The Death Scythe Rei swung effortlessly cleaved through the Queen's body, which had been hardening its defenses by violently vibrating its flesh.
The formidable defense that had deflected even a thrown Twilight Spear was completely meaningless before the Death Scythe.
Of course, this was only possible thanks to Rei's own abilities and skills, along with the Death Scythe's performance.
A body with superhuman physical capabilities, created by the Zephyle Clan.
The Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, which enhanced those capabilities even further.
The Death Scythe, created through Beast Magic — the very crystallization of Rei's magic power.
Only because all three of these were present could he cleave through the Queen's body so effortlessly.
"Gyiiiiiigiiiiiiiiiigh!"
Perhaps because of that strike, a loud scream erupted from the Queen's mouth.
It was likely a reflexive action. The ground at Rei's feet transformed into a spear that lunged at him, and the tentacles — which had reverted to inert lumps of flesh while the Queen was vibrating — now swung toward Rei as well.
It was like the impulse to swat a bug with a magazine when one flew at you... such was the impression that crossed Rei's mind, though in reality, he showed no particular concern and didn't move from his spot.
The Earth Spear that tried to impale Rei's feet from below failed to break through the crimson mana enveloping his body. The tentacle with its vibrating tip was severed by the Twilight Spear in his left hand, and the Death Scythe in his right was swung at the Queen's body once more.
Just as before, the blade cleaved cleanly through the Queen's flesh.
The Death Scythe carved through her as though her vibrations didn't exist at all — demonstrating that no matter how much she fortified herself through vibration, it was utterly meaningless before the Death Scythe.
"It's not over yet!"
With those words, from the downward diagonal slash position, Rei redirected the blade with just a flick of his wrist and slashed upward through the Queen's body again.
Just how much of a blow was Rei's strike to the Queen?
Normally, having one's body cleaved open would naturally elicit a scream of agony.
But given the difference in scale between the Queen and Rei, even being sliced open by the Death Scythe shouldn't have been a fatal wound.
...If anything, the countless Flame Serpents still rampaging inside the Queen's body were probably causing her far more pain.
Yet despite this, the Queen's scream at Rei's strike was far beyond something as mild as "a little painful."
Rei had already considered the possibility that the Queen had a low tolerance for pain. But seeing her screaming before his eyes right now, it would be more unreasonable not to harbor doubts.
"For now, I understand that you're weak against the Death Scythe's strikes. In that case... all that's left is to carve you to pieces!"
With those words, Rei swiftly and relentlessly tore through the Queen's body.
His strikes came one after another in rapid succession... it looked less like combat and more like he was digging through flesh rather than earth.
When flesh is cleaved, blood naturally flows.
But on Rei's face... no, not even on his body — not a single drop of the Queen's blood had landed.
It was only natural. The blood flung up by the Death Scythe's cuts was evaporated by the crimson mana before it could ever reach him.
"This is just a bonus — take this!"
With those words, the crimson mana shrouding Rei's body was driven into the Queen.
Though it lacked the sharp edge of the Death Scythe or the Twilight Spear, the strike from the crimson mana still easily blasted away chunks of the Queen's flesh.
(Something's off.)
Amidst his relentless cleaving, something had been nagging at him.
The Queen's Regeneration Ability wasn't manifesting at all.
When he'd been fighting alongside Vihera and Set, damage had been regenerated in the blink of an eye.
Yet now, for some reason, the areas struck by the Death Scythe and crimson mana showed no sign of regeneration whatsoever.
(Why? Has she finally reached the limit of her Regeneration Ability? No — even so, there's no sign of that on her yet. If that's the case... what's different between then and now?)
Thinking it through, a hypothesis suddenly came to him.
(Could it be... that while her entire body is vibrating, the Regeneration Ability can't activate?)
It was only a hypothesis.
One with no real evidence — something Rei had arrived at almost purely through intuition.
But he instinctively felt it was likely correct.
(In other words, if I keep attacking like this, she won't be able to regenerate, and I can take her down? Well, if the Queen has any degree of intelligence, she should quickly realize that vibration can't block the Death Scythe or the crimson mana's strikes.)
What the Queen was thinking by persisting in this approach, Rei couldn't fathom.
But regardless of her reasoning, the fact remained that she was an opponent he absolutely had to defeat here and now.
Given that, the current situation — in which she wasn't using her most troublesome Regeneration Ability, and while the Twilight Spear had been rendered ineffective, the Death Scythe and crimson mana could still deal ample damage — was far from bad.
No, for Rei, it was a situation bordering on ideal.
(The fact that she won't stop vibrating even now... is it because the Twilight Spear hurt that much?)
That seemed entirely plausible.
The number of times Rei had used the Twilight Spear to punch massive holes through the Queen — holes so large you could see clear through to the other side — was considerable.
In other words, the weapon that had dealt the Queen the most cumulative damage was the Twilight Spear.
...Or perhaps the countless Flame Serpents still alive and raging inside the Queen's body were continuing to inflict even greater damage.
At any rate, once the Queen recognized the Twilight Spear as a threat, it was only natural she'd employ a method to counter it.
