"Shouldn't we be arriving soon?"
Rei said this about four days after departing from Zai's settlement.
The journey was originally supposed to take roughly five days one way, but with Rei storing all their supplies in his Misty Ring, traveling had become considerably easier.
Two days prior, they had rescued a group of Centaurs under attack by Dragonias. Since then, they had encountered no real trouble and safely made it this far.
That was precisely why Rei brought it up — they were a day ahead of schedule, and it wouldn't be surprising if they were drawing close to the Dragonias' stronghold.
"Yes, that's right. I recognize the scenery around here."
The guide Centaur who spoke wore a bitter expression.
Naturally so. The last time he had come to scout the Dragonias' stronghold, every one of his companions had been devoured. He alone had barely escaped with his life.
Under normal circumstances, it would be no surprise if he were left with trauma.
...Actually, from the way he was acting, it was clear he still carried that trauma.
Even so, he understood that the Dragonias had to be dealt with regardless. That was why he had buried the fear and dread in his heart and pushed himself this far.
The other Centaurs understood this too, but there was no question — they needed him to push through here.
He was the only one who knew where the Dragonias' stronghold was.
...Of course, if they were certain the stronghold was close, Rei could have simply ridden Set and searched from the sky.
But given that Rei and Set were somewhat directionally challenged, there was no telling whether they could make it back safely and rejoin Zai's group.
Even if they found the stronghold, it wouldn't be unusual for Rei and Set to end up attacking it on their own.
That aside, the real question was whether they could find their way back to Zai's settlement afterward — or more precisely, whether they could reach the hole connecting to Elgin nearby.
In the worst case, they had agreed to use the Paired Orbs to contact Grimm. But in another world rather than Elgin, being too far apart meant it was uncertain whether the Paired Orbs would even work.
"If you recognize the scenery, that probably means we can assume the stronghold is close."
"Yes. Yes, I believe that's correct. Though the number of Dragonias increases near the stronghold, so we'll need to avoid being spotted."
"Numbers increase — you mean lookouts, specifically?"
A stronghold would normally be expected to have sentries.
Rei asked out of that assumption, but the guide Centaur shook his head.
"As you know, Dragonias lack ego and intelligence... or perhaps they might have some, but they're dominated by an overwhelmingly powerful hunger above all else."
"And that doesn't change even at the stronghold?"
Every Dragonias Rei had fought so far had been consumed by hunger.
But if they were establishing a stronghold, there could be highly intelligent individuals among them — in Elgin's classification, it wouldn't be strange for Rare Species or High-ranking Species to exist.
"That's right. There might be intelligent Dragonias, but from what I saw, there were none like that. ...Of course, I wasn't able to scout thoroughly enough last time, either."
On his previous scouting trip, they had been spotted by Dragonias almost immediately and forced to flee.
Normally, Centaurs were faster than Dragonias, and since they had been chosen as scouts, naturally the fastest runners in the settlement had been selected.
But whether it was bad luck or not, they ran into Dragonias during their escape. Everyone except the one now guiding Rei's group was devoured.
Hearing the explanation, Rei spoke while watching the frustrated Centaur.
"It's possible the Dragonias you encountered were lying in wait."
"Yes. After we returned to the settlement and reported, that possibility was discussed. But based on what we observed of the other Dragonias' behavior..."
"Well, fair enough."
Given the typical behavior patterns of Dragonias, those doubts were natural.
If they had intelligence, they could act more efficiently.
Rei agreed with that view, but if the number of High-ranking Species or Rare Species was small, then it wasn't unreasonable to wonder...
"Gruu."
As they advanced while talking, Set suddenly purred.
What was it? Rei scanned the area and spotted Dragonias in the distance.
What was unusual — truly unusual — was that those Dragonias weren't searching for food. They were eating something.
They were far enough away that even Rei couldn't tell what they were eating.
But their behavior — devouring prey, consumed by hunger — showed zero vigilance toward their surroundings.
Well, this area is already completely Dragonias territory, so there's probably no need to be on guard. Other Dragonias might try to steal their food, sure... but that's not our concern. If anything, the fact that they're not watching their surroundings right now works in our favor.
For Rei and his group, the fewer Dragonias they had to face, the better.
They planned to wipe out the stronghold with a Fire Whirlwind assault, but if there was a chance to obtain Dragonias corpses with differently colored scales before that, there was no reason to pass it up.
"Zai, there are Dragonias over there. Can you see them?"
"If you ask whether I can see them... if you tell me they're there, I suppose something does seem to be there."
Centaurs of the grassland possessed exceptionally sharp eyesight.
But Rei's eyesight surpassed even theirs, and Set's surpassed Rei's.
