The fully revealed Giant Cicada measured roughly twenty meters in length. It had five legs on each side, each tipped with numerous visibly sharp thorns.
Four wings sprouted from its back, so transparent that one could see straight through to the other side.
But their thin appearance did not mean they were fragile.
In fact, despite not having fully completed its molting, the creature had already managed to deflect Set's Wind Arrows and Ice Arrows.
As expected of a cicada-type monster, its face closely resembled that of an ordinary cicada.
Having lived in the mountains back in Japan, Rei had seen more than enough cicadas since childhood—enough to be sick of them.
But even so, the cicadas he had known were only palm-sized. They were nothing like this Giant Cicada with a total length of around twenty meters.
Rei realized all over again that a sheer difference in size alone could drastically change the impression something made.
"But... if you get away from the World Tree, I can attack with everything I've got! Flying Slash!"
Rei swung his Death Scythe toward the giant cicada, which had spread its wings and was just about to take flight from the World Tree.
What shot from the blade was a skill Rei had long since mastered.
The slashing projectile flew straight toward the Giant Cicada...
"GIGIGIGIGIGIGIGI!"
It spread its wings, and an intense sound reverberated through the air.
Realizing the true nature of that sound, Rei instantly shouted.
"Magic Shield!"
A Shield of Light materialized—only to dissolve into particles of light and vanish a heartbeat later.
"Ultrasound... and also..."
Rei shifted his gaze from where the Magic Shield had disappeared down to the ground.
What he saw was grass flattened in all directions... but that was not all.
Several patches of earth had been torn up, evidence that the ultrasound just released was more powerful than the first one Rei had endured.
Though as long as Magic Shield could block it, the distinction hardly mattered to him.
Glancing behind him for just a moment, he saw that Set had stepped forward protectively in front of the Light Sphere, blood flowing from several places on his body.
A mixture of pain and surprise flashed across Rei's face.
The soft fur covering Set's body had a silk-like texture while also boasting formidable defensive capabilities—so much so that an ordinary blade would struggle just to cut through it.
Yet the ultrasound released by the Giant Cicada had inflicted cutting wounds severe enough to draw blood from even Set.
Just how powerful was that attack? The mere thought made Rei's expression turn grim.
Once this battle is over, I'll heal you with potions right away.
Thinking this as he looked at Set, Rei turned back toward the Giant Cicada... and seeing the creature, freshly emerged from its pupa, trembling, he gripped his Death Scythe and closed the distance in one burst.
However... Rei's decision had come too late. No, in this case, it would be more accurate to say the Giant Cicada had acted too quickly.
It vibrated its wings, dipped its body for an instant...
"I won't let you!"
Realizing what the Giant Cicada was about to do, Rei moved to stop it. Determined not to let it escape into the sky, he gripped his Death Scythe and activated the Sleipnir boots, racing upward through the air.
Death Scythe swung down. But just before the blade could reach the Giant Cicada, it vibrated all four wings at once and launched itself into flight.
The blade of the Death Scythe sliced through empty air where the creature's body had been a moment before.
"Tch! Flying Slash!"
As a last desperate attempt, he unleashed a Flying Slash at the Giant Cicada soaring through the sky, but the creature effortlessly dodged by tilting its body with practiced use of its four wings.
"Set!"
"GURURURURUU!"
Judging that he could not handle an airborne foe on his own, Rei called Set's name.
The Sleipnir boots granted the ability to walk through the air, but only for a few steps—fewer than ten at most.
When it came to facing enemies in the sky, Set's presence was indispensable.
Naturally, Set responded immediately to Rei's call.
Rei had been about to swing himself onto Set's back as the griffon arrived... but suddenly the Light Sphere, which had approached alongside Set, flashed dazzlingly, and Rei froze mid-motion.
The Light Sphere had already been weakened, its magic power and sap drained by the Giant Cicada.
Despite being in such a state, flashing this intensely meant it was shortening its own life.
Rei wondered what it could possibly want to tell him so desperately. Then, in a flash, the image of the Giant Cicada crossed his mind.
Of course, there was no reason other than the Giant Cicada for the World Tree to be weakened to this extent.
But what Rei had just realized was the direction the creature had flown—straight up.
And directly above this settlement... or more precisely, he knew exactly what surrounded it.
"The Protective Barrier!?"
What existed there was the Protective Barrier that shielded the settlement from monsters, wild animals, slave traders, and the like.
And the one sustaining that Protective Barrier was the World Tree...
"Stooop!"
Rei shouted at the sky, but the Giant Cicada showed no sign of caring about his voice as it flew higher and higher.
Naturally. To the Giant Cicada, Rei was nothing more than a troublesome nuisance clinging to it.
That enemy's single strike possessed enough power to inflict significant wounds even on its massive body, so it was only natural that it wanted to get away.
It was an oddly intriguing opponent, but the Giant Cicada was completely unaware that this was due to the very magic power that had empowered it so greatly.
While the creature had gained tremendous abilities through Rei's magic power and the World Tree's sap, intelligence was another matter entirely.
The choice the Giant Cicada made to put as much distance between itself and Rei as quickly as possible was to ascend straight upward.
"GIGIGIGIGIGIGI!"
Possessing the ability to wield a similar barrier itself, the Giant Cicada instinctively understood what lay in the direction it was heading.
It unleashed the same kind of ultrasound it had fired at Rei earlier—but this time, focused into a directed beam straight ahead.
Whether it harbored any intent behind not tolerating anything obstructing its path was unclear, but regardless, the attack directed at the Protective Barrier demonstrated its effect.
With a sharp crack—
A sound like shattering glass echoed throughout the surroundings.
