The long sword the Cobolt before him held, and the hammer the red Cyclops had wielded.
As weapons, they were completely different. A long sword was a weapon to cut enemies; a hammer was a weapon to crush them.
Even so, he didn't know why, but seeing the Cobolt's long sword, Rei couldn't help but be reminded of the hammer the red Cyclops had carried.
"Awooo!"
When the Cobolt holding the long sword let out a high howl, the other Cobolts all turned to face Rei's group at once.
There were about twenty of them, but that was only the Cobolts in plain sight. Since the sound of movement could still be heard from the surrounding bushes, there was no doubt that more Cobolts remained hidden.
Cobolts were monsters that naturally formed packs, so the size of this group was large, but not abnormally so.
"What's this, the Cobolts intend to fight us? Sure, there are a lot of them, but isn't that a little reckless?"
Mirene spoke with her long sword in hand, but her words were by no means an exaggeration.
Everyone here—aside from the two who had just fled—possessed power roughly on the level of a C-Rank Adventurer.
Furthermore, there were those with even higher combat ability like Rei and Vihera, and above all, Gryphon Seto... or so Mirene started to think, before suddenly sensing something was off.
(Normally, monsters rarely attack when Set-chan is present. With something like a Goblin that can't gauge its opponent's strength, it'd be one thing, but while a Cobolt's combat ability is only slightly above a Goblin's, its intelligence is considerably higher. ...Even if they were chasing adventurers, why would they charge here where Set-chan is?)
Several others shared Mirene's doubts, but they were right to realize that now was not the time for such thoughts.
The reason might have been unclear, but the fact remained that they were currently face-to-face with a pack of Cobolts.
"Awooooo!"
When the Cobolt that appeared to be the leader—the one holding the long sword—howled, the other Cobolts all charged Rei's group at once.
Armed with spears and long swords, their assault was, befitting of Cobolts, swifter and sharper than a Goblin's.
"That doesn't mean you Cobolts can get cocky!"
Rei half-stepped back to dodge a spear thrust aimed at his chest and thrust his own Thorn Spear.
The act of thrusting a spear was the same as what the Cobolt had done, but the sharpness was so different it was hard to believe the same type of weapon was being used for the same action.
By the time the Cobolt tried to pull its spear back, Rei's Thorn Spear had already shattered its head.
...Yes, shattered—not pierced.
Cobolt skull fragments scattered through the air.
The Cobolts that had been behind the one killed in a single blow by Rei took their comrade's blood, flesh, bone, and brain matter squarely to the face.
Their vision was stolen, and at the same time, the stench of blood robbed them of their sense of smell.
What greeted the Cobolts, who had stopped moving in confusion, was Rei's thrust.
As a Magic Item, the Thorn Spear's characteristic was to entangle and immobilize a pierced opponent with thorns generated from the spear while inflicting pain through the thorns' barbs—but naturally, even used as an ordinary spear, its power was considerable.
The three Cobolts that had been behind the first one Rei killed had their heads crushed effortlessly by a single blow of his spear and crumbled to the ground.
"Well, they're just Cobolts."
Muttering this, Rei watched a Cobolt retreating after witnessing the exchange, then took another look at his surroundings.
The area wasn't particularly wide, but battles against Cobolts were unfolding everywhere.
However, everyone here was a person of considerable skill, and in every engagement, the Cobolts were being one-sidedly overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, the archers and Surnin, who wielded magic and had taken position at the spot where the Cyclops materials were gathered, were firing arrows and spells to keep Cobolts at bay while protecting the two adventurers who had fled to them.
"At this rate, our victory is—hey!"
Their victory was certain. Or so Rei had thought, when something he absolutely couldn't overlook caught his eye.
Several Cobolts were attempting to sink their fangs into the Cyclops that was hanging from a branch for bloodletting.
Of course, the Cobolts weren't trying to attack the Cyclops.
For that matter, the Cyclops was already dead—there was no question of attacking it.
