The Chimera's severed head and the remaining front portion of its destroyed snake tail dropped to the ground.
Seeing this, Rei finally let out a breath of relief.
"Phew. We managed somehow."
"Grrrrl."
Set, having dealt with the snake, padded over to Rei's side and purred.
Even Set hadn't expected to be attacked while trying to leave the Forest of Magic.
Given that they were in the Forest of Magic, running into some kind of monster was certainly possible—but it wouldn't have been strange to assume it would be something of a lower rank.
"Alright, time to pack it up."
Rei planted the butt of Death Scythe's handle on the ground and used Terrain Manipulation again to restore the sunken earth to its original state.
The impact toppled the Chimera's body, which had been left standing upright when the ground sank beneath it.
"It was a bit of a shock to run into an A-Rank Monster, but considering the Promotion Exam, I can't complain."
In truth, defeating the Crystal Dragon had already guaranteed him a pass on the Promotion Exam to become an A-Rank Adventurer. Still, the official passing requirement was slaying at least two A-Rank Monsters.
There was no telling whether someone might argue that an S-Rank Monster didn't count.
Of course, he had already slain more than the required two A-Rank Monsters, and their corpses were safely stored in the Misty Ring. Even without this Chimera encounter, passing was a certainty.
Even so, it was undoubtedly better to bring back multiple A-Rank Monster corpses if he could.
(If anyone else were taking a similar exam, what would they do? They'd been told to bring back A-Rank Monster corpses as intact as possible—so would they have to fight for two nights and three days while protecting the bodies?)
Alternatively, a party large enough to qualify for the A-Rank Promotion Exam might be able to split into two groups: one to guard the monster corpses and another to actively hunt.
But in the Forest of Magic, leaving corpses piled up would naturally attract hordes of monsters drawn by the scent of blood.
Depending on the circumstances, the corpses might even rot.
And in the absolute worst case, there was a chance the monster remains could become Undead.
Handling all of that would be far too difficult for a party upgrading from B-Rank Adventurer to A-Rank Adventurer.
Having thought that far, Rei reconsidered. This Forest of Magic assignment was special precisely because it was his exam.
It was only because he had a partner like Set and possessed a Misty Ring that his Promotion Exam had been specially designated as fighting in the Forest of Magic.
"In a way, this place was like a bonus stage for me. But under normal circumstances, I'd definitely be dead."
Encountering multiple A-Rank Monsters alone—and potentially running into an S-Rank Monster like the Crystal Dragon—could hardly be called a Promotion Exam under normal conditions.
If anything, "execution" would have been the more accurate term.
Because of that, looking at how things had turned out, Rei could state with certainty that it was precisely because it was him and Set that they had survived.
...It wasn't that Rei believed himself to be the strongest. There were definitely people in the world stronger than him. In that sense, he didn't think he was truly the only one who could have survived this exam—but still.
"Alright, we can't just sit around here forever. Let's get moving. But first, I need to store the Chimera's corpse."
He stowed the Chimera's torso, the dog head that he and Set had each sent flying, and the severed portion of the snake's body from the midsection onward.
"Okay. ...I definitely don't want to fight anything else after this, so I'll have Set fly up and gather the enemies in the sky above the Forest of Magic, then we'll break out all at once."
"Grrl?"
Right after saying he didn't want to fight anymore, Rei declared they'd escape while leading along the enemies in the sky above the Forest of Magic.
To Set, Rei's words sounded contradictory.
Noticing Set's reaction, Rei spoke while stroking him.
"Here, we had no choice but to fight head-on. But once we're outside the Forest of Magic, we can wipe them out with magic. ...Wait, didn't I tell you this before?"
"Grrl."
Set purred in response, confirming that he had.
But the situation now was entirely different from when he'd heard it before.
At any rate, if this was truly the last time... Set showed a reluctant but accepting attitude toward Rei's words.
With that settled, Rei climbed onto Set's back... and Set, after a few running strides, beat his wings powerfully and launched himself skyward.
Branches of the surrounding trees got in Set's way, but he snapped them aside with his wingbeats as he climbed above the Forest of Magic.
"Huh... looking down at the Forest of Magic like this... it's eerier than I can put into words."
"Grrl."
Set purred in agreement with Rei's observation as they gazed out over the Forest of Magic from above.
There had been times during battle when they'd temporarily flown up above the forest canopy, but they'd never risen this high and been able to properly take in their surroundings.
For Set, agreeing with Rei while surveying the landscape below was only natural.
However... Rei and Set couldn't stay in this carefree situation forever.
The airspace above the nighttime Forest of Magic was teeming with monsters.
The reason there were fewer than Rei had expected was likely due to the lingering effects of the Fog from earlier.
Even so, the flying monsters appeared more numerous than the ground-dwelling ones—probably because many of the latter were hidden among the trees.
Also, unlike monsters restricted to walking, flight granted high mobility, which was likely another major factor.
Naturally, the swarm of monsters immediately spotted Rei and Set.
And what did they do upon finding prey?
Normally, they wouldn't dare attack a gryphon—an A-Rank Monster.
But among the creatures in the Forest of Magic, those that would flee at the sight of Set were actually in the minority.
