Rei, Vihera, and Set. The two and one beast were fighting a number of Dragonias that might have reached ten thousand.
By any normal reckoning, Rei and his group had no chance of winning.
...But that was only if things were normal.
Rei's body, created through the techniques of the Zephyle Clan, had no issue with stamina no matter how long a battle like this continued.
Set was a Gryphon — a High-Rank Monster — and as a being brought into existence through Beast Magic, it too showed not the slightest sign of fatigue even after several hours of combat. If anything, it had even turned the tables on Dragonias that tried to eat it, devouring and killing them instead.
Vihera was different from Rei and Set, but she was no ordinary human either.
Well, she had originally been an ordinary human — though whether having Imperial Family blood counted as "ordinary" was debatable — but by fusing with, or rather absorbing, Unbris, she had become, in a sense, something beyond human.
Possessing such abilities and being the type who genuinely enjoyed combat, she could keep fighting even longer than Rei or Set.
"Still... all things considered, you can see that the enemy's numbers have thinned enough. It's safe to say the fodder is done for."
Rei muttered as he surveyed the surroundings, where Dragonias remains, charred coal, and ash were scattered about.
Indeed, having killed the majority of the nearly ten thousand Dragonias in such a short time, those words were by no means an exaggeration.
...That said, the fodder being gone meant what remained were powerful individuals. They would now be facing the intelligent Commanders.
Even apart from that, the ordinary Dragonias Rei had dismissed as fodder hadn't entirely disappeared, though their numbers were greatly reduced.
Above all, the Queen possessed the ability to produce Dragonias one after another.
Spending time here would almost certainly mean Dragonias being continuously replenished.
Of course, even if more Dragonias appeared, Rei and his group would have no trouble dealing with the reinforcements.
(The real problem is that the intelligent Commanders would be replenished too. ...Especially the seven-colored scaled Dragonias — having more of those produced would be genuinely problematic.)
Just killing one had been troublesome enough, yet four more remained.
The prospect of additional seven-colored scaled Dragonias appearing on top of that was something Rei absolutely wanted to avoid.
That was precisely why now, having disposed of most of the ordinary Dragonias, was the perfect opportunity to go on the offensive.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Rei half-rotated his body almost reflexively and swung the Death Scythe in his right hand.
"Screeech!"
A scream rang out as the scent of fresh blood scattered through the air, but Rei — having elicited that cry from the seven-colored scaled Dragonias that had teleported in — knew from the feel of the strike that it was by no means a fatal blow.
"It got away, huh."
It had likely teleported in to launch a surprise attack, but when Rei reacted to the teleportation and swung Death Scythe, it had teleported again to evade.
Judging this, Rei searched for where it had gone, exasperated by the creature's sharp instincts.
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias's teleportation required absolutely no incantation or preparation. As far as Rei could tell, it was an extraordinarily powerful ability that could be activated instantly at will.
It wasn't necessarily the price for that power, but the drawback was that the teleportation range was quite short.
Even so, that weakness could be compensated for by using teleportation in rapid succession.
Its appearance behind Rei this time had likely been achieved by repeatedly teleporting from a distance, chaining short hops until it closed in.
"Hm?"
But as Rei scanned his surroundings, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias was nowhere to be seen.
The only figures nearby were Set, still dispatching the remaining ordinary Dragonias, and Vihera, simultaneously fighting three silver-scaled Dragonias.
No matter where he looked, there was no sign of it...
"Above!"
Remembering the creature's other ability besides teleportation — the power to walk through the sky — Rei snapped his gaze upward.
And there, just as expected, was the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, watching for an opening in his guard.
The moment it seemed to realize Rei had spotted it, it stopped its descent toward him.
If Rei hadn't noticed its presence overhead, it would have launched a surprise attack while dropping through the air.
"Flying Slash!"
A strike erupted toward the seven-colored scaled Dragonias.
It was one of Death Scythe's skills that Rei used frequently, but the moment the seven-colored scaled Dragonias saw the slash hurtling toward it, it instantly teleported clear.
"Still a pain in the ass."
Rei muttered in frustration and annoyance as he watched it go.
No matter how powerful his attacks were — enough to kill the seven-colored scaled Dragonias on a direct hit — they only mattered if they actually connected.
If an attack didn't land, it was meaningless, regardless of what kind of attack it was.
"Screeech!"
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias let out a cry toward Rei, perhaps as a feint.
Though from Rei's perspective, it sounded more like bravado.
Over the course of the battle thus far, it had lost an arm to Rei's attacks, suffered a deep wound on its front leg, and when it had teleported in moments ago to ambush him, it had also taken a cut across its torso.
The torso wound wasn't as deep as the others, but a wound was still a wound.
Even for a creature as powerful as the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, fighting Rei was undeniably a treacherous prospect.
"What's wrong? Just feinting and not attacking? Then... I'm coming at you!"