In other words, what the Cobolts were trying to do was eat its flesh, simply because a Cyclops corpse happened to be right where they had attacked.
"Shameless—!"
Several people were fighting Cobolts between Rei and the spot where the Cyclops was hanging, serving as obstacles.
Judging that the Cyclops would be damaged at this rate, Rei kicked off the ground and leapt, activating his Sleipnir boots.
One step, two steps, three steps—he bounded through the air over those fighting the Cobolts.
And then, from directly above the Cobolt that had been about to sink its fangs into the Cyclops corpse, Rei plummeted with his Thorn Spear at the ready.
The sensation of tearing through skin, ripping flesh, and shattering bone transmitted to his hands. Upon landing, Rei swept the Thorn Spear horizontally.
The spear had impaled the Cobolt from its head through its torso, piercing straight through to its lower back around the waist—yet that caused no impediment whatsoever when Rei swung the spear.
Swept sideways, the Cobolt corpse impaled on the Thorn Spear slipped off the blade and shaft and went flying.
The Cobolts that had been about to bite into the Cyclops were blasted away by their comrade's corpse and left unable to move.
"Didn't anyone teach you not to snack before the meal—?!"
Rei thrust his spear at the Cobolts that had tumbled to the ground, crushed beneath their comrade's corpse.
Had he aimed for their torsos, they might have been able to use the flying corpse as a meat shield.
But Rei had aimed for their heads.
The thrusts unleashed in an instant, with every part from blade to shaft rendered in deep green, appeared to onlookers as a green flash.
The Cobolts whose heads were destroyed died instantly, perishing with their comrade's corpse still piled on top of them.
Rei gave the Cobolt corpses a brief glance, then turned his eyes back to the battlefield.
"Grrrrrrrl!"
Along with a battle cry, a Cobolt came flying out of the bushes.
...Or rather, to be precise, it was the headless corpse of a Cobolt.
As for who had done this, one need only hear that cry to know without thinking twice.
"Alright, then it's about time—"
"Waaah!"
The battle was nearing its end—or so Rei had been about to say, when a scream cut him off.
Had it been a Cobolt's scream, there would have been nothing particularly strange about it. But this scream came from a human—one of the Former Mobile Unit men.
Rei instantly turned his gaze toward the source of the scream and couldn't believe what he saw.
Flames were erupting from the blade the Cobolt was swinging.
And a man, engulfed in flames, was rolling on the ground.
"Haa!"
Rei had instinctively started toward the man, but Vihera moved faster.
She approached the man, who was thrashing about with his body wrapped in flames, and kicked him.
This wasn't a follow-up attack—she struck because leaving him engulfed in flames would endanger the others.
And the destination of her kick was the river.
Thanks to Vihera's quick judgment, the man landed in the water and the flames covering his body were extinguished.
"The Cobolt has a magic sword? And it can use it? You've gotta be kidding!"
The one who shouted was a member of the Former Mobile Unit.
He had apparently witnessed the sight of his comrade being engulfed in flames.
"Th-That's the one! That's the Cobolt leader! Because of that one, we had no choice but to run!"
One of the two adventurers who had first come here fleeing from the Cobolts shouted.
The expression on his face was one of terror. And outrage at the sheer absurdity of the situation.
For these two adventurers, a Cobolt subjugation request wasn't particularly difficult given their abilities.
But within the pack of Cobolts they had fought, there was one wielding a magic sword.
Acquiring a magic sword was difficult even for humans.
Wondering why a Cobolt had one, they instead judged it to be a prime opportunity to seize the magic sword.
When they first discovered it, they hadn't felt particularly threatened by a Cobolt holding a magic sword.
That was because using a Magic Item—magic swords included—required mana.
But a normal Cobolt, not a High-ranking Species like a Cobolt Mage, lacked the ability to wield mana.
...Or so it should have been.
But for some reason, the Cobolt was actually wielding the magic sword. The two judged they couldn't win against the magic sword's power and fled... The Cobolts chased after them, and thus they encountered Rei's group.
