At Arrogan's mention of a giant Unbris, Rei pulled out the detector and checked it.
Sure enough, the detector indicated an Unbris in the direction Arrogan and his party had come from.
The response was somehow stronger than anything they had seen on the detector before.
(Could this be... is it possible?)
A stronger response than before, combined with the words "giant Unbris" from Arrogan — perhaps there was an entity that could be called the Unbris's master.
It was not unreasonable for Rei to think so.
"Vihera, Set."
With just that short call, the person and the creature seemed to understand what Rei wanted.
Vihera quickly nodded, and Set gave a short cry.
"Sorry, but we're going to go meet that giant Unbris. I wanted to catch up since it's been a while, but the details can wait until later."
"We know. We're adventurers too, so dealing with this situation comes first," Culotte shouted in response to Rei's words.
Schola, Culotte's childhood friend and the one who always reined her in, spoke up, slightly out of breath.
"Come on, Culotte, calm down a little. We need to hurry right now. ...Rei, the Unbris was really big. Please be careful."
"Yeah."
Schola, who would normally speak in a calm tone, delivered those words quickly — perhaps lacking any such composure at the moment.
"Understood. What are you going to do now?"
"We were planning to head to Gilm and report this, but..."
He paused there, no doubt because Rei was right in front of him.
They were peers who had taken the Rank Up Exam together, but Rei had grown rapidly since then.
At the very least, Schola understood that there was a significant gap in power between them and Rei, who had left them behind.
Enough that it would be fair to call Rei one of Gilm's foremost combat forces.
Because of that, with Rei here now, there was hope that the Unbris situation could somehow be managed.
But at the same time, thinking about the giant Unbris they had witnessed, Schola also understood that he couldn't feel completely at ease.
In the end, all Schola and his party could do was head to Gilm and report what they had seen, in case something happened to Rei.
"I see. Understood. Then I'll leave that to you. When you arrive in Gilm, tell them to dispatch reinforcements. I intend to handle it on our own, but since the opponent is an Unbris, there's no telling what might happen."
If this were an ordinary monster, Rei would not have been so cautious.
But the opponent was an Unbris — something that possessed neither a Magic Stone nor a will.
Something that couldn't even be called a monster... something more fittingly described as a natural phenomenon.
Against such an opponent, even Rei likely felt something akin to unease.
The Unbris Rei had encountered before had been defeated with almost ridiculous ease.
But precisely because it was an entity that seemed to lack anything resembling a will, there was no guarantee it could be defeated the same way this time.
Whether it was because Schola understood Rei's intent or because he grasped that the Unbris they had seen was an utterly overwhelming opponent, he immediately nodded at Rei's words.
"Got it. We'll handle that on our end. Good luck to you too."
After exchanging those brief words, Rei's group and Schola's group parted ways without even catching up on old times.
Rei mounted Set's back, and after a few running steps, they took to the sky.
Rei changed direction midair, and as they descended close to the ground, Vihera leapt up and grabbed Set's front leg.
Using the now-familiar method of travel, Rei's group flew toward the direction the detector indicated.
Given Set's flight speed, they would likely find the Unbris in a few minutes.
Rei was flying through the sky thinking along those lines, but in less than a few minutes, he spotted the Unbris in his line of sight.
That was because it possessed a size that was incomparable to the Unbris Rei had defeated before.
The Unbris Rei had previously defeated was one attached to a Werewolf, and its size was naturally smaller than or roughly equal to a Werewolf.
But the entity now in Rei's line of sight was larger than a tree about ten meters tall, wider as well, and denser as a mist. It was a presence more appropriately described as a rain cloud than mere mist.
"...It's big, isn't it."
Vihera's voice, clinging to Set's front leg, reached Rei's ears.
There was no fear in her murmur.
Only pure astonishment.
"Yeah, it is. A little bigger than I expected."
Naturally, there was no trace of fear in Rei's murmur either.
He found the entity known as Unbris eerie, but having defeated one before clearly made a big difference.
The fact that, like the Unbris Rei's group had defeated, it was not moving as though it had a will also played a role.
"What are you going to do, Rei? Strike first and finish it off in one go?"
"Yeah, that'd be the better option."
Even though they were still quite far away, the Unbris was clearly visible.
To Vihera, who asked whether they should attack it all at once against such a presence, Rei returned a brief reply.
If the opponent were a monster, it would be necessary to see how it reacted first.
But in this case, the opponent was an entity closer to a natural phenomenon with no will of its own.
One that evolved Demi-human Type monsters like Goblins into Leader Species — an utterly unreasonable natural phenomenon.
Given that, recklessly waiting to see what would happen could invite an unpredictable response, so a preemptive strike to finish it in one blow was the most efficient approach.
"...Ah."
A small voice leaked from Vihera, who had been watching the Unbris.
It probably wasn't a reaction to Rei's words, but the Unbris in her line of sight trembled slightly, and then a portion of its edge separated... and in the next moment, the separated part flew through the sky as if riding the wind.
Looking only at the separated portion, it was about the same size as the Unbris Rei had defeated.
"I see. The one I defeated was created like that... created? Well, either way, it was a fragment of the real Unbris."
"That's right. And I suppose what Mirene and her group saw was a similar opponent. ...But what are you going to do? Even if you defeat that main body, what about the other smaller Unbris?"
It was unknown how many had been born from that main body so far, but it was certain that multiple Unbris had been created.
