The numerous slash wounds covering Set's body healed in the blink of an eye thanks to the potions Rei had applied.
This was partly because Rei had used high-quality potions, but it also had much to do with the fact that Set's fur and feathers had blunted the crystal shards' power before they could pierce his body.
"Grrrrrrl."
Though his wounds had healed, Set looked at Rei with concern.
Even with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active, the crystal barrage had still left numerous gashes across Rei's body.
Set's demeanor made his thoughts clear: since he had been healed, Rei needed to heal himself too.
Understanding this, Rei finished treating Set's wounds and poured the remaining potions over his own injuries.
True to their high quality, the potions healed Rei's wounds in an instant.
While Rei and Set were recovering, one might wonder whether the Crystal Dragon was simply watching in silence. It was not.
Naturally, the attack the Crystal Dragon had just launched was performed while enduring the searing pain of its insides being burned.
Even now, Rei's Deep Flame continued to rage within the Crystal Dragon's body.
Given the circumstances, the Crystal Dragon was in no condition to move recklessly.
It was funneling as much mana as possible into regeneration while keeping its body still, preparing to regain even a shred of mobility.
In a sense, the Crystal Dragon's previous attack had been little more than a stalling tactic to buy time for regeneration.
"Phew... attacking from above again is probably not a good idea."
"Gruu."
Having finished healing, Rei picked up Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from the ground.
Though both his hands had taken damage from the crystal shard barrage, he had never let go of either weapon.
That said, while Death Scythe was another matter, the Twilight Spear could be summoned back to his hand at any time, so there had been no real need to keep holding it.
"Which means going in from the front. ...Set, circle around again, but watch out for that attack from before."
"Gruu? ...Grrruu!"
In response to Rei's words, Set cast one last worried glance at him before pulling away.
The Crystal Dragon's eyes followed Set as he separated from Rei, but only for a moment before its gaze snapped back to Rei.
Set was certainly an opponent worth being wary of, but it was only natural that Rei demanded far greater caution.
After all, it was Rei who had unleashed Deep Flame—the spell still burning through the Crystal Dragon's innards at that very moment.
Watching the Crystal Dragon's demeanor, Rei slowly closed the distance.
(Well, judging from the way it looks, all that rolling around on the ground earlier was an act.)
The Crystal Dragon lay on the ground, its eyes fixed on Rei. No—"glaring" was a more apt description.
Because of that, Rei had concluded its earlier thrashing was feigned behavior meant to lure him into dropping his guard. In reality, though, it was more accurate to say the dragon was somehow deadening its pain and enduring the agony.
(The real question is... what's going on with its defenses. If the effects of its Dragon Language Magic or skills have worn off, that'd be ideal.)
In its defensively enhanced state, the dragon had been able to block even a strike from Death Scythe backed by the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
Whether that enhancement was still active or not made all the difference for Rei.
That said, since he had no way to find out without testing it in combat, he had no choice but to close the distance.
(No, should I throw the Twilight Spear? ...No, better to close in as fast as possible and cut it down with Death Scythe.)
Once his mind was made up, Rei moved fast.
He kicked off the ground and rapidly closed the gap between himself and the Crystal Dragon.
Thanks to the body enhancement from the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, his speed was overwhelming.
However, that was only against an ordinary opponent. To the Crystal Dragon, it was nothing particularly surprising.
But the Crystal Dragon was equally unable to move freely in its current state.
Since Rei was charging straight in, the dragon could have simply unleashed Crystal Breath—but doing so risked being burned from the inside out all over again.
Even now, Deep Flame still raged within the Crystal Dragon, continuously dealing damage.
Nevertheless, perhaps deciding that letting Rei get any closer would be fatal, the dragon swung its right arm back and brought it crashing down.
No—to be precise, just as it was about to slam down, Rei willed a portion of the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor to lash out like a tentacle. Given its thickness, "whip" might have been a better description. Or perhaps a "flexible club."
Regardless, the red mana cloaking Rei's body struck out to intercept the Crystal Dragon's foreleg, deflecting the blow.
Naturally, since it deflected the right arm, the mana whip was knocked aside as well. But unlike the Crystal Dragon, which possessed a physical body, Rei's weapon was ultimately just mana.
Rei reabsorbed the deflected whip back into his mana pool, and in the next heartbeat, he was right next to the Crystal Dragon.
"For starters—look up!"
With those words, he channeled the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor's mana once more, uppercutting the Crystal Dragon's jaw from below in a scooping motion.
A strike not unlike a boxing uppercut.
"Gugya!"
It was the same type of attack that had deflected its arm moments ago, delivered once more.
The Crystal Dragon understood this, yet in its current state, it could barely move its body.
Even that single right-arm strike had required considerable effort.
Under normal circumstances, an attack of this caliber would be nothing.
The only reason it had taken the hit was the Deep Flame still burning inside it.
Still, the Crystal Dragon understood its current situation was a matter of life and death. It judged that even if Rei burned its insides again, that was better than being slaughtered without putting up a fight.
