"She won."
Rei muttered the words as he rode on Set's back, the gryphon racing across the ground. He was trying to lure out the remaining seven-colored scaled Dragonias—and any other survivors that might exist—so they wouldn't interfere when the time came to fight the Queen.
The "won" he spoke of didn't refer to this particular battle, but rather the fight between Vihera and the seven-colored scaled Dragonias they had left behind.
Given the speed at which Set was running, it wasn't as if Rei had heard any sounds. Nor had he seen Vihera's victory with his own eyes.
Even so, while moving like this, he somehow felt... truly, just somehow, that she had triumphed.
He had no proof. Still, through instinct—or perhaps a sixth sense—he knew Vihera had won.
"Grru?"
Really? Set, who had been running, turned back to look at Rei and asked the question.
Set possessed sharper senses than Rei, but even so, he had no way of knowing who had won the fight against Vihera.
This was likely the difference between Rei and Set.
...Though he was asking "Really?", given that Set didn't think Rei would lie about something like this, he could probably guess that Vihera had indeed won.
Even so, the reason he went out of his way to ask Rei... was simply that he wanted Rei's attention, most likely.
Rei seemed to sense Set's feelings as well. He scratched the gryphon's neck as he spoke.
"Probably, but definitely... yeah, that makes no sense."
He used the word "probably," then immediately declared "definitely." Thinking about it normally, that would be a contradiction.
"More importantly... do you sense it?"
"...Gruu."
Rei's tone turned serious without warning.
Set purred in response, making it clear he understood.
Right now, Rei had the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor activated, sharpening his senses well beyond their usual limits.
...And yet, the fact that he could ride on Set's back without any discomfort was partly because Rei could control the armor's output to some degree, but the biggest reason was simply that it was Set.
Set was a gryphon, but in the truest sense, he was a being created through Beast Magic using Rei's magical power.
In other words, he shared an inherent affinity with Rei's mana.
That was why touching the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—where Rei's magical power was concentrated to the point of being visible—caused absolutely no problems.
Regardless, Rei's enhanced senses were unmistakably detecting someone's gaze. And who the owner of that gaze was... he understood without even needing to think.
Given the current situation, only one seven-colored scaled Dragonias remained.
Well, there was a very real possibility that other Dragonias had survived too, but Rei couldn't think of anything besides a seven-colored scaled Dragonias that would direct such an intense gaze at him.
If he deliberately considered other possibilities, the Queen came to mind... but the Queen's presence should have felt sharper and more overwhelming than what he was sensing now.
(Ah, come to think of it... what happened to that golden-scaled Dragonias?)
He had encountered it back when he was still searching for the Dragonias headquarters on the surface. It had escaped back then, so they hadn't ended up fighting. But while being guided by the copper-scaled Dragonias through this underground space toward the Queen, he had spotted what appeared to be that same golden-scaled Dragonias.
It had fixed Rei with an intense gaze, but what had happened to it after that, even Rei couldn't say.
Given everything that had happened since, it was entirely possible it had been caught and killed by Rei's own attacks through the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, or by Vihera or Set.
At any rate, Rei had no sense that he had personally defeated the golden-scaled Dragonias.
...Though to Rei, the golden-scaled Dragonias, while not on par with the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, still gave the impression of surpassing all other Dragonias in overall ability. It wouldn't be strange if it was actually still alive, lurking somewhere, waiting for an opening.
"Still... the one watching me is probably the last seven-colored scaled Dragonias. ...Set, can you tell where it is?"
He looked around and confirmed it was nowhere in sight. Then, recalling that it could walk through the air, he directed his gaze upward—but it wasn't there either.
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias possessed teleportation abilities, but Rei had learned from fighting the other four—one of which he had left to Vihera—that their teleportation range wasn't actually that far.
Of course, just as each of the four he had fought displayed different personalities, he could expect some variation in ability between individuals.
But even so, from what Rei had observed, the differences were within a margin of error. In practice, there shouldn't have been any need to worry too much about it.
In other words, it was watching from somewhere, but at a distance where it couldn't reach Rei in a single teleport.
That was what Rei had thought. But in the next moment, he swung Death Scythe almost reflexively.
Since he was riding on Set's back, it wasn't a perfect strike, but it was still enough to deflect the attack of an opponent who had suddenly teleported right next to him.
"How can it teleport from that distance!?"
The attacker, its strike deflected, immediately teleported away and vanished.
But in the brief instant before it disappeared, Rei confirmed that it was indeed a seven-colored scaled Dragonias. And for some reason, he also caught sight of something in its left hand—the hand it hadn't used to attack. It was gripping what appeared to be internal organs.
"What? Why is it teleporting from a distance I can't even detect?"
It was different from every seven-colored scaled Dragonias he'd faced so far. The teleportation distance was on an entirely different order of magnitude, and while the surprise of it jolted him, Rei found himself, in a way, nodding in understanding.
