Rei and Rhodes faced each other inside the forest.
The Death Scythe was in Rei’s hand while Rhodes held a magic sword.
Despite Set’s rampage, the two of them didn’t seem shaken by the screams around them.
They readied their weapons, checking each other’s reactions……then, as the soldiers around them continued to scream, they both moved at once.
「Haaaaah-!」
「……」
Rei let out a roar while Rhodes remained completely silent.
The Death Scythe, which was swung to take away Rhodes’ ability to fight rather than kill him, was blocked by Rhodes’ magic sword before the blade could reach him.
A high pitched metallic clash echoed out.
Rhodes avoided losing all combat power, but in return, he was blasted away, along with the magic sword he had used to block the Death Scythe’s attack.
「……」
However, Rhodes remained completely silent. Without any change in his expression, he adjusted his posture in mid air and used both legs to absorb the impact as he slammed into a tree.
At the same time, he used that motion to push back against the tree, launching himself forward.
Being blasted away, crashing into a tree, and then launching himself back towards Rei, it was a series of inhuman movements.
However, Rei only thought it was natural as he deflected the long sword that was thrust towards him.
The sound of metallic clashes filled the forest once again.
In most cases, a long shafted weapon like the Death Scythe would be very difficult to use in a forest environment.
Of course, a magic sword like the one Rhodes was wielding was tricky to use in a forest environment as well. That said, long swords could be used to thrust as well as slash.
And, since Rhodes’ preferred method of attack was sword thrusts, the surrounding environment didn’t hamper him greatly.
In fact, Rei would normally be the one at a disadvantage in such an environment. ……Yes, normally that is.
「Naive, too naive!」
Rhodes’ long sword might be a magic weapon, but Rei’s Death Scythe was also a magic weapon.
But, it wasn’t just an ordinary magic weapon. It had been created using the Magic Beast Art and could be considered the crystallisation of Rei’s immense magic power.
As a result, the magic empowered blade of the Death Scythe easily cleaved through nearby trees.
It wasn’t just trees with thin trunks either. Even trees that were several decades old were easily sliced through.
「Flying Slash-!」
Another Flying Slash was released.
However, Rhodes swung his magic sword in return towards the slash approaching him.
Kiiin-, a harsh metallic sound echoed out as Rei’s Flying Slash was stopped by Rhodes’ magic sword.
「In that case-!」
Taking advantage of the distance that had been created, Rei started an incantation.
He wanted to confirm whether his previous magic had been nullified by chance, or if it had been done deliberately.
『Flames, burn the enemy according to my will.』
As the incantation was spoken, a mass of fire appeared at the Death Scythe’s blade.
However, there was only a single ball of fire and the magic power contained in it was much lower than the magic he had used earlier.
In exchange, the incantation was very short and by the time Rhodes had readied his magic sword and stepped towards Rei, the magic was completed.
『Fireball.』
As the magic was completed, a fireball shot out, flying straight towards Rhodes.
Rei usually wouldn’t use fire magic while inside a forest himself due to the risk of causing a fire.
It was now autumn and the air was dry.
The trees in this forest were evergreen with green leaves all year round. That said, if they came in contact with flames from Rei’s magic, they would burn just as easily as dry wood.
(Now then, if it wasn’t a coincidence earlier……make sure you show me what you can do, okay?)
The fireball shot out from the Death Scythe and straight towards Rhodes.
Perhaps realising the danger coming towards him, Rhodes silently placed his right had forward.
The next moment, the fireball vanished as if it had never existed.
The fact that what just happened wasn’t just a dream was shown by the fireball had gotten so close to Rhodes that the heat had caused burns on his face and hands.
But, even those burns were actively healing, as if time was being rewound.
「……I see. Your right arm.」
Rhodes had held out his right arm towards the fireball.
Rei noticed a bracelet on the wrist of Rhodes’ right arm.
「It certainly looks like it can deal with my fire magic, but……it seems like it comes at a great cost.」
The fact that Rhodes was burned meant that not all the fire magic could be neutralised.
Or rather, it seemed like the magic couldn’t be neutralised without him touching it.
Of course, if you had to touch fire, you had to deal with the heat……Rei understood that much, but still frowned.
It wasn’t that had to defeat Rhodes. He could use magic that covered a large enough area that Rhodes couldn’t touch it. Or, since his magic was being absorbed, he could opt to not use magic at all.
However, that meant he would have to injure Rhodes and, with Rhodes’ speed of recovery, Rei wouldn’t be able to get away with just dealing minor injuries.
(Besides……a magic item with such a strong healing effect. It’s better to assume that there’s some kind of price. It wouldn’t be strange if it was shortening his lifespan. No, is that the reason why he doesn’t seem to have any will of his own?)
Esta Nord, an alchemist in Zepairu’s group, had created the Misty Ring, Dragon Robe, and other magic items that Rei had on him.
But, even Rei believed that Esta Nord would have a hard time creating a magic item with such a healing effect with no downsides.
(In that case, rather dealing injuries to immobilise him, it would be better to capture him and prevent him from moving.)
He would have to tie him up with rope after restricting all his joints to prevent any movement.
Just as Rei was thinking that.
「……」
Rhodes, who had been facing Rei, stopped moving, and retreated, disappearing from Rei’s sight.
It was an incredible escape that left Rei stunned for a moment.
However, realising that this was still the best opportunity to capture Rhodes, Rei was about to chase after him when……
「Gururururururu~!」
Rei stopped in his tracks after hearing Set’s cry from above.
