The door connecting to the space where the Giants had been confined was, naturally, large enough for a Giant to pass through freely.
But just because a Giant could fit through the door didn't mean nearly ten of them could all exit at once. That much was obvious.
The bodies of the other Giants got in the way, and in the most literal sense, they became stuck.
Whether the Giants understood that nearly ten of them couldn't all rush toward Rei's position at once—driven solely by the desire to satisfy their own hunger—was unclear.
Or perhaps it was far more likely that each one simply believed it could outmaneuver the others and devour Rei in one go.
Watching those Giants, Rei swung his Death Scythe at the ones that had become stuck and unable to move.
Though not as powerful as the Power Slash that had blown away the door, the Death Scythe—charged with plenty of magical power—demonstrated a force truly befitting its name, the Grim Reaper's Great Scythe.
The Giants had been stuck and unable to move, but the strike blew them all away at once.
Of course, it didn't merely blow them away; the bodies of the Giants caught in the attack sustained all manner of wounds.
The worst of them were, predictably, the slashing wounds.
The Giants whose torsos had been bisected were killed instantly.
Aside from that, many Giants suffered fractured bones and ruptured organs from the sheer impact of the Death Scythe's swing.
Even among those, the most unfortunate were the ones crushed by the bodies of the Giants sent flying back by Rei's single strike.
No matter how much a Giant prided itself on its strength, nearly ten Giants of roughly the same size had just been hurled into them.
That was, without a doubt, a fitting weapon in its own right.
"Well, that should about do it. Though I doubt this'll make them give up."
These Giants displayed what could only be described as a state of frenzied chaos.
Naturally, having a few of their comrades taken down wasn't going to restore their composure.
If anything, seeing their comrades fall meant they instinctively sensed that there were enemies beyond them—prey to be eaten.
Was this enough, in the sense of assisting Elena and the others?
Thinking as much, Rei turned his gaze to a newly appearing Giant.
That Giant had been near where the previous ones were blown away, which made its transition to its next action swift. It didn't end up stuck and unable to get out like the others before it.
It had neatly outmaneuvered its comrades.
Whether a Giant possessed enough intelligence for Rei to form such an impression was something he couldn't know for certain, but seeing the Giant lick its lips while looking at him, he could roughly guess what it was thinking.
Gazing at the Giant that saw him as nothing but food, Rei took a step forward without any particular sign of tension.
As if it had been waiting for that very movement, the Giant reached out its hand to devour him.
Even if you try to eat me, I'm wearing the Dragon Robe, so I don't think you can eat me that easily. I wonder how that works?
Made from dragon leather and scales, the Dragon Robe wasn't something a Giant could simply bite through.
Of course, Rei didn't expect the Giant to comprehend that the robe he wore possessed such capabilities.
"Anyway, you... die right there."
Evading the outstretched hand, Rei's swing of the Death Scythe effortlessly severed the Giant's neck.
But the decapitated Giant, perhaps unaware of what had befallen it, advanced a few steps without its head.
Then, as if questioning what had happened, it moved its hands a few times... and in the next moment, it collapsed to the ground, spurting blood violently from its neck.
"Well, that's about it."
Rei muttered, but another Giant was already lunging at him.
It wasn't thinking of avenging its comrade; it was a movement driven purely by appetite.
Because it was driven by appetite, there was no hesitation in its action.
But precisely because it was being moved purely by instinct, it didn't attempt anything like a feint. It simply made the straightforward motion of trying to grab Rei's body.
Such a movement was equivalent to a stationary one for Rei.
Of course, it wasn't actually stationary. If anything, since it was a movement driven by instinct, there was no trace of hesitation whatsoever as it lunged to eat him.
"Don't think you can eat me so easily!"
Using the Twilight Spear, Rei evaded the hand's movement and unleashed a thrust in a counter-like fashion.
Given that the Giant had been making a linear charge, there was no way it could evade a counter-thrust.
The tip of the Twilight Spear easily crushed the Giant's skull.
Starting with that Giant, corpses were produced one after another.
In the first place, the Giants' advantages were their massive bodies and, above all else, their numbers.
An overwhelming number, exceeding a thousand.
However, the preemptive strike carried out by Rei and Vihera had drastically reduced that number at once.
Even now, Elena and Vihera, who had charged into the space where the Giants resided, were felling them one after another, and their numbers were decreasing at an accelerating rate.
Though the Giants held an advantage with those numbers, when they appeared before Rei, the width of the doorway meant only one—or two at most—could come through at a time.
Once it became three or four, the bodies of the other Giants got in the way, making it impossible for them to pass through the doorway.
In that case, a Giant whose movement had halted was nothing but a target for Rei.
As a result, the Giants had only two options: challenge Rei one or two at a time, or try to surge out all at once, get stuck, and be treated as target practice by Rei.
If the Giants had higher intelligence, even when facing Rei, they could have prioritized evasion and used the time spent running around to call in more of their kind.
But fundamentally, Giants were beings governed by instinct. In terms of intelligence, they were inferior even to Goblins, which at least understood the concept of cooperating with their own kind.
As a result, the Giants would lose their lives one after another to Rei's Death Scythe and Twilight Spear.
While Rei and his group fought the Giants inside the cave, Ryutas, positioned near the cave entrance, was grimacing with tension.
Until a short while ago, he had been wearing his usual smile.
It was not a genuine smile, of course, but one fabricated to prevent those around him from reading his true thoughts.
Wearing that smile, Ryutas had been thinking about what to do next.
