Right nearby, where Rei and Resonance clashed, Zarust and Narcus — and Set as well — were locked in battle with the assassins.
The assassins fighting the two of them didn't possess the extraordinary physical abilities that Resonance had. However, having lived as assassins, their strength was not at a level that could be easily overcome. Conversely, they were only strong enough to give Narcus, and — to a somewhat lesser degree — Zarust a bit of trouble.
For the People of the Hundred Faces, who were said to have existed in secret for years, they're not as strong as I expected. No — it would be fair to say they're actually weak. The fact that they can't feel pain is troublesome, but...
Narcus struck down an assassin with a diagonal slash from his longsword, glanced at the man who had died instantly before pain could even factor in, then dodged a spear thrust from another assassin attacking a beat later, all while harboring doubts.
Their attacks were sharp, but somehow easy to read.
While questioning the assassins' behavior, he noticed someone aiming at him with a bow and used a nearby man swinging a battleaxe as a shield.
"Ngh!"
Along with the sound of an arrow piercing flesh, a voice of surprise escaped from the man being used as a shield. Despite an arrow jutting from his back, the man's cry was born of shock, not pain.
Even so, not feeling pain... is troublesome.
He severed both arms of the battleaxe-wielding man with a single stroke of his longsword, then turned to face the next attacker.
Near Narcus, Zarust was also fighting the assassins with his longsword. Like Narcus, Zarust wasn't having an easy time of it, but he was still fighting at above an even level against the assassins charging at him. He dodged a spear thrust and, as he passed by, swept his blade across the attacker's torso.
The assassins, perhaps prioritizing agility — or perhaps having had no time to prepare due to the unexpected arrival of Rei's group — were not properly equipped with armor. Most wore only somewhat sturdy clothing, while a handful had simple leather protection. The fact that the one with the highest defensive capability was a woman wearing leather armor spoke volumes about their overall level.
Even so, opponents who felt no pain were undeniably troublesome. Even now, despite having his abdomen slashed wide open, one was already grabbing a weapon and charging back in.
Even more troublesome than that, however, was the ground.
The blood spilled by the assassins was quickly absorbed by the sand and disappeared, posing no issue. But fragments of flesh and internal organs were not absorbed. Worse still, moving around in the vicinity caused sand to cover a portion of a severed large intestine, hiding it from sight — and stepping on it caused one to lose balance, something that had already happened several times. Furthermore, body fluids and flesh fragments clung to the feet of whoever stepped on them, temporarily impeding movement.
If it were daytime, it might have been possible to see where the flesh and organs lay. Unfortunately, it was night. There was moonlight and starlight, but nothing as bright as daylight.
That was precisely why Zarust was moving while fighting. Narcus was doing the same, and as the two fought while shifting positions, they eventually regrouped, standing back-to-back as they faced the assassins surrounding them.
"How are things on your end?"
In response to Zarust's question, Narcus offered a small smile before speaking.
"Against opponents of this level, there's no particular problem. The fact that they survive even fatal wounds is a bit troublesome... but even that can be stopped with an attack that severs the head."
"No doubt. If something still moves after being decapitated, that's an Undead at that point."
Both bore several bloodstains on their faces and bodies from the blood spurting from the assassins as they exchanged a brief conversation. Their demeanor, even wearing smiles, made it hard to believe they were surrounded. If anything, they looked as though they believed they were the ones with the upper hand.
Despite being clearly at a disadvantage in the current situation, the reason they could fight without despair lay a short distance away.
"Gruuuuuu!"
Set abandoned his usual adorable demeanor, letting out a ferocious cry as it swung its foreleg. No skill, nothing — truly just a swing of its foreleg. Even so, combined with the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, a Magic Item, and the physical abilities of a Gryphon, an A-Rank monster, it became a fatal blow for any human.
If it struck the head, it crushed it for an instant kill. If one somehow tried to block the blow with a weapon, the weapon shattered or broke. Having the arm bones of the weapon-holding arm crushed was not uncommon, either. A body check shattered every bone in the victim's body as they were sent flying, crashing into allies and tumbling across the ground.
The particularly unlucky assassins were grabbed by their limbs in Set's beak and swung around, their own bodies becoming weapons that struck their comrades. After being swung around to Set's heart's content, the limbs could no longer withstand the force — they tore off and flew through the air, crashing into allies and halting their movements.
Truly striking down everything in reach with abandon — it was a display of Set's true prowess. And Set was doing all of it without using any skills, defeating them purely in close combat.
No matter how much they couldn't feel pain, they were not immortal. If their heads were destroyed, they died. If their limbs were broken, their movements grew sluggish.
Additionally, the greatest advantage of the People of the Hundred Faces was their ability to peel off facial skin and take on anyone's appearance. That was a considerable threat when considering being targeted in daily life, but in a head-on confrontation like this, they were by no means insurmountable. If they had known an assault was coming, they could have disguised themselves as acquaintances of their targets. But in this case, Rei's group had stormed their village on the very same day they launched their attack. Even if they had wanted to take countermeasures, there was no time.
Even so, the pain-insensitive assassins desperately continued their attacks against the ones who had come for them. Their numbers gradually dwindling under the barrage of strikes from Zarust, Narcus, and Set.
If things continued like this, they would win.
Zarust held that thought — then dodged a longsword strike aimed at exploiting his opening, countering with a flash of his own blade to sever his opponent's wrist.
The severed right hand along with the longsword fell onto the sand, but the one whose hand was cut off showed no sign of pain whatsoever, picking up the fallen longsword with his remaining left hand. He then threw his own severed right hand at Zarust as a distraction, using it as cover to swing his sword.
