A vicious killing intent.
It was a far cry from the aristocratic demeanor he had displayed moments ago, but given that the opponent was a Vampire, this was perhaps his true nature.
Having determined that, Rei readied his Death Scythe and Twilight Spear and spoke.
"You look more like a Vampire that way. Anyway, it seems even Vampires aren't truly immortal."
"You..."
Whether Rei's words had rubbed him the wrong way or not, the Vampire glared at Rei with a gaze laden with killing intent.
It was a glare charged with the killing intent of an A-Rank Monster.
An ordinary Adventurer could easily die from that gaze alone.
Then, suddenly, the Vampire's gaze on Rei changed.
No, to be precise, it would be more accurate to say the quality of the gaze itself changed.
(What was that?)
Rei was subjected to a gaze devoid of killing intent, but he felt no particular discomfort.
"What?"
However, the Vampire was just as bewildered by Rei's state.
For a moment, Rei wondered if the Vampire was performing some kind of trick to deceive him, but from the look of it, he seemed genuinely confused.
"Why? My Charm Magic Eye is powerful. It is not something a mere human can resist."
Ah, I see.
From the Vampire's words, Rei understood what he had done.
At the same time, he was once again impressed by the latent potential of his body, created using the Zephyle Clan's technology.
The Charm Magic Eye.
This too was a famous ability known as one of the Vampire's Special Abilities.
However, Rei's body must have possessed a strong resistance even against the Charm Magic Eye.
That was why the Charm Magic Eye had no effect.
"Grrrrrr!"
"Whoa!"
Having understood from the Vampire's words that he had used a Magic Eye on Rei, Set unleashed his Magic Eye of Shock in retaliation.
The Magic Eye of Shock, which dealt damage the instant it was activated, demonstrated its effect against the Vampire as well.
However, while it was highly effective in the sense that it dealt damage the moment it was used, its sheer destructive power was by no means overwhelming.
It was highly effective for catching an opponent off guard, though.
Even so, for the Vampire, taking an enemy's attack head-on was no laughing matter.
Startled by the shock but irritated by Set's action, the Vampire pointed his palm toward Set...
"Die."
"Grr!"
The moment the Vampire uttered those words, Set swiftly evacuated from the spot.
At the same time, the ground where Set had been standing caved in over a radius of about two meters.
"Set!?"
"Gruu!"
In response to Rei's words, Set purred from a short distance away, signaling that he was fine.
Relieved by Set's state, Rei kept a wary eye on the Vampire and considered what he had just done.
That said, regarding what he had done, one could easily imagine it just from watching the Vampire's actions.
(A powerful version of the Magic Eye of Shock... no, that's not it. Psychic powers—so-called Psychokinesis?)
Even within the knowledge Rei possessed, there were some accounts of Vampires using Psychokinesis.
Thinking it was probably that, Rei also wondered whether using psychic powers in a fantasy world of swords and magic was even acceptable.
That said, Psychokinesis was a troublesome attack for Rei as well.
Unlike Set's Magic Eye of Shock, it was true that using it required a single action of pointing one's palm at the target, but its destructive power, as evidenced by the ground caving in, was incomparable to the Magic Eye of Shock.
If possible, he wanted that Skill.
Rei thought so, but exactly what kind of Skill he could obtain by defeating the Vampire would likely depend heavily on luck.
After all, the Vampire in Rei's line of sight was using various Skills.
To Rei, every single one of those Skills seemed extremely useful.
That said, in order to obtain a Skill, he needed to defeat the opponent and acquire a Magic Stone...
"It's lonely being forgotten, you know!"
Along with that shout, Rei threw the Twilight Spear.
The released Twilight Spear flew straight toward the Vampire...
"There's no way I'd forget a dangerous figure like you!"
Along with that shout, a portion of the hand pointed toward Rei transformed into a wolf, leaped at the incoming Twilight Spear, and in the next instant, was effortlessly pierced through by the Twilight Spear's strike.
"What!?"
The power of the Twilight Spear must have been unexpected even to the Vampire.
Even so, it should be said that he managed to twist his body on reflex and avoid a fatal wound, which was impressive.
(I've been thinking this for a while, but setting combat ability aside, his actual combat sense isn't that high, is it? Since he possesses such tremendous strength just from being a Vampire, maybe he's never had to struggle in fights before.)
It wouldn't be strange for the Vampire to understand how much power the Twilight Spear's strike held from their brief battle thus far.
Despite that, the Vampire had underestimated the threat level of the Twilight Spear.
Of course, what the Vampire was most wary of was the Death Scythe, whose rank was apparent at a glance.
The Twilight Spear was also undeniably a Magic Item with some of the highest performance in all of current Elgin.
Even so, Rei's Death Scythe was clearly of a higher rank than the Twilight Spear.
...That said, discerning that difference required a considerable aesthetic eye.
For someone lacking that ability, the only conclusion they could draw was that both the Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear were overwhelming weapons beyond their comprehension.
In that sense, the Vampire's aesthetic eye must be as refined as he himself claimed it to be.
However, that aesthetic eye had likely been warped by the overwhelming presence of the Death Scythe.
If he had the combat sense Rei felt he lacked, things might have been a little different.
"A scar on my face! You...!"
To Rei's disappointment, and to the Vampire's fortune—though he was enraged about having his face scarred—the Twilight Spear's strike did not become a fatal blow.
