Noiz had left the battlefield.

The only people who remained were Rei, who had stopped the activation of Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, Set, who was right beside him, and the numerous soldiers than had previously surrounded Rei and Noiz.

Silence. There wasn’t a sound in the surroundings.

It was a matter of course. The only reason Rei had been contained in this location up until now was because of Noiz.

Now that Noiz was gone, there was no one else who could keep Rei here.

Even if every soldier present were to attack Rei, it seemed unlikely they would be able to even scratch him, considering he could still use Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour. And above all……

「Gururururu~」

Set gave a cry, as if to warn the soldiers around them.

They could’t even do anything to Rei on his own, let alone with Set present.

Standing before them wasn’t an ordinary Griffon either.

It was a rare species of Griffon, capable of using skills that ordinary Griffons couldn’t.

……No, even rare species didn’t begin to describe Set.

Glancing around at the silence, Rei didn’t speak as he reached out for something that had fallen to the ground.

Noiz had used his sword as a shield to block Set’s attack.

While all of his attention had been focused on Rei, Set had used Optical Camouflage to get close enough to attack. Yet even so, Noiz had instinctively managed to use his sword to protect himself.

(I understand that Overlord’s Armour can greatly boost his physical abilities……but even so, for a human to be able to block that attack? I knew it already, but S rank adventurers really are nothing but monsters.)

Noiz had admitted defeat and retreated from the battlefield, so it was technically Rei’s victory.

However, Rei knew that Noiz was far from being unable to fight and that if Noiz really had continued to fight, he would probably have been unable to maintain his Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour due to running out of magic power.

It was much better than when he was using Overlord’s Armour during the the attack on the main camp, where he had used up almost all of his magic power, but he was still used up a considerable amount of his reserves.

The main reason for his high magic power consumption, even after changing Overlord’s Armour to Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, was because of the skills ability to release Deep Flames……consuming the highly compressed magic power that made up Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour.

Each time he used Deep Flames, more magic power was needed to replenish what was used.

Unlike Overlord’s Armour, just maintaining Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour didn’t require that much magic power.

But it was still beyond what an ordinary mage would be capable of supporting.

The fact that he had also been using Overlord’s Armour for a while before switching to Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour also played a large role.

「……Well then.」

Gathering the thoughts in his head, Rei placed the Death Scythe on his shoulder.

He didn’t like that Noiz had conceded defeat so simply.

He didn’t like it, but it was still true that Noiz was now gone.

That was right, the only person in the punitive force’s rear guard who could hold Rei back had left……leaving Rei and Set behind.

There were numerous punitive force soldiers around them, but regardless of their numbers, they didn’t stand a chance against Rei’s superior strength.

That was why the moment Rei moved, some of the soldiers instinctively took a few steps back, bumping into the soldiers behind them and causing a chain reaction.

All Rei did was watch them, but he soon remembered what he had come here to do after Set rubbed his head against him and gave a cry.

That was right, the reason he had come here in the first place was to cause a big commotion in the rear of the punitive force, throwing them into confusion.

At the same time, he needed to show the soldiers in Mercurio’s army that he had successfully attacked the enemy’s rear.

As he wondered where to target……looking around, he noticed that the water dragon that he had seen several times while fighting Noiz had disappeared at some point.

The water dragon was familiar to him and Rei could guess who had created it, but as he had been fighting Noiz at the time, he had little time to pay any attention to it.

(Who defeated him? Theorem, Gurgast……or maybe Vihera? I can’t rule out the possibility that the guerrilla’s also put in some work. I’ll find out after the battle ends.)

Patting Set on the head, Rei was a little concerned about his remaining magic power as he spoke.

「Well, first I need to finish the work I was supposed to do.」

「Gururu~?」

Are you okay? Set seemed to ask with a worried look in his eyes. Rei knew that he was being a bit stubborn at this moment, but he still patted Set on the head.

「I’m fine. I’ll be able to get some rest once the war is over……and more importantly, you can now use you skills to their fullest, right?」

「Guru~!」

Set gave such a happy cry that Rei wondered where all his concern from earlier had gone.

Until today, Set hadn’t been able to use his skills in public.

This had caused him a lot of inconvenience, but this was now no longer a problem.

Regardless of whether he defeated Noiz or not, Set’s skills had already been displayed in public during the fight……and in front of so many people.

It was no longer a question of whether Set’s skills could still be kept a secret as the information had no doubt been spread among the punitive force.

Rei and Set were high priority figures to keep eyes on to begin with.

That was why, now that Set’s skills had been revealed, they needed to be exerted to their fullest extent in order to tip the battle in Mercurio’s favour.

「Let’s go then, Set.」

「Gururururu~!」

As Rei called out, he got onto Set’s back and, after running several meters, Set flapped his wings.

The soldiers around them knew that if they didn’t stop Rei and Set here, the punitive force would suffer heavy losses, but they didn’t dare to step forward either.

Rei had unleashed the newfound strength of his Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour.

It had been enough to make Noiz, one of the Bestir Empire’s strongest fighters, admit defeat.

This was accounting for the fact that Noiz had conceded even though he could have kept on fighting.

It was a big deal for an S rank adventurer to admit defeat.

With such sense of defeat instilled deep in their hearts, the soldiers could only stand and watch as Rei and Set flew into the sky.

 

 

Rei gazed down at the battlefield on the Brissa Plain from atop Set’s back.

It was clear as a whole that Mercurio’s army was being pushed back, but they were also pushing back the punitive force and extending the front lines in some places.