"Even if you ask me what to do... anyway, if we don't do something about that main body, more Unbris will keep being created, right? Besides... we don't have time to keep talking."
Set, sensing that Rei and Vihera were conversing, had slowed his approach toward the giant Unbris, but even so, a Gryphon's flight speed was extremely fast.
The giant Unbris was already close to Rei's group.
"Alright then, I'll go take down that giant one for now. Vihera, keep watch and let me know if anything seems off."
"...Be careful, okay?"
Vihera murmured with a hint of worry.
If the opponent were a monster, she wouldn't have been this concerned.
But this time, the opponent wasn't a monster — it was a natural phenomenon.
It was possible that something could happen even to Rei.
It was only natural for her to think that way.
"Leave it to me. I've defeated one before. ...Well, it's an opponent that large, so I can't say whether I'll be able to take it down as easily as last time. ...Alright, I'm off."
As they closed the distance to the giant Unbris, Rei spoke briefly and then leapt straight off Set's back directly above it.
As he descended toward the ground, Rei compressed the magical power within his body.
Watching the giant Unbris rapidly drawing closer directly below... while falling through the sky, the magical power in Rei's body dyed red.
The magical power, condensed to the point of being visible, turned red, crimson, and scarlet... and then Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor activated.
Death Scythe, which Rei had drawn from the Misty Ring as he fell from Set's back.
Wielding that great scythe, he plummeted toward the giant Unbris.
"Diieee!"
Death Scythe, swung with a spirited shout, tore through the black mist.
...However, what formed the Unbris's body was black mist.
Naturally, Rei felt no sense of impact from swinging Death Scythe, but it had undoubtedly sliced through the black mist.
(How about this!?)
Rei, having landed on the ground, immediately lashed out at the remaining Unbris main body with the red magical power covering his body — flame magical power — shaped into a whip.
Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, generated by Rei's magical power that was incomparable to that of an ordinary mage, effortlessly burned away the giant Unbris's body.
It was a situation where the black mist simply vanished upon contact, but Rei still did not let his guard down and used Deep Flame, a skill that sent the magical power of Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor flying outward.
Deep Flame, detached from Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor and landing on the ground, instantly produced an inferno.
The black mist that touched those flames was also swiftly incinerated and disappeared.
Even though parts that could be called its own body were being burned one after another, the giant Unbris showed no sign of caring at all.
It was as if, just like the small Unbris Rei had fought before, it would simply vanish without doing anything.
Manipulating Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, swinging Death Scythe, and unleashing Deep Flame, Rei thought about this.
And so, within a few seconds, most of the black mist that had formed the giant Unbris was annihilated... but then, in the next moment, the remaining black mist in front of Rei suddenly gathered toward a single point.
"I figured it wouldn't be that easy."
Rei clicked his tongue, but of course the will-less Unbris had no way of responding to that.
However, even without words, the fact that the black mist forming the Unbris's body was converging on one point was clearly a response to Rei.
(They said it's like a natural phenomenon, but... does it still react somehow when harm is done to it?)
Rei wondered for a moment, but he didn't have the naivety to quietly wait and see what the opponent would do.
"Flying Slash!"
Flying Slash, unleashed while using Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, shot straight toward the direction where the black mist was gathering.
And Rei, having just unleashed Flying Slash, immediately broke into a sprint toward the place where the black mist was converging.
Rei, whose physical abilities were enhanced above normal by deploying Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, caught up to Flying Slash in an instant.
At the same time, Death Scythe shifted to Rei's left hand, and the Twilight Spear was gripped in his right.
"Hah!"
The Twilight Spear, forged by Asimov using a large quantity of rare materials, could easily withstand Rei's magical power even while Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was deployed.
He channeled magical power into the Twilight Spear and pierced through the densest part of the black mist.
Then, instantly withdrawing the Twilight Spear, he swung Death Scythe in his left hand.
"Multi Slash!"
As the strike from Death Scythe sliced through the black mist, another slash tore through right beside it simultaneously.
And then the released Flying Slash arrived, slicing through the black mist once more.
"This is the finishing blow — take this!"
What was unleashed last was Deep Flame, releasing the flame magical power that had surrounded Rei.
Deep Flame, unleashed while retreating using the momentum from Multi Slash, blazed into a massive flame large enough to swallow the black mist itself.
"...How about that?"
The flames that had erupted in an instant gradually began to fade.
As Rei watched intently, the moment the flames completely disappeared before his eyes... what remained was mostly black mist that had been nearly entirely burned away.
But judging that the Unbris's black mist still remaining meant it wasn't dead yet, Rei swapped his grip on Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, holding Death Scythe in his right hand and the Twilight Spear in his left as usual, and fixed his gaze on the Unbris.
(The first Unbris I defeated faded away with almost no sense of impact. ...So will this one disappear just like that? Or should I unleash a follow-up strike here?)
If the opponent were an ordinary monster, a follow-up strike here would finish it off without difficulty.
But what was in front of Rei right now was not a monster... nor even a living creature to begin with — it was a natural phenomenon.
Unable to determine what would happen if he pressed the attack, he waited and observed... when suddenly, several wisps of black mist floated up from underground.
What that was, Rei naturally knew.
After all, it was the very opponent Rei had been attacking until just moments ago.
The black mist gathered together... and before he knew it, the giant Unbris was once again standing before Rei.