Even so, the Vampire could not forgive Rei and once again spawned several wolves from his hand to attack him.
"Out of the way!"
Rei shouted and slashed with Death Scythe in a single stroke.
With that single flash, the wolves were cleaved apart together and vanished into black mist.
"Annoying! But don't think you can do as you please! Out of the way!"
As Rei was about to launch an attack, Set interrupted.
From diagonally behind, a strike swinging a foreleg.
That strike possessed enough power to destroy rock if it connected.
However, the Vampire caught Set's strike with one hand... and threw him straight at Rei.
"What!?"
It was Rei who raised a voice of astonishment at the Vampire's action.
He never expected the Vampire to take such an action... no, to even be capable of it.
Set had a body length exceeding three meters, whereas the Vampire stood at about 180cm.
It was utterly unreasonable for such an opponent to toss Set aside.
Even so, since it was Set who had been sent flying, Rei could neither cut him down with the Death Scythe nor evade.
"Guhhhhhh!"
Rei also possessed strength unthinkable from his appearance.
But even for Rei, catching Set was no easy feat... and he was sent flying a considerable distance along with him.
Even in that situation, he never dropped Set in the end—likely because he recognized himself as Set's partner.
Eventually, they were sent flying about five meters before he finally came to a stop...
"Where might you be looking?"
"Gah!"
While still in the stance of catching Set, a sudden voice from behind was accompanied by a violent shock.
Even so, while there was pain, Rei's body was covered by the Dragon Robe.
Even upon receiving a strike from the Vampire's Blood Rapier, there was intense pain, but he was not pierced through the back.
"Grrrr!"
"Out of the way!"
Because he had caught Set, Rei was the one who took the attack.
Noticing that, Set unleashed his Magic Eye of Shock toward the Vampire behind Rei.
Its raw power wasn't high, but it was more than sufficient in terms of hindering the Vampire's actions.
And then...
"Grrrrrrrrrrr!"
Still held in Rei's arms, Set activated Bubble Breath.
Countless bubbles ranging from three to five centimeters in size were released from his beak toward the Vampire.
He could have originally used Ice Arrow, but he felt a direct attack would be blocked by the Vampire.
That was why he used Bubble Breath, which turned into a sticky liquid upon bursting.
While it could not deal major damage to the opponent, it had enough power to hinder their actions.
Furthermore, since the sticky liquid would cling to the Vampire's entire body, Rei thought it would serve as a minor form of harassment for the proud Vampire...
"You...!"
Without launching a follow-up attack on Rei, who had shouted and was trying to counterattack even while being stabbed in the back by the Blood Rapier, the Vampire turned his body to mist, vanished from the spot, and reappeared some distance away.
That action by the Vampire was completely unexpected to Rei.
He never imagined that, despite it being a chance for a follow-up attack, the Vampire would do something to escape the sticky liquid.
For Rei, having that follow-up prevented was a lifesaver.
He set down the Set he was holding—due to their size difference, Set's feet had already been touching the ground—and looked toward the Vampire.
Even now, his back throbbed with intense pain.
Thanks to the Dragon Robe, that was the extent of it, but if he hadn't had the Dragon Robe, what would have happened?
Without a doubt, he would have been pierced through the back.
In that sense, he deeply appreciated the Dragon Robe.
(That said, this is troublesome. What's troublesome is that he immediately turns into mist or bats and escapes. Especially with the mist, attacking it is... no, mist, huh. Then with a short chant...)
Defeating many bats would also damage the Vampire.
If so, what would happen if he attacked the mist even in its mist form?
Given it was mist, physical attacks likely wouldn't work, but what about magic?
Making that judgment, Rei glared at the Vampire.
(Still, it's been a long time since I took this much damage.)
While checking the state of the pain in his back, he thought about this.
For Rei, it had been quite a long time since he felt this much pain from an enemy's attack.
He had faced multiple A-Rank Monsters, and while it should have been impossible, what made it possible was largely the fact that Rei fundamentally avoided enemy attacks rather than taking them.
Or, he would block enemy attacks with the Death Scythe or the Twilight Spear.
In that sense, Rei normally didn't take enemy attacks.
That was why taking even a single hit resulted in relatively significant damage.
"Hmm, the fact that you can move without issue even after taking my rapier means that robe is also a Magic Item. And from the look of it, it uses a considerable amount of dragon hide, doesn't it? No, from the feel of the rapier, it's not just that. Scales?"
"You have a discerning eye. However, even knowing that, there's nothing you can do about it."
Rei told him that, but those words were partially bravado.
The fact that the Dragon Robe had been seen through so easily was surprising, but what Rei found even more troublesome was that the next time the Vampire attacked, he would likely target areas not covered by the Dragon Robe.
If he was attacked in such areas, could he handle it?
In a head-on fight, Rei could confidently say he would manage.
But if the opponent did something like throwing Set to exploit an opening as he had just done, dealing with it would be difficult.
(He may lack combat sense, but being a Vampire, he possesses high intelligence. ...In that sense, he's troublesome.)
Thinking that, Rei considered a method of fighting that involved turning the Vampire into mist and burning that mist.
That method carried the risk of making it impossible to obtain the Magic Stone, but... first and foremost, defeating the opponent was the top priority.