This was what he would expect from the last seven-colored scaled Dragonias.
"Set, I don't know where that seven-colored scaled Dragonias will teleport from. Stay on your guard."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set let out a sharp cry and halted his advance toward the Queen, bracing for danger.
It wouldn't be strange if the creature teleported in again before they even noticed.
If that was the case, they needed to be more alert than ever, ready for whatever might come at any moment.
(Still... it makes sense that it's stronger than the others, since it held back until the very end. But that teleportation range on a completely different scale—what is that? Just saying it has stronger abilities isn't convincing enough.)
Despite being the same species, why was there such a gap in ability?
That was a question Rei couldn't answer, and for a fleeting moment, he tried to recall if anything about the creature had seemed off.
Then it hit him. There was one thing about the Dragonias he had just seen that felt wrong—not slightly, but clearly enough to warrant suspicion.
"Those internal organs... why was it carrying something like that? If it wanted to attack me, it should have used both hands, not just one."
Yes—internal organs.
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias that had teleported in was holding what looked like internal organs in its left hand, and had attacked Rei with only its right.
That Rei was a formidable opponent should have been abundantly clear to anyone watching the battles so far.
If so, it was unthinkable that it would hold back and attack with only one hand.
It had teleported from outside Rei's awareness, closed the gap instantly, and struck.
The first attack might have caught him off guard, but a second time, he'd be ready.
Given that, it wouldn't be strange for the Dragonias to have aimed to kill—or at least critically wound—Rei with that first strike.
Yet it hadn't freed both hands. The only conclusion Rei could draw was that it couldn't.
(In other words, the internal organs in its left hand are the secret to its long-distance teleportation? ...Whose organs are those, anyway? No, I don't need to think about it.)
Right now, the only ones in this underground space were Rei, Vihera, Set... and the Dragonias.
Since everyone on Rei's side was unharmed, there was only one possibility for whose organs the seven-colored scaled Dragonias had been holding.
They belonged to one of the Dragonias that had been in this underground space.
It wasn't impossible that the creature had teleported to the surface, attacked a Centaur, and harvested the organs that way. But if asked whether they were Dragonias or Centaur organs... Rei's bet was on the former.
(Which means that seven-colored scaled Dragonias can extend its teleportation range by using a companion's internal organs? ...That's an absurdly specific ability. Well, Dragonias are mysterious creatures to begin with, so maybe it's only natural.)
Rei had been fighting Dragonias for a fairly long time, but if asked whether he fully understood their ecology, he could only shake his head.
Normal Dragonias each possessed resistance corresponding to the color of their scales, and were driven by hunger, leaving them with barely any intelligence. But they faithfully obeyed the orders of Commander-class Dragonias.
There was more he knew, but it was all surface-level information at best.
In the first place, Rei was not a researcher. He was an adventurer.
Investigating to defeat an enemy was one thing, but being asked to study their biology in detail was asking the impossible.
"Anyway, I've seen one of its cards. It's probably a special ability unique to that seven-colored scaled Dragonias... but even if it teleports from long range again, dealing with it won't be difficult. Right?"
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set barked as if to say "Leave it to me!"
The teleportation from an unseen distance had caught them off guard at first, but Set should be able to detect the opponent's approach through the various signs—the shift in air currents, the sudden appearance of a presence, the sound of breathing—that accompanied each teleportation.
(Though, with the intelligence of a seven-colored scaled Dragonias, it should have anticipated that much. Which means I can't rule out the possibility that it has another trick up its sleeve.)
It hadn't shown itself until the very end. It had watched its companions fall one after another.
That went without saying, but an opponent like that wouldn't have revealed itself last without some confidence in victory.
(In other words, it's been watching and observing my fights with Set and Vihera this whole time. ...In that case, it might be a bit tougher than the others.)
Ultimately, with no way of knowing how the enemy would strike next, Rei advanced while keeping his guard up.
He stayed on Set's back, but even as they pressed forward, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias showed no sign of appearing.
They rode onward for about five minutes.
Even after that much time had passed, the creature didn't teleport in for another attack, nor did it try any other method of assault.
"What's going on? ...Is it possible that because it's a long-distance teleportation, different from the usual kind, the strain is severe even with the organs?"
Rei muttered to himself, but thinking about it calmly, it made sense.
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias's teleportation ability was originally limited to fairly short distances.
That said, Rei's assumption was that its ability to teleport consecutively and instantly was precisely because of that limitation.
Which meant that even with the organs, forcing a long-range teleport—one from a distance where even Rei and Set scanning the area couldn't find it—had to be a considerable strain.
"Anyway, for now... we have no choice but to wait until it shows itself. Set, head toward the Queen. That'll force it out whether it likes it or not."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred in acknowledgment.