"Hmm... somehow, I'm really looking forward to this battle."
Vihera laughed happily as she landed on the ground.
Since parting ways with Dolfina, they had already flown through the air several times, covering a fair distance before landing to check the direction of the silver-scaled Dragonias using the tree branch Dolfina had given them.
All the while, Vihera eagerly anticipated the battle with the approaching silver-scaled Dragonias, her anticipation spilling out in those words.
For Vihera, fighting the enemy was apparently something she genuinely looked forward to.
To be honest, even Rei could understand that feeling.
Though in Rei's case, his desire to defeat the silver-scaled Dragonias before it could establish a base was the stronger impulse.
Considering the enemy's strength, there was originally no need for Rei to be so cautious.
Moreover, they had Vihera as part of their combat power this time.
Even so, the reason Rei never let his guard down was likely because this was his first time witnessing a Dragonias behavior that resembled splitting from its nest.
Of course, the only reason he recognized it as nest-splitting was based on his own speculation and circumstantial evidence, so it was unclear whether the Dragonias's actions truly constituted nest-splitting.
"Looking forward to it... or rather, I honestly think we should take care of this quickly," Rei replied to Vihera as he tossed the tree branch onto the ground.
The tip of the branch pointed in a specific direction—the direction where the group led by the silver-scaled Dragonias was located.
"Oh, is that so? I'm looking forward to it, though."
"I know. I'll leave the silver-scaled Dragonias to you, Vihera, so enjoy it to your heart's content. That said, it might not be as strong as the silver-scaled Dragonias from before... no, I don't even need to say it. You wouldn't let your guard down, Vihera."
"Of course. Why would I ever let my guard down?"
Vihera stated this as a matter of course in response to Rei's words.
For Vihera, fighting a strong enemy was exactly what she desired.
In such a battle, doing something like letting her guard down—doing something disrespectful even to her opponent—was out of the question.
"Figured as much. I'm not worried about that, for now. ...That way, huh. They're moving quite a bit."
Rei muttered this as he looked at the tree branch, which had fallen in a different direction from the last time they had landed.
Ideally, he would have preferred to have Set fly further and cover more distance before dropping the branch, but since they didn't know exactly how fast the Dragonias were moving, they had to land this frequently to track the silver-scaled Dragonias's whereabouts.
Each time, the direction the branch fell naturally shifted.
(This isn't... because Set and I are getting lost, is it?)
Rei suddenly found himself harboring such a doubt.
As long as they were simply proceeding in the direction the tree branch fell, there was no way they could get lost.
Or rather, though he probably wouldn't admit it himself, if it were just Rei and Set, there was a very real possibility that their course might gradually drift while flying.
But as long as Vihera was part of this group, if their direction of travel was off, she would definitely point it out.
Thinking that... Rei considered the one-in-a-million, truly worst-case scenario and asked Vihera.
"Hey, Vihera. Just to be sure... we're not heading in the wrong direction, are we? Specifically, like our flight path drifting while Set was flying."
"Huh? Hmm, I don't think anything like that happened. If you're worried about that, you just need to check more often on the ground. If you do that, I don't think we'll get lost."
Hearing that, Rei nodded in understanding, though at the same time he felt it would be a hassle.
Landing on the ground wasn't particularly difficult.
But it was also an undeniable fact that it was bothersome.
"For now, if you're judging that there's no problem, Vihera, then that's fine. All we have to do is trust this tree branch and keep going. Set."
"Gruu!"
In response to Rei's words, Set rumbled in his throat as if to say, "Leave it to me."
Rei straddled Set's back, and after taking to the sky once, he descended toward the ground. Once Vihera grabbed onto Set's front legs, they took off again.
Naturally, they headed in the direction the tree branch indicated.
By heading that way, they believed without a doubt that the group led by the silver-scaled Dragonias would be there.
And then... after continuing to land on the ground several more times to check their direction using the tree branch...
"Gururu!"
The sound of Set rumbling in his throat suddenly reached Rei's ears as he fought off the slight drowsiness brought on by the satisfaction of finishing lunch.
It wasn't an invitation to land and take a nap—it was a cry that seemed to rouse his vigilance.
"Enemies!?"
"What's wrong!?"
Rei's mutter and Vihera's shout happened almost simultaneously.
...Given that she was flying while clinging to Set's front legs without a safety line, one might think it would be dangerous for her to be in a slightly drowsy state like Rei. But considering the current situation, there was no need to worry about such things.
While Rei had been feeling sleepy from a sense of fullness, Vihera had likely been honing her mind and body, ready for battle whenever they found the silver-scaled Dragonias group.
"I don't know. But considering Set's cry, there's no doubt he found something. ...Can you see anything, Vihera?"
"Unfortunately, I can't. Rei?"
"I can't either. In that case, Set's vision must have spotted it. ...Anyway, from what I can tell of Set's behavior, there's something ahead in our direction. Don't let it out of your sight."
"Understood."
Rei and Vihera's conversation ended there, and silence followed for a short while.
There was no doubt that something was in the direction Set was looking.
If so, what was it?
They would not let it slip by, trying to grasp even the slightest sign with certainty.
(Considering Set's vision, they should be coming into view for me soon.)
A fair amount of time had passed since the conversation with Vihera ended... and then, the scene Set had presumably been watching came into Rei's view as well.
"Dragonias... finally found them."
"Really?"
