A roar erupted as the flames blazed across the sky.
Under normal circumstances, rain was the only thing one expected to fall from the heavens. In the heat of an ongoing battle, a rain of arrows wouldn't have been out of place either.
But what fell now was something entirely different—it was fire.
Though it only struck a small section of the battlefield, for the soldiers caught within that area, the descending inferno was the very definition of despair.
"Aaaaaaaagh! It’s hot! It’s burning! Help me!"
"Dammit! Put it out! Mages, extinguish the fire!"
"What is this?! What’s happening!?"
"If my eyes aren't deceiving me, I saw that gryphon spit fire from its beak!"
"Don’t be stupid! A gryphon using Fire Breath?! I’ve never heard of such a thing!"
"Hold your ground! Don’t run! If we break now, the entire line will collapse! Someone stop that thing!"
"Screw that! You’re just trying to use us as shields! If you want to stop that monster so badly, do it yourself!"
Listening to the screams echoing below, Rei spoke to Seto, who had temporarily ceased its Fire Breath.
"It seems to be getting pretty sweltering down there. Cool things down for them a bit. Even if I’m the one landing, I’d hate to step down into a furnace."
Rei possessed fire resistance thanks to his Dragon Robe, but he still had a psychological aversion to jumping directly into a sea of flames.
Seto responded to Rei’s request immediately.
The gryphon had only just finished the duel against Noise alongside Rei, but it showed no signs of exhaustion. Part of this was due to Rei having taken the brunt of Noise’s direct attacks while Seto provided aerial support, but the primary reason was the sheer vitality of an A-Rank Monster. As a gryphon, Seto’s recovery rate and stamina far surpassed those of any human.
"Guruuuuuu!"
With a high-pitched cry, two Water Balls roughly forty centimeters in diameter materialized around Seto.
The spheres were launched from the sky, hurtling down to strike a soldier caught in the flames and blowing him off his feet. Because they were dropped from such a height, their kinetic energy was significantly greater than the Water Balls Seto usually employed. The impact shattered the soldier’s skull; skin tore, flesh shredded, and blood sprayed into the air. His right eyeball was jarred from its socket, left dangling only by the optic nerve. Yet, because the Water Ball lacked the focused power to deliver a clean, fatal blow, the man was denied the mercy of death. Instead, he writhed in agony upon the sun-baked, scorched earth.
"Guruuuuuuu!"
Seto cried out again, as if adding a finishing touch.
Five projectiles crafted from ice—Ice Arrows—manifested around the gryphon and were rained down upon the earth.
The Ice Arrows streaked through the chaos caused by the Fire Breath and Water Balls. Their individual power wasn't immense, and they only struck a handful of soldiers amidst the confusion. Their force was barely enough to chip away at rock, but for ordinary humans and beastmen, their skin was hardly harder than stone. The falling shards of ice dealt significant damage to those unfortunate enough to be struck in unarmored gaps or those wearing only leather armor.
"Oops, that was a bit unexpected. I didn't think they’d be that oblivious."
"Guru..."
At Rei’s words, Seto let out a regretful trill from its throat.
Rei stroked Seto’s head to comfort it.
"Well, these things happen. Don’t let it get to you. More importantly, it’s time for me to head down. Seto, keep up the aerial bombardment. Just try not to get caught in my own attacks."
"Guruuuuu!"
Leaving Seto to let out a spirited cry, Rei leaped from Seto's back.
They had already descended quite close to the ground to maximize the Fire Breath's effectiveness, so the fall was less than ten meters. By utilizing Sleipnir's Shoes to walk briefly on the air mid-fall, Rei touched down on the ground without a hint of danger.
"It’s Crimson! Crimson is here!"
"Run! Ruuuuuun!"
"Idiots, no! Finish him off now before he can do any more damage!"
"You’re the idiot! That’s Crimson! Immovable was supposed to intercept him, and if he’s here, that means..."
"It doesn't matter! The front lines are in a deadlock! Even if we have the advantage there, if Crimson goes on a rampage in our rear, that advantage will vanish in a heartbeat!"
Ignoring the screams erupting all around him, Rei immediately activated his Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
His magic power, compressed so densely that it became visible to the naked eye, was dyed the same deep crimson as his own alias. Simultaneously, even though Rei hadn't made a move yet, the ambient temperature began to skyrocket.
It was currently autumn, verging on winter, and the air should have been described as chilly at best. However, the moment Rei donned the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, the temperature spiked.
Fifteen degrees, twenty, twenty-five... and then it blew past thirty degrees Celsius.
A midsummer-like heat enveloped the area, and it showed no signs of stopping. While the soldiers had no way to measure the exact temperature, it was an undeniable fact to them that the air had become as hot as the height of summer—or perhaps even hotter.
"Well then... let’s get started."
He funneled his dwindling magic power into the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor. In the next instant, Rei kicked off the ground and charged into the enemy—straight into the Subjugation Army's rear.
"Hi—hiiiiii! Stay back! Stay away from meeee!"
The soldier who served as Rei’s first target screamed as the youth closed the distance in a blur. Rei didn't stop to listen. Clad in the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor's Crimson Magic Power, he collided with the man.
The moment the soldier’s body made contact with that concentrated mana...
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
He let out a blood-curdling shriek as agonizing pain flared from the point of contact. The man was sent flying, his flesh charred and blistered where the crimson magic power had touched him. He only stopped after slamming into several of his fellow soldiers.
Rei didn't slow down for a second. With the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor fully deployed, he continued his mad dash through the ranks. Every enemy Rei brushed against was sent tumbling, their bodies scorched and mangled at the point of impact.
Rei had used the Overlord's Armor to trample enemy lines in the past, but this was different. The skill had evolved into the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—a superior version that now inflicted severe burns on anyone it touched. Combined with the sheer physical force of being blown away, the damage dealt to the enemy was exponentially higher.
