"Gih... gigigigigh!"
The seven-colored scaled Dragonias hovering in the air let out a hateful, agonized cry, as though enduring searing pain.
The massive flames born from Rei's Deep Flame had incinerated every last one of the hundreds—no, well over hundreds—of Dragonias corpses that the seven-colored scaled Dragonias had teleported in through sheer desperation.
Had that been all, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias would not have sustained such significant damage. But after teleporting the corpses and dropping them from above, it had descended toward the ground right behind them, chasing after its fallen comrades.
Its aim had been to use the rain of allied corpses plummeting toward the earth as a diversion—closing in undetected to deliver a single fatal blow.
And its target was not Rei. It was Set.
Naturally, it had wanted to defeat Rei above all else. From what the seven-colored scaled Dragonias had observed, it understood that Rei was the one leading this party. But that it was impossible was painfully clear just from looking back on the battles so far.
It had begun when the initial torrent of flames had incinerated vast numbers of Dragonias. Though their numbers had dwindled as a result, the Dragonias still possessed enough fighting strength to easily slay most foes. However, that applied only to "most"—Rei, Vihera, and Set were in no way included in such an ordinary category.
Then came the sight of their surviving comrades being utterly ravaged. Rei in particular possessed enough power to effortlessly dispatch even a seven-colored scaled Dragonias, and worse still, ever since he activated the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—though of course the Dragonias did not know its name—the crimson mana made it impossible for any attack to even reach him.
Given all that, no matter what methods it employed, it could not defeat Rei. Which meant it had to be one of the other two... and the last surviving seven-colored scaled Dragonias had set its sights on Set.
There were several reasons. First, Set had always been at Rei's side, which meant it was a being Rei deeply valued. Furthermore, compared to the other woman, Set was clearly larger and appeared superior in fighting strength.
And so it had acted... but it had never imagined that every single falling corpse would be incinerated. Even so, the moment the Deep Flame collided with the corpses and erupted into an inferno, it sensed the danger and teleported, putting distance between itself and the avalanche of falling bodies. Yet it still could not fully evade the flames and had sustained no minor injuries.
"Gih... gigigigigh..."
Despite the pain, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias struggled to devise a way to break through its current predicament.
For Rei, the fortunate thing was that the creature had not done what he had feared most—abandoning the Queen and fleeing. But if even this latest attack had been so effortlessly repelled, then the options available to the seven-colored scaled Dragonias were exceedingly limited.
And so the seven-colored scaled Dragonias agonized over what it should do next.
"Well, that about does it."
"My, how wonderful."
"...Could you try saying that with a little more emotion?"
"May I speak with emotion?"
Put that way, Rei could only shake his head at Vihera's words. When Vihera spoke with emotion about such things, it meant her combat desire—her urge to fight Rei—was rising.
Of course, Vihera knew how to manage the battle lust that dwelled within her. It was a desire she had carried inside for as long as she could remember. But knowing how to manage it did not mean it was wise to casually stoke that desire. Rei understood this as well, which was precisely why he had shaken his head so readily. Vihera also understood Rei's reasoning, so she did not press the matter further and turned her gaze toward the sky.
"So, it seems to be hovering up there... what's the plan?"
Naturally, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias that had been on the far side of the falling corpses remained firmly within Vihera's—and Rei's and Set's—line of sight even after teleporting.
"You ask what to do, but after it went through the trouble of showing itself, I can't just let it escape... or so I'd like to say, but..."
Rei turned a resentful, and frankly annoyed, gaze toward the creature hovering far above.
If this were any opponent other than the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, Rei could have attacked with ease. But this enemy possessed the ability to teleport without chanting incantations or performing any preparatory movements. Which meant that no matter what Rei tried, the instant it sensed danger, it would teleport away.
If only the distance it could teleport were short, I could manage this somehow.
Rei's eyes clearly caught sight of the internal organs gripped in one of the seven-colored scaled Dragonias's hands. Which meant, if his guess was correct, it was capable of long-range teleportation, not short-range.
At the very least, if the enemy were on the ground... or even in the air but at a lower altitude, he might have been able to strike before it could teleport. But with this much distance between them, that was not easily accomplished. After all, the enemy could teleport instantly if it so chose. Which meant he needed an attack that could land before the opponent could teleport.
The Twilight Spear... is out of the question. It's already been seen too many times.
Rei was confident that a thrown Twilight Spear could kill the creature in an instant. But during the battles in this underground space, he had already used the Twilight Spear throw several times. Which meant that the moment he assumed a throwing stance, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias in the air would immediately teleport—anyone could predict that much.
Or perhaps... and this was a very remote "perhaps"... there was a chance it wasn't all that wary of the Twilight Spear. But if asked which possibility was more likely, the answer was clearly that it was on guard.
