Time rewound. Vihera had entered the Treant Forest alongside Set, pushing straight through the nighttime woods.
Riding on Set's back, Vihera used the claws extending from her Hand Gauntlets to slash through the vines lunging toward her.
The vines tried to knock Vihera off Set's back, but they couldn't withstand claws formed of magical power and were sliced apart one after another.
"Still, I'll be fine, but Set... ah, looks like he's doing okay too."
"Grrul!"
Vihera couldn't understand Set's intentions as perfectly as Rei could, but even so, looking at his current demeanor, she immediately grasped what he was trying to say.
Hearing that proud cry, anyone—not just Vihera—would have understood.
...After all, Set's running speed was already swift, and he was strong on top of that.
It was difficult for vines to wrap around his limbs, and even if one happened to coil around a leg by chance, Set would keep running as if nothing were there, effortlessly tearing the vine apart.
"If it's just vines, we should be fine, but... there!"
The claws of magical power she swung slashed through the presence coming toward her just as the earlier vines had.
It could be called a vine, but more accurately, it was a briar covered in countless sharp thorns.
An ordinary vine she could have torn apart without issue. But a briar armed with sharp thorns was another matter entirely.
It coiled toward Set's body, the thorns trying to pierce into him.
Perhaps finding that unpleasant, Set dodged the briars' strikes with small, rapid movements.
He had grown to nearly three meters in length, but as a Gryphon, his burst speed and reflexes remained exceptionally high.
Swiftly evading the barrage of briar strikes, he plunged deeper into the forest.
Set's destination was the giant flower growing deep within the woods—a plant that towered even higher than the trees of the Treant Forest.
Even while running through the forest, Vihera could see through the gaps in the branches that seeds were being launched from that flower toward the forest's edge, where the battlefield lay.
What effects those seeds might have was a concern for Vihera... but precisely because of that concern, she judged they needed to deal with that flower as quickly as possible.
"Set, sorry, but could you pick up the pace a little? I don't know what those seeds will do to Rei and the others."
"Grrrul!"
In response to Vihera's words, Set let out a cry as if to say, Leave it to me!
Heeding his will, Set's legs drove against the ground with even greater force.
...Then, as if they had been waiting for the exact moment Set increased his speed, plants with pointed tips erupted from the ground.
The timing was such that if Set had been moving more slowly, those plants would have pierced through the soles of his feet or his torso.
(Coincidence? Or was this inevitable?)
Perched on Set's back, Vihera questioned the appearance of these new plants, which seemed to have been waiting for Set to accelerate.
She didn't know what the mastermind behind this incident was plotting... but after a moment's deliberation, she decided that reaching that giant flower was the top priority.
Above all, she also harbored a pure desire to enjoy battling an unknown monster.
Vines and briars kept extending to halt their progress, but they pressed forward through the forest, slashing everything apart.
How much time had passed since entering the forest? It felt as though barely ten minutes had gone by, yet at the same time, it seemed like they'd been running for an hour already.
Just as that thought crossed her mind... Set suddenly came to a halt.
Having stopped so abruptly after running at considerable speed, it naturally placed a significant strain on Vihera riding on his back—but she had more than enough physical ability to absorb that degree of momentum with ease.
Because he stopped so suddenly, four deep gouge marks were carved into the ground by Set's claws.
Vihera wasn't thrown off, but unable to understand why Set had halted so abruptly, she spoke with a hint of confusion in her voice.
"What is it, Set?"
"Grrrrrul!"
Without answering Vihera's words, Set cried out loudly.
And what he activated was Crystal Breath.
The breath released from Set's mouth transformed everything it touched into crystal.
...To be precise, it didn't transform things into crystal; rather, everything the breath touched was encased in a thin layer of crystal.
Vihera wondered why he had suddenly done such a thing, but she didn't believe Set would act without reason.
She surveyed her surroundings sharply, ready to react instantly should anything happen.
But... even in that state of alertness, there were no monsters in sight, let alone any sign of an attack.
Still not understanding why Set was using Crystal Breath, she spoke up again.
"Hey, wait. Set. ...What happened?"
"Grrrrul!"
Again showing no sign of answering her, Set continued unleashing Crystal Breath in the direction they had been heading.
Though confused, Vihera decided that interrupting Set in the current situation wasn't wise and let him do as he pleased.
Several more minutes passed from there.
Finally, Set stopped breathing out Crystal Breath.
"Umm, Set?"
"Gruu."
Set tilted his head as if asking What? but Vihera didn't know how to phrase the question.
In the end, she chose not to waste time pressing further, deciding she would simply ask Rei later, and resumed riding Set through the forest.
As they ran through the area where Crystal Breath had been used, the sound of Set's feet crushing crystal echoed around them. She found it slightly pleasant... but that was beside the point.
However, had Vihera picked up one of the crystals scattered on the ground and examined it closely, she would have noticed yellow powder sealed within.
And though Vihera didn't know it, that was pollen used to rob monsters of their ability to think and lure them into the forest.
Set didn't know its detailed effects either, but the instant he sensed the pollen, he'd had a bad feeling and dealt with it using Crystal Breath.
...The moon was already partially hidden by clouds, and on top of that, Set and Vihera were deep in a forest. Moonlight was heavily filtered by the branches above... but even with night vision, distinguishing something like pollen in those conditions was a testament to Set's—no, a Gryphon's—superior five senses.
Also, though Set was unaware of this, the pollen that functioned as an attractant had no effect on those with a certain level of magical defense.
