Riding on Set's back, Rei soared into the sky and beheld the enemy — far larger than he had anticipated.
He called it the Giant Cicada in his mind, so naturally he had expected its size to be extraordinary. Moreover, unlike Set, whose body length was two meters, Rei stood only around one hundred sixty-five centimeters. The Giant Cicada, by contrast, measured roughly twenty meters from end to end. The difference in scale was unmistakable.
(I saw it up close when it was trying to emerge at the World Tree, and I even attacked it. I watched it finish emerging and fly off. Even so... seeing it like this, it really is huge.)
Aboard Set's back, Rei gripped Death Scythe's handle firmly.
The Giant Cicada had already spotted Set. Its emotionless eyes turned toward the griffon — and toward Rei on its back.
"Gigigigigigi!"
The Giant Cicada moved first, slamming a Sound Blade of ultrasound at Set and Rei.
"Gururururu!"
But Set had witnessed the ultrasound attack countless times already. Evading it was second nature. He flared his wings wide and peeled away from the directional blast's range.
The Giant Cicada, however, had learned from their previous exchanges. Anticipating Set's dodge, it fired Earth Spears toward the evasion point. The projectiles shot straight toward Set's body, intent on impaling him—
"Flying Slash!"
A Flying Slash unleashed from Set's back cleaved through the Earth Spears all at once.
"You'd better not forget I'm here. The whole reason Set deliberately reduced his mobility to carry me on his back... let me show you why!"
Another Flying Slash tore through the air. The Giant Cicada countered with ultrasound, but even its sonic blade couldn't completely extinguish the slash.
Rei thought it would strike the creature directly — but a Protective Barrier materialized just in time, blocking the attack.
"Tch. So it can use that even in this state. ...Figured."
That strike had been a preliminary test, so he wasn't particularly bothered that it was blocked. Still, it grated on him, and he immediately shifted to his next move.
"Set, get above the Giant Cicada and drop me. After that, you dive and attack it separately. I'll use the Sleipnir boots to move through the air and hit it from my end."
"Gurururu!?"
Dangerous! Set cried in alarm.
But Rei stroked the back of Set's neck as the griffon circled, searching for an opening, and spoke calmly.
"Don't worry. When we were at the World Tree, the forest was right there so I couldn't use it — but out here, I can deploy Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor. ...Well, I'll have to choose where to bring it down, though."
With the forest spread out below, he couldn't carelessly drop the Giant Cicada while using Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor. One stray strike could set the entire forest ablaze. He needed to bring the creature down somewhere with as few flammable materials as possible.
While dodging the Giant Cicada's ultrasound and Earth Spears, and watching Set counter with Water Ball, Wind Arrow, and Ice Arrow, Rei swept his gaze across the ground below.
Was there anywhere suitable — anywhere he could drop a twenty-meter Giant Cicada, wreathed in flames, without catastrophe?
But a clearing of that magnitude wouldn't be so easy to find...
(What do I do? What's the best move?)
Even as Rei scanned the ground for a suitable battlefield, the duel between Set and the Giant Cicada raged on.
He needed to find a drop zone fast. Just as that thought crossed his mind, the Light Sphere — which had stayed beside Rei throughout the entire fight — began to flash intensely.
Rei and Set were both frantically maneuvering through the air, but the Light Sphere trailed Rei as if to say that was irrelevant.
"What is it?"
Rei turned his gaze toward the flashing orb — and caught sight of something strange. Part of the ground below appeared to be pulsing.
The answer revealed itself immediately. The countless trees of the forest began to move — not falling, not toppling, but shifting — as if forcibly uprooted and relocated. Where they had stood, a bare clearing emerged, stripped of trees and undergrowth alike.
It had appeared in a location not far from the Dark Elf settlement — roughly a twenty-minute walk in a straight line — and was about the same size as the settlement itself.
"......Was this your doing?"
As Set banked hard to dodge an Earth Spear, Rei leaned with him, yet still addressed the Light Sphere hovering stubbornly at his side.
In response, the Light Sphere flashed.
(Even for the World Tree... does it really have this much power? If it were just moving itself, that'd be one thing — but it relocated other trees growing in the forest. No, the area that became a clearing is completely barren. No grass in the soil, no animals either. Which means this Light Sphere moved not just the trees, but the grass, the animals — everything — all at once.)
Witnessing that act, Rei finally understood why the Dark Elves all but worshipped the World Tree.
This was the power the World Tree wielded in its fully recovered state — not weakened, not struggling, but completely restored. It left Rei with nothing to do but stare in awe.
Then he felt Set lurch beneath him, and snapped back to reality.
(Right. This isn't the time to gawk. It's time to act.)
The threat at hand wasn't the World Tree's ability. It was the Giant Cicada thrashing through the sky above.
The creature had likely noticed the abnormality on the ground as well. Its attacks on Rei and Set were noticeably slower than before — the Earth Spears came a beat later, their aim degraded. The ultrasound was an area attack, so a slight deviation in targeting didn't matter much, but the overall slowdown was undeniable.
Even so, the clearing's appearance wasn't working entirely in Rei's favor.
Clinging to Set while tracking the Giant Cicada's movements, Rei caught sight of several Dark Elves on the ground heading toward the clearing.
It was only natural. They'd just felt the earth itself move in the middle of a battle against monsters. Having already endured the World Tree nearly dying and the Protective Barrier being temporarily destroyed — all within a short span — they had every reason to fear this new development might work against them too.
