The foreleg strike of the still-invisible Set, swung to protect Rei, came crashing down on Visente.
Perhaps sensing the blow instinctively, Visente kicked off the ground on reflex—and in the next moment, he was sent flying through the air with a loud metallic clang.
Even with his power halved by the Holy Domain's effect, Set's foreleg strike still carried enough force to easily send a person flying.
"Gubuh!"
Grunting in pain, Visente somehow managed to right himself midair and land on the ground.
The metal armor provided as Stigma-exclusive equipment—crafted using large quantities of Light Ore, a type of Magic Metal—was as light as leather armor despite being made of metal, yet possessed strong magical and physical defense. Thanks to that Armor of Light, the Holy Domain's effect, and above all Visente's own skill, the previous strike had not been fatal.
However, Set's assault did not end with that single blow.
"Guruuuuuruuu!"
Another roar echoed through the surroundings, and simultaneously, the still-invisible Set kicked off the ground to pursue Visente.
The matchup between Set and Visente was the best possible for Set, and the worst possible for Visente.
If Visente had been carrying some kind of weapon, he might have managed somehow.
But Visente's weapons were his fists, and the only things that could be called weapons were the gauntlets and greaves made from Light Ore.
If armor made of the same Magic Metal could be easily destroyed, then striking Set with gauntlets or greaves would inevitably result in greater damage to himself.
If these were ordinary weapons, having them broken would only mean losing the weapon itself.
But gauntlets and greaves were, quite literally, items worn on the hands and feet.
If they were destroyed, damage to the hands and feet would naturally remain.
No—if the opponent were Rei, the great enemy, he wouldn't mind sustaining minor injuries.
But right now, he was in the middle of combat with that very Rei.
If he suffered injuries severe enough to impede his combat ability at this point, carrying out Divine Punishment afterward would become difficult, that much was certain.
In other words, all Visente could do now was somehow get past Set with minimal damage and, together with the old man, break the current stalemate.
Sensing Set closing in, he estimated the likely power of the incoming strike while retreating once more... when suddenly, he noticed that Rei, in the direction he had glanced, was concentrating his focus with the large scythe in hand.
Understanding what kind of preparation that was—and knowing that Rei could still unleash devastating attacks even within this Holy Domain—Visente immediately grasped what Rei was about to do.
He already had prior intelligence on what Rei was most skilled at.
Combined with the current situation... the Holy Domain had greatly reduced Rei's physical abilities, yet for some reason, his mana alone could still be used normally—a bizarre state of affairs.
Putting those together, it was not difficult to understand who Rei was targeting and what he was about to do.
"Flames, burn and spread as crimson flames. Become a Carpet of Flames at my will."
Along with those words, a mass of flame was created at the butt cap of the Death Scythe... and the next moment, as the spell completed, the flame generated at the butt cap was driven into the ground.
"Pale Flame!"
With the magic's activation, flames spread outward in a circle centered on Rei.
What was strange was that the flames gave off no sensation of heat at all.
At the very least, compared to the heat emanating from the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor Rei wore, there was absolutely no sense of scorching.
That was because these were not flames for attack, but flames for detection.
The flames generated around Rei immediately spread across the surrounding area... and before long, detected the presence of someone not far from Rei—behind him, specifically.
Naturally, the flames did not stop at merely detecting that presence; they continued spreading, expanding the area they covered.
Visente was startled by the flames.
Since he did not know that the flames were meant for detection and would not cause burns even upon contact, it was only natural that he was alarmed to see them heading his way.
Having seen Rei's Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor up close, his wariness was extremely high.
For a moment, he thought the flames might also damage Set, who was presumably still attacking him—but reasoning that as Rei's Tamed Monster, it wouldn't be strange for Set to possess some kind of magic item granting flame resistance, he judged that taking attacks from both the invisible Set and the flames simultaneously would be bad. He leapt backward once more, desperately trying to escape from that spot.
