In the end, after playing with Rei and Set for about ten minutes, the fox cub seemed satisfied and bounded off.
Perhaps it had acted for some particular reason, but unfortunately, Rei couldn't fathom what that reason might be.
"Gurururu."
Set purred happily, apparently satisfied from playing with the fox cub.
Having someone who adored him come to play was a rare experience for Set. Usually, he was the one being played with, so he probably enjoyed being the one doing the playing for once—though in that sense, Rei couldn't help but think it was similar to when Set played with Ielo.
Besides, this is the Forest of Magic.
As long as they were in the Forest of Magic, they couldn't truly focus entirely on playing. After all, there was no telling when another monster might attack while they were distracted.
Fortunately, no other monsters had attacked while they were playing with the fox cub.
"Come on, Set. You might see it again... or maybe not, but there's still a chance. More importantly, we need to hunt A-Rank monsters as quickly as possible, so focus on that. Of course, I'll gladly fight any other monsters we encounter for the first time too, as long as they're not A-Rank."
"Guruu? ...Gururururu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred as if asking whether he really could play with that fox cub again, but he soon shifted gears upon hearing Rei's instruction.
Rei patted Set, and they began advancing through the Forest of Magic once more.
All things considered, we've gotten pretty far from the hideout... but it should be fine, right?
The Forest of Magic was a place where people were not only prohibited from entering but even from approaching. Given that, there were no paths trodden down by adventurers or hunters. Game trails used by monsters and animals existed, but using those as landmarks would be somewhat difficult—after all, monsters and animals fundamentally avoided the hideout protected by the Barrier.
Set and the Black Snake were clearly exceptions, though.
"For now..."
While advancing through the forest, Rei lightly scratched a nearby tree trunk with Death Scythe to serve as a landmark. He had already gouged several tree trunks on the way here. With those marks, he told himself, he wouldn't get lost.
That said, since this was the Forest of Magic, Rei doubted whether such ordinary landmarks would be of any use. Given that it was a place called the Forest of Magic, it wouldn't be strange for the plants growing there to be anything but ordinary. A tree trunk might heal right away even if scratched, as if nothing had happened.
"Judging from this, it should be fine."
The scratch carved by Death Scythe showed no signs of changing. At least, from what Rei could see, there was no rapid healing.
After checking the trunk's condition, Rei and Set moved on.
About thirty minutes passed...
"Gurururu."
"It's here."
Hearing Set's purr, Rei readied Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear he was holding. It wasn't a bewildered cry like the one the fox cub had made when it appeared earlier. What he heard was clear wariness.
And then... Rei spotted the presence emerging from the depths of the forest.
"What is this..."
"Fushurururu."
What appeared while making that cry was a truly bizarre monster. To put it simply, it had the upper body of an Orc and the lower body of a snake.
Seeing its snake lower body, Rei wondered if it might be a Lamia. However, the Lamia that Rei knew—or rather, the Lamia depicted in his Monster Encyclopedia—had the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a snake. What lay in Rei's line of sight was a monster whose lower body was indeed that of a snake, but whose upper body was that of an Orc.
"Well, there's no doubt it's an enemy... Set!"
"Guruu!"
Set's senses were sharper than Rei's, so by the time Rei called out, it had already reacted. A Water Arrow flew past the spot where Rei's body had been just a moment before. Rei didn't think that attack could have done anything to the Dragon Robe he was wearing, but since he had moved reflexively, it was a moot point.
"Fushururu!"
Perhaps not expecting its attack to be dodged, the monster that could be called an Orc Naga let out a cry of surprise...
"Hey, again!"
From behind the surprised Orc Naga, Water Arrows flew once more—nearly ten of them. And that was just the ones aimed at Rei.
From the Orc Naga's perspective, the enemy wasn't just Rei but Set as well. No, judging by appearance alone, Set would likely be recognized as the greater threat. Because of that, Rei caught sight in his peripheral vision of nearly twenty Water Arrows flying toward Set.
But naturally, Set had no intention of taking such feeble attacks and dodged every single one. Rei likewise swung Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, knocking away the Water Arrows flying toward him.
"There's too many of them! How many are there!?"
The first Orc Naga had fired a single Water Arrow. If each one could only fire a single arrow, that would mean over thirty Orc Nagas were present. However, judging from the presences he could sense, he couldn't imagine that many enemies were out there.
In other words, it's not one arrow per person—some of them are firing multiple Water Arrows each?
Thinking that, Rei blocked another Water Arrow with Death Scythe while hurling the Twilight Spear. It wasn't an ideal situation; he was throwing while swinging Death Scythe in his right hand. Naturally, the power was lower than a normal throw, but...
"Fushaa!"
It had more than enough power to pierce through the torso of the lead Orc Naga. Not only that, the Twilight Spear punched through the Orc Naga's body without losing momentum and pierced through several others behind it, their screams reaching Rei's ears.
Taking advantage of the momentary lull in attacks, Rei recalled the Twilight Spear to his hand—and the next instant, surged forward.
Naturally, Rei's strike had also dealt damage to the Orc Nagas that had been attacking Set, reducing the number of Water Arrows fired toward the gryphon. With Rei charging ahead, Set didn't focus solely on evading but went on the offensive as well.
