Ren rolled out of the path of the claws sharp as blades; the ground where he had just stood was ripped apart as if a massive plow had carved through it.
He exhaled sharply, hands trembling as he quickly opened the menu, pulling out a Stamina Potion and downing it without hesitation. The bitter liquid burned down his throat, bringing a fleeting chill that soothed the ache in his muscles.
But just as Ren tightened his grip on the sword, ready to strike back, the Bear King suddenly froze… then lunged forward at a speed far more terrifying than before.
"What...?" Ren's pupils shrank. It wasn't the usual swipe of claws, this time, the beast planted its massive hind legs, baring its colossal maw lined with teeth like bloodstained knives.
It wasn't attacking with its claws… but with a bite?
"A bite?!" Ren snarled under his breath, legs slamming against the ground as his body launched upward in an instant. He kicked off the trunk of a nearby tree, using the momentum for another leap, soaring into the air like an arrow escaping death's jaws.
Before he could steady himself midair, a deep, guttural roar shattered the forest.
BOOM!!!
The beast's massive head smashed through the spot where Ren had stood, obliterating a thick tree behind him, splinters exploding like shrapnel. But what froze Ren's blood wasn't the impact, it was what came next.
A searing red light flared in the monster's throat.
"No way…"
In that fleeting instant, Ren realized the unthinkable: from the gaping maw of the Bear King erupted a column of molten-red fire, as though an infernal furnace burned within its core.
The flame roared like a living beast, hurtling toward Ren as he plummeted through open air, with nowhere to cling to, nowhere to hide.
A wave of hellish heat engulfed him, scorching the very air, whipping his black hair into a wild frenzy as strands singed and curled under the blistering heat. His throat locked tight from the searing wind; his skin burned as though pressed against a blade heated white-hot.
"Damn it…!"
Ren twisted midair, no foothold beneath him, relying solely on momentum to alter his descent.
If only he had unlocked a mobility skill like «Flash Step» or Asuna's «Horizontal Square», things might have been different.
But now, those thoughts were nothing but dead weight. There was no time for illusions.
The inferno roared, swallowing the sky like a crimson dragon, the heat so intense it made the air shiver. Ren gritted his teeth, contorting his body to veer off the line of fire, but he couldn't escape it completely.
–540
Half his HP bar vanished in an instant. His virtual skin and clothes caught alight like glowing embers.
Ren hit the ground hard, the impact ringing in his ears like snapping bones, but he refused to stop.
He rolled immediately, smothering the burning embers clinging to his cloak, dodging sideways to escape the beast's blood-red glare.
With every tumble, he felt the fire still raging on his health bar; the [Burn] debuff blinked in the corner of his screen: –20… –20… –20… HP dripping away every second.
"Damn it…" Ren hissed, yanking up his sleeve and tearing off a strip of cloth to bind his scorched hand.
But what sent ice down his spine wasn't the pain, it was the sound of earth cracking behind him.
CRASH!
The ground quaked violently. The Bear King had closed the gap. Its colossal foot slammed down, crushing tree roots in a single blow.
Ren had no time to breathe, only two choices: get up now, or die here.
He sprang to his feet before his body could even register the fall. Thin wisps of smoke curled from his charred clothes, but the [Burn] effect finally flickered out, leaving only the raw sting on his skin.
Without wasting a heartbeat, he snatched an HP Potion from his inventory, tore the cap off, and poured it down his throat.
The sweet, burning liquid slid down, sending a chill rippling through his body, numbing the pain in an instant.
[HP +500]
His health bar hovered at a fragile safe zone, but Ren knew it would last only seconds.
A guttural roar thundered from ahead, making his entire body tense. The Bear King, its black-gray fur streaked with fiery red scars, charged forward like a living storm.
Every step detonated like an explosion, the earth trembling as dirt and stone blasted outward like shrapnel.
Its crimson eyes locked on Ren, blazing with feral fury, no trace of weakness left, only madness.
Ren tilted his head slightly, sucking in a sharp breath, his gaze flicking toward the forest behind him.
The escape route stretched into hopeless distance. Turning back now? Impossible. If he quit after coming this far, everything would be for nothing.
"No turning back…" he muttered, teeth clenched as he tightened his grip on the hilt, knuckles whitening under the pressure, while deep in his ice-blue eyes, a cold spark flared.
Two options remained: bleed out drinking potions… or grind this beast down, one strike at a time.
The vine-woven ring on his hand pulsed faintly, radiating a dim glow, its slow but steady regeneration effect ticking away. If he could endure… if he made no mistakes… there was still a chance.
