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89 Chapter

“Shushu! What’s the plan?”

Leo shouted loudly as he quickly dodged the incoming Basilisk’s head. Moving behind the Basilisk, he began to explain.

“There aren’t any vulnerable spots on the Basilisk’s body! But it does have a weakness!”

Swish.

A black aura cut through the Basilisk’s torso in a crescent shape. Black blood gushed out from the wound.

Kyaaaak!

The enormous body of the Basilisk twisted. The deep cut could definitely be considered fatal.

‘But…’

Seeing the wound starting to close, I stiffened my expression.

The scales of the Basilisk aren’t as thick as Harabana’s skin. However, the Basilisk’s recovery ability is superior to any monster.

‘Burning it to death would be the cleanest way, but that’s too dangerous. If the Basilisk thrashes around and sets fire to the surrounding trees, it could immediately cause a forest fire.’

It’s not that I can’t extinguish a forest fire with mana.

But using my aura to deal with it is way more mana-efficient. As I slashed at the Basilisk’s neck with my black aura, I shouted.

“The Basilisk’s stamina is weak!”

Stamina. That’s our window to take down this creature.

“Stamina? It looks so lively!”

Boom!

Leo barely dodged the Basilisk’s attack and replied incredulously. The Basilisk’s head smashed into the ground, creating a massive hole where Leo had just been standing. Seeing the massive pit that was as high as he was, Leo made a startled expression.

“Yes, stamina! If we can tire the Basilisk out, we can handle it easily! The moment the Basilisk gets exhausted, its recovery speed slows down significantly!”

“Uh… I get it for now! But how do we tire this monster out? Should we just keep doing this?”

Kwachak!

The Basilisk swung its tail violently, causing trees around us to collapse. The Basilisk obsessively targeted only Leo. Leo dodged its attacks, while I took the opportunity to continue inflicting critical damage.

‘This will definitely work out. But…’

I looked at Leo with a hardened gaze. Thanks to Leo being the bait, it was easier to attack the Basilisk, but he was getting increasingly injured from the relentless attacks.

‘If this continues, Leo will get seriously hurt.’

Additionally, due to Leo being nearby, it was difficult to use area attacks. It would have been great if I could temporarily get Leo out of the way, but since the Basilisk was only following him, any wide-range attack like Black Wind would inevitably hurt him too.

‘I would have preferred to be alone… But I only had two teleportation stones. One of us had to stay, either Reiner or Leo. So, it’s better to use Leo to take down the Basilisk.’

Even though this seemed like the best option, I continued to feel guilt gnawing at me. Shaking off my wavering emotions, I concentrated my mana and refocused my thoughts.

‘I just need to proceed as initially planned. That way, Leo shouldn’t get severely hurt.’

Clenching my teeth, I took a deep breath. I shouted to Leo, who was struggling to dodge the Basilisk’s attacks.

“Listen carefully, Leo! From now on, we’re going to tire the Basilisk out!”

My mana circuit rapidly spun to life. The blade, empowered by the Sword Master’s immense mana, sang with a chilling resonance. A red mana stone embedded in the sword further invigorated the mana, exploding with black aura.

Suuuh.

I took a deep breath. The conflicting scents of the monster’s foul odor and the refreshing forest air assaulted my nostrils. Gripping my sword tightly, I unleashed a narrow, yet power-packed aura towards the Basilisk’s face.

Kyaaaak!

The Basilisk let out a scream even louder than before. Black blood erupted like a fountain, pooling on the ground, while tears of blood flowed from its red eyes. The Basilisk, struck directly in the eyes, thrashed wildly.

“Run at full speed towards that direction! Now!”

I shouted while pointing northwest. Leo, who had looked as if he couldn’t understand, bit his lip but started running in the direction I pointed without asking any questions.

He trusted me enough to follow my orders without clarification.

Leo sprinted, his speed accelerating as mana surged around him.

Kyaaaak!

Just moments after he left the clearing, the Basilisk, recovering from its eye injury, roared in anger and swiftly moved after Leo at an astonishing speed.

Thud.

And I jumped onto the massive body of the Basilisk.

‘Ugh,

The stench and aura of black magic assaulted me. The poisonous aura seeping from the giant serpent made my body feel heavy.

The soles of my shoes began to slowly dissolve upon contact with its scales. Since they were made of Klaki leather, they still maintained their shape, but if they were ordinary shoes, they would have disintegrated long ago.

Every breath I took, mixed with ash-gray scales, drool, and blood was laced with deadly poison. The Basilisk was a complete poison factory.

‘I called for the paladins and priests for that reason.’

Once its life ceased, the Basilisk’s corpse would expel all its poison into the air. A monster under the curse of black magic decays and disappears within an hour, but during that hour, the entire forest could rot from the poison.

‘Those with divine power have a high resistance to poison. Divine power is one of the second-fastest ways to detoxify monster poison.’

The quickest and most reliable way to detoxify monster poison is through the healing powers of fairies. But since I couldn’t call for fairies right now, the manpower from the Temple needed to exert their strength—

I held my breath as I felt my mana circuit spinning faster to detoxify the spreading poison. I needed to focus to keep my balance on the fast-moving body of the Basilisk. Even though it was obvious that the Basilisk was aware of my presence on its back, it continued to chase only Leo like a dog chasing a chicken.

