Gazel drew his broadaxe and positioned himself firmly across the carriage door, projecting his voice over the panicking carriage horses.
"Form up around the princess!" Gazel roared, veins bulging along his weathered neck. "Shields out... nobody moves an inch until I give the call!"
Twelve drawn blades answered the veteran's command, as the defensive escort formed ranks while the road buckled under immense subterranean weight.
The armored knights encircled their young mistress with interlocking shields, keeping their anxious eyes fixed upon the rapidly expanding fissures.
Two veteran soldiers secured the terrified carriage horses, while younger guards formed an organized defensive perimeter along the northern road.
'Standard formations drill against bandits and wilderness monsters... never against an entity beneath the earth that speaks fluent human sentences.'
'Coherent speech begins at seven Shards... and seven Shards answers to a Master, while this column commands neither.'
'The princess requires thirty seconds to mount and escape... I merely need to hold the line that long.'
He fought a speaking demonic beast once during a frontier border war, and that single bloody afternoon cost his entire regiment.
The road cracked open with the ear-splitting screech of tearing metal, collapsing inward as a terrifying nightmare dragged itself upward from the dark.
A hulking torso of layered obsidian armor emerged first, followed by a horned visage bearing unsettling, humanoid facial features above.
Pulverized stone and dark soil cascaded from its jagged shoulders, as glowing eyes surveyed the trembling royal guards indifferently.
Its predatory gaze locked onto Princess Didi, while four muscular clawed limbs ended in dark mana and a scaled tail.
The suffocating magical pressure radiating from its obsidian plates felt like standing at the foot of an erupting volcano.
The surrounding air grew suffocatingly stale like an ancient forgotten tomb, extinguishing two nearby torches down to smoking embers instantly.
"What in the King's name are you?" Gazel demanded through gritted teeth, bracing his battleaxe with white knuckles.
"A collector, little sword," the demon answered, its gravelly voice grinding like boulders sliding down a cliffside. "And you are definitely not on my list."
The monstrous entity stepped fully clear of the smoking crater, towering two heads above Gazel in his full war saddle.
Each massive stride shook the fractured flagstones, crushing solid granite into fine gray powder beneath its razor-tipped talons.
"Twelve swords, one barking dog, and a royal gift," the demon chuckled, exposing rows of serrated obsidian fangs. "The math favors me, little sword."
Its horned head tilted sideways, drawing the forest wind through its nostrils like a trained bloodhound working a fresh scent.
"Well now... my nose was not lying after all," the abomination purred, its slitted eyes narrowing into predatory focus.
"Royal blood of the Underworld King," it rasped, a wicked sneer twisting its dark features. "His Majesty will be thoroughly pleased when I carry you home."
The horned demon inhaled deeply once more, its nostrils flaring as it caught another lingering scent upon the wind.
"Though my primary mission was the Goddess's last bloodline... filthy, pathetic thing," the demon muttered with deep disgust. "I can still smell what is left of her out there."
It stared toward the western tree line for several seconds, as the subterranean pit creaked and settled into dark silence.
Its nostrils flared toward the distant ridge, where faint traces of pure celestial divine energy drifted upon the afternoon breeze.
"Too weak to bother hunting right now," the demon scoffed, dismissing the distant scent with a flick of its tail. "This royal prize will do nicely instead."
Princess Didi lost her breath in shock, clutching the carriage doorframe until her knuckles turned white as she watched the monster approach.
'The Goddess bloodline...? The royal imperial archives recorded her absolute demise centuries ago, meaning either the records lie or it lies.'
'A surviving divine line hidden near this very highway... if we survive this encounter, the crown inquisitors must investigate immediately.'
The captain of the vanguard raised his notched halberd with both hands, shouting defensive formations as dark miasma rolled off the crater.
An armored gauntlet clamped onto her wrist, as Gazel leaned close and whispered with absolute, desperate urgency.
