What he acquired from the worm's magic stone—more accurately, what was enhanced—was Corrosion.
At Level 6, it was now the highest-level skill Death Scythe possessed.
Corrosion had always been highly practical against opponents wielding metal weapons. It had been useful, yes, but upon reaching Level 6, it could now corrode not only metal weapons but also materials like rock and wood.
In that sense, it was an extremely powerful skill—but at the same time, a difficult one to use. After all, using Corrosion against monsters made it impossible to harvest any materials from them.
Against human opponents, it was certainly powerful, but when it came to killing, there was no need to rely on Corrosion. Rei could simply use Death Scythe to sever a torso or neck.
In that sense, its only real use was for instilling fear in an opponent.
Of course, when it came to having a skill versus not having one, it was better to have it. There was no telling what kind of skill might prove useful in what situation.
"For now, it's better to have acquired a skill than not. And then... Set?"
With the worm's head stored away, it was time to return to exploring the forest. But just as Rei was about to say that, he noticed something off about Set.
It wasn't moving at all—it looked as though its body had frozen solid.
At first, he thought the stench of the worm's head had brought it to a halt. But looking at it again now, Set didn't seem to be reacting to the foul odor.
For that matter, no matter how much it hated a stench, Rei couldn't possibly believe that Set—that Set—would tremble.
"Wait. Tremble? ...Set?"
Of course, he wasn't saying Set had never trembled before. When someone tried to force-feed it something that clearly didn't seem edible—bluntly put, terrible cooking—Set trembling in such a situation wouldn't be unusual.
But that was the kind of trembling that fell within the realm of everyday life. The way Set was trembling now, at the end of Rei's gaze, raised questions.
"Set, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Gur... gurururu..."
A cry utterly impossible to associate with the always-energetic Set. Just hearing it was enough for Rei to understand that something extraordinary was happening.
And a few seconds later, he understood what Set was feeling.
"This is..."
Rei's body was trembling without his knowing it. He hadn't seen anything. And yet, his body trembled despite doing nothing at all—as if he were sensing something.
The fact that he could manage to utter even a few words in such a state was probably because he was Rei. Somehow suppressing his unknowingly trembling body, he checked his surroundings and eventually noticed the sound of trees breaking and something with considerable weight approaching.
"What?"
His question was answered when the trees in the opposite direction from where he and Set had been standing splintered apart, and the presence revealed itself.
In terms of sheer size, it wasn't all that large. It was about the same size as the trees growing around it, and clearly smaller than the Dark World Tree they had defeated yesterday.
But the presence emanating from it was overwhelming. Even without being looked at, it was enough to render one completely unable to move.
He had felt overwhelming presences from the Dark World Tree and the Vampire as well. But the entity before Rei's eyes possessed a presence that allowed him to confidently declare it superior to those two monsters combined.
In form, it stood on four legs with bat-like wings sprouting from its back, and its face resembled a lizard's. Yes—a Dragon, one of the races that stood at the apex of all monsters.
And it was no ordinary Dragon. It was a Dragon made entirely of crystal.
At first, he wondered if it was a Golem or something similar—or perhaps, given the way bones were visible through its crystal body, some kind of Undead. But the Crystal Dragon before his eyes was unmistakably alive.
As proof, it snorted through its nose to sniff the air, then crunched down and swallowed the worm corpse that Rei had already extracted the magic stone from.
In other words, that worm is delicious food for this Dragon? ...Despite that stench?
That was what he thought, but Rei did know of ingredients where the smell was said to be part of the appeal. Foods like kusaya and stinky tofu.
That said, he had only ever seen them on TV shows or in cooking manga—he had never eaten them himself.
At the very least, from what he could see now, there was no doubt that the Crystal Dragon found that worm delicious. In that sense, Rei and Set had probably been saved. If the worm's head hadn't been there, they would have clashed head-on with the Crystal Dragon.
Though whether the Crystal Dragon, having found Rei and Set, had any particular reaction to them was questionable at best.
"Set."
"Guru."
At Rei's words, Set seemed to have somehow overcome its trembling, letting out a small purr.
Set was a Gryphon—an A-Rank Monster... no, actually, it was classified as a Rare Species that wielded numerous skills, and was therefore treated as S-Rank equivalent.
And the Crystal Dragon, savoring the worm's head at the end of Rei and Set's gaze, was in that sense also an S-Rank Monster.
But S-Rank Monsters were, in a manner of speaking, a catch-all rank for monsters stronger than A-Rank. Some were only slightly stronger than A-Rank Monsters, while others were so powerful that no number of A-Rank Monsters attacking together could stand against them.
And the Crystal Dragon before them was undoubtedly the kind that would rank among the upper tier of such S-Rank Monsters.
Can I really defeat it?
In this Forest of Magic, Rei had been tasked with slaying at least two A-Rank Monsters as part of his Promotion Exam. He had actually defeated multiple A-Rank Monsters, so in that sense, it was fair to say he had demonstrated more than sufficient ability.
But Rei, who in a certain sense could be described as having gotten carried away, realized upon seeing the Crystal Dragon before him that his thinking had been naïve.
