Gamelions.
A C rank monster whose strength made the Goblins Rei had fought in this dungeon completely insignificant by comparison.
Its fangs could easily bite through a human, armour and all. A swipe from its blade like ears were sharper than any attack a newbie adventurer could make. It could swing its long tail like a whip, and sometimes thrust the tip like a spear.
Its body, which was between two and three meters tall, was packed with muscle. A strike from its rabbit like jumping power, combined with its mass, was something an ordinary warrior couldn’t block with a shield, dodging was best response one could make.
Furthermore, its ferocious nature, hard to believe for a monster based on a rabbit, was truly befitting a C rank monster.
It was a monster that would normally take an entire C rank party to fight on equal terms. That was what a Gamelion was.
……And currently, nearly fifty such Gamelions were present before Rei, directing their hostility towards him.
The ten or so Gamelions that had attacked first had already been sliced apart and lay dead on the ground.
Perhaps the Gamelions hadn’t expected their companions to be killed so easily either, as they all now looked for an opening rather than attacking Rei all at once.
However, facing this number of Gamelions, Rei covered his body in crimson magic power.
Normally, he would have been perfectly capable of handling the Gamelions in his regular state.
But since he was facing this many Gamelions, Rei judged they were somewhat worthy opponents for him to use it.
『Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour』. It was Rei’s strongest skill, one with enough power to fight evenly against the S rank adventurer, Noiz the Immovable.
「What’s wrong? If you aren’t coming, I’ll come to you, okay?」
Holding the Death Scythe in his right hand, he swung his left hand out in a wide arc.
As he did that, the compressed magic power that surrounded him flowed to his left hand.
That magic power then tore away from Rei’s left hand as it flew towards the Gamelions.
Perhaps sensing the danger of the attack, the Gamelions immediately used their signature jumps to dodge the magic power Rei unleashed……the Deep Flames.
However, a few of them couldn’t dodge in time, and the fire created when the Deep Flames hit the nearby ground spread to them and burned them.
The colour of their fur varied between individuals, but as their brown and white fur was burned, the thrashing from the pain ended up spreading the flames to the other Gamelions around them.
「Gaaaaaaaaa!」
It probably wasn’t out of any desire to avenge its companions, but the Gamelion closest to Rei let out a roar as it dashed forward and lunged at Rei, attempting to slice him apart with its sharp ears.
It had seen the first of its companions try to bite Rei’s slender body with their fangs, only to have Rei dodge and counter with a swing of the Death Scythe that sliced them apart.
To attack with its fangs, it needed to pause its movements momentarily after getting to Rei.
Because its companions had been counterattacked during that moment, it likely decided to slice Rei apart with its ears as it passed by him instead.
It’s thought process was certainly correct.
It might have only been natural for a C rank monster, but not repeating the same mistake twice showed the true nature of a Gamelion, a monster built for combat.
However……
「Do you really think that speed is enough to do anything to me!?」
Catching the ear of the Gamelion that was aiming to slice him in half, Rei gave a sharp shout.
If any other adventurer had seen this sight, they wouldn’t have been able to believe their eyes.
Because Rei hadn’t caught the Gamelion’s attack with the Death Scythe……he had caught its ear with a single bare hand.
The Gamelion that had just attacked Rei was by no means the largest one in the room. Even so, it was still over two meters tall, and there was no need to even think about how much it weighed.
Rei, having caught its ear with his right hand, lifted the Gamelion up……and slammed it into the ground.
「Gyapi!」
As its head was smashed into the ground by the force of its own weight combined with Rei’s strength, the Gamelion gave a scream that echoed out.
Soft fur, that almost looked like feather, danced through the air. At the same time, brains, bone, blood, and flesh flew into the surrounding area.
The other Gamelions surrounding Rei seemed to realise that the sight before them was clearly abnormal. Each of them let out a low growl, but showed absolutely no signs of attacking Rei.
