Before Mirene's group, the newly appeared Cyclops possessed a presence clearly distinct from the rest.
While a normal Cyclops stood barely over four meters tall, this one was nearly five. And while normal Cyclops had green skin, this one's was red. The horn growing from its head was larger and sharper than those of the others as well.
But the most striking difference was likely the weapon it carried.
The other Cyclops wielded what could barely be called clubs—more accurately described as mere lumber, snapped from trees growing nearby.
What the red Cyclops carried, however, was a hammer forged from metal.
Moreover, it was so massive that no human could ever hope to lift it—as if it had been crafted from the outset for the red Cyclops's use, given its nearly five-meter-tall frame.
"Gaaaaaaagh!"
The Cyclops let out an irritated roar and slammed its hammer into the ground.
In that instant, the point of impact caved in to form a massive crater, and simultaneously, lightning raced outward across the ground from its center.
"Gyaaaaaaah!"
One of the Cyclops caught by the lightning racing across the ground screamed in agony.
Perhaps finding the shrieks amusing, the red Cyclops raised its hammer and brought it crashing down once more.
Again lightning surged across the ground, and every Cyclops it touched cried out in pain.
The power of the lightning itself probably wasn't all that strong—but that didn't mean it was painless.
"Ugh, the worst. That thing the Cyclops is holding..."
Mirene, her face twisted in genuine distaste, turned her gaze toward Surnin.
Surnin met her look with a grave expression, nodding once before speaking in a low voice.
"Yes. It is without a doubt a magic item. The fact that a Cyclops can use it at all means the magic power consumption required to activate it must be minimal."
"...For that matter, why can a Cyclops even use a magic item?"
Yohanna's bitter remark, spoken as she listened to the two of them, was something nearly everyone present found themselves agreeing with.
Fundamentally, Cyclops were monsters that could be called pure physical combatants, excelling at attacks that capitalized on their massive bodies and brute strength. And yet, the Cyclops currently at the center of their gazes was wielding a magic item that required magic power.
"It must be either a High-ranking Species or a Rare Species. Unfortunately, I cannot determine which."
The red Cyclops repeatedly slammed its hammer into the ground, seemingly reveling in the act of making the others cry out in pain.
Watching this unfold, Surnin murmured to himself, torn about what to do.
Even against normal Cyclops, five of them was more than they could handle on their own.
That was exactly why they had sent Deetz back to call for reinforcements—but those reinforcements had been requested under the assumption of facing five normal Cyclops.
Moreover, whether reinforcements could even arrive quickly was questionable at best.
Should they pull back for now?
That thought crossed Surnin's mind.
(That red Cyclops clearly possesses strength incomparable to the others. And above all else, that magic item is the real problem. I have no idea how it obtained it, but that hammer is amplifying the red Cyclops's power several times over—perhaps dozens of times. If only it wielded a club like the other Cyclops, we might have managed something.)
Murmuring inwardly, Surnin turned his gaze back toward the red Cyclops.
In that instant, something cold ran down his spine.
Their eyes had met.
The red Cyclops, which until mere seconds ago had been gleefully tormenting the others, and Surnin—their eyes were now locked together.
The distance between where Surnin's group was hiding and where the red Cyclops stood was roughly fifty meters, and they were concealed among the trees.
Furthermore, the red Cyclops had been using its hammer—presumably a magic item—to generate lightning, delighting in the sight of the other Cyclops writhing in agony.
And yet, for some reason, its eyes were now firmly fixed on Surnin.
Even the normal Cyclops surrounding the red one seemed puzzled that the lightning tormenting them had suddenly stopped. Confused, they all turned their gazes in the same direction the red Cyclops was staring.
An eerie silence fell over the surroundings.
Moving would undoubtedly reveal their position to the enemy. But staying put and not fleeing meant they would be found eventually anyway.
(...No. Judging by the red Cyclops's behavior, there's a high probability we've already been spotted.)
The reason they still couldn't move was likely because they had instinctively understood that the red Cyclops was orders of magnitude stronger than a normal one.
Under normal circumstances, a Rare Species was treated as one rank higher than the base monster it originated from.
A good example was Set.
While normal gryphons were classified as A-Rank monsters, Set was recognized by those around him as possessing power equivalent to an S-Rank monster due to being a Rare Species.
But the red Cyclops at the center of Surnin's gaze seemed to be an exception.
"We're running away!"
In a situation where only despair came to mind no matter how they racked their brains, Mirene was the first to act.
At the sound of her voice, Surnin reflexively moved, immediately stepping backward.
There was no longer any room to worry about whether the enemy had spotted them.
Just flee. Keeping only that thought in mind, they broke into a run toward where they had left the horses.
Naturally, moving silently enough to avoid detection was utterly impossible under such circumstances, and the red Cyclops in the distance heard the noise.
"Gruuaaagh?"
However... only the red Cyclops seemed to notice. The normal Cyclops showed no sign of registering the sound.
Cyclops possessed outstandingly high muscular strength and stamina, but their senses were by no means sharp.
In fact, if Cyclops had keen senses in addition to their formidable strength and stamina, they would have been registered as a higher-ranked monster rather than a C-Rank one.
That was precisely why the normal Cyclops failed to notice Mirene and the others crashing through the underbrush, snapping branches as they went.
...With the exception of the red Cyclops.
"Gaaaaaaarraaaagh!"
A massive roar echoed through the surroundings.
Hearing it, the Cyclops hurriedly snatched up their clubs—their weapons—and charged in the direction Mirene's group had fled.
