Sharp metallic clangs echoed one after another through the night forest.
Until moments ago, most of the moonlight had been blocked by the overhead branches. Now, however, the two combatants—Rei and Antelme—stood bathed in its soft glow.
The reason was simple: the many trees surrounding them had been severed by their clashes and now lay felled across the ground.
With a splintering crack, yet another strike from Antelme's Magic Sword—evaded by Rei—sliced clean through the trunk of a Treant Forest tree.
By any normal standard, cutting through a trunk as thick as a grown man's torso in a single slash should have been impossible.
That Antelme could do exactly that was precisely why he held the rank of A-Rank adventurer.
"Good at running, aren't you? What's the matter? Your gryphon there is welcome to join in too, you know."
Gripping his Magic Sword, Antelme sneered at Rei for dodging his attacks. Rei met the provocation with a derisive smile of his own.
"If all you do is swing wildly, anyone could manage that—not just you. For someone so proud of being A-Rank, your attacks are slow, lack edge, and hit awfully light. All things considered, I find it hard to believe you're A-Rank at all. Maybe you should start over from D-Rank?"
Rei's tone was deliberately provocative, but his words were far from the full truth.
It was true that not one of Antelme's strikes had landed—not even a graze. But each blow was fast, sharp, and carried more than enough power.
Far from D-Rank, Antelme had the ability to back up his A-Rank standing.
Even so, Rei had no intention of fighting alongside Set, as Antelme suggested.
He wanted to defeat Antelme with his own strength alone—without borrowing the power of an S-Rank equivalent monster—and ram that fact down his throat, shattering and trampling his pride.
While evading Antelme's attacks, Rei cast a brief glance at the wolf corpses.
Set had gathered them in one place while Rei fought—ensuring that worry for the dead wouldn't hinder him mid-battle.
Thanks to that, Rei was free to fight unimpeded.
That said, Rei's own attacks were far fewer in number than Antelme's. To any observer, he was clearly on the defensive.
"At the end of the day, you're doing nothing but dodging. That's because you simply don't have what it takes."
"If you actually believe that, you're even more thickheaded than you look. Then again, watching you, it's no surprise you'd think so."
Provocation met with provocation.
Ordinarily, Rei wouldn't rise to such simple taunts. But this was far from an ordinary situation.
Antelme possessed towering pride—or perhaps narcissism was the better word. Either way, he could not abide being looked down upon.
From their prior exchanges, Rei understood that aspect of his personality all too well.
What makes him troublesome is that, unlike most, his pride isn't hollow.
The nobles Rei had dealt with before—disposed of might be more accurate—had possessed pointlessly inflated egos with nothing to back them up.
Unlike them, Antelme had the genuine ability to earn his A-Rank.
And solo, at that, given his personality.
His character could only be described as scum, but his strength was the real deal—easily worthy of his rank. That combination made him exceptionally dangerous.
"What's wrong? That Magic Sword of yours is all show, just like you. Well, it does cut trees—I suppose it makes a decent woodcutter's axe."
Rei held up the Death Scythe and Twilight Spear, flaunting them before Antelme.
"Compare them to your cheap Magic Sword. Even someone like you can see the difference in class, can't you?"
"You bastard..."
Antelme's Magic Sword was by no means the cheap thing Rei called it. It was a first-class blade—priced so high that even an A-Rank adventurer's earnings couldn't easily cover it.
And yet, even compared to such a weapon, Rei's Death Scythe and Twilight Spear were unmistakably superior.
If Antelme had no eye for quality, he might have fired back with a defiant retort. But he had used countless Magic Items, and his ability to appraise them was sharp.
Through those experienced eyes, he could see it plainly: Rei's weapons were in an entirely different class from his own.
...No—it wasn't just the Death Scythe and Twilight Spear.
Under normal circumstances, the Dragon Robe would register as an ordinary robe thanks to its concealment effect. But Antelme had seen through it instantly, recognizing it for what it truly was.
And the Dragon Robe was an extraordinarily powerful Magic Item—one against which Antelme would be utterly powerless.
Understanding all of this, and being someone who relied heavily on Magic Items himself, he couldn't help but feel as though he stood beneath Rei.
The virulent hatred he harbored toward Rei likely stemmed from that very feeling.
"You bastard..."
The same word escaped Antelme's lips as seconds before.
But the killing intent behind it now carried such overwhelming force that any ordinary person would have collapsed on the spot—or worse, foamed at the mouth and passed out.
In terms of wounding Antelme's pride, Rei's strategy was a rousing success.
"What's wrong? Is that the only word you know? I suppose you just can't bring yourself to admit your own incompetence. But facts are facts. No amount of screaming will change that."
"You bastard!"
Antelme repeated the same words a third time—but now he shouted as he lunged, closing the distance and swinging his Magic Sword.
This time, rather than dodging as before, Rei deflected the blow with the Twilight Spear.
Gnh—impressive.
