Jin's Heart of Light spewed out electricity, and the blue sparks wrapped around his sword, dyeing the reddened surroundings from the fire to a light blue.
The sword frightened the monster.
The light formed into a spear and flew towards the monster's throat. As the spear zipped across the burning trees, the ash whirled around the trailing air in a spiral.
The monster only stared at the spear charging at it, but Jin felt like this wouldn't be over in one blow.
It may have been the move that destroyed five assault-generals of the White Wolf Tribe, but he still felt as if it wouldn't kill the monster in one blow.
And his gut feeling had never been wrong.
Kyaaaak!
Before the spear could pierce its throat, the monster raised its torso and bared its five glowing claws. It was neither aura nor mana, but something else that was innate for the monster.
Pzzzt!
Blue flames and sparks scattered as the claws and lightning spear collided. Surprisingly, the spear's trajectory had been altered. Jin swung Sigmund to send the parried spear back towards the monster. The monster bared its claws once more, prepared to deflect it back with its paws.
Jin hadn't physically clashed with the beast, yet he could approximate how strong it was.
'Madame Vanessa didn't send me here for nothing.'
Not only did it have monstrous strength, but it also had the agility which allowed it to react to spears coming at the speed of light.
However, the monster was afraid of the spears. It instinctively knew that, as soon as a spear touched its body, pain would follow, hence its cries and screams.
Pzzzt—Clang! Pzzt—
The beast deflected the attack five times, and on the sixth, Jin saw a blind spot. Honing his attack towards the weak spot, Jin also charged head-on.
Illustrious Bladeworks Standard Form, Suppression. The lightning from Sigmund pulled on the beast. It could no longer dodge the spear from behind, so it only blocked Jin from the front.
Kyaaak!
The claws hit the center of the blade. Jin held his balance and continued to attack. In that moment, the spear lodged in the back of the monster and gave out an intense shock.
A howl of pain pierced his ears, akin to the cries of a hundred newborn babies. Jin threw another lightning bolt towards the monster's face.
Both lightning bolt and Conviction successfully landed. If hit without any defense, even a 9-star knight wouldn't make it alive.
The first attack ripped apart the beast's hind leg, and the second hit it square in the face.
Kyaaaaaaaak! Kyaaaaak!
At this point, the shrieking hurt Jin's ears, and in the next moment, Jin watched in awe.
'Rebirth…?'
Its injuries slowly receded.
The broken bones in its hind leg disintegrated and then got reabsorbed by the wound. Immediately after, the bones, flesh, and skin reformed. Finally, the fur regrew and covered it all, as if nothing happened.
He knew that some monsters could have regenerative abilities; however, it still surprised him.
'That's way too fast.'
Which was the main problem. Jin hadn't seen anything like it before. The cat instantly regenerated itself.
However, there was no time to hesitate. Since he exerted too much energy on Conviction, his aura had been stagnating.
He had never expected any of this to occur. Jin planned to give it some more severe wounds before immediately finishing the job.
The beast looked good as new as its pupils filled with its rage for Jin. It gathered mana in its eyes again.
This time, however, it wasn't its Magic Iris. Two beams shot out from its eyes. Jin quickly dodged them, but he saw what happened to the ground that he had just been standing on.
A black crater. On top of that, all of the surrounding soil melted, which Jin didn't even know was possible.
Even he wouldn't survive such an attack.
'It's easy to not get hit by it.'
The attack wasn't super fast.
However, considering another new attack from the enemy meant he had to constantly stay on his toes, which would drain his energy much more quickly.
And with a seemingly long-term battle against a rapidly regenerating cat, it was a one-sided battle.
'It probably can't regenerate indefinitely. Either I have to cut the source of regeneration or injure it until it can't regenerate."
Which was easier said than done. Jin had used a larger portion of his energy to induce damage that the beast couldn't heal instantly.
He had to make it an efficient battle. Instead of a destructive attack, he needed more meticulous control of his attacks.
Jin sheathed Sigmund and drew Bradamante. Simultaneously, he unleashed his spiritual energy.
Awakening Bradamante.
