A scimitar swung in from the left, but it was merely a feint for a strike from the right. Rei parried the two blades with the Death Scythe's blade and knocked another aside with the butt end.
Leaping back to evade the remaining two scimitars as they swept in a horizontal slash aimed at his torso, a complicated smile played across Rei's lips.
"To think these would be magic swords."
He cast a quick glance at his opponent's weapons as they faced off again from a short distance.
The Anomaly Species possessed a total of four bone arms—two on each side. Though they were overwhelmingly inferior to the Death Scythe, every one of the four scimitars held in those hands was a magic sword.
(They probably weren't magic swords originally. The weapons it held must have transformed when it mutated... Even so, having four scimitars is one thing, but how did it end up with that many? Surely the swords didn't just multiply when it became an Anomaly Species...)
Rei pondered this while keeping a close eye on the monster's movements, but he quickly found his own answer. Given the drastic changes he had seen in other Anomalies—especially the Cactus-modoki—the addition of two extra swords was likely a minor alteration in the grand scheme of things.
"...In that case, I'll have to face you with the appropriate level of respect!"
He spat out the words and increased the flow of magic power into his weapon. Until now, he had been using only a small amount to conserve energy—though it was still enough to easily cleave through ordinary monsters—but now he poured in more as he kicked off the cobblestones to close the distance.
"Flying Slash!"
Along with his shout, a flying slash streaked through the air, racing straight toward the Anomaly Species.
Since the enemy was using scimitars, Rei could have fought effectively by utilizing Corrosion. However, since the monster's blades were magic swords—even if they were low-level—Rei decided it would be a waste to destroy them. He chose to win the battle without relying on his corrosive ability.
(I just need to destroy the magic stone or pull it out!)
The scimitars swung to intercept him. Four blades whirled like a storm, directed straight at Rei. He read the attacks with a precision of a few centimeters, dodging most and parrying those he couldn't evade with the Death Scythe.
"Tch! Just as I thought!"
Rei clicked his tongue as he parried a strike. The reason for his irritation lay in the monster's swordplay.
Most skeletons were clumsy, having lost the combat experience they possessed in life. Even those raised from the corpses of adventurers usually lacked the sharpness and technique of the living. However, the Anomaly Species currently manipulating four scimitars before Rei was clearly following the forms of a specific martial style.
(I have to assume that becoming an Anomaly Species allowed it to regain its combat techniques from when it was alive.)
He deflected a horizontal slash aimed at his torso with the butt end part of the Death Scythe. Using the recoil, he caught a scimitar from the right upper arm that was swinging down at his head with the scythe's blade.
Though it stood about three meters tall—roughly twice Rei's height—the fact that it relied on technique rather than brute force made it exceptionally difficult to deal with. Rei had fought numerous giants, but most relied on raw strength. Foes that emphasized skill were rare.
And above all...
"The fact that you're an Anomaly Species makes you a massive pain in the neck!"
Refusing to let Rei escape as he created distance, the Anomaly Species lunged forward. It unleashed a pincer strike with its lower arms while its upper arms delivered simultaneous downward slashes.
Rei relaxed his legs, dropping his hips to the floor to evade the horizontal pincer. In that low stance, he swung the Death Scythe with just the strength of his arms, parrying both of the downward slashes at once. Utilizing the momentum, he swept the monster's legs with the butt end of the Death Scythe, successfully tripping it.
Even if it was made of bone, given its three-meter stature and the weight of the scimitars, the creature was quite heavy. It hit the cobblestones with a thunderous roar that echoed through the passage.
"Hyaaah!"
Rei rose swiftly from his crouched position and delivered an upward-sweeping flash of the Death Scythe. He successfully severed the two arms on the monster's right side.
Normally, the battle would be over if he simply sliced through the magic stone with the Death Scythe. That would be true for any normal skeleton. However, the creature lying at his feet was an Anomaly Species. Unlike Seto, if the Death Scythe cut the magic stone directly, Rei would suffer the shock of magic power backflow. Furthermore, the magic stone was the monster's core, and he wanted to hand it over to House Silwa if possible. This was why he was taking the tedious route.
With a backhand strike, he severed the two arms on the left and shattered the hip bone with a single flash. Next, he used the butt end part to crush the neck bone.
With its limbs and head forcibly detached from its torso, leaving it with no way to resist, Rei used the Death Scythe's blade to cut through the Anomaly Species ribs and forcibly extracted the magic stone from the gap.
Only then did the green flame burning with hatred finally vanish from the monster's skull, and it ceased all movement.
"...Phew, finally. That took more work than I expected."
"Did it? For all your complaining, you finished it all by yourself, Rei."
As Elena spoke, the remaining skeleton-modoki—and those already defeated on the ground—began to vanish like mist. It was as if they had never existed at all.
"Guruuu?"
The skeleton-modoki remains that Seto had been pinning down with its forepaw suddenly disappeared, causing it to tilt its head in confusion.
Watching Seto, Rei let out a sigh.
