For several minutes, they repeated the cycle.
The battlefield became a blur of destruction.
Buildings collapsed.
Cars were crushed.
Concrete was reduced to dust.
The boss’s body was covered in wounds.
And yet they kept closing regardless.
Eden’s breathing became heavier.
His Essence was dropping.
Kael’s golden sword flickered.
His movements became slower.
’We’re running out of time.’
’If this continues much longer, Kael will collapse.’
’And once Kael goes down, any chances of winning this would be gone.’
’Losing means dying.’
’And dying to such a insignificant creature is not an option.’
Eden’s thoughts got interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Eden!"
Eden looked over.
Lucy stood several dozen meters away.
Pink Essence was swirling around her body.
It was denser than before.
Much denser.
Her fists were trembling from the pressure.
Her face was pale.
But her eyes were determined.
"I’m ready!"
Eden’s eyes widened slightly.
’Finally!’
"Good!"
He immediately turned toward the boss.
"Lucy!"
"Yes!"
"When I give the signal, hit its chest!"
Lucy nodded.
Kael looked over.
"The chest?"
"That’s where we’re ending this."
Kael understood immediately.
"So you did have a plan after all."
Eden smirked.
"Something like that."
The boss roared and charged.
Eden didn’t move.
Instead, he lowered both daggers.
His expression became completely serious.
He could feel it.
The last remnants of Essence inside his body.
The battle had consumed almost everything.
He had been fighting continuously.
Phase Shift.
Stealth.
Devour.
Every skill had drained him.
But there was still enough.
Enough for one final gamble.
Eden exhaled.
"Let’s see if this works."
Red Essence began leaking from his body.
At first, it was only a thin mist.
Then it thickened.
The monster charged faster.
Eden raised his hand.
The red Essence erupted.
"Devour!"
The battlefield changed.
Vicious crimson energy exploded outward.
It wasn’t like the Devour he had used earlier.
This time, Eden poured everything he had into it.
Every remaining drop of Essence.
Every ounce of strength.
Every last bit of power he could force through the skill.
The red energy spread across the ground.
Then climbed.
It wrapped around the boss’s legs.
Its waist.
Its arms.
Its chest.
Its head.
The monster screamed.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands of grotesque mouths opened across the crimson mass.
Teeth sank into its flesh.
The boss struggled.
But Devour wasn’t trying to tear it apart instantly.
It was eating.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
Tiny portions of flesh disappeared with every second.
The monster tried to regenerate.
The wounds began closing—
Then stopped.
The crimson Essence continued chewing into them.
Preventing the flesh from reconnecting.
The monster’s movements became sluggish.
Its four arms trembled.
Its massive body was being held in place.
Eden gritted his teeth.
Blood trickled from his nose.
’Come on...!’
His body was screaming at him.
His Essence was almost empty.
’Just a little longer.’
The boss roared and tried to break free.
The crimson mass tightened.
More mouths opened.
More teeth sank in.
The monster’s regeneration failed again.
Eden raised his head.
"Lucy!"
She was already prepared.
Pink Essence compressed around both of her fists.
The air itself seemed to vibrate.
Eden shouted.
"Now!"
Lucy moved.
She launched herself forward.
Her entire body became a streak of pink.
All the Essence she had spent so long charging—
Everything.
Every last bit.
She concentrated it into a single attack.
Her fist struck the monster’s chest.
A gigantic pink explosion swallowed the monster.
The blast expanded outward like a blooming star.
It was enormous.
Bigger than even the boss itself.
The shockwave tore through the battlefield.
Windows shattered.
Cars flipped.
Chunks of concrete were blasted into the air.
Even Eden was forced to brace himself.
Lucy was thrown backward from the recoil.
"Eden!"
"I’m fine!"
Through the pink explosion, the monster staggered.
Its chest had been completely devastated.
Flesh was missing.
Bone was exposed.
Its enormous body leaned forward.
And then Kael moved.
Golden light erupted from beneath his feet.
He had been waiting.
Waiting for exactly this moment.
His eyes burned with determination.
"This ends now."
His golden sword blazed.
Kael rushed forward.
Then he swung.
The golden blade struck the monster’s already-damaged chest.
The force of the attack was monstrous.
The sword carved through flesh.
Through bone.
Through Essence.
The boss’s body split.
Almost in half.
Kael pushed harder.
Every ounce of power he had left went into the strike.
"Aaah!"
The golden blade finally broke through.
The monster’s upper body separated enough to send it crashing onto its knees.
The battlefield fell silent.
Kael landed several meters away.
His sword flickered.
He was barely standing.
Lucy collapsed onto one knee, gasping for breath.
Eden stared at the monster.
For a moment, he thought it was over.
Then the boss moved.
Its fingers dug into the ground.
Its enormous body twitched.
Flesh began crawling across the wound.
’Regeneration...!’
’Even after that?’
Eden’s eyes widened.
"You’ve got to be kidding me..."
The monster’s chest began knitting itself back together.
Bone shifted.
Muscle stretched.
Flesh began reconnecting.
It was trying to stand.
Trying to survive.
Trying to regenerate from an attack that should have killed it.
Kael looked horrified.
"How is it still alive?!"
Eden smiled confidently.
"Don’t worry."
"That thing is as good as dead."
The crimson Essence was still there.
Wrapped around the monster.
Eating.
Waiting.
Hunting.
The moment the regeneration began, Devour surged.
The countless mouths opened wider.
The regenerating flesh disappeared.
The wound remained open.
The boss tried again.
Devour consumed it again.
It tried a third time.
The monster’s roar became desperate.
The crimson mass climbed over its body like a pack of starving predators.
Every attempt at regeneration was devoured.
Every piece of flesh that returned was immediately eaten.
The monster clawed at the crimson Essence.
It tore through some of it.
But more mouths appeared.
More teeth.
More red Essence.
Eden watched silently.
His vision began to blur.
His legs felt weak.
Devour wasn’t simply destroying the enemy.
It was denying them the chance to recover.
The boss had already lost.
It just didn’t know it yet.
The crimson Essence swarmed over its body.
Its legs disappeared first.
Then its arms.
Then its chest.
The monster screamed one final time.
The sound echoed through the ruined city.
The gigantic body collapsed into the red mass.
Devour consumed it completely.
No flesh remained.
No bones.
No blood.
Nothing.
Only silence.
The crimson Essence slowly vanished..
Eden stood motionless.
The twin daggers slipped slightly in his hands.
He stared at the empty battlefield.
The D+Rank boss was gone.
Completely gone this time.
Lucy slowly raised her head.
"...We won?"
Kael was breathing heavily.
His golden sword disappeared.
He looked at the empty space where the monster had been.
Then at Eden.
Then Lucy.
"We did."
Eden let out a tired laugh.
"Yeah."
He looked down at his hands.
His remaining Essence was almost nonexistent.
His body was exhausted.
His vision was still swimming.
But despite all of that he smiled.