The dragon's misfortune lay in the fact that the attack which launched a barrage of crystal shards skyward could only be fired from its back.
"Like I'd let you!"
Naturally, Rei could read the Crystal Dragon's intent and responded accordingly.
He hurled the Twilight Spear straight at the dragon's throat.
Sensing Rei's movement, the dragon instinctively threw its right arm up to guard its throat. But with its Dragon Language Magic and skills currently lapsed, blocking the Twilight Spear—thrown with the full force of his Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor-enhanced body—was impossible.
"GUGAAAAAAAAAH!"
Even so, the spear pierced through the arm but failed to reach the throat. This was proof that the Crystal Dragon possessed considerable defensive power even without enhancements.
Still, the dragon screamed from the intense pain of its arm being impaled...
Slash!
Death Scythe, swung with the momentum of a leap powered by enhanced leg strength, effortlessly severed the Crystal Dragon's right arm.
"GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
As the right arm tumbled to the ground, Rei recalled the Twilight Spear embedded in it back to his hand.
"Come on—next! Let's go!"
With those words, he activated his Sleipnir boots, kicking off the air to reposition toward the left shoulder. But danger flickered in his instincts, and he triggered the Sleipnir boots once more, kicking off the air again.
An instant later, the Crystal Dragon's massive jaws snapped through the space where Rei had been standing.
Had his reaction been even a fraction slower, Rei would likely have been torn apart.
Then again, with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, he might have blocked it—and in that case, he could have fired Deep Flame down the dragon's throat once more.
"GRRRRRRRRL!"
"Guah!?"
Its bite having missed, the Crystal Dragon was set upon from behind. Set swooped down from above, and the force of his descent—combined with Power Crush—slammed into the dragon's head, driving its jaw violently into the ground.
From Rei's vantage point in the air, it looked as though the dragon was offering up its neck.
But even presented with such an opening, Rei did not let his guard down.
The last time he'd been in a similar position, the dragon had unleashed a hail of crystal shards from its back.
Even with the ultimate defensive trio—the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, the Dragon Robe, and Magic Shield—Rei had been unable to fully block that attack.
The areas not covered by the Dragon Robe had been slashed to ribbons, and even the protected areas hadn't fully absorbed the impact. He was likely covered in bruises from head to toe.
Having already learned that lesson the hard way, it was only natural to stay on guard even when the perfect opportunity presented itself.
However, last time he had been directly above the dragon. Now, he was at a diagonal.
Even if the Crystal Dragon unleashed the same attack, it wouldn't be able to inflict the same level of damage.
In other words—right now was the perfect moment to sever the Crystal Dragon's neck.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Kicking off the air above him with his Sleipnir boots, Rei let out a war cry and plunged straight toward the Crystal Dragon.
Hearing his roar, the Crystal Dragon sensed its own crisis.
It tried to move—to evade Rei's attack—but its head had just been violently struck by Set's Power Crush, and it had lost all sense of balance.
If anything, the fact that its skull hadn't shattered after taking Set's diving speed from altitude, the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, and Power Crush all at once was a testament to the Crystal Dragon's absurd durability.
Rei's Death Scythe bit straight into the Crystal Dragon's neck—and the next moment, sliced clean through with no resistance whatsoever.
"All right!"
Rei savored the rush of defeating a formidable foe—a truly worthy opponent in every sense. But before he could fully relish that satisfaction, there was something he needed to do.
The headless body left behind by Death Scythe's strike.
He swiftly stowed it in his Misty Ring.
A dragon's entire body was first-class material—no, a mass of supreme materials that went beyond even that.
And among those materials, dragon blood was a substance with countless applications.
That was why he stored the body before blood could spray from the severed neck.
That said, with the tail and right arm already removed, a fair amount of blood had already spilled onto the surrounding ground.
(I'd like to collect this blood too if possible, but... that's going to be difficult.)
The Crystal Dragon's blood had already soaked into the earth and splashed across nearby vegetation, scattered across too many places to recover.
"The area around here... is definitely going to get chaotic."
With Crystal Dragon blood in the area, it wouldn't be surprising if Forest of Magic monsters flocked to it.
Fortunately, Rei predicted that since the Crystal Dragon had been thrashing about until moments ago, no creatures would approach immediately for fear of being caught in a battle.
But it was the blood of an S-Rank Monster—and a dragon's blood at that.
Just a taste could cause an ordinary monster to mutate into a High-ranking Species or Rare Species.
Or perhaps... Rei turned his gaze toward the surrounding trees—specifically, the ones drenched in the Crystal Dragon's blood—and couldn't shake the feeling they might transform into Treant-type monsters.
"Grrrrrrl."
Purring softly, Set dragged the Crystal Dragon's severed right arm over with his beak.
"Sorry, Set. I know you're tired, and I'd have liked to give you a proper rest, but... we need to get out of here as fast as we can."
Storing the right arm in his Misty Ring, he followed with the head, then retrieved and stored the tail that had been flung some distance away. Then, they left the area behind.