The third seven-colored scaled Dragonias had initially stood its ground at a distance from Rei, but eventually took a slow step forward.
Naturally, it was not a step away from him, but a step toward him.
Once that first step was taken, it continued with a second, then a third, gradually picking up speed.
"I said a frontal fight, but you're really coming straight at me without using your teleportation or sky-walking abilities?"
Though he muttered this, Rei nonetheless loosed nearly twenty fist-sized Deep Flames at the seven-colored scaled Dragonias as a deterrent.
The Deep Flames were released with an image of generating sticky fire upon contact, but the seven-colored scaled Dragonias did not slow down in the slightest. It tilted its body to evade the flames and continued pressing forward without stopping.
Rei, standing ahead of the approaching Dragonias, naturally had no intention of silently watching it come. Gripping Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, he began moving forward as well.
Since he understood that attacks like the previous Deep Flame barrage were ineffective, he considered using a different image—a shape effective against multiple enemies, like a thrown net. However, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias's running speed was considerable, and the distance between them had already closed significantly.
Given that, he judged it better to fight head-on.
Still, just because they want a straight fight doesn't mean I have to play entirely by their rules.
While running, he threw the Twilight Spear from his left hand.
The strike, launched with a twist of his body and firmly transmitted power, was an extremely powerful blow. On top of that, his physical abilities were enhanced by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor. It could truly be called a sure-kill strike.
However... the seven-colored scaled Dragonias evaded it with teleportation.
It had teleported the instant Rei threw the spear, suggesting it had acted on a near-instinctive understanding of how dangerous his attack was.
In fact, if the seven-colored scaled Dragonias had delayed its teleportation by even a few seconds—no, even a few moments—its body would undoubtedly have been pierced and shattered by the Twilight Spear Rei unleashed.
It was precisely because it sensed that danger that it used teleportation.
Even so...
"Screeeeech!"
It was a split-second reaction, and given that the seven-colored scaled Dragonias could only teleport short distances, it reappeared about two meters to the side.
If Rei had been in his normal state without the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active, a two-meter sideward teleport would have posed no problem.
But the current Rei was using the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor to enhance his physical abilities, and this was a strike delivered with his feet firmly planted on the ground, not a throw made while riding on Set's back.
The only slight reduction in power came from the fact that the throwing hand was his left, not his dominant right. But that was only a minor difference.
After all, since Rei's combat style was fundamentally the Twin Spear Style with Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, his dominant hand was indeed his right, but his left arm's strength was also considerably trained.
Normally, a long-shafted weapon like a spear would be wielded with both hands, yet Rei wielded it with one. And to a degree that the phrase "with complete mastery" would be fitting.
That strength and dexterity was hardly any different from his dominant right hand.
Precisely because it was a blow from that left hand, while its power was somewhat diminished compared to his dominant right, the strike was still extremely powerful.
That was why, despite moving only two meters to the side, the scales that gave the seven-colored scaled Dragonias its name—though merely what Rei and his group called it—were stripped away, its skin torn, its flesh rent, and its bones shattered.
Even without a direct hit, the attack carried enough power to inflict that much damage.
For the seven-colored scaled Dragonias that took it, honestly speaking, it probably had no understanding whatsoever of what had just happened to cause this.
All it could do was clutch its right arm—which hurt... no, felt hot—and cry out in pain from the shock, agony, and burning sensation.
Watching the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, Rei called the Twilight Spear back to his hand.
By that time, the Dragonias had shaken off the pain and begun advancing toward Rei once more.
At this distance, facing Rei meant being well within his range—overwhelmingly so, like the Twilight Spear or Deep Flame.
Conversely, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, which lacked any long-range attack options, had no choice but to close the distance to attack him.
Not only was there an overwhelming difference in strength between Rei and the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, but their compatibility was equally poor.
If these had been white-scaled or mottled Dragonias, they would have had a means of counterattacking, regardless of whether it would actually be effective against Rei with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor deployed.
That was precisely why the seven-colored scaled Dragonias needed to close the distance in order to attack.
And yet, even in this situation, it neither used teleportation nor walked through the air. It charged straight at Rei head-on.
"In that case, I'll respond in kind."
For Rei, he could have killed the seven-colored scaled Dragonias simply by repeating spear throws as he was doing now.
However, seeing an opponent single-mindedly charging straight toward him, he felt inclined to honor that intention.
His feet, which had stopped momentarily during the throw, began moving again.
Once the distance between them closed, Rei swung Death Scythe at the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, deliberately in a simple motion with somewhat restrained speed, making it easier for the opponent to evade.
Barely managing to dodge, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias tried to swing its claws at Rei, who had missed his attack, but in the next instant, its head was effortlessly shattered by a strike from Rei's Twilight Spear.
The massive body of the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, still headless, shot past Rei with its forward momentum and crumpled to the ground.
"That's three down. Two left—wait, you're coming now?!"
Rei sensed a seven-colored scaled Dragonias teleporting right next to him just as he directed his gaze at the corpse on the ground. Just as before, he tried to deliver a Death Scythe strike while spinning his body halfway around on the spot, but the opponent vanished the next moment.
