The stones thrown by the woman in pierrot-like makeup.
Rei deflected, slashed, and knocked them away with Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, handling them without particular effort.
The juggling the woman had performed with stones was truly splendid.
Had this been a street performance rather than a hideout of an Underground Organization called Clown, it would not have been strange to applaud and toss over a few Silver Coins—that was how impressive it was.
But unfortunately, this was not the street, and Rei had not come to watch a performance.
At present, their relationship was that of Underground Organization members and an intruder who had come to crush said organization.
Given that, no matter how magnificent the woman's juggling was, he had no intention of letting himself be captivated by it.
"Let's start with a warm-up, shall we!"
So saying, Rei hurled the Twilight Spear as if in retaliation for the stones she had thrown during her juggling act.
However, the woman evaded the Twilight Spear with a light, graceful movement, as if she had read his attack.
Glancing at the spear embedded in the wall, the woman—whose expression remained unreadable behind her makeup—tilted her head slightly and spoke.
"Do you not need to return that spear to your hand? Or are you aiming for an opening in my guard?"
That the Twilight Spear's ability was known came as no particular surprise to Rei.
He used the Twilight Spear frequently, after all.
Precisely because it was so convenient, many had witnessed its power.
Even during this operation to annihilate the Underground Organization, Rei had been using the Twilight Spear quite extensively.
Considering that, it would not be strange for the woman to know about its ability.
Returning the Twilight Spear to his hand, Rei spoke.
"So, what do you plan to do from here? Don't tell me you think you can do something to me with those stones from earlier?"
"That's right. Which is why... I'll have you let me use this method."
So saying, the woman produced a black lump of metal from her clothing.
In terms of size, it was only about half that of the stones she had been juggling moments before.
Round... yes, a sphere was the most appropriate word for it. The woman began juggling the lump of metal once again.
When he saw the metal sphere, Rei was slightly surprised.
But ultimately, that was the only effect it had—surprising Rei.
It was obvious that the sphere was the woman's weapon, but merely throwing it would not be much different from the stones earlier.
No, considering it's smaller than the stones, wouldn't that actually be a step backward?
Rei observed the juggling woman while harboring that question.
Then, as if timing it to the moment Rei began to have such doubts, the woman threw the metal sphere.
Naturally, Rei was wary of the metal sphere the woman had produced and chose to evade rather than intercept it...
"Tch! Chi!"
The instant Rei evaded, a man wearing monkey-like makeup dropped from the ceiling and attacked.
He had not simply attacked, though—he came riding a trapeze.
Why is something like that hanging from the ceiling? Rei wondered, but since the man had unmistakably attacked him, dealing with it took priority over pondering such questions.
While riding the trapeze, sharp claws extended from his fingertips—whether this too mimicked a monkey, it was unclear.
They were not the magic-formed claws that Vihera's Hand Gauntlets could produce, but rather sharply pointed artificial nails fitted directly over his own.
Since they were artificial nails attached to his fingers rather than gauntlet-generated claws, they offered greater freedom of movement compared to the claws Vihera used.
On the other hand, since they were ultimately artificial nails, they had an even shorter reach than standard claws—which already had a shorter range than weapons like longswords and spears.
For a sudden ambush from hiding, the short range probably posed no problem... but for Rei, who had the ability to deal with it, evading the attack in a split second was not difficult.
Still, since he remained unable to detect their presence, he could not launch a counterattack.
In any case, after evading the assault from the trapeze—a presence that was clearly outside the realm of common sense—Rei glanced up at the ceiling...
"What?"
An instant ago, there should have been a trapeze that the monkey-makeup man had been riding, but looking at the ceiling, nothing was there.
Given that he could not sense any presence, he briefly wondered if what he had seen was some kind of illusion... but right now, he had no time to be lost in thought.
"I don't know where you're looking, but is it really wise to take your eyes off me?"
Along with those words, another metal sphere was hurled at Rei.
The woman's remark about where he was looking made Rei momentarily wonder if what he had seen really was some kind of hallucination, but before he could process that thought, he first needed to deal with the metal sphere coming at him.
Rei evaded the woman's throw.
...The metal sphere struck the wall.
If it had embedded itself or bounced off and clattered to the floor, Rei would have accepted the outcome.
However... the woman's thrown metal sphere pierced clean through the wall in the next instant.
If it had blasted through, destroying the wall as it went, he could have at least understood.
But the projectile merely opened a hole roughly the same diameter as the sphere, leaving the rest of the wall intact as it passed through.
The attack had what could only be called an absurdly inconsistent destructive power.
Assuming a stance with Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear while remaining wary of the trapeze-riding attacker, Rei spoke.
"Is the secret behind that ridiculous power in those metal spheres?"
"Well, who knows. It might simply be my technique, or perhaps it's thanks to this building?"
"...The building, huh."
Rei entertained the possibility the woman's words suggested, but as if to interrupt his thoughts, the sound of something slicing through the air reached him once more.
"Do you think the same trick will work twice!?"
Rei swung Death Scythe toward the incoming opponent—a small-statured figure with monkey makeup.
Since the man was riding a trapeze, he should not have been able to evade Death Scythe's strike.
That was what Rei thought, but the Clown member leaped from the trapeze just before the blade severed the rope.
That surprised Rei, but what surprised him even more was how much force it took to cut through the trapeze's rope with Death Scythe.
