"Grrrrrrl!"
"Whoa, Set, it's you?"
Rei had been so mesmerized by the sight of the water-producing crystal and the flowers blooming around it that he snapped back to his senses only when Set's voice came from nearby.
He turned toward the sound and saw Set standing right beside him.
Which meant Rei hadn't noticed Set's approach at all.
No matter how fantastical the scenery before him was—no matter how it was a sight he could gaze at endlessly without growing bored—failing to notice Set approaching meant Rei had let his guard down far too much.
"Sorry, Set. I was just staring at the scenery."
As he said that, Rei stroked Set's body... and realized it was completely dry.
This was Set, who had been diving and playing in the lake.
"Huh? Set, did you use some kind of skill?"
"Gruu?"
Set let out a questioning purr, not understanding what Rei meant.
Seeing Set's reaction, Rei got a bad feeling—could it be...—and pulled a pocket watch from his Misty Ring.
The hands showed past six in the evening.
"Ugh, seriously?"
He hastily looked up at the sky, but it didn't particularly seem like evening.
Then again, it was midsummer. Six in the evening was still a bit too early for it to get dark.
Understanding that he had been gazing at the scenery far longer than he'd expected, Rei immediately made up his mind to leave.
If he didn't exit the Forest of Magic today, he would fail the Promotion Exam.
And since he had traveled upstream, further and further along the river, he needed to hurry somewhat to get out.
As a last resort, he could have Set fly him through the sky, but considering the characteristics of the Forest of Magic's monsters—they would attack without fleeing even from a High-Rank Monster like Set—he wanted to avoid that if possible.
In other words, he needed to travel by running steadily through the forest.
...Naturally, the monsters on the ground in the Forest of Magic would also attack if they spotted Set, but few could keep up with Set's running speed.
Any monster that could was likely a High-Rank Monster, which in that sense made it just the right opponent to serve as fuel for Beast Magic.
Originally, Rei and Set had planned to hold out until right before midnight tonight within the Forest of Magic.
Since the rest here had allowed them to nearly fully recover from the fatigue of fighting the Crystal Dragon, their current situation wasn't bad at all, considering they were about to have their final battle in the Forest of Magic.
"Alright, Set. Let's get going then. ...I want to say goodbye to the Golems, so we'll head down from here."
"Gruu."
Set purred at Rei's words, and Rei jumped straight off the cliff.
Midway through his descent, he activated his Sleipnir boots, kicking the air several times to kill his falling speed.
(Ah, I could've just used the Sleipnir boots to go up instead of taking the stairs. ...Well, since I didn't know what was up on the cliff, it's better to say I shouldn't have recklessly used them.)
He thought that to comfort himself.
Landing on the ground, he began walking alongside Set, who had also landed while flapping its wings... and before long, he spotted a Golem tending to plants a short distance away.
"Hey, got a second?"
"Pi?"
Without showing any particular displeasure, the Golem stopped its work at Rei's words and turned its gaze toward him.
"Set and I are going to leave the Barrier soon. I have to get out of the Forest of Magic today."
"Pi... Pipi..."
The Golem let out its usual cry in response to Rei's words.
However, that cry sounded disappointed and lonely—and it was certainly not just Rei's imagination.
For some reason, Rei felt glad about that. Probably because he understood that the Golem was an entity connected to the Zephyle Clan, just like himself and Set.
"Sorry. I'll come again when I get the chance. This place is comfortable for me too."
"Pi!"
At Rei's words, perhaps pleased that the place they maintained had been praised, the Golem let out a joyful cry.
Hearing that, the other Golems working nearby also gathered one by one.
After some kind of exchange among themselves, the others must have understood that Rei and Set were leaving.
Though looking disappointed, they prepared to safely see them off.
Seen off by those Golems, Rei and Set headed toward the outside of the Barrier... toward the place where they had entered.
(I'd like to come back to this place again. If possible, it'd be nice to bring Elena and the others here... but it's uncertain whether they'd be able to enter.)
The reason Rei and Set had been able to enter the Barrier's interior was likely because they had been judged to be affiliated with the Zephyle Clan.
If that were the case, even if Rei brought Elena and the others here, there was a high possibility they would be deemed unrelated to the Zephyle Clan and unable to enter.
Moreover, Elena had inherited an Ancient Dragon's Magic Stone, and Vihera had absorbed the legendary monster known as Unbris.
Marina was a Dark Elf, but not just any Dark Elf—she was also the Shrine Maiden of the World Tree.
Considering those circumstances, there was a real possibility that only Rei and his companions could enter.
"Well, that goes for the Hidden Base too, not just here."
"Gruu?"
Set purred at Rei's murmur as if asking what was wrong.
Rei shook his head at Set, indicating it was nothing, and headed toward the outside of the Barrier.
Reaching the Barrier's boundary, Rei cast one last glance behind him.
At the end of his gaze, the Golems stood lined up to see them off.
Rei waved to the Golems, conveying his intention to return.
Set also purred with disappointment... and the person and beast stepped outside the Barrier.
"That was surprisingly easy... but better than encountering some kind of resistance. Anyway, more importantly, Set. Time is running short, so we'll hurry a bit to get out of the Forest of Magic. Once we get close to the outer edge at the very end, it might be nice to defeat some monsters and then fly out of the Forest of Magic before the date changes."
Fight monsters in the Forest of Magic until the very end, then take to the sky before midnight, drawing in the monsters that flew through the nighttime Forest of Magic, and escape the forest.
Doing something like that would let them lead the Forest of Magic's monsters away as they departed.
Of course, only someone with the high combat power of Rei and Set could pull off such a feat.
If some random Adventurer tried the same thing, the likelihood of death was high.