"Your Highness," Gazel hissed, his voice trembling with rare panic. "Prepare to run... the horse on the left is clear."
"No!" Didi snapped, jerking her arm against his grip as her ice-blue eyes flashed with fury. "I am not running... stop packing me away like a fragile porcelain doll!"
"When I give the word, you ride!" Gazel barked, his face pale beneath his visor. "And you do not look back for anyone!"
"I said no!" Didi shouted back, stomping her foot onto the boards. "I am not hiding behind carriage cushions while you all die for my sake!"
Gazel turned his rugged face toward her, revealing raw paternal desperation that owed nothing to formal royal military discipline whatsoever.
"Stop being stubborn for once and listen to me!" Gazel pleaded, his voice cracking with emotion. "Do as you are told, child!"
Ten years as her faithful bodyguard passed without him raising his voice once, yet the impending catastrophe shattered his composure entirely.
She ceased struggling against his armored grip, fully understanding what a seven-Shard demonic abomination meant for twelve ordinary royal swordsmen.
Then her gaze found the youngest squire on the left flank, whose round shield rattled uncontrollably against his steel breastplate in terror.
'These men are my people... riding away turns every single loyal knight into an expendable shield for my cowardice.'
"On my mark, clear a lane for the carriage!" the vanguard captain shouted, his voice cracking. "Hold the perimeter!"
The obsidian creature watched their frantic preparations with mocking amusement, sweeping its barbed tail across the ruined dirt highway surface.
"Run all you want, little mortals," the demon sneered, taking another thunderous step forward. "It will not change how this slaughter ends."
Zero men laughed at the taunt, and the tense silence caused the young squire's shield to rattle even more noticeably against his armor.
"Last time I smelled frost this proud," the monster mocked, licking its obsidian lips, "I carried its owner home in two bloody sacks."
The defensive shield wall maintained its rigid formation, knowing that disciplined unity offered their sole microscopic chance of survival here.
A wave of icy calm settled deep within Didi's chest, cool and steady like an unsheathed blade resting upon bare skin.
'No... I will not ride away while good men buy me seconds with their blood.'
She ripped her wrist free from Gazel's grip and stepped boldly past the carriage wheel, entering the open center of the shield ring.
"Your Highness, get back!" Gazel screamed in horror.
Pure magical energy surged from her core, spreading a brilliant ring of crystalline frost across the cracked and trembling highway.
Three pristine frost Shards materialized into rapid orbit around her arms, refracting the pale autumn sunlight into dazzling blue beams.
The creeping frost anchored the loose soil beside the carriage, steadying the panicked horses and providing firm footing for the knights.
Interlocking hexagonal frost patterns spread outward in a thirty-pace circle, turning the churned autumn mud into solid, stable ground.
Glistening frost coated the rim of every shield on the flank, bracing the royal vanguard for the impending collision.
"Wedge formation on my frost!" Didi commanded, her clear voice ringing across the highway like a silver bell. "Hold the line... nobody dies cheaply on my watch!"
The royal knights answered her command with renewed resolve, as even the trembling squire planted his feet firmly on the reinforced ice.
"Since when does the princess fight like that?" a veteran guard whispered in stunned disbelief, raising his spear.
"Driver!" the captain bellowed, pointing toward the road. "Stay on the box... if the line breaks, punch straight through the ice lane!"
"Watch the tail swipes!" another knight yelled, locking shields. "Hold the wedge until it commits its full weight!"
Her tactical orders sounded crisp and authoritative, echoing the refined precision of the royal military academy with chilling regal poise.
Gazel rounded the shield perimeter swiftly, his focused gaze scanning her rotating frost Shards before meeting her determined sapphire eyes.
"What are you doing?!" Gazel demanded, gesturing wildly toward the monster. "You need to be on that horse right now!"
"I am taking field command," Didi replied coldly, raising her rapier with flawless balance. "Follow my orders... and stop treating me like an incompetent child!"
