"Tch, I thought Death Scythe charged with magic power might work."
Wielding Death Scythe in the white fog, Rei voiced his frustration at the outcome not matching his expectations.
Since the enemy was a High-ranking or Rare Species of Smog Panther, he understood it wouldn't go down easily.
Even so, he had expected to at least deal some damage—but that expectation had been completely shattered.
"Grrrrr!"
Seto's cry rang out, and the sound of something piercing ground and trees reached Rei's ears.
There was no doubt Seto had used some kind of Skill, but unfortunately Rei had no idea which one.
Still, given the situation, he understood that Seto's Skill posed a real danger.
If it were Rei, he could react and dodge no matter what Skill Seto unleashed.
But what if Seto's Skill struck the tree where Nielson was hiding?
For that matter, what if Nielson came out of the tree?
Rei had told Nielson to stay inside the tree, and she had agreed.
However, knowing her personality, it wouldn't be surprising if she slipped out out of curiosity. ...In fact, Rei could entirely understand such behavior from her.
But if she did emerge and fly around, and Seto fired a Skill through the fog that streaked toward her—what then?
Rei couldn't imagine Nielson dodging one of Seto's Skills.
...There was a chance she could manage with a Fairy Circle teleportation, but whether she could instantly dodge ice, Water Balls, wind, and countless other attacks materializing from the fog using that method was questionable at best.
That was precisely why long-range Skills were so difficult to use here.
Though the same restriction applied to Rei as well as Seto.
"Seto, avoid using long-range Skills as much as possible. Too high a chance of friendly fire!"
Rei called out to Seto in the white fog—and as if in response, the mist once again formed a giant mouth, large enough to swallow Rei in a single bite, and lunged at him.
"Haa!"
Naturally, Rei had no intention of letting the enemy do as it pleased. He struck at the fog's mouth with Death Scythe—and the maw scattered effortlessly from the blow.
"Huh?"
This was the same opponent that had just delivered a bite powerful enough to crush a giant boulder.
Given that, Rei had assumed his own attack would meet commensurate resistance.
Yet the fog's mouth dispersed with absolutely no impact, and a sound of sheer bewilderment slipped from his lips.
(Why no recoil on my end? Or maybe there was no impact because of Death Scythe's weight?)
Rei wielded Death Scythe effortlessly, but in reality it weighed roughly a hundred kilograms.
If an ordinary person tried to hold it, they wouldn't just fail to lift it—they'd more than likely drop it and break a bone or two in the process.
The reason Rei could handle it so easily wasn't the physical ability of his body, created by the Zephyle Clan, but the fact that Death Scythe itself was born of Beast Magic.
That was why no one but Rei—and Seto, likewise created through Beast Magic—could wield Death Scythe freely.
(But it's hard to believe it has no weight. If that were the case, it shouldn't have been able to crush a boulder.)
Even while harboring such doubts, Rei stayed alert to his surroundings—and the instant he sensed the fog shifting again, he swung Death Scythe.
He slashed through what appeared to be a foreleg materializing from the mist, its claws long enough to tear a person apart with ease. But at the same moment, he sensed movement behind him. Instead of Death Scythe, he thrust with the Twilight Spear in his other hand.
The attacker trying to exploit his opening was likewise pierced by the Twilight Spear and dispersed.
(So the Twilight Spear works the same way. And... I'm starting to get a feel for this.)
Rei understood that he was inside the white fog itself—inside the very body of what was either a High-ranking or Rare Species of Smog Panther, he couldn't tell which.
At the same time, he was beginning to intuit the patterns in how the fog moved when it materialized.
This wasn't so much a matter of physical ability as it was something he could only call combat instinct.
Since arriving in this world, Rei had fought countless enemies.
Loved by the Goddess of Trouble, as it seemed, he had experienced more battles in his few years here—fights that an ordinary adventurer might see once in a lifetime, if at all—than he could count.
Given that, it wasn't unreasonable that he could at least sense the omens of an opponent's actions during a battle in fog like this.
(That said, even if I sense the omens, intercepting them is all I can do. The enemy hasn't materialized, so attacking doesn't deal damage—it just scatters the fog.)
Searching for a way to break the stalemate, Rei suddenly realized he had drifted to the side of the tree where Nielson was hiding. With his back to it, he called out to Seto.
"Seto! Come over to me!"
Normally, shouting in fog so thick he couldn't see even a few meters ahead wouldn't let Seto follow instructions so easily.
But this was Seto.
Thanks to his high capabilities as a Gryphon and his magical bond with Rei, he quickly made his way to Rei's side.
"Grrr?"
What's wrong? Seto rumbled.
Even though he was right beside him, the fog prevented Rei from seeing Seto clearly—but as long as he knew his partner was there, the rest was manageable.
"I'm going to use Multi Slash."
Seto seemed to understand.
...Meanwhile, Nielson, listening from inside the tree, had overheard as well.
