"Don't be fooled! We're only hired by the Dolan Workshop—we won't become bounty heads!"
The man leading the Dolan Workshop's adventurers shouted desperately, trying to rally their faltering morale.
But shouting in such a panicked state only made those watching wonder whether his words could truly be believed.
The man himself must have realized his blunder. Judging that things would only get worse at this rate, he shouted anew.
"Listen up! If we win here, the Dolan Workshop will pay out a special reward! A substantial amount! Is there anyone here who doesn't want that?!"
Those words recovered the listening adventurers' motivation, at least somewhat. They understood from past experience that the Dolan Workshop paid generously. Hearing such a promise here, they had no doubt they would indeed receive a special reward.
Normally, if someone made such a claim in this situation, it wouldn't be strange to question its truth. But the man leading the Dolan Workshop's adventurers was a reasonably famous figure, and that lent his words credibility. Not everyone believed him completely—some still found it suspicious—but the people around them had bought into the promise of a special reward. If anyone alone declared they didn't believe it, they risked being killed as a traitor.
With that in mind, no one could possibly voice their disbelief.
Some had already calculated that if fighting broke out, they could slip away in the chaos.
Regardless, judging that money had lifted the adventurers' spirits, the man pressed his advantage.
"Besides, the Dolan Workshop promised to dispatch golems as reinforcements if it comes down to it! Anyone here knows how strong the Dolan Workshop's golems are! If so, there's no reason for us to cower!"
Those words boosted the listening adventurers' morale further. The Dolan Workshop's golems were highly regarded—anyone living in Egginis, or even those who didn't but knew the slightest thing about the city's golem industry, would know that.
Rei listened and considered mentioning that the Dolan Workshop's golems used cores made from human souls through necromancy, but ultimately kept his mouth shut. Even if he said it here, he couldn't expect the adventurers hired by the Dolan Workshop to take it at face value. And if they did believe it, the people Mirusu had persuaded to come might lose their nerve at the prospect of facing such abominations.
Besides, if golems show up, Seto and I can handle them. While we're occupied with that, our side should be able to hold their own against the rest... right?
Those gathered here were adventurers hired by the three houses participating in the Holy Four Assembly besides Robel, along with their serving soldiers and guards. Given that, they wouldn't go down easily even against fellow adventurers.
"They're tyrants using their superiors' authority as a shield to force through unreasonable demands! We absolutely cannot retreat here! If we lose, it's all over! Got it? Let's go! We'll crush those bastards all at once... and we'll be the ones left standing in Egginis!"
'Uooooooooooooh!'
Whether those words struck a chord or not, the adventurers raised a battle cry in unison.
"All right, charge!"
The man shouted, and as if on cue, the adventurers surged straight toward Rei's group—half... no, entirely swept up in the momentum.
Even so, that suited Rei's group just fine. The enemy attacking first meant self-defense was fully justified.
"We're still in the middle of negotiations—what's the meaning of this sudden attack?! If that's the attitude you're taking, we'll respond accordingly!" Mirusu shouted, though this turn of events was far from unwelcome to him. True to form, despite his words, he wore a grin brimming with fighting spirit.
"Let's go! To drain every last drop of corruption from Egginis! We cannot afford to lose here and now!"
'Uoooooooh!'
The adventurers roared in response to Mirusu's cry. At the forefront of the group, Mirusu himself charged forward.
In a skirmish of this scale, the commander needed to stand at the front and fight. In a larger battle, many would issue orders from behind, recognizing the critical importance of command. But with a small force like this, the commander leading the charge was far more effective at rallying allies.
He must be fairly used to this sort of thing.
Rei took Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear in hand and advanced toward the enemy alongside Seto.
Yet among the adventurers hired by the Dolan Workshop, not one charged at Rei or Seto. They wanted to fell as many enemies as possible to earn the highest reward—and those who knew Rei had no desire whatsoever to cross blades with him or his gryphon. Those who didn't know him still had no interest in attacking a man flanked by a gryphon, wielding the fearsome Death Scythe in one hand and the Twilight Spear in the other.
As a result, while the two groups clashed head-on, an empty pocket of space formed around Rei and Seto alone.
"Gururu?"
Seto purred at Rei, as if asking what they should do. Like Rei, he clearly found this situation unexpected.
"Right. In that case... I feel bad for the ones already fighting, but let's leave the small fry to them. We'll take out the man leading the enemy."
"Guru!"
