Gazing at the red Cyclops approaching him, Rei pondered what he should do.
As far as Rei was concerned, he was extremely interested in the magic item hammer the red Cyclops was using.
No—given the current situation, it would be more accurate to say that the red Cyclops was being used by the hammer.
Its abilities were to send lightning crackling through the point where the hammer struck, and to grant the user an abnormal regeneration ability.
However, right before Rei's eyes was the sight of root-like things extending from the hammer and spreading throughout the red Cyclops's body.
Seeing that, there was no way Rei would want to use the hammer himself.
(Though to be fair, unless it had an ability like Death Scythe's that negated the sensation of weight, using that hammer would be tough for me too.)
It was a hammer large enough that even when held by the red Cyclops's roughly five-meter-tall frame, it still didn't look small.
Rei's physical abilities were far more developed than those of an ordinary person, but if asked whether he could wield something like that with complete freedom, he would have to answer no.
Even if the hammer had the same weight-negating ability as Death Scythe, the sheer size of the weapon would still be a problem.
He might be able to use it in his current state with Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor activated, but Rei's specialty was the giant scythe, not the hammer.
And yet, the reason Rei still wanted that magic item was because he thought that even if he didn't use it himself, bringing it to an Alchemist or Blacksmith might yield some kind of benefit.
Due to various circumstances, he hadn't gone to pick it up yet, but before heading to the City of Gracial, he had placed a request to have the wreckage of the Magic Sword taken from Noise remade into a spear.
That had been on his mind as well, but perhaps this hammer could serve as material for that project. Such a thought had taken root in Rei's mind.
"Well, all of that... is for after I defeat you!"
With those words, he leapt to the side, evading the hammer swung at him.
The hammer smashed the ground into a crater, releasing an electric current that raced across the earth—but there was no way Rei would fall for an attack he had already seen several times.
Just as before, he used the Sleipnir boots and, with the motion of a Triangle Jump, swung Death Scythe toward the red Cyclops's right side—the half of its body gripping the hammer.
Since he was clad in Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, even though the act of performing a Triangle Jump itself was nearly identical to before, the speed was incomparably faster.
Death Scythe's blade, swung toward the red Cyclops's right arm, severed the limb without any resistance... and in the next moment, the arm that should have been cut off was already reattached.
Seeing that, Rei activated the Sleipnir boots again, kicked off the air, and put distance between them.
With a roar, the hammer passed through the space where Rei's body had been just a moment before.
"Its regeneration speed has increased too. Troublesome."
When he had first attacked to save Ekril, he had severed the red Cyclops's right arm from the shoulder onward.
That arm had reattached quickly as well, but it had still remained severed for a brief moment.
At the very least, it hadn't done something as absurd as reattaching the instant it was cut off.
Naturally, the burn scars Rei had inflicted when he closed into Death Scythe's range while Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was active had also vanished in a matter of seconds.
"Which means, what should I do? Killing or destroying it seems doable enough, but..."
In the worst case, he could destroy the hammer itself—it was a magic item, after all—but he wanted to avoid that if possible and secure it undamaged.
Rei was deliberating, but his opponent wasn't going to kindly wait for him.
Holding the hammer, the red Cyclops came charging toward him.
"Tch, give me some time to think at least!"
With those words, he launched a portion of Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor toward the approaching red Cyclops.
Through the skill named Deep Flame, the red magical energy flew straight ahead at a speed that seemed to tear through the air itself, touched the red Cyclops... and in the next instant, engulfed the Cyclops's entire body in flame.
Naturally, being subjected to such a thing, the red Cyclops—or more accurately, the hammer that was likely controlling its body—thrashed about trying to extinguish the flames covering it.
But flames that would normally go out from rolling on the ground showed no signs of disappearing whatsoever.
Naturally. Deep Flame was not a physical fire, but flames generated by Rei's magic.
It was a skill that produced flames exactly as Rei imagined them.
What Rei had unleashed this time was adhesive flames—flames that clung to whatever they touched like gum or glue and continued to burn.
Unless the target dove into a large volume of water or employed some magic-based fire suppression method, the flames would not go out.
"Here's a bonus. Take this."
Seeing that Deep Flame was taking effect, he unleashed another Deep Flame imbued with the same properties.
When it struck, the adhesive flames covering the red Cyclops's body grew even larger.
It was fortunate that this was a clearing in the forest with no trees around—but if he had used this Deep Flame at the location where he had first fought the red Cyclops, the flames would have undoubtedly spread to the surroundings.
(The fact that it's thrashing about after being hit by these flames means that even without consciousness, the red Cyclops's body is still alive? When it dies, its movements should slow down, so it's frantically trying to put out the flames... or so I think. Well, either way, if I just destroy the red Cyclops's body itself, there's no problem.)
Gazing at the red Cyclops struggling to extinguish the adhesive flames, Rei took a step forward.
The explosive burst of speed from Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor made his advance completely invisible to the red Cyclops, which was desperately trying to put out the flames consuming its body.
Though its skin regenerated as fast as it was burned away, the red Cyclops was still a living creature.
As a living creature, it naturally needed to breathe—but it was suffering in a state where breathing was utterly impossible.
Though it had no consciousness, its body was in agony from being unable to draw breath... and in a situation where trying to inhale would send adhesive flames rushing into its mouth, having no consciousness was actually a blessing.
"Haaaaah!"
Along with that shout, a single swing of Death Scythe bisected the red Cyclops's body, which had been thrashing about on the ground, in a single instant.
...No, bisected was an understatement.
The number of blades swung in that instant exceeded ten.
They rained down in succession upon the rampaging giant, slicing apart its right hand, right foot, left hand, left foot, head, chest, abdomen, and flanks one after another.
"If it regenerates, I just need to keep slicing faster than that!"
