The adventurer who had gone outside returned to the building carrying nearly thirty iron rods.
The rods were of considerable length, so even a single one was quite heavy.
It seemed carrying them all alone was impossible—he had asked an acquaintance outside to help bring them in, but...
"What the hell is this..."
The man who knew nothing of the situation raised his voice in surprise at the scene before him.
It was only natural. Even though they had been gathered out of the way, a fair number of corpses lay in the corner of the floor.
And further inside, the adventurers were clustered together.
Seeing that, it would have been stranger not to be surprised.
"Don't worry about it. More importantly, hand over the iron rods."
At Rei's words, the man who had been ordered by Dwanda to buy iron rods from the blacksmith immediately handed them over.
Seeing this, the man who had come along as a porter also gave his rods to Rei.
Rei stowed all of them in his Misty Ring at once, then approached Dailas, who was being pinned down by the adventurers.
"Guh... let go! Do you understand what will happen to Egginis if things continue like this? Egginis, which prospered through the golem industry, will fall into decline before long!"
Dailas, pinned to the floor, shouted as if deciding the situation was untenable, but no one was about to listen.
They had seen with their own eyes how many people Dailas had killed.
Given that, no matter what he shouted, there was no way they could believe him.
"Ah, right. It's a bit late to ask, but... I'm going to be putting holes in the floor of this building. That's not a problem, is it?"
Rei, holding one of the iron rods he had taken from his Misty Ring, asked Robel and Dwanda.
To Rei, this place was nothing more than a building.
But considering that the Holy Four Assembly had been held here, he wondered if perhaps it held some special significance—which was why he asked.
"I don't mind. There's no doubt this building is important, but leaving Dailas as he is would be far more dangerous. Besides... given what has happened here, we can't deny the possibility that this building may ultimately have to be destroyed."
Dwanda's words were acceptable to Rei as well.
Just today, how many people had died in this building?
Unfortunately, Rei didn't know the exact number.
Even so, it was clearly not a matter of ten or twenty. Considering that, the possibility that this building would eventually be destroyed as an eerie, cursed place could not be denied either.
The large hole Dailas had opened in the second floor was also a significant factor.
"I see. Then I won't hold back. Those of you holding Dailas's left leg—step away, except for the one at the ankle."
Following Rei's instructions, those holding Dailas's left leg released their grip, all except the one at the ankle...
"You think I'd let you!?"
Judging that his left leg had been freed, Dailas tried to blow away the person holding his ankle, but Rei stomped down on Dailas's left calf, forcibly stopping the movement.
"Guh..."
Dailas let out a frustrated sound at having missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but Rei paid it no mind. He bent an iron rod into a U-shape and drove it into the floor to immobilize the back of Dailas's knee.
"Guwah!"
The iron rod, driven into the floor while firmly securing the back of the knee, embedded itself about halfway into Dailas's flesh.
Dailas cried out in pain.
He hadn't died even when attacked with the Death Scythe or the Twilight Spear, yet now that his leg was secured with iron rods, he screamed in agony.
Honestly, Rei didn't understand that part either, but no matter how much Dailas groaned in pain, he had no intention of stopping halfway.
"Next, the ankle. Step away."
"Y-yeah."
Perhaps they felt surprise—or fear—at the sight of Rei pinning the back of a knee with an iron rod.
The moment the person at the ankle stepped away, Dailas tried to attack using only his freely movable foot, but since someone had already had their flesh gouged just from being touched by his toes, no one was within range.
Moreover, with Rei stepping on his calf and pinning it in place, there wasn't much room for the ankle to move.
Rei pinned that ankle just as he had the back of the knee, then did the same for the calf, thigh, and right leg. He continued one after another—wrists, elbows, shoulders, torso, neck—nailing each to the floor.
As a result, in less than ten minutes, Dailas was completely pinned and unable to move from the spot.
"Alright, capturing Dailas alive shouldn't be a problem now. But since we don't know how long we can keep him restrained in this state, I think we should decide what to do with him as quickly as possible. Even if we keep him alive, with just these iron rods, he'll likely find a way to escape eventually."
"I know. We'll think of something later. But it makes me wonder all over again—what exactly did Dailas do? What could he have done to achieve something like this?"
Dwanda looked at Dailas, who was perfectly pinned to the floor, with an expression of incomprehension.
Even with Dwanda's gaze on him, Dailas showed no sign of opening his mouth.
Until just moments ago, he had been screaming in pain, and even setting that aside, he had been insisting his actions were all for the development of Egginis.
And yet now, he had gone completely silent.
(If it's the effect of a Magic Item, maybe it wore off and he can't speak anymore? ...But is there really a Magic Item that transforms the body like this?)
Logically speaking, there shouldn't be, but the frightening thing about Magic Items was that one could never completely rule out the possibility.
It wasn't technically a Magic Item, but Rei's own body had been created using the Zephyle Clan's technology.
In that sense, it wouldn't be strange for a Magic Item to exist that could put Dailas's body into its current state.
