Hajin found the Hunting Avatar inside the abandoned mint after Didi cleared the western district. Veran’s complete body waited beneath eight ward circles, each carrying living signatures the avatar had preserved after Vella destroyed its possession choir.
One Ring opened around Hajin’s right wrist while Divine Eye followed every connection. The closest circle led toward two healers treating patients beyond the canal, though neither person carried white-gold scripture after Vella’s severance.
"The avatar has attached force through the ward instead of their cores," Aria said, separating each living anchor from the dead choir, "they remain unwilling infrastructure, and damaging Veran will still transfer physical consequence toward them."
The second Ring increased Hajin’s sight through the mint foundation; Eight circles became eight occupied nodes beneath the capital, with every route crossing the missing key before entering Veran’s willing soul.
"Your healer network is gone," he said, keeping the Chain stored while the avatar watched his Rings, "release the remaining anchors before we remove the key from your body."
"Their assigned function remains available," Dominion replied through Veran’s mouth, "a life beneath authority supports the rank capable of directing it, whether the lesser vessel understands the arrangement or not."
"You keep explaining ownership after people refuse it," Hajin said, opening his third Ring, "that sounds less convincing every time somebody walks away."
Pressure crossed the mint without striking him; All eight ward circles tightened around their living anchors, making each signature visible enough for Hajin to recognize the lives Veran intended as restraint.
Two belonged to healers Vella had preserved, three came from guards trapped inside foundation corridors, while another carried Didi’s temporary district route through an empty marker. The final two led below the western wing toward unknown bodies, before anyone changed position.
The Stream filled with requests to break the visible avatar before it moved again. Hajin kept those comments beyond his main sight, because none of the viewers could inspect the people attached beneath Veran’s armor.
"Four Rings should expose the transfer law," Aria said, placing a warning beside his current pathway load, "opening them does not remove the consequence of severing before we know where all eight routes end."
Hajin opened Ring 4 after confirming the mint held nobody else, while Hajin tracked the change. The fourth halo joined the rotation around his wrist, pushing Aegis through the avatar’s outer law until every hidden anchor appeared across the district map.
Raw power could crush Veran’s body before Dominion transferred elsewhere, without altering the agreed sequence. The same strike would enter the two unknown anchors, collapse three trapped corridors, plus break Didi’s frozen district boundary while route guards still counted people outside it.
[ Hunting Avatar core distribution ]
[ Willing vessel: one ]
[ Occupied ward anchors: eight ]
[ Safe full severance route: none ]
The avatar raised one hand after seeing all four Rings; white-gold armor split along Veran’s chest, exposing the incarnation core while keeping every living line attached beneath it.
"Use the strength you claim without rank," Dominion ordered, offering the core inside the target Hajin wanted, "either accept the lawful cost or prove lesser lives command you."
Hajin summoned the Legendary Chain into his right hand but left every link loose. Divine Sever could end the visible body through the exposed core, yet the transfer map showed eight people or groups receiving the cut afterward.
"It is trying to make restraint feel like surrender," Aria said, keeping the safe-route warning in place, "the core exposure changed nothing except how easy the attack appears."
"I noticed," he replied, allowing Ring 4 to complete one turn before closing it, "we are changing the target from the body to the law moving damage between nodes."
The fourth halo vanished without attacking, reducing the pressure on his recovering arm. Stream comments turned from anticipation toward confusion while Dominion closed the offered core behind Veran’s armor.
[ CringeSlayer91: ] DID HE JUST TURN OFF THE BIGGEST RING IN FRONT OF A GOD BOSS.
[ RationalSkeptic7: ] Eight hostage routes are visible on the map; hitting harder is the exact test the avatar prepared.
[ JunaFanClub: ] Juna would cut the exits before letting him swing, so find the exits.
The Hunting Avatar attacked after losing the immediate choice it had arranged. Eight white-gold blades entered the mint floor, each carrying a different ward address toward the attached anchors.
Hajin used three Rings to catch the blades inside separate Aegis pockets. He let their physical force continue until Divine Eye recorded every turning point before folding each pocket away from its occupied destination.
The method cost more mana than destroying the attack, though it revealed one shared transfer interval beneath the missing key. Every blade paused there before its address changed, giving Ferra something physical enough to ground.
"I found the law," he said, sending the recorded interval toward her through the commission route, "all eight anchors pass one royal pin before damage receives another destination."
"Do not cut it until my stakes can receive the recoil," Ferra replied from the bridge forge, "the node carries force already stored from Loccy’s district, and severing blind returns everything at once."
Juna appeared above the mint after following three construct routes from the western rooftops. One Wing remained manifested, showing she had found observation shells rather than another avatar body.
"The hunt is reopening evacuated wards behind us," she reported, dropping beside Hajin without crossing the Aegis pockets, "I can cut the return routes, but chasing the shells leaves Ferra alone while she installs stakes."
Didi entered the square after Vella cleared her Shards for limited Crowned Frost. Captain Roen remained with the western residents, leaving the princess free to follow one royal transfer line without abandoning their route counts.
"The missing key changes a destination after the ward accepts force," she said, placing silver-gold frost beside the shared interval, "my current can arrest one address, but the other seven will continue moving unless Ferra catches the common turn."
"Can you freeze the shared pin?" Hajin asked, keeping three Rings active around the separated Aegis pockets.
"Not without freezing every occupied branch attached beneath it," she replied, following the living lines toward their bodies, "the foundation treats their blood as part of the address, so stopping the pin would arrest circulation inside all eight anchors."
"The people under these routes are not interchangeable supports," Didi said, withdrawing Crowned Frost before it touched the pin, "we need each branch freed by the person capable of separating its claim, not one larger refusal pressed over all of them."
The avatar sent another strike into Hajin’s pockets after hearing their conclusion. He folded each blade into an empty ground mark, using the repeated transfer to confirm every attack still paused inside Ferra’s identified interval.
"Then Ferra grounds the common turn without freezing the living branches," he said, closing one Aegis pocket after its force emptied, "Vella removes unwilling core links, while Didi stops only the royal addresses feeding Veran."
"And Juna keeps him from restoring cleared routes behind us," she replied, pointing toward the rooftops where constructs had begun gathering around Ferra’s path.
"Protect her route," he ordered, storing the Chain before changing weapons became another opening, "we do not need Veran dead before the city stops carrying him."
The avatar withdrew through four ward circles instead of contesting three Rings inside the cleared mint. Hajin released each Aegis pocket only after its stored blade received an empty ground destination Ferra had certified.
All eight living anchors remained alive, while the shared interval persisted beneath the missing key. Ring 4 had shown Hajin the complete target, but closing it kept Dominion from choosing who paid for the first decisive strike.