"One down. As expected, they have trouble moving around in the grove... same as me, though."
Rei muttered as he gazed at the corpse of a Dragonias that had collapsed to the ground, its body bisected from the head down into left and right halves.
It was only natural that the Dragonias, with bodies larger than those of Centaurs, would have difficulty moving in the grove. But since Rei also wielded long weapons in his combat style, the trees were just as much of an obstacle for him.
In terms of sealing the Dragonias's movements, however, the grove's trees were quite useful.
After all, if the Dragonias were serious, they could probably push through while snapping the trees. But for some reason, they were making an effort not to break them.
...When the settlement in the grove was first attacked, the defenders being caught somewhat off guard was likely due in part to this very reason.
Since the Dragonias avoided breaking the trees, it took them longer to move.
On the other hand, this also made them harder to detect by the people in the settlement.
Given that the settlement had been wary of Dragonias, they would have naturally been on guard.
So they probably weren't caught completely off guard... or so one would think.
Regardless, against Dragonias that moved without breaking trees, it wasn't strange that Rei also found it difficult to fight, given that he wielded long weapons — Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear.
"Vihera would have absolutely no trouble in a place like this... no, she'd probably be in her element."
Vihera fundamentally fought barehanded.
She did use weapons like the Hand Gauntlet claws and Greave Blades, but she could fight well enough without them.
...In terms of being able to fight, Rei could also fight without weapons, but in this case, the meaning was slightly different.
For Vihera, whose true strength lay in unarmed combat, not using weapons was natural. For Rei, whose inherent combat style was Twin Spear Style — wielding two long weapons, Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear — being unable to use those weapons carried a different implication, even though they were both in the same situation.
"Well, if that's the case, there are ways to manage."
One answer to that problem lay in the corpse of the Dragonias before Rei, split cleanly into left and right halves.
If the trees prevented him from swinging his weapon horizontally, he just needed to swing vertically.
Additionally, since the Twilight Spear was originally a spear, thrusting attacks carried significant weight.
Considering these factors, even in the grove, there were plenty of ways to fight.
(At worst, I can just cut down the trees.)
Rei thought this as he glanced at the trees growing around him.
The Dragonias were moving through the grove without breaking them.
But that didn't mean Rei had to do the same.
And given Death Scythe's power, cutting down trees wasn't particularly difficult.
...Even a thrust from the Twilight Spear, when Rei delivered it, could shatter or pierce through a tree trunk.
That said, Rei had no intention of pointlessly cutting down the grove's trees, either.
As long as the Dragonias weren't eating or destroying them, perhaps these trees held some significance.
"Anyway... let's head over there. Things are getting pretty crazy."
He shook off the blood and bodily fluids clinging to Death Scythe's blade, stowed it in the Misty Ring, and turned his gaze toward the direction where loud crashes were echoing from.
The only real light source was the moonlight, and since they were in the grove, much of that was blocked by branches and leaves.
But Rei had Night Vision, so this level of light was no problem at all.
And... true to his words, an incredible scene was unfolding at the edge of his gaze.
He had seen Dragonias being drawn to Vihera many times before.
Of course, in this case, being "drawn to her body" wasn't sexual in nature — it was appetite.
Many Dragonias were being drawn to Vihera in that sense... but even as they lunged at her, whether the command to avoid damaging the trees was still in effect or not, they moved as if threading between the trunks.
The Dragonias already had larger bodies than Centaurs to begin with.
With so many of them moving through the grove and converging on a single person — Vihera — congestion was inevitable.
"Whoa..."
That was exactly why Rei let out such a sound upon seeing the sight.
Before his eyes, a crowd of Dragonias was jammed between the trees, unable to move.
...What puzzled Rei, though, was that even though the Dragonias were wedged between the trees, none of them shoved their companions aside to push forward.
They let out harsh cries, but once stuck in the congestion, they simply stayed put.
This was clearly abnormal.
...At the very least, Rei had no idea what was going on or how it had come to this.
The Dragonias Rei knew were the type that, if it meant satisfying their hunger, would knock aside their own companions to get at enemy flesh. That was the kind of creatures they were.
And yet, not a single Dragonias in his current field of vision was behaving that way.
This was a clearly abnormal occurrence.
(For Dragonias to obediently follow orders... is it a silver-scaled Dragonias after all? No, but even so...)
The doubt that surfaced in Rei's mind was this: if a silver-scaled Dragonias were present, couldn't it have taken measures before things reached this point?
(Which would mean a being lower in rank than a silver-scaled Dragonias? Given their strength hierarchy, it's certain that silver-scaled Dragonias rank below golden-scaled ones. So... is there a copper-scaled Dragonias or something?)
The fact that the word "copper" came to mind was likely due to Rei's experiences in Japan.
Gold, silver, then copper.
For Rei, it was a very familiar sequence.
"Anyway... Vihera might have something to say about this later, but for now, disposing of these guys takes priority."
He muttered and headed toward where the Dragonias were jammed together.
Stowing the Twilight Spear and Death Scythe in the Misty Ring to move was, in a sense, the obvious choice.