Because of that, Set had clearly confirmed the Dragonias' presence and Rei could barely make them out. For Zai and the others, though, it was a distance where they could only vaguely agree that something might be there if told.
"Anyway, they're completely engrossed in eating and don't seem to have noticed us. As was explained earlier, it's best to avoid encountering Dragonias when something could go wrong, so we'll take them out here."
"...Understood."
Zai's response came a beat late — likely because he understood that it was his group Rei was protecting from the danger of a Dragonias encounter.
If it were just Rei and Set, fighting Dragonias wouldn't be a problem at all.
For that matter, since Rei and Set could fly, they wouldn't even need to fight.
"If I use my magic, I'll only end up with red-scaled Dragonias corpses. In that sense, defeating Dragonias with different colored scales helps me out a lot too."
Rei hadn't said that to encourage Zai and the others — he said it purely because it benefited him.
But for Zai and the group, it would have been natural to interpret it as consideration for them.
Even so, they knew nothing could be done about the current situation, and Zai nodded honestly at Rei's words.
"Understood. Let's do that."
Seeing Zai nod, Rei lightly patted Set's back.
"Set."
"Gruu."
The name alone was enough. Set understood what Rei expected of him, took a few running strides, flapped his wings, and launched skyward.
Flying through the air, Set soon arrived above the Dragonias' position on the ground.
"Alright. Once I drop, follow me down, Set."
He said it casually, then leapt off Set's back while drawing Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring.
Using the Sleipnir boots to kick off the air mid-descent, he plunged toward the ground.
"First one — and a second."
Riding the momentum of his fall, he bisected one Dragonias left to right with Death Scythe, then used the Twilight Spear to obliterate the head of another nearby.
The Dragonias were so fixated on satisfying their appetite — or rather, continuously gorging themselves — that their reaction to the attacker was even slower than usual.
Even so, seeing two of their own killed snapped them back to awareness, and they moved to counterattack Rei...
"Gurururururu!"
Set dropped from the sky and crushed one's torso with a strike of his front leg.
That wasn't all. The moment he landed, he kicked off the ground and launched himself bodily into another Dragonias, sending it hurtling away.
In terms of sheer body size, Set and the Dragonias weren't much different.
Despite that, the Dragonias struck by Set's bodyslam was sent flying violently.
Partly, this was simply because Set's raw strength was superior even at the same size.
But catching an enemy off guard while it was focused on Rei had clearly made a difference too.
"Green, blue, yellow... oh, black ones too. I don't need any more red ones."
Dodging the Dragonias' lunging strikes with their sharply elongated claws, evading their attempts to tear off chunks of flesh, Rei countered with Death Scythe, severing necks as he checked the scale colors of the surrounding Dragonias.
It was slightly disappointing to find red-scaled Dragonias when he already had quite a stockpile, but he was glad to see a variety of colors as he continued reaping lives with Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear.
For the Dragonias, they probably couldn't even comprehend what was happening.
Normally, while Set was another matter, a small creature like Rei should have been effortlessly slain in a single blow and turned into meat to satisfy their hunger.
Yet before they knew it, their companions were dying one after another at the hands of that very prey.
For Dragonias driven by hunger, companions weren't particularly important.
Being together made it easier to secure food, true — but when meat was available, companions meant less for themselves. In that sense, they were a nuisance. Even an enemy.
So the deaths of their companions didn't particularly bother them. But watching their own kind being slaughtered one after another, it was only natural to recognize a formidable enemy.
By the time the Dragonias reached that realization, however, the number of survivors had already dwindled — and those few survivors were cut down in quick succession.
"...Well, that should about do it. Still, there were quite a lot of them."
"Gruu."
Set purred as if agreeing with Rei's words.
The Dragonias they had encountered two days ago attacking the Centaurs had numbered four in total.
But the Dragonias corpses now lying before Rei and Set numbered over ten.
More than twice as many — that was something Rei needed to stay cautious about.
"It's near the stronghold, so the overall number of Dragonias is probably just that high. ...Ugh."
That last strange sound escaped him because he had seen the corpse the Dragonias had been gorging on.
It had already been reduced to what could only be called remains — mangled beyond any recognition of what kind of animal it had originally been.
That was exactly why the sound had slipped out.
That said, if it was just a corpse, Rei was used to seeing them.
After all, there were currently a massive number of Dragonias corpses right in front of him.
Even so, seeing those remains drew that reaction partly because it wasn't a corpse he had made himself, and largely because it was one the Dragonias had been feeding on.
"For now, leaving that corpse aside... let me store the Dragonias."
Partly to shift his mindset, Rei left the devoured remains as they were and began storing the Dragonias corpses that he and Set had killed.
Once the Dragonias corpses were cleared away and things had settled, Zai and the others arrived at their position.