"A Cobolt with a magic sword, huh. ...That sounds a little interesting. Mind if I take this one?"
Rei was thinking If there was a Cobolt with a magic sword, you should've said so from the start, but beside him, Vihera spoke up with an amused smile.
The fight with the Cyclops had been reasonably entertaining, but she'd been somewhat disappointed by an opponent that could only fight crudely.
But the Cobolt before her with a magic sword in hand might offer at least a bit more of a challenge.
No one could stop Vihera, gripped by such a thought.
If anyone could, it would be Rei alone, but even he didn't feel any particular need to stop her.
(A C-Rank Cyclops versus an E-Rank Cobolt... no matter how you look at it, I can't imagine fighting the Cobolt would be more rewarding.)
He watched Vihera face the Cobolt and thought this, but stayed silent, knowing that Vihera wouldn't be satisfied unless she actually fought it herself.
And even while staying silent, he swung his Thorn Spear, dispatching Cobolts one after another.
"Awooo!"
The Cobolt with the magic sword let out a loud cry and swung it.
Flames erupted from the magic sword's blade.
A Flame ball about thirty centimeters in diameter flew straight toward Vihera.
But unlike the earlier surprise attack, an attack she'd already seen once had no chance of being effective.
Vihera dodged the Flame ball while stepping forward, and in the next instant, she had brought the magic sword-wielding Cobolt within her attack range.
Not a Magic Impact Palm—but simply a swung fist, delivering a swift strike to the Cobolt's face.
Focused on speed, the attack looked like a boxing jab to Rei's eyes.
She unleashed such rapid strikes with alternating left and right fists.
"Yip! Y-Yip!"
The Cobolt, having taken the first blow, tried frantically to counterattack by swinging its magic sword.
But the Fireballs it released flew off in wrong directions, damaging nearby trees, the river, and potentially even its fellow Cobolts.
Naturally, some came toward Rei's group, but nearly everyone here could be called veterans.
They weren't slow enough to be hit by a Fireball they'd already seen once. ...The fact that the Fireball's speed was by no means fast also played a role.
"Yip! Yip! Yip!"
The Cobolts tried to counterattack, but the speed of Vihera's fists was overwhelmingly greater than the speed at which the Cobolt could swing its magic sword.
She continued raining blows, and when the Cobolt's resistance ceased, she delivered a kick.
"Yiiip!"
Letting out its loudest scream yet, the Cobolt went flying and its body slammed into the trunk of a nearby tree.
That was the end of the magic sword-wielding individual that had led the Cobolts... or so everyone but Rei would have thought.
Indeed, unlike the Cyclops from yesterday, nearly all the Cobolts that had attacked were already dead.
But Rei alone never took his eyes off the Cobolt that Vihera had sent flying.
The reason was, without a doubt, the magic sword the Cobolt had been carrying.
While its size differed from what the red Cyclops had carried yesterday—it was small enough for a normal human to use—the very fact that something like a Cobolt possessed a magic sword was strange.
It wasn't that the probability of a Cobolt obtaining a magic sword was zero.
There was the possibility of a Cobolt successfully ambushing and killing an inattentive adventurer who happened to have a magic sword and taking it, or simply finding the corpse of an adventurer who had one.
But if asked whether a Cobolt could wield that magic sword, few would nod in agreement.
And if that Cobolt wasn't a High-ranking Species or a Rare Species, but an ordinary Cobolt, that made it even less likely.
And then... Rei's concern proved correct.
"Yip, yip, yip! Yipe!"
The Cobolt that had been slammed into the tree trunk started to stand, then suddenly let out a scream.
What stood there was no longer the confident Cobolt that had first appeared.
Crying out, the Cobolt tried frantically to release the magic sword from its hand.
But no matter how many times it shook its hand, the magic sword wouldn't let go.
Because root-like tendrils had spread from the magic sword's grip into the Cobolt's hand, its arm, its upper body, and its entire body.
"...Just as I thought."
At the somehow familiar sight, Rei murmured and stood beside Vihera with his Thorn Spear in hand.