"So, what's the name of the last organization we're taking down today?"
Rei asked as he advanced through the Slum District, guided by Lazaria away from the Clown hideout.
He intended to annihilate this organization from the outside with magic in one fell swoop, just as he had done with the Clown hideout.
But considering it was an organization he was about to destroy—or rather, annihilate—he figured he should at least know its name.
This wasn't purely out of curiosity. He asked because he felt that if similar organizations existed elsewhere, it would be best to destroy them as swiftly as possible.
The organization he was about to crush was merely a branch dispatched to Gilm, not the main body—just like the Clown hideout he had dealt with.
There was no doubt the branch would fall to his attack, and if every member they'd sent was wiped out, the parent organization was unlikely to dispatch anyone else to Gilm.
Still, if Rei encountered that organization when heading to other villages, towns, or cities, he wanted to crush it then and there if possible.
Hearing his question, Lazaria told him the organization's name as if even mentioning it was filthy.
"Heaven's Light."
"That's quite a grandiose name for an organization."
Heaven's Light. At the dubious-sounding name, Rei's expression twisted in displeasure.
Beside him, Set didn't show it on his face, but he too radiated an aura of distaste.
(Heaven's Light, huh... No, surely not.)
Rei suddenly recalled a religious organization he had clashed with several times before, but he decided it was probably just his imagination and chose not to think any further about it.
Right now, crushing Heaven's Light took priority.
"Please be careful. We're getting close to the Heaven's Light hideout. There will be more drug-addled people around here. As far as I know, Heaven's Light positions them around their hideout on purpose. If the drug-addled people take down an intruder, they receive drugs in return..."
"I see. So they desperately try to take down intruders for their own pleasure. That makes things a bit troublesome."
If these were normal opponents—opponents with a firm sense of self—it wouldn't be strange for them to flee the moment they saw Rei or Set. Even if they didn't run at first, they would once they saw their companions go down.
But opponents drugged out of their minds, incapable of sound judgment, couldn't be counted on to do that.
There was a real possibility that someone might come at them believing that getting injured—or even dying—was worth it if it meant obtaining drugs.
"You're right. That's why we need to proceed even more slowly than before. Though, people using drugs are so filled with a sense of bliss that they sometimes don't even notice people passing by."
"That's convenient if you can distinguish them, but it sounds like it'll be troublesome if you can't."
Lazaria nodded earnestly at Rei's words.
A surveillance network that seemed to have gaps but didn't. It was undeniably troublesome.
"Anyway, there's no question that moving without being spotted is the best option. I'll leave the guiding to you."
"Yes. Leave it to me. I definitely want Heaven's Light crushed."
Lazaria declared in a firm tone.
Rei nodded to her, and Set, seeing his reaction, also nodded for some reason, imitating him.
Whether Set actually understood the situation was something even Rei couldn't say for certain.
But seeing Set nodding along, Rei figured it was probably best to assume he understood.
"Look."
As they walked, Lazaria suddenly murmured.
Rei turned his gaze toward the source of her voice and saw several men and women leaning against the wall of a building, their eyes vacant.
They looked exactly like people using drugs.
At first glance, it didn't seem like they would do anything toward them.
But if Lazaria's words were true, those people would undoubtedly alert someone the moment they spotted Rei and his group.
(I don't know exactly how they'd alert them... Come to think of it, in their current state, could they even properly relay a message? Or maybe just causing a commotion is enough for the Heaven's Light members to understand.)
Rei silently turned his gaze to Lazaria, but she didn't understand what had prompted his look and merely tilted her head slightly.
"What is it?"
Lazaria asked in a hushed voice, low enough not to be heard by the people nearby. Rei replied in the same hushed tone.
"You said those types would tell the Heaven's Light folks if they spotted someone, but how do they alert them? In that state, I doubt they'd have the intelligence to properly report anything even if they found us. They look like zombies or something. I guess it's fine as long as they don't stink of rot."
When fighting zombies, the most troublesome aspect was the stench of rot.
Rei and Set in particular possessed sharp senses, so the rot of zombies was far more troublesome than a direct attack.
He disliked zombies so much that he felt fighting skeletons, which had no rotting stench, was considerably easier.
"The people in Heaven's Light don't think those people can judge the targets they see, either. They just need to spot someone and make noise. That's all. If they do, the ones who caused a ruckus can get drugs too..."
"...I see. That's troublesome. So the question is how close we can get without being spotted by those types. Can we manage?"
"Leave it to me. That said, the distance we can close is still limited. The closer we get to the building, the more addicts there will be."
Rei thought for a moment at Lazaria's words.
In the first place, what he was trying to do this time wasn't charge into the building and fight directly like before.
He was simply planning to burn down the Heaven's Light hideout along with the building from a distance.
Given that, there was no need to get as close as Lazaria feared.
All he needed was to burn it from a certain distance—within the effective range of his magic—and that would be enough.