「What’s wrong? Come on. I won’t run or hide. Let’s fight head on right here.」
Muttering provocatively, he stored the Death Scythe he held in his left hand into his Misty Ring, showing the Gamelions that he was completely unarmed.
However, seeing the red magic power enveloping Rei’s body flicker with his every movement, the Gamelions could clearly understand that he was still incredibly dangerous.
But……even so, the only thing the Gamelions could do besides attack was to keep him surrounded like this.
They had been summoned here by the dungeon core, but their bodies were too large to leave this room.
In terms of overall height, they were about the same as the Ogre Rei had fought, but they were much wider.
Because of that, they couldn’t even leave this room.
Normally, Gamelions wouldn’t want to fight Rei in his current state.
Despite their ferocious nature, there were undoubtedly some Gamelions among them who would rather flee.
But……with only one exit existing, and one they couldn’t even fit through, running away wasn’t an option.
The result of that was the current situation where they surrounded Rei.
「It seems you have no intention of making the first move……in that case, allow me.」
Rei muttered softly as he took a step forward.
The Gamelions likely didn’t understand Rei’s words, but they still judged it dangerous for Rei, covered in crimson magic power, to approach them. The Gamelions surrounding him backed away……
「Hah!」
But the next moment, the Gamelions were shocked to find that Rei was already right in front of them.
「Haaah!」
Along with a spirited shout, Rei swung his fist, punching through the head of the nearest Gamelion.
Like a water balloon dropping to the ground and bursting, pieces of the Gamelion’s head scattered everywhere.
Some of the pieces even caused the nearby Gamelions to injure each other with their bladed ears and sharp fangs.
「……I messed up my control.」
Gamelions were monsters whose meat sold for a high price, but their other materials were naturally valuable as well.
Even the fur of the few that had been injured by that single strike was quite an expensive loss.
Because of the damage caused, Rei could only call it a failure.
「Ga, gaaaaaa!」
A Gamelion that took a fragment of a fang to the eye growled in pain and anger.
Following suit, the Gamelion whose bodies had been sliced by other ears also growled in the same manner.
And then, one after another, the Gamelions cried, following their companions.
They were naturally extremely aggressive monsters. Even if they had initially been afraid of Rei’s strength, seeing their companions injured and hearing their angry cries caused their aggression to overcome their fear.
Also, the fact that they possessed enough intelligence to understand they had absolutely nowhere to run probably contributed to this outcome.
No matter what they did, they couldn’t beat Rei on their own, yet they had nowhere to run.
Moreover, Rei had no intention of letting the Gamelions go.
Since that was the case, the only way for the Gamelions to survive was to defeat the terrifying opponent before them.
Following their natural instincts, the Gamelions all leaped at Rei at the same time.
「Finally getting serious, huh.」
With this many of them, Rei judged that it would be troublesome without a weapon, so he took the Death Scythe back out from the Misty Ring and waited for the approaching Gamelions.
「Gaaaaaaaa!」
Gamelions attacked from three directions, left, right, and front.
Behind him was the corridor Rei had come from and there wasn’t enough space for a Gamelion to circle around. ……Even taking that into account, the bloodthirsty Gamelions currently had no thoughts of circling behind him.
As for above, there was the ceiling.
And the diagonal frontal positions were also impossible given the size of the Gamelions’ bodies.
As a result, the maximum number of Gamelions that could attack at once was three.
Rei ducked to dodge a whip like tail strike launched from his right. He used the shaft of the Death Scythe to strike the jaw of the Gamelion charging from the left with bared fangs. He used his free left hand to grab the fangs of the Gamelion attacking from the front to stop its movement before throwing it towards the Gamelion that had attacked him from the right with its tail.
For the Gamelion on the right, it was completely unexpected that someone with a small body like Rei could lift a Gamelion with one hand. Unable to dodge the thrown Gamelion, they were both blown back……
「That’s two of them!」
As he said those words, the bodies of the two Gamelions were sliced in half, and their consciousness faded away.
