Going back a short period of time.

As the rear of Frizione’s army was engaged in combat with Shurus’ combat and the White Rose Knights were fighting the main enemy force in front, Rei was riding on Set towards the forest alongside the road.

His aim, of course, was the strike the ambushing force hiding in the forest.

Rei himself would have preferred fighting the main force if possible.

There was Rhodes, whose consciousness appeared to have been controlled……or perhaps stolen, so he couldn’t just leave him there, including his gratitude and friendship with Elk.

However, at Frizione’s request, Rei was assigned the task of defeating the enemy forces hiding in the woods.

Of course, Rei knew that in order to effectively fight against those hiding in the forest, Set and himself, who had greater individual fighting combat strength, would have the advantage there.

Even so, Rei could still have attacked the main force where Rhodes was if he really wanted to push back on the order.

The reason he didn’t was because he understood that his role was to protect the First Princess’ faction, which included Frizione……and what had now become Frizione’s army.

If he acted selfishly and independently and Frizione’s army……or Frizione herself, wereto suffer damage as a result, it would be an immense disgrace to Theorem, who had requested his help in this role……and potentially Vihera, who had recommended him because she believed in his skills.

「Besides……we have our own work to do.」

「Guru~?」

Set turned his head and gave a cry at Rei, who was muttering to himself while riding on Set’s back.

Set seemed to want to ask what was wrong, but Rei just stroked his neck to say it was nothing.

「More importantly, Set, do you understand our role?」

「Guru~!」

Of course! Set seemed to say with a cry as Rei asked, just to make sure.

「Alright then, our job is to eliminate the ambushers hiding in the forest. Just like when we first scouted here, the ones hiding in the forest are trying to blend in with their surroundings. We don’t want to miss them……well, I guess I don’t need to tell you that.」

「Gururururu~!」

In the first place, it was Set who had found the troops lying in ambush before Rei.

As that was the case, Rei didn’t really need to tell Set that.

(Or rather……it seems that Set’s senses are sharper than before?)

Rei wondered, but there weren’t many potential reasons for that.

(Maybe it’s because he has been living alone outside the Imperial Capital for a few days? His senses might have naturally become sharper in order to find prey on his own. ……Yes, considering that Set is a Griffon, it’s quite possible.)

Thinking like that, Rei decided that it would be better to quickly kill everyone all once rather than finding the hiding enemies one by one.

「It’s unfortunate that they’re hiding in the forest. Fortunately, it’s autumn now and the air is dry. It will be easy to catch them all in one fell swoop.」

「Gurururu~?」

Is that okay? Set asked with a cry and Rei nodded back, Death Scythe in hand as he started an incantation.

『Flame, show that destruction is one of your true forms. You are the one who burns everything, erases everything, annihilates everything. Bring about great destruction, and with it, a sacrifice to new rebirth.』

As the incantation was spoken, a fireball was created at the Death Scythe’s blade.

There was only a single fireball. However, the heat in that fireball was extremely high due to Rei’s magic power.

『Scorching Inferno!』

As the incantation was completed, Rei swung the Death Scythe.

The fireball flew along a trajectory heading straight for the forest below Set and Rei……

「……Huh? What’s that?」

A few seconds passed since the fireball reached the forest. Rei tilted his head in confusion as nothing happened.

The compressed flames should have exploded by now, but nothing had happened.

「Guru~?」

Set tilted his head in confusion, just like Rei.

Rei waited in the air for another 10 seconds, but when nothing happened, he started to get suspicious and descended to the ground.

Just as he neared the tree tops……

「-!? Set!」

「Gururu~!」

Set sensed something from Rei’s words and immediately flapped his wings as he flew to a higher location.

A moment later, something pierced the spot where Set had just been.

Rei turned his head to see what the thing that had been thrown at him had come from and saw a familiar figure.

……No, it was more than just familiar. It was Rhodes, who he had seen just earlier.

However, his appearance was completely different.

His face and body had sustained extensive burns.

What was strange was the fact that his injuries were healing so quickly that the burn marks were clearly fading.

No, it was more like a restoration than ordinary healing.

「What’s going on here? Those burns must have been caused by my magic from earlier……but he’s healing too quickly. He must be using some kind of magic item.」

Rei thought to himself as he looked down on the ground from Set’s back.

「Gurururu~!」

However, Set’s cry brought him back to his senses.

The cry was filled with determination to act now.

But, by that time, Rhodes had already disappeared from view.

「That’s right. Since Rhodes has come all the way here, why not take advantage of this good fortune? Set, please.」

「GURURURURU~!」

Set let out a loud cry at Rei’s words and dived towards the forest.

Naturally, the troops lying in wait inside the forest had noticed Set and Rei, considering they had already used magic.

「Damn it, is it impossible to hide even after all this? Troublesome Griffon!」

The captain of the ambush troops spat out in disgust.

In fact, they had judged that with all the effort they had gone to, the enemy wouldn’t find them so easily, so it wasn’t great to be seen through so quickly.

It was no consolation that the one that had spotted them was a Griffon, an A rank monster.

「Captain, what do we do? If we want to run away, we should do it now……」

「You idiot-! You think you can escape from a flying monster that easily? It’s impossible. All we can do now is hide and pray that Crimson doens’t find us……」

Slash-!

Just as the captain spoke, a Flying Slash flew down from the sky……cutting through the tree branches and an arm off one of the ambushers.

