In the end, Minwoo had no choice but to circle from the side, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Meanwhile, Jinhyuk continued forcing his way forward almost violently, enduring every hit thrown at him without the slightest concern for his own body. Claws tore across his shoulder. Another attack slammed into his abdomen hard enough to draw blood, yet he didn't even slow down.
It was as though pain meant nothing to him.
Doesn't that hurt? Elena thought in disbelief. When I told him not to worry about getting injured, I didn't mean he should fight like this!
Frustration built inside her chest, but there was little she could do except observe carefully and judge the exact timing needed to heal him.
Oddly enough, the task came naturally to her.
Even while briefly checking Minwoo's condition, her eyes instinctively returned to Jinhyuk's injuries, immediately identifying which wounds needed attention first and which could be ignored temporarily. The battlefield felt strangely familiar to her, as if she had repeated this process countless times before.
Without realizing it, she had already begun adjusting her healing efficiency instinctively.
Small wounds were closed immediately to prevent blood loss, while more serious injuries were stabilized just enough to keep Jinhyuk moving without wasting unnecessary mana.
And whenever his movements started slowing ever so slightly, Elena quietly cast Refresh on him.
Each time she did, the exhaustion clouding his expression disappeared almost instantly, allowing him to continue fighting as though his stamina had never dropped in the first place.
"Damn it. I need to kill her first."
The Beast King let out a low growl before extending one massive arm toward Elena.
The ground trembled.
A violent wave of lava surged upward without warning, rushing toward her fast enough to swallow her whole in seconds. Elena's eyes widened in shock as the unbearable heat crashed toward her.
"Ah—!"
Instinctively, she threw her arms up to shield herself, her body freezing under the overwhelming pressure.
Han Jinhyuk immediately tried to move toward her, but the distance between them was impossible to close in time. The brief moment his attention shifted away from the battlefield was all the opening the Beast King needed.
A savage grin twisted across the monster's face.
Its claws slammed into Jinhyuk's side with monstrous force.
The impact sent him flying straight through a mountain wall, the entire cliffside collapsing from the collision.
"Hyung-nim!"
Minwoo's expression paled as he was forced to jump into the fight immediately to stop the Beast King from pursuing further.
Meanwhile, the monster let out an irritated snarl.
"A damn healer... What a nuisance."
Everyone had expected the worst. Even Minwoo, who had already begun preparing himself mentally for the sight of Elena's burned corpse, froze.
Elena stood there completely drenched in molten lava. But somehow, she was perfectly fine?
There were no burns.
No melted skin.
Not even her clothes appeared heavily damaged.
She merely stood there in stunned silence, looking more shocked than injured as lava slowly dripped from her body onto the cracked ground below.
For a brief moment, everyone present fell completely silent. Even the Beast King's expression stiffened slightly, disbelief flickering across its face for the first time.
"Hey, why didn't you tell me I was immune to lava too?!" Elena shouted internally at her constellation, still covered in molten lava.
『 Above The Broken World 』
I already informed you, human. I am the Lord of Lava. It is your lack of comprehension.
Elena's eye twitched.
"What did you just say?!"
Before the constellation could answer again, another voice abruptly cut in.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
What did you just say to my child!?
『 Above The Broken World 』
...You two are starting to sound alike.
Even in the middle of battle, the constellations continued bickering noisily.
Meanwhile, Han Jinhyuk slowly pulled himself out from the collapsed mountain debris, pieces of rock crumbling from his shoulders as he stood. Blood dripped from the corner of his lips, and several fractures along his body screamed in protest the moment he moved.
But the expression on his face had darkened completely.
He had enough of this fight.
The Beast King let out a mocking laugh upon seeing him stand again.
"You humans truly are persistent."
Jinhyuk didn't respond. Instead, he put away his sword back inside his subspace.
The movement caused Minwoo's expression to stiffen immediately, as if he knew something.
"...Hyung."
He raised a hand to his side, and mana began gathering around Jinhyuk in an unnatural torrent, so dense that the surrounding space trembled violently. The air warped beneath the pressure, and from his empty grasp, a white gaseous sword slowly began to take shape.
Brilliant light erupted outward, forcing everyone nearby to shield their eyes as a sword fully materialized in his grasp.
A pure white blade. Beautiful as it was terrifying.
The moment it appeared, the mana throughout the battlefield became unstable. Even the lava around the Beast King began reacting violently.
The monster's expression finally changed.
"...What is that?"
Jinhyuk lowered his gaze toward the blade quietly.
"You haven't seen it either before, right? My divinity sword."
The Beast King instinctively stepped back.
For the first time since the battle began, fear appeared on its face. Like a prey coming face to face with its predator.
Then Jinhyuk vanished.
A deafening explosion split the battlefield apart as the ground beneath his feet shattered instantly. The Beast King barely managed to react in time, throwing both arms up to defend itself just as the white blade descended.
BOOM!
The collision erupted with enough force to split the surrounding lava apart. Even Elena struggled to maintain her balance.
The Beast King roared in pain as divine energy tore through its hardened scales, burning straight through flesh that normal attacks had failed to penetrate. However, despite the overwhelming power, the creature still endured it through sheer monstrous vitality.
Its massive claws swung wildly toward Jinhyuk.
He dodged one attack, but another slammed into his side hard enough to send him skidding across the ground.
"Hyung-nim!"
Before Minwoo could move, Jinhyuk steadied himself again.
Blood dripped from him. But his grip on the sword never loosened. The white blade only shone brighter. Then, slowly, he raised it again.
The pressure pouring off him was suffocating. Even Minwoo had gone still, breathing carefully, like too deep an inhale might tip something over.
That was due to the essence of his skill after all.
『 Divine Sword: A sword of pure mana, drawn from its surroundings. It can cut through everything and anything. 』
Elena's eyes widened.
She could feel that the mana surrounding Jinhyuk was different. Instinctively, she understood that the sword's power was built by drawing in the mana around it, including her own.
The sensation was eerily similar to when the Stargazers had drained her mana before.
The Beast King sensed it too and he felt that escaping right now was his only chance. But unfortunately for it, Han Jinhyuk had already decided to end the fight.
The moment Jinhyuk moved, even Minwoo lost sight of him.
One second he stood there. The next, he had already appeared directly in front of the Beast King.
The white blade pierced cleanly through the monster's core before anyone could properly react.
The Beast King's massive body froze. Its molten eyes widened violently as it looked down at the sword embedded deep within its chest.
Everything had happened far too quickly. It couldn't even process what had just occurred.
Anger twisted across its face. Humiliation followed immediately after, the realization of defeat crashing down on it too late to change the outcome.
Then, its body collapsed.