Piercing through the air, the spear flew.
That strike of the Twilight Spear—something those who saw it could easily mistake for a streak of red light—flew straight toward the door.
The magical power imbued by Rei, who possessed extraordinary magical power, brought out the Twilight Spear's might to its fullest.
The door was made of sturdy metal... a metal so tough that even Giants, with strength far beyond human comparison, could only barely distort it when attacking with all their might.
Yet the streak of red light released from Rei's hand pierced through that metal door with ease.
Effortlessly, as though tearing through wet paper.
Just as Rei intended, the hole opened in the door was only as large as the spear.
Having pierced through the door, the Twilight Spear went on to pierce the body of the Giant that had been continually battering it.
...And naturally, it was not going to end with just one Giant.
The spear that exited through the Giant's back pierced the body of another Giant standing right behind it, and then the next one behind that, and behind that, and behind that...
In the end, it pierced through the bodies of nearly twenty Giants before the Twilight Spear's momentum finally weakened and it stopped.
The Giants whose bodies had been pierced did not understand at first what had happened at all. Only when the pain of being pierced shot through them did they finally realize they had been attacked.
...Though there were many Giants who could not comprehend even that, and simply had their Flame of Life extinguished as they collapsed to the ground.
For the Giants, it was truly a sudden attack.
But that time of despair was not over yet.
From the body of the last Giant the Twilight Spear had impaled, the spear that had remained stuck suddenly vanished.
Regardless of how much intelligence the Giants possessed, the fact that the spear before their eyes disappeared was something even they could probably comprehend.
"Garh?"
One of the Giants tilted its head as though it had forgotten its earlier irritation and hunger.
Why did the spear disappear?—as such a question crossed its mind...
"Guh?"
The next moment, the Twilight Spear once again came flying through the door and pierced through the Giant's torso.
Without understanding at all what had happened... eventually, perhaps because the strike was a fatal wound, it crumbled to the ground.
The Twilight Spear that had pierced through that Giant's body struck into another Giant's body and stopped.
And again, the spear vanished... and Giant screams echoed through the surroundings.
The Giants did not understand at all what was happening.
Their companions would suddenly scream and collapse on the spot, so they recognized they were under attack.
But with nearly a thousand of them present, how they were being attacked... that was impossible to understand unless they saw the weapon called the Twilight Spear with their own eyes.
Or rather, even if they did see the Twilight Spear with their own eyes, whether they would have understood was questionable at best.
That the Giants were thrown into such confusion was, for Rei who was carrying out the attack, nothing but a perfect opportunity to keep attacking.
He threw the Twilight Spear, piercing through the door and then piercing through the bodies of the Giants beyond it one after another.
He repeated this endlessly.
What finally stopped the spear throwing was when the number of throws aimed at the door had passed fifty by some amount.
The door was already riddled with holes from the Twilight Spear's attacks, to the extent that one might think it could easily be destroyed if a Giant attacked it with full force.
In such a situation, the reason Rei stopped was likely because he could no longer see any Giants on the other side through the holes opened in the door.
The Giants were by no means clever, but even they understood that being near the door meant death.
"...Well, the door's broken down nicely enough. Might as well use magic."
"Hm? Wasn't it decided that you wouldn't use magic, considering the risk of the cave collapsing?"
Elena voiced that question in response to Rei's murmured words as he stored the returned Twilight Spear in his Misty Ring and drew the Death Scythe.
To Elena, Rei gave a small nod before speaking.
"That's right. Magic with a wide area of effect might cause the cave to collapse. But with attack magic that has a narrow range, don't you think there'd be no problem?"
"If you can control it properly, I believe there would be no issues."
Though Elena implicitly questioned whether he could manage that adjustment well, Rei—setting aside the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—floated a confident smile as if to say there was absolutely no problem with his magic.
In fact, for Rei whose magic was specialized in fire, controlling it was not a difficult matter.
The spell construction and Magic Circles required for magic included systematic elements, but conversely, there was also a large component dependent on image and sense.
And for Rei, who came from Japan, image was something he excelled at more than anything.
As for sense, he originally possessed a vast amount of magical power, and being specialized in Flame Magic, he had exceptionally high sense when it came specifically to Flame Magic.
To put it nicely, he was a genius; to put it bluntly, he was an obsessed fool who could not use any magic other than fire.
"First, I'll break through that door and use magic to catch the Giants that are keeping their distance from it. Elena, Vihera, charge in after I unleash my magic. Ah, Byune, stand by at my side in case something happens."
No one had any objections to Rei's words.
Elena harbored a deep disgust toward Giants as a species, and since Rei was the one giving the order, she had no objection to diving through to the other side of the door.
Vihera, who had recovered her stamina while Rei endlessly threw the Twilight Spear, felt joy at being the first to go to the other side rather than any dissatisfaction.
Byune understood that it was difficult for her to defeat a Giant on her own, so standing by at Rei's side for emergencies was exactly what she wanted.
"Kyu!"
The one who let out a cry as if asking, "What about me?" was Elena's Familiar, Ielo.
Held in Elena's arms, Ielo probably wanted some kind of job for itself as well.
It let out cries of "Kyu, kyu," repeatedly appealing to Rei. ...Though to an onlooker, Ielo could only be perceived as an adorable creature.
"Ah—right. Ielo, you're on standby too, same as Byune. If something happens, I'll have you go fetch Elena."
"Kyu!"
At Rei's words, Ielo let out a satisfied cry.
In reality, having Ielo fetch Elena would be less efficient than Rei going to call her himself.
