The spear flew straight toward her torso.
Had it been a spear thrown by some ordinary adventurer or soldier, the whip-wielding woman would not have found it difficult to dodge. Depending on the circumstances, she might have even been able to wrap her whip around the shaft and hurl it back at her opponent.
But this was no ordinary opponent's spear. The one who threw it was Rei, and the weapon itself was the Twilight Spear—a first-class Magic Item.
Realizing that her skills and weapon were insufficient to block or intercept it, the woman committed entirely to evasion. Even so, her movement was a fraction too slow.
The spear tore through the woman's side, rending both flesh and her provocative outfit.
Even so, the wound only split skin and muscle rather than spilling her innards—a testament to her split-second judgment and ability to shift her body in an instant.
That said, it only reduced a fatal wound to a severe one.
"Kuh..."
Pressing a hand against the blood streaming from her side, the woman nonetheless leapt backward to create distance.
Rei watched her, then called the Twilight Spear back to his hand.
He recalled it but made no move to pursue.
If he struck now, throwing the Twilight Spear again would undoubtedly inflict massive damage.
Even though that was certain, he held back—because he suspected a new enemy might appear at this exact moment, just as they had before.
Yet, unexpectedly, even with the whip-wielding woman gravely injured, there was no sign of reinforcements.
(Why? There's no way this is everyone in the Clown, but...)
The enemies Rei had taken down since entering this building totaled only five: the man from his initial encounter, the metal-sphere-throwing woman, the trapeze attacker, the dagger-throwing man, and now the whip-wielding woman.
There was no denying they had all been skilled, but the absence of anyone else struck Rei as strange.
Regardless, if no more enemies were coming...
Rei turned toward the whip-wielding woman and readied the Twilight Spear.
Closing the distance would mean breathing in that sweet scent again, so a long-range attack was essential for taking down the Whip Woman.
She had produced a potion from somewhere and poured it over her wound, but it had no effect.
Seeing that, Rei smiled inwardly.
The Twilight Spear's Magic Item ability allowed it to freely return to its wielder's hand.
But beyond that, it also possessed the effect of hindering an opponent's wounds from healing.
Granted, the latter was merely a secondary effect—easily negated by a sufficiently high-quality potion or potent Recovery Magic.
Still, the fact that the wound on the Whip Woman's side showed no signs of healing meant the potion she had used was not of particularly high quality.
"Are you the last one here?"
No matter how long he waited, there was no sign of additional Clown members appearing.
That was exactly why Rei asked, fully expecting the answer to be no. But the Whip Woman, enduring the pain, managed a smile.
"Who knows? Maybe I really am the last. Or maybe not. Perhaps even now, someone is targeting you, Rei."
"...If someone's really still here, I'd suggest they come out quickly."
Saying that, Rei advanced toward the Whip Woman.
Noticing this, she swung her whip through the pain radiating from her side.
The speed of the strike was more than enough to overwhelm an ordinary soldier or adventurer.
But compared to the razor-sharp precision he had witnessed earlier, it was several notches slower.
(The scent... it's gone.)
Rei sniffed the air as he gradually closed the distance. Fortunately, the sweet fragrance had already dissipated.
He remained curious about how that smell had been produced, but for now, it was better to finish the woman off before she could use it again.
A single flash of Death Scythe severed the incoming whip.
Even the weapon's initial supersonic strike had been within Rei's ability to handle.
Given that, dealing with an attack slower than the first posed little difficulty.
"Ah... kuh!"
But the woman had no intention of giving up so easily.
Sensing that the tip of her whip had been cut, she wrenched out the weapon's handle.
"I see. A hidden blade rather than a hidden cane."
Concealed within the whip's handle was a short sword.
She leveled the blade's tip at Rei, settling into a stance ready to strike at any moment.
That might have been a threat in peak condition, but with her side laid open, countering it was a simple matter.
"Here I come."
He murmured and closed the gap once more.
Until now, the woman's whip had given her the advantage in reach.
But reduced to a short sword, she was hopelessly outmatched by Rei wielding both Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear.
Thwack!
Rei deliberately pulled his strike, swinging so that the shaft of Death Scythe struck the woman rather than the blade.
She tried to dodge, but the pain in her abdomen slowed her movement, and the blow sent her flying.
"Guh!"
A dull cry escaped her lips as her body slammed against the wall and crumpled to the floor.
Rei approached the fallen woman.
"Now then. If you don't want to die, you'll answer some questions. First and foremost: this sense of unease I've been feeling. Given your organization's abilities, it seems likely the Clown is the source. ...Well?"
"Cough... who knows?"
Clutching her stomach where she had been struck, the woman gave her reply.
She clearly had no strength left to counterattack, and even moving seemed like an ordeal.
Yet she showed not the slightest sign of submitting.
"If you stay silent, things are going to get more painful. Are you sure you're fine with that? I'd rather you just talked before I have to resort to such measures."
"Heh... hehe... you think I'll talk just because you tell me to? Go ahead and try. No matter how much you hurt me, it won't mean a thing."
