"Gigi!? Gigigigigigi!"
With two of its right wings severed at mid-length by Rei's Death Scythe, the Giant Cicada naturally could not remain airborne and began plummeting toward the ground.
No doubt it had judged that a fall like this would kill it. The Giant Cicada desperately beat all four of its remaining wings — its intact left pair and the half-severed right pair.
This kept it from dropping in a straight line, but it also produced an unexpected result for Rei.
Perhaps because its right wings were half gone, the creature was drifting away from the clearing the World Tree had created.
At this rate, it would drift completely outside the clearing the World Tree had gone to such lengths to prepare.
Driven by that thought, Rei tried to activate his Sleipnir boots again to close in on the Giant Cicada... but hesitated.
He was currently in free fall, and if he used the Sleipnir boots any further, he worried he might not have enough uses left if Set failed to catch him.
The Sleipnir boots allowed him to walk two or three steps through the air, but he had already used them several times.
(No, as long as I have the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, I won't die... Hmm? Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor? Deep Flame? Could it be—!)
He suddenly thought of something regarding Deep Flame's ability — the power to produce flames exactly as he envisioned them. But if there was nothing he could do about the situation, that would be one thing; in his current predicament, there was no need to test it.
"Gurururururu!"
As Rei fell, Set's roar echoed across the sky.
"Gigigigigigi!"
As if to challenge Set in return, the Giant Cicada let out its own cry — but with its right wings barely functional, there was no way it could launch an accurate attack.
Set, rocketing upward from below, swung a foreleg with a roar.
"Gururururu!"
That strike was the single most powerful attack Set could currently unleash.
Boosted by the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, the blow hurtled straight toward the Giant Cicada's body... but the creature caught it with its ten legs.
Those legs, capable of blocking even a Death Scythe strike, served as the Giant Cicada's most reliable trump card.
If they could stop a Death Scythe blow, catching Set's Power Crush was not a difficult feat.
However... while it managed to block what could have been a fatal strike from Set, the Giant Cicada could not fully absorb the impact and was sent flying.
Had its wings been intact, it likely could have held its position in the air even after blocking Set's strike. But with its right wings severed at mid-length, it could not even stabilize its posture mid-flight.
"Gigigigigigigigi!"
The grating cry that erupted from the Giant Cicada's mouth was perhaps born of frustration at being unable to withstand Set's blow.
Regardless of the reason, the Giant Cicada — blown far back — plummeted toward the clearing the World Tree had created.
Not wanting to slam into the ground at full force, it desperately beat its wings to slow its descent.
Under normal circumstances, pressing the attack now would have been Set's best move.
But right now, Set had something more important to do than chase the Giant Cicada.
"Gururururururu!"
Set beat his wings frantically, heading toward the one falling straight toward the earth — Rei.
When Rei had first leaped from Set's back, it had been from a considerable height.
On top of that, he had used the Sleipnir boots mid-fall to arrest his descent, and had even gained some altitude when severing the Giant Cicada's wings.
Even so, the fact remained that Rei could not fly, and Set flapped his wings desperately to somehow catch him.
(I've got the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor deployed and my body is strengthened, so even if I fall like this, I might get hurt but I don't think I'll die.)
Gazing at the red magical energy wrapped around his body — so concentrated it was visible — Rei muttered to himself inwardly.
Even so, he could not say he was unhappy that Set was trying so hard for his sake.
Set swooped beneath the falling Rei and angled his back for an easy landing.
Since his full weight would slam into Set if he landed as is, Rei used the Sleipnir boots once to cushion the drop before leaping onto Set's back.
"Set, sorry about this."
"Gurururu!"
Feeling Rei's weight settle on his back, Set exhaled a sigh of relief.
Dropping Rei — who had been riding on his back in midair, and from a considerable altitude at that — had been a significant source of anxiety for Set, so it was understandable.
Producing a growl that somehow conveyed relief tinged with just a hint of worry, Set spread his wings with Rei on his back and turned toward the Giant Cicada still falling toward the ground.