Normally, Gamelions had a resistance to slashing attacks, but even so, it was impossible for them to block a strike from Rei’s Death Scythe.
「Gaaaaaaaa!」
A Gamelion attacked Rei once again.
Rei jumped and activated the Shoes of Sleipnir against the Gamelion charging straight at him. Stepping on the air until he reached the ceiling, he swung the Death Scythe.
The Death Scythe’s blade severed the stalactites that extended from the ceiling without any resistance whatsoever, sending them falling to the ground. ……Right onto the head of the Gamelion that had lost sight of Rei when he jumped into the air.
The visceral sound of flesh being crushed echoed out, but no one was there to listen to it.
The battlefield had already shifted from the edge of the hall to the centre.
Having moved into the air using the Shoes of Sleipnir, Rei dodged a tail strike aimed at him from the ground while simultaneously slicing that tail off with the Death Scythe.
Once he reached a spot where the Gamelions were most densely packed, he swung the Death Scythe as he fell towards the ground.
「Gya!」
Seeing Rei falling, the Gamelion directly beneath him must have judged its position to be dangerous. It tried to dodge, but because there were other Gamelions nearby, it could barely move, only managing to shift its body slightly.
As a result, the right front leg of the Gamelion Rei had targeted was cleanly severed by the blade of the Death Scythe.
Of course, Rei’s attack didn’t end there.
With the Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour activated and the magic empowered Death Scythe in hand, Rei knew exactly what attack to use in a situation where he was surrounded by Gamelions in every direction.
「Haaah!」
He casually lopped off the head of the Gamelion whose right front leg had been severed moments ago, and used that momentum to spin the shaft of the Death Scythe in his hands.
As a result, the Gamelions surrounding Rei had their legs, ears, tails, torsos, and heads severed.
It was an attack method that made it hard to believe he was the same person worrying about damaging the fur just a little while ago, but with this many Gamelions present, Rei judged that most of the materials would still be fine, including their fur.
A few seconds……Rei had only been swinging the Death Scythe for a few seconds, yet nearly ten Gamelions were killed in that time.
And they died in very unfortunate ways, with their entire bodies sliced apart.
Although it was a wild dance of death bringing blades, Rei’s movements possessed a beauty akin to a sword dance.
Gamelion blood rained down, but it was instantly evaporated and by the Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour covering Rei.
Rei had originally been given the title Crimson during the Spring War because of the devastation caused by his fire tornado and the fact that he had been covered in the blood of Bestir Empire soldiers.
Although his current situation was completely different, if someone saw Rei clad in the crimson magic power of the Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, they probably would have given him the title of Crimson anyway.
No, rather, his current appearance was far more befitting the title of Crimson.
Rei continued to slice the Gamelions apart while swinging the Death Scythe freely in all directions.
Even at this time, Rei never intended to let his guard down.
It was partly because Gamelions occupied the entire hall, and he was surrounded by enemies.
But……precisely because of that, it happened.
A sensation completely different from slicing through Gamelion flesh and bone, the sensation of slicing through something hard, was felt through the Death Scythe into Rei’s hands.
And then……
【Death Scythe has acquired the skill 『Terrain Manipulation Lv.2』】
An announcement echoed through Rei’s mind.
「Wha-!?」
Instinctively halting his wild dance with the Death Scythe, Rei saw the dungeon core, sliced cleanly in half at an angle.
「……Why did I get a skill from a dungeon core again?」
Rei could only swing the Death Scythe at the attacking Gamelions while muttering in a daze.
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【Death Scythe】
『Corrosion Lv.3』 『Flying Slash Lv.4』 『Magic Shield Lv.1』 『Power Slash Lv.2』 『Wind Hand Lv.3』 『Terrain Manipulation Lv.2』 new 『Pain Burst Lv.1』 『Penetrate Lv.2』
Terrain Manipulation: When the Death Scythe’s handle is touching the ground, it is possible to manipulate the terrain around it in a limited range. At Lv.2 the ground around it it a 30m diameter can be raised or depressed by 50cm.