"Ah, as expected, I guess I can't take them all out at once with this."
After unleashing his magic, Rei murmured this from atop Set's back as the creature soared through the sky.
Nearly five hundred Flame Arrows released by Rei's magic rained down upon the horde of close to a hundred Dragonias closing in on the Centaur settlement.
Even so, those with red scales naturally survived unscathed, and beyond those, a handful of others slipped through by sheer chance—either because no arrows happened to fly their way, or because a Dragonias in front of them had served as a shield.
For reasons like these, nearly thirty Dragonias remained alive.
Even so, Rei judged that whittling the number down to this was acceptable.
That was because Vihera was already charging from the settlement toward the survivors.
She had extended claws of pure magic power from her Hand Gauntlets and was barreling straight into the remaining pack.
The surviving Dragonias were initially stunned, but the moment they saw Vihera rushing toward them, they immediately moved to counterattack.
This was likely partly because the garment Vihera wore was so sheer that her skin was visible right through it.
Of course, this wasn't a matter of the Dragonias lusting after Vihera. It was simply that they could see her soft-looking limbs and wanted to devour her flesh—pure appetite at work.
But even against such foes, Vihera showed not the slightest concern... no, if anything, she was the one closing the distance herself.
Meat had come running right to them.
Elated, the Dragonias immediately tried to sink their fangs into Vihera's limbs, but in the next instant, those fangs clamped down on empty air instead of her soft flesh...
"Gyarya!"
At the same moment, their outstretched necks were effortlessly severed by her magic claws.
Ordinarily, claws like the ones Vihera wielded could slash and tear an opponent's body, but actually severing a part entirely was no easy feat.
Being able to do exactly that was a testament to both Vihera's skill and the performance of the magic claws generated by her Hand Gauntlets.
Above all, the most significant advantage was that the magic claws never dulled.
If they were ordinary metal claws, attempting to shear through bone would cause them to chip depending on the wielder's technique. Even short of that, some degree of wear would inevitably accumulate.
But with claws formed from magic power, there was absolutely no need to worry about such things.
After all, if the claws ever sustained damage enough to chip, she could simply dismiss them and recreate them good as new.
Being able to fight without worrying about weapon deterioration was a tremendous advantage.
All the more so when the performance of those weapons was exceptionally high to begin with.
"Looks like I won't need to do anything else. Vihera seems like she'll handle the rest on her own."
"Guruu."
At Rei's words, Set, who had been watching the ground, purred in agreement.
The Dragonias had originally been heading toward the settlement, but they had been neatly lured away by Vihera and her soft flesh.
Vihera likely understood exactly what the enemy was after, but she showed no concern whatsoever... if anything, she was reveling in the battle against them.
Not only the claws of her Hand Gauntlets but also the blades extending from the heels of her Foot Guards were in use. Any Dragonias that approached had various parts of their bodies slashed apart, were struck with fists, kicked, and furthermore, if they showed even the slightest opening, they received a direct shock to their insides from Magic Impact Palm, dropping them dead to the ground.
Zai and the warriors who had not been drinking, having emerged from the settlement, could only watch Vihera's rampage in dumbfounded silence.
Since this was Zai's first time seeing Vihera fight, his astonishment was only natural.
But even the others—even those who had witnessed her fight Dragonias when she first arrived at the settlement—were overwhelmed.
With the Centaurs' weapons, whether spears, longswords, or bows, they struggled to so much as scratch a Dragonias. Yet Vihera was effortlessly dispatching them with nothing more than her Hand Gauntlet claws, Heel Blades, and even just a touch of her bare hand.
To be frank, that sight was nothing short of overwhelming.
For Zai in particular, who knew full well just how powerful Rei was, the fact that Vihera—a woman close to Rei—was also this strong left him with nothing but astonishment.
Amidst that astonishment, Rei finally joined the battle.
With Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear in hand, Rei leapt from Set's back and landed on the ground, where he immediately bisected a blue-scaled Dragonias that had been heading toward Vihera, splitting its torso clean in half from top to bottom.
Without breaking stride, he used his other arm to thrust and pulverize the skull of a green-scaled Dragonias—the one that had spotted Rei first and was already about to lunge at him.
The force behind the blow could only be described as monstrous.
Dragonias standing nearly three meters tall were being felled one after another.
...Though, in that regard, Vihera was also drawing plenty of attention, fighting with equal ferocity.
"Gururururu!"
Set too sent Dragonias heads and limbs flying with single strikes of its front legs.
Even with Vihera alone, the Dragonias had been utterly unmanageable.
With Rei and Set joining as reinforcements, the battle became overwhelmingly one-sided.
And in less than ten minutes after Rei and Set entered the fray, it was over.
"Phew. We managed somehow, at least. ...Still, we never did figure out why the Dragonias came here in the first place. Would've been nice if we could communicate with them."
As he stashed the Dragonias corpses into his Misty Ring one after another, Rei muttered to himself.
They had managed to defeat them, so the settlement ultimately suffered no damage.
That much was certain. But it was also an undeniable fact that the Dragonias, whose stronghold should have been destroyed, had attacked again.
