"Flying Slash!"
The giant Water Wolf lunged upward, attempting to crush the airborne Set in its jaws.
Though startled that it had leaped to a height of nearly a hundred meters, Set evaded the attack—and Rei wasn't about to let the Water Wolf hang defenseless in midair. He unleashed a slash from Death Scythe.
The flying slash tore straight and true through the Water Wolf's head, as expected.
When he had used Flying Slash against the smaller Water Wolves spawned by the larger one, it had possessed enough power to bisect them cleanly. The giant Water Wolf, however, was vastly different from its offspring.
The strike did tear into the Water Wolf, but rather than severing through, it only managed to wound it.
And the wounded Water Wolf showed no sign of being affected. By the time it landed on the water's surface, the wound had already been filled by the surrounding water.
"Tch, what a nuisance!"
Was it really necessary to evaporate the entire lake—or if not that far, at least unleash an attack capable of evaporating the giant Water Wolf itself?
Rei thought so, but the location was a major constraint. A tremendously major one.
Even if he used large-scale Flame Magic, he doubted the Water Wolf would just sit there and take it. Given how it had just leaped, there was a high chance it would evade his magic.
Above all else, the most troublesome thing was that even at its massive size, it hadn't discarded the agility inherent to wolves.
Combined with the fact that it could move freely across the water's surface, carelessly using large-scale magic would deal major damage not to the Water Wolf but to the lake itself.
In the worst case—if the Water Wolf couldn't be defeated and headed for Gilm—then he could attack with the intent of obliterating the lake entirely. But considering the lake's value to Gilm, Rei wanted to avoid doing something like that if at all possible.
Though that was partly for Gilm's sake, the biggest reason was more personal: the lake's fish and other resources meant Rei might be able to enjoy a rich culinary lifestyle in Gilm.
As long as it wouldn't cause major damage to Gilm, Rei wanted to defeat only the Water Wolf without harming the lake as much as possible.
(That means... I have no choice but to hit the Water Wolf directly with Flame Magic.)
Making that decision, Rei began chanting a spell while holding Death Scythe atop Set's back.
O flame, thou art a being born of fire. Gather, together with that fire. Spread thy wings of mighty flame and take flight!
Along with the chant, fire gathered on the blade of Death Scythe.
Then... the fire gradually took the shape of a bird.
Phoenix that conquers the sky!
The flames, now in the form of a bird about three meters in size, flew straight toward the Water Wolf just as Rei intended.
Naturally, the Water Wolf noticed the Flame Bird. Perhaps if it weren't night, it wouldn't have stood out so much. But even with various lights here and there, it was now night. Under such conditions, something like a Flame Bird would inevitably draw attention.
The smaller Water Wolves that had been racing across the water's surface chasing Rei and Set lunged at the Flame Bird. They kicked off the water, leaped, and threw themselves bodily at the flying Flame Bird.
Fire and water. Under normal circumstances, the fire would simply be extinguished and that would be the end.
But that was only under normal circumstances.
The water composing the Water Wolf and the flames born from Rei's magic—when those two collided, the Water Wolf evaporated in an instant and exploded.
From his knowledge of anime and manga back on Earth, Rei thought it might be a steam explosion, but the steam explosions he knew of were massive—detonations so large you'd think a bomb had gone off. Yet from what he could see, the explosion that occurred before his eyes wasn't that large.
Whether his knowledge of steam explosions was wrong, or whether it was simply an explosion caused by something else entirely for a different reason, Rei couldn't determine. But at the very least, there was no mistaking that it wasn't a large explosion.
However, in the next moment, the Flame Bird burst forth from within the blast. Its form showed no sign of having been affected by the explosion from the contact with the Water Wolf. The Water Wolf's attack had been completely ineffective—such was Rei's impression.
"Go."
In accordance with Rei's will, the Flame Bird charged straight toward the giant Water Wolf. Refusing to let that happen, the smaller Water Wolves lunged at it one after another, but the Flame Bird, controlled by Rei, evaded their charging assaults.
In response, the giant Water Wolf must have judged the situation dangerous, as it swung its water-formed front leg in a wide arc.
Judging purely by appearance, the attack didn't seem all that impressive. But in terms of sheer power, the mass of the water comprising the Water Wolf's body was directly converted into attack force.
A direct hit would likely deal significant damage even to the Flame Bird, but Rei moved it as if welcoming the enemy's attack instead, crashing it head-on into the giant Water Wolf.
And then... the next moment, an explosion far different from the one caused by the smaller Water Wolf—a massive explosion—was generated.
The shockwave was violent. Even Set, flying through the air, lost his balance, flapping his wings frantically to stabilize himself midair.
Naturally, the explosion was also felt by the Adventurers and Lizardmen fighting the smaller wolves on the lakeshore.
Among the Lizardmen, some were thrown into confusion and dismay by the sudden blast, but to the Adventurers and the Knight, nothing that happened was particularly surprising given that Rei had gone after the giant Water Wolf. If anything, some of them even wore expressions that said it was about time.
What was unfortunate was that the smaller Water Wolves showed no sign of being rattled either. Being creations spawned by the giant Water Wolf, they perhaps had no sense of self, or even if they did, it was faint. For whatever reason, the massive explosion did nothing to disturb them.
"Tch, even though the main Water Wolf took damage, there's not a single sign of agitation from you lot! Do you have no heart to worry about your parent!?"
Along with that shout, a mace was swung, smashing a Water Wolf's head to pieces.
But even with one of their own killed, the other Water Wolves showed not the slightest sign of disturbance, continuing to lunge at the Adventurers and Lizardmen.
