Rei split up with Ara and was running in the direction she had indicated.

Regardless that he didn’t feel its weight, Rei stored the Death Scythe away into the Misty Ring as it was getting in the way of his movments as he ran through the grassland.

He was looking for the place where Ara had said she had seen a sword whip being used, but with the situation where Ara had been fighting Demon Soldiers, she had been unable to give a more detailed description of the direction.

In the midst of all this, as Rei was looking for Elena, he saw a familiar figure appear in his vision.

It looked like the figure had found Rei as well. It dived straight to Rei and jumped into his chest.

「Kyu, kyukyu-!」

Yellow gave several cries as if trying to tell him something.

However, whether it was Rei or Set, they couldn’t directly communicate with Yellow, who was created with Dragon Language magic.

Still, seeing Yellow crying out so desperately, it was clear that something was wrong as Rei called out to Yellow.

「It is Elena?」

「Kyu!」

Yellow nodded without hesitation at Rei’s question and faced the direction he had flown in from.

「I see, is Elena over there? I’ll let you lead the way.」

Muttering to himself, Rei took the Death Scythe out of the Misty Ring.

As there was a fight awaiting him ahead, he would definitely need a weapon, even if it got in the way of his running.

(Even more so since she’s dealing with someone who has a title like herself.)

He spun the Death Scythe’s shaft in his hand as he release Yellow into the sky.

「Yellow, if you’re moving with me, you might suddenly get dragged into battle, so fly to lead the way.」

「Kyu!」

Giving a brief cry in response to Rei, Yellow flapped his short wings and flew into the sky.

Seeing that, Rei followed after Yellow.

(Title or not, I don’t know how strong he is, but Elena will never lose to him.)

Thinking to himself, Rei dashed forward.

As this point, Rei had no idea that he had already earned the title of Crimson because of the fire whirl he had created and his subsequent rampage in the Bestir Empire’s vanguard with the Death Scythe.

 

 

「Over there!」

Following Yellow for about 5 minutes, Rei started to hear the sounds of metal clashing against each other from what seemed to be a naturally formed arena.

Between the gaps in the trees, Rei could see a sword stretching out like a whip. It was Elena’s sword whip without a doubt.

Slipping in between the gaps of the trees, Rei saw Elena facing off against a man on top a warhorse.

(So that man is the Flash……)

They must have noticed Rei entering their fight. The two of them, who had been facing off against each other, turned to look at Rei.

「Rei!?」

「……Well, this is unexpected.」

The two of them had surprised expressions. However, Elena’s face held joyful surprise while Theorem’s surprise quickly turned into an expression as he had just bitten into a worm.

As he looked at their two contrasting expressions, Rei moved forward step by step as he held the Death Scythe.

「……Did I keep you waiting?」

「Then, did you only just arrive?」

Confirming that the other was not injured, they exchanged words in light tones.

However, as they conversed, neither of them took their eyes off of Theorem.

Whether it was Elena, who had been fighting Theorem up until now, or Rei, who was seeing him for the first time, both were wary of Theorem doing something if they took their eyes off him.

That said, Elena understood that their side now held the advantage as she poured magic power into her sword whip and called out to Theorem.

「You were already struggling against just myself. If Rei joins me, you know you stand no chance of winning right? How about you surrender? If you do that, I will guarantee your life.」

Theorem silently shook his head at Elena’s words.

「Certainly, I wouldn’t be able to defeat the two of you together. However, you seem to have forgotten that my lieutenant is still leading the Demon Soldiers……wait.」

As Theorem was speaking, he suddenly turned to look at Rei.

「Rei, was it? I was sure you had a Griffon that followed you around. Could I ask……where it is?」

「From the way you’re asking, you probably already know. He’s defending the chief commander.」

Elena gave a sigh of relief when she heard Rei’s words.

She understood that the Demon Soldiers were superior in terms of strength on the battlefield. However, if a Griffon like Set was in the fight, she had no fear that their chief commander would be defeated first.

Contrary to Elena, Theorem had a slight frown. It was the only change in his expression that indicated any of his agitation.

「……I see. Then I can understand your confidence. As expected, with a monster like a Griffon, you’ll definitely be able to protect against Cyanus and the Demon Soldiers. ……Well then, why don’t we make a deal?」

「A deal?」

Rei unintentionally responded at those surprising words.

Theorem nodded with a faint smile at Rei’s question.

「That is correct. Fighting any further here will only result in needless casualties. If you weren’t here then we wouldn’t leave, but unfortunately, you’re here. And you have a Griffon. Don’t you think it would be foolish to waste our time here and exhaust our strength?」

Theorem said that lightly. The ambush had been carried out using a large number of extremely expensive transition stones as well as Demon Soldiers, the Bestir Empire’s secret weapon. It was an agonising choice to make, even for Theorem, to withdraw after having prepared so much strength to decide the fate of this war. However, if they spent any more time here, they would only waste their strength as he had said. Since it costed a lot to produce a Demon Soldier, it was a foolish idea to waste them here. The determination to make that decision instantly without hesitation was also a testament to his title of the Flash.