「This was my mistake. My original plan had been to create enough of a mess in the rear to throw the punitive force into confusion.」

「Gururu~」

Set gave a cry to comfort Rei as he muttered to himself.

Indeed, considering that he had taken on an unstoppable powerhouse like Noiz and won, that alone could be considered the greatest achievement in this battle.

(But, that wouldn’t mean anything if Mercurio’s army is defeated. Plus, thanks to the new skill I have, Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour……huh?)

Thinking about it, a sudden thought came to his mind.

Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour was formed by transforming Rei’s fire attributed magic power.

And, being made from fire attributed magic power, it naturally gave off heat.

In fact, when he had been fighting Noiz, while his Overlord’s Armour had kept out most of the heat, he had still seen Noiz frown at the temperature. So……

「If I use Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, will I not be able to ride Set?」

「Guru~!?」

Hearing Rei’s words, Set gave a cry as if to say ‘no way!?’.

「Gururu~, Guru~……」

Hearing Set’s sad cries, Rei couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

But……after thinking for several more seconds, a thought suddenly came to his mind.

(Set is a monster created using the Magic Beast Art. In other words, he was born from my magic power. And, since Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour is made from my magic power, compressed until it has a visible form……maybe it would work?)

Rei guessed that there probably wouldn’t be any problems if Set came in contact with his Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour.

Still, he wasn’t about to attempt it while riding on Set.

His prediction might still be correct, but if it was wrong, Set would end up suffering severe burns.

「Don’t worry……it might be a bit irresponsible to say this, but I think it will probably be okay for you to touch the Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour.」

「Guru~!」

Really?! Set seemed to say with a cry, clearly pleased as Rei nodded in response.

「We have to try it, so I still don’t know for sure, but I think it should……probably should be okay. We can’t try it now, but let’s try it after the battle is over.」

「Gurururururu~!」

Set gave a joyful cry.

Rei gave a wry smile in response as Set’s sad expression vanished like it had never been there to begin with.

And, as he smiled wryly, Rei and Set arrived at the rear of the punitive force’s army. The most densely populated area, to be exact.

However, Rei frowned slightly as he looked towards the ground.

The defeat of the A rank adventurer, Water Dragon Digma, had marked a turning point in the battle.

As a result of Digma’s loss, the punitive force had decided to push through with their numerical advantage, regardless of the losses.

Naturally, this meant that the rear guard would also start to move up……so while Rei was definitely looking at the rear guard, it was now too close to Mercurio’s army.

If he were to use his wide area annihilation magic at their current location, the effects of his magic would naturally spread to his allies as well. And, without any easy way to identify allies from enemies, casualties would also extend to Mercurio’s army.

「But, that said, it isn’t impossible to confuse the enemy with smaller scale magic attacks……or rocks, but that won’t work any more.」

A list of the items stored in the Misty Ring appeared in his mind, but there were only seven rocks left.

With so few rocks left, there was no real way to rely on them to cause significant damage.

Spears might still be effective when aimed at individuals, but they were basically useless against tens of thousands of soldiers.

In other words, he needed a method to attack his enemies without affecting his allies.

Thinking of that, his first thought went to his Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, which he had just learned how to use.

Maybe he thought of it because he had learned it so recently.

(As for my magic power……well, it uses less magic power than Overlord’s Armour, so maybe the Bracelet of Magic Absorption will be enough? I hope so. In any case, if I were to use Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, even for a short period of time, it would definitely confuse the enemy.)

Quickly gathering his thoughts, Rei spoke as he stroked Set’s neck.

「Set, I’d like you to use your Fire Breath towards the back end of the rear guard……to draw their attention. In order to throw them into confusion, we need to get their attention first.」

「Gurururu~!」

Leave it to me, Set seemed to say with a cry as he flew towards the ground in order to get within range to use Fire Breath.

The punitive force and Mercurio’s army were clashing fiercely on the ground, but with tens of thousands of soldiers fighting, some were bound to notice the presence in the air.

As word spread, it created a sense of hope among Mercurio’s army and despair among the punitive force.

The sense of despair was particularly high among the punitive force.

This was no surprise. Noiz was supposed to be holding Rei back after all.

The fact that Rei was here meant that Noiz, one of the heroes of the Bestir Empire, had failed to stop Rei.

In other words, Rei had defeated Noiz.

……In reality, Noiz had just conceded the victory to Rei, but the only ones who knew that were the soldiers who had witnessed their battle. And, even those who were aware of that could see that Rei had been fighting against Noiz on equal terms……or was perhaps even a little stronger.

To those soldiers, there was no clear difference between Rei and Noiz’s strength.

As Rei and Set flew closer to the ground, the punitive force began to unleash countless arrows towards them, unwilling to let them get any closer.

That was only natural. If they let Rei and Set get any closer, they would undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties.

And if that were to happen, they wouldn’t be able to fight Mercurio’s army at the same time.

Just as the battle had begun to turn in the punitive force’s favour, the tables had started to turn once again.

To prevent that from happening, they tried attacking Rei and Set to restrict their movements……

But doing so ultimately reduced the numbers the punitive force could direct at Mercurio’s army.

This in turn reduced the offensive pressure against Mercurio’s army.

「You really think you cad deal with us using these tiny arrows!」

The Death Scythe was swung freely in all directions, slicing most arrows flying in their direction as Set smashed the remaining ones away with his claws.

Then, as they got close enough to the ground……

「Set!」

「Gurururururururu~!」

In response to Rei’s words, Set aimed a Fire Breath towards the ground.

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