Chapter 598: Serve Me or Die ( Bonus - )

Chapter 598: Serve Me or Die ( Bonus Chapter )

A strong wind moved around him.

The monster instinctively raised its head, those two black wings cast a huge shadow over the ground beneath the red sky above the mountains.

But before the monster could react properly, Lian left the ground and, with a single flap of his wings, rose several meters into the air.

The Sovereign tried to follow his movement by turning its body, but Lian was moving faster than its eyes could follow.

A moment later, a shadow passed over its head.

And then

BOOOOM!

Lian’s foot struck the Sovereign’s shoulder, and the monster’s huge body was slammed into the ground.

The rocks around the impact point sank, and a large crack formed beneath its chest.

The monster let out a painful roar and tried to get back up.

But another force pressed down on its body from the opposite side.

[ Sovereign Judgment ]

Seris held her sword at a short distance, this time using only part of her own mana to restrain the target.

Even so, the skill’s pressure was enough for a creature that was still suffering from serious injuries despite activating Unholy Last Blood.

The Sovereign’s knees bent again.

Lian landed in front of it, and the Wings of God settled quietly behind him.

For a moment, his gaze remained fixed on the creature that had once called itself the god of the mountains.

The monster tried to roar, but its voice turned into a rough cough, and dark blood came out of its mouth.

Its stored life force was rapidly running out.

And this time, there was nothing left to save it.

The young Vorhelm clenched his right hand, his fingers slowly forming a fist.

When the Dreadmaw Sovereign saw that movement, it held its breath for a moment, it knew what the next punch would mean.

In its current condition, even one more hit could end its life.

There was no altar left, no life force left to use with Unholy Last Blood, no way to escape, and not even any hope of defeating these two humans.

This time, it was truly dying.

The Dreadmaw Sovereign took short, broken breaths.

Whenever it tried to move its body, intense pain passed through its shoulder and chest.

The energy of Unholy Last Blood was still flowing inside it, but it could barely suppress its injuries anymore.

Even after activating that innate power, it had failed to push the two humans in front of it back.

Its gaze remained fixed on Lian’s hand, the same hand that had crushed its bones in the past.

Now, if that fist came down, it probably would not get another chance to stand up.

But Lian did not strike, instead, he lowered his hand.

"I have a proposal."

The monster raised its head for a moment.

"What...?"

He glanced at Seris, and the girl reduced the pressure of Sovereign Judgment, but she remained ready to react if it made any suspicious move.

"To be honest, I didn’t come back just to kill you."

The monster gave a bloody smile.

"Then... why did you come back?"

Lian thought for a few seconds before answering.

"To see whether you’re worth keeping alive or not."

The Sovereign narrowed its eyes.

"You’re an Unholy monster, you’re intelligent, you can learn from your experiences, and even though you haven’t undergone your first evolution yet, you’re incredibly powerful."

His gaze briefly fell on the remains of the Inverted Blood Altar.

"If you hadn’t spent all this time experimenting on humans, you would probably have evolved a long time ago."

The Dreadmaw Sovereign gritted its teeth, those words hurt more than any other insult.

It had spent thirty years working toward its goal.

It had experimented with different hearts and searched for various ways to become human.

But in the end, everything had failed.

And now, the creature that had destroyed all its efforts was standing in front of it, talking about its wasted talent.

"Shut up..."

"Even so, you still have a chance." Lian showed no reaction.

"Serve me."

For several seconds, complete silence filled the area.

Even the cold wind passing between the rocks could not remove the weight of that moment.

Then, the Dreadmaw Sovereign laughed.

It was a short, rough laugh that quickly turned into a bloody cough.

"A slave?"

Its gaze remained fixed on Lian’s face.

"You want me... the Sovereign of these mountains... to become a subordinate of a human?"

Lian nodded.

"Exactly."

The monster laughed again, this time, its laughter came more from hatred than anything else.

"I hate humans!"

Its claws scraped against the rocks.

