The time rewound slightly.
From within the darkness, Rei watched Lebejev and Jestal exchange words.
Beside him were Byune and Ilse.
The rest of the group had scattered, surrounding the trade site.
Ilse stayed at Rei's side because that was the safest place for her.
The reasoning was simple—Rei was the strongest in the party, so having Ilse nearby wouldn't hinder him.
...Of course, having Ilse alone at Rei's side was dangerous for a variety of reasons. That was why Byune—stronger than Ilse but the weakest in combat among the Crimson Lotus Wings—accompanied her as a guard.
Even so, while Byune might be the weakest member of the Crimson Lotus Wings, she still possessed above-average combat ability for a bandit.
In that sense, she was more than sufficient to serve as Ilse's guard.
"Gnuh..."
Ilse struggled to suppress her own voice, knowing that her family's enemy was right there—directly in her line of sight.
Finally... it was truly, finally happening. She could avenge her kind family. The thought made it impossible to hold back.
She wanted to rush out this very instant.
She was fighting to stifle that impulse within herself.
"Calm down."
Rei spoke to Ilse, though he didn't actually believe those words would calm her.
But if they helped Ilse recall the current situation even slightly, that was enough.
Still, at this rate she'll likely reach her limit of patience. Before that happens, we should make our move too.
Rei turned his gaze toward the several ruins surrounding Ajas and his group.
Most were built from a combination of wood and stone, with some made entirely of one or the other, but all shared the same decrepitude worthy of being called ruins.
Holes riddled the walls and roofs—to the point that living in them seemed impossible.
In truth, no one did. And yet, at this particular moment, a number of what appeared to be Jestal's guards were hiding within them.
Of course, not everyone hiding was one of Jestal's guards. People from other organizations, information brokers, those seeking to profit from others' conflict—Rei had heard from Dahl that various factions were present, and he understood this.
Ideally, they needed to wait until everyone's preparations were fully in order.
But if they waited that long, Ilse might make some kind of mistake.
He made that judgment—and then, as if waiting for precisely that timing, Ielo appeared.
Ielo, who was supposed to come to him once all preparations were complete.
"Ielo showing up means we can assume everything's ready?"
"Kyu!"
At Rei's words, Ielo let out a short cry.
Of course, Rei couldn't understand Ielo's speech. Since Set, a completely different species, could understand, it wouldn't be strange if he could too—or so Rei thought. But regardless, right now he simply couldn't parse Ielo's words.
Even so, though the words themselves were beyond him, at this particular moment it wasn't difficult to grasp what Ielo was trying to convey.
"Alright, let's begin."
Muttering that, Rei glanced at Byune.
Receiving that look, Byune gave a small nod.
She understood what Rei was asking of her.
To ensure Ilse didn't do anything rash out of excitement—and to protect her from the others should a melee break out.
Confirming that Byune understood, Rei departed from the spot.
Eliminating the guards surrounding Ajas's trade partner—Jestal—was the top priority.
If they recklessly bypassed the guards and stormed the trade site directly, the guards could rush in and help Ajas and his group escape.
To prevent that, reducing the reinforcing combat power itself was the highest priority.
Approaching a ruin a short distance away, he quietly observed the interior.
Inside, two men had already drawn their weapons, prepared to storm in the instant anything went wrong during the trade.
Perfect. I'll start with these two.
Making that decision, Rei drew only the Twilight Spear from the Misty Ring and charged into the ruin.
The two men heard the noise and understood someone had broken in, but by the time they noticed, Rei was already on the verge of thrusting the Twilight Spear.
What was fortunate for them was that Rei had been told by Dahl to capture them alive if possible.
For that reason, Rei thrust not the spearhead but the pommel of the Twilight Spear.
...Though they were fortunate in that they wouldn't die, they couldn't exactly call themselves lucky when it came to the pain they suffered.
The guards, expected to move as swiftly as possible, wore no armor.
Metal armor went without saying, but even leather armor made from monster hide carried considerable weight.
To rush to their boss's aid as quickly as possible if Ajas's group attacked, moving without armor was simply easier.
The difference that weight made was a matter of seconds—perhaps a dozen at most.
But those few seconds could determine Jestal's life.
In this case, however, that decision had completely backfired.
After the first man lost consciousness, Rei deprived the other of his in the same manner.
They had been assigned the role of guards, and were even guarding Jestal, the boss of the organization, so they were naturally among the more skilled fighters within the group.
That was undoubtedly true—but unfortunately, they were no match for Rei.
"...Alright, next."
Leaving the two unconscious men behind, Rei left the scene.
The only things remaining in the ruin were the two unconscious men.
The Intelligence Unit members would come and capture them—or so he judged.
Of course, Rei had heard from Dahl that the number of Intelligence Unit members involved in this operation was limited.
Given that, it was possible that before the Intelligence Unit could capture the two, people from other organizations—or individuals monitoring the trade for their own reasons—might arrive and secure them first.
But Rei treated that as a separate matter and moved on.
If they were lucky, the Intelligence Unit would handle it.
Thinking only that, Rei headed to the next location.
Along the way, he caught the faint trace of someone's scream, but there was no need to wonder whose voice it was—it was obvious.