In other words, it wouldn't have worked on Set or Vihera to begin with. No, rather, nearly all the adventurers participating in this investigation would have been able to nullify it.
Even so, the fact that Set had neutralized the pollen was undoubtedly fortunate—not so much for Set and Vihera themselves, but for the investigation team as a whole.
Though truth be told, this pollen had been aimed specifically at the two of them.
At any rate, after the Crystal Breath incident, Set and Vihera continued running through the forest... and eventually emerged into a bright clearing.
Yes—a bright clearing.
The area they entered was devoid of trees, with one sole exception.
Grass grew across the ground like a meadow, but it was merely grass.
In the treeless center stood a stem so thick that if told it was a tree trunk, one would readily believe it.
Several thorns jutted from its surface, each looking plainly sharp.
To an onlooker, saying dagger blades were simply growing straight out of it would have been no exaggeration.
"...What do you think?"
Gazing at the blatantly suspicious thorns, Vihera asked Set.
But this was also Set's first time seeing this giant flower—no, this flower monster. Given that, it was only natural for him to be unsure how to respond.
"Gruu... Grrrul!"
Still, what they could do right now was confirm what kind of existence that flower was.
As if to say for now, ten arrows of ice materialized around Set as he let out a cry.
It was Set's skill: Ice Arrow.
The ice arrows that appeared flew straight toward the giant flower's stem.
Perhaps due to its low level, Ice Arrow's attack power wasn't particularly high. But the arrows, with their sharply pointed tips, would undoubtedly deal some damage if they struck.
Vihera didn't know the details of Ice Arrow either, but she could predict it would provoke some kind of reaction.
And then... the moment the ice arrows seemed about to pierce the stem, several thorns growing from it fired simultaneously, intercepting the Ice Arrows.
Thorns and ice arrows collided in midair.
Ultimately, the winner was the ice arrows—but even after deflecting or piercing through thorns, the sheer number fired from the stem was overwhelmingly greater.
As if to declare that quantity trumped quality, thorn after thorn continued striking the ice arrows until finally, the arrows were deflected off course.
Seeing the ice arrows veer away without hitting the stem, Vihera smiled, having learned the enemy's attack method... but in the next instant, a look of slight surprise crossed her face.
From the part of the stem that had fired the thorns, new thorns were already growing back.
(Quite a convenient body you have there. But... at that speed, I think I can manage.)
Considering her own physical abilities, she was confident she could handle attacks of that speed with ease.
"Set, I'm going ahead. Cover me, okay?"
"Grrul... Gruu?"
At Set's rumble asking Are you sure?, Vihera opened her mouth to respond—
"Tch!? You could at least let me talk!"
Seeing a tentacle—no, a vine—extending from the stem toward her, Vihera spat the words out as she surged forward.
...Though contrary to her tone, what surfaced on Vihera's face was the smile of someone savoring a battle with a formidable foe.
Watching the vine stretch toward her, she extended claws of magical power from her Hand Gauntlets.
At the vine's tip grew thorns similar to those on the stem—but larger and sharper. Rather than thorns, "needles" would have been a more fitting term.
Vihera charged straight at the needle-tipped vine.
Then, at the very moment the tip's needle was about to touch her body, she forcefully shifted her orientation mid-stride.
The vine pierced through the air mere centimeters from her.
Though it was clearly a strike that would tear skin and rend flesh on contact, Vihera showed not the slightest fear as she pressed forward.
If anything, she dodged the vine's strike and, still advancing, flashed her magical claws—severing the vine clean in half.
Thorns fired from the stem to intercept her, but she evaded the countless projectiles with minimal movement thanks to her extraordinary dynamic vision, deflecting only those she couldn't dodge with her magically formed claws.
It was movement better described as a dance than a battle.
Had a man been present... no, even had it been a woman, they would have been captivated by Vihera's movements.
"Grrrrul!"
Naturally, Set wasn't sitting idle either.
Using Ice Arrow and Wind Arrow, he intercepted the thorns streaking toward Vihera.
In a head-on clash, whether the thorns or the arrows generated by Set's skills would prevail had already been made clear in the first exchange.
Continuous volleys of thorns would have been another matter, but this time the goal was simply to deflect the thorns targeting Vihera, so there was no problem at all.
Thus, Hand Gauntlets and Foot Guards aside, wearing nothing but a thin garment without even a shred of armor, Vihera evaded every attack through sheer innate talent and kept advancing... until she finally arrived before the plant's stem.
A vine swung down from above her, but despite being a strike from her blind spot, she effortlessly severed it with her Hand Gauntlets' claws.
The giant flower must have understood it was in danger. Judging that vines and thorns alone couldn't fend off the attacks, it dropped seeds directly beneath itself.
Under normal circumstances, these seeds were one of the means to expand the Treant Forest—dropping them on its own location was an unthinkable option. But that was how dangerous it judged Vihera to be.
However, Vihera casually dodged the seeds raining down on her... and what's more, she channeled that evasive movement itself into the preliminary motion for her next attack, gently pressing her palm against the stem.
"Hah!"
With a spirited shout, magical power was driven into the stem's interior as a shockwave. Magic Impact Palm—its power enhanced through the incident with Unbris—instantly blasted apart the stem supporting the giant flower from within, destroying it.
"...Phew. That was fairly enjoyable."
Watching the flower whose stem had been broken topple away from where she and Set stood, Vihera smiled and said as much... but in the next moment, she saw several more giant flowers, identical to the one she had just felled, sprout from within the forest.
And even she came to a halt.