"Your race destroyed my entire family, slaughtered the creatures I belonged to, and took our lands."

Its gaze briefly shifted toward the ruined village below the mountains.

"I spent thirty years trying to find a way into human territory. Thirty years searching for a body that could withstand my power."

Its smile disappeared.

"And now you want me to serve a human?"

Lian said nothing, and the Sovereign continued in a firmer voice.

"I would rather die!"

The young Vorhelm looked at it for a few seconds, then nodded very naturally.

"Alright."

That was all.

He did not try to convince it, make any promises, or even explain the benefits of joining the colony.

He simply raised his right hand again, and the Dreadmaw Sovereign fell silent for a moment, it had not expected this reaction.

It had imagined that if this human truly wanted to make it serve him, he would try to convince it.

Perhaps he would threaten it, or perhaps he would promise it more power, but apparently, Lian was truly ready to respect its choice.

And kill it.

The young man’s fingers slowly closed into a fist.

The Sovereign looked at his hand, its entire body was still in pain from the previous punch, and even the thought of being struck by that fist again made its injured muscles tense up instinctively.

Lian took a step closer, but just before he could strike

"Lian."

Seris’s voice rang out, he turned his head toward the girl, and she kept her gaze on the Dreadmaw Sovereign.

"Do you really want to keep it?"

Lian remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"If it agrees."

Seris turned her gaze toward him.

"Aria."

Just one word, but its meaning was completely clear to both of them.

He turned his gaze back to the monster.

"I haven’t forgotten, I haven’t forgotten Aria or the other people it killed."

He remained silent for a few seconds.

"But its death won’t bring them back, if I can keep all its abilities under control, it won’t be able to do those things again."

Seris said nothing.

"An Unholy monster with this much intelligence and growth potential could be a valuable member, especially if I force it to use all its abilities for a different purpose."

Then he looked at the Sovereign.

"Of course, it only gets one chance."

The young Pendragon looked at him for a few moments, she still hated that creature.

But she knew how useful it could be to have a monster as a subordinate.

One and Two could no longer act against Lian’s main commands after accepting the bond.

If this creature really joined the colony, it would no longer have the freedom it once had either.

In that case, even the monster itself might be of much greater help than its corpse.

Seris finally gave a small nod.

"Alright."

However, it still had no intention of giving in, it struggled to raise its head.

"I said... I’d rather die!"

Lian let out a short sigh.

"Fine."

This time, he truly prepared to bring his fist down, but at that very moment, an idea crossed his mind, and his gaze remained on the monster’s face for a moment.

A creature that had spent thirty years trying to use a human body without losing its own monster power.

A creature that believed no ordinary human could withstand its existence energy.

He gave a faint smile.

’Maybe I should show it something interesting before it dies.’

"By the way, I have a question."

The Dreadmaw Sovereign looked at him with hatred.

"What?"

"You spent thirty years searching for a human body that could withstand the power of an Unholy monster, right?"

The monster frowned.

"So what?"

Lian did not answer.

Instead, he released a very small amount of Eclipse Energy from his Eclipse Core.

The faint light shining through the clouds and reaching the area changed around his right hand, and black lines appeared within the light.

Eclipse Energy moved along the paths of the light, and several thin strands of corrupted light formed around Lian’s fingers.

The Dreadmaw Sovereign did not move for a moment, its gaze fixed on the young man’s hand.

At first, it thought it was facing some kind of dark energy, but it soon realized that its nature was different from ordinary mana.

A deep pressure rose from within it.

Not because of the amount of energy, but because of its quality, the monster instinctively lowered its head.

This...

Its instincts had reacted, it felt as if a being of a much higher rank had entered its territory.

But this time, the pressure came from only a few tiny strands of energy.

"What is that...?"

Lian gave a small smile

"Something simple."

That answer did nothing to calm the monster, because it had recognized the energy, not its exact source, but it had recognized its rank, the energy belonged to a being of the Demon rank!

How could this human use something that belonged to a Demon?