"Seto, no one's around, is there?"
"Guruuu."
At Rei's call, Seto let out a soft rumble from its throat.
The one man and one beast currently stood within a grove filled with a heavy silence.
On the far side of the trees, the King's Faction—the heart of the Kingdom of Mireana Army's main camp—had already moved out. No one remained in the vicinity except for Rei, Seto, and a few small animals.
A handful of undead, including skeletons and zombies, had attempted to attack the Kingdom of Mireana Army as it passed, but they had been hopelessly outnumbered. They were swept aside almost effortlessly, crushed in a single stroke.
"Now we just have to wait for the signal... No, I suppose there was no need to wait after all."
Sensing a presence rapidly approaching, Rei withdrew the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring on his right hand.
He didn't truly expect to be ambushed here, well within the territory controlled by the Kingdom of Mireana's side on the Seremuse Plain, but he refused to be careless.
This was already a battlefield. Anything could happen.
However, Rei's caution soon proved unnecessary. Perhaps having been briefed on Rei's location beforehand, the individual entered the grove where they were hiding without a hint of hesitation. Furthermore, Rei recognized the man's face.
"You're... from the Prairie Wolves, right?"
The Prairie Wolves were the group Rei had recruited and introduced to Daskar to serve as scouts for the Larkus Territorial Army. This man was one of their members—the same one who had initially confronted Rei, unable to accept Egg's decision to serve under him. While Rei remembered the face, he had only fought the man once and found himself unable to recall a name, his words trailing off.
The man looked at Rei and seemed about to snap something back, but he evidently decided that now was not the time. He let out a weary sigh and spoke.
"Yeah. I'm Kirtos, the one you handled so easily. I've brought a message from Egg-san. He says the messengers from both sides are about to deliver their demands for surrender, and the battle will start shortly after, so get ready. ...Also, he said to be careful. They've confirmed a massive number of Dragon Knights on the other side."
At the mention of Dragon Knights, Rei's expression twitched.
Wearing a look of distaste, he reached out and stroked Seto's head.
"Dragon Knights, huh? I've heard they're quite formidable, but I've never actually fought one. ...What about you?"
Kirtos, receiving the look, shook his head with genuine revulsion.
"Give me a break. Dragon Knights are the elite of the elite among knights, you know? They cost a staggering amount to maintain, but in exchange, their combat power is on a completely different level from a normal knight. Plus, they can fly. If we thieves had to face them head-on, we wouldn't stand a chance. We'd be wiped out. Even Egg-san would be lucky just to get away. ...Look, I've felt your strength firsthand. I know you're the real deal. But I don't know how strong that gryphon, Seto, really is. I don't know what you're planning, but taking on Dragon Knights... especially multiple ones... is something you absolutely shouldn't do."
Surprisingly, the words coming from Kirtos were born of genuine concern for Rei's safety.
"I appreciate what you're saying, but if I don't push things a bit, this war is going to get ugly for everyone. ...Anyway, thanks for the message. I'm going to head out soon, so you get back to your job."
With that, Rei turned back toward Seto.
Seeing this, Kirtos instinctively spoke up again.
"Hey! I'm telling you, if you fly through the air, those Dragon Knights will spot you! I don't know what you're thinking, but if they catch you, there's nothing you—"
Kirtos tried to argue further, but he faltered when he saw Rei's face. There was no trace of tragic resolve or despair there.
To Kirtos, fighting a Dragon Knight was a death sentence, but the Rei standing before him looked as though he already had a path to victory laid out.
"...What exactly do you plan to do?"
"Nothing that complicated. Even if you call them Dragon Knights, the ones riding them are just humans in the end, right?"
"Well, yeah, I guess so."
"Then it doesn't matter how strong the Dragon Knights are. There's a limit to the altitude a dragon can reach. The higher we go, the more sluggish the knights' movements will become. Besides, the dragons used by Dragon Knights are wyverns; they aren't exactly an intelligent dragon species. They're just high-tier monsters. ...Of course, I'm not underestimating their raw power."
Kirtos wore a conflicted expression at Rei's explanation.
Being a mountain bandit, Kirtos knew that temperatures dropped as you climbed higher. He assumed that was what Rei was getting at, but...
"But doesn't that apply to you too? If it's an altitude a Dragon Knight can't handle, surely you can't survive it either?"