And indeed, by vibrating her body, she had rendered Rei's thrown Twilight Spear completely ineffective.
"But then... how do you plan to dodge the Death Scythe!?"
With those words, the Death Scythe swung in relentless succession, its blades carving into the Queen's body without a moment's respite.
The Queen screamed with each strike.
Yet she stubbornly refused to stop vibrating.
"How troublesome. All you're doing is drawing out your death and prolonging your suffering!"
With that shout, Rei unleashed a massive surge of crimson mana, and part of the Queen's body exploded.
From Rei's perspective, it was a large strike — one that would normally be called fatal. But considering the Queen's enormous size, it still couldn't be called a killing blow.
As if she couldn't hear Rei's shout — and in truth, she probably couldn't — the Queen launched a counterattack.
As long as she remained in her vibrating state, her tentacle attacks were noticeably weaker than before.
But her Earth Spirit Magic began firing one after another in rapid succession.
Until now, the Queen hadn't used Earth Spirit Magic against Rei at all.
...However, the Earth Spears and Stone Arrows conjured by Earth Spirit Magic couldn't penetrate the crimson mana enveloping Rei's body.
(But the real question is how much more it'll take to actually kill her... If she had a heart, or a Magic Stone — well, even if she doesn't, if there's some kind of core, I just need to destroy it.)
Given enough time, he could kill the Queen.
But he had no idea how long that would actually take.
That being the case, Rei needed to find a more direct approach.
...Well, to be precise, he did have a few ideas.
(That's right. This isn't the time to be choosy about methods... I'll just keep digging through the Queen's body and kill her where she stands. The Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor has been active for a long time now, and my mana is running low.)
The Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor consumed far less mana than the base Overlord's Armor skill, thanks to its fire specialization.
Even so, it was only because Rei possessed an enormous reserve of mana that he had been able to sustain it this long.
But even then, he had clearly pushed it too far, and the limit was finally coming into sight.
In this situation — and now that he could carve through the Queen's flesh using the Death Scythe and crimson mana — there was a method of attack that became available to him.
(In that sense, it wasn't intentional, but Vihera and Set going to the surface wasn't a bad call.)
With that thought, Rei moved to bring this protracted battle to an end.
"Now then — can you withstand this? ...Though even if you can, it won't mean you've won."
Uttering words that, if the Queen could hear and comprehend them, would have driven her to despair, Rei plunged into the Queen's gigantic mass of flesh.
Naturally, Rei had no desire to do such a thing.
But... no matter how solid her defenses were, and no matter that her Regeneration Ability wasn't activating, there simply weren't many ways to defeat a Queen whose body loomed over him like a mountain.
If he kept chipping away from the outside, he might eventually bring her down.
But there was no telling how long that would take, and with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor nearing its limit, Rei needed to end the Queen as quickly as possible.
That was why, reluctant as he was, he had chosen this method.
"Here I go."
He muttered, and unleashed a barrage of attacks — the Death Scythe and crimson mana tearing into the Queen's body one after another.
The Queen, who under normal circumstances would have possessed defensive power equal to or greater than any other Dragonias, could do nothing to stop those attacks. Her massive form was gouged and torn away piece by piece.... No, "excavation of flesh" was a more fitting description.
Whether or not the Queen understood Rei's intent.
Or whether she had already concluded there was nothing she could do now that he was inside her.
Rei couldn't say. But deciding that defeating the Queen even a moment sooner was the top priority, he continued his excavation.
(Well, thinking about it normally, there's really no way to attack an opponent that's gotten inside your body. If that's the case, it makes sense the Queen isn't attacking right now.)
Even Rei felt that if an enemy had burrowed into his body the way he had into the Queen's, dealing with it would be difficult.
However, that was only true for Rei.
The Dragonias Queen was an existence that was, without question, unknown to Rei. It wouldn't be strange for her to have some means of attacking even someone inside her.
Knowing that, Rei pressed forward toward the center of the mass of flesh as quickly as he could, one step at a time... and then — how much time had passed since he entered?
The area around Rei shook violently.
It wasn't the kind of shaking caused by the Queen vibrating her surface for defense. This was her very body convulsing... the kind of tremor that made you think an earthquake had struck.
"What—?"
Despite the ominous feeling that shaking gave him, in this situation, he needed to land a fatal blow on the Queen even a moment sooner.
That was why, even as the world trembled around him, Rei ignored it and swung the Death Scythe, the crimson mana... and the Twilight Spear.
The Queen's surface was vibrating violently and would deflect the Twilight Spear.
But that only applied to the outside. Once inside the flesh, it was a different story.
Within the Queen's body, the Twilight Spear was fully effective.
For a brief moment, Rei considered what would happen if he threw it from here — but if the vibration could deflect the Twilight Spear, then even throwing it now might pierce the flesh but fail to break through the vibrating skin on the way out.
Deciding it was better to stick with his original plan than take a careless gamble, Rei continued digging through the flesh... and at last, he reached his destination.
The center of the Queen's body.
There... Rei poured his remaining mana into the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor covering him... and the crimson mana erupted explosively inside the Queen's belly.