"Well then, the rest are... actually still quite a few of them left."
Rei called the Twilight Spear back to his hand after shattering a golden-scaled Dragonias's torso, murmuring as he surveyed the surroundings.
The golden-scaled Dragonias were undoubtedly powerful, but even so, to the current Rei with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor deployed, they were only slightly troublesome—opponents he could defeat with ease.
Because of that, even though a considerable number of them existed within his line of sight, he could easily strike them down if he chose to.
But... even so, it was certain that defeating all of the numerous Dragonias before him would take a fair amount of time.
And while he was fighting them, spending time to defeat that giant mass of flesh he could see even now in his line of sight—the Queen—and as a result having new Dragonias born... that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.
"My, you look quite troubled."
"Gururu."
A voice called out to Rei.
He didn't wonder who it was.
Who had spoken— he understood immediately, as a matter of course.
"Vihera, Set. You've already finished them off?"
"Yes, I enjoyed it somewhat... but it seemed more interesting over here, so I hurried a little at the end."
"Gurururu!"
Vihera reported, looking only slightly disappointed... and more than that, looking thoroughly entertained, and Set purred as if in agreement with her words.
The Dragonias that had been surrounding Rei—or more precisely, the Dragonias that had been rendered unable to attack by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—showed signs of bewilderment at Vihera and Set's appearance.
Thinking about it normally, since reinforcements in the form of Vihera and Set had arrived, the current situation was by no means something to celebrate.
They understood that, but even knowing this... still, the fact that the situation was changing even slightly was welcomed by the Dragonias.
That said, there was also the possibility that the shift would not work in their favor.
"Now then, Rei. Leave this place to me and go on ahead."
"...Eh? Is that okay?"
The words that came from Vihera's mouth were something completely unexpected for Rei.
Considering Vihera's personality, it wouldn't have been strange for her to say she wanted to fight the enemies ahead—the white, black, transparent... and the seven-colored scaled Dragonias that stood at the pinnacle of their kind.
Even Set, who had come this far together with Vihera, apparently hadn't expected such words from her; he looked back and forth between Rei and Vihera in confusion.
At the demeanor of this person and creature, Vihera put on an expression as if to say she was offended.
"I understand perfectly how Rei and Set think of me. ...Well, that thinking isn't wrong, though."
"Then why? Telling me to leave this place to you and go on ahead..."
It's like a death flag.
Rei had been about to say that, but reconsidered, thinking that even if he said "flag," it probably wouldn't get through to Vihera.
But Vihera seemed to understand that Rei had stopped mid-sentence... and, deeply interested in what he had been about to say, she directed her gaze at him as if to urge him on.
Rei had also noticed Vihera's gaze, but judging that this wasn't the situation for such things, he had no intention of saying anything more.
Vihera felt it was slightly disappointing, but for now she determined that if they kept conversing here, the surrounding Dragonias would likely take some kind of action, and so she changed the topic.
"The reason I said I'd stay here is simple. It's not that complicated a story, really. Simply put, if I stay here, I can fight the golden-scaled Dragonias. That's all."
It was a very simple reason, but at the same time, it was one Rei could accept.
As someone who originally preferred fighting strong opponents, Vihera had thought that the golden-scaled Dragonias were the pinnacle of their kind, right up until they entered this underground space and approached the Queen.
In reality, there were many forms of Dragonias she was seeing for the first time near the Queen—the white, black, transparent, and seven-colored scaled Dragonias.
That was exactly why Vihera now wanted, first and foremost, to fight the golden-scaled Dragonias.
...It might be slightly different from the notion of "staying true to one's original intention," but she prioritized fighting the golden-scaled Dragonias, which she had wanted to fight even before entering this underground space.
Seeing Vihera declare her will like that... and then seeing Set, at a slight distance from her, turning his round eyes toward him as if asking "what do we do?"... Rei, though somewhat reluctant, opened his mouth.
"Understood. Then that's fine. However, the enemy is the golden-scaled Dragonias. You understand they're quite a formidable foe, right? ...Well, telling Vihera something like that is probably meaningless, though."
When it came to battle, Vihera faced her opponent sincerely.
As a result, the damage her opponent would suffer would be considerable... but when it came to fighting Vihera, that was simply unavoidable.
"Hehe, that's right. If the opponent is strong, that's nothing but joy for me."
Her moist eyes were alluring, and facing the fierce battle about to begin, Vihera right now was intensely feminine.
However, the direction those alluring emotions were aimed was not at something related to relations between men and women... but purely at battle, with instinct fully unleashed—or rather, mutual slaughter.
"Got it. What about Set? Are you coming with me, or staying with Vihera?"
Rei's feelings were split evenly between wanting Set to come with him if possible, and wanting Set to stay with Vihera and provide backup in an emergency.
The place he was heading to had the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, which could freely walk through the sky and, even if only short distances, freely use Teleportation.
Not only that, but the Breath attacks of the white-scaled Dragonias would likely be easier to deal with in the sky than on the ground, and the transparent-scaled Dragonias that used Optical Camouflage would also be easier to handle in the air than on the ground, thanks to its absurd jumping power—though Rei himself was in no position to talk about that.
Also, precisely because Set had sharper senses than Rei, there was no doubt he would help in all sorts of ways.
