After explaining about the golden-scaled Dragonias, time passed, and eventually morning came.
Thanks to the hours that had passed, the Fire Whirlwinds were still swirling about quite energetically, but even so, they had grown smaller compared to when Rei had first created them.
"Hey, Rei... those Flame Tornadoes... when are they going to disappear?" Zai asked, drinking the soup Rei had prepared.
Before the raid, they had made do with only water to avoid alerting the Dragonias. But now that the raid was over, the golden-scaled Dragonias that had likely been leading them was dead, and with no further concern about other Dragonias attacking on its orders, there was no need to worry about smells anymore.
They could eat ordinary food straight from Rei's Misty Ring, just like the meals they'd had at camp on the way here.
Since the previous night—or more accurately, since arriving yesterday—the party had eaten nothing and survived only on water produced by Rei's Dagger of Flowing Water.
The water generated by the Dagger of Flowing Water using Rei's magic was certainly delicious. Delicious enough that one might even call it Celestial Nectar.
But even so, water was still water.
No matter how good it tasted, going nearly half a day without eating anything left a person hungry.
If they could have eaten some dried meat or hard-baked bread, they might have at least taken the edge off the hunger. But the Dragonias were driven by hunger to begin with.
If they had tried eating bread or dried meat near such creatures—even at a considerable distance—it wouldn't have been strange for a Dragonias to catch the scent.
(It's not just Dragonias, though. A Magic Item that lets you eat without alerting an opponent to the smell... that would be really convenient.)
This wasn't limited to the current situation.
Whether monsters, animals, or even humans, Elves, Dwarves, and any number of others—it wasn't uncommon for them to track prey or notice something by scent.
Even without going that far, there were insects drawn to the smell of sweat or alcohol.
To deal with that sort of thing, a Magic Item that prevented smells from leaking into the surroundings would obviously be the best solution.
For Rei, who collected Magic Items as a hobby, he wanted one badly enough that, as a last resort, he'd even consider asking an Alchemist to make one.
"Rei?"
"Ah, no. Sorry. I was just focusing on the food. It's been a while."
"A while... it's only been about half a day," Zai said, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice at Rei's deflection.
It had only been half a day—and at the same time, half a day had passed—but apparently only Rei felt that way.
"Even so. So, the Fire Whirlwinds, was it?"
"Is that what those Flame Tornadoes are called? Yeah, that's right. It's about those Fire Whirlwinds. Personally, I don't mind how long they keep burning, but that doesn't mean we can stay here forever. I think you understand that, Rei."
"Yeah, I do. To begin with, I don't think the Dragonias here were all of them."
The Dragonias that had been in this stronghold were all wiped out in the raid.
But just as Zai's settlement had been attacked before, or as they'd encountered them on the way here, there were Dragonias operating separately from this group.
Even if every Dragonias here was defeated, the others would remain untouched.
Given that, the possibility of such Dragonias attacking the settlement while Zai, Dratt, and the others were away was by no means zero.
(In that sense, Zai and Dratt coming here was... frankly, a mistake.)
It was a belated realization—truly belated—but Rei couldn't help thinking it.
Zai and Dratt were known as the most skilled fighters in their settlement.
After all, when the settlement had been attacked by Dragonias, they had fought and defeated specimens larger than the rest.
"For now, I don't know when the Fire Whirlwinds will subside either. But given the situation, I feel like we could just leave them be... no, I suppose we can't do that."
It would be fine while they raged here, but depending on the circumstances, the possibility of the Fire Whirlwinds drifting away to somewhere else couldn't be completely ruled out.
Even if that chance was vanishingly slim, as long as it existed, they needed to keep a firm grasp on the situation.
(Fortunately, we managed to cut the travel time getting here quite a bit, and on top of that, there was originally some buffer time built in, so I guess we don't need to worry too much about the clock.)
Thinking this, Rei turned his gaze once more toward the area where the Fire Whirlwinds rampaged.
How many Dragonias were still alive at this point was something even Rei couldn't say.
Considering that the Fire Whirlwinds had been raging for nearly an entire night, it was almost certain that most of the Dragonias were dead.
Almost certain... but even so, they needed to confirm total annihilation.
(Ah, but I did defeat the golden-scaled Dragonias that was leading them... no, that won't work. If anything, considering that the golden-scaled Dragonias holding them together is dead, there's a chance they'll each start acting on their own.)
In the end, the conclusion was that it would be better to wipe out every last Dragonias here rather than leave any behind.
"Hey, Rei! Look at that..."
With those sudden words, Zai pointed in a certain direction.
What lay in that direction was not where the Fire Whirlwinds raged, but somewhere else entirely.
What Zai had spotted was a group of nearly thirty Dragonias.
They hadn't fled from the Fire Whirlwinds—they were heading straight toward them.
Normally, no one would willingly approach a place where ten Fire Whirlwinds churned violently.