That sound resonated not only at the World Tree where Rei stood. Everyone in the settlement heard it.
And as the sound of shattering glass indicated, the Protective Barrier fell toward the ground in fragments, dissolving into particles of light before ever touching the earth.
Elena and the Dark Elves who had been fighting in front of the Protective Barrier stopped dead at the sight.
The Protective Barrier that had protected the settlement until now had shattered and vanished as if it were made of glass.
No one who witnessed it escaped the shock.
But it was not only the Protective Barrier where an abnormality occurred. The monsters that had been trying to destroy it were affected as well.
Until that moment, the monsters had been acting without any light of consciousness in their eyes. But the instant they heard the sound of the barrier breaking, awareness abruptly returned to them.
As if suddenly roused from sleep, they looked around, completely unable to comprehend their current situation.
If the monsters had remained in their previous state at that moment, the Dark Elves would have undoubtedly suffered devastating casualties.
It was even possible that the settlement itself would have suffered damage from which it could never recover.
But what had gathered around the settlement was overwhelmingly monsters.
And monsters, by nature, were largely a race that considered anything outside their own kind an enemy.
There were some that coexisted with other species, but such monsters were only a small fraction.
Furthermore, the monsters had been densely packed.
In other words, many of them found themselves surrounded by nothing but enemies upon coming to their senses.
There were Dark Elves too, but in terms of sheer numbers, monsters were overwhelmingly dominant.
As a result, what the Dark Elves saw upon snapping back to reality from the shock of the barrier shattering was a scene that could only be described as monsters cannibalizing each other.
"!? Attack the monsters! Do not let them enter the settlement under any circumstances! There are many women and children inside!"
Ragdo shouted, and the Dark Elves, jolted back to awareness by his voice, launched their attack on the monsters.
Even so, they did not strike recklessly.
They let the monsters fight each other, then exploited the openings of whichever side won.
Now that the Protective Barrier around the settlement was gone, monsters could enter from any direction.
It was therefore critical to keep the monsters' attention off the Dark Elves and focused on other creatures nearby.
We're managing for now, but... if this continues...
A sense of desperation gripped Ragdo.
Right now, the sheer number of monsters meant their attention was directed at everything except the Dark Elves, and they were somehow holding on. But if the situation continued as it was, monsters would inevitably begin noticing the Dark Elves and the settlement.
He had to think of some countermeasure before that happened, but as things stood, there was nothing he could do.
The destruction of the Protective Barrier means without a doubt that something happened to the World Tree. In other words, the earlier pulse was undoubtedly the cause. I need to... I need to think of a way to break through this situation.
Turning his gaze toward where the World Tree stood, Ragdo was struck by the shock of seeing it clearly visible—something that should have been hidden behind the Protective Barrier. Even so, he desperately racked his brain for a way to protect the settlement.
While Ragdo was searching for a way to break the stalemate, Rei had jumped down from Set's back.
Under normal circumstances, he should have pursued the Giant Cicada that had destroyed the Protective Barrier and flown off.
But there was a decisive reason he could not do so now.
"Set! Sorry, but I need to do something about the World Tree! You pursue the Giant Cicada! Also, now that the Protective Barrier has been destroyed, the monsters gathering in the area need to be dealt with too! Handle that as well if you can!"
"GURURURURUU!"
Set cried sharply at Rei's words and took to the sky, chasing after the Giant Cicada.
Watching Set launch into flight, Rei broke into a run toward the World Tree.
The flickering Light Sphere trailed behind him, its glow so faint it seemed ready to extinguish at any moment.
"Damn it, hold on! I absolutely won't let you die. Absolutely!"
Reaching the base of the World Tree, Rei pressed his palm against the trunk and channeled his magic power into it.
He recalled the time he had poured magic power into the World Tree together with Marina.
Using the same approach, he fed magic power into the tree... but the amount he poured in was on an entirely different scale from before.
It reached several times, dozens of times, even hundreds of times what he had previously given.
Under normal circumstances, infusing this much magic power would cause the tree itself to wither. At worst, the sheer volume of magic could even turn it into a monster.
But what Rei was pouring his magic power into was the World Tree.
The World Tree that had protected the Dark Elf settlement in this land for ages untold.
A World Tree with that much power would never turn into a monster from absorbing Rei's magic. Believing that with all his heart, Rei continued to pour in everything he had.
In truth, the World Tree's magic power had been consumed to nearly its absolute limit, drained by the Giant Cicada.
It had been siphoned not only through the roots, but also when the creature clung to the trunk as a pupa—digging the tips of its legs deep into the bark and draining the magic power and sap that were most vital to the World Tree's survival.
The proof was there in how rapidly the tree had begun to wither.
Ultimately, the Protective Barrier maintained by the World Tree had been forcibly destroyed, and the recoil had dealt fatal damage to the tree itself.
As the Light Sphere's flickering had been on the very verge of extinguishing, had things continued as they were, the World Tree would have completely withered and died.
Into that dying tree, Rei poured a massive flood of magic power.
It was a scene that could truly be called a hair's breadth.
Another few minutes—no, even tens of seconds later—and the World Tree would have been beyond saving.
Infused with an enormous surge of magic power right at the brink of complete death, the World Tree barely managed to cling to life.
Rei continued pouring in magic power for several more minutes... and gradually, the withered leaves scattered across the World Tree regained their lush, vibrant green.
Beside Rei, the Light Sphere—which had at some point fallen to the ground—stirred faintly, and its flickering light grew steadily stronger.
"...Somehow managed to save the World Tree without killing it, huh."
Turning his gaze skyward, he watched Set and the Giant Cicada locked in battle... and let out a long breath of relief at having saved the World Tree.