"Uoooooh! Don't lose! If they break through here, the Birth Tower is behind us! Don't let the Children become prey to these monsters!"
The Knight shouted to the fighters battling around him.
It was only natural after living together, but to the Adventurers and the Knight, the Lizardman Children were recognized as those who must be protected. The Lizardman Children being friendly and unafraid of the Adventurers was surely one reason for that.
At first, some had been displeased at the thought of Lizardman children, but that was only at the very beginning. Seeing innocent Lizardman Children playing in the lake or in the Treant Forest, it was impossible not to think of them as someone who should be protected.
At the Knight's words, the Adventurers rallied. Seeing the Adventurers thus roused, the Lizardmen too—whatever their reasons—decided they couldn't afford to lose, and naturally rallied as well.
Though they were being pressured by the Water Wolves' numbers, the battle on the lakeshore shifted to something close to a stalemate.
"How's the damage?"
Unaware that such a battle was taking place on the shore, Rei wondered which side had taken more damage from the collision between the Water Wolf and the Flame Bird.
An explosion of an entirely different scale from when it had touched the smaller Water Wolves. The smoke from that blast drifted across the night lake, carried by the wind.
What remained was...
"Tch, so it wasn't enough."
Seeing that one of the giant Water Wolf's front legs—no, not just the front leg but everything up to the shoulder—had been obliterated, Rei muttered in frustration.
If the Water Wolf had some kind of core, that explosion might have been enough to destroy it. Such a thought had crossed Rei's mind, but unfortunately, that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
"Grurr?"
Set, carrying Rei on his back, rumbled questioningly—what do we do?
Even so, Set's gaze never left the giant Water Wolf. He surely remembered how it had lunged at the altitude where Set had been flying just moments ago. With its front leg not just gone but obliterated all the way to the shoulder, it was hard to believe it could still leap to where Set was.
But even so, there was a possibility—a real if unlikely possibility—that being a Water Wolf, it could come after them in the sky at any moment. That possibility couldn't be completely dismissed. The fact that it had reached a height of a hundred meters had been genuinely surprising even to Set.
"Yeah. I'd love to build a friendly relationship with it if possible, but that's probably not going to happen."
"Grurr."
Set agreed as a matter of course.
The Water Wolf had attacked without any hesitation or observation from the moment it appeared. That being the case, it was hard to believe it had come seeking friendship.
(Right. When I was fighting Gaga... hey, wait a minute.)
A bad premonition suddenly struck him.
Rei and Gaga's battle. A fairly serious fight, even if neither was wielding their preferred weapons. Naturally, both of them had been radiating killing intent and Fighting Spirit. And both Rei and Gaga possessed strength that couldn't even be compared to ordinary skilled fighters. That was precisely why the killing intent and Fighting Spirit emanating from the two of them should have been immense and dense.
If this had been daytime, or even evening, it might not have been much of an issue. But it was now night, the time when monsters were most active.
What would happen if fighters of Rei and Gaga's caliber fought in such a place at such a time? The answer was obvious without needing to think about it.
"...Set, descend closer to the Water Wolf."
"Grurr!?"
Set let out a cry of surprise. Naturally. The Water Wolf possessed a massive body, the ability to leap to heights of a hundred meters, the capacity to spawn countless offspring or clones—the distinction was unclear—and a high Regeneration Ability on top of all that.
As a monster inhabiting a teleported lake, its strength couldn't be measured by this world's monster ranking system, but even so, Rei felt it was at least a B-Rank... no, a creature that might reach A-Rank.
Such a powerful monster wouldn't just overlook Rei and Set approaching it carelessly. Set thought so precisely because it was a High-Rank Monster as well.
But... whether or not he understood Set's concerns, Rei spoke again.
"Set, please."
"Grurr... Grurru!"
Even being told that—reconsider, Set insisted. But Rei asked a third time.
"Just once is enough. If that doesn't work, I'll seriously think of another way."
Set, who loved Rei deeply, generally obeyed his requests unconditionally. But being asked to approach what was clearly a High-Rank Monster was something it couldn't simply agree to.
"Grurr..."
"See? Please."
"...Grurr."
If not the third time's the charm, then the fourth.
Having been asked that many times, Set couldn't refuse, and reluctantly let out a cry of assent. Of course, if the Water Wolf attacked the moment they approached, Set was ready to counterattack immediately. Flapping its wings, it slowly began to lose altitude.
Naturally, the Water Wolf standing on the water's surface had already fully recovered—no, regenerated—from the damage dealt by Rei's magic, and it watched Set descending with a steady gaze.
The fact that it showed no concern for the others fighting near the lake was likely because it understood that Rei and Set were the greater threats.
Even so, while the Water Wolf kept its eyes fixed on Set, it showed no sign of attacking. If Set had gone into a steep dive, the Water Wolf would have surely launched a serious attack to deal with it. But Set flapped its wings, slowly, slowly, closing the distance to the Water Wolf little by little.
Moving slowly enough that the Water Wolf could have attacked at any moment, had it wished to.
The Water Wolf's high physical capabilities should have been clear to Set as well from their brief skirmish earlier. Knowing that and still approaching this way—there must be some meaning behind it. It was only natural for the Water Wolf to think so.
Rei, sitting atop Set's back, stored Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear in his Misty Ring before addressing the Water Wolf before him.
"Can you understand my words? ...Even if you can't, I think you can tell I have no intention of fighting."
By storing his weapons in the Misty Ring right before its eyes, the Water Wolf should understand that he had no hostile intent. If it possessed abilities equivalent to an A-Rank Monster, many such creatures also had high intelligence.
To Rei's words, the Water Wolf showed no particular reaction, simply watching his form in silence.