「Eh? This……is my, arm……AHHHHHHHH-!」

For a moment, the man didn’t understand what had just happened, but the moment he realised that his arm was missing, he was hit by an intense pain.

The soldier screamed out, unable to bear the pain, but the captain just clicked his tongue at his subordinate.

They were currently hiding.

It was already unclear whether they would be found, so what was the point in raising their voice now?

The captain quickly cut off the head of his subordinate with his long sword to silence them before jumping away to hide in the bushes as an enormous mass fell from the air.

He knew what is was without even thinking.

It was the most terrifying being in this place. A creature with sense beyond that of a human and capable of flight.

(Damn it, what was that Rhodes guy doing just now!?)

While screaming in his mind, the captain’s eyes never left Rei and Set, who had crashed down from above.

He had managed to hide in some bushes before they landed, but at this rate, he was sure to be found.

The only way for him to escape would be to distract their attention somehow, but there was no one here who could do that.

No, to be precise, there was one person, but that person was himself.

(I’m really sorry. There’s no way I can win against a monster like that. The others must have run away already. If that’s the case, I’ll try to get out of this situation somehow.)

The man desperately tried to think of a solution for his current predicament.

However, the fact that he thought he wouldn’t be found despite Set’s nearby presence and the knowledge that Griffons had keen senses was likely because of his confusion, caused by the sudden arrival of Rei and Set.

「Guru~」

「Yeah, I know. Now, who’s hiding there? I’d be happy if you came out on your own.」

Muttering, Rei pointed the tip of the Death Scythe at the bush where the man was hiding with certainty.

(-!?)

The man held his breath and finally realised that he had been found, but even so, there was nothing he could do.

He knew that if he were to carelessly run away now, he would be easily cut down by a Flying Slash. But, even so, just giving himself up was also out of the question.

Even though he was in full control of his final decision, he was so nervous that his legs froze up, leaving him no choice but to remain hidden in the bushes, hoping for some kind of miracle to happen.

Just as he thought that……

There was a rustling sound as something pushed it’s way through the forest, charging through.

It came from the opposite position to where the man was hiding as a figure appeared, long sword in one hand, thrusting out with great speed.

Rei recognised the person, who specialised in thrusting attacks with a long sword.

He had come down into the forest looking for that person, so seeing it was what he wanted, Rei blocked the attack with the Death Scythe.

Kiin-, a high pitched metallic sound echoed out and Rei gave a look of surprise as he spoke.

「I see, a magic sword. It’s true that alchemy is popular in the Imperial Capital. It’s not that difficult for the First Prince to prepare a magic sword. ……But even so, you’ve improved a lot in such a short period of time.」

「……」

Rei spoke, but Rhodes didn’t say a word back in response, just looking back with an expressionless gaze.

Rei noticed that the burn marks on him had already completely disappeared and wondered if that was due to some sort of healing effect or something that was nullifying the effect of his flames.

Regardless, with the Death Scythe at the ready, Rei glanced over to Set as he called out to him.

「Set, leave Rhodes to me. I’ll leave the ambushers in the forest to you.」

「Guru~?」

Is that okay? Set asked with a cry and Rei nodded back to indicate that there was no problem.

(I could have entrusted Rhodes to Set, but they don’t get along very well.)

Not in terms of combat compatibility, but in terms of personality.

This all stemmed from their initial meeting.

Rhodes hadn’t like his mother showing interest in Rei and had treated Set, Rei’s familiar, in a somewhat antagonistic manner, leading to their current relationship.

As for Set, he didn’t like Rhodes due to the aggression he had showed towards Rei. While Set was known to be quick in growing attached to people, his dislike of Rhodes was quite open.

「Well, leave this to me. It looks like he’s looking for me as well. I’ll leave them to you.」

「Guru~!」

Set gave a short cry……and then, as if finding the right moment, the two of them acted at the same time.

The first thing Set did was to dash towards the nearby bushes.

He already knew that there was someone hiding there with his sense of smell and hearing.

The blow of his front claws as he passed through crushed the head of the captain of the ambush unit before he even had time to realise.

Starting with the captain, Set ran through the forest, finding the soldiers hiding in bushes, behind tree, on top of trees, and in the shadows of rocks, ending their lives with a strike from his claws, beak, or hind legs.

Weaving through the forest without slowing down, he calmly claimed the lives of his enemies, showing the true potential of an A rank monster.

His supple movements, representative of feline species, caught out the soldiers that had been planning to ambush Frizione’s force, turning the hunters into the hunted.

Furthermore, as he didn’t have to worry about being seen by others inside the forest, Set used skills that were hard to notice, such as Optical Camouflage, Evil Eye Impact, and Size Transformation. It must have been unbearable for the soldiers who had been lying in wait.

「Gururururururu~!」

It had been a while since he had been with Rei, so Set’s excitement had risen significantly as he became even more aggressive and ferocious.

Some tried to escape, but no matter how well trained a soldier they were, there was no way for an ordinary human to match the physical abilities of a Griffon.

The soldiers who tried to escape were unable to leave the forest as they were hunted down one by one.

Screams and shouts could be heard one after the other from the forest, but they soon grew sparser as time went on.

Eventually……

「UWA-AAAAAAAH-! DON’T COME, DON’T COME, DON’T COOOOOOOOME-!」

The last of the soldiers screamed and shouted out as they tried to run away.

Before the soldier even realised that they were the only one left, a blow from the Set’s claws crushed his head from behind, snuffing out the flame of his life.

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