Like pouring rain, a massive number of tentacles surged toward Rei.
Every single tentacle tip vibrated violently; what would happen if a living body touched that vibration was beyond needing to imagine.
From front, back, left, right, above, below—the tentacles attacked from every direction.
...That was right. Perhaps because the tips were vibrating, or perhaps because they could easily bore through the earth, the tentacles assailed Rei from beneath his feet as well, traveling through the ground.
(When they attack from underground too, calling it "rain" seems a bit off.)
Even while under assault from all sides, Rei had enough composure to think such things.
In truth, the tentacle tips alone could not break through the defense of the crimson mana produced by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, so Rei did not need to be overly cautious.
That said, that was only the case for a single, isolated strike.
What would happen if the tentacles attacked consecutively?
That, frankly, even Rei did not know.
Not knowing, he at least cut down every approaching tentacle as much as possible.
Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear were wielded as if each possessed its own independent will, ceaselessly severing the tentacles that closed in on Rei without a moment's rest.
Moreover, it was not just those two weapons moving to intercept the tentacles; the crimson mana enveloping Rei's body also moved freely like a third hand, blasting away tentacles one after another.
The tentacle tips vibrated violently, making them difficult to even touch.
However, the violent vibration was strictly limited to the tips.
In other words, by using his attack methods—Death Scythe, the Twilight Spear, and his crimson mana—to strike the portions of the tentacles below the vibrating tips, Rei could sever or shatter them with ease.
And besides that...
"There!"
Along with those words, an image was imbued into the crimson mana, and the corresponding flame—Deep Flame—was unleashed.
Deep Flame burst apart in mid-air, becoming countless fire particles that adhered to the tentacles and set them ablaze.
The Queen attempted to extinguish the flames clinging to the tentacles, but the adhesive fire was not so easily put out.
Worse still, because of its sticky properties, the fire spread to other tentacles that touched the burning ones while she tried to smother the flames.
Once that situation arose, the Queen judged that leaving those tentacles intact would allow the fire to spread further, so she severed them at the base.
That was fine, but the tentacles severed at the base regrew in the next instant.
"Troublesome... no, she was producing black-scaled Dragonias, so it's not strange she can use that ability. But if that's the case..."
He severed a tentacle coming straight at him with Death Scythe, deflected a tentacle launched from behind as if exploiting that opening with the Twilight Spear, then grabbed and incinerated it with crimson mana.
Even while constantly moving his body like that, Rei never stopped observing the Queen.
In this case, the most troublesome thing of all was that the Queen possessed a Regeneration Ability like that of the black-scaled Dragonias.
Which meant...
(Could it be that she can use all of the Dragonias's abilities?)
That possibility had surfaced.
That said, something like the fearsome leaping power used by the transparent-scaled Dragonias was unlikely to be usable by the Queen, who was a towering mass of flesh.
But anything else—for example, the short-range teleportation used by the seven-colored Dragonias, the Breath fired by the white-scaled Dragonias, the Optical Camouflage used by the transparent-scaled Dragonias... there was a very real possibility she could use those and various other special abilities.
"That said, the most troublesome thing is that Regeneration Ability!"
He shouted while severing several tentacles at once with Death Scythe.
When defeating the black-scaled Dragonias, the quickest method was to deal damage so devastating that the Regeneration Ability became meaningless.
However, that was only possible because it was a black-scaled Dragonias; if the Queen possessed that same Regeneration Ability, then it was a different story.
(In game terms, it's like a boss character having an auto-recovery ability, and the amount recovered scales with max HP...?)
Rei pondered this while recalling the RPGs he had played in Japan, but even while doing so, he continued cutting down the tentacles the Queen kept attacking him with one after another... though shortly after being severed, the tentacles would extend once more.
Nevertheless, having a certain degree of composure, Rei checked his surroundings while dealing with the tentacles.
In his line of sight, Set and Vihera were each fighting their own enemies.
Set, just as Rei had initially instructed, was fighting the ordinary Dragonias around the Queen... but the correct word for that spectacle was not "battle" but "rampage."
Perhaps because they had just been born, the scales of the Dragonias there were by no means hard.
Compared to when Rei had effortlessly pulverized the transparent-scaled Dragonias, some time had passed, so they might have grown slightly harder... but blocking Set's body slam was simply beyond them.
As a result, they were sent flying one after another by Set charging at full speed. While they did not die in a single blow, a great number of Dragonias had their bones shattered and were left immobilized.
Even those that tried to evade could not, as many individuals were paralyzed by the effect of Set's King's Intimidation and incapable of dodging him. Even those that could move did so at a sluggish pace that fell far short of their normal behavior... and given those circumstances, it was only natural that they were being devastated by Set's attacks.
Normally, ordinary Dragonias were driven by hunger, so even when attacked and damaged, they paid it no mind.
However, that did not mean they took no damage.
They were damaged, but because they were dominated by hunger, they did not feel the pain. Naturally, there was individual variation in this regard, and some did feel pain even while under hunger's control.
But for those Dragonias, if their leg bones were broken, they physically could not stand; if their arm bones were broken, they physically could not hold anything.
In that sense, the individuals that took Set's body slam head-on did not have their bodies blown apart, but they did suffer broken bones throughout their entire bodies, rendering them physically unable to move.
