The first person Jabis charged at was not Vihera, but Rei.
For Jabis, he likely judged Rei to be the more troublesome opponent between the two.
Understanding Jabis's intentions, Vihera stepped forward.
Her movement was not toward the giant and the thin man, but to block Jabis's path as he advanced on Rei.
To Vihera, it was clear that the opponent she needed to fight was Jabis, the strongest among the three enemies.
Jabis hadn't anticipated her interception at all. A flash of surprise crossed his face, but his bewilderment lasted only an instant before he shifted his target from Rei to Vihera and clenched his fists.
"Shaa!"
With a sharp shout, Jabis swung his fist.
A knuckle guard was fitted over it. Rei would have found it easier to describe as brass knuckles, but either way, that was the weapon equipped on his hand.
The power behind the strike was undoubtedly vicious. If Vihera took it head-on, it would deal significant damage without question.
However, that was only if it landed squarely. Vihera charged forward into Jabis's attack of her own accord.
With a light sway of her body, Vihera effortlessly dodged his fist.
Jabis hadn't expected his punch to be evaded so easily. Surprise flickered across his face, but he immediately resumed his assault.
Jabis's leg swung out. Unlike his brass-knuckled fist, his legs bore no particular weapons. However, leg muscles were generally stronger than arm muscles, giving the kick more than enough power on its own.
Yet Vihera dodged even that kick as if dancing and immediately countered with a fist.
Normally, Vihera's Hand Gauntlets could generate magic claws, but this time she refrained from producing them, using only her bare fist.
Jabis likely realized that the strike aimed at his body carried enough power to surpass even his own blows with a mere touch. He tightened his expression and took evasive action.
"Tch! Annoying!"
Somehow managing to dodge, Jabis spat out the words with irritation and leapt backward.
Vihera pursued without letting him escape. What followed was an exchange of fists and feet at extreme close quarters, impossible at the range of a longsword.
Beside the two of them, Rei was fighting the giant and the thin man.
The first attack came from the giant's club. It was a wide, sweeping strike, but that was likely the plan from the start.
As if targeting the opening created when Rei dodged the blow, the thin man unleashed a thrust with his short sword.
As a thrust, it possessed speed comparable to a punch.
Normally, Jabis would have joined in for a coordinated assault. But with Jabis occupied fighting Vihera, what should have been a seamless combination attack inevitably left openings.
"You think you can take me down with a strike like that!?"
Against the club swung straight down at him, Rei gave the Death Scythe a light swing.
If the club had been a Magic Item or forged from some rare material, it might have withstood the Death Scythe's blade. But the giant's club was neither, and it was effortlessly cut in two.
The first strike in a coordinated attack was meant to break the opponent's stance. That was likely the giant's role, but his opening blow was easily stopped by Rei.
"What!?"
The giant cried out in astonishment. But the thin man paid no heed to his reaction and closed the distance with Rei, short sword in hand.
His movements were swift, but to Rei, who regularly sparred with Elena and Vihera, they weren't particularly fast.
Calmly tracking his opponent with his eyes, Rei swept the Twilight Spear at the feet of the charging thin man.
"Guh!"
Having recklessly charged in, the thin man couldn't stop himself after his feet were swept. He crashed face-first into the hallway wall.
Then the Death Scythe was swung horizontally at the giant's torso.
For the giant, the saving grace was that he was struck by the shaft rather than the blade. As a giant, he likely had confidence in his own strength, but being struck by a Death Scythe weighing over a hundred kilograms, swung with Rei's full power behind it, was another matter entirely.
It was a completely unexpected blow. The giant was sent flying and crashed squarely into the thin man, who had just slammed into the wall.
For the giant, the collision was lucky. For the thin man, it was nothing but misfortune.
He was crushed by someone who weighed double, if not more than himself, with the added momentum of being sent flying by Rei's strength.
The thin man, who had still been conscious when he hit the wall, completely lost consciousness when the giant slammed into him.
The giant, too, suffered a violent impact the moment he collided with his ally. His consciousness grew hazy, and a follow-up strike from Rei's Death Scythe finished him off.
"...Well, that's about it."
Looking down at the two who had been effortlessly knocked unconscious, Rei turned his gaze to the other battlefield.
There, the fierce battle between Vihera and Jabis was still raging.
However, Vihera had the overall advantage, and by now Jabis was struggling desperately just to defend against her attacks.
"Come on, come on, come on, come on! What's the matter, you can't even block attacks of this level anymore!?"
She wasn't using Magic Impact Palm, Hand Gauntlet claws, or Greave Blades. Vihera's attacks were simply ordinary strikes with her fists and feet.
And yet, they found the gaps in Jabis's defense with pinpoint accuracy. Even when his guarding limbs managed to block, she forced her fists through with sheer power, shattering his guard.
