It was only natural that Rei was the first to react to the name "Elena" coming from Vihera's mouth.
He also sensed something sliding in alongside Elena, entering the hall and heading straight toward him. To Rei, it was painfully obvious what that something was.
He didn't hesitate. Taking advantage of the moment—the mere fraction of a second—Oricule was distracted by Elena's sudden arrival, Rei swung the Death Scythe.
"Urgh!"
Oricule caught the blow with his rapier, but because he hadn't been fully braced, the force of Rei's strike sent him skidding back nearly two meters.
"Guruuuuuuu!"
Sensing the opening as the distance between the two fighters widened, Seto lunged forward and swung its forepaw. It was no ordinary swipe; it was a strike backed by the Power Crush skill.
"Guaaaah!"
Even then, Oricule managed to raise his swordbreaker to shield himself. But the impact was too great to suppress. He was sent flying across the room.
The only reason he didn't suffer a fatal wound was that the swordbreaker bore the brunt of the kinetic energy, shattering into fragments as he was thrown.
"Guru, guruuuuu."
Letting out a cry of joy at being reunited with Rei, Seto turned a razor-sharp gaze toward the fallen Oricule.
Facing an enraged Gryphon—an opponent any adventurer would pray never to encounter—Oricule looked down at the wreckage of his swordbreaker. Reduced to a mere hilt after taking Seto's strike on top of the cracks Rei had already inflicted, he tossed the remains onto the floor and gave a thin, wry smile.
"I can't believe it... We prepared such a massive force to strike House Silwa, yet you dealt with them in this short a time? To think you’ve already reached this basement in House Marstchel’s residence... This is beyond my wildest expectations."
He muttered the words as he swung his rapier with renewed vigor, the sharp whistling of the blade cutting through the air. There was no sign of surrender on his face.
Ecethesus aside, the arrival of Elena and Seto—reinforcements of such overwhelming power—meant they had no realistic path to victory. Even so, being captured by Rei and his group was an option Oricule refused to entertain.
Likely sensing that resolve, Rei spoke as he stroked the head of Seto, who stood beside him glaring at their foe with vigilant eyes.
"You still won't give up? Admirable... but how do you plan to resolve this situation?"
Rei kept his focus on Oricule but scanned the hall. The puppets that had been closing in on Vihera were almost entirely dismantled, cut to ribbons by Elena's whip-sword. Only a few remained, a number even the exhausted Vihera could easily handle.
Elsewhere, the struggle continued between Byune and the dolls protecting Pri. Though Byune had regained her focus, her stamina was depleted and her weapons were spent. The sheer weight of numbers prevented her from reaching Pri, who took every opportunity to fire jewel-based magic at the young thief.
Byune was barely managing to evade the spells, stuck in a desperate stalemate. However, the tide turned completely when Elena, judging Vihera to be safe, joined the fray.
Elena’s whip-sword lashed out in its whip-like form, intercepting the dolls as they swarmed Byune. When a doll attempted to charge Elena directly, she snapped the weapon back into its longsword state and cleaved it in two with a single strike.
When the dolls tried to ignore Byune to focus on the new threat, Elena took to the air using Sleipnir's Shoes. She utilized Wind Magic to swirl the puppets into a single cluster before systematically carving through them with her whip-sword.
Watching the battle from the periphery, Ecethesus rushed to Nakt’s side. He breathed a sigh of relief upon confirming the man was merely unconscious.
Immediately after, he spotted Tibia at the center of the magic circle on the floor. However, she seemed to be protected by a barrier similar to the magically reinforced door they had broken through. He couldn't reach her, leaving him to grit his teeth in frustration.
"The fighting is holding steady for now, but your people are running out of time," Rei said, spinning the shaft of the Death Scythe in his palm. "If you surrender quietly, it would save us a lot of trouble. I might even be able to put in a good word for you with Bosk."
Oricule gave a thin smile and shook his head. "Unfortunately, surrender is not an option for us."
"Then do you intend to die? It’s obvious you’ve lost."
Oricule’s smile remained as he reached into his garment with his left hand—the one that had held the swordbreaker—and pulled something out.
It was a dark, muddy red jewel.
Rei recognized it instantly. He had seen it used in the Dungeon. It was larger than the one he had seen before—nearly double the size—but its sinister, characteristic appearance was unforgettable.
"That's... a Chaos Seed, isn't it?"
Oricule's eyes widened slightly. "You know that name? I see... so the three who went missing did fall into your hands."
"Yeah. I happened to be there when they were trying to create an anomaly species in the Dungeon. They were quite chatty. They told me plenty of things... like how you were manipulating House Rebisole while pretending to be their allies."
Rei spoke as if he had interrogated them, though it was a total bluff. In reality, the cultists had killed themselves the moment they were cornered. He was betting that Oricule didn't know how they had died and was trying to bait out more information. All he received in return was a small, knowing smile.