What's more, the monsters active right now were ones that had been moving either immediately after the unnatural Fog dissipated... or had been active even while the Fog was still present.
Such aggressive enemies would inevitably attack the moment they spotted Rei and Set.
What puzzled Rei as he watched was why they were all zeroing in on Set.
He understood that they'd recognize anything other than themselves or their kin as prey.
But even when other targets were available, most of the flying monsters were still heading straight for Set.
If they collided mid-flight, they'd lash out as if swatting away an annoyance—but once the other party cleared the area, they wouldn't pursue further.
The monsters filling the sky above the Forest of Magic were incredibly diverse.
Among them were pairs with such a wide power gap that a single dismissive blow meant to brush aside a nuisance would outright kill the other party.
(What's going on here? Why are all the monsters targeting Set?)
The question flashed through his mind for a moment, but he quickly refocused.
"Set, we're breaking out of the Forest of Magic! More enemies than expected are coming our way!"
"Grrrrl!"
At Rei's command, Set let out a sharp cry and bolted from the area.
Among their pursuers were monsters one would expect to see in the sky—bird-types and Harpy-types—as well as formless creatures made of smoke, Wyvern-types, insect-types... so many different kinds that counting them would be a chore.
With that many monsters swarming all at once, Set naturally fled at full speed as instructed.
"Set, it goes without saying, but don't completely leave them in the dust. ...That said, just do what you can."
If possible, Rei wanted to round up every last pursuer and wipe them out in one sweep.
But even among flying monsters, their capabilities varied wildly.
Some had flight speeds inferior to Set's but were still fast enough to keep pace. Others simply drifted through the air as they trailed behind.
Rei's goal was to annihilate the pursuing monsters with magic once they were outside the Forest of Magic—but with such a wide speed disparity among the group, it wouldn't be that simple.
In that case, rather than trying to burn every single monster to ashes without letting one escape, it was more practical to assume that taking out a reasonable portion of them would be enough.
"Grrrrl!"
Mid-flight, Set let out a forceful cry of understanding.
Listening to Set's cry, Rei checked the terrain below and confirmed they were rapidly closing in on the Forest of Magic's outer boundary.
(Ah, come to think of it... the Black Snake. I would've liked to say goodbye if I could. Well, nothing to be done about it. I'll definitely be coming back to the Forest of Magic, so I'll greet it then.)
Among Set's skills was one called Optical Camouflage.
It rendered the user invisible, concealing their form from everyone else. But the skill the Black Snake had used didn't just hide its appearance—it completely erased even its presence.
That was why, when the Black Snake released its skill, it truly seemed to appear out of thin air.
Of course, the idea that it was an advanced form of Optical Camouflage was purely Rei's speculation. The possibility that it was actually a teleportation-type skill... couldn't be ruled out either.
At any rate, since the Black Snake was using some kind of concealment skill, even if Rei wanted to meet it, doing so wouldn't be easy.
Given that, his only option had been to hope the Black Snake would come to them—but it had only shown itself on their first day in the Forest of Magic.
In reality, it had continued watching over them from unseen positions after that, but unfortunately, neither Rei nor Set had ever noticed.
"Grrl!"
While Rei was still musing about the Black Snake, Set suddenly purred a warning.
A monster with the appearance of a swallow was bearing down on Set, closing to point-blank range in an instant.
"Way too fast!"
Rei shouted as he channeled mana into the Eye of Nebula on his belt, generating a magical arrowhead.
It was a small, blisteringly fast monster, much like a swallow.
Given the considerable distance between them, he judged the Eye of Nebula would be more effective than Death Scythe's Flying Slash or a throw of the Twilight Spear.
"Pyii!?"
Channeling power into his fingertips, Rei launched the tiny projectile in an attack known as Shidan.
The arrowhead from the Eye of Nebula flew straight toward the swallow—but the creature must have sensed the danger. It twisted desperately to evade... yet couldn't avoid the hit entirely. The magical arrowhead struck home, piercing its body.
However, whether thanks to that last-ditch evasion attempt, the arrowhead only wounded the swallow rather than killing it. Injured, it plummeted toward the ground.
"Ah."
So close, Rei thought.
But with Set fleeing at full speed, he couldn't exactly ask to turn around and finish off the swallow.
"Grrrrl!"
Once Set confirmed they had put enough distance between themselves and the Forest of Magic, he banked to dodge a Wind Blade fired by one of the monsters behind them and purred toward Rei.
Rei nodded at the cue and checked their rear once more.
Roughly thirty monsters were still in pursuit.
Far fewer than the swarm they'd seen above the Forest of Magic—but that was because many had been left behind by the speed differential, while others had refused to leave the forest and broken off the chase partway.
It was a shame, Rei thought, but they had moved far enough from the Forest of Magic. Gripping Death Scythe, he began to chant.
"O flames, become a wall that receives all and burns it to ash. Bestow the baptism of scorching fire upon all who pursue me."
As the incantation poured forth, an intricate fire Magic Circle blazed to life in the sky, centered on Death Scythe.
The circle was enormous—its size dictating the spell's effective range.
"Wall Leading to Scorching Heat."
The moment the spell activated, the Magic Circle unleashed its power... and transformed into a towering wall of blazing, scorching fire.