"Don't think you can do anything with that!"
The severed wrist struck him, and blood from it splattered onto his face. But Zarust acted as if it meant nothing, dodging the longsword swung at him and — unlike before — severing the assassin's neck.
Even without feeling pain, bleeding profusely from the neck and being unable to breathe rendered one incapable of action, and eventually dead. He kicked away the man who had only death in his future and shoved him into a dagger wielder trying to catch him off guard.
At that moment, a roar — not so much a sound heard with the ears as an impact felt throughout the entire body — reverberated across the surrounding area.
Startled by the sudden sound, Zarust, Narcus... and even the assassins momentarily stopped moving. Of course, the pause lasted only an instant, and the next moment they resumed fighting.
Parrying a series of rapid spear thrusts and dodging arrows flying in as support, Zarust turned his gaze toward the source of the sound. What he saw was Resonance, desperately trying to catch the iron ball that he himself had been using until recently.
While Zarust and Narcus were fighting the pain-insensitive assassins, Rei was of course engaged in battle with Resonance.
The chain whip in Resonance's hand was already less than half of its original length. It was a chain whip swung with the brute strength needed to lift an iron ball a meter in diameter — but each time it was swung, Rei's Death Scythe had cut off the tip.
"Impressive, you are. I heard you're an Alias Holder, and I can see why."
"Huh. You've done your research on me."
"Naturally. After all, you're the only adventurer with a Gryphon as a Tamed Monster. Investigating you was not difficult."
Blood flowing from several places on his body, Resonance forcibly stopped the bleeding with his muscles, even managing a smile. Naturally, doing such a thing meant he couldn't move as he normally would — but Resonance still managed it through his innate physical strength and the fact that he felt no pain, allowing him to force his body to move.
"For all that, you're still fighting me like this. If you surrender quietly, I'd be willing to consider appropriate terms on our end?"
He said that, but ultimately Rei was an outsider in this matter, merely a collaborator. He was given special consideration due to his strength, his alias, and Set's presence, but in the end, he was still an outsider. Thinking of it that way, even if Rei asked Augusto and Daridora to spare Resonance and his people, his opinion wouldn't necessarily be accepted outright. Though it was true he had a certain degree of influence, so it wasn't impossible that they would take it into consideration.
If that doesn't work, I could always bring him back to Gilm. Lord Daskar, who made the Prairie Wolves his subordinates, would likely use these people as spies rather than execute them. If that falls through, I could ask Marina to put them in the Guild's intelligence division or something.
Thinking about what would benefit Gilm, that might actually be the better idea.
So Rei thought, but Resonance smiled and shook his head.
"Unfortunately, we serve no one. Furthermore, the only place we can use as a base is this Felis Desert. ...No, I've said too much."
Seeing Resonance's wry smile at having let something slip, the various pieces of information Rei had gathered since coming to Gauche began connecting in his mind. The Felis Desert, Augusto, Daridora, the walls... and Resonance's words about only being able to operate in this desert.
"Tira Tree...?"
The words that left Rei's mouth were the cause of the conflict between Daridora and Augusto. If they could only operate in this desert, then they must need something that only existed in this desert. That was the conclusion he reached, and Resonance's expression confirmed it was correct.
"Looks like I hit the mark."
Rei deduced that from Resonance's expression, but what came back was only Resonance's wry smile.
"Who knows. I've told you many times — if you want to know, defeat me. Then I'll tell you."
Judging that any further questioning would only result in more evasiveness, Rei decided to initiate his attack. However, he determined that merely inflicting minor wounds would have no real effect — or rather, while the wounds would have some effect, it would take far too long for them to render Resonance unable to fight. So he chose a slightly more extreme method.
Using the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor would guarantee victory, but since Resonance felt no pain, there was a high probability it would simply burn him to death.
That was why the method he chose was...
"Right. Then let me do just that!"
With a short shout, Rei broke into a run — but not toward Resonance. His destination was the spot where the iron ball lay some distance away.
Perhaps intrigued by what he was doing, Resonance didn't interfere with Rei's actions and simply watched.
Upon reaching the iron ball, Rei touched it and stored it in his Misty Ring.
"Hoh."
Resonance watched with apparent interest. He knew Rei had an Item Box, but while he could accept it storing things like weapons, he never expected it could store something as large as his iron ball.
The next action Rei took was to close the distance with Resonance once more. Resonance readied his chain whip, waiting for Rei's approach.
Rei stored Death Scythe in his Misty Ring, and what he took out next was a spear. However, it was neither the Thorn Spear nor the Twilight Spear — it was the kind of disposable spear Rei had been using all along, one that could break at any time.
He hurled the spear at Resonance while running toward him. Naturally, Resonance had no intention of quietly taking such an attack. But Rei continued throwing spear after spear, one after another... and eventually, several of them pierced through Resonance's legs, his arms, and even his torso.
Under normal circumstances, one would scream in agony, but Resonance felt no pain. Even so, with multiple spears lodged in his body, he was unable to move.
And just as he was immobilized... Rei arrived right in front of Resonance and leapt. Activating the Sleipnir boots, he bounded through the sky — one step, two steps, three steps.
Upon reaching a position about ten meters above Resonance... he retrieved the roughly one-meter-diameter iron ball from the Misty Ring... and released it.
"Don't die."
He muttered as he let go.
The iron ball fell, naturally heading straight for the immobilized Resonance... yet he somehow managed to prevent it from striking his head and caught it — something only the leader of the People of the Hundred Faces could have accomplished.
Even so, unable to withstand the weight of the iron ball... being crushed was unavoidable.