The scene that greeted Rei as he landed on the ground was nothing short of a melee.
No, it would be more accurate to say that with Beast Soldiers and the Kingdom of Mireana Army clashing everywhere, the knights, adventurers, and soldiers were fighting a losing battle. It was more of a desperate struggle on the verge of total collapse than a mere melee.
"Rei!"
While Rei surveyed the area with a commanding gaze, drawing the attention of the Beast Soldiers, a voice of relief rang out. It was Siminal, positioned a short distance away from Ara.
While everyone else was forced entirely onto the defensive just to stay alive, Siminal had managed to purge the toxins from his system with an antidote. He alone was fighting back, having claimed the lives of several Beast Soldiers. However, Siance, who was in command of the enemy forces, had naturally taken note of him. She had identified Siminal as a danger factor and ordered her troops to concentrate their attacks on him. As a result, Siminal had been driven to the point where defeat was certain if the battle continued this way.
Under such circumstances, an existence had suddenly plummeted from the sky and scattered the Beast Soldiers swarming him. It was only natural for Siminal to cry out in joy.
"You seem to be safe on your end."
Siminal nodded, breathing heavily as Rei approached while leveling his Death Scythe.
"Y-Yeah. We’re managing here. But at this rate, we’ll be overrun. If only we could take down the enemy commander..."
"Commander?"
Rei scanned the surroundings at Siminal’s words. His gaze came to a stop on Siance, who was directing the Beast Soldiers from atop a warhorse.
"Should I just kill that woman?"
"No, that’s not it. That woman is merely the lieutenant. The commander of the Beast Soldier unit that charged in here is being held back over there by the Princess General."
A flash of affection flickered in Siminal’s eyes as he spoke, but Rei continued without noticing it.
"Then what should we do? I think it’ll be fine if we leave it to Elena."
What crossed Rei’s mind was the phantom of a dragon’s head that had appeared nearby a short while ago.
Upon seeing that, Rei had immediately judged it to be a form of Dragon Language Magic and hurried over with Seto, only to find the final line of defense protecting Supreme Commander Alius on the brink of collapse.
Rei had brought a temporary reprieve to the crisis by having Seto forcefully blow the Beast Soldiers away with a body slam. Now, he faced off against the unit led by Siance, who seemed to be wary of both Rei and Seto.
The stalemate existed precisely because the Gryphon Seto, a High-Rank Monster, was on guard. Furthermore, Siance had been warned by Theoreme of Rei’s status as an outlier; she suspected the person before her was the one who had created that catastrophic Flame Tornado.
As for the Beast Soldiers, having just witnessed nearly five of their comrades blown away without a second thought, they were hesitant to make a move against Seto.
They felt an overwhelming pressure radiating from the Gryphon standing in their path.
"Lord Siance, what shall we do?"
A Beast Soldier whispered for instructions, but Siance could only furrow her brows.
She understood all too well the power this one man and one beast possessed. After all, even Theoreme, the general known as the Flash, had stated outright that his own win rate against this opponent was less than thirty percent. Siance’s honest feeling was that he was more than she could handle.
Normally, he was an opponent they planned to suppress by assigning the Dragon Knights—the only ones capable of flight—as a group. The idea was that the Dragon Knights, the most elite unit in the army, could at least prevent him from acting freely even if they couldn't defeat him... but that plan had been utterly shattered by the Flame Tornado that had suddenly appeared in the center of their own Lead Unit.
(Even so, he is but one person. Can we manage a single adventurer with this much force? ...No, that won’t work. If we attack with numbers, we won’t be able to spare any men for Count Alius.)
If they tried to pin down Rei, they would have no choice but to send every Beast Soldier at him and prepare for the unit's total annihilation. But if they did that, the essential target, Count Alius, and his subordinates would be free.
On the other hand, they couldn't afford to leave an outlier combat power like Rei free to act.
Siance’s face twisted in displeasure at the situation, which was a perfect definition of a stalemate.
"Wait for the enemy to move. If we clash head-on, we will only suffer useless casualties."
The Beast Soldier nodded obediently at his superior's words, though he was momentarily surprised.
In a way, it was unavoidable that he turned his gaze not toward Rei, but toward the Gryphon, Seto—wondering if this was truly the opponent his superior was so wary of.
Perhaps the situation would have been different if he possessed the ability to see magic power.
Meanwhile, Rei and Siminal were consulting on their next move.
"In any case, even though the Princess General is holding back the enemy commander, the commander himself is the problem."
"A problem?"
"Yeah. Just as Lady Elena is called the Princess General, the enemy commander is a general who holds the epithet 'Flash'."
"...A general is leading a surprise attack unit himself? Not a frontline commander or someone of lower rank?"
Rei looked skeptical, but Siminal nodded with a wry smile.
"The epithet 'Flash' originally comes from the speed at which he leads an army, or so the story goes. I suppose he’s showing his true colors now. But to put it the other way, even if he isn’t the enemy’s Supreme Commander, the fact remains that a general-class individual is within our reach. ...You understand what I’m saying, right?"
"That a crisis can be turned into an opportunity?"
Rei replied to Siminal’s words, which implicitly urged him to slay the enemy commander here.
Seeing that his intent had been conveyed, Siminal gave a nod.
"Rei, your presence here is almost too much combat power. Considering Count Alius’s protection, it will be enough if you leave Seto behind. You should join the Princess General and slay the Flash. ...That is acceptable, isn't it?"
Siminal proceeded with the plan, seeking permission from Alius with his gaze.
Alius wore a somewhat displeased expression as the conversation moved forward without him, but in the end, he adopted Siminal’s proposal with a silent nod.