Rei kept it from his face, but the strike carried considerable force. To onlookers, he might have appeared to brush it off casually. In truth, he was inwardly startled by its heft.
Even so, coming as it did on the heels of provocation, the swing was noticeably rougher than Antelme's usual form.
"What's wrong? Even angry, that's the best you can manage? Maybe your A-Rank was some kind of mistake. Or did you bribe the Guild Staff?"
"You bastard!"
Rei's insults sent even more blood rushing to Antelme's head.
Even for an A-Rank, he's this quick to anger... Rei thought. But as long as it worked in his favor, he had no complaints.
Still, to lose his composure this thoroughly... did he actually pay someone off?
At the Gilm Guild, it wasn't impossible that someone would take a bribe—but from everything Rei had seen, such corruption was virtually nonexistent.
When Marina had served as Guild Master, her sheer competence had made it nearly impossible to pull off anything like that.
Looking back, maybe she'd been monitoring things with Spirit Magic all along. Given her mastery of it, the idea wasn't far-fetched.
But that was precisely because this was a Frontier Guild—one where genuine ability carried real weight in evaluations.
If the Gilm Guild on the frontier started handing out promotions for bribes, it could lead to disasters that threatened the very survival of the city.
Antelme, however, was not a Gilm-born adventurer. He had come through an introduction from the Zolgela Count House.
Given that, the possibility that he had greased palms to pass his promotion exam was entirely plausible.
"Oh? So the bribery story is true? Is that why you're so rattled?"
"Don't... underestimate me!"
The shout was accompanied by a swing of the Magic Sword.
Rei had already gathered from their exchanges that the blade was being reinforced by Antelme's magic power.
But this was a Magic Sword wielded by someone of Antelme's caliber. There had to be other special effects beyond simple reinforcement—and because Rei anticipated that, he reacted the instant the next attack came.
"Release!"
That single word was apparently the trigger. A flying slash erupted from the blade Antelme swung.
Flying Slash!?
Rei recognized the incoming slash—and because he did, he countered immediately.
The projectile carved a wound roughly ten centimeters deep into the tree trunk behind him.
A single strike had gouged a sizable wound into solid wood.
"You dodged that!?"
Since it resembled his own Flying Slash, Rei had evaded it largely on instinct. Antelme clearly hadn't expected the attack to be avoided—his face twisted in disbelief.
"Too bad. You showed me a rare technique, so I'll return the favor. Don't move, all right? ...Flying Slash!"
Rei activated the Death Scythe's Skill: Flying Slash.
The unleashed slash flew straight at Antelme... sailed right past him, and bit into the trunk behind.
Just as Rei had instructed him not to move, he had never intended to hit Antelme in the first place.
By demonstrating that an attack his opponent could use, he could use as well, he aimed to break Antelme's spirit.
Wha—!?
The strike had the desired effect. Antelme's eyes went wide with shock.
I thought it was fairly well known that I... well, more precisely, that the Death Scythe can use Flying Slash. But then again, Antelme didn't seem to know anything about me to begin with, so it's not strange he wouldn't have that information. That said, I'm not about to go easy on him because of it.
Meeting Antelme's stunned expression, Rei let a composed smile cross his face.
"What's wrong? Is something that trivial really worth all that surprise?"
"You bastard..."
"Seems like that's the only word I've been hearing from you. Can't manage anything else? Or is that literally all you're capable of saying now?"
"If you're pushing it that far, I'll show you what this Magic Sword can really do!"
Snarling with frustration, Antelme charged forward, Magic Sword in hand.
Rei readied the Death Scythe and Twilight Spear to meet him.
Both were long-reach weapons. Normally, having the distance closed would put Rei at a disadvantage—but after fighting countless enemies, he knew that better than anyone.
Dealing with Antelme's approach was nothing he couldn't handle.
In any case, Antelme wielded a longsword, not a short blade. To use it effectively—while not requiring as much reach as a spear—he still needed a certain amount of space.
So why, armed with such a weapon, was he pressing in this close?
The question flickered through Rei's mind, but dealing with Antelme took priority over pondering it.
The wolves hadn't been companions for long. Even so, Rei had built a friendly relationship with them and believed they would have continued to get along well.
Having those wolves slaughtered was more than enough reason for Rei's anger to burn.
That was exactly why he needed to crush Antelme's pride here and now.
He knew his opponent was an A-Rank adventurer with genuine skill. But he had to keep that knowledge from showing—to make it clear that Antelme was no match for him.
Is he planning to strike with the hilt?
With a Magic Sword, it wouldn't be unusual for the hilt to trigger some kind of attack on contact, separate from the blade.
If so, that might be exactly what he was attempting.
Judging that, Rei chose not to counterattack but to create distance instead. Against a Magic Sword, there was no telling what effects it might conceal.
The instant he kicked off the ground and pulled away from Antelme—
"I knew you'd do that!"
With those words, Antelme swung his Magic Sword despite the distance being far too great—and the blade suddenly extended, lunging straight for Rei.