"Guh, kuh, damn it... don't screw with me! Me, getting beaten by someone who isn't even Rei!?"
Jabis shouted with irritation, but shouting wouldn't help him block Vihera's attacks. If anything, she exploited the very openings his frustration created, her fists finding his body with unerring precision.
And she wasn't just hitting him anywhere. Every strike landed exactly on what could be called a vital point.
To still possess such fighting spirit after taking that many blows to critical areas, Jabis must have had an extraordinary will to fight.
He's remarkably tough. Normally, taking that many hits from Vihera would definitely leave someone incapacitated. And even in that situation, he still hasn't given up on turning the tables.
Watching the fight, Rei found himself impressed by Jabis's toughness and his tenacious grip on the hope of victory.
The scales of victory were clearly tipped in Vihera's favor, yet he refused to yield.
Despite the obvious gap in ability, Jabis harbored something that could only be called an indomitable fighting spirit, making him an astonishing presence even in Rei's eyes.
And for Vihera, someone with a similar combat style who still refused to give up on victory must have been an incredibly enjoyable opponent to fight.
Normally, when there was a clear gap in ability, Vihera would end things anticlimactically. But right now, she was happily continuing the battle against Jabis.
Rei would have loved to let Vihera fight to her heart's content, but they weren't the only ones involved in this operation.
In the sense that they were the only ones inside the mansion, it was just the two of them. But the mansion believed to be connected to the Underground Space was being forcibly searched by the Guards as well.
And there were other adventurers present acting as escorts for them.
Given the circumstances, they couldn't afford to let Vihera fight to her satisfaction here.
"Vihera, sorry to interrupt your fun, but wrap it up soon. We need to capture that guy, hand him over to the Guards, and finish searching this mansion. If we spend too much time here, it'll cause all sorts of trouble later."
At Rei's words, Vihera momentarily created distance from Jabis.
For Jabis, who had been on the receiving end of Vihera's relentless barrage, this was undoubtedly a lifesaver, giving him a brief moment to catch his breath.
Of course, for someone with confidence in his own skills, being in a situation where Vihera was clearly holding back was far from amusing. He felt a surge of irritation so strong he wanted to lash out at her in a fit of rage.
But even in that situation, not acting on emotion and instead searching for an opening to turn the tide was Jabis's true strength.
Watching Jabis glare at Vihera, Rei spoke up.
"So, how about it? Beating Vihera is a tall order, and your two comrades are out cold as you can see. Any chance you'd be willing to quietly surrender here?"
"Hah, don't joke around. If I surrender, I'll just be killed on the spot."
Jabis wasn't wrong.
They had performed a summoning ritual using sacrifices in the vast Underground Space, drawing Cobolts to Gilm.
Even if the monsters in question were only Cobolts, given the gravity of what they had done, execution was the only option on the table.
Even if the incident had been orchestrated by King's Faction Nobles, the King's Faction would never acknowledge it. Furthermore, to ensure he didn't talk too much, it wouldn't be surprising if they moved to silence him permanently.
But precisely because of that, Rei shook his head.
"No, if you let yourself be captured quietly and spill what you know, there's a chance you'll survive. Fortunately, Gilm's Intelligence Unit can never have too many skilled hands."
"Hah, don't fuck with me."
Jabis rejected the offer without a moment's hesitation, as if it wasn't even worth considering.
"I think it'd be better than dying. If you surrender here, I can put in a word with the Guards."
"Bullshit. You think I'd just go along with that? Don't spout nonsense."
He clearly felt insulted. Jabis directed intense anger at Rei, more irritation and rage than he had shown toward Vihera, who was undeniably stronger than him.
"Rei, it's useless. Jabis is the last person who'd quietly do as we say. You'd be better off just taking him down here."
Vihera said as much in response to Rei's words. From her experience fighting him, she couldn't imagine Jabis ever surrendering. She could tell that he would rather die than submit to the enemy.
"...Understood. Then continue fighting as you were. Or would you rather fight me instead?"
"Hey."
Vihera shot Rei a displeased look, a reproachful glare asking why he would suggest such a thing when she was finally enjoying herself.
But Rei deliberately ignored her gaze and waited for Jabis's response.
Sensing something in Rei's gaze, Jabis was about to shout something back, but suddenly stopped. He thought for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh.
Whatever crossed his mind in those brief seconds, when Jabis turned his eyes back to Rei, the anger was gone.
"No, if it's going to be my final battle anyway, then I'd rather fight that woman I was just fighting, not you, Alias Holder or not."
At Jabis's words, Vihera smiled and took a step forward.
Seeing this, Rei judged that saying anything more would be nothing but tactless and took a step back, opposite to Vihera.
Vihera and Jabis locked eyes with each other alone. In the next moment, both moved simultaneously. And ultimately, the one who fell in the hallway was Jabis.