"Well, once we open this door, the climax of this foolish commotion begins. Are you ready?"
Rei stood before the massive doors of the dance hall on the second floor of Boruntar's Residence and spoke.
"No problem at all. I want to finish this mess quickly and enjoy a slow drink, ja."
"I'm ready too, obviously. Honestly, to think I'd get dragged into such a ridiculous mess."
"My apologies... for involving you in a family dispute."
Galahat bowed his head slightly toward Phron, who complained with a pout and a sigh.
"I—it's not your fault. This was the Azoth Firm's... no, it was Boruntar's fault for making those outrageous demands of Rei in the first place."
Phron replied hurriedly to Galahat.
"Leave guarding Galahat-san to me," Mult added, bracing his halberd. "Though, don't expect too much from me in terms of actual combat power."
"Guruuuu."
Since the mansion's stairs were built for humans, Set had used its wings to fly directly to the second floor. It let out a rumble from the back of its throat, signaling it was ready whenever they were.
Rei gave a wry smile at his companions' lack of tension as he threw open the dance hall doors. In the next instant, sensing something flying toward him, he swung the Death Scythe reflexively.
A metallic clang echoed as a dagger was deflected.
"Whoa, are you serious? He sliced through the wall by the door and still deflected my dagger."
A startled voice rang out from within.
Just as the voice described, Rei's instantaneous strike had sliced through the wall around the door frame before knocking back the incoming projectile. Most shocking was that the swing had not been slowed in the slightest by the resistance of the wall. For Rei, cutting through stone and wood required so little effort that it didn't even qualify as an obstacle.
While his strength might have been unexpected for the defenders waiting inside, it was hardly a surprise for Brasso or Phron, who already understood just how much of an outlier Rei truly was. Nor was it shocking for Galahat or Mult, who had witnessed his previous exchange with Boruntar. Thus, without a word, the group entered the dance hall.
"H-Heeeee!"
Among those waiting for them was a middle-aged woman in her forties, clad in robes and clutching a staff that served as a magic catalyst. She suddenly shrieked and collapsed, her legs giving out beneath her.
Everyone, from her allies to Rei's group, gave her a bewildered look. However, the female mage stared at Rei with eyes clouded by pure terror, as if she were a small animal looking into the eyes of an absolute predator.
(...Ah.)
Seeing her reaction, Rei concluded that she must have sensed his magic power.
"It seems we don't need to worry about that mage," Rei said, quickly losing interest in the middle-aged woman as he turned his gaze toward the other adventurers in the room.
There was the thief-like man who had thrown the dagger, a swordsman in monster leather armor, two spearmen in metal armor, an archer with a bow, and a man who could only be described as a heavy knight, clad in full plate armor and wielding a halberd. A total of six defenders stood ready.
"Brasso, Phron, Galahat. Do you recognize any of them? Anyone we should be especially careful of?"
Rei asked his companions while keeping the enemies at bay with the reach of his Death Scythe. He addressed Brasso and Phron, both veterans of the City of Gilm, and Galahat, a high-ranking B-Rank adventurer who had once worked alongside the firm's hires.
Phron spoke first.
"I recognize the swordsman and the two spearmen. They should be a party called the Snowfield Wolves. They recently ranked up to C-Rank. They might be new to the rank, but they're reasonably skilled, so stay sharp."
Galahat followed her lead.
"The thief who threw the dagger is the man who manages the Azoth Firm's Thieves. I believe his name is Tenda."
"That archer is the one who targeted me back in the alleys when I was looking for Rei," Mult added. "I'm fairly certain he's also the one Rei didn't manage to hit in front of the residence."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"What about the man in full plate? From the looks of it, he seems the most skilled among them."
Rei's gaze settled on the heavy knight with the halberd. While the others moved with competence, Rei felt that this man radiated an aura several levels above the rest.
"...No, I don't know him, ja. Besides, if there were an adventurer who wore full plate, it would have become a rumor immediately, ja."
Since adventurers had to travel to their quest locations on their own, someone wearing full plate mail weighing tens of kilograms would undoubtedly be a topic of conversation. Neither Brasso nor Phron remembered hearing rumors of such a peculiar individual.
(Well, there are oddities like a boy who uses a great scythe larger than himself, ja. I suppose it wouldn't be strange for there to be an adventurer in full plate mail, ja.)
Brasso thought to himself, glancing at Galahat.
"Do you recognize him? You were colleagues; someone that conspicuous should have been rumored about, ja?"
Galahat shook his head slightly.
"I don't recognize him. I wouldn't forget someone that noticeable after one look... Was he hired in a hurry during the few days I was missing? Mult, what about you?"
"No, I don't recognize him either."
"Hey, hey, hey! Are you really whispering among yourselves after coming all this way? We've been waiting here for you all day. You, the rumored gryphon user—at least give us some entertainment... Hah!"