It was clear that his current position was by no means a strong one.
Having already told Rei much of the information he was permitted to speak of—about this facility, Jaya, the Giants, and so on—there was no doubt he would be branded a traitor, even as one of the sons of the man leading Jaya.
That was precisely why he needed Rei's group to thoroughly crush Jaya, and to have this Reblurina situation handled by the Kingdom of Mireana. Until then, he had been considering whether to hide somewhere or flee the country and take refuge in another nation.
It was then that one of his guards, who had been keeping watch on the surroundings, returned.
He brought a report that someone had entered the forest.
If it had been just a few people, Ryutas wouldn't have worn such a severe expression. However...
"Soldiers of Reblurina, numbering in the hundreds... and it's certain there are reinforcements following, huh."
Ryutas spoke the information he had just heard from the guard aloud, and even that alone was enough to make him understand the danger of his current position.
No, to be precise, it was not his own danger, but rather the danger of those inside the cave and its immediate surroundings—that was the accurate description.
If he were only concerned with his own safety, he could have just fled from here. But that was not an option.
The soldiers, positioned so as to surround the forest, made it clear they had no intention of letting anyone escape it.
If Ryutas put his mind to it, with the strength of his guards, escaping would likely be possible.
But if he disappeared from here now, and the soldiers of Reblurina charged into the cave in his place and clashed with Rei's group, what would happen?
If it goes poorly... no, without a doubt, they would conclude I sold out Rei's group. That wouldn't be amusing. In fact, I can only imagine the worst possible outcome. In that case, what is the best course of action? A choice where I survive, don't incur Rei's group's resentment, and if possible, sell them a favor.
In his mind, Ryutas calculated what the best move would be.
Risks and returns, his own safety, and the future after Jaya was crushed.
He considered all of these variously, then turned his gaze toward the cave and let out a small sigh.
"This is the only way... huh."
He muttered, wearing an expression of distaste—a truly reluctant expression.
Ryutas was a man who often put on fabricated expressions, but seeing his current face, anyone would undoubtedly assume it was his true, unguarded one.
It did not look like a manufactured expression in the slightest.
"Send one person into the cave to deliver a message to Rei. Ah, no. If possible, don't just deliver a message—bring back reinforcements. I seriously, from the bottom of my heart, lack enough Combat Power."
"...I have no objection to that, but are you perhaps planning to stay here? To fight the soldiers?"
One of the guards asked Ryutas with an expression of disbelief.
Ryutas was a man regarded as one of the successor candidates for Jaya, a criminal organization.
Naturally, he possessed a certain level of skill.
But that was only a certain level. He did not possess the kind of isolated, peerless strength that Rei's group had.
In other words, with Ryutas's abilities, he couldn't do what Rei's group did—make quality override quantity.
He was certainly stronger than an ordinary Soldier, but even so, against opponents pressing with sheer numbers, it wasn't enough. Hopelessly insufficient.
Precisely because he understood this, one of the guards asked Ryutas that question.
Furthermore, it went without saying that the guards were stronger than Ryutas, but they too lacked enough strength to face hundreds—and likely more—soldiers.
Ryutas fully understood his own abilities and those of his guards. Understanding this, he nodded at the guard's words.
"That's right. I will stay here and fight the Reblurina soldiers."
"You will die."
Not hedging his words with something like "you might die," the guard stated it outright.
In reality, that was probably not incorrect.
Ryutas understood that too, but even so, he couldn't just flee here alone.
Well, fleeing is undoubtedly the second-best option. But if I can hold back the Reblurina soldiers trying to enter the cave here, it will serve as a gesture of sincerity toward Rei's group.
It was sincerity smeared in calculation, but sincerity nonetheless.
Of course, even if soldiers from a small country like Reblurina came, there was no way they could do anything against Rei's group.
Even so, they would undoubtedly be a nuisance.
If Ryutas and his group could somehow hold off those soldiers, Rei's group would certainly feel at least somewhat grateful.
To be precise, that was Ryutas's hope—that they would.
Having decided to cooperate with Rei's group, Ryutas's thinking was not to do things half-heartedly, but to cooperate to the very end.
When he explained this and told them he wanted to make it known that they were a friendly presence to Rei's group, the guards wore conflicted expressions.
It wasn't that they failed to understand Ryutas's feelings.
But the danger was too great—that was the guards' cause for concern.
If Rei's group arrived while they were still alive, there would be no problem.
But naturally, whether that would truly happen was something no one could know.
Indeed, the possibility that Rei's group would arrive after they were dead was far higher.
Inside the cave, aside from the first fork, it was simply a straight path.
And both the location where Jaya's people were and the place where the Giants were gathered were a considerable distance from the fork.
Since only one person was being sent as a messenger, heading in the wrong direction would result in a fatal loss of time.
But sending two people as messengers would leave their combat strength seriously concerning, without a doubt.
"Why don't you go as the messenger yourself, young master?"
Saying that, the guard thought it might actually be a good idea.
Since there were no traps or the like inside the cave, there was essentially no danger.
In reality, the Giants were on a rampage, but being outside the cave, there was no way to know that.
If Ryutas encountered the Giants, even the worst outcome awaited him.
Though, with Rei standing before the Giants, that concern was unlikely to materialize.
"Rejected. With me here, the soldiers may be somewhat more restrained in their actions. More importantly, look, they're almost here. Send the messenger."
Even Ryutas could sense the presence and sounds of those approaching, and he told the guards that there was no time to spare.