The golden-scaled Dragonias that had been glaring at Rei ultimately took no action as he passed in front of it.
That said, given that it had been ordered by the Queen not to move—along with the other golden-scaled Dragonias—even if it had wanted to act, doing so freely was likely impossible.
Rei passed by the cluster of golden-scaled Dragonias, and a question suddenly occurred to him.
(Hmm? As far as I know, the golden-scaled Dragonias is supposed to be the highest rank among the commanders. So why is it in such a halfway position?)
Thinking about it logically, a being that occupied the highest rank among the commanders should be stationed right beside the Queen.
Even though they were currently in what amounted to a ceasefire, the reality was that they had been slaughtering each other for a long time prior to this.
Considering that, there was no way they wouldn't keep reliable combat forces on standby nearby when meeting Rei and his party.
(In that case... is it to prevent us from escaping when we try to flee from the Queen? No, but that raises its own questions. For one thing, just because we meet the Queen doesn't mean we'll necessarily run. If anything, the possibility that we'd seize the chance of approaching the Queen to launch an attack... they should understand that too.)
Since Rei himself could think of it, he figured the other side would naturally understand at least that much.
Of course, there was no guarantee the Dragonias thought the same way they did, so his conclusion wasn't necessarily correct, but...
"Still, I never expected the golden-scaled Dragonias to be this close to the entrance."
Vihera, perhaps harboring the same question as Rei, voiced those words.
And it wasn't just Rei and Vihera; Set also appeared to find something off about the Dragonias's behavior.
"Gururururu."
Is there anything wrong with the surroundings?
Set surveyed the area with that thought in mind, but if anything qualified as an abnormality, it was the current situation of the Dragonias parting to clear a path for them.
"Thinking about it normally, the Dragonias guarding the Queen must be an existence even higher in rank than the golden-scaled Dragonias. ...I can accept that, though."
He had only encountered them outside twice, but conversely, that meant he had encountered them outside on two separate occasions.
Moreover, these plains were vast, and while Rei and his party hadn't come across any others, it wouldn't be strange if more golden-scaled Dragonias were out there.
If the golden-scaled Dragonias was the Queen's trump card, would she really send so many of them outside? The question naturally arose.
"I see. If that's truly the case, then I couldn't be happier."
A belligerent smile spread across Vihera's face as she replied.
For Vihera, it was disappointing that she wouldn't get to enjoy a battle with the golden-scaled Dragonias, but if an even stronger enemy existed, it was only natural that she'd absolutely want to fight them.
(Is the Queen not enough for her?)
Rei harbored that question upon seeing Vihera's demeanor, but if she was satisfied with that, then it wasn't a problem—or so he concluded.
In reality, there was also the possibility that she intended to fight the Queen after battling an existence superior to the golden-scaled Dragonias.
"Hm? ...Huh. Vihera. Looks like we've gotten quite close."
They had kept walking while talking, and he had no idea how much time had passed. But the figure of the Dragonias Queen in his line of sight had drawn considerably closer.
So much so that looking up, it was becoming difficult to fit her entire form within his field of vision.
"Yeah, you're right. ...I'd like to get a better look at her if possible, but given the current situation, I suppose that's not feasible. More importantly, what I'm curious about is... just as I thought."
Unlike Rei, who had been staring at the Queen, Vihera's gaze was directed at the Dragonias surrounding her.
There, Dragonias with black scales, white scales, and transparent scales—so transparent that their internal organs were visible—were gathered, and at the center of those Dragonias stood ones with seven-colored scales.
Black, white, transparent. Those bearing these scales also numbered only in the dozens, but... the owners of those scales, which sparkled in seven colors depending on the surrounding light, numbered only five.
(It seems my prediction was correct.)
Rei nodded to himself as he studied the four types of Dragonias.
Earlier, when he had seen the golden-scaled Dragonias, he had wondered whether there might be even higher-ranking Dragonias. His prediction had been right on the mark.
...That said, Rei had thought there would be only one type above the golden-scaled Dragonias, or two at most. In that sense, his expectations had been completely upended.
After all, there were four new types of Dragonias currently in his line of sight.
Depending on the circumstances, there was no guarantee that other Dragonias hadn't yet revealed themselves.
Considering that, he wondered whether coming this quietly had been a mistake. At the same time, though, he was genuinely glad to have obtained such detailed information about the Dragonias.
(In that case, the problem is... what kind of power these new types actually possess.)
As far as Rei knew, the copper-scaled Dragonias was small and excelled in speed, with its greatest characteristic being high intelligence.
The silver-scaled Dragonias generally consisted of individuals specialized in combat. Though there was a distinction between individual combat and commanding a unit in battle.
The golden-scaled Dragonias possessed both of those powers, and on top of that, held what could be called a superior version of those abilities.
Given all that, just how much power did the four higher-ranking types possess?
That, Rei couldn't begin to comprehend.
(Thinking about it normally, black would be the power of darkness, white would be the power of light... what about transparent? Some kind of Optical Camouflage ability? And seven-colored is... from the look of it, the Dragonias with the fewest numbers, so its abilities are probably stronger than the rest.)
It was purely speculation on his part, but he didn't think he was far off.