From Alius’s perspective, the choice was unavoidable. This war was supposed to have been for the purpose of exhausting the Neutral Faction and the Noble's Faction. However, once it actually began, those two factions had crushed the Bestia Imperial Army's Lead Unit while suffering almost no losses. Conversely, his own King's Faction, which was supposed to be safe, had been scattered by a surprise attack. For Alius, performing so poorly in a war meant for gaining merit was the worst possible outcome.
However, if they could slay Theoreme, the famous Flash, right here, it could be framed as a strategy where he used himself as bait to lure the enemy into his grasp. While the truth was vastly different, it could be perceived that way objectively, and given the influence of the King's Faction, he could force that narrative to stick. If he went along with Siminal’s plan, the glory of slaying the Flash would go to Rei, but it was still a far better future than being branded a defeated general.
"...Very well. I shall draw the Beast Soldiers’ attention, so you slay the Flash."
Once he had the Supreme Commander’s permission, Rei no longer had any reason to refuse. Regardless of his strength, the current Rei was ultimately just an adventurer hired as a mercenary.
"Seto, I’m leaving this place to you. If those Beast Soldiers attack, show them what a Gryphon can do."
"Guruu."
Seto nodded and intimidated the Beast Soldiers led by Siance with a sharp gaze.
Since they had spoken in low voices, Siance didn't know the specifics of the plan, but she judged that the stalemate was about to end. She signaled her subordinates to remain alert. And then...
"Go!"
With Siminal’s shout, Rei kicked off the ground and sprinted toward Siance’s group with his Death Scythe ready.
"!? Intercepting formation!"
Thinking Rei had decided to break through alone, Siance gave a sharp cry. Following her command, the Beast Soldiers formed a circular formation around her. However...
"Eh?"
The next moment, Siance let out a voice of disbelief from the center of that circle.
Her expression would have been unthinkable to anyone who knew the usually calm and composed Siance. In fact, several of the Beast Soldiers reflexively turned toward her.
Paying no mind to the formation, Rei simply ran in a wide arc past them.
Siance watched his retreating figure in a daze, but a moment later, she realized who was in the direction Rei was heading. Her expression tightened.
"Lord Theoreme!"
She shouted sharply and tried to turn her warhorse to follow...
"Gurulululululuu!"
Seto let out a deafening roar, pinning her unit in place.
"Kh, I see. You’ve chosen that method. What a truly troublesome move..."
Using the Gryphon to pin them down while Rei slew Theoreme, the unit's commander.
By the time Siance saw through the strategy, it was already too late; she was no longer able to give chase.
If she turned back now to pursue Rei, the Gryphon and Count Alius’s group would undoubtedly strike her from behind.
(No, if it were just Count Alius’s group, we could manage. But that Gryphon shuts down all our options. Should I risk the destruction of my forces and have everyone retreat to join Lord Theoreme? No, with that Gryphon here, we might all be taken down before we move an inch. Kh, I should have brought more Beast Soldiers.)
Even though her beloved superior was in danger, she clenched her teeth, forcing herself to remain calm.
Until just a few minutes ago, they had been overwhelmingly at an advantage. But with a single move—the introduction of an adventurer who commanded a Gryphon—their combat power had been rendered a corpse on its feet. Siance ground her teeth and glared at Seto, frustrated by this unreasonable shift in power.
While Siance fumed, Rei continued to run in a straight line toward the direction Siminal had indicated.
He carved through any Beast Soldiers he encountered in passing, dealing a single horizontal slash with his blade as he sprinted by.
It was the behavior of a phantom killer, but thanks to him, a significant number of Beast Soldiers were defeated or wounded, and many Kingdom soldiers were saved from certain death.
He was heading toward Elena, but she must have been moving quite intensely during her duel. They seemed to be fighting quite far from the main camp, as he couldn't see the flash of luxurious blonde hair that was Elena’s signature even when scanning the horizon.
As he surveyed the area, he caught sight of a familiar person. It wasn't Elena, but her closest retainer. He saw her wielding a giant battle axe, engaged in a fierce fight with multiple Beast Soldiers.
"Good!"
If that person was Ara, she would undoubtedly know where Elena was. Having judged so, Rei approached the enemies fighting Ara with his Death Scythe leveled.
(...What is this?)
Rei felt a sense of wrongness as he drew closer to the skirmish.
The movements of the Beast Soldiers fighting Ara were extremely dull, and tentacle-like growths were sprouting from their bodies. He noticed that those growths seemed to be connected to a Beast Soldier standing a short distance away.
For a moment, Rei felt a sense of déjà vu toward the controller's back, but he decided he had no time for that and closed the distance. As he passed through, he delivered a horizontal slash with his Death Scythe from behind the man controlling the puppets...
Slash!
"Kehi!?"
Leaving the Beast Soldier whose torso had been bifurcated as he fell to the ground, Rei approached Ara.
Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, but the Beast Soldiers who had been fighting Ara also collapsed the moment the controller fell.
(Tentacles? No, are they tree roots?)
He briefly looked at the fallen Beast Soldiers before turning to the dumbfounded Ara.
"Ara, do you know where Elena is!?"
"Y-Yes. Um, I saw her whip-sword in its whip state over that way a little while ago... Um, Lord Rei? Who did you just slash... Huh?"
As soon as he heard Ara’s reply, Rei took off in the indicated direction.
Watching his retreating back, Ara turned her gaze with a stunned expression toward her former colleague whose torso had been cut in two.
"...He didn't even consider you an opponent. What a pitiful end."
In the battlefield that had suddenly grown quiet, Ara’s voice, tinged with pity, echoed.