"In that case, is there a place where we can get reasonably close without being spotted by the zombies—I mean, the addicts? Once we get there, I'll use magic to annihilate the building in one shot."
"Huh? Hmm... wait a moment. Let me think about whether there's a place like that."
Lazaria thought hard in response to Rei's question.
She recalled the geography of the area thoroughly, searching for a place where there were no drug addicts...
"Ah, there is one."
Lazaria told him with a full smile.
For her, Rei's words about annihilating the Heaven's Light hideout were extremely welcome.
The sight she had witnessed when he burned down the Clown hideout had been astonishing.
But at the same time, it was an undeniable fact that she had harbored hope—if he had that much power, he could easily burn the Heaven's Light hideout to ashes.
That was why she desperately thought about a place that wouldn't get in Rei's way—a place where he could perform to the best of his abilities—and she recalled a certain location.
"I see. Then guide us there."
Rei didn't ask where it was or anything else. He simply said that.
Based on her actions so far, he had judged that Lazaria was trustworthy.
Pleased by that, Lazaria led Rei and Set toward the designated location.
Naturally, there were drug-addled people along the way, but they proceeded while avoiding being spotted by them as much as possible.
Since they were moving while avoiding detection by people using drugs, they also passed through places where such people weren't present—paths that people normally wouldn't take.
There were a few close calls along the way, but the group arrived at their destination without any particular problems.
It was a fairly old building, but it was located right next to the base that served as Heaven's Light's hideout.
As for how they had reached such a place—this building had an underground passage.
However, it wasn't an impressive passage by any means; it appeared to have been dug by an individual.
That was why it was only wide enough for a single person to barely squeeze through, and Set was not present here.
Set could use Size Change, but even for him, the underground passage was too narrow.
Given that it was so cramped that even Rei, who had a rather small build for a man, could barely pass through, he guessed that whoever had dug this passage was probably a child or someone small like himself.
(Anyway, I don't know how Lazaria knew about this place, but there's no doubt we managed to get right next to the building. Of course, there are drug-addled—junkies—right outside this building too, so there's a high chance we'll be spotted immediately if I use magic.)
That was the problem.
They had been guided this far by Lazaria, but if Rei used magic here, the junkies outside would almost certainly attack.
Given that, he wanted Lazaria to stay in a safe place if possible...
"Are you sure you have to stay here?"
"Yes. I want to see Heaven's Light get annihilated."
"If you just want to watch that, I think you could see it even if you stayed with Set somewhere else, right?"
"I want to see it from as close as possible. Besides, you need someone to protect you while you're using magic, right?"
That was true.
When using magic, he needed to concentrate on controlling it.
Above all, the building he was about to burn was the source of the drugs flowing into the Slum District.
Not all of the drugs were necessarily inside the building, but a considerable amount was likely stored there.
If he failed to control his magic when burning such a place, the consequences could be dire.
In the worst case, the smoke from the burning drugs could flood the entire Slum District.
That was why he needed to control his magic precisely and burn even the smoke itself.
"I'll be fine on that front. I can manage to some extent by myself. If having my magic interrupted would be bad, I just need to make sure no one can interfere in the first place."
"Even so, I'm staying here."
Judging that she wouldn't listen no matter how much he insisted, Rei let out a sigh of resignation.
"Fine. Then just stay and watch from there. Though it might be a bit hard to see."
"Huh?"
Lazaria probably didn't understand what Rei meant.
She gave him a questioning look, but Rei, without appearing to mind it at all, took Death Scythe out of his Misty Ring and activated a skill.
"Terrain Manipulation."
The moment Death Scythe's handle touched the ground, the earth changed.
The ground around the building where Rei and Lazaria stood suddenly rose by 150 centimeters, and immediately below it sank by 150 centimeters.
With that movement, the already quite old building naturally collapsed, but since it was now covered by walls of earth, there was no sign of the junkies outside spotting them.
Of course, with the ground suddenly rising and sinking like this, the junkies around the earthen walls were making a commotion, each shouting whatever they pleased, clearly aware that some kind of anomaly had occurred.
"Is this..."
"For now, just watch the Heaven's Light hideout burn from there."
What Rei pointed to were several small holes in the earthen wall.
The Heaven's Light hideout was visible through them, but since they were just small holes, it wasn't possible to see everything perfectly.
"Oh."
A slightly surprised voice escaped Rei's mouth just as he was about to use magic.
The Heaven's Light hideout had been enveloped in a thin blue membrane.
That was clearly a response to Rei's attack—or more specifically, a precaution against his magic.
Whether they had already received information that Rei had burned down the Clown building, or whether they had simply planned to respond that way if he attacked, Rei didn't know.
But if the other side was willing to take on his magic head-on, there was no reason for him not to accept the challenge.
"Very well. Good courage, facing me head-on. Here I go."
Looking at the pale blue dome ahead, Rei held Death Scythe and began chanting his magic.