Hajin kicked off the ground with a sharp crack, his body launching forward like a coiled spring. His fist slammed into the center of the creature’s chest with enough force to shatter stone.

The impact felt like hitting a solid wall of iron, sending a jolt of pain straight up his arm. His mana flared against the purple scales, but Maren didn’t even flinch at the hit. The nine-foot monster just let out a hollow, distorted laugh that echoed through the trees.

It brought its massive arm back in a wide arc, the air whistling as it cut through the darkness.

Hajin saw the strike coming but couldn’t dodge in time while his feet were still in the air. He crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing for the impact.

Maren’s fist hit his guard with the weight of a falling building, crushing the air from his lungs. The shockwave sent a cloud of dirt and leaves spinning violently into the air.

Hajin felt the bone in his left forearm groan under the pressure, his mana shield shattering like glass.

He launched backward through the trees like a cannonball, unable to arrest his momentum. His body tore through thick branches before slamming into the ground with a heavy thud. He rolled across the forest floor and came to a stop against the base of a jagged rock.

[ System Alert ]

[ User is suffering internal trauma. ]

[ Overlord Maren’s physical output exceeds your current defense. ]

He coughed and pushed himself up, tasting the copper tang of blood on his tongue.

He wiped a streak of blood from his chin with the back of his hand and looked at the mutated thing standing in the center of the crater.

Maren was slowly walking toward him while the thick demonic mist swirled around his feet.

"Is that it?" Maren’s overlapping voices echoed together. "I expected a lot more from the person who looked down on me."

Hajin stood up and shook the dust from his hair, keeping his eyes locked on the monster. He looked down at the ring resting securely on his pinky, watching the thin gold line in the center of pulsing fast.

"I’m just testing your weight," he said quietly as he felt the surplus dragon mana from the exam still sitting heavily in his core.

It was time to see if the assimilation skill could actually handle a demonic source.

He took a slow breath, adjusting his stance as he let his mana flow freely through his pathways. He didn’t lock his joints like a traditional swordsman, instead dropping his center of gravity while loosening his shoulders to mimic Juna’s feral movements.

Maren roared, stepping forward to deliver another crushing blow, but Hajin was already gone.

He slipped under the massive sweeping arm with unnatural flexibility, pivoting sharply on his heel to drive a mana-enhanced elbow directly into the monster’s ribs. Maren grunted, turning to swat him away like a fly, but Hajin had already twisted out of reach.

He moved like water, utilizing his perfect mana control to propel himself in erratic, lightning-fast bursts that made him completely impossible to track.

Maren threw punch after punch, tearing massive chunks out of the forest floor, while Hajin just danced around the destruction. It was like fighting a mosquito, because every time the overlord committed to a strike, Hajin would slip past the guard to land three rapid hits of his own.

’The physical difference doesn’t matter if he can’t hit me,’ he thought, ducking a wild backhand before launching a spinning kick against Maren’s knee. ’But these hits aren’t doing enough damage, so I need to figure out this ring.’

He focused his attention on the ring, trying to push his mana into it. The ring pulsed with a faint heat, but the assimilation skill remained completely dormant.

He dodged another heavy slam, his eyes narrowing as he realized he was approaching this the wrong way. The Chains of the Goddess absorbed corrupted essence automatically through the Divine Bind, but the Spirit Ring required him to actively take the power for himself.

’I can’t just hit him,’ he realized, his eyes tracking the thick purple mist leaking from Maren’s scales. ’I have to actually touch the demonic mana.’

He stopped dodging, planting his feet firmly on the ground right as Maren brought both fists down for a devastating hammer strike.

He didn’t raise his arms to block, instead keeping his hands open as he watched the massive fists descend. He waited until the absolute last second, stepping slightly forward so he was inside Maren’s guard.

He reached up, pressing his bare palms directly against the corrosive mist coating the overlord’s forearms.

The demonic mana instantly reacted to his touch, biting into his skin like acid as it tried to consume his hands.

"You fool!" Maren’s overlapping voices roared, pushing more power into the strike. "You can’t block this!"

Hajin grit his teeth against the burning pain, letting his own mana completely drop. He didn’t try to fight the corruption, instead relaxing his pathways and opening the gates to his core entirely.

[ System Alert ]

[ Demonic essence is invading the user’s body. ]

The ring suddenly flared with a blinding, pure white light.

[ Spirit Ring Function Activated: Assimilation ]

The corrosive mist burning his hands suddenly reversed its flow, ripping away from Maren’s armor and violently surging into the ring. The gold line across the band turned pitch black as the ring began devouring the demonic energy at a terrifying rate.

Maren’s triumphant roar instantly turned into a scream of pure terror as he realized he couldn’t pull his arms away.

The dark armor covering his chest started flaking off, the raw power sustaining his mutated form being forcibly drained directly into Hajin’s body.

Hajin gasped, feeling the dense, oily energy wash into his core where it collided directly with the leftover dragon mana. The two opposing forces crashed against each other violently, but the Spirit Ring acted as a perfect mediator, forcing the demonic power to submit before refining it into something usable.

[ Assimilation Successful. ]

[ New Mana Property Acquired: Demonic Density ]

He felt his muscles swell with new, explosive power, the burning pain in his left arm vanishing as the demonic vitality forcibly repaired his fractured bone.

He looked up at Maren, his eyes glowing with a faint, dangerous purple hue.

"You talk too much," he whispered, tightening his grip on the overlord’s forearms.

He pulled hard, yanking the massive monster off balance and bringing its face down to his level. He coated his right fist in a thick layer of dense, purple-black mana that crackled with chaotic energy, pulling his arm back before driving it directly into the center of Maren’s face.

The impact sounded like a cannon firing at point-blank range, the sheer force of the blow instantly snapping Maren’s neck and blowing the mutated creature backward.

Maren skipped across the forest floor like a stone, tearing through dozens of trees before finally crashing into the base of the capital’s towering outer wall.

[ CringeSlayer91: HOLY SHIT!!! That’s gotta hurt]

He lowered his fist, slowly exhaling a cloud of dark mist as he looked down at the ring on his pinky.

It was still hot to the touch, the gold line having returned to normal, but he could feel the terrifying weight of the new power settling permanently into his core.

’Assimilation,’ he thought, a slow, dangerous smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. ’This ring isn’t just a support item, it’s a cheat code.’