The Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor. It was Rei's ultimate attack method among all the means at his disposal... a technique that could truly be called a trump card.
Given that, he had hesitated slightly over whether to use it in this situation. But it was undeniable that it was the optimal method for defeating the swarm of Dragonias that still numbered in the hundreds, thousands... tens of thousands.
If he were willing to resort to more ruthless methods, he could collapse this entire Underground Space and kill the majority of the ordinary Dragonias, if not the Queen and the intelligent ones.
But... in that case, there was no telling how the Queen would react.
So far, the Queen had done nothing more than issue orders, but if she were truly cornered, there was a possibility she would take action.
(Well, if I'm going to say that, then it wouldn't be strange for her to sense her own crisis the moment I use the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor and act on it.)
Rei thought this, but the red-scaled Dragonias around him, who had just landed on the ground, attacked without any hesitation...
"Haonnyaenkia!"
Raising an unpleasant scream completely unlike those of the intelligent Dragonias, it was bisected along with its red scales, crumbing to the ground with that very cry.
"Now then, the problem is..."
However, Rei showed no sign of caring about the red-scaled Dragonias that had attacked him. He shaped part of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor into a whip and swung it... and the red-scaled Dragonias that touched the whip burst into flames.
"Aankamma!"
Such a scream echoed across the surroundings from the mouth of the red-scaled Dragonias.
Originally, fire-based attacks should not have worked on the red-scaled Dragonias.
In fact, even Rei's magic, which was specialized in Flame Magic, could not deal a fatal blow to the Dragonias... let alone inflict even a scratch.
Despite this, the whip of crimson mana created by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor set the red-scaled Dragonias ablaze with just a slight touch.
The red-scaled Dragonias, ruled by hunger, were perhaps surprised by the scene that had unfolded before their eyes... or perhaps, they felt the danger of death more strongly than their hunger, as they stopped moving and did not attack Rei.
"So it was effective."
Rei muttered as he gazed at those red-scaled Dragonias.
Even though an attack that should have been ineffective had proven effective, Rei's words carried no particular surprise.
This was likely because he had anticipated that the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor would unleash that much power.
He gazed at the crimson mana floating around him... and somehow understood.
It was true that Flame Magic had no effect on the red-scaled Dragonias.
But... although it was a being created by magic, it was still undoubtedly fire.
Unlike that magical fire created by magic, what floated around Rei thanks to the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was, fundamentally, mana.
Of course, that mana possessed overwhelming heat, but even so, there was a world of difference between fire created by magic and raw mana itself.
...Even so, normally, attacks of that nature would not work on red-scaled Dragonias... but in the case of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, the sheer quantity of mana used was overwhelming.
When Rei used magic of an attribute that was not his original, it required an absurd amount... the kind of mana that an ordinary mage would have to sacrifice their life or lifespan to obtain, and from several people at that, just to finally unleash the same power as that attribute.
But the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was completed by condensing, concentrating, and compressing Rei's fire-specialized mana to the point where the mana itself was visible even without special eyes.
That was precisely why its mana, unlike the fire Rei created with magic... held enough power even against the red-scaled Dragonias.
"Now then, given that this is effective... sorry, but I can't afford to spend too much time here. I'll end this quickly."
The Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was an extremely powerful skill.
But... it went without saying that such a powerful skill could not be used without any cost.
It was a skill only usable because of Rei's vast mana reserves, and even now as he used it, he was constantly consuming mana.
Because of that, it was not a skill that could be maintained for very long... which was exactly why Rei did not want to use it as a trump card very often.
Especially in this battle, rather than using it to mow down large numbers of fodder—though even they were opponents that a normal Centaur could only defeat with significant numbers—he had wanted to save it for when he fought the intelligent Dragonias.
(Well, let's just think of it as being worth it if I can kill even one seven-colored Dragonias.)
He manipulated the crimson mana, tore a piece off, and threw it toward a location where the red-scaled Dragonias were gathered.
Deep Flame, which used mana itself as its attack method and turned it into fire with the properties Rei envisioned.
The Deep Flame, which spread into a thrown-net shape mid-air, fell as it was into a swarm of nearby red-scaled Dragonias... and in the next moment, it erupted into fierce flames, burning everything it touched... even the red-scaled Dragonias.
Screams, screams, and more screams echoed through the surroundings.
Since it was a thrown net that had spread over a fairly wide area, the number of red-scaled Dragonias burned was also great.
Dozens... no, perhaps over a hundred.
Originally, the red-scaled Dragonias possessed absolute resistance to fire, but even so, they had no defense against the Deep Flame Rei had unleashed.
Normally, the instinct of hunger would override the danger of death, and they would never falter no matter what... acting in a manner that could genuinely be called a berserker rage, and yet now, they had stopped moving.
For Dragonias that fought purely on the instinct of hunger, they had been fully aware of the possibility of being killed... no, they did not even have the composure to think about such things, and had seen their enemies only as lumps of meat to satisfy their hunger.
But Rei, having activated the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, possessed something that could make even such Dragonias feel the terror of death.
But naturally, Rei had no intention of paying any mind to the state of those red-scaled Dragonias... he unleashed Deep Flame after Deep Flame, burning and killing opponents that should have been impossible to kill through burning by any means.