The question was only natural, and Kirtos voiced it plainly.
However, Rei simply shook his head with a smirk.
"I have a bit of a hobby for collecting various practical magic items. Because of that, I'm quite resistant to extreme cold and heat."
To be precise, the Dragon Robe Rei wore was the key magic item for this operation, but Rei wasn't so naive as to disclose that much.
Kirtos nodded as if convinced by Rei's answer, but his gaze suddenly shifted to the gryphon standing beside the boy.
"Does that magic item work on the gryphon too?"
"No, it doesn't. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't lump Seto in with ordinary gryphons. It can handle a plan of this level without breaking a sweat."
Rei replied, continuing to stroke Seto's head.
In truth, Rei had tested Seto's altitude limits several times before, and the gryphon had been able to reach heights where the air was incredibly thin. This was only possible because Seto was not a normal gryphon, but a creature born of Rei's immense magic power through the use of Beast Magic.
"...I see. Well, if you say so. I'll be heading back to Egg-san's position now. Is that all right?"
"Yeah, go ahead. ...And give a message to Egg for me. The Bestia Empire is taking this war seriously. There's a high probability they'll infiltrate the Mireana Kingdom side to conduct rear-line harassment, so tell him I'm counting on them to deal with that."
When Rei finished, Kirtos responded with a sharp, knowing grin.
"Your boss already told us as much. A good number of the Prairie Wolves are already scattered throughout the area, scouting the surroundings."
"Heh."
Realizing that Daskar had already anticipated the same threats he had, Rei nodded in admiration.
"Then I'll leave the rear to you."
"Yeah. ...And, well."
"Hmm?"
"Good luck out there. Try not to die."
At the unexpected well-wish, Rei stared blankly for a moment before giving a small nod.
Their initial meeting had been disastrous, but Egg had clearly been working behind the scenes. The hostility Kirtos had shown toward Rei during their first encounter had almost entirely evaporated.
(Good grief, I wonder what Egg did to turn that level of enmity into this.)
Kirtos seemed intent on watching them until they took flight. Rei glanced briefly at the man standing a short distance away, then vaulted onto Seto's back.
"Alright, Seto. It's almost our turn."
"Guruuuu!"
Perhaps inspired by Rei's voice, Seto let out a cry filled with battle spirit. After a short burst of speed on the ground, it flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
Watching Rei and Seto with a look of newfound respect, Kirtos turned and ran back toward Egg to deliver his report.
At almost the same time Rei and Seto took flight, the Kingdom of Mireana Army and the Bestia Imperial Army were facing each other head-on across the Seremuse Plain.
The forces of the Neutral Faction and the Noble's Faction were concentrated in the lead unit, while behind them, the King's Faction units—the main body of the Kingdom of Mireana Army—waited in reserve.
And in a grove even further behind those King's Faction units, a secret operation was reaching its climax.
"Damn... you... monster..."
A man gasped with bitter regret before collapsing to the ground.
A massive amount of blood pooled beneath his torso, and it was clear to anyone watching that his life was at its end.
The figure looking down at the dying man with total apathy was draped in a robe and held a staff in one hand. He appeared to be a man in his forties; to any observer, he looked like a common middle-aged mage.
However, a glance at the man's lower body immediately explained why the dying scout had called him a monster.
The man's lower body was that of a giant spider. Or rather, given the scale, it was more accurate to say that the man's torso grew out of the spider's head.
The most famous creature with the combined features of a human and a spider was the arachne. However, an arachne always possessed the upper body of a woman; it was never a middle-aged man like the one now gazing down with cold indifference.
The man's name was Gilgos. He was a peculiar sort—a mage who had volunteered to undergo the Beast Soldier procedure. Because of this, he could wield magic in addition to his power as a Beast Soldier. Furthermore, while most who underwent the procedure suffered a decline in sanity and intellect, Gilgos was an extremely rare case whose mind had actually become sharper than it was when he was human. Consequently, he held Lord Theoreme's deep trust and was frequently given command over other Beast Soldiers.
"Your sharp nose was your undoing," he muttered.
With a flick of his lower body, Gilgos spat out silk, wrapping the now-dead scout in a cocoon.
"Even a man like this might be useful for some experiment. At the very least, he can serve as food for the Beast Soldiers who have lost their reason."