Ren drew in a deep breath, forcing his wildly pounding heart back into a steady rhythm. 'Fine. If I have to grit my teeth to survive, then I will.'
He lowered his stance, body crouched low, blade angled forward in a diagonal line. When the massive shadow of the Bear King loomed over him, Ren surged forward to meet it head-on, without a single glance back.
This battle was no longer a test of raw strength. It was a clash of endurance, of willpower, and...more than anything of what remained in Ren's inventory.
A bitter thought flickered through his mind: 'This fight… is a fight of money. If I still have recovery items, I live. If not… I die.'
But of course, his inventory had been bone-dry for a long time. The last potion had been drained down minutes ago, leaving behind only worthless scraps.
There was no choice now but to stall, to pray for the faintest sliver of opportunity.
Ren kept moving relentlessly, feet skimming over damp earth and rotting leaves, always staying just outside the beast's lethal reach.
The pounding of his heart merged with the Bear King's furious roars behind him, forming a death march that drove him to his absolute limits.
Then it hit him, this monster wasn't invincible. It had a weakness, a pattern in its fire-breathing attack.
Every time it opened that massive maw to unleash a column of crimson flame, it needed a long recovery window to regain its stamina.
And more importantly, that skill consumed a chunk of its own life force.
Ren inhaled sharply, forcing his ragged breaths to steady amid the earth-shaking footfalls closing in behind him. 'If I can just… dodge every one of those attacks… then wait… until it burns itself out…'
A sardonic thought cut through the haze, half-mocking, half-bitter: 'A fire-breathing bear? That's supposed to be the dragons' privilege in games and fantasy novels, not some deranged forest beast…'
His grip on the hilt tightened until his knuckles blanched. Sweat poured down his forehead, mingling with the lingering stench of burnt fur hanging heavy in the air.
And time, that would be his final answer.
But would there be enough time to kill it before it tore him apart?
The wind screamed past his ears as Ren rolled sideways, barely dodging a swipe aimed to rip him in half. Dirt and shattered roots sprayed as a massive tree trunk behind him splintered with a deafening crack under the beast's strike.
'Damn it… if one of those hits lands, that's at least 70% of my HP gone, or instant death…' The realization slashed through his mind, sending a chill down his spine despite the heat.
His eyes darted, analyzing. The air still shimmered faintly from the previous blast of flames. The bear's chest heaved in labored rhythm, each breath accompanied by a low, guttural rumble.
'That's it… it needs to recover. And this cooldown lasts at least forty seconds…'
Ren bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood, feet shifting back instinctively to maintain perfect distance. No rash moves. One mistake, and it's over.
Then, it happened. The beast's crimson eyes flared. Its maw gaped wide, and a shrill howl like torn wind keened from its throat. The air trembled with a suffocating pressure.
Fire breath! Again! Ren's mind roared, muscles coiling like steel.
A massive torrent of flame erupted, annihilating the mist-cloaked forest, reducing entire trees to ash in an instant.
Ren hurled himself left, body tilting so low his shoulder scraped the dirt as he rolled, barely evading the searing inferno that scorched the ground where he'd stood. The heat clawed at his skin, but he didn't falter.
And in that heartbeat, while the beast was still locked in its after-breathing stance, Ren sprang forward, legs propelling him like an arrow tearing through the air. Steel gleamed amid the crimson haze.
[Phantom Arc]
The blade swept in a cold, perfect arc, cleaving down across the beast's left shoulder. A faint violet glow sparked and vanished.
A shower of crimson pixels burst from the wound, but the towering health bar barely dipped.
Damn it… still not enough… Ren snarled, eyes blazing.
He didn't hesitate. His left hand twisted the hilt, hips rotating as he drove another thrust straight into the joint of its foreleg.
The strike landed with a shockwave, jerking the Bear King's colossal frame as it let out a roar of sheer madness.
Ren didn't have time to pull the blade free. A shadow lunged. Instinct shrieked in his skull. He released the hilt, flinging himself backward an instant before the beast's claw obliterated the space he'd stood in.
The ground split apart. Shards of stone exploded into the air. Ren tumbled, knees grinding raw against the earth...but he rose, staggering yet alive.
'I can't trade blows. I've got no healing items left…'
His eyes locked onto the beast, bellowing in fury, his blade still buried deep in its leg as crimson life-pixels gushed out like a fountain.
One more strike. Just one more clean hit to the weak spot, and it would fall…
But to do that, Ren had to close the distance. And this time, the beast wouldn't be caught off guard.
Its belly heaved again. That ghastly whine rattled from its throat. Another inferno was coming.
Ren inhaled deeply, a single spark of ruthless resolve igniting in his azure eyes. 'Fine… This time...it ends.'