"In the end, they weren't real skeletons, just fakes created by the Anomaly Species. I suspected as much since they didn't have magic stones, but I didn't think they'd vanish. At least the Anomaly Species corpse and its weapons stayed behind."
"It is a shame the profit from such effort is only this much, but it is better than nothing, is it not?"
"I suppose so."
Rei nodded at Elena's words and stored the magic stone into the Misty Ring, followed by the four scimitars and the body of the Anomaly Species.
Nakt, Ecethesus, Tibia, and Gort had been watching in sheer amazement. Among them, Nakt was the first to step forward.
"We ended up dragging you into our mess. I'm sorry. Also, thanks to you, we managed to survive. We're in your debt. I'm Nakt. That one with the spear is Ecethesus, the other man is Gort, and the woman is Tibia."
Nakt gave a small bow as he introduced his party. Rei gave a small shrug.
"We've encountered Anomaly Species several times before, and we had information from House Silwa that one might be on this floor. There's no need to worry about it."
"...Wait a minute. You knew an Anomaly Species might appear on this floor? Then why didn't you tell everyone?! If you had, Tibia might not have lost her arm!"
Upon hearing Rei's words, Ecethesus's blood instantly rushed to his head, and he shouted in anger.
However, before Rei could respond, it was Tibia—the very person whose injury had sparked the outburst—who took action. She grabbed Ecethesus's shoulder with her only remaining hand and punched him square in the cheek.
Since it was a strike delivered with only one arm, she couldn't transfer her weight properly, so the power behind it wasn't great. Ecethesus only staggered a few steps. However, he clearly hadn't expected to be hit... especially not by Tibia. He was stunned more by the shock of the punch than the pain.
"Wh-What was that for?"
"What do you mean, 'what for'?! It's none of our business if an individual keeps information they've gathered to themselves. We're exactly the same, aren't we? Did you tell anyone about that goblin settlement? No, we kept it for ourselves!"
"But if we'd known, Tibia, you wouldn't have had to lose your right arm..."
As Ecethesus tried to argue, Tibia spoke through the cold sweat of her pain.
"Listen. Once you become an adventurer, everything is your own responsibility. This is a dungeon. We dive in here knowing the risks. Yes, losing my arm hurts. It hurts literally and physically, right this second. But I am here because I accepted that risk. If I were afraid of danger, I wouldn't be an adventurer—I'd be working in a shop!"
"Heh... Heh-heh-heh..."
A laugh echoed through the passage. The source was Rei, standing with the Death Scythe and accompanied by Seto.
"No, sorry. I just didn't expect you to be so decisive after losing an arm... You're right. An adventurer is responsible for themselves."
He paused. At Rei's words, which could have been taken as mockery, not only Ecethesus but also Nakt and Gort directed hostile glares toward him. But just as Ecethesus was about to snap back, Rei pulled a container out of the Misty Ring and tossed it toward Gort.
"Whoa! ...Eh? This is..."
Gort caught a container filled with a light blue liquid. He understood what it was instantly. It was the same type of high-quality potion that had been in the backpack he had abandoned while fleeing.
"Are you sure about this? This potion... it's a remarkably high rank, isn't it?"
At Gort's words, Ecethesus, Nakt, and even Tibia widened their eyes. Rei simply nodded.
"Like I said, an adventurer is responsible for themselves. In that case, choosing to give you that potion right now is my own responsibility."
"...Thank you. Tibia, hold still. I'm taking the bandages off."
Gort poured the potion Rei had given him over the wound.
"Mng... Ahh..."
As the pain faded, Tibia let out a sound. To the men of her party, the sound carried a somewhat suggestive tone. For Rei, however, it wasn't particularly bothersome—a stroke of luck for both him and Elena.
"...Thank you. I feel much better now."
"I guess it's not enough to make an arm grow back, though," Ecethesus muttered, his cheeks flushing red.
Nakt responded with an exasperated sigh, the redness already having faded from his own face.
"Of course not. If a potion could grow back an arm just like that, it would be worth several light gold coins. If it were a higher rank and we had the severed arm, maybe... but we didn't have time for that, did we?"
"...Yeah."
Tibia's right arm had been severed by the Anomaly Species. They had been forced to run as a massive number of skeleton-modoki appeared. They'd seen the arm being trampled as they fled.
Tibia let out a sigh of relief as the pain lessened and bowed her head to Rei.
"Thank you. I'm much better now thanks to your potion. ...And I know it's incredibly brazen to ask this after what you've already done... but would you please escort us to the small room with the magic circle?"
Rei's eyebrows twitched, but before he could speak, Tibia added:
"Of course, I'm not asking for a favor. We will provide a suitable reward."
"A reward... to be honest, I'm not hurting for money. What do you think, Elena?"
Even as he said that, Rei had taken a liking to Tibia's spirit as an adventurer. He wanted to help them. Elena nodded, seeing no issue.
"We can simply consider it as reporting the Anomaly Species incident to Bosk and handing over the loot a little earlier than planned."
"Guruluuu."
"Kyu!"
With Elena's nod and the agreement of Seto and Iero, the matter was settled.