It was a cry to let him know that something was wrong.
For a moment, Rei wondered if it was better to continue pursuing Rhodes, but if there really was some kind of danger, Frizione’s army could also be affected.
Reaching that decision, he gave up on pursuing Rhodes and hailed Set in a small clearing.
When Set spotted Rei, he flapped his wings as he landed on the ground, turning his back to Rei and urging him to climb on.
「What happened?」
「Guru~!」
Set gave a cry as if to say they’d talk about it later. Rei didn’t say anything more and quickly climbed onto Set’s back.
Just as Set took a few steps into the air, Rei saw the retreating ambush force. ……No, a force that had split off from the main army and was heading to the forest where Rei currently was.
「Are they……reinforcements for the forest ambush force? No, but they’re too late to act if that’s the case. So……what is it?」
「Guru~?」
As Rei thought to himself, Set gave a cry as if asking what they were going to do. After thinking for a few more seconds, Rei made his decision.
「Let’s defeat them. They’re definitely enemies since they’re coming towards us, and since they’re still here even after the ambush force is fleeing, they’re probably the rear guard. If we let them go here, we’ll only suffer more losses in future.」
「Gurururu~!」
Set gave a brave cry at Rei’s words and flapped his wings before heading towards the enemy coming towards them.
「Let’s start with a warm up. Flying Slash!」
With those words, the Flying Slash released from the Death Scythe flew straight towards the approaching soldiers.
The slash disappeared after slicing through several soldiers, but because of the distance and the fact that a Flying Slash wasn’t powerful enough to cut through armoured opponents in one strike, it didn’t kill anyone.
The attack had been intended as a warning, so Rei had expected this outcome to happen.
But, different from his expectations, the momentum of the soldiers didn’t weaken at all, despite injuries to several soldiers at the front.
On the contrary, they seemed somewhat resentful of Rei as they readied bows and magic against him.
(No, if they were a rear guard, they should have gone to deal with the White Rose Knights instead of attacking me.)
In fact, Rei could see the fifth and sixth units of the White Rose Knights firing arrows and magic at the fleeing ambush force, whittling down their forces.
The rear guard’s role was to reduce the losses suffered by their allies, so if they weren’t doing that, it could be said that the soldiers below Rei were acting entirely on their own.
「Gururururu~!」
Set gave a cry as he flew freely through the air, dodging the arrows and magic flying at him.
When Set asked if he could attack, Rei stored the Death Scythe back into the Misty Ring before taking out a spear.
「If you use your skills here, you’ll stand out, Set. Sorry, but I’d like you to focus on dodging for now……alright!」
As soon as he finished speaking, Rei threw the spear.
It wasn’t thrown with a running start or his whole body, just with pure arm strength. Flying straight towards the soliders below him, it crushed the head of one soldiers without losing any strength before penetrating the torso of another soldier wearing leather armour, pinning him to the ground.
However, the soldiers continued to attack without showing any signs of fear.
Rei himself didn’t know, but most of the soldiers in this unit led by Count Schwindel were those who had lost family members in the Spring War.
In other words, to the soldiers, the person before them……or more accurately, above them, was their target of revenge for their families, loved ones, and friends, which was why they continued to attack without showing any concern for the damage to their allies.
Not knowing this, Rei wondered how to deal with the seemingly out of control forces for a few seconds.
But, after seeing the wind blades, fire arrows, and rocks flying towards him from below, he decided that he would only place himself in danger if he hesitated any longer.
「They’re just out of control……let’s just finish them all off at once. Set, please dodge for a while.」
「Gurururu~!」
That’s okay, leave it to me, Set seemed to say with a cry as he flapped his winds to avoid the incoming magic.
It was difficult to target Set from the ground, as he could fly freely in the air.
Many of the arrows shot at him ended up flying in the wrong direction.
『Flames, dance, dance. Let your splendid dance light up the surroundings and enchant all with your beautiful dance until they are scorched by your beauty.』
As the incantation was spoken, a large number of human sized flames were created.
The world was re-written as Rei’s magic power took shape.
『Dancing Flames.』
As soon as the magic was activated, the human sized flames appeared, centered around Count Schwindel’s soldiers, dancing freely through the air as they burned anything they touched to ashes.
Just like the name of the magic, the flames could be described as dancing.
However, those dancing flames brought death to those that saw it.
Those who were touched by the flames were burned to ashes, regardless if they were soldiers, knights, or nobles.
The sight, which could be called a fiery hell, had the effect of calming down the soldiers, who had been raging at the sight of Rei.
It was only natural, seeing their comrades being burned to ashes in an instant.
However, Count Schwindel, who was leading the soldiers, was unfazed as he shouted to attack Rei.
Many of the other nobles, who had shared the same aspirations as Count Schwindel, were now shaking in their boots.
Until now, they had only heard stories of Rei’s abilities or seen them from afar in the arena.
But, now they could see Rei’s wide area annihilation magic, Rei’s true talent, they could see his true strength.
……The nobles who looked particularly desperate in this situation were the ones who had only joined Count Schwindel in order to use him.
One of the nobles, who had greatly misjudged when to back out, cried out in despair as they saw Count Schwindel burned to ashes before they themselves were shortly embraced by the flames and also reduced to ashes.
A few minutes after Rei’s magic was used, there was no longer a living thing on the ground, not even a single horse. The flames that had been created by magic also vanished with a light snap of Rei’s fingers, as if it had never existed to begin with.