Tenda, the leader of the Azoth Firm's Thieves, kicked off the floor with a dagger in each hand, rapidly closing the distance.
"Tch! I'll handle the thief first. You guys hold out until I'm done with him! Set, you take the archer! Mult, guard Galahat. Stand by there!"
Rei called out to his companions while readying the Death Scythe. Rather than waiting for Tenda to reach him, Rei stepped forward to meet the charge.
"Haha! Even with that long-reach weapon, you close the distance yourself? You're as interesting as the rumors say!"
With a savage, delighted smile, Tenda executed rapid feints before lunging at Rei.
(I see. So this is the combat-loving guy Galahat mentioned.)
Rei thought as the fight began.
Tenda was fast, striking from unexpected angles—attacking low when he seemed to go high, or from the left when he seemed to go right. An ordinary person would have been toyed with by those feints, but Tenda had picked the wrong opponent.
"Haah!"
Rei swung the massive scythe as if it were a light branch. Despite Tenda's agility, Rei easily countered his movements. The combination of his own physical strength and the Death Scythe's Weight Reduction property meant he was always a step ahead.
"Tch, you really are a monster."
For the first ten seconds, Tenda smiled with a hunter's joy. For the next ten, he recognized a tough opponent and switched to attacking in earnest. For the ten seconds after that, he looked on in shock as none of his strikes hit; every thrust was blocked, avoided, or parried.
Rei hadn't had many chances to fight dagger specialists, so he spent a brief moment reading Tenda's movements. Once he was satisfied, he exhaled sharply and unleashed a heavy swing.
"Hmph!"
"!? Tch!"
Tenda, who had felt the weapon's durability and Rei's monstrous strength through their previous clashes, instinctively ducked.
(Your strike definitely has insane power. But no matter how strong it is, it means nothing if it doesn't hit! Once you miss with that oversized thing, I'll exploit the opening to hit your leg with this paralysis poison...)
Tenda planned to strike Rei's leg as the scythe passed over his head. Even if Rei's robe had magic protection, Tenda was confident he could at least slice through the fabric and leave a scratch.
It was a solid strategy... provided the opponent wasn't Rei.
Tenda had made two fatal mistakes. First, while he knew Rei's robe was a magic item, he didn't realize its quality. The Dragon Robe, made of double-layered hide from an ancient dragon with scales embedded between the layers, boasted defensive power far superior to ordinary full plate mail. Tenda's blade would never have pierced it.
His second mistake was underestimating Rei's physical ability. Tenda was officially a C-Rank adventurer, but he took pride in having B-Rank strength. He could hold his own against Galahat. He only remained at C-Rank because the Azoth Firm didn't want him drawing too much attention while he performed their dirty work.
That confidence clouded his judgment. The Death Scythe passed over the crouching Tenda with a whoosh that crushed the air. In the next moment, just as Tenda prepared to lunge, a massive impact hit his flank, and his consciousness faded into darkness.
"The plan was good, but..."
What Rei had done was simple. After the Death Scythe passed over Tenda's head, he simply reversed the swing at the same speed.
Normally, such a reversal would be impossible for a weapon of that length. It was a strike only possible for Rei, who felt the weapon was as light as a chopstick thanks to its magic properties.
Rei cast a brief glance at Tenda, who had been blown ten meters away with his ribs shattered, then checked on the others. The archer man had already been neutralized; Set had him pinned to the floor with its right forepaw on his back.
(I guess even a skilled archer was no match for Set.)
Indeed, the archer had used the spacious hall to fire arrow after arrow at the flying gryphon, but almost all were dodged, knocked away by eagle claws, or even caught mid-air in Set's beak. After a miserable struggle, Set had swept his legs with its tail and pinned him down.
Next, Rei looked at Phron and Brasso.
They were at a numerical disadvantage, but as expected of veterans, they were holding their own against the swordsman and the two spearmen.
The swordsmen's blades clashed in mid-air, and Phron parried a strike from the Snowfield Wolves' leader. As she tried to exploit the opening, a spear thrust came toward her. Brasso's Earth-shaking Hammer swung to crush the spear, but the second spearman aimed for the opening left by Brasso's heavy swing.
It was a stalemate.
(...Stalemate? Wait.)
Rei suddenly remembered the count of enemies and looked around the hall again. The middle-aged mage was still on the floor, whispering nonsense.
(She isn't an issue.)
Rei shifted his gaze away from her... and met the gaze of the man with the halberd.
Since the man wore a helmet that completely concealed his face, Rei couldn't be sure their eyes had met, but he felt it instinctively.
The man looked around, and once he confirmed no one would interfere with their fight, he gave his halberd a great swing.
Boom!
The sound of the wind was softer than when Rei swung the Death Scythe, but it was still far beyond anything an ordinary adventurer should be able to produce.
The man remained silent as he braced his halberd and took a step toward Rei, then a second, and a third. Slowly and surely, he closed the distance.