That was why Rei was torn about whether Set should go with him or with Vihera.
But, as if to sever Rei's hesitation, Vihera opened her mouth.
"What are you saying in this situation? Set is Rei's partner, so it's better for him to act with Rei. Or... what? Do you think I'd struggle enough to need Set's help?"
"...Understood."
While showing an attitude that seemed almost eager for the coming battle, Vihera said that flatly.
At Vihera's words, Rei nodded, half overwhelmed by her intensity.
The fact that he was overwhelmed despite having the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active meant there was no need to even consider just how much presence she had exerted.
"But listen, okay? Don't die, alright? I don't want it to be 'when we meet again, it was Vihera's corpse'... or anything like that."
"Hehe, having the person I love say that to me is a woman's greatest reward. ...But for now, let's take action. I can't hold back my desire to fight the golden-scaled Dragonias much longer, either. Although, it seems there are others who want to do something tasteless as well."
Perhaps because Rei and Vihera kept talking, the Dragonias, which had initially kept their distance to observe, eventually began to think there might be an opening... especially since, while Rei with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active was one thing, perhaps they could manage something about Vihera—or so they seemed to think.
A group of several Dragonias—a mix of silver and copper-scaled ones—moved to encircle Rei, Vihera, and Set.
"We talked too much. Seems like they got tired of waiting for us, too."
"My, it's no problem for me, though. ...Well then, leave this place to me and go on ahead."
Don't set up a death flag.
It was such an obvious one that Rei almost felt the urge to point it out, but judging that saying such a thing in the current situation would be meaningless, he simply said "take care" and charged into the Dragonias that were trying to surround them, Set alongside him.
To surround them meant, naturally, that the Dragonias needed to position themselves around Rei's group—which meant the number of Dragonias in any one place would thin out.
...Of course, breaking through so easily was something only Rei and Set could manage; if it had been the Centaurs, even the strongest of the Reconnaissance Unit, Zai, wouldn't have been able to pull off such a feat.
"Jaenaenkae!"
Toward Rei and Set, who were charging at them, a nearby red-scaled Dragonias let out a cry.
It probably hadn't expected Rei to approach in this situation... but that cry was, rather, just right for Rei in terms of marking his target.
"If the pheasant doesn't cry, it won't be shot!"
Shouting that, while still deploying the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, he slightly changed course toward the red-scaled Dragonias... and slammed into it with all his might.
The red-scaled Dragonias was caught off guard by Rei... but Rei's physical abilities with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active had become extremely high.
Before the red-scaled Dragonias could show any reaction, Rei, his body wrapped in crimson mana, slammed into it and sent it flying.
Parts of its body were shattered and burned... and its life was extinguished in an instant.
The Dragonias that had cried out first was the very first to be targeted and killed.
That moment—no, those few seconds—stopped the Dragonias' movements.
That was enough for Rei to exploit the opening.
As if taking advantage of their agitation, he broke through, blowing away the Dragonias surrounding them... and, without slowing down at all, ran toward where the Queen was.
Along the way, Blood Lasers were fired by mottled Dragonias several times, but they couldn't pierce through the crimson mana, so he didn't even bother to evade.
Right beside Rei, Set was also running.
Perhaps happy to be able to fight alongside Rei, Set was in a very good mood.
They had been fighting in the same place up until now, but being able to fight together with Rei this time must have made the difference.
"You're annoying! Don't get in the way!"
While running, Rei hurled Deep Flame toward the direction the Blood Lasers had come from.
What he imagined this time was not the sticky fire he had frequently used, but an explosively spreading flame.
And indeed, the Deep Flame Rei threw spread wide in the air and became an explosive blaze that rained down onto the ground.
He hadn't specifically targeted the exact location of the mottled Dragonias, but attacked judging roughly that they would be somewhere in that area.
That single attack enveloped not only the mottled Dragonias but also the silver-scaled Dragonias and ordinary Dragonias nearby in flames, burning them to ashes.
(There shouldn't have been that many mottled Dragonias. We reduced their numbers quite a bit in the battles so far, and I don't think there are that many left, even if some remain.)
At any rate, the most troublesome thing about fighting the Dragonias was attacks from long range.
The ordinary Dragonias' means of attack were limited to close combat—claws, fangs, or more simply, punching, kicking, and body slamming.
But the mottled Dragonias' Blood Laser and the white-scaled Dragonias' Breath both allowed for long-range attacks.
In that sense, they were extremely troublesome, and wanting to defeat enemies as quickly as possible was only natural.
...Fortunately, from what Rei had seen when going to meet the Queen, the number of mottled Dragonias wasn't that large, and the white-scaled Dragonias similarly didn't have that many near the Queen.
That was exactly why, whenever he found a mottled Dragonias, he would defeat it first.
"Gururururu!"
And Set, running at Rei's side, wasn't just running either—he attacked those who stood in their path and tried to obstruct their movements.
That said, unlike Rei, who used the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor and could therefore easily deal damage to enemy Dragonias with Deep Flame, Set's skills—with the exception of Power Crush—couldn't deal fatal damage to them.
Even so, in close combat, Set overwhelmingly surpassed the Dragonias in both physical ability and technique.
And so, while defeating the Dragonias that stood in their way, Rei and Set headed toward where the Queen was.