Everyone watched as the beam drove King Domine backward.
The force of it carried him across the crater until his back slammed into the far wall, stone fracturing outward from the impact as he was pinned there. He brought his arms up immediately, crossing them in front of his face to shield his eyes as the black beam continued to pour into him.
"That… that's my family's hereditary ability, how is that thing using it?" Samwell said, the shock in his voice unmistakable.
"It can use magic as well?" Prince Mark asked, unable to take his eyes off what was happening.
"No, it couldn't, now it can," Ercale replied as he stepped forward, Bram moving with him, both of them watching closely.
"But that won't do anything to that bastard, will it?" Bram asked.
Ercale shook his head. "No. No, it probably won't. But that won't stop it from trying."
The Beast did not let up.
The beam from its mouth held steady, pressing into Domine as the wall behind him continued to crack and give under the sustained force. Then its arms came up.
Two more beams fired.
They struck him from either side, slamming into his body and driving him deeper into the stone, the pressure stacking as the rock began to collapse inward around him.
Its tails rose next.
Another pair of beams erupted from their tips, converging with the others until all five streams of black mana were focused on a single point.
The impact intensified.
Light swallowed the point of contact as the combined force detonated outward in a blinding explosion, the shockwave ripping across the crater and forcing everyone to recoil, arms coming up to shield their eyes and ears from the blast.
"Let's get out of this damn crater," Ercale said, already moving as he grabbed Nori by the collar and hauled him up with him.
Nori did not even register it happening.
His arm was still outstretched toward the Beast, his body limp in Ercale's grip, tears running freely down his face as his mouth moved soundlessly.
The others pulled back as well.
Drimus climbed out, Bram following close behind, with Samwell and Callum clearing the crater in quick succession as the dust and debris began to settle.
When the light faded, the result was clear.
King Domine stood.
The area around him was gone, the wall he had been driven into reduced to ash and broken stone, a large portion of that side of the city simply erased by the blast.
He looked unharmed.
"The power of the magic doesn't matter," he said, brushing off the remnants of the attack with a scoff. "You can push it to infinity and it won't change the fact that I'm immune."
He moved.
One step turned into a blur as he dashed forward, closing the distance instantly.
The Beast answered with a roar and surged forward on all fours to meet him.
They collided at the center.
Domine's fist came around in a heavy swing aimed to crush through the Beast's head, but the Beast leaped into it instead of away, planting a claw briefly against his extended arm and using it as a point of leverage. It pushed off, flipping over him in a tight rotation, its claws dragging across his shoulder as it passed before landing behind him.
It did not pause.
Both tails snapped forward in a stabbing motion aimed at his back.
Domine reacted instantly. His own tail whipped out, knocking one aside with a sharp deflection while his hand shot back and caught the other mid-thrust. He yanked hard, dragging the Beast off balance and pulling it toward him before driving it down into the ground.
The impact cracked the crater floor.
"Dominus Incendium Fixum."
Fire took it.
The Beast's entire body ignited at once, flames locking onto it and burning without spreading, clinging tightly as it let out a roar that carried clear pain through it.
"Is this your weakness?" Domine asked as he lifted his foot and brought it down hard onto its chest.
The force of the stomp carried outward, the ground shaking beneath it hard enough that even at a distance the others felt it through their feet.
"It looks like it's going to lose," Clara said quietly.
"Shouldn't we help?" Annabel asked, glancing toward Sarandel.
"How exactly are we meant to help?" Amara replied, her gaze still fixed on the fight. "We use magic, and that bastard's immune to it, and we don't know if that Beast can survive our magic or not."
Sarandel raised a hand slightly, stopping further argument. "Just watch. There is little else anyone can do besides that now."
Down in the crater, Domine pressed his advantage.
His hand closed around the Beast's throat, lifting it slightly as he pinned it in place. His tail drove down and pierced through its left arm, anchoring it to the ground, while his other hand forced its right arm down. Its tails were trapped beneath its own body, leaving it restrained from every angle.
"Now what?" Domine said, tightening his grip. "Can't do anything anymore, right?"
The Beast's body shifted.
Its leg bent in a way it had not before, the joint folding further than it should have, giving it the angle it needed. Its claws drove backward, hooking into Domine's back before he could adjust.
Then it pulled.
The leverage tore him off of it, forcing his grip to break as he was thrown away.
Domine landed and rolled through it, coming back up smoothly, irritation showing through in the set of his expression as he exhaled.
"This is just getting repetitive," he said. "You can hurt me, but you can't beat me."
The Beast did not answer.
It stared at him, every eye fixed on him with that same burning Bestial Hatred.
Then it changed again.
Slowly, it rose.
It came off all fours, its posture shifting as its tails lowered behind it. Its arms came up, hands tightening as it drew into a stance, its weight settling evenly as it faced him head-on.
It was no longer moving like an animal.
It stood ready to fight him.