"Grrrrrrl."
Set showed its enthusiasm at Rei's words.
Rei and Set began advancing along the path, and after about twenty minutes had passed, Set suddenly began growling as if probing the surroundings.
Judging that a fairly formidable enemy must have appeared, Rei dismounted from Set's back and stayed on alert... but there was no enemy to be seen anywhere.
(What's going on? I can't imagine Set failing to detect a presence.)
Though Rei harbored such doubts, he suddenly felt something wrong with his leg.
What's this? When he directed his gaze downward, black thread-like things growing out of the ground were wrapping around his leg...
"A Fish!"
The moment he saw those thin objects, he grasped the enemy's identity.
The one that had stolen the Hermit Crab Rare Species when they were walking along the river.
It was a grotesque, enormous Fish with hair growing all over its body.
If what grew from its body were tentacles, Rei would have seen similar enemies many times before and wouldn't have been all that surprised.
But this Fish was different.
The fact that what grew from its body was hair instilled a sense of revulsion in anyone who saw it.
Granted, since Set had acquired the convenient skill Underground Dive from this Fish's Magic Stone, it was by no means a bad opponent for Rei... but even so, its grotesque appearance was more than enough to inspire revulsion.
"I already know how to defeat you!"
The Fish had the ability to drag those entangled in its hair underground, but to pull them in, it naturally had to make contact with its target.
And when it did something like wrapping around a leg, Rei had fully understood from their previous encounter that by pulling on that hair, the Fish underground could be dragged out.
"Grrrrl!"
Seeing Rei's stance, Set also approached and grabbed the hair with its beak at a point slightly away from Rei, pulling.
Pulled by Rei and Set, who possessed extraordinary strength, the Fish, which could use the underground like water, was naturally overpowered and gradually dragged upward toward the surface.
And then... eventually, it must have reached its limit.
As if he were fishing with a single line, a giant Fish emerged from the ground.
The fact that it had hair growing all over its body was no different from the one they had encountered and fought before entering the Barrier.
However, its body was larger than the Fish they had previously fought.
(Thirty percent... maybe fifty percent bigger, I'd say.)
Looking at the Fish floating in the air while readying Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, Rei thought that.
Once it was hoisted into the air like this, all he had to do was attack it with Death Scythe or the Twilight Spear as it fell.
Or so he thought, but the Fish floating in the air must have understood that it would undoubtedly die if it fell like this.
"Gyupii!"
Letting out such a cry, it extended its hair and wrapped it around a nearby tree branch...
"You think I'll let you!"
The Fish had tried to evade Rei's attack range by wrapping its hair around the tree branch, but the moment it wound its hair around the branch, Rei changed his attack method from a Death Scythe strike to a throw of the Twilight Spear.
The released Twilight Spear flew toward the Fish, which was desperately trying to escape its fate of death... and even then, the Fish did not give up on living, attempting to defend with its hair. But what Rei had thrown was the Twilight Spear.
If it had been a disposable, broken spear, the Fish might have been able to somehow block it with its hair, or perhaps even deflect its trajectory.
But there was no way such a defense would work against the Twilight Spear. It pierced through the hair, pierced straight through the Fish's body, and whether due to the recoil or the hair tangled around the branch having some strange effect, the Fish's massive body came flying toward Rei.
Rei swung Death Scythe and bisected the Fish's body.
Death Scythe has acquired the skill 'Underground Transfer Slash Lv.1.'
Such an announcement message echoed in Rei's mind.
"Whoa!"
"Gruu!?"
Rei and Set were startled by the sudden development, but Rei was able to understand what had happened.
When he bisected the Fish's body that had charged toward him with Death Scythe, he must have cut through the Magic Stone as well.
This sort of thing had happened before. Since it had occurred a few times previously, while he was slightly startled by the suddenness, he calmed down immediately.
"Phew. ...Well, I'll consider it saving me the trouble of extracting the Magic Stone. Set, keep watch on the surroundings for a bit. I'm going to test this Underground Transfer Slash thing. ...Though I can mostly understand it from the name and the Fish's abilities."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, spoken while storing the Fish into his Misty Ring, Set nodded as if saying Got it! and checked the surroundings.
If this weren't the Forest of Magic, Set wouldn't need to be so vigilant.
It could have lain down, closed its eyes, and checked the surroundings while half-asleep.
But unfortunately, since this was the Forest of Magic, it couldn't do such a thing.
The Forest of Magic's monsters—many of them would attack without hesitation even against a High-Rank Monster like Set.
That was why Rei had Set properly stay on alert... and activated the skill.
"Underground Transfer Slash!"
With those words, he swung Death Scythe in an upward scooping motion.
Normally, the blade of Death Scythe should have cut through the ground, but the moment the blade slipped underground, it reappeared about five meters away.
And when he completed the swing, as if the blade having emerged from underground had been a lie, Death Scythe was intact, properly attached.
"I see, just as I expected."
Muttering that, after testing it in various ways, what he learned was that the blade that leapt from underground had a maximum range of five meters, and within that distance, he could make the blade appear wherever he wanted—an ability perfectly suited for surprise attacks.
【Death Scythe】
Corrosion Lv.6 / Flying Slash Lv.5 / Magic Shield Lv.1 / Power Slash Lv.5 / Wind Hand Lv.4 / Terrain Manipulation Lv.5 / Pain Burst Lv.4 / Penetrate Lv.4 / Multi Slash Lv.4 / Blizzard Slash Lv.3 / Flying Needle Lv.1 / Underground Transfer Slash Lv.1 (new)
Underground Transfer Slash: By touching Death Scythe's blade to the ground, the blade can be teleported to attack the target. At Level 1, the maximum teleportation distance is five meters.