Even as he shouted, the continuous barrage he unleashed was better described as processing than attacking.
The hammer too was regenerating the red Cyclops's body as fast as it was being severed, but the speeds were evenly matched.
The moment it seemed to recover, the severed body was cut once more.
And Death Scythe's blade was swung there again.
On top of Death Scythe's continuous attacks, the fact that regeneration had to be directed toward the adhesive flames covering the body as well further increased the burden on the hammer.
Slice and regenerate, regenerate and slice. That exchange continued for over ten minutes.
Gradually, the balance that had been wavering between regeneration and destruction began tipping toward destruction.
In the first place, the hammer's regeneration and lightning abilities were not being performed without any cost.
They were powered by forcibly converting the red Cyclops's robust life force into magic.
What carried that out were the roots extending from the hammer, spread throughout the Cyclops's body.
It was only possible because the hammer had stripped the user of consciousness and turned it into a puppet.
But... no matter how high the Cyclops's life force was as a monster, that life force was not infinite.
Rei's magic was also finite in that sense, but even though both were finite, the difference in capacity was far too great.
On one hand, even if it wasn't a normal Cyclops, it was ultimately a single Cyclops specimen.
On the other, someone who possessed magic power among the highest in this world.
And the red Cyclops was being forced to consume its life force every time it was injured, while Rei, though consuming magic through Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, still had plenty of magic remaining.
In such a state, fighting a war of attrition, there was no way the red Cyclops—or the hammer—could have won.
The countless wounds created by Death Scythe's swings were still regenerating for now, but as time passed, the regeneration speed rapidly declined.
Time passed in that manner... and before he knew it, the Cyclops had been completely killed by Death Scythe in Rei's hands.
Not only that, but the adhesive flames still clinging to and burning its body reduced the sliced remains to charcoal and burned them away.
"...That was careless."
All that remained was the torso and the right hand.
In the case of a normal Cyclops, the right ear that served as a Subjugation Proof Part, as well as the horn and single eye that traded at high prices as materials, had all been burned away by the flames, rendered unrecoverable.
Since only the torso and right hand were intact, the other limbs had also been reduced to charcoal—and naturally, the bones, tendons, and delicious meat that could have been used as materials were nowhere to be found.
"I went all out at the end, after all."
Sighing, Rei's gaze turned toward the red Cyclops's right arm.
Its right hand still gripped the hammer, emitting faint lightning around it as if to keep Rei at bay.
The war of attrition between Rei and the red Cyclops, where the latter had been pushed back yet somehow maintained equilibrium—but once that balance completely tipped in Rei's favor, the collapse came swiftly.
So swiftly that he couldn't stop the adhesive flames from burning away the very parts he had wanted as materials.
"I never found out whether it was a Rare Species or High-ranking Species in the end, but well, that's fine. I got what I was after, so I'll call it good."
Muttering, Rei turned his gaze toward the hammer—and as if to say this was its answer, the hammer emitted Purple Lightning around it.
Touching it carelessly would undoubtedly electrocute even Rei. Under normal circumstances, that thought would make anyone hesitate to reach out.
"If anything, it should have just stayed quiet and disguised itself, then sprung the roots on me when I grabbed it, like it did with the red Cyclops."
He reached his hand toward the hammer emitting Purple Lightning... and as if repelling him, the hammer emitted even stronger Purple Lightning.
But while that might apply to Rei in his normal state, the current Rei had Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor deployed.
Against Rei in that state, the degree of Purple Lightning the hammer could currently produce had absolutely no effect.
For a moment, the thought crossed Rei's mind whether it was safe to touch it as is—but then he reasoned that he couldn't store it in the Misty Ring without touching it... and recalled the Misty Ring's characteristic of being unable to store living things.
(This hammer controlled the red Cyclops. In other words, while it doesn't seem to produce anything like speech, there's no doubt it has something like a will... I think. If so, does that mean it can't be stored? But a magic item is a magic item. Even if it has a will, how does that factor in?)
Though he wondered about this, he ultimately concluded that he had no choice but to try.
If he was storing it in the Misty Ring, he only needed to touch the hammer for an instant.
But if he had to carry it back as is, he would have to keep touching it all the way to Gilm.
If asked which to choose, the former was the obvious answer.
"Phew... alright."
It was Rei's first time encountering a magic item that took over and controlled its user.
That was precisely why, when touching it, he focused on Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor cloaking his body so he could respond immediately to whatever might happen, and while keeping the heat output to a minimum, he touched the hammer.
Thump.
The moment he made contact, he felt something enter him through his right hand gripping the handle.
It was a sensation that could only be described as infiltration—beginning from Rei's right hand and attempting to dominate his body.
And from the gripped handle, just as it had with the red Cyclops, roots tried to invade Rei's body.
The hammer itself likely understood that Rei was not an opponent it could dominate so easily.
But those roots could not penetrate Rei's body, which was covered by Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—they were burned away upon contact.
The will-like presence emanating from his gripping hand had initially tried to take over his right hand as well, but before Rei's vast magic power residing within his body, it was akin to trying to evaporate the ocean with a candle's flame.
It showed no sign of being able to dominate Rei's body... rather, the will that had flowed in alongside Rei's magic trampled what could be called the hammer's will, and the candle's flame was effortlessly extinguished by the ocean's waters.
All of this had taken only a few seconds.
From an outside perspective, it was Rei's overwhelming victory—no, an exchange better described as a rout—but having experienced what could be called a mental battle for the first time, Rei let out a deep breath and looked up at the clear blue sky.
...Incidentally, it would be a few minutes later when Rei, having tried to at least extract the Magic Stone from the red Cyclops that now consisted of nothing but a right hand and torso, discovered that its heart had vanished completely.