"You shouldn't tell lies that are so transparent, Rei. It only devalues you. You may possess a level of combat skill that leaves others in the dust, but you clearly have no talent for intrigue."
"...Well, we'll see. Whether I'm lying or not can be proven after we have you in custody."
"You think I will allow myself to be taken?"
Oricule toyed with the Chaos Seed, his expression brimming with a terrifying confidence. Rei felt a surge of suspicion, but his eyes went wide at Oricule's next move.
Oricule pressed the Chaos Seed against his own forehead. The jewel was absorbed directly into his body.
"Urgh... I had hoped... to do this... while the Head of House Silwa was watching... though."
Oricule let out a pained gasp. The veins beneath his skin began to throb violently. Even from a distance, Rei could hear a heavy, rhythmic thumping—the sound of a heart pounding with unnatural power.
Snapped out of his shock, Rei shouted, "You idiot! Do you want to die!?"
Rei remembered the Cactus-modoki's transformation into an anomaly species. It had grown larger and more ferocious, but the monster’s body had eventually given out, unable to withstand the strain. Using such a thing was a death sentence. To Rei, this looked like suicide.
No, wait. The Chaos Seed turns monsters into anomaly species. Does it even work on humans?
Rei’s mind raced, caught in a rare moment of hesitation. Usually, he would never stand by while an enemy powered up; he would have struck immediately. But Oricule’s gamble was so far outside his expectations that he missed his golden opportunity to end the fight.
"Guru!"
"Ow!"
Seto gave Rei a sharp peck on the shoulder with its beak. The Dragon Robe protected him from harm, but the impact was enough to snap him back to reality.
"You're right. I can't let him finish. Let's go, Seto!"
"Guruuuuuuu!"
Oricule was still in the middle of the transformation. If they acted now, they could still stop it. Rei and Seto split left and right, flanking him to close the gap in a heartbeat.
"Guuh... I see. This is... indeed painful. But—!"
Rei and Seto lunged with all their explosive speed. They were inches away when an immense torrent of magic power erupted from Oricule’s body. The shockwave hit like a physical wall. Both the blade of the Death Scythe and Seto's strike were deflected before they could connect, and the pair was sent tumbling backward.
"Dammit..." Rei grunted, digging the butt end of his scythe into the floor to stabilize himself. Seto landed on all fours, sliding across the stone.
The few seconds Rei had spent hesitating had been the deciding factor.
As the storm of magic power subsided, a humanoid thing stood in the center of the hall. One could still tell it had been Oricule, but he had transformed into something grotesque.
His height had shot up from 180 centimeters to well over two meters. His skin was now a deep, bruised blue. Whether from his shoulder blades or some other mutation, two additional arm-like appendages had sprouted from his back. They didn't end in hands, but in long, wickedly sharp bone needles.
It was as if Oricule's obsession with the rapier had manifested physically.
His hair had lengthened down his back, every strand ending in a needle-like point. Red, tattoo-like patterns traced the veins across his blue skin. And on his forehead, where the Chaos Seed had been absorbed, a third eye had opened vertically, rolling wildly as it scanned the room.
If a monster used a Chaos Seed to become an anomaly species, then this was the human version. He could only be described as a Man-Demon.
"Gu... phew... it seems I’ve succeedeD."
"You’re still conscious?" Rei’s voice was grim. "This just got a lot more complicated."
"Guruuuuuuu."
Oricule's voice was distorted, the endings of his words rising in an uncanny, mechanical lilt, yet his eyes shone with clear intelligence. He hadn't died like the Cactus-modoki. His mind remained entirely intact.
Oricule had been a formidable match for Rei in his human form. Now that he was an anomaly, his power was likely on a different scale entirely. Rei's lips curled into a wry smile at the thought.
At least he's empty-handed now... Wait. Where’s his rapier?
Rei had seen Oricule holding Estha Nor’s rapier in his right hand just before the transformation. Now he was empty-handed. The weapon wasn't on the floor; it had simply vanished.
"Anomaly species... nO, that doesn’t quite fit me now, doeS it? Man-Demon... yeS. Call me a Man-DemoN."
Oricule tested his new body, flexing his limbs and swinging the bone-needle arms growing from his shoulders. He shook his head, the needle-tipped hair rattling as it moved with perfect fluidity. Every motion radiated a crushing sense of intimidation.
"O-Oricule? What on earth... have you done?"
The voice cut through the tension. Pri Masterche, who had been commanding her dolls against Elena and Byune, stared at the Man-Demon with a face full of horror.
Elena and Byune had also stopped fighting, watching Oricule with stunned expressions.
Bathed in the eyes of everyone in the hall, Oricule didn't seem to care. He gave his head a sharp flick, and with a sudden snap, dozens of hair-needles flew through the air.
They were launched with the same speed and precision as Byune's daggers. Nearly thirty needles streaked across the room.
But they weren't aimed at Rei, Elena, Vihera, or Byune. They weren't aimed at Ecethesus or the unconscious Nakt.
They were aimed straight at Pri.