The bird dragged itself upright exactly as Hajin had requested, then screamed into another dive at his face.
He watched it come the whole way, tilted his head a few inches, and let the beak shear past his ear.
Then his hand closed on the back of its neck, and he drove the creature into the ground.
Rock cracked beneath its chest, and dust rolled outward in a slow gray ring.
The bird's claws scraped uselessly at the earth while its purple eyes stayed fixed on him with stubborn anger.
None of this qualified as a fight anymore, and both of them seemed to know it.
He had let the bird stand three times out of pure curiosity, and every attempt ended with the same dive.
Same angle, same scream, and the same shallow crater at the end of it every time.
There had been a time when an enemy this strong would have flattened him and left him fighting for each breath.
The Beast King had done exactly that barely a week ago, caving in his ribs and nearly finishing him.
