If her ability to find Smog Panthers had been something more concrete and easy to understand, Nielson might not have had to struggle so much.
But she didn't understand the true nature of that power, which was exactly why she felt she had to bring it forth on her own now.
There was also the fact that she was quietly pleased about being relied on by Rei.
Nielson, who had emerged from the tree, desperately tried to detect where the Smog Panther Commander Individual was.
She believed in the power within herself.
But even so, what had been impossible until now wasn't going to suddenly become easy.
"Tch. Did it decide you were dangerous?"
Rei, standing beside the tree Nielson was in, sliced through a claw made of fog with Death Scythe.
That claw hadn't been aimed at Rei but at the tree Nielson was hiding in.
Whether it had understood from listening to their conversation or had simply judged Nielson to be dangerous from the atmosphere—Rei couldn't tell which. But there was no mistaking that the enemy had targeted her.
Still, that attack was clearly less threatening compared to the beginning.
Partly this was because Rei had learned to sense the enemy's movements from within the fog and could now counter them, but more significantly, the surrounding fog had simply thinned.
The attacks from within the fog had been so vicious earlier purely because the fog had been so dense.
Now, however, with the Smog Panthers that had become fog—or dissolved into it—being slain one after another by Rei and Seto, the enemy's attack power itself had dropped.
To Rei, such attacks were now trivial to handle.
The only frustration was that even when he attacked, he was only killing Normal Individual Smog Panthers. He couldn't take down the Commander Individual.
"Grrrrrrrl!"
Some distance away from Rei, Seto was using Water Ball against the surrounding fog.
Rei wondered whether a water-based attack could have any effect on an opponent made of fog, but to Seto, it was probably just a matter of trying it out first.
It was likely ineffective, but there was a chance it might work, and if it did, that was a bonus.
Against ordinary Smog Panthers, King's Intimidation handled things without any trouble.
Against the Commander Individual, however, there was no particularly effective means of attack.
That was why Rei had decided to rely on Nielson's ability, while Seto—thinking he could support Rei and draw the enemy's attention—was using various skills.
Unfortunately, Rei couldn't tell whether those efforts were actually having any concrete effect.
But considering the situation, Seto must have judged there was nothing to lose.
Drawing the Commander Individual's attention to himself would have been ideal, but even if that didn't work out, it was still a worthwhile choice for confirming which skills could damage the enemy.
"Nielson, how is it? Did you figure it out?"
Rei asked while watching Seto's movements.
Since Seto had started moving more aggressively, the Commander Individual's attacks seemed to be shifting toward him.
Even so, the Commander Individual could still move through the fog while attacking, so it was targeting not just Seto but Rei as well—or more precisely, the tree Nielson was in—and Rei was intercepting those attacks.
"Wait a moment! There's no way I can find it that quickly just because you told me to! Just let me concentrate!"
Nielson wanted to tell Rei he was being unreasonable.
But considering the situation, if she didn't do something, there was a high chance the Commander Individual would escape. To defeat it here, she had to push herself now.
…In truth, Rei had briefly entertained the thought—only barely—that if they let it escape, the Commander Individual might simply produce more Normal Species Smog Panthers or find some other way to bring them here.
That thought was fleeting, though. There was no question that defeating the enemy had to be the top priority.
"Got it. Then… what do you want to do? Should I keep guarding you while you handle it, or should I take down the Commander Individual myself?"
"I'll do it!"
Hearing Rei's words, Nielson answered immediately.
For her, it might have been quicker to leave it to Rei rather than attempt something so uncertain.
But considering the current situation, she felt this was something she had to do herself.
It wasn't that she had any particular basis for saying so.
Then again, the fact that she had been able to find Smog Panthers before hadn't been backed by any clear reasoning either.
If that was the case, she felt she should act on the baseless conviction within her now.
As if sensing Nielson's resolve, Rei intercepted a claw strike aimed at him with the Twilight Spear, dispersing it back into fog, and nodded.
"Got it. Then it's in your hands, Nielson. You finding it is definitely the fastest option."
Hearing Rei say that, Nielson was moved—just slightly, truly only slightly.
Rei had said leaving it to her was fastest, but given that her power was completely unproven, it would obviously make more sense for Rei or Seto to handle it themselves even if it took more effort.
That was exactly why Nielson, filled with a rare level of determination, tried desperately to find the Commander Individual.
Her body was already fully out of the tree. She hovered in the air with her eyes closed.
To find the power that might exist within her, she dove into herself.
At first, she couldn't help being aware of her surroundings.
When she heard a sharp sound cutting through the air, she would wonder whether it was Rei swinging his weapon or a Smog Panther launching an attack.