Once that happened, even if the Dragonias was still alive, it was no threat.
Well, even in such a state they remained driven by hunger, and if approached they would try to tear off flesh, so considering that, it might not be absolutely safe... but at the very least, they were no enemy to Set.
"Grrrrrl!"
More troublesome than those Dragonias were the tentacles fired from the Queen aimed at Set.
Perhaps because the Dragonias were clustered around Set, the sheer number of tentacles was not that large, but they were still being launched whenever an opening appeared.
While Set could afford to ignore Dragonias attacks, the tentacles—with their violently vibrating tips granting them powerful attack force—were not something he could afford to be struck by easily.
That was precisely why Set, while devastating the Dragonias, also focused on dodging the tentacle attacks the Queen launched from time to time.
That said, naturally, Set was not simply taking hits either.
Simultaneously with evading the tentacle attacks, he swung his front legs, severed them with his beak, or used skills, destroying the tentacles one after another.
...The Queen, possessing a Regeneration Ability like that of the black-scaled Dragonias, immediately regenerated each tentacle that was destroyed.
Thus Set, even while fighting the Dragonias, was also dealing with the tentacles.
(Vihera is...)
Destroying the tentacles closing in on him using Death Scythe, the Twilight Spear, and his crimson mana, Rei's gaze next turned to Vihera, who was fighting the Queen just as he was.
Naturally, tentacles fired by the Queen were being launched at Vihera one after another as well, but the sheer number was far fewer than those directed at Rei.
This was likely proof of which one the Queen perceived as the greater threat.
That said, the tentacles still coming one after another were without a doubt troublesome opponents for Vihera.
While evading the violently vibrating tips of the tentacles coming at her, she severed the non-vibrating sections using the claws generated by the mana extending from her Hand Gauntlets and the blades extending from the heels of her Foot Guards.
The severed sections fell to the ground while still vibrating... and perhaps because the vibration did not stop immediately even after being severed, the spots where they touched the ground showed various results: being forcibly tilled, bursting apart, or burrowing into the earth.
Naturally, such tentacle tips were by no means a welcome presence for Vihera.
Vihera excelled at close combat, but of course she moved by kicking off the ground, and when delivering a strike, she planted her feet firmly before unleashing it.
When the ground turned soft like a tilled field, or the moment she stepped on it the ground gave way differently than expected so she could not brace herself, then naturally it became difficult to unleash attacks as intended.
Of course, the same applied to Rei, who was being assailed by an even greater number of tentacles than Vihera... but the solution to that was not particularly difficult.
In other words, she simply needed to step on ground where no tentacles had fallen, and fighting while moving rather than staying in one spot was the method to achieve that.
For Rei and Vihera, that was not a particularly difficult proposition.
Even just dodging the attacks being launched one after another meant that, whether intentionally or unconsciously, both Rei and Vihera were acting while on the move.
"Still, when fighting this many at once, I envy your weapons, Rei!"
Saying so, Vihera evaded a tentacle strike coming from behind with a half-rotation, and simultaneously with that motion, launched her right arm in an upward arc from below.
That strike was not an attempt to manage with her fist, but rather a slash that severed the tentacle with the Magic Claws extending from her Hand Gauntlets.
Severed from the midsection of the tentacle, the tip fell to the ground and burrowed halfway into the earth from its vibration.
But Vihera paid that sight no mind at all.
...To be precise, she was too busy dealing with the massive number of tentacles attacking her to spare the attention.
If the severed tentacles still moved according to the Queen's will and could attack Vihera again from their fallen positions, it would be a different story... but fortunately, there were no signs of that so far.
"This many tentacles... it's interesting in its own way, but if possible, I'd rather fight a different opponent!"
She stomped down on the non-vibrating section of a tentacle that had approached from her feet like a snake—no, crushed it—and then launched herself upward from that spot in a single bound.
And a back-spin kick unleashed in mid-air.
However, compared to a normal back-spin kick, that strike was extremely sharp, and the time Vihera spent airborne was brief.
In the midst of battling multiple enemies, launching oneself into the air where one could not brace properly was, in a sense, fatal.
If she had a Magic Item like the Sleipnir boots that Rei and Elena possessed, enabling them to kick off the air, it would be a different story.
(Once this battle is over, it might be worth developing a skill in that direction.)
While evading tentacle attacks and severing them with her Hand Gauntlet claws and Foot Guard blades, the fact that she had the composure to think about such things meant that Vihera, too, had grown somewhat accustomed to this battle.
She crushed the tentacle that had approached from her feet like a snake, and the next moment, moved her body while leaping.
Normally, one could not maneuver in mid-air, but in Vihera's case, by moving her limbs, she was able to shift her body even while airborne.
Moving like that, she severed and shattered the tentacles closing in on her one after another.
Thinking about it normally, between being on the ground and floating in the air, not only was one's freedom of movement different, but more importantly, while airborne one would be attacked from all directions—up, down, left, right, front, and back.
...Though to be fair, the violently vibrating tentacles could also use their vibration to burrow underground and attack from below.
Even so, there was no need to think hard about which was superior—traveling through the ground or through the air.
And yet, Vihera twisted her body in mid-air while moving her limbs, severing tentacles one after another with movements that resembled a dance.