Collapsed buildings and terrified bodies littered the city streets.
The giant humanoid monster, its face marked by deep fissures, lifted its savage gaze towards them.
Harold thought intensely, scouring every corner of his mind for answers.
The images of the monster constantly regenerating haunted his thoughts.
His muscles tensed as he watched, unwavering, the beast whose body regenerated at a staggering speed.
Gaping wounds closed, revealing smooth and flawless skin, devoid of any signs of battle.
He clenched his fists, analyzing the movements of the aberration with almost clinical precision.
His Cartesian mind relentlessly sought a solution to this macabre puzzle.
How to kill a creature that regained the strength he managed to extract from it?
He bit his lower lip, his brain striving to find a flaw in his enemy's resistance.
He had delivered his most powerful attacks, yet the creature's inexorable rebirth cast doubt on his ability to triumph over it.
He carefully observed his opponent's movements, searching for clues, signs that could help him break this infernal cycle.
His fists once again made contact with the creature's putrid flesh.
Harold recalled past battles.
He remembered those opponents with similar regeneration powers, yet so different.
The ogres.
Their wounds healed as well, but the price to pay was proportional to the anomaly they sought to suppress.
It was a fundamental rule of conservation, where to regenerate, one drew upon the life energy buried within us. Thus, although one could potentially heal from anything, the possibilities of regeneration were considerably limited.
But this creature before him mocked this sacred rule of the universe. It regenerated without any restriction, flouting the most elementary logic.
This realization was absurd.
Lost in his thoughts, he continued to beat the creature, pondering this enigma.
How could such an aberration exist?
What was the price, the hidden counterpart?
The graceful and fluid movements of the creature reminded him at every moment of the absurdity of its boundless regeneration.
He couldn't help but admire, in a twisted way, the perfection of this unconstrained process.
Yet, this admiration was mixed with growing frustration.
His mind tore away from contemplative reflections to focus on finding a solution.
How to break this vicious circle?
How could he confront such an elusive, bewildering puzzle?
A spark of an idea burst forth in the recesses of his mind.
If the creature regenerated without restriction, perhaps it was possible to attack it indirectly, to find a flaw in its very nature.
Could the energy it drew for its regeneration be affected?
Was there a way to disrupt this elusive food source?
It was then that Harold's eyes lit up.
Why seek to disrupt when one can simply obliterate.
He remembered the intermittent lightning strikes that had struck the monster's massive body.
A new hypothesis took shape: what if the problem here was not the regeneration framework itself but rather the speed and state therein.
When the lightning struck the monster, Harold could still recall, the monster did not regenerate immediately. The same was true for all other attacks suffered. Although the monster still regenerated, it was not instantaneous.
Veins pulsing with energy pierced its thick skin, muscular palpitations betraying intense activity.
And it was then that the long-awaited revelation appeared through this new perspective.
He had found a way!
Harold felt a wave of excitement coursing through his body as this truth illuminated his mind.
He now knew how to defeat the elusive creature that had brought them to their knees.
A determined smile spread across his face, lighting up his weary features.
He approached Nife slowly, his gaze brimming with newfound resolve.
He leaned towards him and, in a low but confident voice, shared his analysis.
"Nife, I believe I've discovered the monster's weak point," he whispered. "Although its regeneration rate is absurd, it takes time for it to regenerate. Do you see where I'm going with this?"
Nife initially looked at him incredulously, which quickly turned into a mischievous smile.
He had long been frustrated by the apparent invincibility of the monster, but now, a glimmer of hope shone in his eyes.
"So, it was just a matter of timing all along!" he exclaimed, confidence filling every pore of his being.
"Do you still have that famous spell?" Harold inquired.
"Of course I do," Nife nodded, "And it's even more refined than before."
The two men stared intensely at the giant humanoid monster before them.
A determined smile stretched across Nife's lips. He sniffed the air with satisfaction.
"I'm going in!" he whispered, launching himself forward while condensing all the energy he possessed.
However, before he could launch the assault, the giant humanoid monster suddenly appeared in front of him, as if it had guessed his intentions.
It had acquired a new, disconcerting agility.
In a swift motion, the monster struck Nife, sending him flying through the air like a disjointed puppet.
Nife spun through the air before crashing violently into the distance, propelled by the terrifying power of the attack.
A heavy silence fell as both men, Harold and Nife, realized with horror the disconcerting speed of the monster.
As Nife tried to get up, his body aching and his mind filled with surprise, Harold quickly approached.
He reached out a helping hand to his companion, expressing both concern and determination.
Nife's eyes filled with determination as he grasped Harold's hand, accepting his aid.
The monster lunged towards the two men, its movements raw and unpredictable.
Harold prepared to fend off the devastating attack, but despite his solid defense, he was violently thrown back in return, crushed by the monster's titanic power.
While he was momentarily incapacitated, Nife focused all his energy and unleashed a wave of fiery energy on the monster, hurling it backwards with force.
However, barely touched, the monster rose with surprising speed, ready to retaliate.
But unlike before, Nife had his eyes open.
"Harold is right."
These were Nife's words as he could now see for himself the monster's regeneration time.
Standing up, the monster culminated its brutal assault by preparing to deliver a massive kick towards Nife.
The latter, almost helpless against the monster's overwhelming strength, prepared to absorb the devastating blow.
But Harold reappeared like lightning, deflecting the blow with the power of his fist, thus saving his companion from the devastating assault that would normally be their certain end.
Without wasting a second, Harold took advantage of the opening to launch a right hook towards the monster's face.
However, in a surprising move, the monster with astonishing reflexes dodged the blow and with a swift and violent gesture, struck Harold forcefully, sending him dangerously crashing to the ground.
Lying on the ground, the two men could discern with horror a smug and mocking smile forming on the grotesque face of the giant humanoid monster.
It had manipulated them, toying with them from the very beginning!