The real question was how much power that translated to specifically.
They were currently moving to meet the Queen, so there was no need to fight those Dragonias.
However, that was only true as long as the current state of affairs held.
Rei understood full well that they—more precisely, the Centaurs and the Dragonias—were incompatible existences.
The fact that they weren't being attacked even while surrounded by Dragonias was nothing short of the most exceptional of exceptions.
Given that, what would happen after meeting the Queen... thinking about it, he couldn't help but feel that things had taken a troublesome turn.
(It's just me, Vihera, and Set, so in the worst case, if Set takes to the sky, we wouldn't have to deal with most of the Dragonias. ...The problem is, I can only pray that none of the four new types can attack at range or possibly even fly. The mottled Dragonias weren't that numerous, after all.)
The mottled Dragonias that fired blood lasers seemed to Rei to be fewer in number than the golden-scaled Dragonias.
Of course, there were countless Dragonias, so it was entirely possible that they were simply mixed into the crowd while the golden-scaled Dragonias just happened to be gathered in clusters.
Even so, what Rei needed to be wary of right now were the four new types and the mottled Dragonias with its ranged attacks. ...The Queen was certainly someone to be wary of as well, of course.
"Rei."
"Yeah."
Vihera's question was brief, but Rei understood perfectly well what lay behind it.
Rei and his party continued forward until they arrived directly in front of the Dragonias Queen.
If he had to describe her in a single word, it would be eerie.
Dragonias had significant individual variation, but they still shared a certain degree of commonality: an upper body resembling a Lizardman, and a lower body that was reptilian like a lizard.
But the existence before Rei's eyes possessed none of the commonality shared by Dragonias whatsoever.
First of all, the lower body was a colossal mass of flesh. Not a reptilian form like a lizard, but a mass of flesh.
That mass of flesh had countless tube-like structures protruding from it, and at the ends of those tubes were cocoon-like objects covered in mucous.
What those were, Rei could easily imagine.
In other words, Dragonias didn't reproduce among themselves. All Dragonias were born from the Queen.
In that sense, Rei's prediction that they had habits similar to ants or bees had likely been correct.
(Which is exactly why this is so troublesome.)
Faced with the Queen before him—so enormous that he had no idea where to even look—Rei hesitated over what to do, then turned his gaze toward the copper-scaled Dragonias that had guided them there.
Since it had been ordered to guide them, Rei figured it might be able to communicate with them to some degree.
He also hoped that feeding it sandwiches along the way might have made it at least somewhat more friendly toward them.
(For now, I'd like to think it won't suddenly attack us... or something.)
That was what Rei told himself, but the copper-scaled Dragonias showed no sign of noticing his gaze, simply waiting at a spot slightly removed from the Queen.
Judging by this, anything he said to the copper-scaled Dragonias would be meaningless.
Reluctantly, Rei had no choice but to draw that conclusion. Which meant that in the current situation, he would have to communicate with the Queen before him—that existence that could only be described as a wall of flesh—on his own.
"Giiiiiiiii!"
That sound reached Rei's ears as he stared at the mass of flesh before him.
It wasn't simply a cry. It reverberated inside his head in an inexplicable way, while simultaneously making his spine crawl.
...Though the crawling sensation wasn't because he felt threatened by the entity before him. It was a natural reaction to the sound itself, like nails scraping across a chalkboard.
Of course, Rei was probably the only one who could understand that particular comparison. But even without grasping the metaphor, anyone would have recognized the sensation of their spine crawling.
"What is this? ...What am I supposed to do?"
Vihera muttered, furrowing her brows at the Queen's voice.
Rei could only agree.
What meaning the Queen's cry held was something Rei, who couldn't understand the Dragonias language, had no way of knowing.
"Set, can you... no good, huh?"
"Guruu? ...Gurururu."
At Rei's words, Set seemed to understand what he was asking, but immediately purred in denial.
Since Set was also categorized as a monster, Rei had hoped that perhaps they could communicate. Unfortunately, that expectation had been misplaced.
Whatever the Queen said, Set couldn't understand it.
At the same time he realized that, Rei noticed one more thing.
The Queen's cry earlier had undoubtedly caused him the unpleasant sensation of his spine crawling. That much was certain. But Set didn't feel the same degree of revulsion toward the Queen's cry as Rei and Vihera did.
If asked whether it had absolutely no effect on him, the answer would be no. But even so, the fact that Set wasn't having as unpleasant an experience as Rei and Vihera was an undeniable truth.
(Because it's also a monster? ...If I thought that, Set would probably get mad at me.)
Rei could easily imagine Set's attitude—that he wouldn't want to be lumped together with a Queen like that—so he quickly shifted his thoughts and redirected his gaze toward the Queen once more.
"Now then... sorry, but we can't understand at all what you're saying. It'd help us out if you could respond in a way that's a bit easier to understand."
"Giiiiiiiiigyiiiiiiiigiiii!"
Whether or not Rei's words had been understood, the Queen raised a cry once more.
That cry echoed across the entire area, and just as before, it naturally sent a crawling sensation down the spines of both Rei and Vihera...
"...Understand... my... body... standard..."
Suddenly, fragmented words like those flowed directly into his mind, as if being poured in.