From those words, Rei deduced that there were likely no combat personnel left in this building.
(Which means the remaining issue is... the non-combatants.)
Everyone who had attacked him since he entered this building possessed genuine skill.
He acknowledged that. But no organization could function on fighters alone.
Even an underworld outfit needed administrative specialists—people who handled the books, the logistics.
Naturally, as members of a criminal organization, it wouldn't be surprising if those administrative staff had some combat training.
But that training would be limited. They wouldn't possess the kind of skill the fighters Rei had faced here exhibited. That was his assessment.
No—it was closer to conviction than mere speculation.
By any rational measure, highly skilled fighters required considerable training.
Overwhelming talent could change that equation, but someone with that level of talent would have been deployed among the elite sent to kill Rei, not assigned to desk work.
"I see. In other words, there are people in this building with no combat ability, but who know quite a bit about what's going on."
The woman's expression hardened at Rei's words.
He had hit the mark.
But letting it show so plainly on her face was a clear mistake.
Rei's statement had been nothing more than speculation.
He had intended to observe her reaction to confirm his guess, and she had walked right into it.
"Looks like I'm right. The question now is where in this building they're hiding..."
"Wait. I haven't said anything. Jumping to your own conclusions like that is absurd."
Despite having her side gouged open and being sent flying by a blow from Death Scythe's shaft, the woman desperately denied his words.
But that very reaction only confirmed to Rei that his conclusion was correct.
(She looks like a dominatrix, but she actually cares about her comrades. Or maybe it's because she's a dominatrix that she's gentle with her underlings? Well, whatever.)
The woman tried to stand, ignoring the pain of her wound in an effort to keep Rei's attention fixed on her. But the moment she rose, Rei swept her legs out from under her with the butt of Death Scythe, sending her crashing back to the floor.
Then, deliberately loud enough for her to hear, he spoke.
"Since I don't know where they're hiding, it might be simplest to burn the whole building down with everything in it."
The instant he muttered those words, the woman's body went rigid.
As if she had been turned to stone.
"I would've liked to collect some Magic Items, but this unease I've felt since arriving in Gilm has been nothing but trouble. I don't know if a person or an object is causing it, but if I reduce this building to ash, even hidden underground passages won't save them from the heat."
He voiced aloud the same reasoning he had applied to the Wind Fang hideout.
To the woman, it served as unmistakable proof that Rei would actually follow through.
She cried out almost reflexively.
"Stop it!"
Ignoring the pain, she glared at Rei with everything she had.
Her original outfit—a revealing bondage-style suit suited to a dominatrix—had been further compromised by Rei's attacks, exposing areas that absolutely should have remained covered. But she showed no concern for that whatsoever.
Not that Rei was paying attention to such things mid-combat, either.
"Why should I stop? You came to kill me. That being the case, you must have been prepared for the possibility of being killed yourselves."
If you come to kill, you should be prepared to be killed. That was only natural.
Faced with Rei's unflinching declaration, the woman could find no words to counter him.
Because what he said was not wrong.
For a moment, even she was forced to acknowledge it.
But... she still couldn't accept his terms.
"You'd kill even non-combatants!?"
It was the only argument she could muster in her current state.
"Yeah, that's right. Combatant or not, they belong to an organization that made an enemy of me—one that sent assassins after me. It's only natural to want to wipe them out here and now, isn't it?"
"Kuh..."
The woman choked on her words, but Rei pressed on without pause.
"Right then. I'll be burning this building, so you've outlived your usefulness. In all likelihood, whatever has been causing my unease is somewhere in this building. You can turn to charcoal alongside the rest of the Clown."
"Wait!"
"...Why should I? Like I said, you came to kill me. You should have been prepared for retaliation as a matter of course."
"Please... wait. I—I surrender—"
"That would be a problem."
The moment the woman tried to declare her surrender, a voice echoed through the room once more.
He hadn't been able to sense presences since entering this building, so he was used to it by now.
But this voice—one Rei recognized.
A man with a balloon-like physique and pierrot makeup... Daub.
A man who, despite appearances, possessed enough skill to fight Set.
The direction of the voice—Rei threw himself sideways on reflex.
"Gyah!"
The instant Rei leapt clear, Daub descended through the ceiling like a ghost and landed squarely on the back of the woman who had been speaking with Rei mere seconds ago.
Despite his appearance, Daub was nimble. His body weight, however, was exactly what his balloon-like frame suggested.
There was no way the woman—her side pierced and her torso battered by Rei's blow—could evade the impact. The dull crunch of Daub's feet crushing her spine echoed clearly in Rei's ears.
"Didn't expect you to show up. Did you come back here after running from your fight with Set?"
"Who can say?"
Rei's words carried a provoking edge, but Daub let them slide.
Of course, with that pierrot makeup caked on his face, Rei couldn't read his actual expression.
"Either way... I'm glad you showed up. Saves me the trouble of hunting you down."
"Oh, is that so? Perhaps it's the other way around?"
Exuding an air of cheerful menace, Daub took a step toward Rei.