Its shiny blade suddenly shifted to pitch-black. Particles of spiritual energy emitted from both Jin and his sword, creating a veil of darkness.
The monster's eyes narrowed.
"You've seen spiritual energy? Well, you have lived quite a while."
Hiss…
"I think defeating you will be a pain in the ass, so please offer me a satisfactory reward."
The two charged at each other.
Mana churned inside the beast's eyes, shooting its mana beams at close combat and recharging after distancing itself.
Be it its four legs, tail, or jaws, its physical attacks didn't stop. He thought its limbs and jaws would be the most dangerous, but it was actually the tail. With its entire torso blocking Jin's view of the tail, he couldn't predict the direction of the attack. From Jin's perspective, getting struck by the tail felt as if a metal pillar was falling on him.
It was his first time against such a large beast.
When he faced the dragons, he just had to adapt to the unexpected agility and flexibility of reptiles. In contrast, the monster in front of him gave no mercy, which made it particularly annoying.
However, he didn't feel like victory was unattainable. As long as he could maintain his concentration, he could dodge or parry all of its attacks.
Within three minutes, Jin slowly saw more and more blind spots.
Even though the beast had the ability to instantly regenerate, it still withdrew from the battle whenever it had injuries. Jin knew that it no longer had any more cards up its sleeve.
Fwooooom…!
The spiritual energy from the blade covered their surroundings. Jin decided to hide in the black smoke to force an advantageous fight, mimicking how the monster attacked him first.
On the other hand, the monster had nowhere to run. All of the thorny trees burned down, and the human would burn down more trees if it fled any further.
Despite the monster having the upper hand due to its regenerative ability, Jin had the advantage.
'So it's either I get tired or you can't regenerate.'
He also considered luring it out of the forest and towards his group. However, he knew better than to show his back to an enemy like this beast.
So he had to engage in a long battle.
* * *
The battle dragged on for forty hours. The monster didn't even get to touch Jin a single time, and if it weren't for its regenerative ability, it would've died over forty times.
On the now barren wasteland, only ash and embers covered the ground. All of the thorny trees in their surroundings had been burned down.
The fire continued to burn deeper and deeper into the forest, destroying more than half of the greenery.
That was when it struck him.
The variable that Jin didn't consider, which gave him an even bigger advantage.
'It's getting anxious.'
Was it the fear of the entire forest burning down?
Compared to Jin, who looked a little fatigued, the monster looked completely worn out. And as time passed, its movements became more sluggish. Every now and then, it would swing its paw before glancing at the burning forest. During those moments, Jin would land a lethal blow.
The beast's regenerative ability didn't deteriorate at all. Contrary to Jin's prediction, taking damage to the heart or head didn't affect its rate of regeneration.
There wasn't any source of regeneration. During battle, Jin had basically hit every spot possible.
Its regenerative ability wasn't normal.
It completely broke the laws of nature, just like the dark magic spells of the history books. Even the creatures known as the Kings of the Black Sea didn't have this transcendental ability.
Even Quikantel and the other dragons of Olta couldn't achieve such a feat with their time-turning. Healing oneself without consequences had to be an entity of the apocalypse.
An ability that 'no one else could have'.
It could only be attained after an equivalent exchange.
After forty hours of battle, Jin finally concluded one thing.
"…You bastard. It isn't regeneration."
Krrrrr…
"Helluram the Witch, your owner, cursed you. It's probably a curse of immortality, so you regenerate indefinitely. If it's not that, then there's no other explanation for it."
Jin slowly walked towards the cat, and it scratched the ground.
"You will never die. No matter how much you want to. No matter how many times you lose your limbs, sever your heart, or lose your head. Am I wrong?"
Jin knew nothing of dark magic, but he knew that the beast had been cursed by Helluram for some reason.
Then abandoned.
"And if this forest burns down, where would you go?"
The cat didn't answer, but only growled.
As if to say that it had nowhere else to go.
Which didn't matter. The trees would eventually regrow, and the beast would continue living as it starved.
All alone in a world with rocks and trees.
The monster would have to live in an unending cycle in this world.
"If you don't attack me, I will try to put you to sleep."
Jin unsheathed his sword, and the beast nodded.