She must have heard Rei's mutter. Perhaps Vihera still couldn't see the Dragonias, as she asked this.
"Yeah. I'm truly glad we trusted Dolfina's tree branch. ...Shouldn't they be coming into view for you soon, Vihera?"
Rei and Set's bodies had been created by the Zephyle Clan, and their performance was extremely high.
Vihera's body had also been considerably strengthened from its original state due to the incident with Unbris, but as expected, this was likely a testament to the Zephyle Clan's superior technical prowess.
"...I can see them now!"
Eventually, Vihera was also able to spot the Dragonias, and her voice reached him.
There, at the end of the gazes of Rei, Set, and Vihera, a group of Dragonias could be seen advancing.
That said, their numbers were not that large.
(Looking from a distance, about three hundred?)
That number was considerably smaller compared to the Dragonias base they had attacked last time.
Whether that was simply because this group was originally small, or because the base they had attacked last time had been established for some time and its numbers had grown as a result—Rei didn't know the details of the circumstances, but in any case, the enemy's small numbers were not a bad thing for him.
"Vihera, just to confirm. You're the one fighting the silver-scaled Dragonias, right?"
"Yes, of course."
In response to Rei's words, Vihera stated this as a matter of course.
It was as if she wanted to say that anyone other than herself fighting the silver-scaled Dragonias was unacceptable.
...Rei didn't feel any particular way about that.
He thought that if that was what she wanted, he had no problem leaving it to her.
Perhaps sensing that Rei felt that way, Vihera nodded in satisfaction.
"Now then... let's do this. For now, I'll use magic to take out the normal Dragonias, so the silver-scaled Dragonias will probably survive. I'm leaving it to you."
Vihera had no objections to Rei's words.
Whether she thought the silver-scaled Dragonias wouldn't die even if hit by his magic, or whether she thought it would be protected by the red-scaled Dragonias, Rei didn't know.
In any case, Rei took out the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring to use magic and began chanting an incantation.
O flame, with my magical power as your source, become arrows that burn all to ashes, and rain down incessantly, like a storm, without end.
As he chanted the spell, Flame Arrows were created one after another.
Rei had hesitated a little over which spell to use, but since the enemy's numbers were only about three hundred, he chose this one for that very reason.
...The mana consumption was heavy, but it was still far easier than forcibly incorporating attributes other than fire into the magic.
The magic thus created turned into six hundred Flame Arrows in the next moment.
Since there were three hundred enemies, this was a rough-and-ready calculation that having double that number should be enough.
Among the enemies were not only the silver-scaled Dragonias but also red-scaled Dragonias that possessed absolute resistance to fire.
Six hundred Flame Arrows were created for use against such foes, floating around Rei.
"Wow... this is amazing up close."
Vihera, clinging to Set's leg, muttered in admiration.
She had plenty of opportunities to see Rei's magic, but still, having Flame Arrows right before her eyes—so close that she could reach out and touch them—was nothing short of astonishing.
Hearing Vihera's voice of admiration, Rei activated the spell.
Shower of Flame Arrows!
Six hundred Flame Arrows were unleashed.
It was a spectacle that could only be called a rain of Flame Arrows.
Naturally, the Dragonias running on the ground had also noticed the massive amount of Flame Arrows floating in the air, but Dragonias, like Centaurs, were creatures that ran on the ground.
Moreover, since they were dominated by hunger, they couldn't do something like using bows to attack the sky as Centaurs could.
The silver-scaled Dragonias might be a different story, but perhaps judging it impossible in the current situation... the moment it saw countless Flame Arrows materialize, it fled.
The cry of the silver-scaled Dragonias echoed throughout the area.
Whether that cry served as a command, the other Dragonias obediently followed after it.
(So even Dragonias dominated by hunger will follow an order to flee.)
Even while thinking that, the Flame Arrows flew toward the Dragonias.
Originally, Dragonias were slower at running compared to Centaurs.
Being Dragonias, there was no way they could dodge the Flame Arrows Rei had unleashed.
And then, in the next moment, Flame Arrows rained down on the Dragonias one after another.
Setting aside the red-scaled Dragonias, those with other colored scales were pierced by Flame Arrows in succession.
For the Dragonias, it was an attack method they could not counter no matter what they did, and all they could do was flee.
Their fleeing speed was by no means fast... and they were pierced through their bodies by Flame Arrows one after another, dying.
Thirty seconds.
In that short amount of time, the majority of the Dragonias were burned by the Flame Arrows. The only ones still alive were the silver-scaled Dragonias, the red-scaled Dragonias, and the lucky Dragonias that chance had happened to favor, whom the Flame Arrows hadn't hit.
As a result, there were about thirty surviving Dragonias—roughly one-tenth of the original number.
"Alright, at this level, we don't need any follow-up magic."
To be precise, even if he used Flame Magic as a follow-up, the only ones he could kill would be the lucky Dragonias with scales other than red.
In that case, it would be faster for Rei and Set to kill them one by one rather than going out of their way to use magic.
Since Vihera would be taking down the silver-scaled Dragonias, he had no intention of laying a hand on it.
"Set, land!"
"Gruu."
In response to Vihera's words, Set flapped his wings and descended toward the ground.
His destination was ahead of the silver-scaled Dragonias, which was still trying to flee even in this situation.
And then... as Set flew at low altitude, Vihera timed it perfectly, released her hands from his front legs, and landed in the silver-scaled Dragonias's path.