That way, Rei could immediately convey what he wanted to say directly, without the time loss of Elena having to come all the way back here.
In the end, asking Ielo to serve as a messenger was probably just lip service.
...However, Ielo's scales were extremely sturdy, and it also possessed the ability to blend into its surroundings.
Considering that, it could indeed become a usable method in case of emergencies.
"Well then, now that everyone's roles are settled... I'm going to use magic. Elena, Vihera, get ready to charge in."
Announcing that, Rei took the Death Scythe in hand and began chanting a spell.
『O flame, gather at my fingertips. Gather upon the great scythe that reaps life, gather before my enemies, gather, gather, gather. Small power, great power. Rage at my will.』
As he chanted the spell, nearly fifty flames appeared at the tip of the Death Scythe.
However, all of those flames were only about the size of a fingertip.
Mind you, the magical power imbued in each of those flames was an amount that would make an ordinary Young Mage strain with everything they had.
『Flame Breath.』
The moment the magic activated, the fifty small flames flew forth at a speed faster than a person could run.
The first of the flames touched the door that was already riddled with holes... and the next moment, the door was engulfed in flame and melted.
The remaining flames passed through the opening that had been created... and in the area where the Giants were, Scorching Hells appeared in extremely narrow ranges.
Scorching Hells covering only about two to three Giants each.
Nearly fifty of them had appeared.
And yet, outside the range where the flames had landed and were burning, there was almost no heat.
...The fact that it was "almost" and not completely blocking the heat was perhaps because Rei could not perfectly control the fire.
In any case, for the Giants, it was nothing short of hell.
The only saving grace was perhaps that the magic had been cast from outside the door.
Rei had confirmed that there were no Giants near the door, so the power of the swarm of flames—released within an arbitrary range while ensuring they would not strike the walls or ceiling—was an opponent the Giants could do absolutely nothing about.
Since the Giants were originally specialized in physical attack and defense, they were terribly weak against magic.
In a small country like Reblurina, a place where there would hardly be any Young Mages, it probably would not have been a problem.
However, when facing an enemy who could use magic like Rei, the Giants became extremely fragile existences.
"Alright, go. There should be heavy casualties among the Giants on the other side of the door."
"...The part of the door the flames touched is glowing red. Is it really okay?"
"Ah—...well, if you go through the gaps in the door—"
Rei said as much to brush off Vihera's words.
Vihera looked at Rei with a dumbfounded stare for a few seconds, but fortunately the door itself had many holes from the Giants' attacks and, above all, from Rei's Twilight Spear attacks, so getting through it to the extent a person could pass seemed easy enough.
If he had not made the Twilight Spear attacks, it would probably have been impossible to advance to the other side of the door until the heat of the flames subsided.
While feeling slightly uneasy about that, Vihera told herself that for now she needed to go to the other side, and turned her gaze to Elena.
"Well then, shall we go?"
"Yes, I am ready."
They looked at each other and broke into a run toward the door.
"I think you'll be fine, but be careful!"
Whether they heard Rei's voice or not, Elena and Vihera lightly waved their hands as they ran, or looked toward Rei and nodded.
With movements like those of supple predators, the two disappeared to the other side of the door.
(Elena aside, I thought Vihera might catch that thin clothing on the door... but it seems she's fine.)
Given that Vihera's outfit was like that of a Dancer or Prostitutes, her clothing was extremely thin, and when she ran, it would billow in the wind.
Rei had thought it might perhaps get caught while passing through the gaps in the door, but apparently that was not a problem.
"Well then, what should we... do?"
"Nn?"
"Kyu?"
Byune and Ielo each responded to Rei's words.
For the record, Ielo was being held by Byune, and from time to time it was being petted and looked comfortable.
"I guess we have no choice but to wait here."
It was possible that members belonging to Jaya might come here.
Since Rei had asked Marina to hold the area where Jaya's members were, there was no need to worry.
However, among the soldiers they had defeated along the way, among those who had merely been knocked unconscious, there was a possibility—though not zero—that some might wander to where Rei and the others were.
"No, I suppose not."
"Nn?"
Byune turned her gaze toward Rei's murmur.
Waving his head as if to say it was nothing, Rei once again turned his gaze to the door... or rather, it was already difficult to call it a door, an object more fitting to be described as a lump of metal.
From the other side of it, sounds of something crumbling to the ground, sounds of slashing, screams... and laughter filled with genuine joy could be heard.
As for which sounds belonged to whom, it was obvious without even needing to think.
"...I said we'd wait here, but there's nothing to do."
"Nn."
Byune gave a small response to Rei's murmur.
In truth, a large part of why Rei chose to wait here was to keep Byune out of danger.
In other words, the fact that Rei was idle meant nothing other than that the situation was progressing smoothly.
Even so, being idle like this was undeniable.
"Wanna eat?"
For the time being, Rei took out some skewered food from his Misty Ring and offered it to Byune.
Without saying anything in particular, Byune accepted the skewered food readily.
"Kyu!"
Seeing Ielo cry out wanting something as well, Rei next took out a Sandwich.
The Sandwich, packed generously with meat and vegetables, was large enough that just one could fill a stomach.
But for Ielo, such a Sandwich was probably something it could easily finish.
Happily biting off pieces of the Sandwich, it sent them down into its stomach.
Watching it eat like that, Rei was once again reminded that Ielo was a Child of the Black Dragon.
While watching the meal of that one person and one creature, Rei thought he would take a look at the other side of the door after a little while.