"Gurururururururu!"
As Set cried out loudly, twenty Ice Arrows materialized around it. If the Orc Nagas were firing Water Arrows, Set would counterattack with Ice Arrows—that was the judgment it made.
If Rei was charging into the enemy, Set would provide support from the rear. They hadn't specifically discussed it, but Set took the action Rei most expected in this situation. Set could have charged in alongside Rei, but this was inside the Forest of Magic. Even though there was considerable distance between the trees, it would still be a bit cramped for Set, which exceeded three meters in body length, to go on a rampage alongside Rei wielding two long weapons. Wanting to let Rei fight to his heart's content, Set opted for rear support.
However, rear support didn't mean Set lacked offensive power. The twenty Ice Arrows struck the Orc Nagas' bodies one after another. The unlucky ones had the arrows pierce through their eyeballs, destroying their brains and heads, killing them instantly.
Ice arrows—or rather, ice pillars—possessed sharpness and weight sufficient to easily pierce through a person's head. If ordinary ice pillars could do that, then the arrows created by a skill... and a Level 4 Ice Arrow at that, possessed more than enough power to destroy a head when piercing through an eyeball.
Amidst that volley of Ice Arrows, Rei moved without a moment's hesitation. He trusted that Set, his reliable partner, would never hit him even when firing multiple arrows. And even if by some chance one did land due to a mistake, as long as he was wearing the Dragon Robe, there was no need to worry about taking damage.
"Multi Slash!"
The Orc Naga whose torso was diagonally slashed by Death Scythe's blade was further torn apart by the additional slashes generated by the skill's effect, reduced to chunks of meat.
A bit too powerful. Overkill.
The additional slashes generated by Multi Slash had exactly the same power as Rei's original strike. In other words, the more powerful Rei's strike, the more powerful the Multi Slash. In that sense, it was undoubtedly excessive force to use against an Orc Naga.
As could be seen from the fact that they fired Water Arrows, Orc Nagas were fundamentally magic-oriented monsters. Because of that, they were weak in close combat. In that sense, being approached by Rei was already fatal for them.
"Power Slash!"
What came next was a skill that delivered a powerful blow rather than a sharp slash.
"Gugyaa!"
Letting out a different scream than before, the Orc Naga had its upper body crushed.
That was overkill too.
The troublesome thing about that last strike was that with the upper body blown apart into chunks of meat, securing the magic stone had become difficult. Of course, it wasn't impossible—it might be found if he searched through the scattered remains.
Anyway, for now I should prioritize reducing their numbers. Considering that they live socially in the Forest of Magic, there's no doubt these Orc Nagas possess high intelligence. Once they realize they have no chance of winning, it wouldn't be strange for them to flee.
With that in mind, he decided that using normal attacks instead of skills would be sufficient to kill them... but before that, he activated one skill just in case.
"Magic Shield."
A shield of light materialized, floating near Rei. A powerful skill that blocked any attack, just once. Since the Orc Nagas used magic, there was no telling what they might cast besides Water Arrow. Given that, it was only prudent to stay on guard for emergencies. If this were an ordinary place, he wouldn't be so cautious, but this was the Forest of Magic. There was no such thing as being too careful.
First, either quickly annihilate the Orc Nagas or make them retreat. For Rei, as long as he could secure two magic stones—one for himself and one for Set—it was fine, so having already defeated more than that number, the rest didn't matter.
Ah, but if it's an Orc Naga, that means the upper body is Orc. Thinking about it that way...
Regular Orc meat was famous for being far tastier than its rank would suggest. Because of that, setting aside the snake lower body, the Orc upper body of this creature called an Orc Naga might be delicious too. Moreover, unlike regular Orcs, these used magic, which meant there was a possibility that the Orc Naga's rank was higher than that of a standard Orc. If its base rank was already higher, then there was a good chance Orc Naga meat was quite tasty.
Alright, no letting them escape. Total annihilation.
Rei had no intention of passing up the chance to obtain delicious meat. The only reason he'd considered letting them flee in the first place was that fighting until total annihilation would be a hassle.
"Whoa!"
"Fushaa!"
Dodging a Water Arrow flying toward him, Rei let out a startled cry. He knew Orc Nagas used Water Arrow magic, but he hadn't expected them to attack in this situation. After all, Rei was currently in the middle of the Orc Naga group. If they attacked now, there was naturally a risk of friendly fire. In fact, the Water Arrow Rei dodged struck an Orc Naga a short distance away, making it scream.
Even at the cost of hitting their own allies!?
The fact that they operated in groups like this proved they were monsters with social behavior. That was exactly why Rei found it completely unexpected that they would attack him even if it meant striking their own comrades.
That said, he was only surprised because he hadn't anticipated such behavior. If they were going to act that way, Rei simply needed to respond in kind.
He severed the neck of the screaming Orc Naga that had been hit by a Water Arrow with Death Scythe, then pierced the neck of another Orc Naga right beside it with the Twilight Spear. The latter strike dealt what could truly be called a fatal wound—the piercing force shattered the bones and flesh of the neck, sending it crumbling to the ground.
Watching that, Rei continued his assault on the Orc Nagas alongside Set.