The eyeball had stopped moving, but Rei and his party refused to let their guard down.
It might have been feigning death, waiting for a chance to counterattack or perhaps an opening to flee.
Just to be safe, Rei tried stabbing the motionless eyeball with a spear—not the Twilight Spear, but a disposable one. Still, it showed no signs of movement.
It was probably truly dead this time.
Even having reached that conclusion... they still couldn't completely tear their attention away from the eyeball.
"Grimm, you're here, aren't you! Come on out!"
Even if the eyeball was actually still alive, if it revealed its true capabilities after being handed over to Grimm, that would be no problem at all for Rei.
That was precisely why he dismissed his Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor before calling out to Grimm, but...
"Hmm, it seems you've defeated it safely."
Suddenly, that voice echoed through the surroundings.
Everyone present, including Rei, looked around, but Grimm was nowhere to be seen.
"I am not over there. ...Wait a moment. I shall be there shortly."
The voice rang out again. After several tens of seconds passed, the space near the eyeball rippled—and in the next moment, Grimm's figure appeared.
"Hmm, how is it? I made sure it would cause no trouble for you all."
He displayed the dignity befitting one called a Lich Lord, yet his manner of speech was unexpectedly casual.
True to his word, no one present felt particularly overwhelmed or intimidated by Grimm's appearance.
Glancing at Rei and his group, Grimm nodded with satisfaction.
(He's probably using a Magic Item with the same effect as my Ring of the New Moon... no, an even greater one. Whether Grimm originally had it, or he created such a Magic Item after seeing the Ring of the New Moon, I don't know. But either way, it's a huge help.)
Nowadays, Rei spoke with Grimm fairly casually, but Grimm as an entity was an Undead—no, an overwhelmingly powerful presence that would not be out of place at the very pinnacle of all monsters.
The fact that Rei could speak so lightheartedly with such a being was largely because Grimm, in life, had admired Zephyle.
"So, as you can see, we've defeated this eyeball. It's fine for you to take the corpse, right?"
A slight hint of regret lingered in Rei's voice as he asked.
This was an opponent they had only managed to defeat after everyone present except Grimm had attacked it together.
Given how powerful it had been, as a Magic Item material, it was undoubtedly first-class.
For Rei, who collected Magic Items as a hobby, this eyeball was nothing short of treasure.
Of course, the fact that it was treasure for Rei naturally meant it was treasure for Grimm as well.
For Grimm, who had spent many years researching magic, the body of an eyeball from outside this world was undoubtedly an extremely valuable specimen.
"Umu. Let me do so. A reward is a reward. Besides... here."
When Grimm lightly swung the staff he held, one tentacle was pulled free from the eyeball and drifted in front of Rei.
Normally, a severed tentacle would turn to dust immediately—and from what Rei had seen, that was indeed what happened. But perhaps because this one was pulled directly from the eyeball, it showed no sign of crumbling.
(Or did Grimm do something?)
It seemed impossible under normal circumstances, but Rei felt that nothing Grimm did would be surprising.
But even if he asked, Grimm probably wouldn't answer. And regarding the eyeball itself, since they had a prior agreement, being selfish here would be... So Rei thought, but right in front of him, Grimm swung his staff once more.
Why? That question crossed the minds of everyone present except Grimm, but as if ignoring it entirely, the optic nerve tail—previously pierced by Rei's Twilight Spear and sent flying—came sailing back through the air.
The tail settled in front of Rei, and with another swing of Grimm's staff, a portion roughly one meter long was severed and dropped at his feet.
Like the tentacle before, it scattered no poison into the surroundings.
And yet, the poison on the tail hadn't vanished—the slime coating still clung to it.
"What is this...?"
Why was a piece of the tail being placed in front of him?
At Rei's question, Grimm let out a hearty laugh.
"In this world, there is a custom called Otoshidama. ...You would know of it, would you not, Rei?"
"!?"
Otoshidama.
Naturally, Rei knew of it.
It was the money children received from adults during New Year's.
But that was a custom and event from Japan, and naturally, it was almost entirely unknown here in Elgin.
Indeed, when Rei glanced toward Elena and the others, they merely wore bewildered expressions, wondering what Grimm was suddenly talking about.
Rei's surprised expression must have amused him.
Grimm let out another laugh.
"Originally, this custom existed only briefly during the time I was alive... for perhaps just a little over ten years or so."
Hearing that, Rei could finally understand why Grimm knew the word Otoshidama and the custom behind it.
When Grimm was alive... that meant the Zephyle Clan existed, and within that clan was Takumu Suzunose, who hailed from the same homeland as Rei.
From that name alone, it was clear he was from Japan just like Rei, and if so, it was no surprise he knew about Otoshidama. Though Rei didn't know the reason, if Takumu had spread Otoshidama here in Elgin, he could accept that.
"Given that a new year has just begun, it would not be strange to give Otoshidama, would it?"
"...Well, if you're giving it to me, I'll gladly accept."
If Grimm were a hostile party, Rei would never have so readily accepted a piece of the tail.
But to Rei, Grimm was someone he even felt a sense of closeness toward.
Given that, he had no intention of refusing the gesture.
