Rei stepped outside the magic tent to face the men.
There were three in total: two wielding longswords and one wielding a spear. Since this location served as the meeting hub for the leadership of the Third Prince Faction, there were no other tents nearby. This provided more than enough space for a mock battle.
"Guruuu?"
From a short distance away, Seto watched the confrontation while lying comfortably on the ground.
The men filing out of the magic tent—including many who had heard of Seto but never seen him in the flesh—stared at the resting Gryphon with expressions of sheer astonishment. The two knights guarding the magic tent remained visibly stiff. Having a Gryphon in their immediate vicinity was a heavy psychological burden. It didn't help that Rei, Seto’s master, had been inside the tent rather than nearby.
While it was clear the creature was a tamed monster from the way they traveled together—though Seto wasn't wearing his Tamed Monster's Necklace out here in the field—standing guard near a Gryphon without its master present had subjected the knights to immense tension and exhaustion.
Just as Rei’s emergence promised some relief from that pressure, the military leadership began to pour out of the tent. Among them, three men took up positions opposite Rei, their auras thick with hostility. The knights could hardly be blamed for wishing they weren't on duty.
Ignoring the guards, Rei squared off against the nobles. Theoreme, Mercurio, Tilleul, and Gurgast stood off to the side with the rest of the onlookers to watch the proceedings.
Vihera stepped between Rei and his challengers to speak.
"We are starting the mock battle. I expect you to refrain from inflicting fatal wounds or any injuries that might hinder future duties. Is that clear?"
Vihera acted as the referee for a simple reason: excluding Rei, she was the strongest person present. Even the men facing Rei felt she was a biased choice for a referee given her obvious feelings for the boy. However, since their primary goal was to make her "snap out of it," they actually preferred having her watch from as close as possible.
"Understood," the leader-like man with a longsword said. He looked to be a few years older than Vihera and seemed to be the one in charge. He nodded his agreement to the rules.
"Works for me," Rei added, echoing the sentiment.
Vihera cast a final glance at both sides to ensure there were no objections. Rei and the nobles remained silent.
However, Rei soon found himself speaking up again. Two of the three men had retreated to the rear, leaving only one man standing in front of him—the one who was not the leader.
Rei retrieved the Death Scythe from his Misty Ring and frowned. "What’s the plan? Don't tell me you intend to take me on all by yourself?"
The noble, a man in his twenties, twitched at what he clearly perceived as an insult.
"You are 'Crimson' Rei, I believe. You may be an alias holder, but did you truly expect us to attack you all at once? You take us far too lightly."
The man drew his longsword and glared at Rei.
He's standing right in front of me and still can't see the gap between us? Rei thought.
He looked toward Vihera, but she simply gave a small, silent shake of her head. If her look had a voice, it would have said: Talking won't help. Just show them.
Rei let out a sigh and swung the Death Scythe. The blade cut through the air with a whistle so sharp the spectators gasped. The man and his two companions felt the same shock. Only now did they seem to grasp the weight of Rei's power. The noble gripped his longsword with white-knuckled intensity and pointed the sword tip at Rei.
Way too much tension, Rei noted.
Humans move most fluidly when they are relaxed. This man had stiffened up the moment he saw Rei’s preliminary swing; Rei doubted he could even put up a proper fight in that state. But the clock was already ticking.
"Come on! Show him your noble's pride!" his friend shouted from the sidelines.
The encouragement only served to make the man stiffer. His movements were visibly degrading.
Is he just not used to fighting in public? Rei wondered.
That was likely part of it, but the overwhelming presence of Rei Saiki was the true culprit. Rei was mostly oblivious to the fact that his experience surviving countless death matches—culminating in his duel with Noise—had granted him a pressure that stifled his opponents.
He simply tilted his head at the man's awkwardness. A veteran would have known how to handle the psychological weight, but these nobles lacked real combat experience. They typically delegated the "dirty work" to subordinates. While delegating was a valid talent for a noble, it was useless here. The man had enough skill to spar with an elite knight in a controlled setting, but a true battle was another matter entirely.