"Your royal father gave me one direct order!" Gazel roared in exasperation. "And it certainly was not this madness!"
"Explain it to him later!" Didi retorted, her eyes blazing with glacial pride. "Assuming we survive this afternoon to have the conversation!"
He wished to argue further, yet he knew from years of service that she never retreated once her mind locked onto a tactical military decision.
'If she perishes on this road... rival noble factions will depose the King from his throne within a single year.'
'She must survive this catastrophe... regardless of what terrible price the rest of this royal column is forced to pay.'
He planted his feet beside hers upon the frost, allowing their tactical dispute to dissolve into grim battlefield readiness.
Gazel shifted his grip upon the scarred hickory haft of his axe, adjusting his stance to protect her exposed right flank.
"Then command, Your Highness," Gazel growled, a fierce, battle-ready grin finally breaking across his rugged face. "I will hold this line until you say otherwise."
The obsidian monster observed her magical display with a tilted head, letting its cruel smirk fade into mild predatory curiosity.
'Three Shards... the Underworld King's prestigious bloodline used to produce far more formidable champions in centuries past.'
The royal bloodline standing before it appeared fragile, failing to match the legendary tales of ancient royal underworld combat fury.
'The hidden divine line might possess greater value... perhaps I shall unearth that one after this royal princess is secured.'
It flexed its obsidian claws against the stone highway, shearing through solid rock as if it were soft, wet clay.
Far to the west, Hajin seized the mutated boar by its left tusk, leveraging his body weight to throw the monster off balance.
His chain cracked twice through the air, binding the monster's mutated foreleg before releasing with fluid and effortless speed.
The gleaming links lashed around the beast's thick right shoulder, tightening into an unbreakable celestial vise that bit into coarse bristles.
Each activation of Divine Bind dumped crushing gravitational mass into the beast's limb, destroying its footing upon the torn earth.
'Works just like an alley debt collector... one clean strike lands, and the crushing weight never stops compounding with interest.'
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The violent impact threw clouds of fine dust into the air, while the chain returned to his knuckles in disciplined coils.
The monster squealed in agony as its front knee shattered beneath the sudden twenty-fold increase in downward gravitational pull.
"Stay down," Hajin hissed, stepping over its flailing tusks without breaking stride. "This stopped going your way the second you stood back up."
'Still three Shards... finish this creature before it remembers its ranged energy blast.'
The battered boar shuddered violently beneath him, collapsing onto its belly as the chain ceased dragging against his raw knuckles.
"Nothing personal, ugly," Hajin whispered with a dark smirk, drawing back his fist. "But you are the only meal out here that fights back."
[ CringeSlayer91: finish move incoming, everybody quiet ]
[ NewViewer_02: day one and they already have finisher traditions, beautiful community ]
[ ShadowMage44: chain control is already this clean, the weapon picked a good owner ]
[ LurkerNoMore: juna is awake in the background, someone check her ribs after the pig funeral ]
'One dead boar pays the guild pillar fine, while this strange mutated corpse raises questions I cannot yet answer.'
Beyond the settling haze of pulverized soil, Juna leaned against a shattered pine trunk, clutching her aching fractured ribs tightly.
'He is actually winning... stay down, stop making this difficult fight harder for him.'
'Ribs cracked on the left flank again... and my wolf pride suffered worse, failing to anticipate that surprise mutated blow.'
'A three-Shard corrupted core commands substantial silver, and the Adventurer Guild owes explanations regarding this irregular monster encounter.'
Hajin rolled his shoulders against the sharp ache in his side, as the chain coiled tightly around his right knuckles.
He wedged his right knee behind the beast's thick tusk, securing the execution angle as his golden Ring rotated smoothly.
The thrashing abomination shuddered beneath the crushing gravitational hold, its corrupted Shards sputtering erratically against the damp loam.
Hajin drew back his fist, channeling his remaining mana into the sacred links to deliver the final, crushing blow.