The giant Unbris had sustained major damage from the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, Death Scythe, and the Twilight Spear. But as the black mist seeped from the surrounding ground and merged together, its form returned to normal once again.
Seeing this, Rei muttered in displeasure, still keeping the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor deployed.
"There's no end to this. ...Well, thinking about it, it's ultimately just black mist, so it probably just needs to reabsorb the separated pieces back into itself."
Even with the giant Unbris right before his eyes, Rei did not move.
He had no idea what kind of action it would take if he made a move here.
However, just as Rei remained still, the giant Unbris showed no signs of moving either.
After restoring the black mist that Rei had burned away and significantly reduced in volume, it simply drifted in place once again.
If this were an ordinary monster, it would have shown some kind of response—launching a counterattack against Rei or fleeing the area.
But Unbris was a natural phenomenon, and it showed no signs of changing its current state at all.
High above, Set circled the area with Vihera dangling from his leg, but the giant Unbris showed no reaction to that either.
Due to the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor Rei wore and, above all, the influence of the flames produced by Deep Flame, the surrounding temperature was rising rapidly. Yet naturally, the Unbris showed no signs of caring about that either.
Rei, with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor still deployed, and the giant Unbris.
Both existed in that place, maintaining their silence.
...Though for Rei's part, he suspected the giant Unbris possessed no sense of self.
Because of that, facing each other like this was largely meaningless. In fact, since the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was consuming his magical power, Rei was at a growing disadvantage as time passed.
Even if the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor consumed little magical power, that was only in comparison to the Overlord's Armor.
It was precisely because Rei possessed enormous magical power that he could wield it. Under normal circumstances, a mage would not be able to endure the magical power it consumed.
"Either way... I guess I have no choice but to try again."
It was certain that he would be at a disadvantage if he wasted any more time like this.
Rei channeled magical power into the Twilight Spear gripped in his left hand, took a few running steps, and used the twist of his body to hurl it in one fluid motion.
The Twilight Spear sliced through the air, effortlessly pierced the body of the Unbris—which possessed high magical defense—and flew out the back before returning to Rei's hand.
"How about it?"
Rei muttered, but the portion annihilated by the Twilight Spear quickly repaired itself as black mist gathered from the surroundings once more.
Seeing this, Rei let out a vexed sigh.
The Twilight Spear, while not particularly powerful, possessed a Recovery Inhibition Effect.
In other words, wounds inflicted by the Twilight Spear would not heal unless powerful potions or Recovery Magic were used... or so it should have been.
"So that's no good either."
Seeing the parts annihilated by the Twilight Spear recover so easily, Rei sighed.
Was it because Unbris was an existence born from a magical anomaly that the Twilight Spear's Recovery Inhibition Effect failed to activate? Or was it simply that Unbris's recovery speed exceeded the Recovery Inhibition Effect?
(No, it's also possible that the Recovery Inhibition Effect isn't activating simply because Unbris is not a monster... or even a living creature.)
Naturally, even if one destroyed something like a rock with the Twilight Spear, the Recovery Inhibition Effect would not activate there.
Since the target was a natural object and not a living creature, that was only natural.
And if Unbris was also recognized not as a monster but as a natural object, then this result was not strange at all.
"Troublesome. ...Should I burn it all at once with magic? But if I'm going to defeat an Unbris of this size... or should I just keep attacking endlessly until the black mist that makes up its body runs out? ...At worst, that's the only option."
With the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor at full power, Rei charged toward the Unbris.
Just as he was about to swing Death Scythe... the Unbris showed a reaction unlike any before.
Up until now, it had been unilaterally attacked by Rei, having the black mist that formed its body annihilated.
But this time alone, the black mist moved as if to avoid Rei's approach.
No, rather than moving as if avoiding him, it was clearly acting out of aversion.
A twitch.
Seeing the giant Unbris show a reaction unlike any before, Rei, who was closing the distance, raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise.
However, by the time the black mist moved, Rei's figure was already inside the giant Unbris.
"Burn from the inside and turn to charcoal!"
Along with those words, the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor covering Rei rapidly raised its temperature.
Not only that, but the red magical power of the flames covering Rei's body also rapidly increased, moving freely within the black mist like a whip.
Upon contact, the black mist was burned and annihilated. The giant Unbris was being incinerated.
Though the giant Unbris was being burned away in the blink of an eye, its size remained unchanged because it was absorbing Unbris rising from the surrounding ground and Unbris flying in from the air one after another.
Despite being continuously burned with no change in its size at all, after a few minutes passed in that state, it eventually began to show movements it had not displayed before.
Until then, Rei's figure had been in the center of the black mist.
He had been burning the central part of the giant Unbris from there, but suddenly, when Rei noticed, there was no black mist around him.
Had it burned away in an instant? Harboring that question, he looked around, only to find the black mist still present.
...Yes, the black mist had created an empty space with Rei at its center.
"...Even though it shouldn't have a sense of self, did it respond to my movements? Or does the lack of a sense of self only apply to the split ones, and this main body does have one?"
Even while harboring those questions, his objective remained unchanged.
He unleashed Flying Slash toward the giant Unbris, threw the Twilight Spear, swung the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor in a whip-like manner, and unleashed Deep Flame to create Explosive Flame.
In the midst of doing so, the giant Unbris must have confirmed the danger Rei posed. It evacuated the black mist more broadly around him. From the outside, it looked as though Rei was in the center of a dome of black mist, with an empty space around him.