"Kuh!"
Visente's backward leap and the spreading flames drawing near happened at almost the same timing, and the twenty-second duration of Set's Optical Camouflage expired, bringing the Gryphon's form into Visente's view nearly simultaneously.
Seeing that Set showed no pain whatsoever even upon touching the flames, he thought that equipment to raise flame resistance must indeed be... but in the next moment, the spreading flames reached Visente as well.
Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to rely on the armor's magical defense, but the armor had been dented by Set's strike, with many areas destroyed.
Bracing himself to endure the pain, determined not to cry out from the flames unleashed by the great enemy Rei, he tried to minimize the damage—yet no matter how long he waited, the expected burning pain never came.
He hastily looked around and saw that flames had already spread throughout the area, and he himself was standing within them.
Despite that, touching the flames produced no sensation of heat at all.
Caught off guard—for just the briefest instant.
A gap of less than a second, but compounded by the fact that he had taken a defensive stance to withstand the flames, it was more than enough of an opening for Set.
"Guruuuuuruuu!"
A foreleg strike swung with a roar.
That blow was considerably weaker than a normal strike due to the Holy Domain's effect.
However, Set understood that within this strange space called the Holy Domain, the power of every one of its attacks was diminished.
Precisely because it understood that, the skill Set chose for its current attack was not one with direct offensive power.
"Uooooooh!"
Even caught off guard, Visente barely managed to evade the foreleg strike swung at his face—a feat only possible for one who bore the name of Stigma, said to possess power equivalent to an A-Rank adventurer.
Furthermore, the fact that he was struck on the left cheek rather than the right cheek where the Stigma existed was another reason Visente had been forced to dodge the attack with desperate effort.
Even so, he could not avoid it completely; several wounds from the sharp claws extending from Set's foreleg remained on his left cheek.
...Yes, wounds from a claw strike remained.
"A mere monster... dares to do this... to me...?"
He did not finish speaking, instead noticing that something was wrong with his body.
Under normal circumstances, his physical abilities should have been enhanced within the Holy Domain.
And yet, for some reason, merely standing here had become difficult.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been absolutely unthinkable, but it was easy to imagine that the previous strike was the cause.
"You... what did you do to me..."
"Guruuruu!"
Facing Visente, who was glaring at it, Set let out a threatening cry.
Even as that cry was directed at him, Visente wiped the blood flowing from his cheek with his hand and brought it before his eyes.
What was there was not the normal color of blood. A color one might even call pitch-black.
Seeing that, Visente finally understood. Poison had been introduced into his body by the previous strike.
(Impudent trick. ...No, I had been informed that this Gryphon was a Rare Species. Forgetting that was my own foolish mistake. Fortunately, I am within the Holy Domain. No matter how much poison I ingest, I won't die so easily.)
Chills and fatigue assailing his body, feeling symptoms as though he had fallen ill, Visente nonetheless stood his ground.
He knew that the creature before him was a Gryphon, an A-Rank monster... no, given that it was a Rare Species, an S-Rank equivalent monster.
But even so, this was within the Holy Domain, and he had received the power of the Goddess of Light.
As long as that held true, he could not afford to lose so easily, no matter what monster the opponent was.
Besides, he understood that even against an S-Rank monster, he had a chance of winning within this Holy Domain.
"Guruuuru?"
Set gave Visente a suspicious look and rumbled its throat.
The Poison Claw it had just used was Level Four—among the highest-level skills in Set's arsenal, which possessed numerous skills.
Because of that, it would be a lie to say Set lacked confidence in it.
And yet, the man before it now seemed somewhat unwell, but ultimately, that was the extent of it.
"Guruuru..."
As if saying it couldn't be helped, Set kicked off the ground to put distance between itself and the man before it.
Visente was momentarily surprised by Set's behavior, but quickly judged that letting Set create distance would be bad and moved to pursue the retreating Gryphon.