‘Leo…’

I saw Leo desperately fleeing, dodging between the vast bulk of the Basilisk. His body looked tattered, like an old leather garment. I pursed my lips, feeling a sense of pain for him.

‘Now I need to help.’

I raised my sword, stained with black aura.

Thud.

And I plunged it forcefully into the gigantic snake’s torso.

Kyaaaak!

The Basilisk momentarily halted its movements. I could feel its thrashing through the sword’s hilt, reminiscent of a fish desperately wriggling on a spear.

“Shu… Shushu?”

Leo, seemingly feeling the energy of my aura, turned his body toward me. His once dull green eyes sparkled as if greeted by the sun. He smiled warmly at me, but I was too anxious about the Basilisk attacking him again to return the gesture, so I shouted loudly instead.

“What are you doing! Quickly run before it moves again! Don’t look back!”

“…What?”

In an instant, Leo’s expression froze. His green eyes were filled with confusion. His face turned alarmingly pale, almost resembling panic.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Seeing Leo’s excessive reaction startled me too, and I narrowed my eyes. Leo, who had suddenly stiffened, tried to move his feet but seemed to struggle.

Despite knowing the Basilisk might move at any moment, I couldn’t take my eyes off Leo, who was increasingly looking unwell. This wasn’t just a disappointed expression; it was something more profound.

‘That’s definitely…

Fear. A face confronted with lifelong terror.

“Y-young lady…”

Leo had an expression as if he had been triggered by some sort of trauma.

‘Ah.’

My head throbbed. I must have inadvertently touched on something sensitive with Leo, but it was difficult to pinpoint what it was. I furrowed my brow, but before I could think further, the Basilisk, which had been impaled, began to thrash again.

“Leo, hurry! Move quickly!”

There was no time to console him. With my scream resembling a plea, Leo barely managed to regain his senses and started running again, but I could tell he was trembling and his speed had decreased.

‘Damn, what did I touch wrong?’

I had an uncomfortable feeling that we couldn’t continue like this, but I couldn’t figure out why. I swung my sword wildly to slow the Basilisk’s movements.

Kyaaaak!

The Basilisk’s incessant screams filled the forest.

‘Gross.’

Wiping the blood splattered on my cheek with a grimace, I spat on the Basilisk’s body. My white shirt, borrowed from Reiner, was now splattered with so much black blood that it resembled a black shirt instead. The Basilisk, which had been pierced by my sword multiple times yet healed quickly, was both remarkable and disgusting.

I recalled when I first faced off with the Basilisk as a mercenary, when I didn’t know how to defeat it and struggled for almost three days.

‘But sure enough, its movement speed and recovery are slowing down now.’

Even if it is the king of snakes, the Basilisk couldn’t remain unscathed from the Sword Master’s onslaught. I sighed as I watched the Basilisk, resembling a dying worm.

‘But the problem is that Leo is tiring out as well.’

Leo’s speed had diminished significantly compared to the start. Furthermore, after I told him to run away, his pale face showed no signs of improvement.

‘It’s about time to finish this.’

We were getting closer to our destination. There, I planned to end the Basilisk in one fell swoop. I jumped off the body of the Basilisk and sprinted desperately to catch up to it, reaching Leo’s side.

“Leo!”

“Shu, TTTT—

Leo stammered unexpectedly, his green eyes turning to me. His pupils were dilated, and his blank gaze conveyed his serious mental state.

‘What did I do wrong?’

The only thing I could think of that could have triggered him was my command to run, but I couldn’t understand what part of it affected him. No, it felt like I should know, yet I couldn’t recall. It was frustrating.

‘I need to deal with the Basilisk first.’

There wasn’t time to think about anything else. With determination, I extended my hand to Leo.

“Leo, grab on!”

It was to pull him along as he slowed down. Leo, looking at my hand with wavering eyes, eventually grasped it firmly.

Warmth flowed through my black-blood-stained fingers, a reminder that I wasn’t alone in this catastrophe. For a brief moment, I felt the trust and affection he had for me in our exchanged glance.

As I clasped his big hand tightly, I hurled my sword, not looking back, towards the approaching Basilisk.

Kyaeeeeeek!

I could tell from the sounds that the sword, thrown without looking, had struck its mark. The gushing blood covered me and Leo. I hastily wiped away the droplets that splattered near my eyes, then urged Leo to run at full speed, leaving the slowed Basilisk behind.

“Shushu!”

“What!”

Just how far had we pulled away from the Basilisk? Leo called my name. Dodging the trees of the forest, I answered hurriedly as I sensed his skepticism.

“Why did you insist on running this way?”

Bright light appeared ahead. The sun, hidden behind trees, began to illuminate the path beyond.

Reiner and I had rested inside a fairly deep cave after facing Harabana yesterday, and this morning we had come this far. Basically, I meant we had a rough idea of the forest’s terrain. I turned to Leo and smiled slightly.

“That’s because this end leads to a cliff!”

And soon, a sheer precipice loomed ahead.

“…What?”

Leo’s face turned pale as a sheet.

 

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