Though the black mist was densely packed, the fact that Rei's figure could still be seen from the outside was likely because it took the form of mist.
Even while densely packed, one could ascertain the situation inside to a certain extent.
"I wonder if he'll be alright. I thought Unbris had no sense of self... or is that one different because it's the main body?"
"Gruu."
In response to Vihera's mutter as she hung from Set's leg, Set performed the clever feat of tilting his head while flying through the air.
Vihera, too, had intended to head down to the ground immediately if anything happened, but from what she could see of the initial battle, Rei appeared to be one-sidedly pushing back the giant Unbris.
No, rather than pushing it back, it was more accurate to say that the giant Unbris had shown no response at all.
No matter what Rei did, the giant Unbris had shown no signs of caring.
But when the majority of the black mist comprising its body was destroyed, its behavior changed.
Despite having completely ignored Rei's existence, it began to deal with him.
"Set, what do you think we should do? Should we go help him after all?"
"Gurururu!"
At Vihera's words, Set shook his head.
Currently, Rei was using the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor to burn the surrounding black mist.
Given that, plunging into the battlefield where Rei and the giant Unbris were fighting would surely result in Vihera getting hurt as well.
Moreover, even here in the sky, keeping a distance from the place where the battle was taking place, it had grown hot.
Under these circumstances, they could not charge onto the battlefield.
Vihera understood that as well. But still, seeing Rei's figure inside the giant Unbris, she felt that she had to do something.
"...He'll be fine, right? It's Rei, after all."
Words that could be taken as timid, coming from the mouth of the usually bold Vihera.
She had known Rei for a fairly long time, but even so, she was still worried about him.
But all Vihera could do right now was believe in his safety.
Rei, who Vihera was worrying about, was currently in a state of being engulfed by the giant Unbris, attacking the black mist around him.
"Flying Slash!"
Along with those words, a slash flew out, and simultaneously the Twilight Spear Rei had thrown pierced through the black mist.
In terms of offense, Rei was overwhelmingly superior, and it could be said that he was attacking one-sidedly.
But the giant Unbris replenished the black mist that had been erased, one batch after another.
Furthermore, to avoid being struck by the Death Scythe and Twilight Spear Rei wielded, it gradually widened the empty space around him compared to the beginning.
By now, there was no black mist within a radius of about five meters centered on Rei.
"Tch, give me a break. Don't tell me it can summon black mist for recovery infinitely? If so, that would be a lot of trouble."
While taking a Twin Spear Style stance with Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, complaints slipped from Rei's mouth.
No matter how much he attacked, the fact that it showed no sign of being affected was not an amusing sight even for Rei, who was attacking one-sidedly.
Pain or anything would do. If there had been at least some reaction, he would have been able to understand that his attacks were having an effect. But with absolutely no reaction of that sort, it only carried out the mechanical behavior of absorbing black mist to recover whenever it took damage.
(Well, the fact that there's no black mist around me anymore probably means it's definitely averse to my movements.)
Watching the Unbris's movements, Rei made up his mind.
If possible, since his opponent was an Unbris born from a magical anomaly, he hadn't wanted to use magic.
But with this game of whack-a-mole continuing like this, there was no question that it was endless.
(I guess it can't be helped. If this situation continues indefinitely, there's a possibility that I'll eventually run out of magical power.)
In terms of sheer magical power alone, an existence above Rei was inconceivable.
That applied not only to humans but to all living things.
However, even so, since it was not infinite, it was certain that his magical power would eventually run out.
Or if the Bracelet of Magic Absorption, which could absorb magical power by dealing damage to enemies, were taking effect, perhaps his magical power would never run out.
However... unfortunately, whether it was because Unbris was not recognized as an enemy or because merely attacking the black mist had no effect, Rei did not understand the reason. But in any case, no matter how much he slashed at Unbris, his magical power would not recover.
He quickly gathered his thoughts, selected the most appropriate magic for the current situation—the magic to burn the giant Unbris to ashes with Scorching Hellfire—and opened his mouth.
"O flame, demonstrate destruction, one of the forms you ought to take, upon your very being. You are that which burns all to ash, erases, and annihilates. Bring forth great destruction, and with it become a sacrifice for new rebirth."
A Fire Ball was created on Death Scythe.
However, there was only one. Even so, that Fire Ball, into which a massive amount of Rei's magical power had been poured, was a fireball truly worthy of the term Scorching Hellfire that Rei had spoken.
Rei swung Death Scythe and unleashed that Fire Ball.
"Scorching Hellfire!"
The Fire Ball created by Rei flew straight into the black mist, toward the place where the black mist was most densely concentrated.
And in the next moment... what was created was a hell of fire.
Though the majority of the black mist was burned away, since Rei's position was at the center of the mist, the black mist that existed outside of the place where the Fire Ball was launched remained intact.
Even so, the black mist flowed one after another into the annihilated areas, only to be burned away.
How long did that time continue... when the flames burning the surroundings died out, what remained was an especially dense black mist.
Toward the last black mist, Rei unleashed the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor in a whip-like form.
With this, the Unbris incident would finally come to an end.
The moment he thought so, suddenly, before Rei's eyes... the black mist that should have been at the place where the flame magical power of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor struck as a whip vanished.
"...Eh?"
"Kyaaaaah!"
And a scream was heard.
Rei, who reflexively turned toward the direction of the scream, saw Vihera with the black mist sinking into her body.