"Now then, I too would like to examine this giant eyeball soon, so I shall take my leave. ...This time, I was quite satisfied to see you and your companions in battle."
With those words, Grimm swung his staff once more—and in that instant, the giant eyeball corpse lying on the ground vanished.
While Rei and his party were still reeling from the sight, Grimm's figure disappeared as well.
With the massive eyeball gone, the surroundings became an empty space.
Though "empty" wasn't entirely accurate—the scars of the fierce battle against the eyeball remained.
The devastated earth, the ground melted by the optic nerve tail's poison, and many other remnants of the fight were still visible.
"It's gone, huh."
"Right. ...Being able to teleport something that massive along with himself is incredible, though."
"Ah, but if that's what you mean, then Rei's Item Box can store corpses as large as that eyeball, right? In that case, I'd say that's impressive enough."
Listening to Marina and Vihera's conversation, Rei wondered, Is that so?
He certainly didn't deny that the Misty Ring was remarkable.
But that was purely because the Misty Ring itself was remarkable—not because of Rei's own ability.
In that sense, Grimm, who could effortlessly teleport along with a corpse of that size without even chanting a spell, was truly an existence beyond the norm.
(Well, maybe it's the effect of some kind of Magic Item, though.)
Be that as it may.
Looking around once more, Rei spoke up.
"That eyeball is... I can't say it's unharmed, but it's been dealt with for now. We should probably let the combat forces standing by nearby know soon."
"You're right. The one in charge of this operation is Gradalas, whom we met on the way here, so reporting to him should be fine."
"This... piece of tail is what I received from Grimm. Should I mention that as well? I'm planning to hand over the remaining tentacle here."
"You probably should. If you try to hide it now and the tail becomes an issue later, it could cause trouble."
"...I'll ask just in case—they won't confiscate it, will they?"
"I wonder. They might ask to examine it to some extent."
If this tail was part of an entity from outside this world—something that could only be called an otherworldly being—not only alchemists but scholars and many others would likely take interest.
It wouldn't even be strange for someone to insist that using it as a Magic Item material was out of the question.
However, since Rei had received a piece of the tail from Grimm specifically as a Magic Item material, the option of not using it was—
(No, wait. If we research this tail, which is part of an otherworldly being, could it eventually lead to another world... and depending on the circumstances, could we even go to Earth?)
That thought crossed his mind for a moment, but the fact that he thought of it as "going to" Earth rather than "returning to" Earth revealed that Rei considered this world his home.
That said, it wasn't as though he had no desire to visit Earth.
There were the vast array of ingredients that didn't exist in Elgin, and he wanted to see the friends from his high school days.
(Miyamoto loved robots, but for some reason he got along great with me.)
He recalled a friend he had been particularly close to.
But he immediately told himself that now was not the time for such thoughts, and shaking off the nostalgic memories, he spoke.
"Anyway, setting aside whether we hand over the tail, we need to let them know we defeated the eyeball. ...Though they've probably already judged everything is fine now that the eyeball has disappeared."
The eyeball, over ten meters across, had been floating in the sky.
Naturally, given its size, the knights and soldiers who had been prepared as combat forces in case of emergency should have been able to see it.
With that eyeball now gone from the sky, it wouldn't be strange for them to have already judged the situation safe.
(There's a chance they might think we lost and the eyeball returned through the spatial rift, though.)
In truth, the eyeball had been a formidable foe worthy of its eerie appearance.
If Rei and Set had been the only ones fighting it, while they might not have lost, they would have certainly struggled considerably.
(Thinking about it that way, leaving Ara and Byune behind was definitely the right call.)
Ara, with her physical strength and Power Axe, could have dealt significant damage to the eyeball once it was on the ground—but against it in the air, she would have been helpless.
As for Byune, she was completely outmatched in terms of ability.
No, in terms of being outmatched, Ara was in the same boat.
Even if she could damage the eyeball, it was hard to believe Ara at her current level could have handled the countless tentacles.
"You're right. Staying here any longer will only make them worry. Shall we head over quickly?"
At Marina's words, everyone including Rei nodded.
Honestly, Rei would have preferred to rest a little longer first, but knowing that the reserve forces led by Gradalas were standing by ready to move at any moment, it was a fact that he should report the outcome as quickly as possible.
"Gururu."
Amidst all this, Set approached Rei and rubbed his face against him with a purr.
Set's body had been numbed by the lightning the eyeball used, but with some time having passed, he must have recovered to some extent.
Considering that he had joined the final attack on the eyeball, that was clearly the case.
"Thanks, Set. We won against that eyeball thanks in part to you."
At Rei's words, Set purred happily.
For Set, being praised by Rei was probably far more joyful than being praised by anyone else.
"Indeed. I never expected it to have such an attack method. ...I'm glad we didn't bring Ielo."
Elena, who had been listening to the exchange between Rei and Set, murmured with conviction.
Ielo possessed strong defensive power, but even so, what would happen if it took a direct lightning strike was anyone's guess.
Or perhaps, if a more mature Ielo had been present, it might not have been a problem, but...
Continuing that conversation, Rei and his party eventually began walking toward Gradalas's location.