They had arrived.
To the west of Rain Town stretched a vast plain. Across the open grassland were numerous cave entrances leading down into underground mines, as well as a wide, open lake.
Even from a distance, the silhouette of a monster was already visible.
It was a giant ironback basilisk, its spine covered in countless sharp, blade-like scales.
Because the plain offered such an open field of vision, it could be spotted from very far away.
"Prepare for battle."
Rei called out to the others.
The remaining three were inside the carriage of the dracoryx wagon, while Kanzaki Rei himself sat astride the back of the dracoryx.
The dracoryx truly was a powerful creature.
If it had been an ordinary mount, sensing the aura of a second-tier lord-class monster would likely have made its legs go weak with fear.
But the dracoryx showed no sign of fear at all.
According to Kumironi, the dracoryx's hide was tough enough to withstand attacks from fourth-tier monsters.
If necessary, the dracoryx itself could become a major combat asset.
It was also Rei's means of escape if things went wrong.
But for now, that wouldn't be necessary.
The dracoryx rapidly closed the distance with the Ironback Basilisk.
The commission slips issued by the Adventurers' Guild didn't only contain the requirements and rewards of the mission. For subjugation missions targeting wild monsters, they also included detailed descriptions of the monster's characteristics.
So even though this was Rei's first time seeing this creature, he already had a solid understanding of its combat style.
His attack range was longer than the monster's.
Rei's maximum spellcasting range was currently 500 meters in a straight line.
Spells like Wind Detonation and Eternal Lamp could reach even farther—but those spells didn't deal damage.
The moment the enemy entered his attack range—
Rei raised his hand.
BOOM!
A spike burst from the earth, violently erupting upward and piercing straight through the basilisk's abdomen!
Its back was covered with hardened iron plates.
If a blade struck its back, it might even be deflected outright.
But the Ironback Basilisk's belly was extremely soft.
Because it usually crawled along the ground, it was nearly impossible to strike its underside directly.
Therefore…
Attacks that erupted from beneath the ground, like earth spikes, were the most effective way to kill it.
The second method would be finding a way to flip it over.
The attack "Pillar Surge" produced a remarkable result.
Three massive stone pillars speared upward directly into the creature's body.
One of the pillars even thrust upward through its jaw, piercing straight through its skull.
There was no flashy maneuvering.
No drawn-out struggle.
The ground split open—
And colossal pillars erupted skyward.
With a single spell, the monster was instantly killed on the spot.
Inside the carriage, the three who had been standing guard involuntarily swallowed.
So strong…
The basilisk in the distance had already stopped moving after taking the spell.
But the cautious Rei still cast three additional Pillar Surges.
Only after confirming that it was completely, unquestionably dead did he signal to Joel.
"Go collect it."
"If you strike the weak point… one spell is enough?"
Rei muttered softly to himself.
Up until now, he didn't actually have much real combat experience against monsters.
The majority of his combat experience came from sparring with Izparut, the absurdly powerful opponent.
And precisely because his opponent had always been Izparut, Rei's confidence—something that should have naturally inflated—had instead been repeatedly crushed.
Back in the Serpentwood Forest, Rei hadn't even had time to fully consider tactics before encountering the dungeon boss.
But against this Ironback Basilisk, he had been given plenty of advance information and preparation time.
Rei had even devised two combat strategies in his mind, along with contingency plans in case of unexpected developments.
He had also planned an escape route.
Rei's original plan had been this:
First, I'll open with Pillar Surge to attack its weak point.
If it charges at me, I'll block the path with Heavy Wall, slow and bind it with Shadow Mire, and trap it with Poison Vines…
If it uses ranged attacks, my Barrier will immediately protect my front, and Heavy Wall will block its iron scale projectiles. Then I'll retaliate with Curse Arrows, Ice Shards…
If it mutates or something strange happens, I'll turn around and run straight into the forest first…
But he hadn't expected that—
A single Pillar Surge stabbing into its belly would simply kill it outright.
Wasn't that… a little too fragile?
…
Having the collector retrieve the corpse had another advantage.
Rei didn't have to touch the body himself.
If the monster was pretending to be dead and suddenly revived, Joel would be the first victim.
It might sound a little heartless.
But Rei had hired them precisely to guard against unexpected incidents.
Besides, Rei had already delivered additional finishing blows to ensure the creature was dead.
If it still wasn't dead after that…
Then it was simply too good at enduring.
In this world, monster corpses needed to be recovered as loot.
Rei couldn't just keep blasting them until not even ashes remained.
If he did that, he'd gain nothing at all.
Besides, this was a common monster, and there was no information suggesting it possessed the ability to fake death.
If his luck were truly that terrible, he would get ambushed no matter what precautions he took.
And during the Month of Harvest and Fortune, surely his luck couldn't be that bad.
These were all thoughts running through Rei's mind.
If the other three heard these thoughts…
They might seriously think Rei had gone insane.
Isn't that a little too cautious?!
You're even accounting for monsters pretending to die?!
And seriously—don't you have any awareness of how absurd your nearly Level 200 triple-cast transcendence magic actually is?
If three casts of "Pillar Surge (LV:177)" couldn't kill a boss…
Then what would another mage's "Earth Spike (LV:2)" even count as?
The collection process didn't take long.
The collector's unique skill [Rapid Dismemberment] allowed Joel to quickly extract the valuable materials.
Inside the monster's body, an additional Earth Crystal had dropped.
And from its back, they obtained a piece of Earth-Gold Scale, an excellent material for forging shields.
From this single Ironback Basilisk, the total yield reached 2 gold and 32 silver.
From the commission reward of 75 silver, nearly 37 silver would be split among the three teammates.
Even so, Rei still made a net profit of 2 gold and 70 silver.
It seemed the Month of Harvest didn't just affect dungeon loot.
It also boosted the drop rates of monsters in the wilderness.
The Month of Harvest…
Really was a wonderful time of year.
Compared to entering complex dungeons, hunting lord monsters in the wild might actually be an even better choice.
Rei did a quick calculation.
The profit from one dungeon run was roughly equal to killing two lord monsters.
In comparison, hunting lords was more efficient.
There was less risk of being caught in traps—and escape was far easier.
Most of the time, the dracoryx couldn't be brought into dungeons.
But in the wilderness, that restriction didn't exist.
In fact, casting spells while riding the dracoryx made it possible to fight while kiting enemies from a distance.
"Let's go. Next one."
After collecting the loot, Rei had no intention of lingering.
They immediately set off toward the next target.
The plains weren't populated only by lord-class monsters.
There were also plenty of first-tier monsters.
Things like slimes, green caterpillars, and flower-tailed butterflies…
Killing them yielded almost no profit.
But leaving them alive posed no real threat either.
Rei casually tossed out a few spells, using them as practice targets for his Transcendence Magic, earning a little extra experience along the way.
In fact, throughout the entire journey, Rei had been casually casting spells.
For example, an Ice Shard was constantly spinning above the roof of the dracoryx carriage.
After all—
His mana never seemed to run out.
After traveling for about ten minutes, they soon spotted another monster.
Its front half resembled a scorpion, while its rear flared outward like the tail feathers of a peacock.
[Plume-Tail Venom Scorpion]
"Prepare antidotes for me."