Elena, Marina, Vihera, and Ara are all doing their part. Especially Vihera, since she said there might be a strong opponent.
Thinking such things, Rei continued taking down several more people.
Of course, not everyone Rei defeated was one of Jestal's guards.
Some belonged to other organizations, but since Rei couldn't distinguish between them, he couldn't exactly stop and ask.
As a result, a fair number of people who weren't Jestal's subordinates also lost consciousness at Rei's hands—but he didn't let it concern him, continuing to cut down one after another.
Having neutralized more than ten people, the next thing Rei found was a somewhat larger ruin.
As expected, a hole in the wall allowed him to peer inside.
Given the larger size, five people were visible within.
However, two of them still had their daggers sheathed at their waists.
This was in stark contrast to the others, who had already drawn their weapons and stood ready to act at a moment's notice.
Well, once they start hearing their allies' screams, they'll probably grow more vigilant about their surroundings.
Since it was a summer night, the chirping of insects filled the air.
Combined with the fact that each fight was taking place at a considerable distance, the men hadn't heard their comrades' screams.
If one had senses sharper than a normal person's—like Rei—they might have caught them, but...
Is this place probably a command post? Something like that? If so, those five... no, two appear to be communication officers, which means one of the remaining three must be commanding the guards... but thinking about it, the fact that no one has reported being attacked is impressive.
Normally, if they came under attack, they would send someone to report it to the command post.
But even in the current situation, that hadn't happened—which made it clear that the others were neutralizing the guards to prevent anyone from escaping and raising the alarm.
Then again, given the abilities of Elena and the others, perhaps that wasn't so surprising.
Ara is... probably fighting bare-handed instead of using her Power Axe. With that weapon, she might accidentally kill rather than just knock someone unconscious.
Still, Rei wasn't worried about Ara just because she couldn't use her weapon.
She possessed strength truly worthy of the name Herculean Strength, and had undergone proper unarmed combat training.
Given that, the odds of her struggling against guards from an underworld organization were extremely low.
Well, anyway, I should deal with the ones inside here.
Since the ruin was a fairly spacious building, Rei judged he could use the Death Scythe alongside the Twilight Spear and retrieved it from the Misty Ring.
Now in his usual Twin Spear Style, Rei charged into the building in one swift motion.
Up until now, he had kept hidden, suppressing noise and presence to avoid detection by those inside. But bursting in like this would naturally get him noticed.
Moreover, since this was a command post among the guards, those inside were undoubtedly skilled fighters.
"Enemy attack!"
That was why one of the guards noticed Rei's entry and shouted—but the moment he did, Rei had already driven the pommels of both the Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear into two men's solar plexuses, robbing them of consciousness.
Three remained.
One of them—whether he recognized Rei or not was unclear—seemed to judge that he was not an opponent he could win against.
Without a word, he immediately tried to flee.
"You think I'd let you? Penetrate!"
The pommel of the Death Scythe, wreathed in wind, was unleashed and stripped the man of consciousness in an instant.
That made three.
Of the remaining two, one charged at Rei with an expression of near despair.
The other tried to exploit the opening created when Rei attacked the charging man, positioning himself behind his ally to stay out of Rei's field of view and strike him down.
While still in the stance from Penetrate, Rei swept the Twilight Spear in a single slash and sent the first attacker flying sideways. Then, without a moment's delay—in fact, even utilizing the momentum from the Twilight Spear's swing—he spun and brought the Death Scythe around.
Since the man had been using the advancing attacker as a screen, he couldn't evade the horizontal slash of the Death Scythe.
No—it would be more accurate to say that the strike, delivered mid-spin, was completely invisible to the man before he could even think about evading.
The blow that came suddenly from the side gave him no chance to dodge and sent him flying.
If there was a mistake on Rei's part, it was the direction he sent the man flying.
This building was already a ruin—one that could collapse at any time.
Despite that, the man struck by the Death Scythe's swing smashed through the wall without losing any momentum and continued to fly—ultimately bouncing off the ground several times and rolling until he reached the trade site where Jestal and Ajas's group were conducting their transaction.
"Maybe I overdid it a little? No, but timing-wise, there shouldn't be much of a problem."
Muttering, Rei leapt out through the hole in the wall the man had created, chasing after him.
Arriving at the trade site, those present naturally noticed his presence.
Even in Gilm, a city where many adventurers gathered, there was only one eccentric person who wielded a scythe and a spear simultaneously.
"Rei..."
Hearing that voice, Rei turned his gaze—and saw Jestal wearing an expression of astonishment.
"Yeah, I'm your enemy. Though there are a few others too."
As if in answer to Rei's murmured words, a building a short distance away was destroyed and a man came flying through.
Chasing after that man, a woman appeared, wearing thin garments like a dancer or prostitute.
The hand gauntlets and foot guards she wore distinguished her from the latter.
Then, following after Vihera, Marina, Elena, and Ara appeared.
Furthermore, Set, who had been flying through the night sky keeping watch on the surroundings, descended.
"Crimson Lotus Wings..."
Though Elena and Ara were another matter entirely, Jestal still murmured those words.