Hajin did not close his eyes as he flew directly toward the monster’s crushing fists, his mind remaining entirely detached from the very real threat of death.

"Aegis Barrier," he muttered, his voice barely audible over the roaring wind as he channeled mana into his interface.

A hexagonal grid of pale blue light immediately erupted in front of him, locking into place just a fraction of a second before the gorilla’s fists slammed into it. The resulting impact shattered the air around them, sending a dangerous shockwave tearing across the plateau as the barrier absorbed the brunt of the force.

He was still thrown backward by the momentum of the blow, feet skidding hard against the gold veins as he finally dug his heels in to stop.

"Hajin!" Vella shouted, her aura flaring around her shoulders as she prepared to launch herself directly at the four-armed beast.

"Stay back," he ordered bluntly, wiping a fresh line of blood from his nose as he stared at the roaring monster, "I need to see exactly what this new mana can do."

Juna instantly grabbed the back of Vella’s armor to pull her back, knowing better than to argue when he used that specific tone of voice.

The gorilla monster did not wait for them to finish talking, launching itself across the cratered ground with terrifying speed as it brought all four fists down toward his skull. Hajin stepped directly into the strike instead of dodging, calling forth his rings that now hummed with a volatile fusion of holy gold and demonic blue.

He punched straight up, his aura condensing around his knuckles to meet the creature’s oversized fists in a grinding, ear-splitting collision of raw power.

The beast shrieked in sudden agony as the hybrid mana effortlessly burned through its thick fur, corroding the flesh and shattering the bones in its lower arms upon contact. The density of his upgraded core entirely overwhelmed the monster’s natural defenses, forcing the giant creature to stumble backward in panic.

He did not let the creature retreat, maintaining his aggressive forward momentum without hesitation.

He flicked his wrist, sending his chain whipping forward to tightly wrap around the beast’s thick throat before brutally yanking it back down toward the plateau.

The gorilla crashed onto its back, struggling desperately to tear the chain from its neck while choking on its own blood.

He stepped onto the monster’s chest, his expression entirely numb as he raised his right hand and funneled a dense charge of fused mana into the Collector’s Grasp. He plunged his hand directly into the creature’s exposed chest, his fingers easily piercing the muscle before closing tightly around its pulsing core.

[ Monster Core successfully harvested. ]

[ Analyzing energy... ]

He crushed it to dust without bothering to read the rest of the prompt, letting the beast’s lifeless body go limp against the gold veins.

"Well," he noted casually, shaking the blood off his gloves as the three Rings faded from his arms, "that definitely hits harder than before."

Vella just stared at the dead monster in utter silence, her jaw slightly slack while Loccy clapped her hands cheerfully from the sidelines.

He ignored their varied reactions entirely, turning away from the carcass to look out over the sheer edge of the mountain.

"I told you to get Marrick and the miners," he reminded them bluntly, not even bothering to look back over his shoulder, "why are you still standing here?"

"Right, yeah, right away," Juna blinked, finally shaking off her shock as she grabbed Vella’s arm and quickly herded Loccy toward the descending trail.

The three of them practically rushed back down the mountain path, leaving him alone on the silent peak with the endless veins of raw gold beneath his feet.

Once he was entirely certain they were out of earshot, he finally let out a slow breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. He stared down at the fractured mountain, his mind rapidly sorting through the brief conversation he had just shared with the Watcher.

Why was a monster of that ridiculous magnitude sitting alone on a random mountain just to guard a gold vein?

The monster had clearly claimed the territory for itself, but its presence still felt like absurd overkill for simple resource protection.

Even more concerning was the creature’s final comment about his mana originating from the old world before it vanished into the mist.

Was that monster actually old enough to remember Ouro before the Goddess was murdered and Shards replaced Rings? He stared at his empty, blood-stained gloves, realizing that his rapidly growing power was only generating far more questions than answers.

He finally pushed those questions to the back of his mind, turning his attention to the deep cave carved into the side of the highest peak.

He walked into the dark opening, stepping carefully over the shattered rocks until he reached the center of the cavern, where he immediately stopped dead in his tracks. Resting on a bed of raw gold ore was an egg the size of a carriage wheel, radiating an aura so terrifyingly dense it made the air hum with pressure.

He stared at the glowing shell in disbelief, his mind rapidly concluding that this absurdly powerful object almost certainly belonged to the Watcher.

Why else would she be guarding this specific mountain so fiercely, and where exactly had she gone off to if she was leaving her offspring entirely unguarded?

"Whatever," he muttered, immediately taking a cautious step backward, "it is definitely better to just leave her stuff alone and look somewhere else."

He turned on his heel to walk back out, deciding that provoking an ancient Guardian Beast over an egg was a terrible survival strategy.

Before he could even take a third step toward the exit, a sharp, resounding crack echoed loudly through the cavern behind him. He froze instantly, slowly looking over his shoulder just in time to see the top half of the glowing shell shatter into countless pieces.

Instead of a terrifying beast, a tiny monster boy with an undeniably majestic appearance and pale silver hair tumbled out of the shell, landing directly onto the gold ore.

"Why would it crack right now, damn it," he muttered under his breath, taking another quick step backward while mentally cursing his awful luck.

The tiny monster boy pushed himself up from the ground, his bright, unblinking eyes immediately locking directly onto Hajin across the cavern.

Before he could even react, the boy vanished from the gold ore and instantly reappeared directly in front of him, driving a tiny fist deep into his stomach to crush the air from his lungs.

The force of the blow launched Hajin cleanly off his feet, sending him flying backward through the cavern until his spine crashed against the wall. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, dropping to his hands and knees in shock as the blunt impact entirely bypassed his natural defenses.

"Daddy," the boy laughed cheerfully, tilting his head with an innocent smile as he looked across the cavern at the gasping summoner.