"...Smart, and sharp instincts too."
Many fighters let their guard down after defeating an enemy.
Whether the seven-colored scaled Dragonias that launched this ambush knew that as a fact, or had observed the battles Rei and his group had fought in this underground space and deduced it, either way, it had seen its companion killed by Rei and tried to exploit the brief opening when his guard dropped to teleport beside him for a surprise attack. But Rei had instantly detected it and attacked in a near-reflexive manner, faster than conscious thought.
The fact that it evaded that strike was probably a testament to the seven-colored scaled Dragonias's own skill as well.
And it was able to do so precisely because it had witnessed Rei's strike deal fatal damage to its companion.
"Anyway, using a companion as a decoy... I have to say, I'm not fond of that."
If these were ordinary Dragonias, using a comrade as a decoy wouldn't be unusual.
No—Dragonias driven by hunger would lack the intellect to conceive of something like using a decoy; it would simply happen by coincidence.
But these seven-colored scaled Dragonias were different.
They stood at the apex of the Dragonias.
Given that, it was clear from observation that they possessed a firm sense of ego. On top of that, using a companion as a decoy—was that really acceptable? Thinking such thoughts was only natural.
Still, their losses are catastrophic. If they understand that the Queen will be harmed at this rate, taking decisive action to prevent it... is probably only natural.
His displeasure was strictly a personal sentiment.
If it was to protect their Queen, then fighting in a way they themselves found distasteful was probably unavoidable.
"Anyway, if that's how they want to play it, then I'll... hm?"
Rei cut off mid-sentence because he sensed a presence rapidly approaching him.
He tore his gaze away from the seven-colored scaled Dragonias that was slowly backing away at a slight distance, watching him warily, and turned his attention toward the presence, thinking to himself that if it could attack him in this instant, it was welcome to try.
What entered Rei's vision was the figure of Vihera, riding on Set's back as they ran toward him.
That Vihera and Set were coming toward him meant he directed his gaze ahead, and there were no Dragonias left standing where they had been.
Vihera had been surrounded by Dragonias of various types, including ordinary ones.
Set had been fighting white-scaled and transparent-scaled Dragonias.
For both of them to come toward Rei together meant, naturally, that the Dragonias they had been fighting were annihilated.
Whether truly annihilated—every Dragonias dead—or merely alive but too injured to stand, Rei couldn't determine which.
Even so, as far as he was concerned, whether they were alive or dead didn't matter as long as they wouldn't stand in his way again.
"Rei, sorry to keep you waiting. Was I late?"
"No, I just got here."
He returned words that somehow felt like something from a date meetup.
Vihera, not expecting such a response from Rei, showed a briefly surprised expression.
But she quickly smiled at him and spoke.
"I didn't expect you to say something like that. So, Rei. I'll ask just in case, but how many seven-colored scaled Dragonias are left?"
Normally, checking the corpses would make determining how many remained a simple matter.
But in Rei's case, he had the Misty Ring, and the enemies were seven-colored scaled Dragonias—the beings that stood at the apex of the Dragonias.
Given that, Vihera was certain that if Rei had killed any seven-colored scaled Dragonias, he would have stored their corpses without fail.
And in fact, that certainty was correct.
Rei had stored every corpse of the seven-colored scaled Dragonias he had defeated so far in his Misty Ring.
As far as Rei was concerned, honestly, he wanted to store not only the seven-colored scaled Dragonias but also all the white, black, and transparent-scaled Dragonias corpses in his Misty Ring.
The Dragonias other than the seven-colored scaled variety were also undeniably high-ranking among their kind.
If so, their corpses could very well serve as valuable materials.
However, using Dragonias corpses as materials was extremely difficult, since they became useless as materials by the following day.
"Counting the one over there, there are two left. If you'd been a little slower, there'd only be one."
"...In that situation, you really had the nerve to say 'I just got here.'"
Hearing Rei's words, Vihera told him with a stronger tone of exasperation.
From Vihera's perspective, more than half of the five seven-colored scaled Dragonias had been killed by Rei.
Should she be glad that two were still left, or angry that Rei had taken out more than half?
For Vihera, it was an extremely delicate balance.
Of course, if she wanted to complain that much, she should have defeated the Dragonias she was fighting sooner, and then there would have been no problem.
It was precisely because she had taken time there that Rei had killed more than half of the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, so she couldn't voice any complaints about it.
Just as Vihera could easily read Rei's thoughts, Rei could also read hers, though strictly limited to combat-related matters. When it came to romance, he was utterly clueless.
"Anyway... I'll take that one. You don't mind, right?"
"Yeah, if you fight it, I can head toward the Queen too. Besides, with one left acting unpredictably, I want to stay free to move."
When Rei said that, Vihera displayed a complicated expression.
From Vihera's perspective, having already had three seven-colored scaled Dragonias taken by Rei, she naturally wanted to defeat the remaining two herself.
However, she couldn't neglect the seven-colored scaled Dragonias right in front of her in order to deal with the last one, and as a result, she reluctantly nodded at Rei's words.