But the Dragonias were fundamentally ruled by hunger. They neither thought for themselves nor could they.
All they could do was follow the orders given from above—by the golden-scaled Dragonias that dominated them.
They had apparently carried out some kind of order and were now returning.
When Rei explained this, the faces of those who grasped what he meant—what the Dragonias had likely been ordered to do—darkened with grim understanding.
Thinking about it rationally, the order given to the Dragonias was most likely something along the lines of "go destroy such-and-such place."
It was hard to imagine that Dragonias consumed by hunger could carry out complex commands.
That was why simple orders would be given—and on these plains, it wasn't hard to guess what kind of order Dragonias would be tasked with.
Above all, the bodies of the Dragonias approaching the Fire Whirlwinds were stained with unmistakable bloodstains.
Given that, what the Dragonias had done was painfully obvious.
All Zai and the others could do was pray that the victims weren't Centaurs, but some other creature... or if they were Centaurs, not from a settlement close to them... or in the worst case, even if it was a nearby settlement, at least not their own.
"What should we do? Should we take out those Dragonias?"
At Rei's question, Zai hesitated.
With nearly thirty Dragonias in the group, for anyone other than Rei to fight them head-on would be nothing short of suicide.
That meant relying on Rei to deal with them... but there was also the question of whether they really needed to be killed here.
After all, the Dragonias were heading straight for the Fire Whirlwinds.
Even if the group did nothing, wouldn't the Dragonias be burned to death before long?
Judging that there was no need to go out of their way to kill them, Zai shook his head.
"No, let's hold off. But if those Dragonias try to flee the stronghold, I want you to take them down, Rei. ...Ideally, we'd handle it ourselves, but..."
Zai spoke with visible frustration.
Centaur pride made it hard to accept leaving everything to Rei and Set.
Rei understood that, so he didn't press the point.
He felt that saying anything more would amount to insulting Zai and the others.
"Got it. We'll go with that, then. Though from what I can see, there's no sign of the Dragonias veering off anywhere else."
True to Rei's words, the nearly thirty newly arrived Dragonias showed zero concern for the Fire Whirlwinds as they marched straight into the stronghold.
(Did that golden-scaled Dragonias hold even more absolute command authority than I expected?)
Even if they were driven by hunger, normally the instinct to preserve one's life should outweigh hunger.
Yet the newly arrived Dragonias were plunging straight into the Fire Whirlwinds.
That implied something alarming: if the golden-scaled Dragonias had ordered them to die, they might have obeyed instantly.
Of course, there was no way to know whether that was actually possible—and to begin with, the golden-scaled Dragonias was already dead by Rei's hand.
It had been strong enough to deflect a thrown Twilight Spear—though the golden scales had been damaged in the process—so it was undeniably powerful. But for Rei with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active, there had been an absolute gulf between them.
As a result, despite facing an opponent the Centaurs would never have had a chance against, Rei had won with ease—almost absurd ease.
But that was only possible because it was Rei.
Given the nature of such a creature, it wouldn't be strange for it to possess something like absolute command authority over ordinary Dragonias—though the individual variation among them was too great to truly call them "ordinary."
"They really... went in."
Which Centaur had muttered that?
But it was an undeniable fact: the Dragonias had marched into the main camp and voluntarily entered the scorching hell where the Fire Whirlwinds raged.
And then, as if struck by bad luck, the moment they entered the camp, two Fire Whirlwinds passing nearby collided with each other and burst apart like spinning tops, engulfing all thirty or so Dragonias that had just entered the stronghold.
If it had only been the Fire Whirlwinds, the red-scaled Dragonias with their fire resistance might have survived. But with multiple Dragonias swallowed by the whirlwinds simultaneously, they were inevitably crushed by their allies' bodies, their bones shattered, their frames ground down.
What's more, the Fire Whirlwinds contained massive quantities of discarded weapons, blades included.
Though the metal weapons had likely already melted from the heat generated by the Fire Whirlwinds, so they might not even qualify as weapons anymore—or rather, as deadly instruments.
"Whoa..."
Seeing the Dragonias swallowed by the Fire Whirlwinds, one of the Centaurs muttered involuntarily.
To the Centaurs, Dragonias were mortal enemies.
So many Centaurs had been devoured by Dragonias over the years that no one could even count them all.
But even so, the scene that had just unfolded before their eyes evoked nothing but pure pity.
It was as if their very will had been stripped from them—no, in this case it wasn't "as if." Their will had truly been taken away.
Hunger and orders. Driven by those two forces, the Dragonias marched willingly to their deaths.
Dragonias stripped of any will of their own were nothing but pitiful to those watching.
Even if the one watching had lost comrades, friends, lovers, family to Dragonias.
That said, those who felt that way were definitely in the minority.
Watching the Fire Whirlwinds still churning in the distance, several more hours passed. It was well past noon when the Fire Whirlwinds finally vanished.