As naïve as taking a strawberry parfait, drizzling it with honey, pouring on an absurd amount of condensed milk, topping it with sweet bean paste loaded with sugar, adding sugar candy as a garnish, and then mounding pure sugar on top of all that—that kind of sweetness.
The instant he saw the Crystal Dragon, Rei understood that his thinking had been naïve. But the fact that he didn't consider giving up and retreating, and instead thought about how he could win, showed that in a way, he possessed an indomitable spirit.
The Crystal Dragon, for its part, was focused on savoring the worm's head and showed no sign of noticing Rei and Set. It was as if it didn't even consider them enemies—which didn't sit well with Rei.
The problem is that body. It's made of crystal... or at least appears to be, but there's no way it's actually made of nothing but plain crystal. If so, the biggest question is whether my attacks can do anything about it.
Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear—both of the weapons Rei possessed were extremely powerful Magic Items. But if asked which was stronger, Rei would answer Death Scythe without hesitation. That was how deep his trust in Death Scythe ran.
And what was crucial in fighting the Crystal Dragon was whether Rei's Death Scythe attacks would land.
Against an ordinary monster—even against an A-Rank Monster—he would have judged that Death Scythe was enough to handle it, and in fact, he had defeated multiple A-Rank Monsters in this Forest of Magic.
But when it came to the Crystal Dragon, Rei couldn't simply accept that so easily. That was how overwhelming the presence radiating from it was.
The Crystal Dragon hadn't yet recognized Rei and Set as enemies. And yet, merely by appearing, its presence had overwhelmed them both—Set had even trembled and been unable to move.
Even facing such a formidable enemy, Rei was working on the premise of fighting rather than fleeing. Whether that was reckless valor, or whether somewhere in his heart he understood he could win against the Crystal Dragon—even Rei, who was observing it and watching for an opening to attack, couldn't quite figure that out.
Dragons are resistant to both magic and weapon attacks—my Dragon Robe is proof of that. But this Dragon Robe was made using the hide and scales of a dragon that lived for centuries, and by Esta Nor, who is said to be the greatest Alchemist in history. In other words, it should be reinforced beyond a living dragon's body.
That may have been an optimistic assumption on Rei's part. But even so, it was one he couldn't help wanting to rely on.
Besides, even lumping them together as Dragons, the types vary widely. There's no guarantee the Crystal Dragon and the dragon whose materials were used for my Dragon Robe are equally strong. ...Well, I can't deny the possibility that the Crystal Dragon might be stronger.
Thinking thus, Rei concluded that there was no way forward without landing at least one hit first. The enemy's strength was undoubtedly immense, but he didn't know exactly how strong it was.
In other words, he needed to test whether his attacks would work.
"Set, I'm going to attack that Crystal Dragon now."
"Guru."
At Rei's words, Set let out a short purr. Born from Rei's magic power, having been at Rei's side all along—and more than anything, being the Set that loved Rei so dearly—it probably understood from the start how Rei would act in this situation.
"But the opponent is a Crystal Dragon. I'll try attacking that skin... or maybe I should call it armor. I'll attack a spot like that and see whether our attacks work. Of course, since I'm attacking, I'll go all out. But if the attacks don't get through, we flee immediately."
"Gurururu?"
Where to? Set purred.
With the passage of time, Set's trembling had mostly subsided, and by talking with Rei like this, it appeared to have almost completely stopped.
Rei noticed this as well and continued with a smile.
"Right. I'd like to say the Hidden Base... but the opponent is a Crystal Dragon. It could potentially even break through the Hidden Base's Barrier."
Being a Barrier placed over the Zephyle Clan's Hidden Base, its effectiveness was unquestionable. But when the opponent was an S-Rank Monster like the Crystal Dragon, it was a different story.
It might hold. But there was also a chance it would destroy and break through the Barrier—and even destroy the Hidden Base itself.
An absolute safe haven located within the Forest of Magic. That was what the Hidden Base—Rei and Set's base of operations for this expedition—was.
Also, while an absolute safe haven was important, what was even more important was the Magic Circle inside the Hidden Base, used for casting Beast Magic. Rei, having used it once, could no longer use it himself, but the possibility that someone else might be able to use it in the future couldn't be denied. If so, the risk of destroying that Magic Circle should be avoided as much as possible.
"If my attacks don't work on the Crystal Dragon, I'll run around the Forest of Magic to shake it off. If that doesn't work either... it can't be helped, but we'll exit the Forest of Magic and fly through the sky to lose the Crystal Dragon and escape."
Given that the Crystal Dragon also had wings, there was no doubt it could fly. But Rei predicted that Set would be superior in terms of flight speed and, above all, maneuverability.
...If even that didn't work, as a last resort, he planned to contact Elena and the others, or perhaps Grimm, via the Paired Orbs and have them fight alongside him.
Since he would have exited the Forest of Magic before the deadline, there was no question that his Promotion Exam would end in failure—but he judged that was better than dying in a fight with the Crystal Dragon.
With Set nodding at those words, Rei poured a massive amount of magic power into Death Scythe, then surged forward in one burst, closing the distance to the Crystal Dragon.
The Crystal Dragon, still savoring the worm's head, didn't notice Rei's presence at all.
Slash!
With that sound, the crystal armor of the Dragon was cleaved apart by Death Scythe.