Under normal circumstances, a moment's hesitation would have meant being unable to match Set's physical abilities, and distance would have been created.
However, this was within the Holy Domain.
It was a place overwhelmingly disadvantageous for anyone other than a Stigma bearer. And Visente, who had activated the Holy Domain, could receive its blessings—a battlefield overwhelmingly advantageous to himself.
"Guruuuuuruuu!"
At the moment Set cried out loudly, opened its beak, and was about to unleash Fire Breath—Visente had already slipped inside Set's reach.
"Do not get in my way, a mere monster!"
A swung fist and a Fire Breath unleashed at point-blank range.
Both were released simultaneously at each other...
"Guruuuuuruuu!"
It was Set that was sent flying.
Sent flying by a punch to its left shoulder, Set cried out in pain but braced its four limbs and landed on the ground.
That action alone sent a dull ache through the struck left shoulder, but fortunately, Set's physical abilities as a Gryphon meant the punch from Visente hadn't resulted in a fracture.
Also, while it was Set that had been overpowered, Visente was not unscathed either.
Visente, whose exceedingly handsome features and the Stigma on his right cheek had given him a mystical charm, now bore deep claw marks remaining on his left cheek.
Those wounds—where Set's Poison Claw had slashed—had discolored to a dark blue-black, and on top of that, the Fire Breath Set had just unleashed left burn marks of various sizes across his face.
...And yet, the Stigma on his right cheek remained completely unaffected—something that might have made Rei reconsider the power of religion, had he been watching the exchange.
At any rate, the current situation, influenced by the Holy Domain's effect, had tilted in Visente's favor.
"Guruuuruu."
"Hmph. No matter if you're an S-Rank monster, you're still nothing more than a monster. As if you could defeat me, blessed by the sacred Goddess!"
Set growled, and Visente voiced his faith once more while simultaneously kicking off the ground.
Neither was in perfect condition—not quite battered, but both had certainly sustained some injuries.
However, Set could ignore that degree of pain as a high-rank monster, and Visente could ignore a certain amount of pain through the power of faith.
The two—one person and one beast—charged straight at each other, and as the distance closed, Set opened its beak.
"Guruuuuuruuu!"
What was unleashed from the beak along with a roar was Crystal Breath.
The breath struck Visente, who was charging straight toward it, and in the blink of an eye, covered his body in crystal.
But Visente had no intention of letting such an attack stop his movement.
He forcefully shattered the crystal that sought to hinder his body's movement and closed the distance with Set.
Crystal Breath was still only Level One, and its effect was merely to coat the target in a thin layer of crystal.
Against a low-rank monster it might have worked, but it lacked the power to halt Visente.
Even so, it was a fact that Visente's movement had stopped for an instant—just the briefest moment.
"Guruuuuuruuu!"
The next thing slammed into Visente was the Magic Eye of Shock.
It was an extremely weak attack in terms of raw power, but a shock was still a shock.
Visente took the shock to his body, being caught off guard, and his movement halted once more.
"Guruuuuuruuu!"
The distance between Set and Visente had already closed to about two meters, but next... no, the last thing Set unleashed was Fire Breath once more.
Boom!
With that sound, the Fire Breath released from Set's beak engulfed Visente's body.
However, there was no way such an attack would work on Visente now.
He simply ignored the flames head-on and closed the distance with Set, and just as he brought himself into range where his fist could reach—!
Slash!
A violent impact struck his torso.
For some reason, in the next moment, Visente was floating in the air, and what his eyes captured was the figure of the great enemy Rei, swinging the Death Scythe in a horizontal sweep, and the lower half of his own body from the waist down.
Realizing that he had been cleaved clean in two along with his armor, Visente cried out almost reflexively.
"You! In the name of the sacred Goddess of Light, deliver Divine Punishment upon hiiiiim!"
Spinning through the air with only his upper body as he was sent flying, Visente voiced his resentment toward Rei until his very last breath.