But after a few minutes of diving within herself and concentrating, there was no room left in Nielson's mind to worry about anything around her.
She was completely focused on searching inside herself.
If someone who knew Nielson's usual self saw her now… or even someone who simply knew fairies as a species saw her, they would find the sight hard to believe.
If you only looked at her like this, it would make sense why the Chief would consider Nielson as her successor.
The current Nielson—eyes closed, expression serious—had none of her usual playful demeanor.
If someone said the Chief was raising her as a successor, it would be entirely believable.
Wait. Believable? Could the reason the Chief assigned Nielson as guide for this mission have been exactly that?
Rei had expected that the Chief wanted to foster Nielson's growth.
But he had assumed that meant mental growth, or perhaps correcting her personality flaws… not developing her abilities as a fairy. What if the Chief had sent her along with Rei specifically to cultivate her power as a fairy?
Obtaining Smog Panther magic stones was necessary, but maybe Nielson's growth had been the greater priority.
The stones were undeniably needed, but perhaps the Chief had placed equal weight on Nielson's development.
That said, understanding this didn't change anything for Rei.
Nielson coming along hadn't caused any real disadvantage. Hiding her existence had been a hassle, sure.
But thanks to her, they had found a considerable number of Smog Panthers when they first entered the forest. The positives of having Nielson along far outweighed the negatives.
"Tch. No time to get lost in thought!"
He swept Death Scythe through a mouth formed of fog, scattering it back into mist.
Rei continued protecting Nielson, blasting away each fog attack as it came.
For him, this was effortless.
He could sense when the fog materialized and struck—albeit through a vague, instinctive feeling. That sense was now fully his own, and unlike Nielson's power, it wouldn't suddenly stop working.
That was why he was confident he could hold things together until Nielson grasped something within herself, but…
But if we don't hurry, Seto might finish everything off on his own.
Seto was unleashing various wide-area skills, killing Smog Panthers hidden in the fog one after another.
More precisely, he was damaging the fog itself, forcing the Smog Panthers out of their fog state and into material form, then cutting them down. A large number had already been slain.
Naturally, when a Smog Panther was in fog form, its magic stone was fog as well, so forcing materialization meant the stones also took some damage. Seto didn't seem particularly concerned about that.
Neither did Rei.
He had already secured the magic stones he needed for Beast Magic and had used them.
Besides, King's Intimidation had yielded a considerable number of clean magic stones, so for those, quantity was all that mattered.
If the Chief said the scratched stones couldn't be used for crafting Magic Items, he could simply sell them to the Guild.
The price would be lower than for pristine ones, but Rei wasn't hurting for money to begin with.
And if even that price seemed too low, he could always stash them in the Misty Ring and let them sit.
The Misty Ring could hold as much as he wanted.
Keeping them around meant they might prove useful for something later.
While he was thinking along these lines…
"I found it!"
Nielson suddenly shouted.
Rei snapped his gaze toward her.
Nielson was faintly glowing, her body radiating light. She pointed in a certain direction, and a beam of light shot forth from her—striking the fog. A Smog Panther roughly twice the size of a normal one was forced out of the fog and collapsed onto the ground.
That was the Commander Individual.
Rei judged instantly and closed the distance to the enemy in a flash.
Perhaps because the Commander Individual had lost its fog form, several Smog Panthers in the vicinity materialized as well.
Normal Smog Panthers—why? No, wait. They were fog because of the Commander Individual's power. So when it lost the ability to maintain that, they materialized too?
Even as that thought crossed his mind in the instant it took to close the gap, Rei raised Death Scythe and swung.
"Hah!"
With a sharp exhale, the blade descended. The Commander Individual tried to evade, but its movements were sluggish.
It was still clearly faster than a normal Smog Panther, but since Rei had pegged it as a High-ranking Species or Rare Species, the slow reaction caught him completely off guard.
Death Scythe's blade sheared through the front leg the Commander Individual thrust out to block, and without losing any momentum, continued on to sever its neck.
"Eh?"
The voice slipped from Rei's own mouth.
Naturally, he had swung with full intent to kill.
But he hadn't actually expected that single strike to finish it.
He had assumed it would dodge or block the attack somehow.
That was why he had readied a follow-up with the Twilight Spear in case Death Scythe's strike failed—a precaution that had now become completely unnecessary.
The one stroke of luck was that since the Twilight Spear's follow-up was never needed, he hadn't inflicted any extra wounds on the corpse.
But why? It was definitely a High-ranking Species or Rare Species. There's no question about that. So why was it this weak? Was it originally specialized in commanding other Smog Panthers, or was Nielson's light the cause?
He couldn't determine the reason. But one thing was certain—he had won. Rei let out a breath of relief.