"...They’re here."
Rei muttered those words about two hours after they had finished breakfast and set out.
He had felt certain of it for a while now, watching Set scan their surroundings while letting out occasional low growls.
"Lord Rei, what’s coming?" Ara asked from her position at the front of the group.
Rei swept his gaze across the dense wall of trees surrounding them before answering. "It’s likely the troop of Water Monkeys we encountered yesterday. Based on Set’s behavior, they’re encircling us."
"But isn't that exactly what they did yesterday?" Elena asked, sounding skeptical. "I find it hard to believe a group led by what appeared to be a Rare Species would repeat a tactic that failed them once already."
"Lady Elena, I think you're overestimating them. They are merely monsters, after all," Kyuste interjected, dismissing her concern.
Watching them, Rei checked the grip on the handle of the Death Scythe, mentally bracing for an ambush at any moment.
Kyuste isn’t entirely wrong, Rei thought. But that’s only if their leader isn't a Rare Species. I only saw it for a few seconds yesterday, but that creature definitely possessed high intelligence. In that case...
"Alternatively, this could be a trap," Rei suggested.
"A trap? From beasts like that?" Kyuste cast a displeased look back at Rei.
Having traveled together for several days, Rei had grown accustomed to Kyuste’s attitude. He ignored the sneer and continued his explanation to Elena. "What if they’re repeating yesterday's patterns specifically to make us think we can handle them? To make us drop our guard before they reveal a move we aren't expecting?"
"I see. To lure us into complacency before striking with an unexpected hand."
"Precisely. I believe we should remain on high alert. If they weren't hiding in the trees, I could keep them at bay with long-range attacks, but they're using the terrain perfectly to stay out of sight. They're native to this forest, after all."
"Hm? Do you have a means of long-range attack other than your magic?" Elena asked with interest.
Rei reached into the Misty Ring and produced a single spear. It wasn't a magic item like Kyuste’s Magic Spear, nor was it a masterfully crafted weapon. It was an entirely ordinary spear, the kind a common city guard might carry. In truth, it was part of Rei’s share of the loot from the bandits he had defeated during his Rank Up Exam.
"What do you plan to do with a spear like that? If that's a jab at me, I suppose I should commend the effort," Kyuste scoffed.
"It’s nothing like that. It’s simply..." Rei leaned the Death Scythe against a nearby tree, aimed in the direction where he suspected the monkeys were hiding, and threw it with everything he had.
Propelled by Rei's superhuman strength, the spear—though never meant for throwing—vanished from their sight in an instant. A few seconds later, a heavy thud echoed through the woods.
"...A miss, I guess."
"Whoa, what was that speed?" Vel muttered, stunned. "I mean, if you can throw like that, do you even need magic?"
Rei shook his head. "These are essentially disposable. Even if I have plenty of them left, it’s not a move I can use lightly. For a one-shot attack I might not be able to recover, using magic is far more efficient. Magic power recovers naturally, after all."
"Hah, I guess that makes sense," Vel said with an exasperated sigh.
"Besides, unlike magic, I can't guide a thrown spear. That’s why I just missed." Rei judged that the dull sound from earlier was the spear burying itself in a tree trunk. Even if it had hit a Water Monkey, it likely wouldn't have been a fatal blow.
"Ah, right. I get it. From that perspective, it really is a hassle to use."
"Think of it as an emergency measure. Anyway, sorry for the delay. Let’s get back to finding those stairs."
"Got it, got it," Vel replied, and the party resumed their trek toward B5F.
"Still, it's weird," Vel muttered as he used a dagger to hack through the thick vines blocking their path.
"What is?" Ara asked, trimming protruding branches with her own sword.
"We've been moving for two hours since we left camp, and we haven't seen a single monster. This isn't just some woods; we're in a dungeon."
"Maybe that Ogre Lord Rei killed was the king of this area?"
"Don't be stupid. Did you forget the upper floors? The monsters in this dungeon are somehow working together."
"...But if that's true, what was that Ogre eating to survive? Just the nuts in this forest?" Ara pointed out.
Vel stopped mid-swing, looking surprised. No one had an answer. If they were all cooperating, they couldn't prey on each other. While omnivorous monsters could eat plants, what did carnivores like the Ogre eat?
"The most logical conclusion is that there are normal animals in the dungeon that aren't monsters," Elena suggested.
"That's probably it." She nodded as she drew her Whip-sword from its sheath. Simultaneously, Kyuste gripped his Magic Spear and Rei braced his Death Scythe.
Set let out a low rumble from the back of its throat, its senses on high alert. And then...
"Kikikiii!"
The screeching rang out from all directions as a troop of Water Monkeys lunged from the canopy.
"So, that throw earlier really was the trigger!"
Rei swung the Death Scythe in a massive Horizontal Slash, bisecting a Water Monkey that had leapt at him with bared fangs. Without pausing, he used the shaft to bash the skull of another monkey attacking from the opposite side, sending it tumbling. He caught a glimpse of the creature’s brains splattering against the ground before spinning away just as a Water Ball hissed through the air, narrowly missing his chest.
"Damn, they're focusing on me!"
"It seems so! They likely recognized you as the one who threw that spear... hup!" Elena swung her Whip-sword. The blade extended into a whip-like chain, dancing through the air in a complex spiral that slit the throats of several monkeys at once.
