Chapter85

The Rescue
"Flank it!" Didi shouted, her voice cutting through the panic of the knights. 
Gazel didn't hesitate, his boots digging into the dirt as he launched himself forward. He swung his sword in a heavy arc, the blade slamming into the monster's obsidian shoulder with a violent clang. 
The impact sent a vibration up his arm that made his teeth rattle, but when he pulled the sword back, there wasn't even a scratch on the scales.
'Not a single mark,' Didi thought, her pulse climbing. 'How is that possible?'
She pushed her mana forward, frost erupting from her feet and racing across the ground in jagged shards. The ice climbed up the monster's legs, attempting to lock it in place, but the creature didn't even look down. It simply shifted its weight, and the ice shattered like cheap glass under its bulk.
"Now!" she commanded, gesturing for the other knights to close in.
The formation moved as one, swords and spears raining down on the obsidian torso. Metal shrieked against stone, a chaotic symphony of failed attacks that left the knights gasping for air. Gazel led the charge, his three Shards flaring brightly as he drove a concentrated strike into the monster's chest.
The monster didn't move. It just stood there, taking the hits with a look of genuine curiosity on its human-like face.
"How cute," the monster said, its voice grinding like boulders rubbing together. 
It tilted its head, watching Didi as she panted, her blue Shards flickering with effort. The creature let out a slow, rumbling sigh that smelled of old graves and sulfur.
"I expected more from the Underworld King's line," it muttered, its eyes drifting with boredom. "It seems you haven't even awakened the bloodline yet. You're just... playing at being a warrior."
'Awakened the bloodline?' She thought, her grip tightening on her weapon. 'What is it talking about?'
The monster's grin returned, but it lacked any real malice now, replaced by a dull disappointment. Its gaze scanned the trembling knights and then returned to her, the predatory interest from before fading into something closer to pity.
"My expectations keep going lower," the monster said, shifting its weight. "At this rate, bringing you back will be like delivering a stunted house-pet instead of a royal."
Didi felt a surge of heat in her chest that had nothing to do with her magic. She stepped forward, her boots crunching on the shattered ice.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped, her voice shaking slightly. "But I'm not a pet."
The monster chuckled, a sound that vibrated through the ground and made the knights stagger. "If you say so, little princess."
She closed her eyes for a second, pulling her mana inward until it felt like a tight knot in her chest. She didn't go for a wide blast this time, instead shaping the frost into a single, needle-thin spike that hummed with pressure.
She lunged forward, the movement a blur as she drove the spike into a narrow gap between two obsidian plates. There was a sharp, wet sound and the spike