The rope connecting the trapeze was somewhat thick, but still only thick enough that an adult could easily grip it with one hand.
And yet, why on earth was it so difficult to sever?
He had almost never struggled this much to cut something before.
However, just as Rei was surprised by the difficulty of cutting the rope... no, even more so, the monkey-makeup man and the woman with the metal spheres were stunned.
"How exasperating. To think you could cut that rope so easily."
"...Is it some kind of special rope? Well, given how hard it was to cut, I figured it wasn't ordinary."
"Of course it is. It's made from a virgin's hair that's been magically treated. Its durability is absolutely guaranteed."
"..."
In contrast to the woman's exasperated explanation, the man glared at Rei with a ferocious expression.
An intensity of gaze so strong that, if looks could kill, Rei would undoubtedly be dead.
Why he was being subjected to such a glare... even Rei could figure that much out.
To this man, the trapeze must have been an extremely important possession.
That said, he had used it to attack Rei, so Rei countering that attack was only natural.
Then again, if it was that important to you, don't dodge my attack. It got cut because of that.
Rei returned the man's gaze with exasperation, but for the man's part, he had probably never imagined the trapeze would be destroyed.
The woman's words had implied as much, and there had indeed been some resistance when Rei tried to slash through it with Death Scythe.
"It seems to have been quite a precious item, but you're the ones who attacked me. Given that, I have every right to fight back. ...So, what will it be? Are you going to keep fighting?"
Even as he said that, Rei did not think the opponent would stop.
In the first place, he had come to destroy this organization called Clown.
Given that, he was fundamentally prepared to kill those who belonged to it.
If they were to propose some kind of deal like Ninash had, that would be a different matter, but from the looks of it, they showed no such inclination.
"That's right. It would be troublesome if the organization were destroyed. ...So, although I feel sorry for you, Rei, please die right here!"
Along with those words, the woman threw the metal spheres.
This time, it was not just one but several.
The attacks unleashed toward Rei did not stop there.
The man who had been on the trapeze leaped swiftly, kicked off the wall, and using the Triangle Jump technique, came slashing at Rei with his claws.
While evading the metal spheres, Rei attempted to swing Death Scythe as a counter against the man closing in with swift, agile movements—as if he had mimicked even a monkey's athletic ability... but the instant a faint sound of air being cut reached his ears, Rei evaded the monkey-makeup man's attack and swung Death Scythe toward the source of that sound.
"Gyaaah!"
The one who let out a scream accompanied by a high-pitched metallic ring was not Rei... but the man with monkey makeup.
Rei had deflected the thrown dagger with Death Scythe and, matching that movement, thrust the Twilight Spear behind him.
Since it was a split-second reaction, the strike landed with the butt cap rather than the spearhead, but the monkey-makeup man was small in stature and wore no armor to maximize his agility.
Though the woman throwing metal spheres was not wearing armor either, so perhaps that was simply their style as Clown members.
Thanks to that, Rei's Twilight Spear strike easily pierced the man's solar plexus, fractured his ribs, and sent him flying from the sheer force of Rei's arm strength.
He had not killed him with that strike, but counting him as combat power in this battle would be impossible.
"Just when I thought I'd taken one down, there's another one. ...Strictly speaking, it's 'another one before I've even finished one off.'"
"Hah! Evading my daggers is worthy of note. My daggers, likened to the gale!"
With a casual flick, the man pushed back his shoulder-length hair as he spoke.
That man, whose face was half-covered by a pierrot-like mask, was—even with only half his face visible—handsome enough to earn the description.
The man was likely aware that his features were well-arranged.
That was precisely why he carried himself with such theatrical mannerisms.
Even so, Rei did not underestimate the man before him.
He had judged that the daggers thrown earlier were indeed remarkably fast, and that the man had the skill to back up his boasts.
At the same time, being a member of Clown almost certainly meant he was a capable fighter.
"A gale, huh. For all that, those were some pretty slow daggers... !
A sharp metallic ring once again echoed through the surroundings.
The instant Rei uttered the word "slow," daggers were thrown once more.
Rei deflected them.
But the woman with the metal spheres was not about to sit back and watch the exchange between the two.
The very instant Rei deflected the daggers, a metal sphere was hurled.
A metal sphere with the power to not embed itself in or destroy a wall, but simply pierce clean through it.
However, even such a weapon... was easily deflected when it came up against the Twilight Spear and Death Scythe that Rei wielded.
Not only that—he could even adjust the angle of deflection, sending it flying back toward the man.
"Tch! Don't tell me you deliberately aimed for me... Impressive. As expected of my nemesis. But I won't lose!"
Deflecting naturally meant the speed was reduced compared to when it was thrown.
Because of that, The Dagger Man had no difficulty evading the metal sphere Rei had deflected.
Then again, if anything, I wish they'd all attack me at once. That would make it harder for me to deal with. ...Why do they keep coming out one at a time? Could this also be because they're Clown members?
Because they were Clown—street performers—they deliberately came out one at a time.
Rei considered that, but then questioned whether they would really go to such lengths when their own organization was under attack... and deciding this was not the time for such thoughts, he swung Death Scythe toward the woman.
"Flying Slash!"
As if exploiting a gap between the thrown metal spheres, a slash of energy flew from Death Scythe.