After riding on Set's back for about an hour, the charred ground finally came to an end.
In other words, Rei's magic had only been effective up to this point.
(Simply put, did the flames reach this far and the magical power sustaining the spell run out? Or did the Dragonias Queen take some kind of countermeasure? ...If she did take countermeasures, then something like an Earth Wall is the most likely possibility.)
Because this was the furthest point the flames had reached, a particularly large amount of charred remains was scattered across the ground compared to before.
Seeing that, Rei felt it was more accurate to conclude that, in the end, a massive number of Dragonias had thrown themselves into the advancing flames and been reduced to char—in other words, the magical power fueling the spell had simply been exhausted.
"For now, we need to proceed carefully from here. ...Set, thanks. I appreciate you carrying us this far."
Rei expressed his gratitude as he dismounted from Set's back.
Set purred happily, but it clearly understood that this was a dangerous place.
It immediately surveyed its surroundings with a serious expression, ready for whatever might happen.
"From here on out, it's the real deal. ...I hope we run into a golden-scaled Dragonias, or a mottled Dragonias, or maybe even some other new species."
Vihera had also dismounted from Set's back and was carefully observing her surroundings.
Her eyes were sharp with vigilance, making it clear that she understood the real challenge began now.
(In RPGs, the final boss's dungeon can be pretty long... but in a way, that's the same situation I'm in right now.)
They were heading toward the place where the Dragonias Queen resided, so calling it a "boss" wasn't wrong by any means.
With that in mind, Rei and his group pressed forward.
"So the glowing isn't just the walls and ceiling—the ground glows too, huh. ...I couldn't tell before because it was all burned."
Rei muttered as he looked at the luminous ground beneath them.
The floor was emitting light just like the walls and ceiling.
It was a gentle glow, bright enough to see by but not enough to dazzle the eyes. Even so, Rei found the sight of a glowing ground somewhat unsettling.
"Do you think the glowing ground, walls, and ceiling are the Dragonias's doing? Or did this ground originally have these properties...?"
"Who knows. More than that, I'm more concerned about the absence of Dragonias. My magic's effect ended here, so the red-scaled Dragonias are a given, but I'd expect other Dragonias to still be around."
Red-scaled Dragonias possessed strong resistance to fire, so they wouldn't die from Rei's magic.
Yet neither during Set's run here nor in their currently visible surroundings was there a single red-scaled Dragonias to be found.
That was what puzzled Rei.
"We won't figure out those questions just standing around. For now, let's move forward. If we do, I think we'll find out what lies ahead."
Vihera's words weren't born of a desire for knowledge, but rather something closer to a wish—a hope that there would be opponents for her to fight.
Rei understood that as well, but since he also recognized that they had to press forward, he didn't object.
"Looks like it's going to be a very enjoyable time for you, Vihera."
"That's right. Thanks to Set, it seems like we won't have to make camp. ...Well, actually, I can't be sure of that yet."
From where they currently stood, it was impossible to tell how much farther they needed to travel to reach the place where the Dragonias were gathered.
There was also a very real possibility that the journey would take long enough that they would need to camp. It was something Rei would rather not think about.
"Come to think of it, there weren't any traps after all."
Trying to push aside the thought of making camp, Rei changed the subject as they walked.
Given that Set had been running on the ground rather than flying, it was certain that nearly all the ground-level traps had been burned away by Rei's magic. The same applied here—since the burned debris was indistinguishable from the charred Dragonias corpses, it was impossible to tell whether traps had actually existed or not.
However, flames traveled along the ground, so what they could destroy was naturally limited to traps installed on the floor itself.
For example, even if a trap were set one or two meters above the ground, Rei's magic couldn't burn it.
Despite that, during Set's run up to this point, they hadn't triggered a single trap.
That essentially meant it was highly likely no traps had been set in the first place.
"Hmm, that's true. If we think about it normally... the intelligent Dragonias aside, the ordinary ones are ruled by hunger and act on instinct, right? In that case, even if there were traps within their range of activity..."
"The Dragonias would trigger them before we ever did."
As far as Rei knew, even if a Dragonias was informed of a trap's presence, it fundamentally couldn't make the judgment to avoid it on its own.
If a Commander Dragonias issued an order like "don't touch that area," they would likely obey... but in that case, the Commander would need to specify every location with traps and order them not to make contact with any of those places.
Given the sheer number of Dragonias, something like that would be possible if they tried, but Rei found it questionable whether they would actually go through with it.
"That's right. In that case, there might be traps in places where Dragonias don't go—like near the ceiling where Set flies, for instance. But couldn't we assume there are no traps on the ground that Dragonias regularly traverse?"
At those words, Rei checked his surroundings.
If Vihera was right and there truly were no traps, advancing from here would be considerably easier.
"It'd be a relief for us if that were the case. ...If there are no traps, we can reach the Dragonias without difficulty."
Even so, as long as the possibility of traps remained, Rei had no desire to do something like running across unburned ground.
"Anyway, let's keep moving for now. Whatever we do, we need to reach the place where the Dragonias are."
Accepting Vihera's words, Rei pressed forward into the depths of the underground space.
