The metallic clang that rang out across the clearing came from the collision of Rei's Death Scythe and Gaga's greatsword.
But even as their weapons ground against each other, both Rei and Gaga stared at one another in sheer astonishment.
Neither had expected the other to receive their strike so squarely, head-on.
From Rei's perspective, the Death Scythe was a mass of metal weighing a hundred kilograms. He was swinging it with arm strength that could only be called superhuman. Even against an opponent standing three meters tall—a creature that could only be described as a giant Lizardman—he had never expected the blow to be stopped outright.
That said, he hadn't expected his strike to send the opponent flying, either. He had simply assumed Gaga would evade or deflect it.
For Gaga, the surprise was the same.
The attacks generated by that massive frame had possessed enough power to incapacitate countless enemies in a single blow. Gaga's greatsword—a weapon that still deserved the name even when wielded by someone three meters tall—carried just that much force behind it.
Yet Rei had stopped that greatsword with the Death Scythe... and with a one-handed grip, no less.
Against an opponent barely half his size.
To Gaga, this was something he could scarcely believe he was witnessing in the real world.
Still, while both were caught off guard, they had already known the other was strong. The pause in their movements lasted only a moment.
The first to make the next move was Rei.
While parrying Gaga's greatsword with the Death Scythe in his right hand, he brought the Twilight Spear in his left sweeping toward Gaga's torso in a horizontal strike.
Since Rei had been holding the Death Scythe in one hand, Gaga had likely been wary of a follow-up from the left. The moment he saw it swing, Gaga loosened his grip on the greatsword locked against the Death Scythe, and by the time Rei felt the resistance give way, Gaga had already leapt backward.
A heartbeat later, the Twilight Spear sliced through the space where Gaga had been standing.
Rei half-reflexively tried to follow up with the Death Scythe, but when his eyes met Gaga's from across the newly opened distance, he forced himself to halt the swing.
From Gaga's stance, it was clear that a careless pursuit would be met with an immediate counter.
The Lizardmen murmured amongst themselves at Gaga's behavior.
The Gaga they knew never retreated. He attacked, and that was all.
Of course, it wasn't that he absolutely never pulled back. If that were the case, he would be nothing more than a mindless berserker. But unless he was facing an opponent of equal or greater caliber, advancing while attacking was enough to settle everything.
That such a Gaga had retreated meant Rei's strength was truly on par with his own. It was only natural for the Lizardmen to reach that conclusion.
Only Zozo, who already knew Rei's strength, watched the exchange as though it were entirely expected.
And it wasn't just the Lizardmen who were stunned. The Adventurer, the Knight, and the Woodcutters present were equally astonished.
On their part, the surprise stemmed from the fact that Gaga was fighting on even terms with Rei.
Rei was an existence who possessed top-class strength even in Gilm, and could safely be called one of the adventurers representing the Kingdom of Mireana. Though only a short time had passed since the battle began, the fact that Gaga was holding his own against Rei spoke volumes about his ability.
They were surprised precisely because they knew Rei's power.
Others—those who had only recently arrived in Gilm and knew Rei by reputation—were stunned to see with their own eyes that the rumors were by no means exaggerated. If anything, the rumors had been understated.
"Not bad."
With the distance still between them, Rei muttered.
Gaga probably couldn't understand the words, but he murmured something back toward Rei all the same.
Rei couldn't understand Gaga's language either, but the meaning was clear enough: they had both acknowledged each other's skill.
Judging that Gaga had likely said something similar to his own remark, Rei leveled the Death Scythe at him.
Gaga raised the tip of his greatsword toward Rei in turn... and the next instant, both kicked off the ground simultaneously.
"Haaaaaaaaah!"
A cry like a war shout tore from Rei's throat.
The Death Scythe swung with that bellow became a razor-sharp strike, unleashed as if to reap not just Gaga's body, but his very life.
This battle was, in a manner of speaking, akin to a mock duel.
Yet whether it was Rei or Gaga, both combatants' attacks carried enough power that a clean hit would cost the other their life without anything seeming strange about it.
"●●!"
Gaga let out his own war cry and brought the greatsword crashing down toward Rei.
Once more, the Death Scythe and greatsword collided in midair.
This time, however, the result was different.
The initial clash was the same—the two weapons met squarely in the air—but the moment they made contact, Rei's Death Scythe distinctly overpowered and shoved the greatsword aside.
In other words, between a two-handed strike from a three-meter-tall Lizardman and a one-handed strike from Rei, who stood barely half that height, the latter carried greater force.
And Rei was wielding Twin Spear Style.
Gaga barely managed to recover from the Death Scythe's blow, but the very next instant, the tip of the Twilight Spear in Rei's left hand thrust forward, aiming to run Gaga through.
"!?"
Gaga knew full well that Rei held a weapon in each hand. But perhaps he hadn't expected to lose the contest of strength, because his reaction came a beat too slow.
That single beat was more than enough of an opening for Rei. However—
"What—!?"
The one who cried out in surprise this time was Rei.
Because Gaga, still in the stance of having been overpowered, launched himself backward.
Without moving his legs at all.
Under normal circumstances, such a movement would be utterly incomprehensible. Indeed, Rei couldn't begin to fathom how Gaga had shifted.
It was enough to make him wonder whether Gaga had used psychokinesis—or perhaps some form of magic unique to another world.
But a glance at the ground where Gaga had been standing revealed the answer.