"Uwaaaaaah! What is this?! Just touching him burns you alive!"
"Fall back! Retreat! He’s coming! Ruuuuuun!"
"Fools, stand your ground! If we break here, we’ll be caught in a pincer between Crimson in the rear and the Mercurio Army in the front!"
"What else can we do?! There’s no stopping—he’s heeeeere!"
Watching Rei charge through their ranks, the soldiers fell into a state of near-frenzy. Some screamed to flee, others to fight back. In this situation, however, the former was the only rational choice. After all, Rei was currently a walking sun; even if the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor didn't incinerate them instantly, its mere presence radiated enough heat to char skin and melt resolve.
The rear guard, which was supposed to be the safest part of the Subjugation Army, was transformed into a Crucible of Pandemonium. Under such conditions, it was impossible for the soldiers at the front to maintain their composure.
"What’s that noise? It’s chaos in the rear... Could it be Crimson?!"
"Impossible! No matter how strong he is, no one man can break through a formation of this size! Besides, he was supposed to be fighting Immovable! Even if he somehow escaped, he’d be exhausted. And there is absolutely no way Immovable would lose!"
One of the soldiers on the front line shouted instinctively. He was currently engaged in a head-on clash with the Mercurio Army, but he had caught a distant glimpse of Rei flying through the sky on Seto earlier.
That was why the thought that this might be Crimson's handiwork crossed his mind, though he denied it immediately. Deep down, he likely already knew the truth. But to admit it was to make it real, and that was a reality he couldn't face. Even so, his subconscious belief in the inevitable disaster made him hesitate.
"Gack!"
He failed to react to a short spear flying in from the front. The weapon pierced his throat. He reached up to pull the short spear out, but his strength failed him, and the light of his life flickered and died.
"Hey! Dammit, you've done it now!"
Unable to forgive the death of his comrade—even if it was the man's own lapse in judgment that caused it—a nearby soldier gripped his longsword and charged back into the fray against the Mercurio Army.
"...How troublesome."
In the main camp situated behind the Subjugation Army's lines, Cabajid muttered to himself. His cool, detached gaze was fixed on the rear units being systematically decimated.
Clad in red magic power, Rei was pushing through the throng of the Subjugation Army toward the front lines. He blew away everyone he touched, searing their flesh and snapping their limbs. For the truly unlucky, he crushed their necks as he passed.
Actually, the truly unlucky ones were those who were burned all over their bodies yet remained among those who cannot die. With broken limbs and charred skin, they lay there, still breathing. They were those who cannot die.
Even Cabajid, who rarely lost his poise, couldn't help but knit his brows in distaste as he watched such miserable soldiers be produced in droves while his army was trampled at will.
"That’s likely Crimson. ...Big Brother Cabajid. Crimson is a threat, certainly, but the gryphon attacking with such impunity from above is equally problematic. Crimson might be hidden by the sheer scale of the battlefield if you're far away, but that gryphon is visible from anywhere once it takes to the sky."
"And it has the sheer malice to rain down Fire Breath while flying. ...Schuls, can't you do something about it?"
"Don't be ridiculous. You know our forces are depleted. We have nothing left that can deal with a gryphon in this state. More importantly, what happened to Noise? If Crimson is roaming free, it means Noise lost... though I find that almost impossible to believe."
The surrounding nobles nodded in somber agreement with Schuls’s words. In the Bestia Empire, Noise was the very symbol of absolute strength. To suggest he had been defeated was something they found nearly impossible to process.
"It is indeed a difficult tale to swallow, but the fact remains that Noise is no longer engaged with Crimson. Since that is the case, there’s little point in debating whether his defeat is believable or not, wouldn't you agree?"
"That may be true, but honestly, what’s the plan? Fortunately, Crimson seems focused on the rear units for now and hasn't turned toward the main camp, but if he points his eyes this way, there isn't a soul here who can stop him."
Schuls’s concern was well-founded. With no one left to check Rei’s progress, it was only a matter of time before the main camp was targeted. If that happened, escape would be virtually impossible.
However, Cabajid—who shared the highest authority on the field with Schuls—spoke with his trademark smile still firmly in place.
"You're right. If it comes to that, regardless of what happens to the other nobles here, your life and mine may very well be forfeit, Schuls."
"...Big Brother, how can you look so unbothered? We committed to this Final Battle of the Civil Strife on the Brissa Plain because we were certain we could neutralize Crimson, weren't we? And yet, here he is, running rampant! How can you be so calm?!"
Schuls’s voice rose to a shout as his emotions finally boiled over. Cabajid merely smiled at his younger brother’s outburst.
"True, I currently have no further strategies to seal Crimson. But that's only for the present, isn't it? In that case, don't you think it would be wiser for you to quietly surrender and prepare for a later date, Schuls?"
"What... What are you talking about, Big Brother?! Surrender?! Do you really think Mercurio would permit that?!"
"He likely wouldn't want to, nor would he intend to. ...But what if he were forced to allow it?"
Schuls stared at his brother, unable to comprehend a single word coming out of his mouth. Cabajid, however, ignored the stare and turned his gaze toward one of the nearby nobles.
"I'm sorry, but regarding that matter we discussed... could I ask you to proceed? If it can be settled with just me, then there should be no problem."
"...As you wish."
The noble nodded, his expression heavy with grief.
Still wearing that same unwavering smile, Cabajid spoke again.
"Now, this is the Final Battle of the Civil Strife. Let us do our best and fight until the very end."
Schuls felt a profound, chilling sense of incongruity as he looked at Cabajid—a man who showed not the slightest hint of concern, even with his own life hanging in the balance.