But of course, Rei and Elena didn’t see the need to consider Theorem’s proposed deal.

「Why do we have to let you retreat? As you can see, there’s two of us here and just one of you. In this current situation, it wouldn’t be too hard to capture or kill you.」

Rei replied to Theorem as he walked over to Elena step by step.

Elena agreed with Rei as she watched to make sure Theorem didn’t make any strange moves.

Theorem glanced at the two of them. Despite being in danger of dying, he spoke up with a faint smile.

「It’s true that I was struggling to handle the General Princess. I also won’t be able to win against the two of you. But have you forgotten? I’m the commander that leads the Demon Soldiers. As a result of the process to turn a human into a Demon Soldier, some of them have experienced a sharp decline in ethics and intelligence. However, to prevent the secrets of Demon Soldiers, our trump card, from being stolen by other countries, some measures have been put in place. ……That said, this was all done hastily because of the Demon Soldiers that were captured in Gilm.」

All thanks to you. Although he didn’t voice those words, Rei could tell what Theorem wanted to say to him.

「……What have you set up?」

「What do you think? Maybe I don’t have anything prepared, maybe it will be something fatal. Of course, you are the ones who will decide, not me. But……I recommend not regretting your choice. You might kill me, but Count Arius will be killed by the Demon Soldiers……how could I not thank you for that?」

He’s bluffing. That was Rei’s first thought. However, he had no evidence and could only base it on his intuition. Set was also close to Count Arius. Even though they hadn’t met for long, the incredibly friendly and sociable noble, Siminar, was also there.

But unless they could prove that Theorem was lying, there was nothing they could do to him in that situation. To make matters worse, when Rei and Elena had gone to the dungeon to perform the Inheritance Ceremony, the giant mantis monster, created by the Bestir Empire’s alchemists, that they had fought had disappeared without a trace after they had killed it. They had seen it happen with their own eyes. Because of that, they couldn’t just treat Theorem’s words as some random bluff.

「What do we do? As for me, I think he’s just bluffing as final attempt, but I can’t guarantee that. In the worst case……」

At Rei’s words, Elena frowned slightly.

Elena’s guess was that Theorem was lying. However, for the same reasons as Rei, she had no way of proving it. She couldn’t make a careless decision.

The two of them spent 30 seconds considering. That time ended up being decisive for Theorem.

「……Theorem-sama, are you okay?」

What appeared with those words was a robe wearing mage with the lower body of a spider and the upper body of a human.

「Ah, somehow. By the way, sorry to call you over so early, but can you do something about them? Especially the one with the large scythe.」

「It’s impossible.」

Gilgos replied to Theorem without any delay.

「Given his enormous magic power, I will definitely be pushed back in a magic fight.」

Despite saying that, Gilgos didn’t seem to be upset about it.

Just from that, it was possible to tell how strange Gilgos was considering that most people who could see magic power would usually fall into a state of panic or confusion after feeling Rei’s magic power.

「Well. Seeing that Gilgos has come this far and you have yet to make a move, can I consider the deal to be accepted?」

「……It can’t be helped. Leave.」

Rei unintentionally turned to look at Elena at her words.

In response, she shook her head at Rei to say that there was nothing they could do.

「I see, we’ll pull out. Gilgos, signal.」

「Yes!」

At Theorem’s words, Gilgos used some fire magic to shoot a signal as he pointed his cane to the sky. Maybe it was something like a flare gun to signal withdrawal, a circular flame burned with a flash in the air before disappearing. Seeing that, Theorem left on his warhorse.

Following after Theorem, Gilgos left Rei and Elena.

Before he left, Gilgos turned to look back at Rei, as if watching him, leaving a strong impression.

(Most of the other Demon Soldiers look like humans with monster like elements added on top. But that man, Gilgos, has a distinct human and monster parts to his body. He must have used a different method to other Demon Soldiers……if I think back to this moment in the future, I will probably wish I had killed him right here.)

「……What do we do now?」

Seeing Theorem leave, Rei called out to Elena beside her.

「Well, it depends on the decisions of the higher ups. As it is, the battle coming to an end……will probably not happen.」

「You mean we can’t just stop at repelling the Bestir Empire’s invasion?」

「The main army was ambushed, the Royalist faction suffered a lot of damage and the chief commander is Count Arius from the Royalist faction. Furthermore, the Bestir Empire’s army was also devastated by Rei’s fire tornado and the following fighting.」

「Do they want to attack the weakened enemy and earn merit to cancel out the losses of the main army being ambushed?」

「Probably. Any how, let’s go over to Count Arius right away. No matter what judgements we make, there’s no point in talking about it here.」

Saying that, she reached out a hand to Rei from on top her warhorse.

Rei looked at her hand for a moment before realising Elena’s cheeks were faintly red. Grasping her hand in embarrassment, Rei got on the warhorse as well.

「Normally, the positions of the man and woman would be reversed.」

Rei’s embarrassed voice disappeared silently into the field where Elena and Theorem had been fighting fiercely until a short time ago.

Fortunately, the only one who heard that was Yellow, flying above them.

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