Even after the burned ground disappeared, there was no sign of Dragonias anywhere.
The troublesome thing about Dragonias was their numbers.
And yet, this situation—where no Dragonias could be seen anywhere—caused Rei a slight sense of unease.
It allowed him to predict that the Dragonias were being coordinated under some kind of will, lying in wait for them.
However, Rei quickly reconsidered. If he found enemies, he could attack from long range, and while the red-scaled Dragonias and Commander-class Dragonias would be another matter, he could defeat the other ordinary Dragonias.
The magic he had used before entering this underground space had already dealt significant damage to the Dragonias.
Given that, even if Dragonias appeared here again, it would be a chance to wipe them all out with magic at once.
(In a massive space like this, I can use a Fire Whirlwind. If I do, I should be able to significantly thin the numbers of the red-scaled Dragonias too.)
Red-scaled Dragonias possessed overwhelming resistance to fire, but that didn't mean they were immune to all of Rei's magic.
The Fire Whirlwind he had considered using was a prime example.
A Fire Whirlwind's attack wasn't limited to heat. The metal fragments Rei had thrown being caught in the tornado, and the impact generated when the swept-up Dragonias collided with one another, would carry more than enough power to take the lives of even red-scaled Dragonias.
In fact, when Rei had previously used a Fire Whirlwind to raid a Dragonias outpost, he had successfully killed many red-scaled Dragonias in exactly that manner.
"Hm?"
As they walked, Vihera suddenly let out a small murmur.
Wondering what had happened, Rei followed her gaze... and there, a single small Dragonias stood.
"A copper-scaled Dragonias...?"
Looking at it, Rei understood the meaning behind Vihera's words.
But at the same time, a question arose in his mind: why had a copper-scaled Dragonias appeared before them?
Among the Dragonias—a race that clearly possessed massive builds on average—the copper-scaled Dragonias alone had rather small bodies.
"...It doesn't look like it's going to attack."
"Right."
"Gruu?"
There was no doubt that the copper-scaled Dragonias was within their line of sight.
But it showed no signs whatsoever of attacking them.
If this were an ordinary Dragonias, it would have charged the instant it spotted Rei and his group—without even realizing it was facing an opponent it could never defeat, driven purely by its own hunger.
But the copper-scaled Dragonias, which was also Commander-class, possessed clear intelligence.
And as far as Rei had confirmed, it should possess higher intelligence than even the silver-scaled Dragonias, at least in terms of intellect.
For a few minutes, Rei's group and the copper-scaled Dragonias stared each other down.
Rei's group wondered for what purpose the copper-scaled Dragonias was here—why it had deliberately shown itself before them.
The copper-scaled Dragonias was subjected to such gazes, but eventually it broke the silence and moved.
"Nananaan."
The words that came from its mouth were, as always, incomprehensible to Rei.
But it still showed no sign of attacking. Seeing it behave so docilely, it was clear that it wasn't taking an aggressive stance.
That said, there was no way they could let their guard down because of it.
"What should we do? It doesn't seem like this one wants to fight..."
Rei asked while readying his Death Scythe, prepared to counterattack at a moment's notice if it lunged at them. Vihera and Set showed confused expressions.
Naturally. The idea that a Dragonias would be friendly—or rather, that it would appear before them for some reason yet show no intention of attacking—was completely unexpected.
"Should we try approaching it for now? If we do, I think we might understand at least a little of what that copper-scaled Dragonias wants."
"...Understood. Then I'll approach. Cover me if anything happens."
Saying that to Vihera, Rei moved closer to the copper-scaled Dragonias.
In reality, it would have been more practical for Rei—who had numerous means of providing support from mid- to long-range—to stay back while Vihera, who fought in close combat, made contact with the copper-scaled Dragonias.
But Rei decided that he would be the one to step forward.
He believed he could handle whatever the copper-scaled Dragonias might do, and beyond that, he didn't want to put Vihera in danger.
Of course, if Vihera knew of Rei's feelings, she would likely show a complicated expression.
Having the man she loved do something like that for her would make her happy.
But at the same time, she wanted to show that she wasn't a woman who only needed protecting.
In the few seconds Rei hesitated, he came to stand before the copper-scaled Dragonias.
And even standing right before it, the creature showed no signs of attacking whatsoever.
(The fact that it's not attacking... does that make it a negotiator? No, that can't be right. The Dragonias and I can't communicate at all, so negotiation would be impossible. In that case, it's not a negotiator either. Which means...)
Rei had been pondering what exactly the copper-scaled Dragonias before him was, but eventually arrived at a single conclusion. And at that same moment, the copper-scaled Dragonias turned its back, showing its back to Rei.
"Right on the mark."
Because the conclusion Rei had reached matched the action the copper-scaled Dragonias had taken, he murmured with a smile.
The conclusion Rei had reached was that this copper-scaled Dragonias was going to guide them somewhere.
And given their current situation, where it intended to lead them was obvious without even needing to think.
"Let's go. It might be planning to lead us into a trap, but if that happens, then so be it—the situation will move forward either way."
Vihera and Set apparently had no objections to Rei's words, and followed after him.