Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 159 Dagger
The hunters would naturally smile with delight as the behemoth fell.

But how many hunters are there, and who exactly is the hunter?
"Moo!"

When the even "younger" Giant Deer finally exhausted its life force and fell sadly, the earthquake in the entire underground world finally came to an end.

The colossal creature crashed into the earth, its flesh, powerful enough to destroy city walls, covered in bloodstains and wounds.

But even more deadly are the irreparable skin and withered limbs. It had already drained all its life force reserves in the bloody battle with its compatriots.

"Ouch!"

The victor, the other giant deer, was as furious as thunder, but it raised its head and roared angrily.

Like its fallen brother, it was covered in wounds, with a broken horn and a blind eye. The slow regeneration of these wounds revealed that it had also nearly exhausted all its life force.

In a sense, this is inevitable. Two beasts with the same genes and at the same stage, stripped of their reason and intelligence, can only survive by fighting to the death with their talents and instincts. It is already considered lucky. The extra difference may just be due to a few more days of growth.

"(Moo) Delicious. Delicious!" The more tired it felt, the hungrier it felt, and the more it activated its instinct to "eat its own kind."

The giant beast's single eye was bloodshot and filled with blood vessels.

It tried to lower its head and put its mouth towards its brother's corpse.

Eat it! As long as you eat it, not only will your wounds heal, but you will also become stronger, several times stronger!

"Stop, brother."

"Bai" floated in front of the giant beast, while her contracted beast also floated in the sky.

It was preparing to communicate with its victorious brother.

Animal herds never deny internal struggles; the survival of the fittest is a natural law.

In reality, the "Beast King" has changed hands several times, with a few new generation members of the beast pack successfully becoming "Beasts".

But when the true Beast King is sealed away and a new temporary Beast King is created, it must also take on the responsibility of the beast pack. Now, this "elder brother" must take on the responsibility of saving his "father".

But at this moment, the prince of beasts still did not know what had happened to his brother.

It still believed that its brother had broken free of the mind flayers' shackles and was now vying for the position of leader of the pack.

In its calculations, it will give up the position of the deer if the other party wants it, since it is not mature enough yet.

From this perspective, the mind flayer's control, which grants the psychic ability to accelerate metabolism (growth), might actually be a great help to them.

The original plan was that it would take at least six months to grow and gain strength.

Now, perhaps there is no need to waste too much time accumulating power, and we can even try to counterattack Radiant City and break the seal of "Father" right now!

Thinking of this, its calm tone became slightly hurried. It also gained more emotion and humanity because of the magical girl.

However, they would instinctively perceive it as a negative state.

"New Beast King, please lead us and save our father!"

The newly born Beast Princes have no names, and the beast herd does not need overly complex social relationships.

Even during their heyday, most individuals in a herd were nameless because they didn't feel the need to separate from their group and become independent. However, if they achieved something great or even gained a unique status within the herd, they would be given a unique name to facilitate communication with others.

In a sense, having a name that signifies oneself is also a characteristic of a "human society".

Herds of animals don't need names, but animals that interact with the outside world often do.

The beasts that make a contract with the magical girl will gradually develop a sense of self and a more independent humanity.

It even gave itself a name in private: "Xiaobai".

It still floats in mid-air, telling its ambitions. Compared to its kind, it is no longer pure. The beast that made a contract with the magical girl has also gradually gained human nature.

"deer"

"Deer? We are all deer, that's right." The snow-white fawn looked somewhat bewildered, and a hint of doubt appeared in its dark eyes.

"A stag! Another stag!" The giant beast suddenly roared, its single eye radiating naked killing intent.

It's gone mad again.

The enormous mouth suddenly changed direction and bit at the little white creature floating in the air.

"Zizzizi!"

This time, however, it bit directly into the magic shield, and "White" held its staff, standing in front of the behemoth.

When the command to "protect the master" is triggered, the magical girl will fight at the cost of her life.

In the blink of an eye, the two sides were locked in a fierce battle.

"Don't bother calculating anymore." Xiaobai sighed, feeling quite frustrated at that moment.

"Xiaoxue, I suggest we kill it; it's beyond saving."

But the little deer named Xiaoxue just floated silently, watching, just like the two little deer before her, watching the death of her other brother.

"Xiaoxue!" Xiaobai roared, unable to control the anxiety and unease in its heart.

Beasts don't handle such complex emotions; instead, they exhibit obvious emotional fluctuations.

But Xiaoxue remained motionless.

In his rational and detached judgment, the mature beast before him was far more valuable than a young creature like Xiaobai.

Unlike Shiro, who has gradually (forced) acquired humanity, Yuki has only recently formed a contract with the magical girl and still acts purely on reason and instinct.

"It's completely gone mad. You try it, you try it."

At that moment, Xiaoxue took action.

Its reason told it that it was necessary to try; if this mature beast prince was truly beyond saving, losing Little White would be too much of a loss.

The snowflakes began to fall, and it faced its enormous kind.

"Crack!"

The sudden closure of the gaping mouth was the most direct response.

"Snow."

With calm words, Xiaoxue called out to her "tool".

Two magical girls stood in front of their "masters," and seeing this, Purple Rose in the distance pouted, her face full of displeasure.

But the battle continued, only to soon discover that something was amiss. How could their kin, even at this stage, still be so powerful?

"Boom!" Once again, the magical girl Shiro was pressed to the ground by gravity, and blood was seeping from all four of her limbs.

