Chapter 5744

At last, the creature crashed to earth like a crumbling hill, the impact rippling through the clearing and making the ground shudder. Jared sank to one knee, bracing on the blade, lungs heaving while cold sweat slicked his brow; that single strike had drained the scrap of energy he had just regained and torn open half-healed wounds.

Ignoring his own bleeding silence, he hurried to the small fire unicorn, scooping the trembling cub into his arms and flooding it with a thread of pristine celestial essence.

The blessed beast’s vitality proved stubborn. Under that nurturing flow, the burns on its scales dulled, and it nuzzled Jared’s palm with shy gratitude, though its bright eyes still drooped with fatigue.

Jared’s gaze fell to the ape’s fallen bulk, and a spark of calculation flared behind his exhaustion. New to this land, wounded, and on foot, he needed both a guide and a mount. The ape’s strength-and its familiarity with these woods-promised both.

He closed his eyes and sent a calm command through spiritual sense, offering the beast a chance at servitude instead of death.

Yet even choking on its own blood, the ape’s eyes still burned with wild defiance. A guttural warning rumbled in its torn throat-it would rather die than bow.

Jared’s brow tightened.