Granted, a Cyclops's running speed was by no means swift.
This too was another reason why the Cyclops, despite its devastating strikes, was classified as a C-Rank monster.
However, a massive body also meant a long stride, and while they may have been sluggish, outrunning them would be no easy feat.
For a human, dense brush and outstretched trees would be obstacles, but for a creature as large as a Cyclops, such trivial impediments were as good as nonexistent.
With heavy thudding sounds, the five Cyclops pursued Mirene and the others.
At first, the Cyclops didn't understand why they were charging toward the bushes. But suddenly, one of them spotted Surnin.
The fact that Surnin was the oldest among Mirene, Yohanna, and the rest; that he belonged to the Class of a mage—a profession ill-suited for physical exertion; and that he wore cumbersome equipment such as a mantle and staff—all of this made him stand out.
And once they spotted a human, the Cyclops naturally understood what they were chasing. Their pace quickened, driven by the desire to fill stomachs still unsatisfied from the deer they had gorged on earlier.
"Graaagh!"
One of the Cyclops let out a loud roar and hurled the club in its hand straight at Surnin.
The club, so large that an ordinary human could never hope to lift it, spun through the air toward him... but struck a tree along the way, sending a thunderous crash echoing through the forest.
The tree snapped on impact, but fortunately the club lost its momentum and fell to the ground.
"We keep our distance and move on horseback!"
"We're going back to Gilm!?"
Yohanna cried out at Mirene's instruction.
But beneath the shock in her voice, there was a strong undercurrent of agreement.
They couldn't defeat the red Cyclops on their own. That much she was certain of.
They hadn't actually fought it—only seen it from a distance.
And yet, they had instinctively understood that the red Cyclops was stronger than they were.
Furthermore, there were five normal Cyclops in addition to the red one.
If it came to a fight, no matter how they looked at it, they stood no chance of winning.
"Of course! If we fight and get wiped out, they might reach Gilm! We sent Deetz back to the city, but there's no guarantee that'll be enough. ...Ow!"
As she ran through the underbrush, a branch scraped her cheek, leaving a faint cut.
Even so, there was no room to worry about such a minor sting now. She simply ran desperately toward where the horses were.
What they heard behind them was the ferocious bellowing of the five Cyclops.
As if to say they would never let their prey escape—prey that would fill their bellies—they shoved aside the trees as they pursued Mirene's group.
"Haa, haa, haa. I do train, you know. Was it not enough?"
Surnin, staff in hand, muttered as he ran.
The staff that served as his magic catalyst was particularly cumbersome while sprinting, but as a mage, he couldn't simply discard it.
Just as it was often said that a mage who couldn't use magic was no different from a civilian, a mage's very identity was defined by the ability to cast spells.
And magic was something that held the potential to turn the tables in a single blow when they were driven into a corner.
"!? I'm breaking off for a moment!"
Ekril, who had been watching Surnin struggle, called out and separated from the group.
Because she had moved through the cover of the trees, she successfully broke away without being noticed by the Cyclops, and swiftly scaled a nearby tree.
Being naturally nimble, her speed would have put even a bandit to shame.
Hooking her feet on a branch, she drew an arrow from the quiver on her back and nocked it to her bow.
The arrow flew straight toward the Cyclops leading the pack in pursuit of Mirene and the others.
"Graaagh!"
The Cyclops let out a roar of pain as the arrow pierced its right arm.
But for a creature with a body roughly four meters tall, an arrow was painful yet far from lethal.
With the arrow still lodged in its right arm, the Cyclops swung its fist in irritation and easily smashed a tree roughly fifty centimeters thick growing nearby. Then, as if it had already forgotten about the arrow, it resumed its pursuit.
During the time it had spent snapping the tree in frustration, the other Cyclops had overtaken it, dropping it to the rear of the pack—but it showed no sign of caring.
Even so, the fact that the lead Cyclops had fallen to the back meant they had, to some degree, managed to buy time against the pursuers.
(If only I'd bought poison.)
Ekril loosed another arrow at the Cyclops now running at the front again, regretting her decision.
Originally, the subjugation target had been a single normal Cyclops, and against an opponent of that level, the Scorching Wind party alone would have had a solid chance of victory.
Furthermore, for some reason, Yohanna—who had built a relationship with Mirene as both a fellow troublemaker and a rival—and her companions had joined the subjugation, assembling more than sufficient forces to face a single Cyclops.
Seeing that, Ekril had debated whether to buy poison but ultimately decided against it.
Cyclops were extreme physical combatants—brutes, to put it bluntly—and they also possessed high regenerative abilities.
An effective poison against such a creature would have been extraordinarily expensive.
(Besides, I don't know if that red Cyclops is a Rare Species or a High-ranking Species, but why is something like that even here? Cyclops normally act alone. ...It's definitely because of that red one!)
Harboring her frustration within, she loosed several more arrows.
Each time, arrows pierced the lead Cyclops's body, drawing roars that mixed pain and irritation.
After a few minutes, judging that it was about time for her position to be discovered, and unwilling to be left behind, Ekril leapt down from the branch she had been perched on... and in the next instant, her body was struck by a violent impact, and she plummeted toward the ground.
Simultaneously, a deafening crash of destruction echoed through the surroundings.
If Ekril had been able to look toward the tree she had been standing in before losing consciousness, she would have seen it—the trunk snapped clean in half by a single blow from the red Cyclops, the area where the hammer had struck scorched black by the lightning that had erupted from it.
...And she would have also seen the gryphon descending toward her from the sky, and the familiar figure riding on its back, scythe in hand.