Even with its right wings half-severed, the Giant Cicada was desperately trying to slow its descent, and the attempt was about half successful.
It had managed to avoid a straight plunge, but it still could not fully kill its momentum and continued to plummet...
"Set!"
"Gururururururu!"
Judging that the moment was perfect, Rei called out to Set.
From the tone alone, Set seemed to understand exactly what Rei wanted. He beat his wings and closed the distance toward the Giant Cicada, which was falling straight toward the earth.
Since it was just Set — now carrying Rei — and the descending Giant Cicada, Set came within attack range just before the creature struck the ground.
"Set!"
Another short call.
Again, Set read Rei's intent from his tone alone and let out a loud cry.
"Gurururururururu!"
"Flying Slash!"
Fifteen arrows of wind materialized around Set.
Excluding Power Crush, which was a close-combat skill, Set's most powerful attack was Fire Breath — but unfortunately, Fire Breath was a mid-range skill, not a long-range one.
Among the long-range skills Set had available, the one with the greatest power and, above all, superior attack speed was Wind Arrow.
In terms of attack speed alone, Magic Eye of Shock was the fastest, but its power was fatally insufficient, making it ill-suited for this situation.
The released wind arrows struck the Giant Cicada one after another just before it hit the ground.
The skill was highly practical in terms of speed and volume of fire, but its raw power was not particularly high.
Even so, the relentless barrage of Wind Arrows peppering its body was a nuisance for the Giant Cicada, which was trying to concentrate on landing.
And then, concealed amid the impacts of the Wind Arrows... Flying Slash sheared through the Giant Cicada's left wings at the root.
Under normal circumstances, it would have deployed its Protective Barrier to block the Flying Slash. But with its right wings severed at mid-length, forcing it to focus on landing — and with its attention fractured by Set's Wind Arrows — it apparently could not spare the presence of mind.
"Gigigi!"
Just as it was about to touch down, having its only remaining left wings suddenly severed at the root, the Giant Cicada naturally lost its balance.
Fortunately, it had already descended to about five meters above the ground, so it somehow managed to land without mishap. However...
"Gigigigigigigigigigi!"
Furious at having its last remaining left wings severed, the Giant Cicada swung its body upward and unleashed a wave of ultrasound.
For the Giant Cicada, this was not merely a strike born of frustration — it also served to buy time.
But... what the Giant Cicada saw as it tilted upward while emitting ultrasound was Rei, clad in the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, hurtling straight toward it.
What the Giant Cicada thought upon seeing him was anyone's guess.
Still, perhaps judging that facing Rei alone in the air was better than dealing with both him and Set at once, it poured even more magical power into the ultrasound aimed at him, amplifying its intensity.
"Hah, I've seen that attack plenty of times already!"
Channeling magical power into the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor to counter the ultrasound — that was his only countermeasure — Rei continued plunging straight toward the Giant Cicada.
The ultrasound struck Rei... and he, showing not the slightest sign of damage, raised his Death Scythe mid-fall.
The Death Scythe swung down even as the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor incinerated the ultrasound itself.
Stunned that its ultrasound had no effect whatsoever, the Giant Cicada tried to catch the Death Scythe with one of its legs.
During the battle near the World Tree, it had successfully blocked a magically charged Death Scythe strike — that knowledge was what prompted this reaction.
Slash!
Rei's physical abilities while using the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor were strengthened to a degree utterly incomparable to his normal state. Rather than blocking the attack, the creature could not even hold it back for an instant — the tip of its leg was severed clean off.
Just how much power and sharpness Rei's swing carried was evident from the speed at which the severed leg tip went flying.
And the fact that the Giant Cicada's foreleg had managed to clash with the Death Scythe at all, however briefly, spoke to its extraordinary hardness.
Since the tip of a leg with such hardness was sent flying by Rei's Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor-enhanced strike, it was only natural that it embedded itself into a nearby tree trunk.
(Will I get scolded for that later?)