If he attempted a throw and the enemy detected it and escaped, there was no telling when it would reappear. What was more, it would not be strange for it to finally abandon the Queen this time around.
So what exactly should I do...? Set's flying speed is fast, but even so, considering the distance between us and the seven-colored scaled Dragonias, it would just teleport away once we got close.
Set's flight speed was considerable, but even so, reaching the seven-colored scaled Dragonias's current position would take a fair amount of time. And as Set closed in, the enemy would naturally flee. If the seven-colored scaled Dragonias couldn't use teleportation... or even if it could, but only over short distances, then Set, who could fly, would be able to manage somehow. But against an opponent that could instantly teleport long distances using its allies' internal organs, that too was difficult.
"Which means... for a means of attack, I'd need something that catches it off guard..."
"Do you have something like that in mind? A spear throw?"
"That's been used plenty of times already, so it'd be tough. The moment I take a stance with the spear, it'll teleport away... It's being extremely wary of us right now, too."
Turning his gaze toward the seven-colored scaled Dragonias hovering in the air, Rei saw it there—covered in burns across several parts of its body, yet for some reason showing no sign of fleeing from its position.
Honestly, given the creature's current state, it would not be strange for it to bolt immediately. The enemy was injured, and if it fought Rei's group head-on, it could not possibly believe it had a chance of winning. Despite that, while it was clearly wary of them, it had shown no sign of teleporting away for the time being.
That was a genuine mystery to Rei.
Is there some reason it can't perform long-range teleportation right now?
So Rei thought, but considering everything that had happened so far, he could not afford to be optimistic.
"So? You've thought of something, haven't you? Judging by your expression, that's the impression I get."
"Gururu?"
At Vihera's words, Set turned an inquisitive look toward Rei, as if asking, Have you?
Receiving the stares of both the woman and the gryphon, Rei climbed down from Set's back, where he had been sitting.
What he was about to attempt was a first for Rei as well. Given that, he needed to be prepared to respond to whatever might happen.
"Deep Flame can create flames exactly as I envision them. Which means, depending on that image, it's... possible that I could burn the seven-colored scaled Dragonias before it has a chance to teleport."
He did not assert with certainty that it would work, likely because he lacked absolute confidence in the imagery. Deep Flame could be shaped into various forms of fire through Rei's imagination. But that was predicated entirely on Rei being able to form the right image. In other words, if he failed to envision it properly, Deep Flame would scarcely be effective.
In that sense, Deep Flame was an ability well-suited to Rei, who had enjoyed a wide variety of manga, anime, games, and novels during his time in Japan and could readily produce such imagery.
The problem was this current situation. Not a massive conflagration. Not a clinging, adhesive flame. He needed to form an image of burning the seven-colored scaled Dragonias standing in the sky—quite far away—with Deep Flame before it could teleport.
Envisioning a wide-area attack posed no problem. But forming an image of launching flames at high speed was difficult.
A rocket... or something like that... no, probably not.
Rei tried to conjure the image of a rocket launch, but in his mind's eye, the image was one where flames jetted out first and then, after a brief delay, the rocket launched. If he attempted something like that in this situation, the Deep Flame would likely reach the target swiftly enough—once it actually launched. But before that, there would be a delay of several seconds to tens of seconds... perhaps even longer.
During that time, if the seven-colored scaled Dragonias stayed still, the attack would land. But if it sensed danger, it would teleport away instantly—that much was certain.
But I can't imagine anything else.
If he had more time, he might have been able to form even a difficult image like high-speed flames. But the problem in this case was whether he could envision it right here, right now. And in the current situation, unable to form such an image... if he was going to act at all, he would have to work with the imagery he already possessed.
"There's a way to attack that seven-colored scaled Dragonias. But realistically, I think it'll take time from when I release the Deep Flame to when the attack actually lands. There's also a chance it'll sense what's happening and escape... What do you think?"
When asked that, Vihera could only nod. Set also rumbled in agreement with Rei's words.
In Set's case, he possessed skills that could launch magical arrows—Wind Arrow, Ice Arrow, Earth Arrow—and also the Magic Eye of Shock, a skill with overwhelming speed of activation. But the Arrow-type magical arrows were not particularly fast in terms of velocity. At the very least, the seven-colored scaled Dragonias could easily teleport away after detecting them.
The Magic Eye of Shock was tremendously reliable in that it took effect instantly with merely a glance... but the problem was its extremely low power. It was not particularly powerful to begin with, and its level was a mere two. If it reached level five, the skill would be dramatically strengthened, and perhaps then the Magic Eye of Shock could deliver a powerful blow... but unfortunately, in the current situation, nothing could be done about that.
It went without saying that the seven-colored scaled Dragonias's scales were too tough for the Magic Eye of Shock's power to break through.
And so, ultimately, hope was placed in Rei's Deep Flame, and the attack was entrusted to him.