Bruce let out a quiet sigh when he saw the result. Mana Lock didn't work. Instead of weakening, the lion's pride flames roared even higher, blazing with an even greater authority than before.

'Damn, it's extremely hard and draining to directly affect its mana channels and veins…' Bruce thought, unfazed but annoyed at the mana cost.

'As expected. Mana Lock isn't possible when I'm weaker than the target. But if I had infinite mana in this VR the way I do in the real world, bypassing existence levels wouldn't be a problem at all…'

He sighed again. It wasn't disappointment, just confirmation.

He already expected Mana Lock to fail. That was why he wasn't disheartened. There were still other options, and he hadn't even tried the more dangerous ones yet.

But the beast didn't wait.

Unlike Ozai, this enemy wasn't stunned by failure. It wasn't confused or insulted by Bruce trying something new. It was simply enraged that Bruce dared to block it at all.

The lion swatted him again.

But this time, when the paw crashed into him with ten thousand tons of force, Bruce didn't fly. He didn't break. He withstood it, standing there with a smile.

The ground collapsed beneath his feet, the earth caving in like crushed paper. The air rippled from the impact, but Bruce stayed planted.

The lion's brow lifted. Surprise. Then fury.

Its pride flames flared brighter, stacking aura on aura, pushing its strength even further past the limit of what a normal S-Rank beast should hold. It swatted again, harder, faster.

Bruce caught the paw mid-swing. Pain tore through his muscles, but the damage healed instantly, erased before it could matter.

The lion growled, trying to drag its paw free, but Bruce held firm.

It roared and swung its tail, now burning with the same golden flame, whipping Bruce across the ribs, then across the arm holding the beast in place.

The blows were brutal. Each one broke bones and tore flesh. Each one healed seconds later.

Bruce just smiled through all of it.

"Are you done?" he asked quietly.

Then with a calm voice, he continued;

"Heal: Vitality Collapse."

Silence.

No reaction. No internal explosion. No sudden death. Nothing.

Bruce's smile faded slightly. 'Don't tell me it's immune to this too.'

He focused, analyzing the vitality flowing through the lion's body.

'…What is this feeling? Its vitality feels… condescending. Like it's looking down on me.'

The realization came slowly, but once he saw it, it made perfect sense.

'Its essence of pride isn't just in its aura. It's in its vitality itself. Its life force is layered with arrogance. Its entire existence is pride.'

That meant its vitality wasn't just energy. It was self-aware to a degree, enough to shield itself from manipulation.

'If the vitality itself carries the instinct of superiority, then of course it resists forced implosion. The moment I try to collapse it, it rejects me like a lesser being.'

Bruce inhaled slowly, brow lowering, not in fear, but in calculation.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, this was starting to get troublesome.

Only a bit.

Because while the lion was proving annoyingly resistant, Bruce still wasn't out of options. Not even close.

It just would've been a complete one-sided stomp if he were S-Ranked in this VR. If that were the case, the Golden Mane Lion wouldn't even qualify as a warm-up.

*****

The beast, now in a state of pure, blind rage, swung its claw at Bruce again, another full-force strike, fast enough to shred steel, heavy enough to break mountains.

Bruce tanked it without effort.

[The Golden Mane Lion's pride is shaken!]

The message flashed again.

Bruce's eyes narrowed slightly. At that moment, something clicked within Bruce

'I've got it.'

He finally understood.

Its strength wasn't just tied to pride. Its existence was pride. The more it viewed itself as superior, the stronger it became. But the reverse was also true.

Break its pride, and its strength would crumble with it. Not only it's strength but it's vitality also...

A slow, knowing smirk curved across Bruce's lips.

Reducing the beast's pride? Bruce already had multiple ways to do that.

Because to beings like Ozai… to beasts like the Golden Mane Lion… Bruce wasn't just an enemy. He was their natural predator.

Their bane. Their Achilles heel.

Bruce took a step back, relaxed, almost casual, and motioned with his hand.

"Come on."

The beast, now so furious its mind barely functioned, charged with insane speed, claws slicing through the air, attacking again and again, each blow harder than the last.

SWOOSH!

SWOOSH!!

SWOOSH!!!

SWOOSH!!!!

Bruce didn't block. He didn't dodge.

He caught everything with his bare hands.

He tanked the impact with a smile, like it was nothing, like it wasn't worth taking seriously.

That was the killing blow, not to its body, but to its pride.

The beast froze for a fraction of a second, something breaking inside it. The aura it once radiated like a divine right… flickered.

Bruce caught the next strike one-handed. No struggle. No pain. No flinch.

He glanced into its golden eyes, and this time… the superiority was gone. Its vitality wasn't towering over him anymore. It was shaken.

His right hand rose, glowing with lethal intent.

"Vitality Collapse."

The lion's body reacted instantly.

Golden light surged beneath its skin like liquid fire, racing through its veins in pulsating waves. Its muscles strained, swelling unnaturally as if something inside was expanding faster than the flesh could contain it. Steam hissed from its fur. Cracks of bright light split across its body like fractures in molten metal.

The pride flame that once made it look regal now made it look unstable, no longer a king, but a dying star.

Its flame mane whipped around wildly, every strand turning into a stream of golden energy that bled away into the air. Its claws dug into the earth, carving trenches as its legs trembled under the pressure of its own rising power. The lion tried to roar, tried to assert dominance one last time, but the sound broke into a warped, vibrating howl as its voice was drowned by the force building inside its chest.

Its eyes flickered with something it had never felt before.

Not rage.

Not hatred.

Fear.

Because it wasn't just Bruce killing it. But it was also its own pride ripping it apart.

The glow reached a point where the lion's body was no longer visible, just a silhouette of pure golden radiance, trembling, cracking, ready to burst.

Its ribcage swelled. Its bones groaned. Its vitality screamed like a storm trapped in a cage too small to hold it.

For a split second, time seemed to stop, everything frozen in a silent flash of light.

And then it broke.

Its golden mane whipped in every direction as the beast's own vitality overloaded, cell by cell, blood by blood, life force turning into a bomb too big for its body to contain.

Bruce moved back just as the final surge hit.

The lion detonated.

BOOM!!!

A colossal explosion ripped outward, swallowing the savannah in a pillar of fire. A mushroom cloud burst into the sky, roaring upward like a volcanic eruption. Shockwaves tore trees apart. The earth cratered. Flames rolled across the land in a burning tidal wave.

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