He considered it for only a moment, then noticed that the World Tree's Light Sphere was no longer anywhere nearby — but immediately pushed the thought from his mind.
At the same time, with a flick of his wrist, he reversed the Death Scythe's blade from its downward position to face upward, and this time slashed upward.
Whether the Giant Cicada had grasped the terrifying nature of Rei's current attack, it tried desperately to evade — but with its right wings severed at mid-length and its left wings gone at the root, all four wings were lost, throwing off its balance and inevitably making its movements sluggish.
At this range, the only thing to fear was its leg strikes, and Rei intended to bisect its torso even while dodging them.
No matter that the Giant Cicada was twenty meters long — with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active, cleaving through its torso even if it used a leg as a shield would be no difficult task... or so Rei thought, but—
"Tch!"
He threw himself back on instinct.
An instant later, the ground where he had been standing vanished.
As though a pitfall had opened beneath it — with flawless timing.
(Magic!?)
The thought flashed through Rei's mind as he leapt back, but he quickly reasoned that if the creature could use magic like firing Earth Spears, it was not strange that it could also create pitfalls.
And to Rei's chagrin, pitfalls were undeniably effective against him in his current state.
If it had been a spell like sprouting Earth Spears, the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor could burn them away just as it had the shockwaves earlier. But when there was nothing there, there was nothing to burn.
All Rei could do was avoid falling in.
(Wait... a pitfall... a pitfall, huh. And if it got a taste for that just now...)
An idea came to him. He smiled inwardly but kept it from showing on his face.
He did not know whether the Giant Cicada could read changes in his expression, but he judged it best to conceal his reaction as much as possible.
Furthermore, to prevent the Giant Cicada from picking up on his intentions, Rei even let out a shout.
"Set!"
"Gurururururu!"
After dropping Rei from his back, Set had circled behind the Giant Cicada. Now he let out a thunderous cry as he dove.
The combined force of Power Crush, the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, and the speed of the dive would deliver a fatal blow even to the Giant Cicada if it connected — or so the creature itself must have judged. It tried desperately to evade, but without its wings, it could not take flight on reflex and had no choice but to dodge on its legs.
Even so, with ten — no, one had been severed by Rei's Death Scythe, so nine — but with those nine legs, it could still move to some extent on the ground.
The Giant Cicada scrambled desperately, but even while doing so, it noticed Rei watching for an opening.
"Gigigigigi!"
Firing several Earth Spears at Rei as suppression, the Giant Cicada also interfered with the ground right at his feet, unleashing Earth Spears from below.
Despite being cast while evading Set's attack, the Earth Spears converging from both sky and earth bore down on Rei without deviation.
"You think something like that will work on me now?"
Rather than dodging the incoming Earth Spears, Rei stepped forward.
He could have intercepted them with Deep Flame, but that would only needlessly prolong the fight.
To finally end the long battle, Rei deliberately charged straight ahead.
The Earth Spears flying at him were effortlessly incinerated by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor... and he closed the distance to the Giant Cicada in one surge.
To the Giant Cicada, Rei's charge was the perfect opportunity.
Rather than dealing with two opponents at once, it could face them one at a time...
The instant Rei stepped forward, all the ground within a radius of roughly five meters vanished — with the sole exception of where the Giant Cicada stood.
A pitfall. And unlike before, one so wide there was nowhere to escape.
For the Giant Cicada, it was the perfect opening—
"Idiot!"
—and at the same time, it was exactly the opening Rei had been waiting for.
About to plunge into the pitfall, Rei activated the Sleipnir boots.
The Giant Cicada had seen with its own eyes the ability to kick off the air and fly — but it never expected him to use it to avoid falling into a hole.
Rei took one step, two steps, three steps through the air... walking across the space where solid ground should have been, closing the distance to the Giant Cicada.
Noticing Rei's approach, the Giant Cicada frantically swung one of its legs, but—
Slash!
With the physical abilities enhanced by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, Rei's blade severed through both leg and torso, bisecting the Giant Cicada. The follow-up strike from Set shattered the severed upper body as it was sent flying.