"Hey, are you sure? That's the one that turned that Goblin pack into meat scraps, right?"
Nielson peeked just her face out from behind Rei and said—
"Grrr!"
As if objecting, Seto let out a sharp cry.
In truth, though, Seto hadn't acted out of displeasure at her words. He had sensed the fog nearby forming a mouth to attack him and struck preemptively.
A sweep of his foreleg scattered the fog's maw effortlessly.
"Kyaa!"
Nielson shrieked at Seto's cry and pulled her face back into the tree.
Normally, Seto's bark wouldn't alarm her this much—but the situation was different now.
They were swallowed by white fog, unable to see their surroundings.
Hearing Seto's roar erupt from nowhere under those conditions, being afraid was only natural.
"Nielson, stay inside the tree. Show your face carelessly and you'll get caught in the crossfire."
"Grrr."
Taking in Rei and Seto's demeanor, Nielson obediently withdrew.
Rei confirmed that, then confirmed Seto was beside him, and swung Death Scythe with everything he had.
"Multi Slash!"
The first strike cleaved the white fog itself, clearing his vision.
Simultaneously, the Skill activated—over twenty slashes, each equal in power to the one he had just unleashed, tore through the area in succession.
A single strike had already carved through a vast swathe of fog. Now twenty more of the same caliber followed.
"Gyan!"
The barrage forced several Smog Panthers out of the fog, fully exposed.
Rei was briefly surprised to see them emerge from out of nowhere—but he recovered instantly, hurling the Twilight Spear while closing the distance and swinging Death Scythe.
Seto followed suit, cutting down the Smog Panthers that had been revealed one after another.
(Why?)
Even as he killed them, the question gnawed at him.
What had appeared were ordinary Smog Panthers. He had expected a High-ranking or Rare Species to show itself—not Normal Species.
For that matter, weren't Smog Panthers solitary creatures?
Doubts swirled, but Rei knew that right now, action took priority over thought.
Every Smog Panther exposed by Multi Slash bore wounds across its entire body. Some were already dead. Rei methodically finished off the ones still breathing—and then—
"Again!"
He had killed three Smog Panthers and was bringing down Death Scythe on a fourth when the fog beside him once more formed a fanged maw, lunging to sink its fangs into him.
Having developed a rough sense for these attacks, Rei sidestepped the strike, using the momentum to swing Death Scythe and shatter the mouth.
"Hm?"
A sound slipped from his lips. The fog around them had noticeably thinned.
Moments ago, it had been so dense he couldn't see a few meters ahead. Now, it had weakened enough that he could barely make out shapes at that distance.
It was still thick enough to be called dense fog, of course.
But the moment he could focus on the surrounding mist lasted less than a second.
He immediately turned on the surviving Smog Panthers and finished them off. Every one that Multi Slash had dragged from the fog now lay dead.
"Seto, head to Nielson's tree—"
He was about to say let's go back, but then he remembered the fog's mouth crushing the three-meter boulder.
If Nielson's tree was destroyed the same way, he couldn't predict what would happen to her.
Given that, he judged it wiser to move elsewhere.
"No, correction. Stay close to me. We'll hold our ground here!"
"Grrr!"
Seto rumbled in response and immediately appeared at his side.
Just as the two of them assembled—
"Hey! Are you abandoning me!?"
Nielson's voice echoed from the direction of the tree.
He'd had no intention of abandoning her whatsoever, but apparently having Rei and Seto positioned away from her didn't sit well with Nielson.
"If you're near me, you might get caught in the enemy's attacks! Stay put right there!"
After shouting that, Rei stood back-to-back with Seto in the white fog—or rather, since it was Rei and Seto, it wasn't exactly back-to-back, but they positioned themselves together.
Yet... despite having attacked frequently until now, this time it held back.
He couldn't see through the fog, but he could sense something watching them.
Which meant they were still being targeted.
(But... why stop attacking now? Is it because of how many Smog Panthers died from that last Multi Slash? And in the first place, Smog Panthers act alone—so why are there so many here? Is a High-ranking or Rare Species gathering and commanding the others?)
An ordinary Smog Panther wouldn't gather others in a situation like this.
But a High-ranking or Rare Species? That was a different matter.
It wouldn't be strange at all for one of them to do exactly that.
And the more he thought about it, the more the idea rang true.
(Besides, when I killed those Smog Panthers with Multi Slash, the fog thinned. Doesn't that mean its density is tied to the number of Smog Panthers being commanded?)
It wasn't a certainty—just a conjecture, one assumption stacked upon another.
But judging by the situation, it didn't seem far off the mark.
If so, every Smog Panther he killed inside this fog would tip the scales further in his favor.
"Seto, use a big Skill to blast the Smog Panthers—the Normal Species—out of the fog and cut down their numbers! If we do that, the fog should thin!"
At Rei's words, Seto rumbled in acknowledgment.