If he had kept carrying them, there was a higher chance he would have ended up unable to move, just like the Dragonias.
Rei reached the rear of the congested mass, and naturally the Dragonias noticed his presence. They noticed, but... since they were trapped between trees and fellow Dragonias, unable to move, there was nothing they could do.
From behind those Dragonias, Rei, holding the Twilight Spear he had retrieved from the Misty Ring, delivered a single strike.
The thrust pierced through the Dragonias's back with ease.
Just how powerful that single strike was became obvious looking at the Dragonias that died instantly.
...And yet, surrounded by trees and companions as it was, the Dragonias didn't fall sideways; it simply crumpled to the ground as if squatting.
Starting with that strike, Rei wove between the trees, claiming one enemy life after another.
The Dragonias couldn't move even if they tried, so they fell one after another to his one-sided attacks.
For Rei, it wasn't even a struggle — he simply took one life after another in what was essentially manual labor.
The Dragonias died one after another without even understanding why.
...Even so, they showed no sign of concern whatsoever.
Whether it was an order from a superior, or whether they were simply that engrossed by Vihera.
From a distance away, the dull sound of fists striking flesh could be heard.
What was happening over there wasn't difficult to imagine.
For Rei, it was somewhat curious, yet not quite... a feeling like that.
That said, he understood that it was better to dispatch the immobilized Dragonias quickly rather than go deal with that side, so while keeping half an eye on Vihera's direction, he continued eliminating them one-sidedly.
Rei's abilities were already well above those of the Dragonias, so even a straight fight would have been one-sided.
In other words, whether he fought like this — as one-sided labor — or faced them head-on, the result would ultimately be the same.
...But even so, one-sidedly killing immobilized Dragonias from behind was, truthfully, not very satisfying.
(Come to think of it, did Vihera encounter a copper-scaled Dragonias... or whatever it is? I'm not even sure such beings exist, but I haven't run into a single one. ...They haven't gone to the settlement, have they?)
A copper-scaled Dragonias. If such a being truly existed, the concern would be the possibility that it had gone to the settlement.
...Though with Set there, there wasn't much to worry about.
In any case, even if he needed to head to the settlement, he first had to deal with the Dragonias in the grove.
With that in mind, Rei continued cutting them down.
Inside the settlement, tension hung in the air.
Those like Rei and Vihera could win with ease even against a large number of Dragonias, but that was precisely because they were Rei and Vihera.
The Centaurs, having been trained by Vihera, had grown considerably stronger compared to before.
...In reality, it wasn't so much that their fundamental abilities had increased, but rather that through repeated mock battles against the formidable opponent that was Vihera, they had become accustomed to real combat — that would be more accurate.
Thanks to that, they could unleash their true ability — or perhaps even greater — when facing Dragonias, allowing the Centaurs to fight advantageously against them.
Of course, their base strength had likely risen considerably as well through those repeated mock battles with Vihera.
"Hey, do you really think we'll be okay?"
"It'll be fine. We actually fought Dragonias when we entered this settlement. A few of them showing up isn't going to be hard to deal with."
One Centaur called out to another beside him, and that was the response he received.
These two were from different settlements, but as they had operated together as part of the Reconnaissance Unit, such divisions had naturally dissolved.
When they first began acting as a Reconnaissance Unit, they had indeed grouped by their respective settlements, and when they departed the initial campsite on their reconnaissance missions, they had traveled in settlement-based groups as well.
But once they identified the likely direction of the Dragonias headquarters and the entire unit began moving together, they started talking normally with one another regardless of origin.
...Especially during the battle to reclaim this settlement, they had fought without regard for settlement differences, and sharing the battlefield together had led many to newly recognize each other as comrades.
Amidst all that... Set suddenly let out a sharp cry.
"Gururu!"
With Rei absent, they couldn't tell exactly what had happened.
They couldn't tell, but hearing Set's cry, it was clear there was a note of vigilance in it.
"Stay alert! Just as Rei said, Dragonias might have slipped through!"
At Zai's shout, all the Centaurs readied themselves, prepared for enemies to appear at any moment.
Those stationed where non-combatants had gathered — or more precisely, those protecting such individuals — watched their surroundings with the determination to absolutely not let any harm come to them.
And then...
"Guru!"
Set suddenly let out a short bark and kicked off the ground.
Its speed was such that even Centaurs, who surpassed Dragonias in raw speed, would have found it difficult to keep up.
Set, running at that speed, swung a foreleg while still carrying his momentum.
"Gyoah!"
Something was sent flying with that cry.
What emerged from the grove, slipping into the darkness of night, was an enemy smaller than a normal Dragonias — one that was small even compared to a Centaur.
Because of its small size, it likely had confidence in its own speed.
In fact, leaving aside top speed, it was undoubtedly superior to Centaurs in terms of burst acceleration.
But... even so, it was no match for Set's speed.
The small creature, slammed into the ground, bared its fangs and menaced Set.
...Reflecting moonlight off its copper scales.