With a shout, Rei launched himself toward the seven-colored scaled Dragonias hovering in the air.
It was at an altitude of roughly thirty meters.
Normally, there would be no way to attack an opponent at that height.
But Rei had the Sleipnir boots.
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias could walk freely through the sky, and while the Sleipnir boots were limited in comparison, they granted Rei a similar ability to stride through the air.
...Of course, Rei suspected that given how badly wounded the creature was, it would likely teleport away the moment he got close.
(But your teleportation can't cover long distances. So... what happens if I attack across the entire area you could possibly teleport to?)
Making that judgment, Rei kicked off the ground and leaped.
His physical abilities, enhanced by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, weren't quite on par with the transparent-scaled Dragonias's exceptional jumping power, but they carried him to a height of about twenty meters.
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias's eyes widened briefly in surprise.
But when it realized Rei's maximum leap would fall short of its position, it formed something like a smirk — only for its expression to change the next instant as Rei activated the Sleipnir boots, kicked off the air itself, and leaped a second time. Seeing Rei now soaring above it, swinging Death Scythe downward in a descent, the creature instantly decided to teleport.
"Too naive!"
But the seven-colored scaled Dragonias's actions were exactly what Rei had anticipated.
And given that its teleportation range was short, it couldn't go very far. It certainly couldn't reach the Queen's position.
What Rei unleashed in that moment was a Deep Flame spread outward like a thrown net, centered on himself.
...That said, since he couldn't afford to hit Set and Vihera, he couldn't blanket the entire area.
Even so, the majority of the space surrounding Rei fell within the attack's range.
(Now then, unless it teleports above me...)
Having released the Deep Flame net, Rei descended toward the ground.
To evade the attack, the creature would have to teleport outside the Deep Flame's range, teleport near Vihera or Set, or teleport to a position higher than Rei.
Teleporting above Rei would be the simplest and most reliable option for a creature that could walk through the sky.
That would be the easiest way to escape, but...
"Screeeeech!"
A scream erupted from the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, which had teleported to a spot a short distance from Rei.
Rather than teleporting upward as Rei had feared, it had teleported to the ground — and as a result, caught the Deep Flame attack full-on.
In a sense, Rei's attack had depended entirely on the opponent's reaction, half reliant on luck. But he had drawn that luck spectacularly.
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias, its body ignited by Deep Flame — no, still burning — was rolling across the ground, perhaps too disoriented to teleport.
"This finishes it!"
Until now, he hadn't managed to kill even a single seven-colored scaled Dragonias.
But in its current state, escape via teleportation seemed unlikely.
There was no way Rei would let this perfect opportunity slip by.
Descending from the air, Rei used the Sleipnir boots once more to slow his fall, and the instant his feet touched the ground, he charged toward the thrashing seven-colored scaled Dragonias.
Naturally, the net-like flames of Deep Flame Rei had unleashed were still burning nearby — but for Rei, clad in the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, they were of no concern.
Deep Flame was, at its core, concentrated mana transformed. It couldn't possibly affect Rei himself.
But that was only because it was Rei. Everything else — the Dragonias that were down but still alive, the severed body parts scattered across the ground — was naturally consumed by the Deep Flame.
Pools of blood and bodily fluids evaporated in an instant, their very stench burned away.
That meant everything on the ground — including the massive quantities of Dragonias corpses — had been reduced to charcoal.
For Rei, the attack had been aimed at killing the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, but the fact that it had also cleared the ground for easy movement was an unexpectedly welcome bonus.
"Anyway..."
Having taken in the situation, Rei's gaze finally settled on the seven-colored scaled Dragonias a short distance away — still engulfed in Deep Flame, rolling across the ground, desperately trying to extinguish the fire or perhaps simply writhing in pain.
"The fact that it's still alive confirms it's a powerful individual. ...Though it doesn't look like it'll last much longer."
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias was still energetically rolling across the ground, but that wouldn't extinguish Deep Flame's fire.
Deep Flame possessed a characteristic where Rei's mental image directly shaped the flame's nature.
And when Rei used Deep Flame as a thrown net, his image was of a fire that would not easily die — one that would burn until the one it touched was dead.
Of course, even as a byproduct of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, Deep Flame had its limits.
Rei's image shaping the flame's properties didn't guarantee it would always perform exactly as envisioned.
However, fortunately for Rei, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias lacked the power to push Deep Flame past those limits.
All Rei could do now was watch the creature rolling on the ground and confirm its movements — and if it somehow managed to respond even while being burned alive, deal with that accordingly.
(I wondered whether it could teleport just its body and leave the flames behind... but there's no sign of it trying. Maybe it simply can't, or maybe teleportation requires concentration and it can't focus while burning. ...With four more remaining, I'll observe this one carefully.)
With those thoughts, Rei continued watching the seven-colored scaled Dragonias until it breathed its last.