The Queen before Rei's eyes was vibrating intensely—and even after taking the full force of his Twilight Spear throw, she possessed enough defensive power to deflect it.
That solidity was astonishing, even from Rei's perspective.
"Well, now... I expected some kind of attack, but I never thought she'd hunker down on defense."
Rei muttered the words with a grimace of displeasure.
In truth, given their current situation, hardening her defenses didn't seem to carry much meaning. For the Queen, who had been taking one-sided damage throughout the battle up to now, simply surviving was at least a significant achievement. But if asked whether that would lead to any fundamental resolution, Rei would undoubtedly shake his head.
(In the first place, the Queen's behavior here is essentially a siege. If she had reinforcements coming, that'd be one thing—but in a situation with no such reinforcements, fortifying her defenses and holing up... what possible meaning could that have?)
The Dragonias that had been in the Underground Space had already been annihilated. Given that, no matter how much the Queen fortified her defenses and endured, it was nothing more than a meaningless act of postponing her defeat.
"...Wait."
Reaching that thought, Rei recalled that the settlement in the grove had been attacked by Dragonias swarms on multiple occasions. Those attacking Dragonias had clearly not come from a single location—they had assaulted from multiple directions.
That meant it was possible they had been ordered to seize the Spirit Egg buried in the settlement's ground. And how exactly had commands been repeatedly transmitted to multiple Dragonias bases?
At first, Rei had assumed the copper-scaled Dragonias—with its high intelligence, small build, and swift movement—had been dispatched as a liaison. However, Dragonias possessing intelligence were quite few in number to begin with. Moreover, if the Dragonias bases were naturally spread far apart from one another, it was doubtful they could have coordinated attacks on the grove settlement so conveniently.
The next thing that came to mind was the Queen's own ability. The Queen wielded Earth Spirit Magic—and was skilled enough to create a vast Underground Space like this one. The ground stretched endlessly beneath the surface.
In other words, it was possible that through Earth Spirit Magic, the Queen could communicate with other bases. And if the Queen were issuing orders in this situation, imagining what she would command was not a difficult matter.
"This is... bad! Vihera, there's a chance the Queen has called for Dragonias at other locations as reinforcements!"
"Hah?"
Rei's words were so unexpected that a dumbfounded sound slipped from Vihera's mouth.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"It's just a possibility, but..."
To Vihera, who voiced the question, Rei explained his reasoning while keeping a watchful eye on the Queen for any suspicious movement.
Transmitting commands via Spirit Magic. If the Queen had the ability to create such an enormous underground space, then it was plausible she could accomplish such a feat easily. Vihera's beautiful features turned stern as she considered his words.
"Then what do we do?"
"The biggest problem is the Centaurs we left on the surface. They've gotten considerably stronger thanks to your training, but if they get ambushed from behind by a swarm of Dragonias..."
What would happen in such a case—Rei didn't need to finish the sentence for Vihera to easily imagine it. If his prediction was correct, depending on the number of attacking Dragonias, the Centaurs would suffer heavy casualties. Depending on the circumstances, there was even the possibility of total annihilation.
Considering that, they couldn't just leave the situation above ground unattended.
"What's the plan?"
"...Vihera, can I count on you? If you ride Set and have him run, it shouldn't take long to get back to the surface. Besides... against the Queen as she is now, your attacks won't be very effective."
With the gigantic mass of flesh vibrating intensely, she was a poor matchup for Vihera, who excelled at close combat. Even if Vihera used her ultimate technique, Magic Impact Palm, the Queen's violent vibrations would make it difficult to land properly.
In that case, rather than letting Vihera's combat power sit idle here uselessly, it was better to send her to the surface.
Of course, the idea that the Queen could communicate via Earth Spirit Magic was strictly Rei's conjecture. He had no definitive proof. If forced to present evidence, only circumstantial evidence existed at best. Even so, with Vihera being powerless against the Queen in her current state, it was Rei's judgment that she should go where she could be more useful.
Granted, for Vihera, abandoning the long-awaited battle with the Queen midway was not an appealing prospect. Still, considering the current situation and hearing Rei's reasoning, it was clear this was no time to be selfish.
"I suppose there's no helping it.... But are you sure you'll be okay without Set, Rei?"
To anyone who knew Rei and Set, many perceived them as a duo that always acted together. Vihera wasn't deeply convinced of that to such an extreme degree, but even so—facing an entity like the Queen, having Set present was clearly preferable.
Rei understood what Vihera was trying to say, but no matter how high her physical abilities were, riding Set to the surface was obviously faster than going on foot. If so, which to prioritize in the current situation was clear without a second thought.
"If you're asking whether I'll be fine or not, then no, I won't be fine. Having Set with me would be more reassuring for fighting the Queen. But... between abandoning the Centaurs on the surface and fighting the Queen without Set... if you ask me which is better, it's definitely the latter."
Rei had spent time with the Centaurs waiting on the surface and had grown fond of them. Above all, Anastasia and Fana were up there—the two people who were the very reason Rei had come to this world in the first place. Furthermore, Anastasia was considerably exhausted from the effects of using the Spirit Egg, and Fana's combat ability was not particularly strong.
In that case, fighting here without Set was clearly the more rational choice.