He spoke of consuming human flesh in a tone that was unsettlingly casual, then dragged the cocooned corpse to a place where it wouldn't be an obstacle.
"If the Kingdom of Mireana has scouts this capable, could Lord Theoreme's prediction have actually missed the mark? No, the word is that their Supreme Commander is Alius. There's no doubt the King's Faction is underestimating us. In that case, was this scout from the Neutral Faction or the Noble's Faction?"
Frowning slightly at the blood staining the earth, the man chanted an incantation and waved his staff.
In the next instant, the remaining blood was swallowed by the soil. Every trace that a man had died here just seconds ago vanished beneath the ground.
"Regardless, they are late. It should be time."
He glanced at the ground at his feet.
Inscribed there was a magic circle. It was no ordinary array; it was a massive magic circle that spanned nearly the entire area where Gilgos stood.
However, even if a soldier from the Mireana Kingdom were standing right there, they wouldn't have noticed it. Gilgos was using magic to shift perception away from the circle itself. Under normal circumstances, it wasn't a particularly powerful spell, and anyone with sharp instincts would have noticed the oddity. However, Gilgos enhanced the effect by placing his own monstrous form right in the center of it.
Anyone who stumbled upon the area would first have their attention seized by Gilgos's deformed appearance, and the unnatural feeling of the ground would naturally be drowned out by the shock of his presence.
Even though they were a considerable distance from the Mireana Kingdom Army's lines, drawing and maintaining such an array was a testament to Gilgos's exceptional ability.
"A surprise attack using teleportation stones and us Beast Soldiers simultaneously. It's a tactic that anyone familiar with teleportation stones might think of, but only Lord Theoreme could execute it on such a scale. Of course, a tactic like this can only ever be used once."
Beast Soldiers created in the Bestia Empire and teleportation stones. Gilgos judged that this surprise attack, combining those two elements, was potent enough to end the war right then and there—provided it was the first time the enemy had seen it.
And then... the moment arrived.
The magic circle in Gilgos's vision began to glow with a faint light. It flickered, the intervals growing shorter and shorter, until in the next instant, countless shadows appeared in the grove where Gilgos had stood alone. There were approximately five hundred of them. Men with scales growing from their skin, some with monkey-like tails, some with hideous flowers blooming from their skulls, some with the lower bodies of giant snakes, and others with massive fangs protruding from their mouths. It was a deformed group so varied it was pointless to categorize them. However, given their raw power as Beast Soldiers and their position directly behind the enemy's main camp, it was no exaggeration to say this force could end the war by itself.
Among them, two figures stood out: Theoreme and Siance. Because they were surrounded by monstrous beings, the two humans were far more conspicuous than the Beast Soldiers. It wasn't just their appearance, either; the sheer power emanating from them was fundamentally different from the soldiers around them.
"...I have been waiting, Lord Theoreme."
Gilgos offered a graceful bow with his human upper body.
Theoreme accepted the gesture with a magnanimous air and spoke.
"Good work. This location hasn't been compromised, has it?"
"No. A few sharp-eyed individuals stumbled near, but I have already dealt with them."
"I see. Well done. Then what we must do next is bide our time and strike the rear of the Mireana Kingdom Army's main body—!?"
Just as he was about to give the order, Theoreme reflexively turned his gaze toward the battlefield. Siance, Gilgos, and many of the Beast Soldiers did the same.
And then, Theoreme and his group saw it. A massive tornado rising from the battlefield. An incarnation of destruction composed of roaring flame and wind.
Even from within the grove, and despite the distance to the battlefield, its form was terrifyingly distinct.
"Impossible. What is that... a tornado of that magnitude... No, it isn't a tornado, is it?"
Only Gilgos's stunned voice echoed through the silent grove.
But among them, only one of the Beast Soldiers wore a wide smile on his distorted face.
Growing from the tip of his left shoulder was a cluster of tentacles made of tree roots. His face was burned in patches, and he possessed four eyes.
Directing his gaze toward the flame tornado with those four eyes, he spoke in a tone of pure, twisted delight.
"Heh... hehi... f-found you... I found you, Rei. This is your work, isn't it? ...Hehi!"
The Beast Soldier, wearing a manic smile—the man who had once been known as Vel Sails—directed a gaze of heartfelt joy toward the towering pillar of fire.