Or perhaps it was an OOPArt—a relic of the Ancient Magic civilization obtained from a dungeon.
Rei couldn't tell whether it was an OOPArt or not, and there was also the possibility that it wasn't a Magic Item at all but rather someone who possessed a Skill with such an effect.
In the end, Rei couldn't work out those details, but at the very least, he understood that Dailas was a troublesome existence.
...Even that troublesome existence couldn't do anything once he was pinned like this, though.
"A Magic Item, a Skill, or perhaps something we don't know about. If it's something we don't know about, maybe necromancy technology is involved... Seems I hit the mark."
Rei said "necromancy" aloud to Dwanda.
The moment he heard it, Dailas showed a very slight but unmistakable sign of tension.
Normally, Dailas wouldn't have done something so obvious.
However, being in his current predicament and growing anxious was one factor, and above all, his body was in a state unlike normal—he couldn't possibly react as he usually would.
"A hit?"
"Yeah. When I said 'necromancy,' he reacted slightly. Unless he deliberately showed that reaction to confuse us, it's safe to say it's necromancy."
"But... isn't there too big a gap between necromancy and Dailas's current state?"
Orban interjected into Rei and Dwanda's conversation.
Robel and the others who had been listening nodded in agreement with Orban's words.
Necromancy was magic that utilized the dead, spirits, or corpses themselves.
Creating Zombies or Skeletons would be the most straightforward example.
How exactly could one use necromancy to bring about a situation like Dailas's?
It was only natural for those who had heard Rei's words to have such doubts.
In fact, Rei himself had only suspected necromancy because Dailas reacted to the word; he didn't actually know how one could use it to achieve what Dailas had done.
(But I can accept it as necromancy, at least.)
Looking at the motionless Dailas, Rei came to that understanding.
Dailas had been connected to the Dolan Workshop... more precisely, he was the figure behind it.
If so, it wouldn't be strange for him to have exploited the technique of creating golem cores using necromancy to enhance himself.
"I don't know specifically how he used necromancy, but... what should we do? If he's using necromancy, should we try Purification magic or something?"
"Unfortunately, none of my subordinates can use Purification. Robel, what about you?"
"N-no, I don't have any either."
Robel shook his head at Dwanda's words, and then the gaze shifted to Orban.
Orban also shook his head... and finally, Dwanda's eyes turned to Rei.
"I can use magic in the sense of burning corpses, but when it comes to Zombies, Skeletons, or anything that's been modified through necromancy, I can't do anything either."
Rei could use a spell called "Flames of Mourning," but it was only a spell that burned corpses to prevent them from becoming Undead—it had no effect on existing Undead types such as Zombies or Skeletons.
It was a half-measure of a spell, but because it incorporated elements of Holy Attribute in addition to Rei's Flame Attribute, it consumed so much mana that even Rei, with his enormous reserves, would feel fatigued.
That the cost was enormous was only natural, since Rei, who could normally only use Flame Magic, was trespassing into the domain of Holy Attribute, even if it was related to the Flame Attribute.
"I see. I thought you might be able to do something about that, Rei. But then, what to do with Dailas is truly a problem."
Dwanda muttered as he looked at Dailas, who could now barely move at all.
For the time being, Dailas showed no sign of trying to force himself to move.
However, Dwanda understood that this was because Rei was here.
Dailas had gained overwhelming physical abilities through the power of necromancy.
But even such a Dailas couldn't inflict any real injuries on Rei and was captured with ease. ...In reality, it was the adventurers and soldiers who had physically pinned Dailas down.
That was only possible because Rei had been there.
Normally, Dailas's high physical abilities... and the chaos caused by people being killed one after another would have made calm judgment impossible, without a doubt.
However, to the troubled-looking Dwanda, Rei spoke without hesitation.
"Then I think it'd be best to just kill him quickly after all."
"I told you that's difficult. If Dailas were known as a villain, we could have taken such an approach. But publicly, he's famous as a good person."
Orban and Robel also agreed with those words.
No matter what they did, Dailas's public facade was apparently a hindrance.
"I... don't particularly consider that to be just a public face. Everything I have done was for the benefit of the city of Egginis."
Dailas opened his mouth for the first time in a while, but his words were enough to stir dissatisfaction in those listening.
(There's no one who would sympathize with Dailas after hearing him talk... right?)
His actions were solely for the benefit of Egginis—or so Dailas claimed.
Such actions were by no means acceptable to Rei.
But that was strictly from Rei's perspective.
It was impossible to think that among everyone else, there was no one who took interest in Dailas's words.
It wouldn't be strange if there were some who found his words compelling, who thought that if it would benefit the Egginis they lived in, then so be it.
Of course, even if there were those who thought that way, they would surely be only a small handful.
The majority wouldn't be able to believe Dailas even after hearing his words.
It was only natural that they would think, "What the hell is this guy talking about?"
"Decide what to do with Dailas quickly. And I'd appreciate it if you'd bring this pointless disturbance to a close as soon as possible."
At Rei's words, the others who had been listening nodded in agreement.