Nearby, Set was moving three-dimensionally, kicking off tree trunks to launch itself at the monkeys. It tore through them with its beak and foreclaws and batted them aside with its powerful hind legs.
"Mere monsters, dare to face me? Know your place!" Kyuste’s Magic Spear blurred in a series of rapid thrusts. The weapon interfered with the water covering the monkeys' fur, bypassing their Water Defense entirely to pierce their hearts.
"You've been a pain since yesterday! Ara, move!"
"I'm on it! I won't let them near Lady Elena!"
The arrows Vel fired had most of their momentum killed by the monkeys' water hide, but the impact was enough to knock them to the ground. Ara followed up immediately, hacking through the fallen creatures. She didn't have a specialized weapon to bypass the Water Defense, so she simply relied on her Herculean Strength to cleave through water, hide, and flesh alike.
In terms of raw skill, Rei’s group had the overwhelming advantage. The Water Monkeys attacked only to be slaughtered, staining the forest floor with their blood. However, as the skirmish stretched into twenty, then thirty minutes of nonstop fighting, the situation began to shift.
While Rei’s physical endurance was superhuman, the other four were merely human, however elite they might be. Maintaining peak combat performance for half an hour against a seemingly endless swarm was exhausting. No matter their skill, few people possessed the stamina to hold off such sheer numbers indefinitely.
"Hah! ...Wait? Kyah!"
Ara was the first to falter. Unlike Elena with her long-range Whip-sword, Kyuste with his reach, or Vel with his bow, Ara had to get in close and swing a heavy blade. Every strike required her to exert her Herculean Strength to overcome the monkeys' defenses, draining her rapidly.
"Ara!"
Her sword was deflected by a monkey's water hide, and the creature lunged at her throat. Before it could reach her, Kyuste’s Magic Spear flashed out. The monkey essentially threw itself onto the tip of his weapon, which neutralized the water on its fur and skewered it instantly.
"Huff... huff... Thanks, Kyuste."
"Don't thank me, just keep it together! Their numbers aren't infinite. This has to end soon!"
"I... I know that!"
Digging deep for a second wind, Ara brought her sword down in a desperate overhead strike, forcing the blade through the monkey's Water Defense and splitting the creature.
"Ah!"
But the desperate, brute-force blow was her undoing. Her blade struck the creature's bone at the wrong angle and snapped cleanly in half.
The Water Monkeys didn't miss the opening. Seeing their chance, they lunged at the weaponless knight, seemingly forgetting their previous focus on Rei.
"Flying Slash!"
Rei unleashed the skill from his Death Scythe, the blade of compressed air bisecting several monkeys at once.
"Kikikiii!"
The remaining monkeys hissed at Rei in frustration, yet they still tried to swarm the defenseless Ara. But someone was faster.
"I will not let you touch my comrades!" Elena’s Whip-sword lashed out. The blade transformed into a whip once more, dancing through the air with a grace that masked its lethality. When the steel finally retracted, a dozen monkeys lay dead, their throats opened.
Rei took the opportunity to pull a longsword from the Misty Ring—one he had confiscated from the members of Falcon's Claws—and threw it.
Fueled by his immense strength, the sword became a projectile that slammed into the face of a monkey lunging at Ara, stopping it dead.
"Ara! It’s a cheap blade, but it’s better than a broken one! Use it!"
"My apologies, Lord Rei!" Ara scrambled to pull the sword from the dead monkey’s skull.
Another monkey tried to strike while she was vulnerable, but Vel’s rapid-fire arrows kept it at bay until she could regain her footing.
"Tch, persistent bastards!"
Rei twisted his body to evade two Water Balls and three lunging monkeys. He dodged the first projectile and used the Death Scythe to cleave the lead monkey and the second Water Ball simultaneously. Blood and water sprayed as he moved with weightless fluidity—to him, the massive scythe felt lighter than a feather—and flipped the weapon. He bisected a monkey attacking from behind his first kill, then leapt high to intercept a final attacker diving from his blind spot. As he reached the apex of his jump, he flicked his wrist and drove the butt of the scythe’s shaft upward.
"Gii!?"
Infused with his magic, the entire scythe was a devastating weapon. The shaft punched through the monkey’s throat, killing it instantly and leaving it skewered like a grisly kebab.
"Hah!"
With a powerful sweep, Rei flung the corpse off his weapon and into another group of monkeys that had been waiting for an opening to strike at Elena, scattering them like bowling pins.
"Sorry, Rei! Phew..." Elena managed to catch her breath as the pressure eased for a moment.
Even Elena is winded, Rei noted. Well, we’ve been fighting for nearly an hour without a second’s rest. I should be impressed she’s only slightly out of breath.
He cleaved through the water-soaked torso of another lunging monkey and stole a quick glance around the clearing. Ara was at her limit, swinging her sword with ragged gasps, her eyes glazed with exhaustion. Kyuste was panting heavily as he thrust his spear, and Vel’s fatigue was evident in the slowing rate of his fire.
Only Rei, Set, and to a degree Elena had any stamina left to give, yet the grueling war of attrition with the Water Monkeys showed no signs of stopping.