Chapter74

He wanted to argue but he knew there was no convincing her when she was like this. 'Dammit, if the princess dies, the king might lose his position to the other major noble houses.' He thought, biting his lip and forcing his eyes to face the monster.
'I have to make sure she survives, no matter the cost.'
The monster watched the whole thing with its head tilted to one side, that grin slowly fading into something closer to boredom.
'Is that it?' he thought, looking a the shards around Didi's wrist and feeling a dull disappointment settle in his chest.
'This is what the Underworld King's bloodline produces these days? I expected at least five, maybe six if the royal line had been breeding for strength.' He let out a slow breath through his nose, already losing interest.
'What a shame. I was told this bloodline was special, but she doesn't even look like she could handle a hellhound.'
His gaze drifted past her for a second, his mind pulling toward something else entirely.
'Then again, there was that other one,' he thought, remembering the faint residue of power he had picked up earlier. 'The one carrying the Goddess's scent. If the royal bloodline is this weak, I wonder if he will be any different.'
Hajin grabbed the boar by one of its tusks, spun his whole body, and slammed it into the ground, "stay down big guy, this battle won't go in your favor," he said, a large grin spreading on his face.
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The Brand
Hajin held the monster down, feeling the ground still shuddering from the impact and the creature's desperate, wet gasps beneath his weight. He felt a wave of relief that things had actually turned out okay.
'Good thing it didn't finish evolving,' he thought, watching the three shards orbit its tusks with a flickering instability, 'most monsters need time to adjust to that kind of power jump, otherwise their own bodies just can't handle it.'
He kicked off the ground and leaped high, the golden chains instantly coiling tight around his forearm and fist in a series of sharp, metallic clicks that sounded like a lock snapping into place.