"Is everyone ready?" Vihera asked.
Rei leveled the Death Scythe. The man managed to raise his longsword. Though the outcome was already written, Vihera gave the command.
"Begin!"
Rei didn't move first; the noble did. It wasn't boldness so much as a reflexive, panicked surge of training-drilled movements. At the very least, it showed the man had been diligent in his lessons.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
With a roar that was half-scream, the man closed the distance. He swung in a horizontal slash intended to cleave through Rei’s torso. Ordinarily, he would have been expected to stop just before contact in a mock battle, but he had lost all composure.
"Ah!"
One of the nobles who had been friendly toward Rei cried out. He likely saw a future where the protagonist was cut in half.
But in the next heartbeat, the audience saw Rei intercept the longsword with the Death Scythe's shaft. He redirected the blow toward the butt end part, entangling the blade and flicking it upward.
The longsword went flying. Before anyone could blink, the Death Scythe's blade was pressed firmly against the man's throat.
"Wh-..."
The man stood stunned, unable to process the speed.
"That's enough. Winner: Rei," Vihera declared.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Most were acknowledging that Rei's reputation as Crimson was the real deal. He had ended the fight after crossing blades once, and he clearly hadn't even broken a sweat.
I wanted to practice using Overlord's Armor, but the power adjustment is a nightmare, Rei thought. If I messed up, I'd end up leaving him in the same state as those thieves.
Against an assassin, that was fine. Against a technical ally, it was not.
Rei looked at the remaining two—the man with the spear and the leader-like man with a longsword.
"One at a time is a hassle. Both of you come at me together."
"What!? Do you dare mock us!?" the man with the spear shouted.
However, he was the one most aware of his own hypocrisy. He looked at his friend’s sword, which was currently stuck in the dirt several paces away, and swallowed hard. He understood what Rei had done. He was a spearman himself; against a novice, he could perform a similar feat. But Rei’s execution had been flawlessly smooth. The gap between "something similar" and what Rei had just done was a distance the noble feared he could never bridge.
The leader-like man with a longsword also seemed to grasp the reality of the situation. He nodded to the spearman.
"He says he'll take us both. Let’s take the offer. We clearly can't handle him alone."
"Heh," Rei grunted, actually impressed. Unlike many arrogant nobles he'd met, this one was at least capable of recognizing when he was outmatched.
Vihera smiled. She knew these men were annoying, but they weren't useless. If they had been purely detrimental, she wouldn't have let them anywhere near her brother's army.
Personality issues aside, they’re some of the better nobles we have, she mused.
The three of them faced off again. The nobles were still nervous, but the shock of the first round had at least focused their minds.
"Same rules. ...Begin!"
This time, Rei moved first. He kicked off the ground and charged.
The men had split into a vanguard and rearguard, but Rei’s explosive speed caught them off guard. By the time they realized he wasn't waiting for them to strike, he was already inside the leader-like man's reach.
"What!?"
The leader swung his longsword down in a desperate attempt to create space, but the Death Scythe swatted it aside like a twig.
"Gah!"
The shock of the parry felt like hitting a mountain. The longsword spun out of the man's numb hands with a metallic clang. Rei didn't stop; he swept the leader's legs as he passed, dumping him onto the ground.
He kept his momentum, driving straight for the man with the spear.
"U-Uooooooooh!"
The spearman saw his leader fall and knew he was next. Driven by desperation, he let out a guttural shout and thrust his spear at Rei.
"Not bad..."
Rei offered a genuine word of praise. He'd expected the man to fold. Instead, he met the thrust with the Death Scythe's butt end, entangling the spear and flinging it away.
"Wait, what?"
The man stared at his empty hands for a split second before feeling the cold edge of the Death Scythe's blade against his neck.