Divine Glitch: I Regressed With Endgame Knowledge-Chapter 41: Inferno Within the Circle

Ryan, quick as a flash, yanked the Boss back into position. The girls flanking him, sensing his intention, immediately paused their attacks to let him re-establish aggro.

Seconds ticked by as Ryan steadied the Boss. Once he was sure the aggro was stable, the team resumed their assault, slowly grinding down its health bar.

The Boss’s health plummeted fast. Before it had the chance to trigger a second curse or teleport again, they’d already shaved off more than 2,000 points—bringing it dangerously close to the 60% threshold.

"Everyone, heads up. It’s about to enter Phase Two," Ryan warned, eyes fixed on the Vein of Torment’s rapidly shrinking health. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

The moment its HP hit 60%, the Vein of Torment let out a guttural roar.

"Mortals, you shall join me in the abyss of torment!"

Purple flames erupted beneath its feet, splashing violently onto the ground. Wherever they touched, the floor scorched black, marking danger zones. Ryan, standing closest, took the brunt of the damage.

It wasn’t lethal—just 30 points per tick—but every scorched patch dealt its own 30 damage. The numbers stacked quickly, threatening to overwhelm him.

He took a sharp step back, dragging the Boss a few yards away from the flames. Once outside the affected area, the burning stopped—but the danger hadn’t passed.

The Boss didn’t just unleash a single wave. Every few seconds, more purple fire splashed outward, layering the ground with patches of flame. Each pulse shimmered with a dark aura, a clear warning to steer clear.

Ryan tightened his grip on the Boss’s movements, keeping it within a safe radius. He couldn’t afford to move it too far from the purple circles. If the Boss drifted too far from its scorched zones, small skeletons would start rising from each one. Enough of those would snowball into a team wipe.

All the while, the fire clung to Ryan’s armor like living flame, searing him every few seconds. Combined with the Boss’s regular strikes, the damage pressure mounted quickly.

In the backline, Vina suddenly shouted, "My mana’s running low!"

Ryan’s eyes flicked to her shared stats. Barely 200 mana left—just enough for four more casts of Radiant Light. No more.

"Use Shockwave more. Save Radiant Light, and use Radiant Glory to keep me up!" he snapped, adjusting his strategy on the fly. Then he turned to the others. "DPS, push harder—we need to finish this!"

"The Boss still has over 30%! Pick up the pace!" Evelyn called out. She summoned her grizzly and began firing basic attacks, conserving resources while keeping half an eye on the threat of a Shadow Banshee curse.

Then it happened.

"Damn it!"

Ryan’s focus wavered for half a second. The Boss seized the chance and blinked again—teleporting across the battlefield and breaking aggro.

Thankfully, it didn’t go far—just swapped places with Faded Leaf Kitten. Ryan reacted instantly, casting Judgment to reassert control before the Boss could rampage.

Faded Leaf Kitten hadn’t been so lucky. One heavy strike had knocked off 200 health.

"Don’t heal her—focus on me!" Ryan barked, noticing Vina already mid-cast with Radiant Light aimed at Kitten.

He could handle Kitten’s damage later. Right now, the Boss needed to stay on him, or it was game over.

With aggro firmly re-secured, Ryan pulled the Boss a few steps farther, away from the new patches of fire. Then, with a breathless rhythm, he began casting Radiant Light himself, doing what he could to stay alive as purple fire danced at his heels.

Ryan, as a Paladin, had a decent mana pool to work with. Even with the Boss constantly interrupting his casting, he managed to squeeze out enough healing to top off his health now and then.

Heavyblade Vina, following his earlier advice, ceased casting altogether and began passively regenerating mana through her Spirit stat. Slowly but steadily, her mana bar ticked upward.

Ten more seconds passed. Ryan’s own mana was nearly tapped—but the Boss was now down to its final 20%.

"Heavyblade Vina, get ready for non-stop healing! DPS, dump everything you’ve got! Burn this thing down!" Ryan shouted, eyes locked on the crumbling health bar. The urgency in his voice rallied the group.

"Where are the minions? Weren’t they supposed to show up by now?" Evelyn murmured, frowning—but she didn’t slow down. She pushed harder, channeling every last bit of stamina into high-damage bursts.

Suddenly, the Boss turned blood-red and swelled in size. A new debuff appeared: every attack it landed on Ryan would now reduce the healing he received by 10%. Worse still, its attack speed ramped up, hammering Ryan with even less breathing room between blows.

But it was too late for the Boss.

With barely 1,000 health remaining, the group unloaded everything they had. Arrows flew, spells flared, steel clashed—and after just four more brutal strikes on Ryan, the Vein of Torment let out one final, agonized cry and collapsed to the ground.

Dead.

Ryan hadn’t let it stray from the scorched patches once. Because of that, not a single minion had spawned.

His hand finally relaxed. He’d been holding back his Radiant Glory the entire time. His Divine Power bar was still full. If things had gone sideways, he’d had enough stored to burst-heal himself for hundreds of points. But in the end, he hadn’t needed it.

Evelyn’s cheeks were flushed with adrenaline and disbelief.

"Holy crap... did we really just do that? Did we really clear that Boss on our first try?" She twirled in place, giddy. "I’m uploading the video—I recorded the whole thing!"

She bounced with excitement while the other two girls exchanged helpless glances, quietly turning to Ryan. Mia giggled and walked over to stand by his side.

Ryan sighed and cut through the energy. "You’re this hyped over one Boss? Come on. This isn’t even that impressive. Any group with halfway decent gear could pull it off. The real prize is getting world-first on Goldtooth. That’s what counts."

"Right, right!" Evelyn pumped her fist. "Let’s grab the loot and push forward! We’ll be the first to clear the whole dungeon!"

But when she turned, she realized everyone had already clustered around Ryan, watching him loot the Boss.

"Well? What dropped?" Evelyn elbowed her way into the circle, eyes shining.

"Lucky drop! Level 10 Uncommon shield. Makes me even harder to kill," Ryan grinned, holding it up. A solid upgrade—perfect for a tank. In the early progression phase, any gear that boosted a tank or healer was worth its weight in gold.

"Next, we better get some gear with Intellect. Doesn’t matter what armor type," Ryan added, glancing over at Vina. "If she keeps running out of mana this fast, we’ll be down a healer before the final Boss."

The girls all nodded in agreement.

With the loot secured, the team took a quick breather, restoring their health and mana. Then, without wasting a second more, they pressed on—deeper into the dungeon’s dark corridors.

Forty-five minutes had passed since they first entered. And for now, at least, they held the record for fastest clear of the first Boss in this progression cycle.

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