That was a factor he couldn't ignore.
But shouting from up here would never reach them, and he certainly couldn't abandon the aerial fight against the Giant Cicada to descend and warn them away.
All Rei could do was pray they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire when he brought the creature down, and call out to them once the battle actually shifted to the clearing.
(The Intimidation from Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor might freeze them in place... but that's a gamble.)
Steelng himself, Rei slapped the back of Set's neck and spoke.
"Listen, Set. Like I said — fly above it and drop me. I'll use the Sleipnir boots to close in and strike all at once. Something that size won't go down in one hit, but at the very least, I'll sever its wings. You follow up from below—"
"Gurururu!"
Set cried back forcefully.
He still worried for Rei's safety — but the Giant Cicada, empowered by Rei's stolen magic, was a formidable opponent. Some risks were necessary to bring it down. Set apparently reached that conclusion on his own.
Confirming as much, Rei swung Death Scythe to draw the Giant Cicada's attention even a fraction more.
"Flying Slash!"
The slash hurtled straight toward the Giant Cicada.
At Level 5, Flying Slash had gained tremendous power — but its weakness remained the same: it could only travel in a straight line. On the ground, trees and rocks constrained where one could dodge. In the open sky, evasive options were limitless.
The Giant Cicada used its four wings to subtly alter the slash's trajectory, slipping past it.
Rei showed no frustration. That strike had been a feint from the start. If it forced the Giant Cicada to dodge — stalling its movement for even an instant — that was enough.
"Gurururururu!"
The moment the Giant Cicada altered course, Set activated King's Intimidation and rocketed skyward.
The Giant Cicada's movements slowed — slightly, but perceptibly.
Set didn't expect to freeze a creature steeped in Rei's magic power. But he didn't need a full stop. A fraction of a moment was all he asked for, and King's Intimidation delivered.
Wings pounding, Set arrived directly above the Giant Cicada — and Rei leaped from his back.
"Set, the rest is up to you."
"Guruu!"
Rei called out as he fell through the air. Set answered with a beat of his wings and dove toward the ground.
The speed at which Set overtook the free-falling Rei was alarming — enough to make Rei briefly fear the griffon might slam straight into the earth.
But the next moment, he banished the thought and activated a skill. Not through Death Scythe — his own intrinsic skill.
Magic power surged around Rei, thickening, condensing, compressing. It grew dense enough to become visible — and then, channeled through his attribute, the surrounding temperature skyrocketed.
The Giant Cicada sensed the shift. Perceiving danger, it abandoned its pursuit of Set — who was already streaking past it toward the ground — and turned to face Rei instead.
Throughout the aerial battle, it had fought only Set. That split-second decision to redirect must have been unexpected, even for the creature itself.
But the threat radiating from Rei was something it absolutely could not ignore.
The fact that it didn't cower before Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was likely because Rei's own magic pulsed within its body.
"Gigigigigigi!"
Ultrasound lanced toward Rei. Empowered by his stolen magic, it bore properties no ordinary ultrasound could possess—
And then, with a roar — the instant it touched the crimson aura clinging to Rei's body, it was incinerated. Burned away completely, despite not even being a physical substance.
"Gigi!?"
The Giant Cicada hadn't anticipated that for a second. It let out a startled cry — but in the next instant, multiple Earth Spears materialized around its body and launched toward the falling Rei.
Spotting the Earth Spears streaking toward him through the air, Rei swung down his free left hand — the one not gripping Death Scythe.
Simultaneously, fragments of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor sheathing his body tore away, each condensing to the size of a fist, and streaked forward to intercept.
Deep Flame — one of the skills derived from Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor. Fire shaped by Rei's will.
Fist-sized Deep Flames surged ahead of Rei. Earth Spears surged ahead of the Giant Cicada. They collided near the midpoint of the space between them — and the instant they did, the Giant Cicada violently changed course, all four wings banking hard.
Whether it was monster instinct or sheer luck, Rei couldn't say. But it was the right call — that much became immediately clear.
The Deep Flames met the Earth Spears and consumed them in under a second. Not slowing, not dimming, the flames drove straight through the space where the Earth Spears had been — and kept going, tearing past the spot the Giant Cicada had occupied moments before.
Had it not changed course, the Deep Flames would have struck it dead on.
Falling through the air, Rei confirmed the Giant Cicada had vacated his target zone. He showed no panic. He activated the Sleipnir boots.
Kicking off the air itself, he redirected mid-fall — angling straight toward the Giant Cicada.
The creature hadn't expected him to kick off thin air. Its movements stuttered for just an instant — and that instant was more than enough for Rei with Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor blazing.
Before the Giant Cicada could react, Rei was already directly above it.
Using the enhanced physical abilities of Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, he kicked off the air once more with the Sleipnir boots — repositioning to the Giant Cicada's true zenith. Then, using that point as a second foothold, he executed a Triangle Jump.
(This is it.)
He'd originally planned to target the wings. But if this single strike could end it, all the better.
He shifted his aim from wing to torso — and brought down Death Scythe, charged with magic, straight onto the Giant Cicada's body.
With Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active, the creature shouldn't have been able to read the attack. But whether through the instinct born of Rei's own magic or some feral premonition of death, it wrenched its body aside — escaping what should have been a killing blow.
Even so, it couldn't fully escape the Grim Reaper's Blade. Two wings on the Giant Cicada's right side were severed clean at mid-length.