It seems that eliminating this crazed member of our race in the short term is impossible. "Protect our retreat."

"Even if we die, we must not let others die."

The two beasts made the most rational decision in an instant.

There's no point in continuing a battle where there's no benefit (food); let's retreat first.

Even if the magical girl dies in battle, you can just make a contract with another one.

Even if it causes some damage, it's worth it. In the original soul contract, the contracted beast bore the least burden.

If the master (contract beast) dies, the magical girl will definitely die. If the magical girl dies, the contract beast will only be injured, and the main loss of its soul can be transferred out.

"If Bai and Xue die, it might actually be beneficial. Without them, we can hide better."

The rational Xiaoxue made a judgment: they had already been exposed and might need to hide for a while.

At this point, the two magical girls whose appearances are exposed might become an obstacle.

"Indeed, Bai, die here."

The cruel beast gave its companions a death sentence.

Bai's body jolted, but his face remained calm.

The complete control over the soul contract made it utterly impossible for it to resist this command.

The two magical girls began to fight desperately, converting a massive amount of life force into magic power, and giant magic cannons rose and fell one after another.

The battle between the magical girl and the beast reached a fever pitch as the magical girl began to fight desperately.

Just as the two beasts were about to escape, their path was blocked by a group of people.

Rean calmly looked at the two beasts, feeling a deep-seated disgust. If survival is merely about living rationally, if one can abandon everything for the sake of survival, then what meaning does living have?

"Dirty earthlings."

"Bai, come help me!"

Lacking combat prowess, the two cubs made a quick decision: perhaps they still needed immediate combat strength.

Let the weaker snow die in battle, and we'll just use the white one for now.

The master's command is absolute. In just a moment, despite taking another hard blow herself, the magical girl Shiro stood in front of her contracted beast.

Looking at the magical girl whose body was half-stained red, the contract beast Xiaobai paused for a moment before continuing.

"Kill those who stand in your way. If you can't, just self-destruct." Perhaps it has gained some human compassion, but it won't show much "mercy" to its tools.

In its rational judgment, this is a superfluous emotion that would only weaken it further.

The cruel beast made its decision: since it had almost used up the magical girl in front of it, it would just keep using her until she was completely worn out.

"Ignite your own life force!"

However, this order was not executed immediately!

"Click!" The magical girl who was very close suddenly turned around, and a small, fair hand shot out.

The little white deer was too close to react in time, and the magical girl instantly grabbed the little white deer by the neck!
The terrifying physical force directly silenced his subsequent commands and screams.

The other beast was dumbfounded. It couldn't understand what was happening. Why could a magical girl attack a contracted beast? Could a contract passed down for countless years really have a problem?

But Bai didn't stop. She moved quickly, and a bone dagger was already in her hand.

It emanated a pale silver luster in this space, yet inexplicably made people feel uneasy.

"Isn't this the dagger that the magical girl Shiro has been constantly whittling these past few days?" Shiro was somewhat bewildered. It recognized the weapon but didn't know why she was able to break free from the contract, or why she would use this fragile bone dagger.

The power of a contract should be absolute; the soul of a contract should not do anything harmful to itself!

"I can't," the magical girl Shiro said calmly, her voice as always, her tone completely unpredictable.

"I can!" The next moment, the girl's face twisted into a grotesque expression of anger, completely transforming into another personality!
Twin souls go their own way, and newly born souls are not bound by any contract.

Thus, the newborn soul without a contract took over Bai's body, and the dagger fell directly down!
Xiao Bai stared wide-eyed, his face full of disbelief. "Even if you get rid of the restrictions in the short term, you'll still die if you kill me!"
"The oath is broken!"

The woman's angry rebuke echoed throughout the underground world; at that moment, the anger and resentment in her heart were enough to set the entire world ablaze.

As the pure white bone dagger fell, a crisp sound rang out, and something invisible was torn apart.

The next moment, the pure white magical girl clenched her fist.

"Snapped!"

That "cute little deer" had its head crushed and died instantly!
The girl finally smiled.

She had been preparing for this moment for far too long.

"The Beast Child of Elsena also possesses the right to control gravity and separation. Its antlers, when detached, can be used to create top-tier equipment imbued with the principles of 'overturning,' 'inversion,' and 'gravity.' Several legendary artifacts have used it as a material, such as the famous 'Dagger of Oathbreaker.'"

Witnessing all this, the inheritor team instantly recalled the "education" given by Purple Rose when they first met the Beast Child.

This is a dagger made from the antlers of the Beast Child. Its sole purpose is to tear apart and betray any contract, including the contract between the Beast Child and the Human Child!

The technique for crafting it into the Oath-Betraying Dagger was naturally provided by Kuku, who is currently enjoying the "drama."

Using materials from the deer, the magical girl Shiro successfully murdered the deer and finally gained her freedom.

For the first time, she showed a genuine smile.

Sweet, innocent, yet filled with too much sadness.

The dagger was covered in cracks, and it didn't seem to be a complete "divine weapon". It was just a temporary item that could be used two or three times by utilizing the properties of the material.

But that's enough.

"Traitor. Snow." The other beast, Little Snow, called out to the contractor, but was shoved back halfway through.

The fast-moving magical girl Shiro captured it instantly.

When the dagger fell a second time and the contract was shattered once more, the dagger also broke completely.

"boom!"

What followed was the fall of the magical girl Yuki.

"food!!"

And that behemoth, with its greedy gaze.

(End of this chapter)