Ray sprinted toward the beast, leaping forward and unleashing multiple star void beings. He could only manage one more shot before needing to replenish his energy—a luxury time wouldn't permit.
Firing his final star being, Ray watched as the black beam streaked toward the beast. The king beast, with surprising agility, dodged and captured the beam in its contained form. Using one tentacle, it redirected Ray's own attack back at him.
Ray evaded his reflected assault, consumed by vengeance. Fury coursed through him as he vowed to destroy the creature threatening his only companion. He wouldn't—couldn't—allow that to happen.
"You won't take her from me," Ray muttered through clenched teeth as he pounded at the beast, nimbly avoiding multiple tentacle swipes and deadly yellow mouth beams.
Meanwhile, Michael charged his shadow staff with the surrounding darkness. Deciding the moment had come, he conjured multiple shadow clones and dispatched them as distractions. His strategy, however, only exacerbated their predicament.
Enraged by these diversions, the beast redirected its wrath toward Ray. The creature fired several breath beams from its stomach mouth rather than its head—these beams glowed whiter and carried more devastating power than those from its primary mouth.
The beast charged a colossal yellow beam that resembled a distant sun. Its brilliance forced Michael to shield his eyes, while Lily, despite her distance, had to look away from the blinding light.
At that moment, Damien, Andawana, and others arrived, ready to join the battle.
"Finally, you've come," Michael said, teeth grinding with tension.
Damien immediately leapt into action, activating his flaming chains that whirled and struck at the beast. The cancer beast effortlessly seized the chains, and with Damien still clinging to them, lifted and slammed him into the ground with ferocious force.
Blood spattered from Damien's mouth as he struggled to his feet. Ray spotted an opportunity in this distraction and lunged forward, managing only a tiny puff of star void energy—his reserves completely depleted. He needed to recharge; attempting another beam would leave him defenseless against the beast, a vulnerability he couldn't afford.
The king beast grabbed Michael and battered him against multiple trees before seizing Damien, hurling him skyward, and severing both his legs in one swift motion. Damien, drawing on his flaming chains with excruciating effort, discovered a new ability born of desperation—a survival tactic developed through years of enduring bully attacks.
He envisioned prosthetic legs, and remarkably, his chains transformed into metal limbs. As he attached them, his weapon vanished, converted into the means for mobility. This adaptation presented a dilemma: using his chains for such purposes left him without a means to fight.
The beast lunged forward, snatching Lily and slicing off her arm. Flesh, bone, and sinew fell away as she screamed in unimaginable agony.
Ray's gaze darted between the beast and Lily, and something within him snapped. Rage unlike anything he'd ever experienced boiled through his veins, compelling his body to absorb an overwhelming amount of star energy. His form vibrated with pure fury as he unleashed his star aura with a primal scream.
The ground scorched beneath the intensity of Ray's power. Heat clouds formed around him and the beast, forcing everyone back except Lily, who remained immobilized by pain.
"You hurt her," Ray whispered, his voice deceptively calm.
The beast king merely raised a tentacle in defiance.
"For that, you will die!" he roared as star energy surged through him, fracturing his bones. Pain meant nothing now—only revenge mattered.
Ray launched a massive ball of star energy at the beast, tearing away a chunk of its flesh and sending it flying before it crashed to the ground. The beast opened its stomach mouth, charging a yellow breath beam while Ray prepared a colossal star beam of his own.
Their attacks collided simultaneously, but Ray's star beam consumed the beast's breath beam, leaving a gaping hole in the creature's body and removing a substantial portion of its back. Though nearly dead, the beast refused to surrender, determined to eliminate these threats once and for all.
Ray's anger intensified rather than subsided. He summoned a gigantic sphere of star energy above the beast—predominantly black with hints of starlight within. The star vortex appeared majestic, resembling an actual celestial body.
"Die!" Ray bellowed as he unleashed the star vortex upon the beast. It exploded on impact, obliterating the creature into smithereens. The king beast was finally, irrevocably dead.
As his rage gradually subsided, Ray rushed to Lily's side where blood pooled from her severed arm. Drawing on Michael's healing technique, he attempted to mend her with his star energy—and remarkably succeeded.
Initially, everyone recoiled, fearing some new threat, but Lily experienced only a gentle calm. She felt peaceful, as if floating in a sea of clouds. Her arm began to heal as tendons, bones, and flesh knitted together until she was whole again.
Lily stood and embraced Ray, who returned her hug with equal fervor.
"You saved me," she whispered against his chest.
Ray smiled softly. "Only because you saved me first. We made a promise, remember? We leave together. I'm not letting you die or get hurt ever again. I promise."
Lily's lips curved into a smile. "Same."
"No, I can protect myself," she insisted. "You don't need to worry if I get hurt. I'm fine taking injuries. I just can't bear to see you in pain—it hurts me deeply to see you suffer. Please, let me handle some of this burden, let me protect you too."
Ray simply nodded, smiling tenderly as their journey truly began.