"Hah. You took your sweet time."
Amidst all this, a seven-colored Dragonias suddenly appeared right beside Rei.
...However, it showed no sign of launching a surprise attack on him.
From the seven-colored Dragonias's perspective, since Rei's appearance had suddenly changed—accurately, he had simply become clad in crimson mana, so his actual form had not changed—it was only natural for it to be on guard.
Even so, rather than attacking, it observed him... and having it appear right next to Rei was undoubtedly an unexpected action for him as well.
Rei was confident that even if it attacked in the current situation, he could handle it without issue.
Because of that, the seven-colored Dragonias choosing to observe rather than attack was an unexpected action for Rei.
"Well, that's that... I suppose."
Muttering this, Rei briefly averted his gaze from the seven-colored Dragonias.
What his gaze landed on was Vihera, who had also released Set's front leg, landed on the ground, and was attacking any red-scaled Dragonias within reach... or more accurately, the location where she was likely fighting.
Originally, there was Rei, who was shorter than average, and the Dragonias, which stood about three meters tall.
On top of that, there were countless Dragonias, and there was no way he would be able to see through them to spot Vihera, who was likely beyond them.
That said, seeing the Dragonias being sent flying, it was easy to imagine that Vihera was the one doing it.
Well, if they were being sent flying from only one location, he might have recognized it as something Set had done.
But... if Dragonias were being sent flying from two or more locations, it went without saying who was responsible.
"Now then, in that case... I can't afford to spend too much more time here either."
He muttered, and kicked off the ground.
Even in his base state, Rei's physical abilities, created by the Zephyle Clan, were extremely high.
But... in his current state using the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, he generated speed on an entirely different level.
In fact, the first red-scaled Dragonias that collided with Rei was sent flying, its body burned and crushed, without even understanding what had happened.
Rei's movements did not end there, naturally.
While maintaining the deployed state of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, he raised the temperature of its mana... charging into the swarm of Dragonias while inflicting pain so intense that even the red-scaled Dragonias, which had strong resistance to fire and heat, screamed just from touching it.
As it was, the current Rei was clad in crimson mana that could turn a Dragonias—a being with a robust body—into little more than chunks of flesh just from being touched and blasted away.
What kind of result that would bring about... was obvious without even thinking.
Precisely because the Dragonias had been densely packed, it backfired on them.
From the moment they touched him, the Dragonias were burned and crushed one after another.
It was true that Rei was merely charging forward right now, but there was no one here who could obstruct his charge.
(All right, this is going well. At this rate, I'll be able to eliminate the fodder Dragonias without taking much time at all. ...The problem is the other Dragonias, starting with the seven-colored Dragonias. Especially the seven-colored Dragonias—I want to defeat them as quickly as possible.)
To Rei, the seven-colored Dragonias, with its Teleportation ability—albeit short-range—was an extremely troublesome existence.
Of course, the black-scaled Dragonias, which possessed high healing power... or rather, a power that could be called a Regeneration Ability, the white-scaled Dragonias, which could use Breath for long-range attacks, and the transparent-scaled Dragonias, which had Optical Camouflage and jumping power sufficient to reach Set at an altitude of nearly one hundred meters, were all troublesome opponents as well.
In addition, there were the copper-scaled Dragonias, which had high intelligence and maneuverability, the silver-scaled Dragonias, which was specialized in combat ability, the golden-scaled Dragonias, which possessed both copper and silver capabilities fused at a higher level, and the mottled Dragonias, which fired Blood Lasers. There were still many Dragonias with high combat power beyond the fodder.
But... even considering all of that, the one Rei found most troublesome was, without a doubt, the seven-colored Dragonias with its Teleportation ability.
Moreover, even for the other Dragonias, the abilities Rei knew about were not everything.
There was a very real possibility that they possessed other special abilities.
That was why Rei's honest feeling was that he wanted to kill at least one of the wounded seven-colored Dragonias while he still could.
Fortunately, as far as Rei had seen, only five seven-colored Dragonias existed.
If so, eliminating even one here would be a significant achievement.
(Though it already vanished at some point.)
He checked his surroundings, but the seven-colored Dragonias was already nowhere to be seen.
Having deemed Rei, who used the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, a formidable enemy, its goal was likely to assess his combat power while simultaneously wearing him down.
Rei could naturally understand its thinking... but that did not mean he had any means to do anything about it in the current situation.
At best, he figured that if he kept defeating the massive number of Dragonias around him, it would eventually show itself.
...And for Rei right now, defeating the surrounding Dragonias was not a difficult matter.
Whether it was hiding among the Dragonias, or whether it had once taken its distance from him.
Rei had no idea what action the seven-colored Dragonias was currently taking.
He didn't know, but even so, he judged that annihilating the surrounding Dragonias was the priority for now... and with a ferocious grin, he took a step forward.
In that instant, the Dragonias took a step back in response.
But, naturally, the surrounding Dragonias were densely packed, and even if the ones near Rei tried to retreat, their comrades' bodies behind them prevented them from going any further.
Toward those Dragonias that had thus stopped moving, Rei charged forward, wielding Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, clad in the crimson mana of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.