Just behind where his feet had been, the earth was torn up and gouged.
Given a Lizardman's physique, it wasn't hard to imagine what he had used to accomplish this.
His tail, huh. Troublesome.
Rei had fought mock battles against Zozo several times before, but Zozo had never once used his tail like a leg to reposition himself. That meant it was a technique Zozo couldn't perform but Gaga could.
In other words, he could use his tail as a third limb.
Gaga flashed Rei a ferocious grin and readied his greatsword once more.
To meet him head-on, Rei raised the Death Scythe and Twilight Spear as well.
Silence settled over the clearing once again.
But this time, it didn't last nearly as long as before.
As if they had synced their timing, both kicked off the ground simultaneously, closed the gap, and swung.
Metal rang out in an unbroken chorus.
Yet even amid the furious exchange, the balance of the fight was gradually becoming apparent.
In speed, Rei held the edge. In raw power, Rei. In technique, Rei.
The battle continued to tilt in Rei's favor.
Gaga, however, was no ordinary warrior.
He tried various tactics to cope with the mounting disadvantage, but every single one was shut down.
Gaga was a Lizardman whose fighting style leveraged his tremendous brute strength, but being counted among the top five warriors of the Gran Dragonia Empire meant he was far from a mere brute. His skill clearly surpassed that of any common soldier.
Yet none of the strikes born from that skill could reach Rei.
When he subtly shifted his wrist mid-swing to alter the greatsword's trajectory, the adjustment was immediately neutralized.
When he feinted, Rei saw through it effortlessly and launched a counterstrike that exploited the opening, forcing Gaga to scramble just to defend.
When a fully committed blow was evaded, Gaga tried chaining the momentum into a follow-up attack—only for Rei to halt it with the Death Scythe as if he'd read the move from the start.
Every attack he launched was rendered ineffective.
That said, while Rei was fending off every one of Gaga's assaults, he was also struggling to find an opening for a decisive counter.
Clashing head-on with the Death Scythe meant losing the contest of strength. Understanding this, Gaga chose to evade those strikes rather than block them. He did still receive the Twilight Spear's blows with his greatsword when he could.
Despite occupying a vastly superior position, Rei couldn't seem to put Gaga down—and that was largely due to the same factor as before: Gaga's masterful use of his tail.
Sometimes as a third leg, sometimes as a third arm.
He deployed it skillfully across every facet of combat—attack, support, evasion—adapting it to whatever the moment demanded.
Tch. At this rate, I might actually end up killing him.
Rei swept the Twilight Spear horizontally, acutely aware of how precarious the situation was becoming.
He was confident he could win if the fight continued. But that confidence hinged on fighting with full lethal intent.
This battle was one where both combatants were serious, yes, but neither was trying to kill the other.
In the first place, according to what Zozo had told him, Gaga was the Third Prince of the Gran Dragonia Empire. A man who also ranked among the empire's top five warriors was undeniably a critical figure.
If Rei actually killed Gaga, it would put Daskar in an extremely difficult political position.
That was why, though he was fighting in earnest, he wasn't fighting to kill.
If he truly wanted to kill, he could simply activate the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor and be done with it.
No, dwelling on it won't change anything. I'll just have to press harder.
Rei called out the warning, but since Gaga couldn't understand a word of it, the Lizardman merely tilted his head, greatsword still at the ready.
He could have asked Zozo to translate, but he wasn't in the mood for that right now.
Gaga had fought many opponents over the years, but those who matched Rei's level of strength were vanishingly rare. Perhaps only those counted among the same top five as himself could compare.
This despite Rei being barely half his size.
Gaga was growing intensely fired up by this clash with such an opponent.
The reason the fight had started in the first place had already evaporated from his mind. The only thought that remained was how to win.
And so... Gaga concluded that defeating Rei required resorting to his trump card.
Reading from Gaga's demeanor that something was coming, Rei surged forward.
He didn't know exactly what Gaga was about to do, but it was easy enough to guess it was a hidden technique. There was no reason to wait for it.
He would close the distance and crush whatever Gaga was preparing before it could be launched.
That was the plan as he charged in. But just then, it seemed to him that Gaga's rapidly approaching face split into a grin of triumph.
For an instant, Rei wondered if he'd been played. But having already committed to the charge, there was no turning back.
He closed the gap in a single rush... and in that instant, Gaga's jaws wrenched open wide.
A torrent of information flashed through Rei's mind.
Lizardman. Zozo. Gaga. Elena. Ielo. The Gran Dragonia Empire.
And... Breath.
Rei activated his Sleipnir boots on pure reflex, kicking off the air itself to wrench his trajectory sideways.
Almost simultaneously, fire erupted from Gaga's mouth.
Flames tore through the space Rei had occupied a fraction of a second before.
Without the Dragon Robe, his skin would have suffered at least minor burns from the proximity alone.
Having dodged the inferno at point-blank range, Rei swung the Death Scythe at Gaga, who had frozen—having never imagined his attack could be evaded.
The blade of the Death Scythe came to rest against the back of Gaga's neck. The tip of the Twilight Spear hovered inches from his face.
Pinned like this, Gaga could no longer move.
The only thing left to him was to swing his greatsword at the cost of his own life. But given the situation, it was painfully obvious that such an act would be futile.
In the end, Gaga's choice was simple.
With a heavy clatter, the greatsword struck the ground.
He let go of his weapon and accepted his defeat.