Seto purred in understanding.
Still, with so many people locked in a tangled melee, pinpointing the enemy leader's location was tricky. Rei and Seto pushed their way through the chaos.
Some Dolan Workshop adventurers, seeing them as a hindrance, swung their weapons without properly checking their targets. But those strikes were effortlessly deflected by Rei's Death Scythe or Twilight Spear, followed by a single blow to the body that snuffed out their consciousness.
The reason Rei refrained from killing was his judgment that Egginis would need many adventurers in the days to come. Following Rei's lead, Seto did the same, limiting himself to knocking opponents out with foreleg strikes.
Not that the ones on the receiving end escaped unscathed—those struck by Rei or Seto survived, but invariably left with a bone or two broken. Neither of them was trying to kill, but they weren't trying to avoid every injury either. As long as the opponents didn't die, that was good enough.
Still, finding the enemy leader in this mess is going to be tough.
Battles raged in every direction. Spotting one man amid such chaos was no simple task. Should he ride Seto and search from the sky?
"Gururu!"
Right on cue, Seto purred, alerting Rei that he'd spotted the enemy. Following Seto's gaze, Rei found the enemy leader—the same man who had exchanged words with Mirusu earlier—wielding his longsword and effortlessly cutting down opponents.
Huh. He's got the skill to back up his talk. Among the people here, he's one of the better fighters.
Excluding himself and Seto, of course.
Regardless, the target was found. The fastest course of action was to take him down immediately.
"Let's go, Seto."
"Guru."
Rei and Seto advanced on the enemy leader together. Without any prior coordination, they split in two and moved to flank him from opposite sides. If the target spotted one of them and fled, the other would cut off his escape. If he failed to notice them approaching, they'd catch him in a pincer.
Granted, being only one person and one gryphon, they couldn't completely seal off every avenue of retreat. But given Rei and Seto's speed, running was hardly a viable option for the target either.
Now it's just a matter of when he notices me... we'll see.
Rei moved through the battle, concealing his presence as much as possible. Naturally, no one detected him. His presence-concealment technique was fairly advanced, if not perfect—but the reason no one noticed was simply that they were all absorbed in their own fights. Caught in a kind of battle-fueled frenzy, they had no attention to spare for him.
Of course, going unnoticed meant Rei risked getting caught in the crossfire of nearby clashes. Yet he passed through unscathed, closing in until he stood right beside the enemy leader.
Seto, slightly slower, was also closing in—and naturally, being far more conspicuous, it was Seto whom the leader spotted first.
Recognizing that the gryphon was bearing down on him, the leader immediately bolted. However confident he was in his skills as an adventurer, he wasn't so arrogant as to think he could take down a gryphon.
But in his haste to escape Seto, he fled in the opposite direction—straight into Rei, who had erased his presence.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"!?"
Rei dropped his concealment, and to the leader, it was as if he had materialized out of thin air. The man froze, dumbfounded.
This battle held tremendous significance for him. He should have been constantly checking his surroundings. Yet Rei had closed the distance without giving the slightest hint of his approach. And the fact that Rei was waiting exactly where the leader fled from Seto meant his every move had been completely predicted.
"Tch!"
Even so, the fact that he attacked immediately rather than cowering proved he deserved to be called a leader. Though his strike wasn't intended to kill—it was a feint, meant to hold Rei at bay just long enough to create an opening for escape.
The leader knew full well he couldn't beat Rei. Targeted by someone like that, his only option was to get out of there as fast as possible. With Seto closing in from behind, he needed to hurry all the more.
He could only conclude the situation was already hopeless. In truth, he had expected as much before the battle even began.
"Too slow."
A half-hearted feint against an opponent with an overwhelming skill gap was never going to work. The leader's longsword was effortlessly deflected by Rei's Death Scythe. In the next instant, a horizontal sweep of the Twilight Spear caught the leader square in the torso, shattering several ribs through his leather armor and sending him hurtling backward.
"Guhh..."
A horizontal sweep should have been visible. While a master's spear thrust could be too fast for the eye to follow, the trajectory of a thrust and a horizontal slash were fundamentally different. Yet the leader never saw Rei's swing at all—only felt a thunderous impact before his consciousness went dark.
He had no idea what had hit him. If there was any mercy in it, losing consciousness meant he'd be spared the pain of his broken ribs.
And with their leader down, most of the adventurers hired by the Dolan Workshop chose to flee or surrender.