate, all of which were eaten without complaint.

The mother shed a single tear of joy at the sight.

Meanwhile, Aria delicately adjusted a lock of hair, watching her own reflection with the satisfied air of someone who knew she was a solid hundred out of ten. Then, still smiling, she leaned closer to the mirror, and her voice, when it came, was sweet as sugar.

"So," she purred, addressing the stream, "kids… tell me. Who do you think is the best girlfriend in Kai's harem? And why is it me?"

The boy nearly spat his veggie as he burst into laughter.

Behind her, somewhere down the hall, Elise shrieked as if her soul was being peeled out of her body. Aria didn't even blink. She tilted her head, smile bright and dazzling. The absurdity of it all was unreal.

The chat exploded.

- KaiWife4Eva: Aria is the prettiest!!

- SilverMoonSimp: Obviously Queen Aria!!!

- Katana_King45: Bro she's literally perfect

- KaiAndAria_MyOTP: You're the prettiest girlfriend hands down!!!

Aria giggled, brushing imaginary dust from her armor. "Of course I'm the prettiest. That much is obvious to everyone. That's why I asked who the best girlfriend is."

The boy snorted a quiet laugh. "You also asked why it was you, though…" Yup, this was Aria: competitive, clingy, dangerously in love with Kaiden, and yet… somehow, utterly adorable.

Then it happened.

The travesty that shouldn't be.

- BoobiesRuleTheWorld: Idk about that, Nyx is hotter ngl

Aria froze. Her smile tightened.

- LunaSupremacy420: I think Luna is the best! She's so fun! Kai's gaming streams with her are hilarious. And she's the cutest!

A vein popped visibly on Aria's forehead.

- DesertQueenSimp: Nah, Bastet is far superior to humans. That dark skin, cat vibes, total goddess energy. Human females can't even compete. She could step on me any day of the week and demand I serve her. I would cry tears of joy.

Another scream echoed down the hall. A vein popped on Aria's forehead.

- INeedASuccubus: What about that demon lady who showed up?! Red skin, horns, crazy eyes!! She's the most exotic. I have to reevaluate my best girl ranking list.

- GymBro97: And she has BIG BOOBIES. And abs. Serious abs. Maybe even more visible than yours, Miss Aria?

- MagicalPrincess: Miss Aria, who even is she?? You can't just show up with a demon woman in the group and not address it!!

Aria closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, her smile was brittle.

"Let's focus on my question instead, yes?" she said, puffing her cheeks. "Also, I do not appreciate this attitude. You're all clearly messing with me. You bunch of miscreants, I'll speak with your parents."

- KaiWife4Eva: LOL she's mad

- MoonlightMunchkin: She's so cute when she's angry

- BoobiesRuleTheWorld: Worth it

- LunaSupremacy420: Hehe sorry miss Aria

Aria let out a dramatic sigh, crossed her arms, and turned her head away from the mirror in a pout. "Damned brats…" she mumbled, but had a hard time suppressing the amused smile from erupting on her lips. Clearly, she was having a good time interacting with the kids.

The boy laughed aloud this time, not even realizing he'd already eaten more greens and fruits than he had in the entire past year.

It was absurd, downright insane, how they were casually debating who was the best girlfriend while, somewhere just beyond stone walls, Elise was living the worst moment of her life.

Such was the charm of Valhalla's Sinners.

Not just anyone could pull it off.

One of their biggest strengths was the diversity of personalities present in the group. Most groups would have one or two outstanding personalities demanding all the attention of the viewers, but when it came to the Sinners, anyone could grab the torch and carry on entertaining the viewers if the others were busy with something else.

Just then, Nyx arrived, sporting the most sly of smiles. "Have you had your fun? We got the info, let's go."

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