"Right, understood. It's a shame, but I'll head back to the surface first. But listen—losing to the Queen is absolutely unacceptable, you hear me?"
"Grrrrl!"
At Vihera's words, Set raised a cry as if in agreement.
Set was reluctant to leave Rei behind here. But if what Rei said was true, then even now the Centaurs on the surface might be under attack by Dragonias. Up until now, the members of the Reconnaissance Unit had, by and large, been fond of Set and doted on him. Set couldn't bring himself to abandon people like that when he had the power to help them.
"Yeah, leave it to me. The next time I surface, it'll be after I've taken down the Queen."
Saying so, still clad in the crimson mana generated by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, Rei lifted Death Scythe.
The Twilight Spear had been ineffective against the Queen's vibrating body. But that was strictly the Twilight Spear's story—it didn't mean Death Scythe would be blocked as well. Lately Rei had often used the Twilight Spear alongside Death Scythe, but when it came to his most reliable weapon, nothing else but Death Scythe existed.
"No matter how much the Queen fortifies her defenses, with Death Scythe, defeating her shouldn't be difficult... or so I think. Unlike throwing the Twilight Spear, I'll definitely have to close in on her, though."
"Right. Then... I'll be waiting on the surface."
With that, Vihera flashed a smile befitting a War Goddess at the warrior about to head into battle, and climbed onto Set's back.
Set, now carrying Vihera, cried out encouragingly to Rei—and then broke into a run toward the surface.
Rei watched the pair depart, then turned his gaze to the Queen and spoke.
"Now then, that leaves just me and you here. So what's it going to be? If you quietly let yourself be defeated, it'll save me the trouble."
Rei said as much, but he didn't seriously expect the Queen to listen to his words and give up. On the contrary, with only Rei remaining here, it wouldn't be strange for her to judge that a chance to survive had just presented itself.
From Rei's perspective, if she would transition from her current defensive state of full-body vibration into an attack stance, that would make her easier to fight, so he would have welcomed it. However, perhaps because the Queen fully understood Rei's capabilities from their battle thus far, she showed no sign of moving.
(Not taking the provocation, huh. Or rather—can she even understand my words in the first place? With the Queen's level of intelligence, I'd think she could, but...)
She had transmitted her intent directly into his mind rather than through words, so it wouldn't be strange for the Queen to be capable of understanding what Rei and the others said. If that were the case, it wouldn't be odd for her to have heard the words he just spoke—and yet, she still showed no sign of moving.
Whether this was because her entire body was vibrating and she had no composure to spare to listen, or whether there was some other reason—Rei couldn't tell. But in any case, the only ones here now were himself and the Queen. Given that, there was no need to force a conversation. If he simply defeated her, that would settle everything.
"Alright, here I go."
Muttering, Rei took a step toward the Queen. In response, or so it seemed, the Queen trembled.
Of course, her entire body was already vibrating as a defensive measure—but this wasn't that kind of trembling. To Rei, it seemed she was trembling in fear of his very existence.
(Personally, if she's trembling because she's afraid of me, I'm all for it. In that kind of state, going all out is virtually impossible, after all.)
Death Scythe in his right hand, the Twilight Spear in his left. With the crimson mana enveloping his body flickering, Rei steadily closed the distance to the Queen.
He couldn't be certain how the Queen would react in this situation. But if she was indeed terrified, then by slowly approaching like this, he might be able to amplify her fear even further. That was the intent behind his action—but those who are frightened are not always the type to simply watch an approaching opponent in silence. Indeed, there was also such a thing as lashing out from sheer panic.
(Come to think of it, even as we stand here, the Flame Serpents should still be rampaging inside the Queen's body. I wonder what's become of the pain from that? It's hard to imagine she could have grown accustomed to the agony of being burned and devoured from within by countless Flame Serpents, but...)
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the Queen judged that Rei had closed within a certain distance and sprang into action.
"Whoa! Right off the bat!"
The ground Rei had been walking on suddenly turned into a sharp blade, baring its fangs toward him.
Earth Spirit Magic—the Queen's specialty. The very Earth Spirit Magic that Rei and the others had been trying to provoke her into using when they closed in earlier, yet she had inexplicably refused to unleash—she finally deployed it here.
Of course, Rei's senses, sharpened by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, had already leapt away from the spot the instant he felt the ground beneath his feet shift.
(Ah, come to think of it...)
While his body was suspended in midair, Rei suddenly recalled that he had been meaning to test whether the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor could block the Queen's Earth Spirit Magic. But in the brief time before he landed, he reconsidered—it was too late for that now.
It might have been one thing at the start of the battle, but in this current situation, there was no need to deliberately take the Queen's Earth Spirit Magic attack. With the battle already in its final stages, there was no point in such a test.
"In any case, it's clear you're afraid of me getting close. Letting me know that... is nothing but a blunder on your part!"
With those words, Rei kicked off the ground and closed the gap to the Queen in one explosive burst.
Before the Queen could react to his movement, Rei swung Death Scythe. As if anticipating the attack, the Queen's body intensified its vibration—a deliberate response, taken with full understanding of what Rei was attempting. That was precisely why she had taken such action even now.
But the Death Scythe that Rei swung effortlessly cleaved through the Queen's violently vibrating body—as easily as slicing tofu with a knife.