He considered the possibility that when Rei and his group annihilated the stronghold, Dragonias that hadn't been present had coincidentally set out to attack this settlement. But given that close to a hundred had come at once, that explanation was undeniably far too unnatural.
If so, the remaining possibility was...
(So there wasn't just one stronghold after all. Or rather, it'd be better to think that what we destroyed wasn't their headquarters at all, but merely one of several Dragonias outposts.)
The place Rei and his group had annihilated was called a "headquarters" simply because that was what the Centaurs had called it.
In other words, it was the place the Centaurs had finally found after losing many of their own.
Because they had paid such a steep price to obtain that information, they had believed it to be the Dragonias headquarters. But in reality, it wasn't.
"This is... going to be troublesome."
"Really? I'm just glad I can enjoy myself a fair amount. After all, the fact that they never flinch no matter how much you injure them is a huge plus."
"...I suppose that's how you'd see it, Vihera."
An ordinary monster—no, even a human—would naturally flinch when taking damage.
But the Dragonias, ruled by hunger, attacked as if to say such things were completely irrelevant.
That was precisely why, for Vihera who relished combat, the Dragonias—an enemy that kept ferociously attacking no matter what—were an ideal opponent.
...Of course, that was something only Vihera would say. If asked whether others felt the same, the vast majority would answer no.
"Hehe. I arrived a little late, but it was worth following you here, Rei."
Vihera smiled happily—a genuinely delighted smile, from the bottom of her heart.
What she was saying was quite alarming, yet strangely, even watching her smile, she didn't look like someone uttering such dangerous words.
That was because Vihera's love of battle stemmed not from a desire to trample opponents or to one-sidedly attack those weaker than herself, but from a pure enjoyment of the fight.
And yet, unlike your run-of-the-mill Battle Maniac, she never forced others into combat.
That was precisely why such an inner nature was reflected on her face.
"I understand you want to enjoy yourself, Vihera. I do. But... the real problem is that we don't know where the enemy's true headquarters is."
That was the biggest issue.
Many Centaur lives had been lost finding the Dragonias headquarters Rei and his group had destroyed.
If that was the cost for just one stronghold, finding others would be extremely difficult.
(Searching from the sky on Set's back would be... difficult, too.)
For someone like Zai, born and raised in this grassland, even if the terrain looked the same everywhere, they could discern all sorts of subtle differences.
But for Rei and Set, who had only just arrived in this world—and who were somewhat directionally challenged on top of that—being able to find their way back to the same spot in this vast grassland would, in a sense, be a gamble.
In the worst case, he might have to use the Paired Orb to summon Grimm to this world and have him come pick them up.
Thanks to Grimm's generosity, Set could sense the spatial hole connecting to Elgin, but even that ability had its limits. It wouldn't work no matter how far away they wandered.
That was exactly why, in their current situation, they needed a way to investigate where the Dragonias headquarters actually lay.
The most troublesome part of all was that they had no idea how many other strongholds—no, outposts—like the one they had attacked existed.
If it were just one or two, that would be one thing. But if there were five, ten, or more, they wouldn't even know which one was the true headquarters.
(Should I just ask Grimm? ...That'd be difficult, though.)
To begin with, Grimm needed to maintain the spatial hole connecting to Elgin.
If he went off searching for the Dragonias headquarters and the hole connecting to Elgin was severed, Rei and his group would be stranded in this world.
If asked whether he could take such a risk, Rei's answer was no.
It was a cold way to put it, but Rei didn't truly need to destroy the Dragonias headquarters.
...However, considering Vihera, that decision would be a difficult one.
"Rei. Finding the Dragonias headquarters... the true headquarters. Leave that to us."
Zai, who had been listening to Rei and Vihera's conversation, cut in with those words.
For Zai, having left the fight against the Dragonias entirely to Rei, Set, and Vihera, he judged that at the very least, finding the enemy's headquarters was something his people should do.
As a proud Centaur, leaving everything to Rei's group was something he could not permit.
Rei understood that as well, but he couldn't simply nod in agreement right away.
"Are you sure? Didn't a fair number of people die during the previous reconnaissance? If so, even if you set out to find wherever the Dragonias are gathering... I think the casualties would be quite significant."
"Even so. Leaving the fighting to you and then sitting back and doing nothing is something I cannot accept."
Zai's demeanor as he declared this radiated an aura that said he would absolutely not back down, even if Rei told him no, told him to stop.
Seeing Zai making it clear with every fiber of his being that he would not allow the Centaurs' pride to be tarnished, all Rei could do was nod.
"Understood. I leave it to you."
"Yeah."
Brief words.
But that was enough.
Zai nodded firmly and immediately headed back into the settlement to begin planning the search.
"...Guruu?"
Beside Rei, Set gave a soft purr, as if asking: is this okay?
Zai was one of the people who paid attention to Set, so the creature was likely worried.
Of course, unlike the others who would come pet him, it was simply that they spent time together and Zai would sometimes give him food.
Even so, to Set, Zai was a close companion.
That was why, having watched the exchange just now, Set purred to ask whether this was truly all right.
But Rei nodded without hesitation at Set's concern.
"Yeah. Zai needs this."
When Rei told him that, Set purred with a hint of lingering worry, but ultimately—if Rei said so, then so be it. Though somewhat reluctant, he accepted it.